Something good finally happens to me, only to be ruined a few minutes later
JASON: Piper McClean could dance circles around me.
I told her that perhaps dancing was another ability of hers. She laughed, then proceeded to use her voice control--did I mention how much I hated that gift?
"Dance," she commanded. "Dance well."
I danced beside her, much better than I had before.
"Wow," I exclaimed. "You basically have a cheat code for anything. Reckon you could raise a dead body? You know, just look at it and shout: live!"
"That was such a Percy-Jackson-esque question. You two are seriously a scary duo."
I laughed.
"Add Leo into the mix, we're basically walking hell."
As we continued to dance the full extent of Piper's ability kicked in. She could seriously have people do whatever she wanted. She could go down a very, very dark path if she wanted to. A gift like that could drive somebody to mad power.
But as she danced, I couldn't help but notice the look in her eye. She was overwhelmed. I think having this ability overwhelmed her ever more. She was far too independent to be pleased with having an ability to control people. I felt as though each time she used her ability it was a bit of an internal conflict for her. Mind control was about more than making people do the chicken dance, after all.
"Can we talk?" Piper blurted out.
I nodded.
She grabbed my arm in a way that meant she was escorting me. Honestly, I didn't mind.
We sat down by the punch bowl. The Weasley twins were stumbling around it, loudly shouting to the people they knew around them.
"Heya, Harry--*belch*--Potter!" Fred shouted. "Dancing with our ickle sissy, eh?"
"Watch where you put those hands, Potter! We ought to change your name to Handsy Potter, the boy who *belch* gripped!" George added.
Harry flipped them off. Ginny shouted back some words that were a bit too impressive for my swearing vocabulary.
"Grace," Piper began. "I'm going to say this right now: I don't have a clue what our real lives are like. I don't know who's with who or who's our friend or who's our enemy or, look. I just don't want to complicate things by telling you about my vision."
"Your vision?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Yes, that would be what I meant when I said the words: my vision. Sorry, that was rude."
I laughed, uneasily.
"Go ahead, tell me about your vision."
***
Piper and I walked around the school grounds as she described her vision to me.
"It started with you and I sitting on a bench in a camp of some sort. You--uh, you sort of kissed me. But that is not a relevant point."
I felt myself blushing.
"Of course, go on."
"So in my vision, we felt that something was off. You and I went off to investigate and we ran into Frank, Hazel, and Leo, who were also checking out the scene. We spotted a goddess of some sort. She had Percy and Annabeth pinned to the ground, going on about her plan to get all of us there. Long story short, the goddess captured the seven of us. I don't think Nico and Will were meant to be included, but they were in the distance and I think they may have heard the ruckus."
I paused for a long moment, surprised that she was just not telling me this.
"So from this vision you had last night, the only thing you thought to do was ask me to the ball? You didn't bother telling anyone else."
I was afraid she'd get offended or get angry at me. Instead, she just looked disappointed in herself.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'm an idiot, I know."
"You aren't an idiot. But what you did, that was poor judgement."
She nodded, annoyed.
"I just wanted everybody to have a good night at the ball. It seems every time I think we've figured something out, we take a step back. What's even worse is that I had this same feeling in my vision. I felt like we were finally at peace in this little camp place. But then suddenly, this goddess had to fuck everything up."
I took her hand. That was definitely a risky move, but she didn't bite my head off about it. Instead, she rested her head on my shoulder.
"Am I the only one getting extreme déjà vu right now?" Piper asked.
"Every step I've taken for the past few weeks has been filled with nothing but déjà vu. You aren't alone."
Piper laughed to herself.
"It may not shock you that I'm not much of a people person," she sighed and continued. "But every vision I've had involves me being protected by or protecting the people I love. Whatever my real life is, whoever I am there, I can only be for sure that I have a very strong support system."
"You do here too," I said. She snorted. "Seriously, Piper. You have Nico, Harry, Leo, the others may not know you as well but you can count of them to have your back. You have me as well."
She looked up at me and scanned me for a long moment.
"Somebody recently told me that when in doubt I should go by my instinct. I may test that theory. Is that okay?" Piper said. I didn't have a clue what she meant. Then again, it was Piper McClean. She wasn't just one thing. She was a mystery.
Before I could even finish my, 'yeah, sure' Piper acted upon her instinct.
She kissed me. And all I could think about was the fact that I hadn't brushed my teeth this morning. Sure, the kiss was fantastic and all...it was magical. It was a different sort of magic that you can't find by just casting a spell, it was breath-taking, heart thumping, blush-inducing, smile-for-eternity magic.
As we pulled apart, Piper had on an unreadable expression.
"Your breath stinks," she noted. "Other than that, you were satisfactory."
We stared at each other for another moment with unreadable expressions before we both burst into laughter. It was the kind of laughter that can be caused with just a glance. It was a powerful laughter between two people who really knew each other. It was the kind of laughter that could only be stopped if those laughing had passed out from lack of oxygen to their brain. Yes, it was that kind of laughter—the kind you're thinking of with a smile.
Piper and I finally stopped laughing after a few minutes. It was only because of a rather annoying intrusion provided by Harry Potter.
"What, Harry?" Piper asked sourly.
"Um, sorry to interrupt. But have either of you seen Nico? Or Will, for that matter."
"Probably off snogging in an empty corridor." Piper shrugged. "Can you go now?"
Harry looked worried.
"After I couldn't find Will, I went to search for Annabeth of Hazel since they're friends. When I couldn't find Annabeth, I went and searched for Percy. Since I couldn't find Percy, I went to look for Leo. After that search was to no avail, I went to find you, Jason."
Harry stared at me, waiting for an answer.
"Last I saw Percy and Annabeth, they were kissing at the dance. Where's Leo?" I turned to Piper. She swore to herself.
"Honestly, I leave the ball to have one conversation with you and Leo goes and gets himself lost. Uh, I don't know where he is." Piper admitted. She looked more concerned now. To think, only a moment ago we were practically rolling around on the floor in laughter.
"Go back to the ball," I insisted to Piper. It's best one of us stays there in case they come back. I'm only asking you to go alone rather than with Harry and I because I know you're completely capable of defending yourself."
Piper nodded.
"Okay, fine. I'll go look around there. You two, check outside and throughout the school. If you aren't back in ten minutes, I'll go out and look for you."
Harry and I went off to search for the others.
"Not a great way to end a ball, huh?" Harry complained. "Honestly, Ginny and I were having a great time. She's an extremely fun person to be around."
"Ginny Weasley, isn't she the one who had a massive crush on you a few years back?" I recalled. "Yes, I remember. Fred and George found a poem she wrote about you and recited it to the Gryffindor table at lunch. Ginny ran off."
Harry laughed to himself.
"Trust me, Ginny Weasley is more than an eleven-year-old with a crush these days. She's kind of a badass".
I'd heard about her bat-bogey hex. I didn't doubt Harry for one second.
"So, you and Piper?" Harry raised an eyebrow as we continued walking.
"Me and Piper?" I said casually. "She's a cool friend to have."
"Apparently she's also a cool friend to kiss."
I felt myself blushing.
"You saw that?" I asked.
Harry stopped in his track.
"Wait--you two actually kissed? I was just joking!" He hunched over in laughter. "Hah! That's hilarious. I'm hilarious. I'm--sounding an awful lot like my father." He stood up and faced me. "Now, you take good care of her. She's like an annoying sister to me."
"Shut up, Potter." I pushed him jokingly.
We continued walking for a few minutes before Harry stopped again. I noticed his hand go towards his wand.
"We're being followed," he whispered suddenly. "Arm yourself, turn around casually. Like we don't know."
I put my wand in my pocket.
"Well, we better head back to the school." Harry said, louder now.
A second later, as both turned around. At another second to that, and now we were both pinning a bit to the ground with our wands to his throat. That boy? Draco Malfoy.
"Wait--please!" Draco threw his wand to the side. "I wasn't trying to start anything."
"You, not wanting to start a quarrel? That's as likely as Dumbledore shaving his beard." Harry said. Still, he stood. He kept a firm grasp on Draco's robes. Harry's wand was still placed sharply at his throat.
"What do you want, Malfoy?"
He held his hands up.
"I was trying to sneak in the ball. I know, I'm punished for the fight I caused. My punishment stated I wasn't allowed to go to the ball. I only wanted to see who would be crowned king and queen then I was going to slip out, honestly. I didn't want to start anything. Do you think I'm honestly cruel enough to ruin somebody's school dance for them?"
"Yes," Harry answered. "I do. And if you were only going to sneak a peek in the ball, why are you out here following us?"
"Because I wanted to warn Jason Grace. Jason," he glared at Jason. "You're in danger."
"Oh, gee," I turned to Harry. "Was that convincing, did I look surprised enough?"
"Cut the jokes. I'm being serious." Draco said. He did look alarmed. He was putting on quite a show.
"When I went to hear the announcement, I was disappointed to hear that it wouldn't be announced for another ten minutes. I went backstage to take a peek at the votes. Instead of the results, I ran into Natalie Piece, who was in the middle of tampering with the votes. I hid. Then, I heard her talking to herself. She looked up and eyed a girl in the distance, Hazel Levesque. She temporarily paralyzed her with a potion and I watched her drag her into the forbidden forest. I kept an eye on Natalie all night. She's taking all of the people I've seen Piper hang around with from time to time. I knew she went to the ball with you, Jason. I figured I would warn you. If you cross Natalie's path tonight, it may not end well for you."
Draco seemed genuine enough. Harry didn't look convinced.
"Why were you looking at the votes anyway, why would you care?" Harry asked.
"I wanted to see if Piper had gotten it," Draco admitted. "Believe it or not, I actually do like her...I don't give a damn whose side she's on. She made me realize that I don't even know whose side I'm on." Draco admitted.
"What, do you expect me to believe you're suddenly some saint?" Harry scoffed. "Likely story."
Draco glared at Harry.
"I'm not perfect. Believe it or not Harry, you aren't the only person who has been raised in a crummy situation. I've been brought up to believe certain things. Things that up until recently, I've believed without hesitation." Draco sighed. "I'm hoping to better myself before things get really bad."
"Voldemort's back, things are already really bad." Harry glared at Draco. "You should have thought of this personality switch a little sooner."
Draco and Harry seemed to come to a silent understanding in that moment. Though they'd never be besties by any means, I believe they agreed that they could tolerate one another.
"Um, hello. Our friends are missing. Did you two happen to forget about that when you were professing your love?" I asked.
Harry glanced at me.
"Now you're sounding like my dad," Harry sat up. "Thanks for that warning, Draco." He said grudgingly.
"One last question," I added. "If you noticed all of these people disappearing and you reckon Natalie's behind it, why did you just stand there?"
Draco rolled his eyes.
"Part of my punishment is that I'm not allowed my wand outside of classes for a few weeks. I'm defenseless," Draco headed towards the school. "Good luck, you two. Don't get yourself killed. There's been enough murder in this school. We don't need a crying Harry Potter moping around the bathroom stalls; one Myrtle is enough."
Harry suppressed a laugh.
"Come on, Jason. Let's go."
As we ran back towards the school to warn Piper, I couldn't help but get the strange feeling that we were being followed. Earlier, Harry had listened to his instinct that told him Draco was following us. If I listened to mine, maybe I could save our butts.
"We're being followed." Harry and I whispered at the same time as we ran.
Huh, his instinct was really up to speed.
At the same time, we both turned around with our wands in hand.
"Expeliarmus!" Harry shouted. However, Natalie Pierce was unarmed. She only grinned.
"Harry two-spells Potter. You'd think you would have found a different spell to defend yourself by now! I understand you have that whole disarming is better than violence schtick going on, but violence is simply a lot less boring." She grinned.
"Drop your wands." She spoke.
"Are you crazy, why would we do that? You're unarmed. We can easily take you--" Harry was cut short by his own actions. He dropped his wand. I did too.
"She has Piper's ability." I mumbled.
"Honestly, you're all too cute. Every time, you all get the same look on your face. 'She has charmspeak! Oh, gods! We're screwed!' Too cute, too cute indeed." She smirked.
"Follow me, boys. And don't get any ideas." She used her wand to tie our hands behind our backs.
"Tonight has been indescribably fun for me!" She squealed. "Seriously, I'm a genius. It's a miracle I'm not in Ravenclaw."
She skipped as she drug us into the forbidden forest.