Both Roman and Navja were awoken by a sudden shriek. Then another, but that came from them because... well, this wasn't exactly a position they thought they'd ever be in.
They stared at each other, their eyes wide in confusion. Roman's cheeks blushed red as she scrambled off of him.
"What - "
"Why were you - "
"I - " Navja rubbed her head, "What the heck?"
He squinted at her, racking his brain to remember. She was asleep, he tried to wake her up, then she went on the couch, then he went there, they fell asleep.... that was it.
"Nothing... how did you get that close to me?"
"Forget that, why was I asleep on the couch and why were you there too?"
"I don't know, you said you liked the couch, and then you told me to come,"
"And you agreed? Are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy," he defended, "I was just too tired to have an argument with a sleep deprived stubborn Hufflepuff,"
Navja sighed and looked at him for a second before stretching out her hand, "Get up Athernon, you need to get back to your dungeon,"
"It's not a dungeon," he said as he took it, "It's just near the dungeons,"
"So... basically a dungeon,"
Roman exhaled, pulling himself up while they made their way to the library door. There was no one inside, not a single sound escaped the echoey aisles. The bookshelves stretched for what seemed like a thousand miles, but they knew that it was a reasonably sized library. To them though, the door was basically unreachable.
An awkward silence filled the air as they walked, and then, Navja noticed that they were still holding hands. She quickly retracted it, running it through her hair. Roman was probably doing the same thing. Now it was even more awkward.
In these situations Navja would probably say something, but... what was she supposed to do?
"You kept talking about when we were younger," he said suddenly.
She made a face, "I did?"
"Yeah..." Roman trailed off.
Then she did something that surprised her, "Did I talk about couches?"
He looked a little shocked for a second, but he smiled, "You did, how we used to sleep on the couch together,"
Navja laughed a little, "Your family was a nightmare,"
"Remember when my grandma tried to scare you into being a blood purist?"
"Of course I do! That lady..."
"Was definitely something," he finished
"Yeah," she smirked, "Something,"
He took a deep breath quickly and asked, "How's your grandma?"
"Oh, she's fine," she answered just as quick, "But she does miss you, she's asking why you won't come over,"
"Your grandma... is nothing like mine,"
"She could get better," Navja assured him, "If she could let go of the whole pureblood thing,"
"She's not even a pureblood!" he whined, "And every time I bring it up she gets all offended like 'Roman Lumos Athernon, how dare you say - "
He was cut off by Navja trying to stiffle a laugh. He made a face, "What?"
"I forgot your middle name was Lumos,"
"She always cast a charm," he remembered, "And that always made everything really awkward,"
"When we sneaked back in when we were eight," Navja said, "Your mom caught you and everything was just blue light,"
"That... was a pretty nice time," He looked at her, "Don't you think?"
They arrived at the door before she could give him an answer. Roman stretched out his arm to open the door, but she caught his arm, "There might be someone there,"
"Someone... oh, oh - And then they might think - "
Navja nodded before opening it a few inches to poker her head through the door. Her hair was still a mess, her eyes were still slightly bleary but she looked and couldn't see anyone.
She took a tentative step out and quickly moved across the room behind a pillar. Still, no one. Navja looked back and gestured for him to come over, "The coast is --"
"What are you doing?"
She let out a squeak while Roman slammed the door shut creating a gust of wind, which certainly didn't lower the amount of suspicion they had.
She exhaled and tried to recollect herself as she turned around and smiled innocently, "Hello... Percy,"
The boy, who definitely looked tired, looked at her quizzically, "Why are you awake?"
Navja leaned against the stone wall and crossed her arms, "I could ask you the same question,"
He shrugged, "Sometimes I just wake up early but you were talking to someone,"
There was a silence.
"...I was talking to myself,"
"Talking to yourself,"
"Yeah," she confirmed, nodding her head with a serious expression on her face while silently cursing herself, "I just like ranting and since I have no one to rant to, I do it to myself,"
Percy looked at her a little concerned, "Is that healthy?"
"Who knows, well, I've got to go! See you later!"
And with that she turned the corner, sprinting down the hallway going nowhere in particular, just trying to get away from him.
He stood there, rooted to the spot very confused before he felt someone tap his shoulder.
"Jackson,"
"HOLY - !" He yelped jumping into the air as he turned around.
The boy had dark skin and shaved hair but his eyes, his eyes were yellow and he had an aura of power that reminded him of...
Apollo
"What - Why are you here?"
"I told you I'd look out for you during this quest - "
"You still haven't told me the - "
"Stop," Apollo interrupted, putting his hand into the air.
He didn't say anything for a moment which led Percy to raise an eyebrow.
"...What?" he whispered
"Someone's listening,"
Percy looked around, but saw no one, "There isn't anyone,"
Apollo didn't answer, instead putting his hand on his shoulder and steering him away from the Library door. Percy had to keep up with him and since he was a god, that wasn't very easy to do.
As the two rounded the corner, the same one Navja had turned, Roman's eyes remained wide and his face clearly showing how lost he was/
He closed the door (which he had opened to hear better) and slumped down onto the ground.
Burying his head in his hands he whispered to himself, "Was that my f*cking dad?"
-
Apollo didn't seem to be in a good mood and Percy didn't know why. He was awfully fast and he was snappy when he asked questions. It seemed liked they'd had walked for a while when he stopped suddenly and look at him.
"Percy," he whispered.
"What?"
"You have to be careful with who you make friends with,"
"What?" Percy was a little shorter than him so he had to look up to look at him in the eye, "Why?"
Apollo looked away, he still looked angry but now he looked exasperated, "I can't tell you that, have you forgotten?"
He squinted at him in complete confusion, "Why are you being so rude?"
"I'm not being rude," he growled, his eyes flashing.
Percy took a step back.
"I - " he sighed, "Whatever, fine, I'll be careful with making friends,"
He looked at him once more before turning his back to him to leave.
"Percy," he called making him stop, "I'm telling you this for your own good, for everyone's good,"
"And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked turning around.
Apollo looked like he was considering him. Finally, he said something. One word.
"Frost,"
Percy narrowed his eyes at him imagining what that mean and to his great displeasure an image of the Khione flashed in front of his eyes, but she was taken care of. Well, he didn't actually know what Khione looked like since that was Jason, Piper and Leo's quest, but when they described her they didn't exactly praise her.
And then he looked him directly into the eyes, "Remember,"
A new found energy entered the room and he instinctively covered his eyes. A flash of light filled the hall and then, he was alone.
Percy stood there for a moment, before cursing to himself and heading down the many stairs that led to the Great Hall. Sure, it definitely wasn't time for breakfast but he had nothing to do.. unless he could find Navja but the castle was huge and he had no idea where she was.
~
Navja was running back to library at full speed because, What the heck, I just left him in there
When she got to the large wooden doors she skidded to a stop to recollect her breath before pushing them open and poking her head inside.
"Roman?" she called softly.
There was no answer.
She stepped inside and closing the door behind her, "Roman?"
There was a quick movement and Navja lurched forward almost tripping but she caught herself. Navja glanced back with an offended look on her face.
There was Roman staring at her awkwardly, "Sorry, See - "
"Dude," Navja stood up straighter and began to walk to a nearby chair.
"Sorry," he said a little louder than needed, "I just - You're the only one who knows about my... Dad, right?"
She stopped to look at him, "What do you mean 'right?', what about Astoria,"
"Astoria," he repeated, "Oh, I've never told her about him,"
Navja squinted at him, "Okay... But you never talk about him,"
"You don't get it!" he exclaimed sitting down next to her, "It's - I - Navja, I saw him,"
"You saw him?"
"He was right there, here, and he talking to Percy!"
"Here?"
The entire conversation was very fast but he slowed down to answer this one, looking her in the eyes.
"Yeah," he said softly, "He's here,"
Navja sat there for a second and then she whispered, "That asshat,"
Roman chuckled, "Yeah, he's... not the best dad,"
"He's not a good person," she corrected standing up looking extremely mad, "What - He has blonde hair - No, brown hair - Ugh, I forgot, not that he's worth remembering anyway," she muttered the last part making him smirk.
"It's not like I care," he said, "Well I do care but - "
Roman sighed, "I don't know, it's just weird. I haven't seen the guy in two years - "
"Which is exactly why you don't need him!" Navja told him rushing over, "That guy isn't your father,"
"He actually is - "
"You," she said, "You get to decide who and who is not your family. And that man," she pointed to the doors, "Doesn't make the cut,"
"Who are you to decide that?"
"It's not my place to do that, but was he ever really there for you Roman?"
A silence.
"You've only seen him twice in your life," she continued, "And you were constantly complaining about him. Just because he miraculously just appeared doesn't mean that you can just forgive him,"
"I'm not - "
"Am I interrupting something?"
They both whirled around at the same time as both of them recognized the voice of none other than Astoria Greengrass.
A lot of people had decided to get up early today apparently. Navja looked her up and down from her dark green pyjamas, to her messy brown hair. She obviously hadn't expected anyone to be awake at this time of day judging by her tired eyes.
"You're not," Roman replied cooly, which was something he could do because he had been friends with her for quite a while.
"Really?" she asked, yawning as she studied Navja's shocked face, "Any secrets worth sharing?"
"No,"
Astoria leaned on the stone pillar. For someone who had just woken up, Navja thought she looked surprisingly decent.
"We were just talking," she told her, standing up, "About the new potions master,"
Her eyebrows rose as she considered the excuse; the new potions master was definitely... interesting. Harry Potter described their old professor as brave, Astoria and Roman described him as a huge asshole, but hey, everyone has their own opinions.
The new potions master was named Kada, but she'd probably smite anyone who ever called her by her first name. She was just as strict with the rules as Snape (their optimism was slowly slipping away at that point) and she was to be addressed as Professor Gravy.
Yes.
That was her name.
Professor Gravy was a short woman with broad features and an admittedly rather kind smile, although she only flashed one at Hermione Granger, but that was expected. Her afro caught everyone's attention first because of the size and how well cared for it was and her dark skin was simply glowing which made many of the students there wonder how she found the time to manage all of it. Did she use a spell? A potion? Maybe she asked Madam Pomfrey for help.
Either way, she made for a useful teacher even if she was a bit sharp toned and everything was going quite fine for the houses.
Well, every house except for the Hufflepuffs.
They had managed to piss her off in every possible way imaginable. From Navja tripping on her cloak onto her cloak to Hannah Abbott causing an explosion half way into her explanation of a new poison. The only person how managed not to mess up was Percy, but that was just because he was actually good at the class and he had sworn that he would not set anything on fire in the small time he was in the room.
Astoria sighed, "Yeah, she was fun wasn't she?"
"She was," Roman admitted, "But she was a little strict,"
Navja made a choking sound, "A little strict? Are you mad? The woman's crazy!"
"Crazy?" The two asked at the same time, "What are you talking about?"
She stared at them like they had grown another head, "She sent half the class to detention on the first day,"
"She did?"
"Yes!" Navja exclaimed, waving her hands around, "And like, she made us clean the stuff from the last class, that we didn't even do!"
Roman tilted his head to the side, "Really? I didn't think - "
He was interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing in the distance, probably the top of the Ravenclaw tower because that was where it was. It was breakfast. And that meant the three seriously had to put some other cloaks.
They exchanged a look before getting up at the same time and heading to the front door. Astoria opened the door to let them out and winked at Navja as she passed through, she rolled her eyes as she hid a smile.
Roman looked at the spot where his father had stood only a while ago, a look of confusion on his face. To be completely honest, he looked slightly desperate.
Navja's eyes narrowed as she remembered every time they laughed at his jokes, and then let her eyes trail back up to his green ones.
"He doesn't deserve you," she whispered quiet enough for only him to hear.
Roman glanced down and nodded, although he wouldn't meet her eyes.
Navja looked away.
~
Percy had no idea why Navja looked so mad at their Charms lesson. She had stormed into the room 15 minutes late, her hair thrown into a sort of makeshift bun and sat down in the seat beside him muttering a small 'sorry' to a very startled Professor Flitwick.
"Um, Ms. Jennings, why are you so late?"
It was common knowledge that Flitwick was often called the soft teacher since he really couldn't sound strict without either him breaking down laughing or the student stifling their giggles. So when he tried for a sharp tone, he sounded rather awkward.
"I slept in, I'm sorry,"
She didn't sound very sorry. Distant actually, as if she wasn't really listening. Percy watched her concerned.
"...Alright, you'll have to ask another student for notes,"
Navja nodded and glanced at Percy who looked down at his empty parchment. She followed his gaze and sighed, "Its okay, I'll ask someone else,"
Percy's face fell slightly at the comment. Navja put a hand on his shoulder, "No seriously, its fine. I can ask Hannah or Justin. It doesn't matter really,"
"Oh, sure,"
Navja watched her with the same concerned expression he had for her in the beginning of the class. Safe to say, she didn't learn anything that class.
~
At the end of the day, as the sun set over the castle, Hermione Granger was seen with Percy Goldcrest, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley practicing spells in the hallway laughing hysterically at the things they made happen and they owned it all to the girl in the book.
Cleo sat down at the edge of one of the many stone balcony that Hogwarts had, and empty vial in her hand. She sighed as she stared at the colours of the sky. Orange, pink, yellow. The clouds only added to the beauty.
Julius walked out and stood next to her, not speaking, but staring at the sky too.
Cleo faced him, and smiled faintly. He did the same.
And they fell into a comfortable silence as the sky darkened and the moon rose in all its glory.
She felt a sharp pain behind her eyes as she cried out in pain, falling backward and onto the stone floor.
-
Julius watched horrified as Cleo rose from the pile she was on the floor as if she had never even fallen. Her eyes were closed, but there was something coming out of them, and he had no idea what it was.
Cleo didn't spare a glance at him as she left the balcony and made her way down the stone hallway, Julius trailing behind her curiously, calling out her name. She didn't reply.
Navja seriously had no idea where she was.
It was black, her eyes were closed and she couldn't open them. Her feet were moving, she didn't know why and she couldn't hear anything.
She held out her hands, or at least tried to. And... they were there, in front of her. Now the black looked like a room; a completely dark, and large room.
There was a woman in front of her, black hair and dark skin, her eyes weren't closed. But she sure wished they were closed. They were bloody, and... non-existent. She didn't have eyes, there were just sockets where they should've been.
'Lamia,' she remembered, thinking back to the nightmare she had had. Although she assumed that this wasn't a nightmare.
"Hello Navja," the woman greeted, "Lovely to meet you again,"
She took a step back finding that her legs (at least in the room) were cooperating with her, "What are you doing here? Am I dreaming again?"
"You're not dreaming," she said simply walking towards her, "This is all real,"
"Oh no no no no, you are not real. This - This can't be real!"
Her eyes flickered, "You say that as a witch with... a rather interesting ancestry,"
"My ancestry..?"
She smirked, "All will be revealed, including why I have chosen you,"
"What does that mean?" she asked, feeling her heart rate elevate slightly
There was a pause, and Lamia seemed to consider her. Finally, she spoke, "You are very special Navja, and you have a connection to someone who will be useful to me,"
"So go talk to them!" she shouted, her voice starting to shake, "You don't need me! What - Where am I?"
Lamia was close to her now, inches away from her face, Navja could see every part of her mangled face. She reached a hand out and gently touched her cheek.
"In your head, child," she whispered softly, "It's all in your head,"
And then she woke up.
It was a new day, and she was in the hospital wing again. There were three people around her bed. Roman, Astoria and Percy, all of them looked especially tired. She glanced at the clock that was beside her, 6 AM. Navja didn't know why she was here, she felt...
Actually
There was a stinging sensation in her abdomen steadily growing more and more painful. She brought her hand to gut and felt her breaths getting quicker. Another problem: She couldn't move her legs.
"Navja," Percy started, "Don't get up,"
"Yeah," Astoria agreed, "You'll only hurt more, what were you thinking approaching a killer?"
Her eyes shot open, "What?"
"The person that you came close to," Roman explained, "Was a murderer,"
"What - Who did I approach?" she asked pushing herself up.
"Get back down," Percy muttered before continuing, "Their name was Elliot? And you knew them apparently, you were going to... stop them from taking someone's life,"
"What are you talking about Percy?" Navja questioned, panicked, "I don't know anyone named Elliot and - and when did they try to kill someone?"
Astoria narrowed her eyebrows as she shifted in her seat, "You said that you knew a boy named Elliot and were trying to stop them from killing someone. You never said who though..."
"When did this happen? When - What happened? Why am I in here?"
"You don't remember?" Percy asked his eyebrows tilting upwards.
"No," she admitted, "I have no idea what you're talking about,"
The three exchanged a look, and they didn't bother hiding their concerned faces which Navja didn't like whatsoever. She sighed and buried her head in her hands, "Just... leave me alone, please,"
"Um," Percy glanced at the clock, they had been there for quite a while. Thalia and Nico had to keep him from looking for the suspect all night, and the best they could do was tell him to check on her.
"If you say so..."
~
6 AM, Astoria noticed as they walked out of the room. What were they supposed to do at six in the morning? No one was awake.
Roman let out a loud yawn as his legs barely managed to support themselves. Percy didn't look to good either. He probably wasn't that much of a morning person unlike Astoria who was considered to be an early bird by her friends.
"Aren't you coming?" Roman asked sleepily, turning back towards her
"Oh..." she glimpsed at the hall that led to the kitchen. There was a place down there that she needed to get back to...
"No," she said finally, "You go ahead,"
Roman rose an eyebrow but faced the stairway once again, He already knew what she was like.
When he disappeared behind the corner, Astoria ran to the other side of the hall, ducked under a staircase and saw the painting of Madame Heli, the nurse before Madame Pomfrey.
Her face lit up with a grin as she sauntered over to the portrait. Madame Heli was holding a piece of chocolate in her hands, beside her was a very scared looking student but Astoria knew that the fear had long since faded. Now he was just stuck in that expression.
The witch looked down her pointed nose and sighed which she took some offence to.
"You're back?"
"Of course I'm back," she said, crossing her arms, "I left all my stuff in there too,"
Madame Heli let out a breath as she sent a look to the pear in the painting beside her. The pear jumped a little as if it were showing excitement. Astoria looked back at her, her feet began to tap on the marble floor.
The nurse rolled her eyes and swung the portrait open calling as Astoria eagerly clambered in, "And don't forget anything in there again!"
"I wouldn't count on it!" she yelled back.
The portrait closed before she could hear anything too bad. She exhaled and smiled as she stared at the room.
It was large, about the same size as the Room of Requirement when it was used for the DA, with tall arching windows that showed the night sky. Astoria didn't know why it was always night. Maybe the person who used if before her liked Astronomy (like her)
There was a wooden table in the center of the room, papers strewn across it carelessly. A candle that had long since been extinguished lay on its side. Astoria walked over and looked at her handiwork from the day before. She had come here to study and study she did.
She picked up a paper and read out loud something she learned kong ago, "Poseidon - God of the Seas,"