It's been weeks since Harry's final fight with Voldemort. We were very fortunate that we hardly had any losses.

None of Thalia's girls even got a scratch. I overheard one saying she was disappointed by the lack of challenge the Death Eaters presented.

Medusa had discovered during the fight somehow that she could use a wand. Not sure how that happened, but I'm honestly not complaining. She's been coming to me to repair her veils or rearrange her classroom with magic ever since school started. Now she can do it herself and leave me alone. Oh, and she saved Fred's life. That's nice too.

That does mean she needs to take summer classes until she is sufficiently up to speed.

As of right now, Penny and I were enjoying a nice picnic in the Astronomy tower. It was refreshing to have some peace and quiet for once.

"So this is where everyone would come?" I said, looking around. "Did no one ever run into each other because of that?"

"Oh, all the time." Penny said. "But Hogwarts has no shortage of broom cupboards and empty classrooms."

"About that." I turned to face her. "Why are there so many empty classrooms?"

"The population for the Wizarding World used to be significantly larger." Penny said softly. "At first, the idea of blood purity didn't seem to have an effect on it. Eventually, entire Houses had died out because they kept marrying each other and never having enough kids. Not to mention, the war that started before Harry was born had wiped out even more."

"That's terrible." I muttered. I felt a hot wave of anger build up from inside my chest. By now, I am very aware how the magical government runs. There are many empty seats on the Wizengamot that I haven't questioned until now. I am almost positive if more of those seats had been filled, many regulations would not exist. And others to build prosperity would. And people like Dolores Umbridge would have been caught long before they could have any sort of power.

I was brought out of my spiral of 'what ifs' by the last part of Penny's next sentence.

"...my parents meet Hecate."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Honestly, Percy, were you even listening?" Penny sighed in exasperation.

I smiled sheepishly. "Just the last bit."

"I was thinking about after we told my mom and dad about the world you are from." Penny restated. "That maybe they could meet Hecate. My mother would absolutely die, and my dad would have so many questions. He studied as much magical history as he could once he found out about my mom and he's told me about some of the gaps the magical world has left unanswered. It's almost as though they have no idea there are any gaps in their history at all. And I was wondering—"

"Penny!" I cut her off before she could really get going. "When were you thinking of telling them?"

"As soon as I can." Penny said. "I'm tired of hiding this from them. Now that Voldemort is gone and he won't be able to try and use it against you if he finds out—"

"You know," I interrupted again. I could tell she was getting nervous. "I was thinking of asking Philip a certain question anyways. How about killing two birds with one stone? We can invite them for dinner this weekend."

Penny's excited expression grew confused. "Two birds...?"

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping he would let me marry his daughter. Do you think he will?" I said, a crooked smile crept on my face. "Of course, I've yet to ask his daughter. Do you think she'd be okay with—"

"Yes! Oh, Percy, yes!" Penny threw her arms around my neck.

"Penny, I didn't even get to pull out the ring!" I cried, muffled into her shoulder. Indeed, my hand was now stuck halfway out of my robe pocket, the velvet box clutched in it.

Penny laughed and pulled away, wiping at tears. I finished pulling it out and offered it to her opened. Inside was a simple, silver band with a star shaped diamond in the center.

"Penelope Clearwater—"

"Yes!"

"Let me finish!" She covered her mouth with her hands at my look. "Will you m—"

"Yes! Sorry."

"Will youmarryme?" I decided to get the question out quickly to end her suffering.

"Yes!" Penny laughed. She sat still long enough for me to put the ring on her finger before throwing her arms around me again.

— — —

The dreaded dinner came. I was starting to regret doing both life changing information questions at the same time. Should we just wait to do one until a few weeks have passed? But then which one to do first?

Would my past scare them off? Suppose Philip doesn't like me enough to let me marry Penny? Suppose that makes Penny mad and she leaves her family to marry me anyways? I can't do that to them.

As I continued pacing around my room in my apartment, I couldn't help but be tempted to cancel.

The Floo flared to life.

Too late.

"We're here!" Penny called from my living room.

I think I'm gonna be sick.

Trying to put aside my anxious feelings, I faced my door. Taking in a deep breath...I didn't move. No matter what I told my feet, they wouldn't move. I tried again. Still nothing.

Too long passed with me not answering Penny's call or appearing so I guess Penny decided to come looking for me.

"Percy?" She opened my bedroom door cautiously. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be right there." My voice cracked. "I've just gotta—you know—erm..."

"Percy?" Penny came in, smiling sympathetically. "Are you nervous??"

"Of course not!" My voice cracked again, betraying my true state of mind. Despite that, I attempted to prove otherwise. "I've been in worse situations. And I've met Philip and Marianne before too, so there's no way I should be nervous."

Penny just smiled. "Exactly." She said softly. "Are you ready?"

I let out a pent up breath. Somehow Penny's smile relaxed me. I nodded and followed her out.

Dinner was already on the table and Molly had sent along a dessert when she heard about tonight.

"Percy! It's good to see you!" Philip said with a huge smile. He took my hand, shaking it firmly.

"Mr. Clearwater." I forced a friendly smile. I'm afraid it came out more like a grimace.

"Please," he waved his hand, "it's Philip. We talked about this!"

"Right, yes, of course," I said, wiping my hands on my pants nervously.

"Percy," Marianne smiled and pulled me down into a hug. "How are you doing, dear?"

"Excellent, excellent." I replied. "Thank you for coming."

I forced myself to relax throughout dinner, but I'm afraid I ended up looking like I had squirrels in my pants. With all the fidgeting I did, I'm surprised neither Philip nor Marianne thought I'd gone crazy, grabbed Penny and left. As it was, they just smiled at me amicably.

"Percy, dear, this is delicious, where did you learn to cook like this?" Marianne asked. Her plate was already nearly finished.

"By Merlin, Marianne, I don't think you've eaten that quickly in years!" Philip exclaimed. His plate still had quite a bit of food on it.

I forced another smile. "My mother made sure I knew how to cook a couple of recipes before I moved out." I answered. "She worries about anybody eating enough, it doesn't matter if you're her family or not."

"Well, that's sweet." Marianne said, now reaching for a second helping. "She must be an amazing cook if you procured a meal like this."

"She is." I said. "Better even than the food at Hogwarts."

"I can second that." Penny said, now reaching for a second helping herself.

Philip and I looked at each other, holding in laughs.

"Philip, Marianne. Penny and I have something to tell you." I started once we'd calmed down. Instantly, Marianne got an excited, anticipatory look on her face. Unfortunately, my next words changed it to one of confusion. "It is about my past."

And so I told them. About my father, the quests, the wars, and the events that led up to my leaving camp. They needed proof so I showed them Riptide and my trident. I told a few stories that went with some of the scars on my arms. I showed them my original appearance.

In the end, Marianne was the one to be unsure of everything.

"Philip, how are you so calm about this?" She asked.

Philip shrugged. "At least he told me about an entire hidden world before he married my daughter."

Marianne blushed. "That's not the point!"

"Marianne, this isn't the first hidden world I've been told about." Philip said. "I've had practice. Besides, it's not like Penny is helpless or in any more danger than before."

"Would it help if I told the both of you I was planning on asking you if I could marry your daughter?" I asked Marianne.

"Of course it would!"

Cue the wedding plans.