I am humiliated, yet again
ANNABETH
"Mount your brooms!" Hooch announced. I couldn't help but smirk to myself. I caught Hazel and Will's eyes in the stands. They were both cheering me on with huge smiles. What did I have to be nervous about? I was about to win our team the first match of the season. Without Potter, Gryffindor was even more screwed than usual.
"Go!"
And we were off.
Within minutes, the game was already a battle on both ends. The chasers worked tirelessly to score on both teams.
"Ten points to Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan announced. "A killer goal by Jackson!"
Percy saluted the crowd with a smirk as he flew. I shot him a glare. His ego was too much to handle at times.
It was all tied up now, 50-50. Cho Chang was the best chaser on our team, having moved to that position after I became seeker this year. She had scored all five of our goals.
Jason Grace was the replacement seeker for Gryffindor. I had nothing to worry about since he'd never played a day in his life. We had this game in the bag!
I spotted a glint of gold in the corner of my vision. Unfortunately, Jason had too. We both took off.
He was surprisingly fast on a broom for being a newbie. We were about the same speed.
Come on Annabeth, just a few inches...
I reached out.
Jason's hand pushed mine away as he tried to reach for the snitch. I pushed him with my broom and he was out of reach. The snitch was practically in my grasp...
Suddenly, as if the winds had decided to carry it to him, the snitch flew directly into Jason's grasp, 10 feet away.
I was in shock.
"GRYFFINDOR HAS WON THE MATCH! GRACE HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!"
Jason and I locked eyes.
How had he done that? How could he have been so lucky?
***
I lowered my broom to the ground and sprinted into the locker room. My team was in there, staring at me with not-so-welcoming glares. All glared, apart from Cho.
"Nice loss, Chase," somebody spoke. I didn't see who said it. Then again, it didn't matter who said it. They were all thinking it.
"You just lost the game for us, congratulations," somebody else sneered.
"If anybody else makes any comment targeting a player's performance apart from me, you will be off the team. As co-captain, that's my job. And as a team, we should support each other, rather than targeting a specific player!" Cho lectured. "I could name at least ten things each and every one of you did wrong! Annabeth only had one. So before you go on shouting at her, take a damn hard look at yourself! You are all dismissed."
Nobody spoke as they left, probably terrified to face Cho's wrath. Cho and I were the only two who remained in the locker room.
"Thank you," I mumbled.
"Shake it off, Chase," she encouraged. "We'll get it next time."
I don't know when the tears started coming. They had probably been building up ever since Grace had caught the snitch. The second I left the locker room, members of the Gryffindor house surrounded me.
"Chase, Chase, Chase!" They all chanted. "Chase lost to Grace!"
My tears weren't out of self pity, they were out of anger. I didn't even have my wand with me! It was up in my house in my school robe's pocket. How stupid, I was!
"Chase lost to Grace!" They chanted.
"Thanks for that win, Chase!" Dean Thomas announced. "We really owe you one!"
Him and his house members all laughed.
"Screw off, all of you." Except, I used a word a bit stronger than screw. I tried to push past them.
"Don't get mouthy with us, Chase," spoke a Gryffindor girl. "You're the one who just lost against a boy who's never played Quidditch in his life!"
I was about to unleash words far more unpleasant than the one I had just spoke, but somebody interrupted me before I could even begin.
Percy Jackson shoved through the crowd of Gryffindor students, followed by Jason Grace.
"Leave, all of you! Do you really think Harry Potter would condone this?" Percy Jackson announced. Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Jason appeared from behind him.
"I'm in a house of morons," Hermione looked at me. "Sorry about them, Annabeth."
"Get back to our bloody house!" Ron shouted. "You should all be ashamed." He shot a glare at Dean.
"Well, are you going to move, or am I going to make you move?" A girl spoke. Nobody argued against Ginny Weasley. The Gryffindors left. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione showed them away. Jason and Percy faced me.
"I'm sorry about them, Annabeth," Percy said. "I swear, we had nothing to do with--"
"Screw off," I repeated what I had said before, using a word a bit more impolite than screw. I walked away, towards the black lake. I was aware of Hazel and Will trying to catch up with me from the distance, probably knowing I was upset. I hoped I had gotten rid of Jason and Percy, I didn't want to look back.
"Annabeth, wait up," Percy pleaded. I continued walking, ignoring him. I wasn't in the mood to be laughed at by another Gryffindor player.
"Annabeth!" He repeated.
I turned around fiercely.
"What, come here to gloat with the rest of your Gryffindor friends?" I shot. He stepped back for a moment. I'd imagine the look in my eye was murderous, I didn't blame him for stepping back.
"It isn't a big deal," he insisted. "The school will forget about it by tomorrow."
"I was humiliated!" I shouted. "I just got beat to the snitch by a boy who's never played Quidditch a day in his life!"
"It's understandable to be upset, we all have bad games! Not that what you did what bad--you just weren't quick enough--not that you aren't quick! I just-"
"Just go away, Percy. Before you can make this situation worse, just go away," I insisted.
"Annabeth!" Jason Grace entered the scene, Leo Valdez at his side. "I heard you were upset, I just wanted to tell you good game." Where had Leo even come from? It didn't matter. Leo, Percy, and Jason were practically inseparable lately.
Jason held out his hand for me to shake it. Instead of doing that, I fired a glare at Percy.
"What did you do, tell the entire school to visit me like I'm some patient in the hospital wing?"
Jason's hand fell to his side.
"Sorry, Annabeth. I wasn't meaning to upset you. I just thought I'd tell you good game." Jason said.
"You thought wrong!" I fired back. I didn't want to deal with their team at the moment. I just wanted to be alone!
"Annabeth? You looked upset, we wanted to make sure you were doing okay." Hazel spoke. Her and Will entered the scene.
"What is this, national surround Annabeth day?" I pleaded. "Please, all of you. I just want some solitude."
"Oi! Chase, what was on your mind up there? I'd have loved to see a nice loss from Gryffindor." Draco Malfoy sneered. Apparently it was national surround Annabeth day. Seriously, where were all of these people coming from.
"Leave her alone, Malfoy," Percy spoke. He had a hardness to his tone that I hadn't even heard before. He could be intimidating when he wanted to be.
"Have to protect your mud-blood girlfriend, Jackson?" Malfoy laughed to himself. I felt my face redden. Why didn't I have my wand?
"Ignore him," I insisted. Hazel looked like she was about to strangle Malfoy.
"Is this some sort of gathering of mud-bloods and blood traitors? Am I the only one with common sense in this group?" Draco laughed.
"If Piper saw you right now, she'd see how much of a jerk you are," Leo spoke up. "Harry's in the hospital wing because of you, and she's still denying that you're scum!"
"Well, Valdez. Piper isn't here right now," Draco took a step towards Leo. Everybody else took a step back, aware that Leo's hand was around his wand.
Nico Di Angelo appeared. I blinked and he was suddenly there. He held a blue hat in his hand that made me get an over-whelming sensation of déjà vu.
"Out of the way, orphan," Malfoy said. Nico glared at him with intensity.
Nico pointed his wand at Malfoy.
"Leave them alone," he said.
Malfoy pointed his wand right back at Nico.
"Expelliarmus," he said, with a bored tone. Nico's wand flew out of his hand, right into the black lake beside him. Nico swore.
Will stepped forward suddenly, holding his wand to the back of Malfoy's head. Will looked at Nico with an expression that said he was quite obviously worried for Nico's safety. The desperation in Will's expression told Nico not to do anything stupid. Nico, however, didn't seem to get the message.
"Seriously? I don't have time for his," Nico mumbled.
"Don't get mouthy with me," Draco smirked. He started to say a spell.
I couldn't hear what it was over the sound of Will's cry.
"No!" He shouted. Will shoved Nico out of the way and took the full blast of the spell.
Will hunched over, belching up a handful of slugs. Expecting a more dramatic turn of events? Don't worry, we'll get there.
Draco approached Nico.
"How precious, isn't it? I can smell Solace's little crush on you from a mile away," Draco sneered.
"Precious, isn't it?" Nico mocked Draco. "The whole school can smell your little crush on Harry Potter from a mile away. I hear his name come out of your mouth so often in the house that I'm sure that's the only explanation. Complicated feelings, Draco?"
Draco bought back his hand, aiming to punch Nico. Nico fell to the ground with a bleeding nose, beside Will who was still choking on slugs.
Draco brought back his leg, aiming to kick either Will or Nico. We never got to find out which, however. At that moment, Jason and Percy used their combined strength to lift Draco with ease. Unfortunately, Draco's wand was still in his hand.
"Crucio!" Draco shouted.
He pointed his wand at Jason, who had ahold of Draco's legs.
Jason fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
"Jason!" Leo ran to assist him in standing. Hazel was helping Will and Nico.
Percy lost his grip on Draco. He turned around and attempted to hit Percy. Percy ducked and Draco swung at the air.
"Go away now, Draco," Percy ducked. Merlin, I wish I had my wand right now. I was completely useless. I had no power, I had no wand.
Draco was smarter than he looked. He always knew what spell to use.
"Levicorpus!" He changed. Using his wand, Draco lifted Percy off the ground.
As Percy hovered above the black lake, he looked at me with desperation.
"Go," he mouthed.
Draco dropped Percy into the water. He didn't rise, almost like something was dragging him down to the bottom. There were mermaids, monsters, and unspoken creatures within that lake. I hoped Percy would be strong enough to take them on.
"Draco!" I shouted.
He smirked at me.
"Feeling feisty, mud-blood? Well, think again. Your army is down. You have nothing," he said. "You're nobody."
I looked around. Leo was helping Jason, who was twitching on the ground, barely conscious. Will and Nico were arguing over who needed assistance.
"Your nose is broken and bleeding," Will told Nico, whilst coughing up another slug.
"You're going to cough those up for another hour if you don't let me help you," Nico argued.
"You're both in awful states," Hazel added. "Let me get you to madam pomfrey."
"At least I have an army," I argued. "Most of these people hardly know me, but they stood up for me. You're simply jealous that you've isolated yourself into having nobody."
"Hah!" He laughed. "I can't be jealous of a mud-blood like you."
He froze, a look of terror falling upon his face.
"Piper," he spoke.
Piper McClean was behind me. I wondered how long she had been standing there. Apparently it was long enough to realize how much of an idiot Draco was.
"I didn't—Piper, don't look at me like that," Draco pleaded.
She glanced at me. Her wand was pointed at Draco.
"Please," I said. "Allow me to do the honors."
I may not have had my wand, nor did I have some random magical ability. But I did have a battle-like instinct. This instinct told me to do something that I'd wanted to do for a long, long time.
I waltzed right up to Draco Malfoy and judo-flipped him to the ground. His wand went flying to the ground as well.
"How does it feel to be judo-flipped by dirty mud-blood?" I mocked.
He stared at me, horrified. Piper still stood with her wand pointed at him.
"I was looking for you," Piper told him. He sat on the ground not saying anything.
"Piper, I'm sorry—I—"
She interrupted him.
"I was looking for you to tell you that I decided not to go to the dance with scum like you," Piper didn't cast any sort of spell. Her stare said it all. "Go."
"Piper—"
"GO!" She shouted. Draco immediately obeyed, picking up his wand and taking off in a full sprint towards the castle.
Piper scanned me up and down.
"Are you okay," she said. "Did he hurt you?"
I nodded.
"I'm fine," I insisted.
The others, not so much. Leo looked dazed as he assisted Jason. Jason was still twitching on the ground, the effects of the torturing spell still having not fully worn off. Hazel was patting Will's back as he continued to choke up slugs. Nico touched his nose, wincing with pain as he did so. When he brought his hand away he examined the amount of blood, probably realizing that his nose was definitely broken.
Percy shot out of the lake, Nico's wand in his hand.
"Here," Percy said. "I think this was yours."
Percy's clothes were completely dry.
"Thanks," Nico mumbled. He shoved the wand in his robe's pocket.
It was silly that only ten minutes ago I had been worried about some stupid Quidditch game.
"You okay?" Percy asked me. He examined me like Piper had.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No," I said. I'd been nothing but a jerk to this idiot. Now he was concerned about my safely?
"Good," Percy said. He ran to Jason's aid, kneeling beside him to examine him.
"Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?" Percy asked. He had a gentleness to him tone that I'd never heard from him before. Yet, it felt so familiar.
"I've had worse days," Jason coughed, continuing to twitch.
Leo gave a nervous laugh.
"No doubt about that," Leo added.
I knelt beside Will and Hazel.
"Still think Percy's an insufferable idiot?" Will said, between up-chucks. "He defended you—cough—and he got Nico's wand. Nico, a kid Percy hardly knows and half of the school—cough—hates."
"Maybe he isn't insufferable," I pointed out. "Still, you can't deny that he's an idiot."
I glanced over at the others. Leo and Piper were helping Jason to his feet while Percy kept him talking. Nico, who had been here only a moment ago, was suddenly gone.
"Where's Nico?" I asked.
Will shrugged.
"Is it true what Draco said, about you having a crush on Nico? Bloody hell, of course it is. He's the boy you fancy," Hazel discovered.
Will threw up yet another slug.
"We have bigger concerns," I said, glancing at the others. It was as if multiple separate, secret groups were about to become one. Percy was a part of all of this, I knew that now. He hadn't been lying. Jason, Hazel, and Leo were too. Heck, maybe Nico was too. And what about Piper? This was a lot to take in.
"Bloody hell!" Frank Zhang exclaimed. "What's going on here? I'm on corridor patrol and I happened to get word that there was a disturbance out by the black lake. What happened?"
Will started to speak, but interrupted himself by throwing up a slug.
"Will, are you okay?" Frank knelt beside Will. I noticed Hazel glaring at Frank as he did so, probably since she was convinced he had betrayed Will by spreading his secret. After corridor duty with him earlier today, I wasn't so convinced that it was him.
"Oi, Frankie! Nice of you to join the party," Leo said, sheepishly. Frank whispered something to Leo, just loud enough for me to hear.
"I went to the room of requirement like you told me to but you weren't there. I could only assume something had happened," Frank whispered. "Is everything okay?"
"You're going to the room of requirement?" I blurted out.
All eyes were on me now.
"We were too," I said. "Hazel, Will, and I. Will told us to meet there tonight."
Now all eyes were on Will.
"Nico Di Angelo insisted that I go there with my group tonight," he admitted. Everybody looked around, but Nico was still missing.
"It's because he had gotten word of Leo trying to convince Frank to go tonight, since Leo was going with Jason and Percy," Piper spoke up. Now, all eyes fell on her.
"Harry Potter was supposed to come as well, if he's feeling up to it now," Piper explained.
"And why were you going to be there exactly?" Jason spoke up, still having trouble standing on his own. His voice was strained from the shouting he had done during those moments of torture.
"Because we know about all of you. Harry, Nico, and I have been following you all for a while. Except Percy—we sort of just discovered you. Anyway, we have been following you all and we wanted to get you in the same place so you could finally meet each other," Piper explained.
Everybody looked like they wanted to kill her, or like they were too confused to do so.
"You and Nico have been following us?" Will asked. He chucked up a slug. "Huh, that explains a lot."
"Actually, I've mostly been following Leo and Frank. Nico seemed particularly keen on keeping an eye on you. Harry suspected Jason from the start. Percy was the last person we needed to confirm," Piper summarized. We all stared at her in shock.
"You're both a part of this too, then? The visions, and the powers," I asked.
Piper nodded.
"It's best we talk about this in a more secluded place. We need privacy," Piper said. "Besides, we've all had pretty long days. It's best that we get some rest and process this all."
Nico spoke up. Where had he gone and how was he back so suddenly?
"I spoke with Harry, he's getting released from the hospital wing as we speak. He's up for a meeting if we are. Room of requirement?" He spoke.
"How did you get back so fast?" I blurted out. He smirked to himself.
"You'll find that my way of travel is quite efficient," he said. Piper rolled her eyes like they were sharing some sort of private joke.
"Nine o'clock." Percy said. "Uh...Gryffindor is sort of throwing a surprise party to celebrate Jason's win." Percy glanced at me, apologetically, then to Jason.
"I can miss it. This is more important," Jason insisted.
"Go, I insist," Nico said. "Everybody head out some time before nine."
"Wait—if we all head out from our houses at the same time, that will be sure to draw attention to ourselves and raise questions. It's best we follow some sort of plan. Slytherins," I glanced to Leo, Piper, and Nico. "You all head around 8:30. Gryffindors," I looked to Jason and Percy. "You go at 8:45. Hufflepuffs," Hazel, Frank, and Will looked at me attentively. "You leave at nine. As for me, I'll head after them."
"Good thinking," Hazel agreed. "As always."
I felt my face redden.
Percy and Piper tried to encourage Jason to stand on his own. Jason leaned against Percy for support and the two of them stumbled back towards their house.
Piper joined Leo and Nico, walking back to the school exchanging little words.
I joined Hazel and Will. Will had vomited up his last slug.
"That wasn't fun," he said. I helped him to his feet. He was awfully pale.
"Will you be okay?" Frank asked.
Will nodded, hardly acknowledging that Frank was there. Hazel made a point to shoot him another glare.
"Go on back," I insisted. "I'll see you both later."
Hazel and Will walked back to the school. I watched Will stop a few times to throw up. Not slugs this time, just plain vomit. I'd feel sick too after feeling so many slugs in my mouth.
This left just Frank and I. He looked at me with concern.
"I'm a prefect," he said. "Should I do something? I don't even know what just happened, I don't even know who I'd take points from or give points to."
I laughed.
"Well, I'm a prefect too. At this point, screw it,"
Again, I didn't say screw.
Frank laughed. We walked back to the castle together.
"Frank," I blurted out. He looked back at me before turning the corner where we would have parted our ways.
"For the record, I don't think you did what Hazel and Will are accusing you of," I admitted. "Will just likes to place blame. Hazel's only loyal to Will, she doesn't mean any harm to you."
He smiled with appreciation.
"Thank you, Annabeth," he said. "I'll try to clear things up with them later tonight. But I appreciate you telling me that."
He was so kind. I doubted he had been the one to spill Will's secret.
"I'll see you later tonight...you are coming, right?" I asked. Frank pondered that question for a moment. He shrugged.
"I only know a fraction of what's going on. Everybody seems to have their group they've found. Jason, Percy, and Leo. You, Hazel, and Will. Piper, Nico, and Harry. Yet, I've only got Leo. We discovered each other's abilities by accident and have filled each other in every so often on updates. Not only only am I going tonight, I'm going because I need to go in order to be a part of something. Hogwarts gets awfully lonely when your best friend won't even look at you any more. Man, I hope that Will forgives me."
"I'll try to talk to him," I assured him. "But really, if you didn't do anything—you don't have anything to apologize for."
He nodded in agreement.
"Mind mentioning that point to Will?" He asked. I laughed.
"Of course, I'll see you Frank."
"See you, Annabeth." He said.
I walked back to the Ravenclaw house by myself. Glares followed me as I walked towards my usual corner of the room.
Luna and Cho took a seat beside me.
"Ignore them," Cho said. "We all have off games. You made one mistake, don't let it define you!" Cho patted me on the shoulder.
"You flew well on your broom!" Luna exclaimed. "Other than missing the snitch, you flew well. That's good."
I thanked Luna, though that didn't help my self esteem much. Telling a Quidditch player that fly well is like telling a race car driver they can drive decently. It's sort of expected.
Luna and Cho continued to talk to me about a number of things. Classes, the game, and nargals of course. What else do you expect from Luna?
An older boy in my year approached me with a snooty expression.
"You have visitors outside of the door," he sneered. "They told me they wanted to speak with you. They had been trying to answer the door's riddle for twenty minutes now."
Jason and Percy emerged from behind him.
"Hey, Annabeth," Percy waved sheepishly.
"We wondered if your team would want to come join the Gryffindor party. Ron Weasley managed to sneak us some food from the kitchens and we can't possibly eat it all on our own." Jason insisted.
"Come to rub in your win, Gryffindor?" Cho sneered. "Well, I'll have you know that you may have gotten lucky this time, but just wait for tournaments. You can be watching in the stands as we win the Quidditch cup."
"Woah, woah!" Percy said. Him and Jason held their hands up in defense.
"No harm intended, I think your team played a fine game. Cho, I've never seen such a great chaser in your house, you're brilliant." Percy said. "No wonder Harry Potter fawned over you in his third and fourth year."
Cho looked at me, as if waiting for an attack symbol.
"They're sincere," I admitted. "Stupid, but sincere."
Percy and Jason smirked.
"So, what do you say?" He asked.
"While I'm always up for a party, I think I'm speaking for the rest of the team when I say no thanks." Cho said.
"Yeah, the rest of the team hadn't been as forgiving of me as Cho has," I admitted.
"Are you sure you don't want to come, Annabeth?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," I repeated. I didn't understand why they were so persistent in having me join them. I'd hardly hung out with Percy or Jason for that matter.
"Plenty of food! It's a great way to spend your time," Jason added. Percy nudged him.
"I think Annabeth is busy," Percy said. "Maybe next time."
"Next time, as in next time I make a fool of myself on the Quidditch field?"
Percy blushed.
"No, that's not what I meant--I just--"
"Joking," I assured him. I didn't get why he was so on edge.
Percy and Jason left. I knew very well I would see them at our meeting tonight. Why was Percy so insistent on seeing me now?
"That was pathetic," Cho snorted.
"What do you mean?" I asked. Cho rolled her eyes.
"Grace is his wingman, Annabeth. He was trying to help Percy in conversation with you, didn't you notice? Jackson just tried to ask you to a party as his date."
I blushed.
"He couldn't," I said. "God, he can't fancy me!"
Luna chimed in.
"Well, why can't he?"
I didn't know what was more terrifying. The fact that he might fancy me, or the fact that I couldn't come up with an answer to Luna's question.