He was talking to Blaise, Pansy, and Theodore before they were so rudely interrupted. Had he known his best friend since age four was coming to Hogwarts this year, he probably would've found her so that she wouldn't be alone.

Then again that would probably raise suspicion. Draco "My father will hear about this!" Malfoy would never sit with a muggle, er muggle-born now. At least that's what everyone in the castle thinks. That's what he wants them to think.

Draco and his friend kept in contact through letters. Although the letters were a terrible inconvenience considering a short while after Annabeth's seventh birthday, the boy's letters never got to her. He still kept them, in hopes of someday returning them.

He frowned at her, this close the hexing the life out of her, but also so close to hugging her. Neither of which he'd actually do. At least not here, on this very public train. "What in the bloody hell are you doing here, Chase?"

"Gods, Draco," the blonde purses her lips, putting her hands on her waist. "Here I was missing my oldest friend and suddenly I see him and- What's this? He's not even happy to see me." The rest of the her group - Percy, Reyna, and Nico - were quite a distance behind her. She'd left them as soon as she saw Draco's hair, not even bothering to think of the consequences if it wasn't him.

Despite his best efforts, a smile does make its way on his face. He quickly pulls Annabeth into an empty compartment, then closes and locks the door. The silence gets to him and he quickly wraps her into a hug almost but not quite crying. "I've missed you too, Annabeth." He pulls away from her after a moment and puts on a false frown as if scolding her. "Now, what are you doing here in London? On the damn train to Hogwarts? I thought you were a muggle."

She doesn't answer right away. Which is alright because Draco didn't give her a chance to answer his interrogations before hugging her again and practically begging (because Malfoy's don't beg. They'll plead, but they won't beg.) her to exchange stories with him.

And she does because she's missed him, dare she say, a lot more than she missed Luke. She stops when she gets to the part about meeting Luke and Thalia, but only because she isn't sure if he'd freak out about the gods or not. Then again Nico was right. He is a wizard, he should at least know about Hecate already, she thinks. She says fuck it. As she continues the story, mentioning the gods as if she'd already explained it to him before which was a good tactic because he went with it, she played with his hair as he laid her lap doing random sparks of magic as she spoke.

"So what you're trying to say without actually saying, is that the greek gods are real, the world almost got fucked twice, and now it's about to get fucked again. Did I get that right?" She won't lie, it took her by surprise that he did indeed get it right.

"Yea, Drakes, you're spot on. I'm assuming you're still top of your class?"

"No. But I would be if it wasn't for Granger." He was totally not pouting. A little upset, but not pouting.

Annabeth laughed, taking a seat as the train started to leave the station. "Aw, poor baby."

"Shut up."

This of course made Annabeth laugh even harder. They chatted for half the ride, just catching up on things they've missed since the last time they'd met.

———

Percy frowned. He wasn't exactly happy pleased to go on another quest for the gods. Especially, not for a god he'd never met. He could deal with it though. The train ride should be about eight hours, and plenty of time for him to start his American Literature paper.

Reaching into his backpack, Percy pulled out a paperback copy of  The Fall of the House of Usher. It's not his favorite assigned reading, but at least there's a few interesting aspects to it.

"Guys, can you not place bets? I'm hoping this year'll be normal, you know-?" Percy looked up as the door slid open.

Wow. He was not expecting to find his long lost twin on this quest, his day just couldn't get any better. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself as he closed his book and put on his friendliest smile. "Hey, I'm Percy, it's nice to meet you."

The stranger furrowed his brows and shook Percy's hand. He clearly wanted to come inside the compartment, but Percy wasn't quite sure he wanted company. "I'm Harry, and this Ron and Hermione."

Oh, these are the ones Lou Ellen warned him about. He'd have to keep an eye on them. "Oh, you wanna come in? There's plenty of room."

Hermione looked between Ron and Harry and rolled her eye at their awe shocked faces. Pushing her way into the compartment, she nearly trips over Ron's long. "Honestly, are you boys going to stand there all day? At least close your mouths, you're going to catch flies with them wide opened like that. Anyway. it's nice to meet you Percy. What year will you be in?"

Percy's smile strained. He didn't want to make assumptions, but he wasn't getting the best vibes from her. "I think I'm going be in 6 year. You guys?"

Finally entering the compartment, Ron and Harry sit down whispering amongst themselves. A few seconds later they both turned around to face Percy. "We'll be in our fourth year. Say," Ron scooted forward, leaning on guys knees as he gave Percy his full attention. "how come you're coming to Hogwarts? They don't usually take transfers."

Percy smirked and leaned away from them, re-opening his book and notebook. "Special event." He turned his attention to the book, successfully getting the trio's attention away from him.

The redhead whispered under his breath, "Well, he seems nice."

"Shut up, Ronald."