When Annabeth enters the bar this afternoon, there's
a letter waiting for her.
It comes to her as a surprise because she hadn't been expecting mail or anything. Not unless Thalia needed to drop her a note.
(The writing isn't hers, though.)
It's unfamiliar at first, but the scrawl is really neat, written on old-fashioned parchment paper (which, she guesses, is what wizards use on his world).
It doesn't even take her half as long to get through because of the penmanship.
And, confirming her guess, it's signed 'Scorpius Malfoy'.
"Hey, Bar? Could I get some paper and a pen?"
She doesn't know just how much time has passed between this visit and her last, and there's no date on the letter to indicate anything either. But she hopes it hasn't been long. It would really be awful if he'd been waiting for a reply for ages.
Though, with any luck, he might be here right now ...