Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update (if a week is a long time that is), but as we wrimos like to say, I have been week twoed. For awhile I had lost almost all of my motivation to write. The second reason it took me so long to update is more my fault than anything, origanly this was just one huge 10,000 word chapter, but I realized that was way too long, so I just used half of it as Chapter 2, which means that I already have a huge chunk of the next chapter done. And one last thing, I usually hate it when people beg for reviews, but PLEASE REVIEW! I have a grand total of three reviews, and while I am completly grateful for those reviews, new reviews give me motivation to write. Just this morning when I got another review (just 1!) I wrote about another 2, 000 words. So I'm not just asking for reviews so that I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside, I'm asking because it will really help me to win NaNoWriMO this year. So please please please review. Just a couple more days until Deathly Hallows! I'll try to get the next chapter up before it comes out. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Those last few days seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't bring myself to fully enjoy them. I had always hated change, ever since I was little. You should have seen the fit I through when Aunt Charlotte decided to repaint my room a different color. Let's just say, my four year old self didn't talk to her for days. And everything that was happening now, moving on to a new school, especially a school of magic, was a huge step. The thing is I was comfortable at camp. I was comfortable with waking up every morning to go train to fight monsters, hang out with friends, and maybe play a few pranks with Connor and Travis. I wasn't really sure if I was ready to leave all that behind. Of course, I would be back next summer, but I had to wonder if I would still be the same person when that happened.
In her letter, Aunt Charlotte had told me she was coming to pick me up on Saturday, which left me exactly two days to pack my bags and say goodbye to everyone. But to them I was only leaving camp a little early, they didn't know that my life was about to be turned completely upside down.
I know it seems strange that I'm not more excited to go to Hogwarts. I'm sure that if you asked any other kid to drop everything and go to a new school to learn how to use magic, they'd do it in a heart beat. Not me though, I have enough magic and danger in my life as it is, thank you very much. Still, a part of me was very curious despite my mind telling me that this was all wrong.
The hardest thing by far would be saying goodbye to Connor and Travis. We had so much planned for this summer, and I hated that I was the reason that it was being cut so short. Both of them seemed to notice my bad mood almost the second Chiron deemed me well enough to return to my daily activities.
As soon as I was out the door of the Big House I saw them. They were leaning up against the railing of the porch that wrapped around the large house, laughing about something Connor had just said. "Hey guys." I greeted.
They both looked up suddenly at the sound of my voice. "Hey graceful." Travis teased, causing Connor to have to attempt to hide his laugh in his hands.
I tried to smile good naturedly and cover up the small blush that was creeping up my cheeks. "Yeah, I guess you guys do have a right to make fun of me. After all, I did fall out of a tree." I ran my hands nervously through my tangled brown hair at my meager attempt at sounding like my old self.
The smiles seemed to fall of their faces almost instantly. "Are you okay, Annie?" Connor asked carefully. "You seem a little… off."
I smiled sadly and shook my head. "No, I'm fine. It's just; my aunt sent me a letter while I was recovering. She… uh … she wants to come pick me up on Saturday."
"Bummer." Travis said. "Well, Connor and I will make sure that your last couple of days at camp are absolutely amazing." He finished, smiling broadly.
I could tell by the way they quickly returned to their normal joking selves that they didn't fully understand what was going on. And how could I expect them too? After all, they didn't know how much my life was changing.
"I'm sure you will guys, but right now I'm starving. When's lunch?"
"You missed it." Connor stated. "But luckily Travis and I have a secret stash of unhealthy, heart attack inducing, cholesterol full, junk food in our cabin. Do you want some?"
My stomach growled in anticipation. "Heck yes! You two are life savers, thanks!"
"Well then, let's go!" Travis held out his arm for me. "Right this way my lady." I took his arm and laughed genuinely for what seemed like the first time in ages, but in reality was no more than twenty – four hours.
"Not without me my lady. " Connor joked, as he too held out his arm for me to take.
It's amazing how easy it is for me to feel a million times better just by being with my two best friends. For the first time since reading Aunt Charlotte's letter I actually felt like I could laugh and be happy, and not like my life was suddenly going to end. Now I was nursing a new feeling, hope. Perhaps now, things wouldn't have to completely change. Maybe now, after my first year at Hogwarts, I could come back to Camp Half- Blood and things could still be ( somewhat ) the same.
We stumbled into the Hermes cabin talking and joking loudly. We had to watch our step so we wouldn't trip over the numerous sleeping bags and belongings that the various unclaimed campers had left on the floor. As the patron god of travelers, the Hermes cabin took in any campers who have not yet been claimed by their godly parent. Since most of the gods have far better things to do than take care of their children, unclaimed campers out number those that actually belong to the Hermes cabin. Most of these campers are often sullen and depressed, much unlike the majority of Hermes' kids who were often seen causing some form of mischief at Camp Half – Blood. We made it through the maze of belonging miraculously without falling on our faces and to the loose floor board that I knew to be our destination. They pulled away the board to reveal a plethora of our all time favorite junk food; Doritos, Ding Dongs, Cheetos, Twinkies, gummy bears, Lays potato chips, Reeses, and dinosaur fruit snacks were only the beginning of it. I quickly reached in and grabbed the first thing my hands came in contact with. Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips, delicious.
While we munched contently on our food we talked and joked. Our conversations usually went something like this: Connor would say something funny and we'd all laugh, then I would make some witty remark and we would all laugh again, then Travis would think of some hilarious sarcastic and clever response to my witty remark and by this time we would be rolling on the floor and clutching our sides in laughter. In fact, we were having such a great time that we didn't notice that we were no longer alone in the Hermes cabin. While we were laughing, Luke, the head counselor for the Hermes cabin, had snuck in almost soundlessly. We didn't even know he was there until he broke up our little party by interrupting what Travis was about to say. "Travis, Connor, everybody in our cabin has to go to the arena to practice sword fighting." Both of them sighed and got up to leave after saying their goodbyes to me. Ah well, good things never last forever.
. . .
My last few days at camp were a blur of sad goodbyes, last minute packing, and a few nights crying myself to sleep. Just kidding, about the last one at least. I never could go to sleep because my mind was filled with questions about what would happen next. I would often stay up the entire night just thinking about Hogwarts, magical owls, and mysterious letters.
Before I knew it, I was standing at the top of Half- Blood Hill waiting for my Aunt Charlotte to come and pick me up. I had to stay within the camp's boundaries to wait for my aunt. The camp's magic boundary kept away anything unwelcome, like monsters and mortals. Don't get me wrong, we're not prejudiced against mortals, but let's see you try explaining a camp with dryads, centaurs, Pegasus, and a real life ancient Greek sword fighting arena, and amphitheatre to your every day average Joe. As a mortal, Aunt Charlotte would find it nearly impossible to get into Camp Half Blood.
Outside the camp's boundaries the rain was coming down in a steady pattern. I could hear thunder in the distance and then lightening would flash seconds later. But inside camp the sky was clear. Just another thing that made life at camp so much fun. We were never held back by small issues like weather. In addition to keeping out mortals and monsters, the camp's boundaries also kept out bad weather. So, it was never cloudy, never rained, snowed, or stormed. It was always sunny and cloudless.
It was too early to be up. Anybody with half a brain could see that. It was barely passed five o'clock in the morning, but my aunt had insisted in a last minute Iris Message that she would pick me up first thing in the morning. Iris, the goddess of rainbows, would often help half – bloods out when they needed to contact somebody. All you had to do was make a rainbow and toss in a golden drachma as payment, and you could talk to pretty much anybody. I had taught Aunt Charlotte how to do this one day so that she could contact me at times when a letter would be too slow. Iris usually didn't let mortals do this, so I was usually the one to start the conversations. This was of course the case last night. Anyway, nobody would be up to see me off, I was positive about that. Too early, I thought to myself as I let out a huge yawn.
So there I was, alone, tired, and slightly bored, waiting at the top of Half Blood hill. And then, suddenly, Connor and Travis were there, both looking solemn. The Stoll brothers never looked solemn; it must be a sign of the apocalypse. Connor reached out to give me a hug, but Travis was holding a little white box with a blue bow on top in his hand.
"Well Annie, I guess this is goodbye." Connor said as he released me from his hug.
"Only until next summer." I corrected him.
Connor smiled. "Of course. We made you something, since, you know, you won't be able to stay all summer."
I grinned and took the box out of Travis' outstretched hand and I mumbled, "Thanks." It really was a sweet gesture to give me a going away present. I eagerly tore off the bow and opened the box and I almost gasped in surprise. Inside the box was a bead matching those on my camp necklace, except this one had a picture of a stick figure falling out of a tree painted on it. Every summer at the end of camp each camper receives a bead to add to their camp necklace. I had four on mine, a gold chariot, a bow and flaming arrow, a pink baby Pegasus, and a centaur in a prom dress (Now that was an interesting summer). The picture on each bead represented something important that had happened that summer. It was a funny thought to think that Connor and Travis thought me falling out of a tree "bead worthy". I smiled as I slid the bead on to my necklace. Five beads for five absolutly amazing summers. "Thanks" I muttered again, smiling broadly.
"It's no problem. Just have a good time over in London." Connor answered as he hugged me back.
"Annie, I think your aunt is here." Travis pointed out as he turned to hug me too. Sure enough, a taxi had pulled up in front of the hill, and honked its horn. My aunt rolled down the window and waved to me frantically. Nice going Aunt Charlotte, make sure to give the poor taxi driver a big tip for letting in all that rain through the window.
I rolled my eyes. "Well, I guess I'll see you next summer."
They smiled their nearly identical smiles. "Cheerio!" They said and turned back towards camp laughing the whole way. I sighed. Connor and Travis have insisted on making fun of my British accent ever since we first met. It was always "Cheerio this!" and "Bloody hell" that. I mean come on, you don't see me walking around saying "Hey y'all, what's crack – a - lackin" or something like that. I forced myself to let it go. After all, I couldn't be mad at them when I was about to leave for another whole year.
I walked slowly down the hill, purposely taking my good sweet time. After all, my aunt had insisted on picking me up as soon as possible, waiting for a few more minutes won't kill her.
"Come on Annie! Our plane leaves at three o'clock and I wanted to stop and get lunch. Stop lazing around!" This caused Connor and Travis, who were still within ear shot to burst into another fit of laughter because of Aunt Charlotte's choice of words.
"I'm coming Aunt Charlotte!" After all, I wasn't just dilly dallying on purpose, my trunk slowed me down a considerable deal.
She had gotten out of the cab and was tapping her foot impatiently, but she still had a smile on her face. Eventually I got to the cab when my shirt was completely soaked through thanks to the rain. My Aunt Charlotte allowed me to get into the cab as she put my trunk in the back. When my aunt got into the cab as well I could see that her shirt was just as soaked as mine, but this did nothing to deteriorate her mood. Her large smile was still plastered on her face.
"Isn't this just great?" She exclaimed happily. Before I had a chance to say that it was indeed great in the most dejected way possible, she continued talking. "I've just missed you so much! I don't know how I'll be able to deal with you being gone all year, and summer too no doubt! I can't expect you to not want to come back to camp! Oh, but I'm just glad that I'm with you right now. But are you excited to go to Hogwarts? Are you nervous? I bet you are nervous, I would be. You'll have to make new friends, and you know just about as much magic as a muggle-born, that'll set you back a little bit! Oh, what am I saying? That's just going to make you even more nervous. I'm so stupid. Don't listen to a word I say. " Aunt Charlotte did that a lot. Whenever she was nervous she would talk a million words per minute. From a very young age I learned to just block her out when she did this and she usually ended up sounding like that teacher from Charlie Brown, "Wah wah wah wah wah…"
"Aunt Charlotte, if you don't mind it's still really early and I am seriously tired. Could I try to go to sleep?" I asked.
She nodded. "Of course dear. I'll wake you up when we get to New York City."
I nodded and turned back to staring out the window. The rain was coming down harder than ever and was making a large racket on the roof of the car. The country road would have made a nice picturesque view from the car if it hadn't been raining and the windows weren't blurred from the constant splattering of the water. Eventually the bumping along of the cab, sound of the rain, and distant rumble of thunder rocked me into a deep sleep.
It didn't seem like long before I was shaken awake by my Aunt Charlotte. "Wake up Annie! Wake up! We're here and we only have about an hour to eat lunch before we have to get to the airport." She said, as she got out of the cab.
"Okay, I'm up. No need to get all crazy on me. "I murmured sleepily as I tried and failed to stifle a yawn. It immediately became clear to me that the rain had stopped and we were outside of a quaint little café in New York City called La Petite Chou-fleur. "The Little Cauliflower?" I asked curiously. Don't ask me how I translated that, because the truth is, I really don't know. When I was little Aunt Charlotte had insisted on teaching me French, claiming that it would help me out in the long run. Let me be the first to say that it has never helped me. I despised the French lessons and usually spent the majority of them staring dreamily out the window, wanting desperately to play outside. I guess more French had stuck with me than I had originally thought.
"Very good Annie. This is one of my favorite restaurants in New York City. I have to come here every time I'm in New York. Plus, it's so busy nobody could possibly overhear us when we discuss…well you know." She said as she cast a weary look towards the driver. Aunt Charlotte went around back to retrieve my trunk as I started making my way towards the café. It was nice enough looking I guess. The building was painted a pleasant yellow color, the door was crowded with fliers for the restaurant's new promotions, and the windows were filled with professionally decorated pastries and cakes which instantly made my stomach growl and realize how hungry I really was. My aunt seemed to notice this fact almost instantly.
"Well hurry up. It won't do either of us much good to just stand outside looking hungry." Then she walked straight into the restaurant carrying my trunk behind her. If anybody thought it was odd that my aunt was dragging a large trunk through a crowded café, nobody let on. I guess living in a big city you kind of get used to strange things and people after awhile. I followed closely behind her.
The waitress inside was young, as she barely looked sixteen. She had headphones in her ears and was jamming out to some type of rock song. She smacked the gum in her mouth, making me cringe slightly. If there was one thing I hated, it was people who chewed noisily. "Table for two?" She asked as she revealed what was indeed a large wad of gum. My aunt nodded and the waitress motioned for us to follow her. She led us to a corner table in the very back of the restaurant. "Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked in a way that implied that she'd rather be anywhere else besides at the little café today.
"I'll just have a water." I said, and my aunt smiled gratefully at me. I knew my aunt struggled with money, ever since my uncle had died she's been in and out of work. She's tried never to deny me simple things like soda at a restaurant, but I can tell what a relief it is to her when she doesn't have to pay the extra five dollars for a soft drink.
"That's what I'll get too." Aunt Charlotte said. The waitress nodded and left the table without a word. Ugh, I really hoped my aunt didn't feel the need to tip this girl well. Aunt Charlotte looked at me carefully. "I'm sorry Annie." She said sadly.
"About what?" Which was a stupid thing to say. I knew what she was sorry about, but I didn't want to be the reason she felt even worse than she already did.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Hogwarts or about magic or anything really. I kept a whole part of who you are a secret from you and I-"
"Really, it's okay. I'm not mad." I started, but Aunt Charlotte waved her hand for me to stop.
"No, it's not okay. I lied to you. When you asked how your Uncle David died, I lied to you. Whenever you asked about your mother I lied. I'm a liar, and I'm sorry."
I could tell that she would continue on with this even if I kept denying that there was nothing to be ashamed of so I said, "Why did you do it?"
"I don't know Annie. I guess I was scared."
I was confused. What was there to be scared of? "Why were you scared?"
" I was scared that you wouldn't think I was good enough for you anymore, or that I wouldn't be enough?"
I was dumb struck. "Auntie, I could never think that. How could you think that you wouldn't be good enough for me?"
"Because I'm a squib Annie. I can't do magic."
I was really confused, so I asked the first thing that came to my mind. "What's a squib?"
She sighed. "A squib is somebody who was born into a wizard family but can't do magic. The opposite of a muggleborn really." I started to ask what the heck a muggle-born was when she explained. "A muggle born is somebody with no wizard parents but can do magic."
"So, am I a muggle born?" I asked carefully.
My aunt smile at me. "No, you're a half-blood. Your mum was a witch, and your father, well he's not a wizard, is he. But not that any of that matters, all that blood purity stuff. It really doesn't affect how good a witch you'll be, and don't listen to anybody who tells you otherwise." I nodded to show that I wouldn't and my aunt continued. "Well, I suppose you want to learn about Hogwarts don't you? I can't really tell you much since I've never been there, but I've heard a great deal about it."
"From my mum." I guessed.
Aunt Charlotte smiled at me. "Mostly yes. But you're forgetting that I grew up in a wizard family, I had a very close friend who was a witch and told me everything I wanted to know."
I nodded my head, "Who?"
"Oh, you'll meet her tomorrow. She's taking both of us to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies."
"What's Diagon Alley?" So many names and things were being thrown at me and I had no idea how I would ever remember all of it. Why did the wizard world have to be so confusing?
"Diagon Alley is a place full of magic shops. Everybody goes there to get all of their magical supplies like potions ingredients, spell books, and wands. I remember when I was a little girl, I loved going there. I especially loved getting ice cream at Fortescue's…oh I really am getting off topic aren't I?"
"Will I get a wand?" I asked suddenly. The idea of it frightened and excited me all at the same time. Somehow, getting a wand would make this all seem so much more real.
"Oh, yes. You'll get it at Ollivander's, he's the best. Getting your wand is a very exciting moment; I remember when your mum got her's. She must have gone through at least one hundred wands before she found the one that was right for her."
"So you can't just buy an old wand, you really have to go through one hundred wands to be able to get one?"
My aunt laughed, making my ears turn scarlet. "No, that was just your mum. You see, the wand chooses the wizard, or in your case witch. You can't just take any old wand because it won't work as well as the one you were destined for. Wand lore is a very confusing subject, you'd be better off asking a professional like Ollivander."
The waitress came back over suddenly, still chomping on her gum and listening to her way too loud music. With one final smack of her gum she said, "Are you guys ready to order?" Smack, smack, smack.
My aunt seemed to notice the gum smacking and seemed slightly grossed out by it. "Umm..yes. I'll have a chicken sandwich please."
I hadn't even looked at the menu yet, as I had been preoccupied with other things for the majority of our time at the restaurant, so I decided to take the only safe route. "Me too."
The waitress nodded and walked away smacking her gum.
We ate in a comfortable silence for the rest of our meal. I had too much going through my mind to really make good conversation. I had learned so many things during our short lunch that my mind would be reeling for days. Squibs, Hogwarts, wands, spell books; it was all becoming more and more real to me. It was a thought that both frightened and excited me. I was excited to go to Hogwarts, because this magic stuff was starting to sound like a pretty big deal. But because this magic was such a big deal, I knew it would change my life forever, and the thought of that much change did frighten me.
One rushed lunch, and a couple hours trying to make our way through the tight New York City airport security found us sitting impatiently for the plane to take off. I was tapping my foot to a beat that was only in my head while my aunt was flipping through a muggle magazine. That word was so strange to me, muggle. It was odd that there were so many different classifications for people in this new world I was entering. My aunt was a squib. I was a witch. But there was also pureblood, half- blood, muggle- born, the list goes on.
And there was another thing. The way my aunt talked about my mum. It was like she was almost ashamed of her, or of something she had done. And then there was that warning, and I knew just by the tone of her voice when she said it that it was a big deal. Don't listen to anybody who tells you blood purity is important. My aunt had brought it up for a reason, and I knew it had something to do with my mother.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to American Airlines. Please buckle your seat belts and prepare for take off." Said the calm, soothing voice of the flight attendant over the speakers. My grip tightened on the arm rest. I hated flying. I was forced to fly every summer to and from camp and the experience always made me nervous. Zeus, as the lord of the skies, hated it when demigods had the nerve to fly through his domain. All that needed to happen was for Zeus to be in a particularly bad mood and decide to blast down some planes, and I was a goner.
The entire plane ride was spent with me grasping the arm rest until my knuckles turned white and taking short shallow breaths until I felt light headed. So you can only imagine my relief when the voice of the flight attendant was once again heard throughout the plane via intercom. "The plane will now begin its descent into London. I hope you enjoyed your flight." No, flight attendant, I did not enjoy my flight.
We made our way through the crowded airport and into the streets of London where my aunt quickly hailed a cab to take us to the suburbs outside of the city. It was a long drive, but one where Aunt Charlotte and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with each other.
"And then, Connor said that Travis should eat the potato and he did! You should've seen his face when he found out!" My aunt erupted in to a fit of laughter. It was just like old times, before camp and Hogwarts. We used to be really close, and share everything. I really missed that. About an hour later we were home.
Aunt Charlotte lived in a quiet neighborhood, which was mostly due to the fact that only old people lived in the neighborhood, meaning I was the only person under the age of forty that lived on the street. And my aunt was the one forty year old, and she was considered really young. As soon as we pulled into the driveway I raced out of the car and straight into the house. As much as I missed camp, and I really really did miss it, it was good to be home. I was greeted in the living room by Aunt Charlotte's two cats, Cheryl and Alice. Cheryl was a tabby cat who snuck around the house rarely ever being seen. Alice was all black and was never without a human companion. She hated being left alone and much preferred being carried around from place to place.
"Hey Cheryl. Hey Alice. Throw any wild parties while we were gone?" I joked. The cats gave a quiet meow in response making me giggle and give them a quick stroke on the back. "I missed you guys." Alice purred contently, but Cheryl hissed and ran quickly out of the room. "You haven't changed much have you Cheryl?" But she was long gone.
…
Sleeping that night was nearly impossible. I tossed and turned. My sheets, dampened by my cold sweat, stuck to my body creating more discomfort. The house moaned and creaked with any small gust of wind. The insomnia was in and of itself tiring, and after hours laying awake I finally felt my eye lids grow heavy, and I entered a world of dreams. Only when I woke up did I realize how much I wished I would've stayed awake.
I was in a cave. At least, that where I thought I was. The ceiling, walls, and floors were all made of a rough type of rock. Stalagmites hung from the ceiling, making me nervous. Unlike most stalagmites, these ones seemed to be in danger of falling and killing me. So I was weary of them.
I had no idea where I was walking to, but I kept walking forward. I was drawn towards something in the distance, and I had no control over where my body was taking me. Closer and closer I was taken towards the chasm. Yes, that's what it was. Now I was close enough to see that. But why wasn't I stopping? I was getting dangerously close to the chasm and showing no signs of ever stopping. Panic consumed me. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't find my voice. I wanted to run away, but my body was being controlled. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for the feeling that would surly come with falling to my death.
But no feeling of falling ever came. I summoned all of my courage to open one eye slowly, and then the other eye. I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't falling; I was standing on the very edge of the chasm. Too close in my opinion. I tried to back away but my feet were glued to the ground. The air around me seemed old. How air could seem old, I'll never know, but this air did. It unsettled me. Something was not right; I knew that for a fact.
Then, a cold breeze was stirred up from the very bottom of the deep chasm, making me shiver, despite my mind telling me to get away in whatever way possible. The breeze was wrapping around me, suffocating me. If I had ever wanted to scream before, it was nothing compared to what I was feeling now.
Then there was a voice, cold and cruel, like a knife being slide slowly across one of the rocks beside me. "So little hero, you're going away and leaving all your little friends behind? Ha! What a foolish mistake."
Suddenly, I found my voice, but it was just a small scared whisper. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? I mean that once you go away you will never come back. If all goes according to plane, there won't be a Camp Half Blood to return to."
My heart was thumping so loudly I was sure the voice could hear it. "W-what are you going to do to my friends?" I asked quietly, desperately not wanting him to answer.
"Well, I'll have to dispose of the little 'heroes' won't I? I can't have them ruining my plan."
"Please, don't hurt them. I'll do anything, just please don't hurt them!"
"Why would I make deals with you half- blood? You are nothing to me. Now go, I have no more need for you." The breeze was rushing back into the chasm, pushing my forward. I lost my balance and slipped, falling in the chasm…
…
I was screaming, and I was falling. My body was so consumed by fear that my mind didn't even realize the fact that I was actually in my bed. And by the time that I did realize that there was no immediate danger to me, my voice was hoarse from the yelling, but I still screamed. It had all seemed so real, the voice, the cave, the terrifying fall to my death, and even worse the message the voice had given me. What did it mean? Why would he "dispose" of my friends? What kind of plan did he make? All I knew was that it couldn't be good. But one thing was more frightening than any of that. If I was just as disposable as everybody else, why then would he seek me out to tell me his plans? I had a feeling I would never know.
I wanted to run into my aunt's room and cry and fall asleep in her warm comfortable bed, just as I had done when I was a little girl. But luckily, this time my aunt came to me. I guess all my screaming had woke her up. I knew that living with a half - blood wasn't easy for her. I could tell that she was scared, and I was too. Being so far from camp, if a monster chose to attack me, what chance did I have to get help? Anyway, Aunt Charlotte came into my room dressed in her white nightgown. Her usually neat caramel colored hair looked like a rat's nest piled on top of her head. "Annie, what happened? Are you hurt?"
My blue eyes sparkled with tears, and I really wished I hadn't started to cry. I never cry, after all what did that solve? I hated showing weakness. When you grew up in a camp as the youngest person in your cabin, you realize that crying will only make you look small and weak. I had to learn that the hard way. But still, when I spoke my voice was shaking. "N-no, i-it's nothing."
My aunt gave me a sympathetic look and came over to sit on my bed. "It's obviously not nothing. Annie, you've haven't looked this upset in a long time." I laid my head down on her chest and allowed her to stroke my curly brown hair.
"It was just a nightmare." I said finally.
My aunt looked relieved. "Oh, well that's not so big of a deal. After all, nightmares are only in your head."
I leaned my head off her chest and shook it back in forth. "No, you don't understand. When half- bloods dream, especially like the one I had, it means something."
Aunt Charlotte pursed her lips. "Are you sure Annie?" I nodded. "Well there's nothing that can hurt you right now. Go back to sleep for a few more hours, we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow!" I nodded my head and laid back down on my pillow, and tried to let sleep find me again.