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

Percy

At last every voice stopped speaking. The boggart transformed into one lady figure, my very own step-scum, Gabe.

"Keep me around, Percy. Sally says I'll protect you." He sneered. His stench made me gag. It only continued to intensify. "You need me around. I'll never leave." He chuckled.

"RIDIKULUS!"

At least one of us had come to our senses. Annabeth pointed her wand at my step-father. I didn't get a chance to see what else the boggart would turn into, and I'm glad she didn't allow the chance. Annabeth shoved the boggart into the cupboard and locked the door. The cupboard shuddered with one last attempt to instill fear upon one of us. Finally, it calmed down with us. As I regained my ability to breathe and think my own thoughts, the cupboard was finally still.

I felt Annabeth's eyes burning into my head. I couldn't turn around. I had too many questions for her, and I knew she had even more for me.

"That was..." Annabeth started.

"Something." I finished her thought. We still stared at the cupboard. I couldn't say anything more. I couldn't look at her.

"Something," Annabeth agreed. "That was something."

I knew Jason had been watching the whole time. He had stood behind me in line, and I said I'd agree to cover for him and make a distraction while he fought he boggart. He was afraid it would be a full moon, and he didn't want the students to name any assumptions. Thankfully that never happened, he never had a chance to go. Unfortunately, he had just witnessed all of that. Him and Annabeth were the only other people who saw any of that.

"Later." I blurted out. "We'll talk about it later, Jason." I told him. I glanced down at my arm, where the tattoo was. I reckon what happened had something to do with it, with the big picture that we both didn't understand. Jason seemed to get what I was saying.

"Alright." Jason mumbled. Him and Annabeth exchanged awkward glances.

"Um, do you two mind not mentioning my boggart to anyone?" Annabeth suggested.

"Yes, if you agree to do the same for mine." I agreed. She handed me my wand. I had almost forgotten I threw it to her when I started the sword fight. Man, she probably had so many questions. I did too.

That was the end of that encounter. Strange, right? Trust me, it will get worse. Maybe not now, but soon. Definitely soon.

Jason and I followed each other to our next class, potions. The only thing that could possibly make this day worse was having double potions with Slytherin. I could hardly stand any of the Slytherins in my year. What made it worse was that when Snape announced we were to pick our own groups, Leo Valdez waltzed over to Jason and I.

"Hey losers, mind if I slither on in here?" Leo winked and sat beside Jason. Students from Gryffindor and Slytherin alike whispered about us, the strange group with enemies working together.

"You could make this a bit less obvious, you know. Obviously, people are going to question that something's up with one of us if you partner with us. Besides, just because you helped me out the other night doesn't mean we're besties." Jason complained. Leo smirked, but I could tell he looked hurt at that last comment.

"Merlin, Grace. I'm not asking for your hand in marriage! If you haven't noticed, I'm not the most popular of guys. Would it kill you two to include me in this duo, making it a trio? It's awfully boring, having no friends." Leo sighed and made puppy-like eyes at Jason.

"So you're going with the pity approach? Wow, I didn't think a Slytherin could sink that low." Jason mumbled.

"Humor me?"