"It's Percy now, Draco." Draco's smile grew even wider and almost leaked a new round of tears when the ex-professor's soothing voice reached his ears. Memories of the kind professor flooded his mind; all those times when the professor helped him tide over some of the most vicious accusations from a few of his fellow schoolmates…
Draco pulled Percy into a tight hug, sobbing into the man's shoulder as if he were a teenager once again. Draco couldn't let go, he was afraid that if he even loosened his hold by a tiny amount, the man would fade just like the rest of the memories of him.
Percy returned the hug, albeit less emotionally, smiling softly as he let his student weep away the built up of frustration from over the years. He soothed the young man on his shoulder with a hint of pride. The lost and lonely boy had grown up to be a fine young man it seems, judging from the expensive clothing.
He didn't rush Draco, who was clutching to him desperately. He could guess how the boy felt and in a corner of his heart, Percy felt guilty.
He made a selfish move by giving Draco and Harry a way to remember him. Percy had seen the shadows of Nico Di Angelo reflected in Draco, and as a sort of compensation for his inability to be there for the Italian boy when he needed it the most, Percy made it his mission to help the Slytherin boy.
As Percy noticed the gradual change in the Slytherin's demeanor, he soon too noticed the particularly strong rivalry between Draco and Harry, slowly seeing himself reflected in Harry.
Draco and Harry were polar opposites, as different as two people could ever be, but Percy knew that was why they would compliment each other perfectly. They would always push each other to be better, making them more aware of their own flaws. As they excelled in his class as the year went on, Percy allowed himself to take pride in them, his best students.
When he realized he would have to erase the students' memories of him at the end of the school year, Percy couldn't bear the thought of Draco and Harry losing all memories of him. Out of that selfish desire, Percy carved his name into the two drachmas he gave them, making sure that the both of them would be immune to the effects of the Mist.
And now holding the sobbing Draco, Percy realized his mistake. His selfishness led to this. Draco was consumed by the memories of a man only he could remember.
"Draco." Percy murmured, gently prying the young man from his shoulder. Draco finally released his grip on Percy, however, he didn't move away. He tried to tidy up his appearance, clumsily fumbling with his suit and smudging his tears all over his face. His hands were shaking, and he chuckled almost hysterically, forgetting all the spells that could clean up his appearance in an instant.
His eyes never left Percy's face for more than a second, as if he expected Percy to vanish every time he blinked. Percy smiled sadly, patiently waiting for his ex-student to gather himself again.
"W-why did you leave?" Draco's voice wasn't quite as steady yet, cracking a little as he spoke. Percy swallowed around the lump of guilt in his throat. Actions bring about consequences, and this consequence could have been easily avoided had he followed his orders. Then again, he was never the obedient soldier.
"I wasn't meant to stay." Percy winced at his poor attempt of evading the question. Being cryptic was not one of his talents, he decided. Wizard or not, mortals can never know. Not now, especially not now.
"MALFOY!" A roar came from behind them, the voice was familiar, but the rage in it was not. Percy sharply turned to the source.
"Get away from him." Percy couldn't tell if the demand was for him or Draco but it didn't matter. He quickly put some distance between himself and Draco, pulling out his pen as he did so.
The Boy Who Lived looked like he just came out of yet another war. His dark cloak was torn at so many places it was barely holding itself together. He clutched the right side of his ribcage with a burnt arm, leaning heavily on his left leg. Despite his condition, his wand arm was steady as he pointed the stick at Percy.
A wide range of emotions flashed across Harry's face as he registered the identity of the man before him, shock, disbelief, joy, confusion… anger. His features finally schooled themselves into a menacing snarl. Draco was clearly conflicted; he glanced between Harry and Percy, unsure of what was going on and whose side to take.
"Malfoy!" Harry barked, gritting his teeth. "We've been compromised, get away from the enemy!" Draco seemed to finally snap out of his daze. He scrambled to his feet and backed towards Harry, slowly pulling out his wand from his cane. His expression pained as he aimed his wand hesitantly at Percy.
"I'm not your enemy." Percy said slowly. He wasn't sure of the situation himself but this was clearly a misunderstanding. The sight of his former students pointing their wands at him made him a little sick, and yet a little proud. The two of them are working together just like he had thought they would.
"I don't trust you." Harry spat, wincing subtly around his glare. "Put down your wand and raise both hands in the air." Draco turned sharply to his partner, his gray eyes suddenly fierce.
"That's professor Jackson, Potter!" Draco snapped.
"I was ambushed, Malfoy!" Harry snapped back, his gaze never leaving Percy. "Our meeting was sabotaged. I'm still waiting, Jackson!"
Percy slowly put Riptide on the floor, not that it was a wand per se but they probably didn't know that, holding up both his hands in surrender. Getting caught in a wizard affair was not part of his plans for the evening, but he couldn't Mist his way out of this one either. Percy supposed in hindsight, giving two powerful wizards immunity to the Mist was a bad move on his part.
"Whatever you've got to say for yourself, save it for the Veritaserum." Harry sneered; his wand was still steadily pointed in Percy's face. Percy knew it was all a front. Harry was just barely holding it together. The slight trembling of his arm as he held his broken rib, the stumble in his step and that slightly unfocused look in his green eyes, Percy might have easily missed some of these signs of fatigue had he been slightly younger and inexperienced.
"Take him to the Ministry," Harry ordered Draco. "I'll catch up with you later." Draco's look of apology as he gripped Percy's arm was met with a reassuring smile. Percy sighed and resigned himself to resolving this wizard business. At least, the Gods cannot touch him in the Wizarding world.
Harry collapsed the moment the two of them Disparated. He gathered the last bit of his strength to send a Patronus for his Healer team. A silent chuckle escaped him as he finally allowed himself to guilty embrace the joy erupting in his chest.
He is real, Harry repeated in his head. He replayed the past minutes in his head, scrutinizing the image of Jackson's face in his mind, he's real. He laughed, the sound far too sharp to his own ears. Soon he was laughing and crying hysterically at the absurdity and irony of his situation.
Draco and he had spent the past decade of their lives looking for this man, this man who had created such a large impact on their lives in the short time they've known him. In this twist of fate, they found him right when they were steadily walking into yet another war. Immediately after the Head Auror was ambushed in a failed assassination attempt no less.
Harry barely registered Ron hurrying towards him with a Healer in tow. He gave the two of them a lazy grin before blacking out in a way of greeting.
The interrogation chamber, as the sign outside identified it as, was nothing like Percy had imagined it to be. It was a circular courtroom, but clearly it had not been used for its intended purposes for a long time. The rows of empty seats were dusty and the wood unpolished. A single chair stood in the middle of the room, facing a raised podium.
Percy noticed his breath coming out in a cloudy puff. A chill was slowly and unmistakably crawling across his skin as if alive. Despair was slowly creeping into his thoughts, the darkest thoughts kept under careful lock and key rattled in their cages. He glanced up and sure enough, the abominations of Hades' court flew near the ceiling.
Draco waved his wand and a silvery Patronus burst forth from the tip. The silver boa slithered around them lazily, occasionally hissing at the Dementors that dared to float lower. Draco had not uttered a word for the entire journey. Percy didn't blame him. It's definitely hard to trust a man who wiped the memories of all your friends, no matter how much of a good guy this man was.
"It wasn't you, right?" Draco blurted before Percy could sit in the chair.
Draco gave no further clarifications so Percy could only hazard a vague guess as to what Draco was referring to.
"No?" Percy offered, not even sure what he was denying but denying nonetheless because he was innocent to everything wizard, dammit.
Thick ropes erupted from the handles of the chair and wrapped themselves around Percy's wrists, trapping him there. Finally the situation fully registered itself in Percy's mind.
He was in the Ministry of Magic, going to be interrogated with Veritaserum on the suspicion that he was part of some sort of assassination attempt, by two of his former students whom he had idiotically granted immunity to the Mist. Surrounded by Dementors with not a droplet of water in sight, his brain helpfully supplied.
Percy tugged at the ropes; they didn't even budge once. Great, how exactly was he going to get out of this one?
The door to the room flew open and Harry walked in through the door. He had cleaned up now with a fresh set of clothes and bandages peaking out from underneath his collar. To Percy's relief, the two of them were the only ones present.
Harry's face was set in an emotionless mask as he approached Percy. He held an unassuming little glass vial between his fingers. Percy eyed the glassware apprehensively. He knew it was the infamous Veritaserum, one of the potions Chiron had specifically warned them about so many years ago.
Percy had never been exposed to its fabled effects, but he wasn't too enthusiastic about finding out.
Nevertheless, he swallowed the liquid. Percy expected an urge to spill out all his precious secrets, or maybe a violent retching reaction but he didn't even feel the slightest tingle. Percy smacked his lips with a frown and flexed his fingers. Maybe his demigod blood neutralized the potion?
Harry turned sharply with a swish of his dark cloak, heading to the podium while Draco stayed behind to stand at Percy's side.
In case I tried to escape, Percy thought grimly.
"What is your name?" Harry asked loudly, his voice held such a commanding tone Percy felt compelled to answer as truthfully as possible.
"Perseus Jackson." Percy answered before he could stop himself. Panic rose within Percy, he finally understood the danger that was Veritaserum. There was nothing to fight against. The influence of Veritaserum was intangible; it didn't force him to speak, it took away his will to lie completely.
"How did you obtain information about the meeting between Malfoy and I?" Harry's eyes stared right into his own; Percy couldn't see any trace of the boy he once taught.
"I didn't, it was a coincidence I ran into Draco at the pub." Percy's lips moved again without conscious thought. At least it was providing statements advantageous to his situation right now. Tension visibly eased from Harry's stance, his lips twitched but he schooled his expressions to one of indifference before he could grin.
"What were you doing at the pub?" The tension had not fully drained from Harry's frame. This can't go on, it's only a matter of time Percy revealed something mortals can't afford to pay the consequences for hearing.
"Um, drinking?" and being generally depressed like all mortals when they go to a pub to drink, Percy stopped himself from verbalizing the rest of his answer. Technically, he wasn't lying. His mind raced at the discovery of the loophole, trying to channel a very specific child of Athena as best as he could.
"Why?" Harry's eyes narrowed at the clearly vague answer.
"I heard disappointing news." Percy could feel his panic rising; the direction this interrogation was going wasn't favorable to him. He can't afford to reveal more information. He clenched his jaws tightly together, think Seaweed Brain!
"News regarding?" Harry pressed on, tension tightening his shoulders at the unhelpful answers.
Percy's mouth opened again without his permission to answer probably truthfully but a sudden, familiar weight in his pocket distracted him. Riptide. The momentary distraction was all that was needed. Percy could now feel the urge to speak, the urge that hadn't been there before. The Veritaserum didn't like to be kept waiting it seems. The pause had revealed its invisible presence and it was now clawing at his tongue.
Percy bit down on it. It was so much easier now that there was something he knew he could fight back against.
"What news, Jackson!" Harry got impatient as the silence dragged on; noticing the resistance Percy was showing. The new command heightened the urge and Percy couldn't hold back his tongue anymore.
"About the person I was looking for." Percy muttered through his gritted teeth. He clenched his fists. Hades' asshole.
Draco remained silent beside Percy, feeling a chill run down his spine. His Patronus hissed viciously at the Dementors that were floating closer to the trio, their eerie forms twitched in anticipation at the increasingly tense atmosphere.
"This is going nowhere…" Harry muttered under his breath, burning a hole into the wood of the podium with his glare. "Alright, I'll change this up and get straight to the point." Harry's head snapped up.
"How are you related to Annabeth Chase?"
Percy's eyes widened and before he realized, he was on his feet, pulling and tugging forcefully at his unforgiving bonds. His expression was livid as emotions flooded through his mind.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!" Percy roared at Harry, briefly registering Draco physically pushing him back onto the chair. Draco's ice grey eyes were wide with shock and fear. They were not expecting the outburst, Hades, even Percy himself was not expecting his reaction.
But something in him snapped at the mention of Annabeth. Annabeth. Annabeth, who had been missing for more than half a decade. Annabeth, whom Percy had spent more than half a decade looking for. Annabeth. Annabeth.
"How are you related to Annabeth Chase, Jackson!" Harry repeated, louder this time and more forcefully. He leaned forward, bracing himself against the podium railings. He didn't expect this, he didn't want to believe that Percy had been involved with Annabeth Chase, of all people.
Annabeth froze in mid-action of removing her armor, her grin frozen on her face. Her grey eyes followed Percy as he sunk down on one knee. Her chest wasn't moving. Percy was a little worried she wasn't breathing. His own heart pounded frantically in his chest, it was so loud he was sure Annabeth is hearing every beat. He could feel a nervous smile blooming on his face as he pulled out the little velvet box from his pocket.
"Answer me!" Harry raised his voice impatiently, almost yelling at Percy who had suddenly became unresponsive. Percy felt tired. The hopelessness of his search crashed into him and he fell back into his seat. His head fell back against the back of the chair, his dull eyes stared without seeing at the Dementors hungrily circling him above.
"She was my fiancée." Percy breathed. He couldn't lie. Percy knew that even without the influence of the Veritaserum, he couldn't bear to lie about Annabeth. "She had been missing for 7 years."