Swords and Wands (a Percy Jackson and Harry Potter crossover)

20. The Aftermath

Third Person POV

Over the next few weeks, everyone kept their distance from poor William. Because of this, he felt alone, sad, and also, even if he tried not to be, he was angry. Sure, what happened to him had no doubt been freaky for other people, but it's not like he had been at fault! He was the victim of that endeavor!

He knew he should probably be grateful. Cause honestly, coming back from the dead? That is pretty incredible! Even Harry Potter hadn't done that. Sure, Harry had escaped death, more then once actually. But both times he had been hit with the killing curse, he hadn't actually died. That was why he was called the Boy Who Lived. If he had died and come back though, he probably would have been The Boy Who Came Back instead, or something like that.

So that meant Will had experienced something even the Chosen One hadn't! It should have been awesome!

Except it wasn't. Not if it meant everyone else pushed you away afterward. Because, let's be honest here, what's the point of coming back from the dead of you lose all you had to come back to?

His friends avoided him, his family had stopped sending him letters ever since they got the news, and everyone sat as far away from him as possible in class and at meals.

Whatever. Will didn't care about them anymore, not if they'd abandoned him so easily.

So they could do whatever. Will didn't want any part on it.

Not anymore...

It just got him so angry whenever he thought about this who thing. His whole world just changed around him, and he hadn't had any control over him.

Everything had happened without warning and with no consent, and it just made him feel so helpless...

Though maybe that was what he was. Maybe that's what happens to people who get caught in an explosion.

Because with every explosion comes the aftermath. And when caught in the aftermath, you are helpless.

Because you can never undo the explosion, so all that's left is the destruction. Eventually, everyone in Hogwarts would know that feeling.

Then, they would all just be shadows of the past, living, or tying to, in the rubble of the aftermath.

***

Leo felt bad for Will. Everyone was avoiding the poor kid for something that totally was the his fault.

Ever since coming back, Leo had wanted to go and talk to the guy, but he had failed to find the time. Between the tests Madame Pomfrey had insisted on giving him and catching up on all the work he missed, he had his hands full.

Also, he had been avoiding Annabeth and George. Yes, he cared about them, but he didn't really want to see either at the moment.

Every time he saw Annabeth, he missed Draco, and she tried to question Leo about what had happened to him when he was gone, as if he hadn't told her everything already. Every time he saw George, he'd wanna go hang out with Annabeth, and drag Leo along. And he didn't want to resent them for this, but he couldn't believe neither of them had noticed anything off about the guy who had pretended to be Leo.

So yeah, he kind of had his hands full. Something else though, he was a little angry. He had been having a pretty cool year with his friends, but then, BAM!

Leo gets kidnapped, someone impersonates him, no one notices, and then when he gets back, someone had died and come back, and Leo had no control. His world suffered a huge explosion, and he was merely a survivor now. A shadow trying to live in the half light of the cloud infested sky.

Helpless and alone, no longer behind the steering wheel, but now just a passenger stuck on a ride he had never even wanted to take. A ride he had been forced onto.

And Leo was not under any illusions, he knew that he wasn't in control anymore. He knew. Yet what could he do? Getting off the ride was not an option, but staying on it may very well be suicide.

Maybe he couldn't do anything. Maybe no one could. Perhaps they just had to suffer through it.

Because that is how things go down in war. You go through all kinds of crap, and all the while you just sit there, helpless.

The explosion knocks you off your feet,and if you manage not to bleed out, you still lose.

Because no matter weather or not you dead, you get caught in the aftermath of it all.

And the explosion doesn't have to be sudden burst of fire, it can be a death or a secret that gets revealed. Really, it's anything that makes you fall.

Then you get caught in the aftermath, and that's when it makes you cry.

That's when the suffering starts.

That's when the shock settles in.

That's when you find out who's lives were lost.

That's when you mourn.

Because every war has more than one aftermath.

Yes... It all begins and ends, with the aftermath...