Harry Potter and the Lost Half-Bloods. *1*

Annabeth

Percy does something nice for once and my boggart ruins my day
ANNABETH: Thank goodness it was Monday and the weekend was over. Saturday was just too much. On Sunday, I spent the day catching up with Hazel. We avoided talking about all of the strange things for one day, and it was great. Will however only seemed concerned with his and Hazel's newfound abilities. That's why we avoided him on Sunday, he continually insisted we met up and tested out our powers. He assured me that I would find my own power soon. Strangely enough, I wasn't bothered. I didn't really want a power. It didn't seem right for me to have one...

Anyway, today would be a busy one. My first class of the day was double defense against the dark arts with Gryffindor. I didn't really want to start out my day dealing with Percy Jackson, but I didn't have a choice. After the rest of my classes I'd have my first tutoring assignment, which would be decided by the professors.

Right now, I was on my way to breakfast. Students were buzzing with excitement awaiting the announcement they knew was about to come. And it did, Dumbledore announced that the school would be having a ball in two weeks time. Originally it was supposed to be something for Halloween or Christmas, but with all of the negativity going on in the wizarding world I didn't blame him for making it sooner. Even if that meant more work for me as a prefect, I suppose it was worth it to make some people smile.

At the last prefects meeting McGonagall had announced that she would be assigning positions in helping the ball. There would need to be people in charge of music, decorations, refreshments, and chaperoning. Personally, I hoped I'd have something easy like decorations. I had a great eye when it came to design. I had no doubt that I would be the best person for the job.

"Who do you want to ask you to the ball, Annabeth?" Cho asked.

I tore myself from my thoughts and shrugged.

"I'm not really into the whole ball thing. I'll only be there to help out with everything. I'm not the biggest fan of the whole dancing thing either. I may be good on the quidditch field, but I'm rubbish on the dance floor."

Cho laughed.

"Oh, I was just like you last year. Then Cedric asked me and we had such a good time." She had a distant look now that she often had when somebody brought up Cedric. "It was a good time, really." She repeated.

"I'll bet it was," I agreed. "I hope everyone else has a good time. We all need a good time."

I looked around the great hall. Everybody was as lively as you'd expect them to be early on a Monday morning. I saw Leo Valdez of the Slytherin table fall asleep in his cereal bowl. The Slytherins were snorting with laughter as he shot awake, milk shooting out of his nose. I noticed that the Gryffindor table was even less lively. Percy and Jason were both nodding off. Jason had always had a small scar above his lip, I had noticed. The scar seemed to have reopened recently, last night I expect. His face was covered in scratches, the torn scar being the biggest one of all.

Over at the Hufflepuff table, Hazel and Will seemed to be in a heated discussion. They were trying hard not to make a scene though. I could only assume they were arguing about what Will had been so persistent on since Saturday night: testing out newfound abilities.

My own table was probably the most normal of all today. We didn't have students falling asleep in cereal bowls or gaining superpowers overnight. We just had me, Cho, and the rest of the other Ravenclaw trying not to be driven mad by everything around them.

"Think positively, Annabeth. That's what keeps them away." Luna advised.

"Sorry, keeps what away?" I asked. Luna was part of the madness I was referring to. I liked her though, even if she could be a bit annoying at times.