Kind of a short chapter. Okay. A few more chapters until Luke. I have Luke's entrance scene written up (first thing I wrote actually) so we all know we're going to get to it. Promise. Thank you all for your support on this story!

Little Lion Man

Mikkal

It was not your fault but mine

and it was your heart on the line.

I really messed it up this time.

Didn't I, my dear?

5.

Thalia found Percy before Annabeth did, surprisingly enough. He wasn't at the lakeshore like they collectively thought he would be (which is where Annabeth went), instead he was back in the commons, sitting in front of the fire. No one else was there, so the two of them were alone.

"You know," Thalia said. "It's not a weakness to fear something."

"I never said it was," Percy snapped.

She sighed and sat on the floor next to him, pulling out her wand to twirl between her fingers. "I never said you said it was," she said with a smirk. "I'm just saying. You ran out of that room like my father himself was on your tail." For once there was no thunder. Percy didn't react, just stared moodily at the fire. "Honestly, though, if you keep freaking out over every little thing that has to do with this war, I'm going to withdraw from the Hunters and make myself the child of the prophecy."

Percy flinched at that and looked at her with wide eyes. "What?" He all but screeched.

She smirked. "There we go. And here I thought you were ignoring me."

"Shut up, Pinecone Face," Percy growled, but the straight lines in his shoulders relaxed a little. He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "It's not that. In that smoke…Thalia, what did you see?"

Thalia leaned back on her elbows. "I saw a lot of things. My brother—."

"I didn't know you had a brother," Percy interrupted.

"I don't," She said quietly. "Not anymore. But I saw my brother. I saw Luke. I saw Annabeth, Grover, and Luke all dying all those years ago because I was too slow." She glanced at him. "I saw you, breaking down under all this stress."

She saw Percy glanced at her from the corner of her eye. He sighed and leaned closer to the fire.

"Did we see our fears and worries or did we see the future?" He asked

"Fears and worries," Thalia stated with no hesitation. "You're not going to let this war get to you, no matter what I say. It's not in your nature."

Percy smirked. "Remember when you use to hate me?"

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't hate you, Kelp head. I was just…wary."

Too much had changed, she was still trying to not look at Annabeth and see the little seven year old she and Luke found in the alley trying to fend off monsters with a hammer.

Grover with his searcher's license (even if it was on the rocks) and Juniper by his side.

The thing that hit the most, though, was Luke and how he turned so bitter. How he and Percy were a lot closer than Thalia ever thought Luke would ever get to a person, even her.

Her ultimate question was: Even if Luke was bitter after everything, how could he still go to the other side when he had Percy Jackson right there next to him?

"What did you see, Percy?" Thalia asked, shaking her head to rid it of her depressing thoughts. She glanced at the clock to see they had ten minutes to get to their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts with that Umbridge teacher Chiron warned them about.

"My mom," he said quietly. "From when I first came to camp." Oh, she'd heard of that story. The Minotaur and Sally Jackson's abduction a few years ago. "Annabeth collapsing under Ouranos. Grover trapped with Polyphemus as a satyr, not his fake Cyclops lady. Camp Half-Blood in flames." He paused for a really long time, making her think he was finished with his list, and then he said, "Luke."

And that's all he had to say.

"That stupid potion," he grumbled. "Gods, I feel so bad for saying this, but stupid Neville. Why'd he have to screw up that one?"

Thalia chuckled and stood up, poking Percy in the head and sending a shock into his system. He yelped, his hair standing on end. He glared at her as he tried to flatten his hair. An impossible task, his hair always looked as if he just came back from the beach.

"C'mon," she said. "I really don't want to deal with Umbridge. She seems like a horrible person."

Annabeth burst into the commons, her hair disarray (more so than usual. After all, she did have curly hair and didn't seem to own a brush). "You found him?" She exclaimed. "Gods, Thalia, you could've told me. I would really like to be told stuff like this so I'm not surprised to find you guys ripping each other into shreds."

Percy slung an arm over her shoulders, pulling her close against his side. "Aw, Wise Girl, I didn't know you cared so much!"

She scowled and jabbed him in the ribs, making him yelp. "I don't," she said, but there was laughter in her eyes.

He pouted and rubbed his side. "What is it with people being so mean to me today?" He whined childishly.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Because you're a Kelp Head," she said simply. She wrapped her arms around Annabeth's shoulders on her other side so they were three abreast.

They walked in the general direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, Annabeth leading the way since her talk with Hermione on their way to Potions mostly consisted of classes and where they usually where (apparently some classrooms moved).

"When we talk to Dumbledore we should probably mention telling Harry Potter a few things about us," Percy said suddenly.

Annabeth stared at him. "What?"

"His archenemy is with our enemy," he pointed out. "And I happen to think Kronos is a little worse than their Dark Lord. Harry needs to know what he's getting into." He glanced down at his shoes. "The less you know the harder it is to actually do anything," he muttered. "I know that from experience."

In fact, he was still experiencing, Thalia thought. She kind of forgot they hadn't told him the Great Prophecy yet.

And now she was wondering if that was even a good idea anymore. Not knowing just added to the worrying amount of stress already on Percy's shoulders.

"I'm not saying tell him everything," Percy said. "Not our prophecy or anything, just exactly who Voldemort has mixed himself up with and Luke's possible role."

"Which is?" Thalia asked sarcastically. "Please, Percy, if you've figured it out then don't hold back."

He glared at her then glanced away, muttering something probably unpleasant under his breath as he fiddled with the knot of his red and gold Gryffindor tie. Annabeth patted his side (the only place she could reach at the moment).

For a while she thought Gryffindor was a good match for all of them. She knew a lot of brave people, but none so more than Annabeth and Percy (and Grover, to be honest).

Then she read that stupid book Annabeth had shoved into her hands this morning. It was short and sweet (and in Greek), just a small explanation of Hogwarts and the Houses. In fact, it was called Hogwarts and the Houses.

Annabeth was suited more for Ravenclaw, a House most children of Athena would be sorted into—intelligence, knowledge, and wit. Thalia decided she was Slytherin, despite the stigma against it; ambition, cunning, and resourcefulness. And Percy was Hufflepuff; loyalty, patience, fair play, and hard work.

They obviously weren't perfect matches. Annabeth was all about hard work compared to Percy. Both Annabeth and Percy were so resourceful it was scary. And Thalia was all about wit. And none of them were stars in the patience category, but Percy was that least of all.

Thalia knew she convinced the talking hat to put her Gryffindor, she assumed Annabeth and Percy did the same thing. They never really discussed it.

She ruffled Percy's hair and gave him a small smile in apology, not really wanting to voice it out loud. She knew she'd hurt him with her sarcasm at that one wrong moment (okay, she's done that several times, but this time was the one she was apologizing for).

They wandered a little bit, passing wizards and witches as their class was dismissed at the normal time due to potion-free annoyances. She twirled a finger and thought about the Mist and about the fact that the three demigods were just normal students, no need to look at them.

"Should we tell them about…" Annabeth trailed off, biting her lip with a sad look on her face. There was rarely a time when Annabeth was unsure about her words. Most of the time the situation would involve death if she said the wrong thing. This was not one of those times so dread filled Thalia's stomach at the implications.

Percy glanced at her. "Tell them about what?"

"Luke…and you," she said. "You're compromised, in a way. We all are, but you mostly."

Percy pressed his lips together. "If we have to."

"He's going to find out a way he get on Hogwarts grounds," Thalia pointed out. "He's not stupid. And once he does. We all know what's going to happen."

The same thing that happened on Mount Tam no too long ago. Luke tricked Annabeth into "saving" him by taking the literal sky from him. Artemis took the sky from Annabeth. Percy took the sky from Artemis. Atlas was tricked into taking the sky back.

In that brief moment of silence after Atlas shouted his curses of retaking his burden the four demigods could only star at each other. Luke with Backbiter pointed at Thalia's chest, Annabeth with her dagger out, Thalia with her spear aiming for Luke's neck. And Percy, Percy standing there, bloody and sweaty, breathing hard, and whispering pleads for Luke to just stop. Please, stop this.

That was the first time Thalia fully realized how much she actually missed. And now she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Luke had pulled his sword away from Annabeth and lunged for Percy. Thalia acted out of reflex and constraint and swept her spear in an arc to smack him in the chest. Luke had stumbled back in pain and shock, tipping right over the edge and into the water below.

She could still hear Percy's desperately screaming Luke's name and almost going over the edge with him.

"Yeah, we all lose our heads," Percy muttered. "Awesome. Which is why we should tell Harry and company just a little bit about ourselves and the enemy."

Annabeth sighed. "Fair enough," she finally said. "We'll mention it to Dumbledore tonight. For now, though, I think this is DADA."

Thalia groaned. Great.