Chapter 12
Andromeda
Hey guys….
…
PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!
Okay, now that I've gotten that out, I'd like to thank anyone who is still reading this. School got really tough for me, and I just couldn't find the inspiration or creativity to write another chapter.
But, now I'm back, so everything is okay again, right?
And finally, here's the story!
For once, I was having a normal dream.
Well, normal for me, anyway.
The dream was about candy, unicorns, and rainbows; everything an eleven-year-old should be dreaming about.
And then, of course, all of the things this eleven-year-old knew about butted in; the monsters, the fighting, the war, the blood. Annoying Roman warriors ate all of my gumdrops and an army of Minotaur (I thought there was only one) trampled the candy cane meadows.
But, before I could pull out my sword to destroy the annoying creatures, I was literally shaken awake.
Standing above me was a giant creature that, in the dark, didn't look anything close to human. I opened my mouth to scream, but a giant palm covered my mouth before any noise could get out.
I was about to let my sword grow out until Lily, who I'd forgotten was there, said, "Hagrid!"
And with that the hand was lifted away from my mouth and I was lifted to my feet.
"How long were we out?" I asked, looking up at the giant man.
"Well, I'm assumin' yeh been out here 'fore eight, and its three now…"
"Hades," I muttered.
"Are we in trouble?" Lily asked as Hagrid helped her up. "I don't want to get expelled in the first week!"
"You'll be just fine," Hagrid assured. "We just have to get yeh back up to yer dorms befur six. Yeh can hide out in my hut for the time bein'…"
And, so, we walked in the dark toward the tiny, brightly-lit hut in the distance.
I'd never actually been inside of Hagrid's hut before, and, honestly, I'm quite glad that I haven't. It was quite cramped and cluttered, with stains littering every piece of fabric and small animal bones hidden in corners.
Well, I'm not really one to talk. My room is always dirty, and even though my mom urges me to clean it, I never do. The Poseidon cabin isn't that well cared for either, what with two of the three living Jackson kids and the other children of Poseidon all cramped into one small cabin (Dylan is much too afraid to enter the building anymore, and usually just hangs out with the children of Athena).
But, amidst the clutter, I noticed one thing the really didn't belong.
"Albus Severus Potter!" Lily yelled, giving him a death-glare that would have made Hades proud. "What the heck are you doing here at three in the morning?"
"What are you doing here at three in the morning?" he shot back, gnawing on something that resembled a hockey puck.
She crossed her arms and continued her glare. "I asked you first."
Albus sighed. "I couldn't sleep, so I took the invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map and visited Hagrid."
A worried look replaced the angry one on Lily's face, and she asked, "Was it another dream?"
He nodded.
At that particular moment, I was awfully confused, and I hate being confused.
"So, why are you here?" Albus asked, regaining his big brother voice.
"Oh, Lily and I were just catching up on some Astronomy homework and quizzing each other on the constellations," I answered quickly. "We fell asleep. Hagrid found us a couple minutes ago."
"Did that in my first year too," Albus said, smiling at the memory. "But the Headmistress found me instead and I got a month of detention. Mum and Dad were furious."
"Well, we'd rather that not happen to these two," Hagrid said. "How about you help 'em back to the castle?"
He sighed again. "If I have to."
"Good to know you really care about me, Al," Lily said sarcastically as her brother got up and grabbed the large blanket-like thing he'd been sitting on.
"Okay," he said, turning to us, "as soon as we climb the hill and are in sight of the castle, we're going to hide under this. Nobody will be able to see us, but they can hear us, so no giggling, talking, whispering, squeaking, or whimpering."
"We're not animals!" I contradicted.
"Whatever. Anyway, the Fat Lady should let us in, even though she hates it when I wake her up in the middle of the night. And remember, the password is Galloping Chimera," he finished, giving me a small glare.
We all waved goodbye to Hagrid and set out, cautiously climbing the hill towards Hogwarts.
As we neared the top, Albus pulled out the robe and we bunched together, Lily and me in back, Albus leading.
The halls were quiet for most of the trip; teachers, ghosts, and portraits were all sleeping peacefully.
But, as we were resting before heading up another flight of stairs, I saw a cloaked figure appear out of the shadows below us and disappear through a seemingly locked door.
"I think someone else is awake as well," I whispered, and Albus pulled out a large piece of parchment. "How is that going to help-"
Lily covered my mouth with her hand and whispered, "It's the Marauder's Map. It allows people to see who is in Hogwarts at any time of the day."
"I don't see anything unusual- wait, what's she doing up?"
The two of us looked cautiously over Albus's shoulder as his finger traced one lone moving dot marked Lucy Flay.
"Who's Lucy?" Lily asked.
"She's a Gryffindor in my year," Albus explained. "She shares a dorm with Rose, and she's quite possibly the nicest person I've ever met. I have no idea why she's up, though."
"Maybe we should go investigate," I started, but both Lily and Albus immediately contradicted.
"We need to get back," Lily argued, but I could see a small amount of fear in her brown eyes, and her voice shook slightly as she spoke.
"Fine," I huffed, and we set off again.
Wow, so few line breaks this chapter. It makes me feel sad….
We made it back to our dorms all in one piece.
But I didn't fall asleep as soon as I lay down, much like Lily did. My thoughts stayed on the girl wandering around the castle.
The black cloak she was wearing had reminded me so much of the shady figure in my dreams. She had almost made me jump when I saw her appear out of almost nowhere and run across the hall.
She always could have been sleepwalking, though, or maybe wanted to go visit Hagrid, like Albus. I'm sure sneaking around in a giant castle wouldn't be hard; a lot of kids must do it.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I slowly convinced myself that nothing sinister was going on. My brain, which normally worked at the speed of sound, made perfect sense of all of the strange happenings, and I closed my tired eyes, welcoming sleep.
Oh no; I'm running out of witty remarks for the line breaks! HELP ME, GODS OF CREATIVITY!
Nobody had even noticed our absence Saturday evening, so we got to enjoy the rest of the weekend without detention.
I managed to trick (uh, I mean convince. Yeah, convince) Hunter and Lily to head down to the lake with me so I could teach both of them how to swim.
Of course, Orion and I had been attempting to teach Hunter how to swim ever since we were one and pushed him into the lake (that is a LONG story I don't feel like getting into right now), but had never gotten anywhere. His parents even signed him up for swim lessons, but after almost drowning three times, he was taken out.
But, this year, I was determined to teach him.
Lily had a very open mind, so it was easy to convince her to step into the lake. Hunter, though, was a much different story.
"Are you sure the giant squid isn't anywhere near here?" Hunter asked, pulling me off to the side.
"He's in his cave of the north end of the lake," I answered calmly.
"What about that strange creature we saw? Do you sense him down there at all?"
"I don't sense anything near this spot that would potentially try to drown you."
"But what about the-"
Before he could finish, I gave him a hard shove, and he ungracefully fell into the lake, arms flailing wildly.
"I swear I'm going to kill you Annie!" Hunter yelled after he found his footing in the shallows.
I shrugged off the promise and dived straight into the water, still in my jeans and t-shirt.
For the rest of the day, I showed Lily basic paddles and kicks while Hunter huddled on the beach, trying to stay away from the water which was attempting to "grab" him.
We went back inside a little before dinner so we could dry off and get changed.
"Gracie," Lily started as we were heading to dinner.
"Yeah, Lily?"
"I have an evil idea."
"And that is?"
And, so, she told me her plan.
Yeah, I'm leaving you with that. *Cue evil laugh*
