Two Different Worlds, Two Heroes : Percy Jackson and Harry Potter [EDITING]

Chapter 28: The Prophecy

“Thalia!” Annabeth gasped hollowly next to me, kneeling down.

“Thalia?” Tyson whispered anxiously.

I gazed down at her, feeling something stab at my heart. Her hair was a mess, her body was trembling lightly and her face was contorted into an expression of fear. However, her eyes were closed and she seemed to be unconscious as she breathed steadily.

Annabeth took over Harry’s place, laying Thalia’s head gently on her lap as Harry rose to his feet. His jaw was clenched as he strode forward, staring down at the alleys. “He should be here,” he whispered. “Anywhere here … really close …”

“Harry?” Hermione asked tentatively from the ground, where she was helping Annabeth feed some ambrosia and nectar into Thalia’s mouth.

“Somewhere about … here …”  Harry muttered, reaching the end, hesitating before peering down the next alley. “He might be …” He hurried down the one beyond that. “Or maybe …”

“Harry?” Hermione spoke up again.

“What?” Harry snarled back at her.

“I … I don’t think Sirius is here.”

Nobody spoke as all of us stared at Harry, with the exception of Annabeth who was still tending to Thalia and Ron, who seemed to be gazing up at the orbs on the shelves. His back was trembling and he didn’t seem to want to look at any of us. Instead, he ran up to the space at the end of the rows, staring down them, vanishing from view as he searched aisle after aisle.

“Harry,” Ron called out, an odd look on his face.

“What?”

“Have you seen this?”

“What?” Harry’s voice had changed, sounding eager, his footsteps growing louder. His expression fell again when he appeared and saw that Ron was staring at the orbs instead. “What?” he repeated, sounding glum.

“It’s – it’s got your name on,” Ron replied.

A frown appeared on Harry’s face. He strode forward, looking up at the orb that Ron was pointing to. “My name?” he asked blankly.

All of us watched them as Harry inspected the yellow label under the orb. His brows were furrowed as he read.

“What is it?” Ron asked, sounding unnerved as he glanced along at the other labels. “What’s your name doing down here? I’m not here. None of the rest of us are here.”

“Harry, I don’t think you should touch it,” Hermione spoke up, her voice sharp.

Harry, whose hand was stretched out towards the orb, looked back at her. “Why not? It’s something to do with me, isn’t it?”

“Don’t, Harry,” Neville said suddenly. His face was shining slightly with sweat and he looked as though he couldn’t take any more suspense.

“It’s got my name on,” Harry said.

As his fingers closed around the orb, a loud coughing sound started up behind him. Harry whirled around, the orb still in his grasp. Thalia was conscious now, struggling as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. Her gaze was focused on Harry, eyes hard with determination yet there was some fear in them as well.

“Harry …” she said weakly. “The orb … don’t …”

And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice spoke.

“Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me.”

Black shapes were emerging out of thin air around us, blocking all ways out. Cold eyes glinted through slits in hood, a dozen lit wand-tips were pointing directly at our hearts. Ginny let out a sharp gasp. Tyson, startled, stumbled backwards and all of us immediately drew closer to the middle, standing protectively over Thalia, whose face looked resigned as she struggled to her feet with Annabeth’s assistance.