Hermione
"Again!" Percy's voice shouted over the field. I stopped whatever I was doing to lower my sword and put a hand against my forehead. I put my hand away to see that it was covered in my sweat.
"I think he's pushing us too hard." My partner, Ally, gasped as she straightened up to wipe some sweat away from her hairline. I shook my head as I edged myself into a fighting stance. "Not at all. We have to be prepared to defend ourselves when the war gets here. Which is in two days."
Ally muttered something before she bent down and picked up her sword again. To be honest, all of us are steadily improving after Percy and Annabeth had made us train harder.
We both stared at each other for a few moments before we lunged at the same time. I slashed at her side, but she spun around and took a jab at my thigh. I jumped before kicking her blade out of her hand and watched it land a few feet away from her in the grass. Ally smirked, her eyes taking on a determined look. She eyed me for a moment before she darted at me, and swung an uppercut at my face.
I dodged, but then her other fist came around and slammed into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and sending me to the ground in a dazed heap.
I groaned and glanced up as Ally hurried over to me and knelt beside me, her face full of concern. "Hermione, are you okay? I'm so sorry!" She extended her hand and I took it, and Ally helped me to my feet.
"You shouldn't say sorry to your enemies on the battlefield." A familiar voice said from behind me. I turned to see Percy standing there with a lopsided smirk on his face.
I rolled my eyes and went to retrieve my sword from the ground. "Haha, very funny." "I'm serious. I'm not joking. Treat your opponent right now as if they're an enemy, not an ally." Percy walked over to me and raised an eyebrow. "Doing so might cost you your life."
I swallowed. His words had cast a chill down my spine. I saw Ally looking solemn, and I guess she understood Percy's words more than I did.
"You're right, sorry Professor Jackson. But... I'm just scared to take a life." Ally whispered as she stared down at her sword handle. Percy's expression softened and he stepped forwards. He grabbed Ally's other hand and placed it over the sword hilt.
Ally glanced at him with curiosity burning in her eyes. Percy smiled softly and he placed his hands over hers and lifted the sword. "When I was younger and it was first time that I was faced with a situation where I knew I had to take a life, I felt the same way as you did. I didn't want to be blamed for killing someone else. But then I knew I had to, I had to do it to save the people I care about."
Ally was silent for a moment before her eyes shone with a new fiery determination. Percy noticed this and he lifted his hands off of hers. He turned to me and raised an eyebrow. "Hear what I said, Ms. Granger?"
I nodded as I tightened my grip on the sword. "Yes, Professor Jackson." Percy flinched when I said that. "Please, just call me Percy. No need for the Professor, I'm hardly older than any of you."
A faint smile appeared on my face as I nodded once more. "Very good. Continue your training, I'll watch you and help you adjust anything." Percy stepped off to the side as Ally and I faced each other, both us determined to take the other down.
Who wants to claim this line break?-----------------
When class was over, we all headed back into the castle to change and shower. I was exhausted, and sweat ran down my face. Percy and Annabeth had really pushed us hard this lesson.
I met up with Ron and Harry in the hallway, and they started to talk about how their lesson went. "Mate, I actually think I'm decent with a sword! Percy and Annabeth are great teachers, we might have a chance in this war!" Ron exclaimed.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever Ron. I beat you like three times." "You did not! You cheated, you kicked me in the stomach when I knocked your weapon out of your hand!" Ron retorted. "So that means I won!"
"That is incorrect, Mr. Weasley." A cool voice said. We all turned to see Percy and Annabeth standing behind us with identical smirks on their faces. Why do they always show up when we're having a conversation?
Ron's face went red with embarrassment. "What do you mean?"
"Harry played it correctly. When you get disarmed by your opponent, use hand to hand combat to defend yourself. Of course you wouldn't just accept death when your weapon is no longer available for use." Percy answered.
Harry grinned at Ron's flustered expression. "See? I won!" "Boasting about your victory isn't always a solution, either." Percy interjected.
I laughed at Harry and Ron's dumbstruck expressions. "You all did great today. Tomorrow, we'll be pushing you to your limits since it's the last day to prepare before the war." Annabeth said, smiling.
Harry and Ron groaned loudly but I didn't say anything. We all needed as much training as we could get if we want to stand a chance against Kronos. Annabeth and Percy walked off to the Slytherin common room while we contuined on to the Gryffindor common room.
When I got up to the dorm, I went into the washroom and changed out of my sweaty clothes. I took a shower and ran my hands through my hair.
When I turned the water off, I heard the door to the dorm open and footsteps entered. The door slammed shut and a knock came at the bathroom door. "Who's in there?"
"It's Hermione. I'll be out in a bit, Stella." I called. I put on a new change of clothes before opening the bathroom door to come face to face with one of my roommates.
She rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the washroom. "Girl, don't take all day! We're all sweating like pigs, I feel so gross!"
"Yeah whatever." I chuckled as Stella closed the door in my face. I went to my bed and tossed the dirty clothes in a heap on the floor.
I entered the common room room again and found Harry and Ron bickering about something useless in front of the fireplace. "I'm obviously still better than you in swordsmanship!" Ron shouted.
"Did you not hear what Percy said!? I'm better than you you brain wilted son of a-" I cleared my throat, interrupting my friend's argument. "Boys, keep it together. None of you is better than the other, alright?"
Harry and Ron glared at each other before turning to face me. "It's dinnertime, right?" Harry asked. I glanced over at the portrait hole where many of the other Gryffindor's were filing out into the hallways.
"Yeah, most likely. Let's go, I'm hungry from all the training we did." The three of us entered the Great Hall where many of the other students from the houses were settling down for dinner. We sat down with the Gryffindor's at the table where food was already set out.
I glanced over at the Slytherin table to see Percy and Annabeth talking and laughing with the other Slytherin's. I even swore I saw a genuine smile on Draco Malfoy's face!
"Bloody hell, is the world ending already? Draco Malfoy smiled!" Ron exclaimed from beside me. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the food. I piled some steak onto my plate and grabbed the ketchup. "Even the most evil people can smile, Ron."
"But this is Malfoy we're talking about!" Ron protested. "Haven't you noticed? Ever since he became friends with Percy, he's sort of changed. He doesn't act as cocky, rude, and arrogant as he used to. Even I noticed that." Harry interjected, picking up his pumpkin juice.
"Someone's observant." I muttered and Ron cracked a smile.
When dinner ended and all the desserts vanished, Professor McGonagall stood at the front of the room. "I want an update of how everyone's training in Perseus and Annabeth's class is going." She announced.
Many of the students shouted "It's going great!" "Percy and Annabeth are amazing teachers!" "We might stand a chance in this war after all!"
A smile appeared on Professor McGonagall's face. "That is excellent news. Thank you, Perseus and Annabeth, for volunteering to help the students against Kronos." "It's no problem, Headmistress." Annabeth said. "We're always happy to help."
"Tomorrow is the last day before the war, so I'm giving everyone a heads up right now. We're all going to be pushing you to your limits during tomorrow's lesson. No one holds back during a fight." Percy continued.
"Everyone back to your common rooms and get a good night's sleep." Professor McGonagall said.
The sound of chairs scraping against the floor echoed in the Great Hall as the students got up from their seats and filed out into the hallway to get to their common rooms. I got up along with Harry and Ron, and we walked to the Gryffindor common room.
When we got there, I bid goodnight to Harry and Ron and climbed the stairs to my dorm. I opened the door, and crossed over to my bed. I collapsed on the mattress and pulled the blankets up. "Tomorrow's going to be rough." I muttered as I closed my eyes.
Word count: 1631
I'm going to watch the Death Cure tomorrow and I'm prepared to cry because of all the feels.
Thanks for 53k reads! Never thought I would make it past 10k reads......