It was the last weekend of term and it was a Hogsmeade day. Chiron didn’t hesitate to sign my Hogsmeade form, so I felt bad for Harry who couldn’t go. I was walking with Audrey, talking about camp.
“C’mon, Ally! Everyone knows you’ve been writing back and forth with Percy Jackson! Don’t even lie, you like him!” She said, and I gave her a look.
“No, I don’t like him,” I said. “I merely tolerate him.”
Audrey ignored me. “Ooh, what will Annabeth think! I bet he likes you back and ooh! The drama! I can’t wait to tell Thalia!” She exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes.
“Tell her what you want, but it’s not true.” I said, walking on without her.
I walked into Honeydukes with Audrey right behind me. I quickly found Ron and Hermione.
“Hey, Ally!” Hermione said, and Ron just nodded along. “We’re looking for something for Harry!”
“What about those?” Ron said, pointing to a tray of red lollipops. “Blood pops.” He read from the sign.
“I find that oddly appealing.” I said, picking one up. Audrey rested a hand on mine and made me put it back. “Boo.”
“Ugh, no. Harry won’t want one of those, they’re for vampires, I expect.” Hermione said, sending me a look.
“How about these?” Ron said, shoving a jar of cockroach clusters in our direction.
“Definitely not.” I heard Harry say and I sighed.
Unlike everyone else, I was used to the unnormal, which included invisible people. “Why?!” I snapped, and that seemed to take them all aback.
I was strongly irked and grabbed Audrey’s wrist and left. We played hothands by the shrieking shack when Harry came running. “Oh…hi, Harry.” I said before turning back to Audrey. Harry grabbed my collar and pulled me up. “What-?”
“Your dad! Your dad killed my parents!” He yelled, and my eyes widened.
“Harry, that’s my dad, not-”
“My parents are dead because of your dad!” He punched me. In the face.
“Harry, it's my dad, not me!” I cried out, clutching my nose before running back to the castle.
ততততত
I sat in my bed, a piece of paper on my lap as I wrote a letter to Percy.
Aquaman,
You won’t believe what happened today. Harry punched me! In the face! Because of what my dad did! He may have killed his parents, but I did nothing! It’s like with that other kid! I hate it. I wish I could stay at camp. I just wish I got quests like you.
Butterfly
Short but it meant more. I gave it to Gigi and she took off. I stayed in my room and Dianna came in.
“Hey,” She said. “You okay? You look depressed.”
“I mean…yeah. I’m depressed.” I said, curling up into a ball.
“What happened for you to be so depressed?” She asked, and I sniffed.
“Harry punched me. And blamed me for what my dad did.” I said, bitterly. I wished Gigi could fly faster.
ততততত
A while later Gigi flew in. I was surprised he managed to write back so fast and Gigi’s capability to fly so fast.
Butterfly,
Excuse me, what?! Someone punched you? I need their name, address, and you might want to make sure their doctor knows their blood type. Or not. I don’t care. I just want to crush someone. I’ll destroy the other guy too. Riptide will work on witches and wizards, right?
Speaking of you not going on a quest, I talked Chiron into letting you come with me, Annabeth, and Thalia to go get some demigods from a school. So ha, you're stuck with me.
Aquaman
I smiled, jumping to my feet excitedly. I made sure everything was packed because everyone was leaving today. It meant an adventure! And seeing Thalia and Percy, but an adventure!
I sat with Audrey on the train. We talked, played, and joked the whole trip. When it stopped, I spotted Percy.
“Aquaman!” I yelled, running to him.
“Hey, Butterfly!” He said, hugging me.
“Okay, what happened?” Thalia said, and I grinned.
“Letters. Lots and lots of letters.” Percy responded, and Audrey jogged over.
“You are fast,” She gasped, and then she saw Percy. “Aww, water boy is here. No wonder.”
He rolled his eyes, and Chiron chuckled. “We better be off then!” He said, and he dragged us to the fireplaces to floo back to camp. They may not be wizards, but they’re demigods. That’s an upgrade in some ways.
I stumbled out of the fireplace and almost fell flat on my face. Then Percy shoved me. “Prissy!” I yelped as he roared with laughter. “Don’t do that!”
“It was funny!” He defended.
“It hurt!”
“It was funny.” He persisted.
“It’s so funny, I forgot to laugh.”
He stuck his tongue out and I mocked him. “Your two’s version of flirting is fairly different from what I pictured.” Audrey said, and I glared at her.
“This isn’t flirting.” Percy defended. “If we were flirting, I’d say that she looks nice and we’d go back and forth, throwing all the compliments off the top of my head, and accidentally let my hand brush her’s and then-”
“Okay, it really sounds like you really thought this out.” I said, crossing my arms indignantly.
“What? I talk to my mom about girls. What’s wrong…okay, I hear it now.” Percy said, starting to laugh.
“Aww, I'm one of the girls you talk to your mummy about?!” I teased, and he turned red.
“Hey, how do you think I got you to tolerate me?”
“So you wanted me to like you?”
“I…shut up.”
I chased after him, teasing him, until we arrived at his cabin. “What about the dog?” He asked, and I sighed.
“So there's a thing called animagus in the wizarding world. It’s where you do all these things so you can turn into one animal. That dog is an animagus.” I said, and he nodded.
“Oh, so that dog is a human pretending to be a dog!” He said, and then frowned. “Wait, who’d spy on people?!”
“You didn’t let me finish.” I said, biting my lip. “You know how my dad escaped?”
Percy put two and two together. “No…” He said, wide-eyed.
“That’s not all!” I said, sitting on the banister. “Padfoot is innocent!” I said, and Percy did a double take.
“Scuse me?”
I glanced over his shoulder and spotted Padfoot, snarling at Percy. “May I suggest we move this conversation somewhere else?” I asked, and he glanced back at the dog and he jumped to his feet.
“Yes, yes, that seems suitable.” He looped his arm around mine and tugged me along. “So,” He said when we were far enough from the dog. “You look pretty beat up.”
“Yeah, that kind of happens when you’re constantly beat up.” I said, and he tensed.
“Is it that Harry kid? I have no problem with beating someone bloody for you.” He asked, and I laughed.
“No, it’s mainly Norman Shafiq, a fifth year Slytherin.” I said, and he rested an arm over my shoulder.
“Well, here you can crush anyone your heart desires.” He said, and I laughed. “Except me of course. That would just be…not cool.”
I jumped on his back, causing him to stumble, but he laughed it off. “Where to madame?” He asked in a snooty voice.
“Well, I’m not married so I’m a mademoiselle. And to the dining pavilion!” He said, and he stumbled again.
“Y’know, let’s just go to the stables and find Blackjack.” He said, and I kicked him. “Okay, to the dining pavilion!”
And that’s how you get a horse for life. I mean, c’mon! His brother is a pegasus, it’s not too far from the tree.