Percy's P.O.V
I was running through Tartarus, searching for Annabeth. I tried calling out her name but no one replied. Suddenly Akhlys, the goddess of poisons, was in front of me with Annabeth, bound and gaged behind her. Akhlys smiled in a mocking way.
"You know what you have to do to get your precious Annabeth back." She leered at me. I knew what she was talking about. The only way we had of killing her. The dark way.
I raised my hands and I could see Annabeth shutting her eyes tight behind her. I closed my eyes and called the forward the poison within her. As I choked her I could feel the dark side of my powers tempting me, telling me I could do so much more if I just opened up to it. All the possibilities, Annabeth would never get hurt again.
No, not like that. I would not give in to the weaker part of me. I looked at the tear streaked face of Annabeth and the dying face of Akhlys, filled with horror. I would not do this, dream or no dream. I screamed, waking myself up from the nightmare.
I sat up, suddenly awake. I looked over at Annabeth who was trembling.
"You had the same one too?" I asked her. Lately our nightmares have been connected. Cause hey, two's a party. She nods her head and sighs.
"I promise I'll never do it again. I thought it would be different because it was a nightmare. I thought I would wake up before the damage was done. I'm so, so sorry wise girl." I told her. She nods her head, still not speaking.
"What time is it?" She finally asks. I look at my watch Tyson made for me.
"7:00. Wow we made it all night." I replied.
"We should start getting ready."
"Remember Percy, we need to be alert protecting Harry and the others. Albus said he wouldn't be here for a while so we have to be careful." She reminded as we were getting dressed.
"Right, no more fooling around. It's time to get serious."
Harrys P.O.V
I woke up from a dreamless sleep I got up at the same time as the others were getting up and we started talking about quiditch. I was captain this year and Dean and Seamus wanted to know if I could guarantee them spots.
"Guys, you know I can't do that. It would be playing favorites. You need to try out just like everyone else." I told them.
The conversation continued on like that for a while. Except for Neville, who asked me to introduce him to Percy and Annabeth.
I grabbed my things and went downstairs with Ron to find Hermione waiting for us. Before I could ask if we should wait for the others they came down right behind us.
"What does the SPQR stand for?" Hermione asked.
I was confused at the question and Sao was Percy. Then I noticed his shirt had those letters on it.
"Oh, um, it's from our Latin class we took when we went to the mort-muggle school we told you about. It stands for some old roman saying or something. The teacher was just handing them out." Percy answered.
I narrowed my eyes. He hesitated and changed what he was saying mid word. A quick glance at Hermione confirmed that she noticed it too. Ron, however, was oblivious to Percy's give away. I looked at his and Annabeths intertwined hands and for the first time I saw a hazy, black design. I couldn't make out all of it, it was as if something was trying to stop me from seeing it yet I still could.
"What's on you arm?" I demanded. He looked down and tried to cover up his surprise with nonchalantness.
"Oh, it's just something I drew on my arm. I do it when I'm bored." He said. I was still suspicious but that did explain the pen he was always twirling around.
Without saying anything we walked out of the common room. Percy and Annabeth walked ahead of us as usual but this time there was no laughing and goofing around, they were holding hands but they were constantly scanning the area and discreetly looking behind corners before they turned them and always waited for us when they did. It's as if they were on watch for something. My mind flew to one possible conclusion; Death Eaters.
When we got to the great hall most of the students were already there. The teachers were too but I noticed that Dumbledores chair was empty. Percy and Annabeth lead us over to not our usual spot at the end but a spot near the center where we would be surrounded by people. Ron and Hermione sat either side to me while the others sat across from us.
"Dumbledores chair is empty. Where do you think he is?" I asked. Percy and Annabeth shrugged but their eyes looked as if they knew, well, Annabeths eyes were always like that.
Hermione and Ron shrugged too. "Maybe he's on a trip." Ron suggested but it came out like a question.
"Not at the beginning of the school year. Maybe he's at the Ministry of Magic like he was at the end of our first year." Hermione said. I nodded but was distracted by a giggle and a flowery scent that I remembered in potions, the scent that was in the cauldron.
I looked up to see Ginny and Dean walking by, their hands intertwined. I don't know why but I felt some burning sensation in my gut. Huh, weird. It passed as quickly as it came but the reason that it came was still unknown to me. I decided to just focus on my food and saw the others were doing the same. After a few minutes a group of burly seventh year Slytherins approached us, rather they approached Annabeth and Percy.
The lead one was a Slytherin named Alfie, who thought he was gods gift to Slytherin because his parents were more rich than the Malfoys. He and his goons teamed up with Malfoy to torment me last year. Alfie eyed Annabeth up and down then smirked.
"Hey baby, how about you ditch pretty boy over there and come hang out with a real man." He said. Either he hadn't heard of Percy's talent with a wand or he was just stupid.
"Awwww, you think I'm pretty. How sweet." Percy said in a high falsetto. Despite myself I snorted into my cereal.
Alfie ignored him and looked at Annabeth expectantly.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no thanks. Percy's more man than you'll ever be." She said.
"Please, I could beat him any day, a duel or a fight. As you can see I'm more ripped than you average wizard." He smirked. I guess he never really got a good look at Percy, he was more jacked than all of Alfie and his goons. I was about to say something but I guess Percy had enough. He stood up and Alfie got his first good look at Percy's muscles.
"What did you say." Percy asked. You could tell he was pissed. He stared down Alfie who squirmed under his gaze, he had bit off more than he could chew.
"Uh, just that you could do better hanging out with the likes of them." He said gesturing to me, changing targets now that he realized who he was dealing with. Percy rolled his eyes obviously noticing the same thing.
I should've kept my mouth shut but I couldn't help myself. "Your just jealous you ugly lump." I said. When I saw Alfie's face I realized my mistake. Percy could easily beat him in a fight but I could not.
He lunged toward me but before he couldn't move more than an inch Percy had him by the arm, twisting it behind his back and shoving him to the ground putting his foot on Alfie's back. Annabeth stood up and and moved in front of us on her side. She glared at the goons while Percy glared at Alfie, I could tell both stares were equally terrifying.
"You listen up and you listen good. I have dealt with way worse than you and I can and will hurt you if you ever try anything like you just did today. I'm going to let you walk away but if one word comes out of your mouth I will snap you arm. Got it?" Percy growled.
All the Slytherins nodded and Percy released Alfie. That's when I got a good look at his stare. Usually his gaze was calm, like a gentle ocean but now it was a storm and I couldn't help but imagine death by drowning and it was more scary than any Death Eater I had ever encountered. I saw Annabeths too but hers was so burning that I couldn't even look at her face without being petrified with fear.
Alfie lead his goons back to the table. If they were dogs they would have had their tails between their legs. As they were leaving Professor Mcgonagall approached Percy and his girlfriend.
"I assume nothing to be alarmed about since you let him go." She said. I had no clue what she was talking about but Percy did.
"Yeah, he was just looking for a fight. I saw him lunge at Harry and I overreacted a bit." He replied.
"No you did good. One can never be to vigilante. I'll give him detention." With that she left.
I exchanged looks with Ron and Hermione. Who the bloody hell were these guys?
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Nothing to report. I hope you guys liked this chapter. I didn't have any character questions.