Jason, Percy, and Nico ran along the corridor, following everyone else.
"Who do you think it was?" Nico asked as they turned the corner to the sound of Peeves' shouting.
"Not sure," Percy replied back. "It could be anyone. I just hope that this one shows Harry's innocent."
"Fat chance of that. Wizards are stubborn," Jason added as they turned the corner. There was a hush.
"We need to get closer." Jason squeezed through the crowd and burst into the center, where there was a ten foot radius circle of space, clearly showing Harry, Piper, Professor McGonagall, and...
"No," Nico breathed and knelt next to them. Frank and Hazel lay on the ground, frozen, their eyes widened in shock. In Hazel's hand was a massive diamond.
Jason turned to Piper, the silent question on her lips. What happened?
Piper shook her head back at him, her eyes wide. I don't know.
>>>•O•<<<
"Piper, we were just wondering." Thalia cast her eyes around the rest of the group before continuing. They were in an empty classroom, away from the scene of the crime. "You don't happen to know if Draco is Slytherin's Heir, do you?"
Piper's jaw dropped open the slightest bit. "No, he's definitely not it" she said with certainty.
"Are you sure?" Nico pressed. "Because no one hurts Hazel and gets away with it." His eyes seemed darker, somehow. Even though they were jet black before, they seemed to suck light out of the surroundings.
Piper looked at them. "You don't believe me?" she asked calmly. "Draco isn't the heir. Sure, he's rude sometimes, but he wouldn't set a monster on people."
Percy frowned. "You're going soft on him," he stated bluntly. Piper shook her head in disgust.
"You guys don't know him," she insisted. "Like I said, he can be rude and mean, but he's just bitter. And his family is a huge influence. Trust me." She used no charmspeak.
Jason pursed his lips. "Piper, you heard what he said. 'Enemies of the Heir, beware, you'll be next, Mudbloods.' If that isn't a clue, I don't know what is."
Piper looked at Jason differently. "Draco is FINE. Jason, I thought you were more trusting than that."
Annabeth lowered her head, so shadows danced across it. "We're not sure, Piper. We think—" she hesitated. "—well, you might be a little biased towards the Slytherins, don't you think?"
Piper was speechless. "You, my friends. I thought you actually listened to me." she stared at all of them. "Trust me, it's not Draco."
The Gryffindors exchanged glances. Piper fumed. "Fine." she picked up her book bag. "Fine. Don't believe me. But don't do anything rash with the completely absurd idea that Draco's the Heir of Slytherin. Because he's not." she stormed out of the room.
Jason stared at everyone. "Did she just pick Draco over us?"
Annabeth rubbed her temples. "We were pretty blunt about it. And we were basically accusing her of lying to us. I can partially understand it."
Nico looked cautiously down the corridor. "We shouldn't hang around like this," he warned them. "We'll attract attention. Let's get back to the Gryffindor Common room."
>>>•O•<<<
The double attack on Frank and Hazel seemed to worry everyone even more. People would stop abruptly when they saw Harry coming down the halls and turn the other way. There was almost a mob of people crowding Professor McGonagall to go home for the holidays.
"At this rate, it'll just be us left," Ron commented. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."
"Don't forget Ginny," Annabeth said. "And Fred, George, Percy Weasley, and Piper."
They passed the group of Slytherins on their way to the Great Hall. Malfoy looked at Harry sourly while Piper huffed at them.
"Malfoy's being really bitter lately," Harry said as they slipped into the Great Hall.
"It's because he's just bursting to say it's him," Ron said. "You know how much he hates anyone beating him in anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."
>>>•O•<<<
Christmas morning came bright and early. Jason blinked and put on his glasses, squinting around the dormitory. Harry, Ron, and Percy were already up, and seemingly out.
"Where'd they go?" Jason asked Nico, who was pulling his curtains around him to change.
"Moaning Myrtle's," Nico's muffled response came. "The Polyjuice Potion is almost ready."
"They're still using that?" Jason asked as he tied his shoes.
"Well, yeah, more determined I think, since we told them Piper was sure Malfoy's not the Heir. That just made them more convinced she can't be trusted."
Jason groaned as he and Nico headed down to the common room. "She's trustworthy," he said.
"Really?" Thalia arched an eyebrow from the armchair she was waiting on. "Because it sure didn't sound like you trusted her a few days ago."
Jason winced. "Don't remind me." Jason, Nico, Annabeth, and Thalia headed down to the Great Hall. "Has she spoken to you guys at all?"
"She's pretty sour on this," Nico said. "I can kind of understand it, we pretty much turned our backs on her, but it's not like Piper to hold a grudge."
"Well, if she talks to you guys before me, tell her I was sorry and wasn't thinking properly."
"Oh really? You sounded pretty certain earlier." Jason whirled around and saw Piper leaning up against the wall next to the Great Hall.
"Piper! I'm sorry we called you a liar, please don't ignore me anymore," Jason pleaded quickly, straight to the point. Piper arched an eyebrow, then sighed.
"You know I can't ignore you, Sparky," she said. "It's just, all my life I've been called a liar. And then my closest friends accused me too. I swear it on the Styx that from what I know, Draco is not the Heir."
A low and distant rumble of thunder confirmed it.
Jason sighed. "Alright, I was just worried about Frank and Hazel. Anyone who hurts our friends will pay."
A smile tugged at Piper's lips. "That's the Sparky I know," she said, before kissing his cheek and going inside.
Annabeth smiled at Jason. "See, all better."
There was a distinct hmf from around the corner. Jason glanced as they entered and spotted Malfoy standing around the corner with his arms crossed, glaring at Jason. Then he turned and walked down the corridor.
>>>•O•<<<
"Hey, you're back. Ron, I got a wizard chess set. Rematch from last year?" Annabeth grinned and held up her new set. Ron's face split into a competitive grin and was just about to turn and head up the boy's dormitories when Hermione grabbed the hood of his cloak.
"Sorry, Annabeth, but we were just dropping by to tell you we'll be out for another hour or so. The potion's complete now."
Annabeth stood up and pulled out her hat. "I'm coming with you," she said. "Just in case. Percy, are you taking the potion?"
Percy shook his head and pulled out his own sea green cap. "I'll do the same as you. You three can stay here," he said to Thalia, Jason, and Nico. Jason huffed and sat back down on the armchair.
"Think about it like this," Annabeth supplied helpfully. "If we get caught, you're not in trouble with Piper because you weren't there."
Jason nodded. "I guess. Have fun." He watched as the five slipped out of the common room portrait.
>>>•Annabeth POV•<<<
They slipped into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, looking around to make sure no one saw them.
"Okay, the final step." Hermione grimaced and looked at the bubbling potion. "We need to add a bit of whoever we're changing into. You have the hairs?"
Harry and Ron held up little glass vials with stubbles of hair in them. Percy wrinkled his nose. "Imagine if they had lice."
"Don't imagine if they had lice," Annabeth advised. Hermione pulled three empty flasks from her robe and ladled the thick liquid into them.
"Now add the hairs," she said, dropping her long, coarse one in. The potion turned the color of mustard that mixed with dirt, set out in the sun for three days. Harry's was booger colored and Ron's was the shade of Gaea. Brown and green.
"Wait!" Annabeth stopped them before they could all chug it at once. "You're planning to drink it all in here? We'll be squashed!"
"She's right," Ron stepped outside, holding the potion away from him like it had rabies. "I'll go in here." He stepped inside and closed the door, Harry going to the stall on the right. Percy and Annabeth backed out, giving Hermione her space. "Ready?"
"One— two— three!"
There was a loud retching noise as the disgusting potions oozed down the wizard's throats. A loud crash told them Harry had fallen on the floor. Hermione gave a little yelp of agony. Ron fell in the toilet.
Then there was silence. Annabeth backed up to the sinks and stared in disbelief at the two stalls, which once held Harry and Ron.
"Are you two okay?" It was eerie hearing Goyle talk like he cared about something.
"Yeah," came the deep grunt of Crabbe.
The stall doors opened and out stepped the human walls. The look of shock on their faces told Annabeth that they hadn't really expected it to work.
"Hey, Hermione?" Annabeth rapped on Hermione's stall. "You okay?"
"I— I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me." Her voice quavered.
"Hermione, we all know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to really know it's you," Ron said impatiently, looking at Harry's watch which had squeezed Goyle's hand into a nasty shade of purple.
"No, please go on, you're wasting time," Hermione squeaked back.
"You need to go." Percy nudged them. "Annabeth can stay here with Hermione. We still don't know where the Slytherin common room is."
"He's right." Harry loosened his watch. "It's almost been five minutes."
Annabeth watched as the boys filed out of the bathroom before knocking again.
"Hermione, it's fine, they're gone—" she stopped as the door creaked open.
Small, yellow eyes peeped out from under jet black fur. Annabeth held in her gasp as Hermione the kitten girl opened the stall the whole way.
"Cat hair!" she gasped. "Millicent Bulstrode must have a cat! The potion's not supposed to be used for animal transformations!"
Annabeth got over her initial shock— she's seen weirder stuff before.
"Won't it wear off after an hour?" she asked hopefully. Hermione shook her head. "I don't think so. Oh, how am I supposed to go back to classes after this?" she asked, turning around. Annabeth almost choked at the long, fuzzy tail that protruded from Hermione's lower back.
"We should get you to Madam Pomfrey's," she said seriously, handing Hermione her cap. Hermione looked at it uncertainly.
A laugh resounded from the next stall over and Moaning Myrtle floated out, looking the happiest Annabeth's ever seen her. "Oh, just wait," she said, delightedly. "You'll be teased something awful. Oh, just wait until everyone sees you've got a tail!"