The morning began in a state of chaos. Percy had come back from his jog to find Ginny at the bottom of the stairs, with Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Black harmonizing in the background. Mrs. Black was going on about how we were the scum of the earth and didn't deserve to set foot in her house. Mrs. Weasley, on the other hand, was staring Fred and George down, berating them on almost "killing" their sister off. I'm pretty sure the words "incompetent fools" came up at some point of time.
Harry and Ron were still in their room, scrambling to pack up the last of their things before departing to the train station. Hermione was casting spells on all her items, ensuring that none of her books would go missing or awry and that she'd have plenty of new material to read up on during the train ride to Hogwarts.
Percy, having never unpacked anything after arriving just a couple days ago, had his bag and trunk (courtesy of Dumbledore) all set and ready to go. As a result, it took him 10 minutes to take a quick shower and bring his items back downstairs, before sitting at the dining table, enjoying an apple as everybody scrambled about around him.
While Mrs. Weasley hustled everyone along, making sure they got their things packed in time, Percy noticed a black dog rounding the corner. Grey eyes froze Percy mid-bite. He knew that look, knew it all too well. It was the look Chiron would give to him or any other camper when they left on a quest - the look that meant we dam well better come back alive.
Percy was shaken from his state when Hermione came down the stairs, grabbing something quick to eat before everyone was rounded towards King's Cross. While everyone else scrambled to make sure they had all their luggage and everyone was accounted for, Percy kept shifting his gaze across the area, checking for anything suspicious, trying to unravel anything that might be hidden in the shadows. He felt a chill crawl down his spine and looked around once more. Nothing. That seemed far scarier than some monster lurking around the corner.
Percy was relieved when they crossed through the portal in the pillar - or whatever it was that got them to platform 9 3/4. He was about to get on the train behind Harry when he felt a tug at his leg. He looked down and saw Sirius biting his pants, trying to hold him back for a moment.
"Go on ahead. I'll catch up with you." Harry glanced back for a moment, but left the odd teen alone. He didn't want to deal with Percy's mysteriousness more than needed.
Percy bent down to look Sirius in the eyes, ruffling his fur as though he was saying goodbye to his beloved pet instead of having a staredown with a fugitive. Sirius bent forward, into Percy for a moment, before pulling back and running to where Mrs. Weasley was saying her farewells. As he stood, Percy heard a ruffling in his pocket - so that's what Sirius was doing.
Before Percy could board the train, an arm reached out and stopped him. Out of instinct, he pulled his arm back, but relaxed a little when he saw who it was.
"Oh Percy! Please do be careful."
"I'll do my best, Mrs. Weasley."
"Molly - just call me Molly. Now listen here, Percy. If I hear one word about you skimping out on your meals, I'll come to Hogwarts and skin your hide myself. We clear?"
In that moment, Percy wished more than anything that he was back in New York, about to leave for some boarding school with his mom delivering the same message. He blinked once and replied, "Wouldn't dream of it." He started to turn to the train before pausing and adding on, "Thank you for everything these last few days. I really appreciate it." His mom would be so proud of his new manners.
Molly smiled, and Percy once again longed to be at home, to not have to worry about another war and just spend time laughing and smiling with his family, brainstorming weird baby names as he helped build the nursery. "You're welcome back anytime, dear. And I mean it. You better come back with Ronald and them during the holidays, understand?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way." With a final farewell from everyone else and a strong gaze from Sirius, Percy boarded the train, trying to find any familiar faces.
He finally saw and caught up to Harry and Ginny as Ron and Hermione turned the opposite direction and wandered off on their own.
"Where are they going?"
"Prefect cabin." Percy didn't miss the bitter tone underlying Harry's words.
"Come on. Let's find somewhere to sit. I don't know about you, but my legs will fall off if I have to stand a moment longer."
Ginny led the charge, finally leading them to a cabin with one other girl in it, who Percy realized through some light conversation was Luna. Luna gave Percy a long stare as he took a seat, but didn't speak up or ask him anything. Perfect.
Percy tuned out most of their conversation, until Luna said, "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." He couldn't help but laugh a little bit. That sounded like something she would say, sounded oddly familiar to a couple things she had.
Luna turned to look at him. "And who might you be?"
"Percy Jackson, at your service, Luna...?"
"Lovegood."
And that ended that conversation. Harry stared at Percy and noticed the way his eyes would flicker through the door window and out the actual window every so often, as though he was waiting for something to attack. He also noticed the way Luna looked at Percy, as though she had just found a marvelous puzzle she looked forward to solving.
Ron and Hermione entered the cabin after a while, talking about some Draco Malfoy being prefect. Percy listened quietly, trying to take in as much info as he could about the different students so he'd be better prepared.
"I'll make Goyle do lines, it'll kill him, he hates writing." Scrunching up his face, Ron did his best to do an imitation of the boy he was talking about. "I... must... not... look... like... a... baboon's... backside."
Everyone burst into laughter as Percy paled and stood suddenly. The happy sounds died instantly as all eyes turned to him. Ron put an arm in front of Percy, stopping him from exiting the cabin. "Hey mate, you a'right? You look a bit pale."
Percy looked up at him, and took a quick glance around to find concerned and wary faces looking back at him. He turned back to Ron and said, "Yeah. Just feeling a bit ill from all the travelling. It's been awhile since I've been on a train for so long." Hermione gave him a suspicious look, as though she didn't believe him. "I just need to walk around and breathe a little bit. Don't worry about it."
Luna looked at Percy curiously, standing up and saying, "I'll come with you. I could use some fresh air as well."
Harry saw Percy's face pale a bit more before he said, "N-no. I'm fine, really. I'd really rather walk alone. I need some time to just be alone for a bit. Besides, you lot are having fun, and I'd hate to ruin it." Luna kept looking at Percy, before he repeated, "I'm fine. Stay here." And he was gone.
Harry started to get up, wanting to follow Percy and see why he was acting so suspicious, but Hermione pulled him back down. "Give him some time, Harry. Think about it - he's in a new place surrounded by new people. He must be overwhelmed right now."
"He's just so odd. I can't understand what his motives are."
Ron looked between the two before saying, "I agree that we can't trust Percy right off the bat, but let's give him some time to adjust. It's not easy getting used to the wizarding world."
Neville gave them all an astonished look. "You mean to say he's a new student?! He doesn't know about the wizarding world??"
Hermione decided to chime in. "Seems so. Apparently, he's spent the summer catching up on all the material."
"Who knows how that bloke's learning it all. I can barely process one day's worth of material in a week."
Hermione gave Ron an exasperated look. "At least he values his studies. I don't know anyone else who would work so hard to catch up on missed lessons."
"But why did he miss so many lessons?" All heads turned to Luna and paused at her question.
"It has something to do with his mum." Harry looked out the door for a moment, as though he were afraid Percy might walk back in. "Quite honestly, his entire family seems to be a bit nuts."
"Harry!"
"It's true, Hermione, and you know it! There's something off about him and his mom."
"How can you--"
She was cut off by Luna who piped in and asked, "Do you mind explaining what you mean? Neville and I are lost."
Hermione glared at Harry, as if daring him to insult Percy and his family, but Harry didn't care. Percy was off, and he wanted as many people as possible to understand that and agree with him. "First off, some random kid pops up out of nowhere, has no prior knowledge of the wizarding world at 17, and somehow becomes part of the Order. Tell me that's not suspicious. And to top it all off, he's managed to catch up on 6 years of lessons during the summer so that he can join the 7th years."
"That doesn't mean his entire family--"
"But that's not all! His mom is some bigshot in the wizarding world, but dropped off the face of the earth. Did you see how Padfoot reacted to her? He was so mad, and you know he doesn't get mad for no good reason."
"Well, Harry, you have to admit that Padfoot gets irked by little things as far as you're concerned."
Harry just looked at Ron, as though he couldn't believe those words came from him. "Fine, forget the mom despite how weirdly her presence impacted the others. What about Percy's dad? Did you hear how he talked about him? As though he were the scum of the earth. He should be happy he even has 2 parents who are alive. What's he complaining about? He just disrespects his parents and takes them for granted - leaving his mom all the time and causing her problems, and then hating his father like that. He doesn't even go by the name they gave him!"
"Harry! Enough!" Hermione's voice was a little louder than she anticipated, but it did the trick and got Harry to quiet down.
"Yeah. If I had a name like Perseus, I wouldn't want to be called that either - no matter how much I might love my parents." Hermione looked at Ron with wide eyes, as though she couldn't believe the stupid comment that came out of his mouth.
"Not the point. At all. Harry, you can't judge Percy so harshly. Ever since he's gotten here, he's been kind to you and helped you out in whatever way he could. You shouldn't judge him, when you don't know what hardships he might have faced. He helped clear your name during the trial for heaven's sake!"
Harry looked down. He'd forgotten about that for a moment. And then, he remembered something else. "That's another thing - he was odd at the trial too."
"Oh for God's sakes, Harry!"
"No. Listen, please. When we were at the trial, he threw a rock at Fudge. The aim was so accurate, and the speed of the rock was so fast. I swear no one would have been able to do something like that with magic, and he did it with just his bare hand."
Hermione paused and looked at Harry for a moment before concluding, "Just leave it be, Harry. If Percy does something suspicious, then we'll look into it. For now, just let him adjust peacefully. Dumbledore trusts him, so let's try to do the same."
Neville's face was pale from the entire conversation, and he asked just one question, "H-He's a 7th year? H-how?"
***
When Percy came back, his clothes were crumpled as if he'd been rolling around in them and Harry could swear he saw something shiny on his clothes, something gold.
Hermione looked at him a little concerned and asked, "Is everything okay? You were gone for a while."
He looked at her for a moment before squeezing into an empty spot between Ginny and the window. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I just needed some fresh air. Honest."
Ginny looked at him skeptically and picked something off his shoulder. "Is this dust? How would this even get into the train?
Harry watched Percy carefully, the way he brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head, the way he winced slightly when his arm moved above his shoulder. "There was a mo-mishap in the hall at the end of the train. It's taken care of now, but that's why I look like a mess." Harry noticed how Percy slipped a bit in what he was saying. What was he gonna say? Mo-something.
Ginny turned to him and brushed the dust off of his clothes. "You're going to make possibly one of the best and worst entrances into Hogwarts."
Percy was a bit distracted as he replied something under his breath.
Hermione got up and nudged Ron as well. "Well, you got back just in time. Time to change into your robes since we'll be approaching the school soon. Come on, Ron. We need to do our rounds to make sure everyone's getting ready."
Ron had some chocolates stuffed in his mouth but nodded his head and got up to follow Hermione. Harry and Neville got up, getting their robes out, but Percy just sat there, looking confused. Harry scoffed under his breath before slipping his robes on. How could Percy be so chummy with Dumbledore and not know something so basic?
Luna gave Harry a disappointed look before turning to Percy and saying, "Everyone must wear their robes at school. It's part of the, what's the word--"
"Uniform?" Percy asked with his eyebrows scrunched together a little bit.
Luna's face lit up. "Exactly! Part of the uniform! Surely, you must have a pair packed away."
Percy blushed a little bit as he ducked his head, muttering something under his breath in what sounded to be another language. When he noticed the stares directed on him, he spoke up and said, "Yes, of course." He got up and dug around in his bag before pulling out a new robe set and showing it to the rest. "Is this it?"
Harry scoffed again at Percy's faux ignorance. Percy just wanted attention, and it seemed to be working since Luna, Ginny, and Neville were warming up to him.
This time Neville answered and said, "Yes. And you should have a shirt and tie to wear as well."
Percy's eyes widened as he asked, "You mean I can't just wear my t-shirt? What type of school is this? A military academy?"
Ginny smiled a little and replied, "No. It's just part of the uniform. You'll get used to it. Soon it'll be odd to wear anything that's not the school robes."
Percy muttered, "Doubtful" under his breath as he put the robes on top of his t-shirt and jeans, not bothering with the proper shirt and tie. "If I'm going to be forced to learn, I'll do so in comfortable clothing. Not some ancient cult uniform." And that was the end of that discussion.
***
As Percy got off the train, he saw someone yelling, "First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!"
Ginny nudged his side and pointed to where the new students were headed. "You should go with them. That's where you'll get Sorted."
Harry looked at the two of them, before turning back to Hermione and Ron. "Where's Hagrid?"
Ron looked around before replying, "Don't know. Hope he's a'right."
Ginny nudged them and said, "Come on. We need to move. We're blocking the way."
Hermione nodded adding, "Yes. We should leave if we want to catch a carriage together."
Harry noticed Percy following them and asked, "Shouldn't you be going with the first years?"
"No. I was told to go to Hogwarts with you guys, and that someone would direct me from there."
"Oh."
But Harry's attention was directed elsewhere when he saw the...horses...pulling the carriages. "What are those?"
Ron looked at him baffled. "What are what?"
"The horses pulling the carriages. Don't you see them?" He pointed at the winged creatures.
Ron and Hermione shared a look, one that clearly said that he had been dealing with too much and must be hallucinating. "I don't see anything, Harry. The carriages are pulling themselves, like they do every year."
Suddenly, Percy was next to Harry, saying, "Aren't they beautiful?"
Harry turned to Percy sharply and asked, "You can see them?"
"Of course. They're amazing, aren't they? So majestic." Percy reached his hand out, and the horse-creature-whatever it was leaned its head in. Percy took a moment to stroke the creature's head, while Harry looked at it once more. Horrid. That's the only thing he could describe the animal as. Not beautiful or majestic like Percy thought.
Once again, Ron shared a look with Hermione before saying, "Let's go, shall we?"
As they were getting on the carriage, a girl from inside spoke up. "It's alright. You're not going mad or anything. I can see them to." It was Luna. "Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am."
Harry shook his head. Like that would reassure him. Everyone called her Loony Lovegood for a reason.
***
As Percy had said, Professor McGonagall was waiting for him when the carriages arrived at campus. Everyone said their farewells to the new kid as he was led away.
Harry turned to the others and said, "I don't care if you believe me or not when I say there's something off about him. Just be wary of him."
Hermione pursed her lips before saying, "Alright, Harry. I think it's wrong to judge someone so harshly before getting to know them, but I also believe we need to be careful of everything right now."
Ron nodded his head in agreement.
They all took a seat in the Great Hall, and Harry was shocked to see a familiar face sitting with the professors. He pointed at the lady in pink and said, "It's that Umbridge woman!"
"Who?" Hermione followed his line of sight to stare at the new professor.
"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"
After that, Hermione seemed to be lost in thought. Harry decided to forget it at the moment as McGonagall brought the Sorting Hat out to the front of the Hall. He noticed Percy standing with the first years, looking awkward and out of place with his starkingly different height and physique. Well, that and the fact he wasn't wearing the white shirt and Hogwarts tie.
The Sorting Hat began its song, followed by McGonagall reading out the list of first years, one by one and letting them get sorted into their houses. As she went through the list, some of the hat's words rang in his head - the ones about the Houses needing to stand united to face their deadly foes. So the Hat believed Voldemort was back.
Finally, the first years were sorted, but Percy still stood awkwardly to the side, waiting for his name to be called so he could get his House and sit down with everyone else.
Dumbledore got up and began to speak. Looks like Percy's going to be standing around a bit longer. "Now, for the usual start-of-term notices..." Dumbledore went on to give his usual speech about the forest and Finch's frustrations with the students before he was interrupted by the pink toad on the side.
"Hem. Hem." She went to the center, blocking Dumbledore and taking over his speech. "Thank you, Headmaster, for those words of welcome." She cleared her throat before continuing, "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy faces looking back at me!"
Harry looked around. No one was happy, including the Slytherins. For once, everyone seemed to be on the same page - taken aback by the change in the beginning of the term ritual and the tone Umbridge was using, as if speaking to a 5 year old.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" She cleared her throat once more before saying, "The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever."
Harry noticed Percy trying to hold back laughter from where he was still awkwardly standing on the side. Harry looked around to see amused and concerned looks all around him. Finally, Umbridge brought her long-winded speech to an end as she said, "Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that out to be prohibited."
Suddenly, laughter broke into the hall. All heads turned to stare at Percy. What is he thinking? He tried to stop himself from laughing, but was shaking so much, it seemed near impossible. Umbridge glared at Percy, asking, "And who might you be? Do you have something you'd like to say to me?"
Percy looked up, before breaking into another fit all over again. It took him a moment to calm down, a moment in which the other professors and Dumbledore seemed to be very amused while Umbridge impatiently tapped her foot. "Sorry, sorry. It's just - those words? They sound super pretentious."
"Why, I--"
Percy cut Umbridge's protest off as he continued, "And to top it all off, your ridiculous outfit makes it all the harder to take you seriously."
"Why, I never!"
Percy turned to look at Dumbledore, and asked, "Why do I have to wear these ridiculous robes when she isn't? All the other professors are, so shouldn't she also have to wear the robes? If not for the sake of school pride, then at least to preserve some d-dig-dignity." And he was laughing once more as he choked the last word out.
As Harry looked around, more and more faces seemed amused by what was happening. Umbridge had enough of the muffled laughter around her as she said, "Enough! You, young man, can expect to see me more now that you've earned yourself a detention!"
"Detention? Don't tell me I have to wear a dunce cap too." Even Harry was amused at that comment.
"That is quite enough! A week's detention! You aren't even in proper uniform!" She pointed at the t-shirt that could be seen in the gap between his robes. "I expect you to be in my office after school every day this week! How imprudent--"
Before Umbridge could go on, Dumbledore interrupted and said, "That will be enough. Thank you, Professor Umbridge, for that most illuminating speech. As I was about to say before I was interrupted," that received a scoff from the pink toad, "this year we welcome a new student. He will not be joining as a first year, but rather, as a seventh year!"
This caused a huge commotion amongst everyone as heads turned towards Percy once more. Hermione leaned over the table and said, "I'm interested to see what house he'll be sorted into."
The others nodded as Dumbledore continued, "While he may just be joining us now, he is knowledgeable about all the course material from the last six years, so do not treat him as ignorant. At the same time, please be as welcoming and understanding as you would to a first year who does not know their way around the school grounds. Now, let us sort Perseus Jackson."
As he got on stage, Percy said, "Percy. Just Percy."
Dumbledore smiled slightly as he said, "My mistake. I meant to say Percy Jackson."
But the damage was done. He noticed some students smirking and laughing at his full name. He could already tell they'd be making fun of it. But that wasn't the main issue. If people start saying his full name around and off campus, it might attract a monster's attention.
Taking a deep breath, Percy stepped forward and sat on the stool, the way he had seen the first years before him do. Once he was seated, Dumbledore placed the Sorting Hat on his head and a voice invaded his mind.
Let's see here. Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon.
How do you know? Percy thought back.
You are not the first of your kind that I have encountered. Though you are the first to be from such a powerful bloodline. How interesting. Often the demigods who come here are children of Hecate, since she sometimes gets enraptured by the wizards and witches she created.
Oh.
Let's see. Loyal and faithful - oh my, your fatal flaw! You'd make an excellent Hufflepuff. Always thinking about others, including everyone. Oh! But you're smart as well.
Percy scoffed.
You may not think so, but you are very smart. Maybe not book smart, but you understand things easily and pick up on new concepts quickly. You're good at making decisions and strategizing. Ravenclaw would be a good fit for you. Or should I put you in the same house as your mother - Slytherin? You're very cunning and sly. Maybe not the same way as Tom Riddle once was, but you deceive those around you in order to protect them. Hmm. But your battles and bravery could place you in Gryffindor. Where to put you, where to put you? Hmm.
Gryffindor. Percy didn't mean to think it, but there was no taking it back now.
Gryffindor? Why would you want that?
I'm here on a mission. I need to protect Harry Potter, and I can't do that if I'm in a different House than him. I'm already in a different year.
I see. Then let's make it "Gryffindor!"
Thank you.
Don't thank me yet. You may find yourself someday wishing you'd been placed differently. But, nonetheless, I do hope you enjoy your decision.
As Dumbledore took the hat off Percy's head, he noticed the table with Harry and his friends was cheering for him. He smiled and went off in that direction, taking the open seat next to Ginny.
As he sat down, Hermione asked, "What took you so long? The Hat seemed to be taking an awful long time to make a decision." All the other students on their table seemed to be interested as well, pausing some of their conversations to listen in.
Before Percy could reply, Dumbledore cleared his throat at the front of the Great Hall and finally said, "Let the feast begin!" As he turned to take a seat, Percy could have sworn Albus winked at him.
Percy turned back to Hermione and answered, "The Sorting Hat was thinking about which house would best suit me."
This time, Harry piped in, which was surprising since Percy was pretty sure Harry hated him. "Really? Which houses was it debating for you? I remember when I got sorted, it was debating between Slytherin and Gryffindor." This was new information. Harry didn't seem the cunning type. Rather, he was too caring and honest.
"Oh, um, it seemed to be debating between all 4 houses, really."
The chatter around him came to a stop as the heads on the table swirled to face him. "All 4? Blimey, Percy!"
Hermione nodded, agreeing with Ron's statement, and added, "I've never heard of such a thing happening before. Are you sure it was debating between all the houses, and not just mentioning them?"
Percy nodded, saying, "Yeah. The hat was saying that I was loyal enough to go into Hufflepuff, smart and cunning enough for Ravenclaw and Slytherin, and brave enough for Gryffindor."
"Blimey."
"How'd it end up sorting you into Gryffindor, then?"
Percy scratched the back of his neck. He couldn't say that it was to better protect Harry. Firstly, Harry hates him and would never believe that. He would think it was so Percy would be within range to kill him. Secondly, he had to keep his quest under wraps to avoid unwanted attention from potential threats.
Well, here goes his pride. "Well, it asked me which house I prefer, and I chose this one, since, you know, I actually know people here and I wouldn't be so lonely." Ugh, that sounded mushy, even to him and his dam loyalty.
Harry scoffed and Percy forced himself to blushed a bit.
Fred piped up from where he was sitting and said, "Don't worry, Percy,"
"We'll show you around," added George.
"And make sure"
"You don't feel"
"Lonely at all!"
That time, Percy didn't need to fake the slight blush that brushed his cheeks, embarrassed that he actually said that mushy stuff. But at least they seemed to be believing his excuse - Harry being the only exception.
The laughter and chatter continued on after that, and Percy's seemingly embarrassing comment seemed to have made it easier for him to talk to the other students.
***
As they were walking towards their Commons, a younger student ran up to Percy and handed him a note, saying, "Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to give you that." Percy nodded his thanks before the student ran off.
Percy opened the note and did his best to decipher the floating letters popping up from the parchment. The cursive scrawl wasn't helping either. Finally, he gave up and asked Hermione for help reading what the note said, and though she gave him a curious glance, she obliged.
Perseus,
It appears we have a few matters to discuss. It has come to my attention that there was an incident on your train ride here. Please come to my office today at midnight so that we may discuss it along with other matters.
By the way, I do love Sherbet Lemons.
Albus Dumbledore.
Hermione gave Percy another look, especially at the comment about an incident, but he merely shrugged. He really didn't have any explanation - at least, not until he's talked to Dumbledore about some things. Percy looked at the letter once more, before stuffing it in his pocket and catching up to the rest of the students. As the others talked about random things that had happened over the summer, one thought went through Percy's head - Styx.
---
Okay, so I honestly have no good excuse for my 1.5 year long hiatus. At first, I was super busy with school, and then when I did have time, I had writer's block and didn't know what to do. Then I would get busy again and lose any thoughts I did have about continuing the story.
Unfortunately, the first chapter I post after my hiatus is pretty lame. I'm sorry if it wasn't what you wanted, but I needed to add in some filler stuff to transition to them being at Hogwarts. I tried to make it a bit longer to compensate for the lameness.
Also, sorry, if my writing and the storyline doesn't live up to your expectations. The comments you leave are super inspiring and I love knowing that you all enjoy my story so much. I'm always surprised to see I have new votes and comments despite no new chapters. At the same time, I don't want to disappoint you, but I know it's unfair to just stop writing when you're all so dedicated. So, I'll try to keep this going. Just, don't expect too much, okay?
Hopefully, I'll get another chapter out during my winter break, but again, no promises, since the last time I thought I'd update shortly turned into a hiatus.
As always, vote, comment, let me know what you think!
If you have any ideas on what should happen, let me know. I love hearing all the thoughts on where my story might go. Who knows, I might even use a few. ;)
Again, love you all for being such dedicated readers!!!!
<3 <3 <3