A/N - Guys…this is the last chapter of the first book…I'm kinda sad…but no worries, I'm still planning on writing the sequel! I will update on here with an author's note to let you guys know when it's out. It'll probably be about a month before it comes out, so I can have a break to get organized and everything. Or, knowing me, it may be out in two weeks because I'll be excited about it. Sigh. Well, enjoy this last chapter…see you guys in the next book!
Ok, one more thing. This chapter is not beta-edited yet, because I am at camp right now and the internet absolutely sucks and my mail won't load. I will edit it when I get home on Saturday. I didn't want to make you guys wait for two weeks again.
"blah blah"- Speaking Greek
"blah blah"- Speaking Amestrian
'blah blah'- Thinking
- Begin/end flashback
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Percy Jackson. Good thing too, or they wouldn't be nearly as good as they are now. They belong to J.K. Rowling, Hiromu Arakawa, and Rick Riordan. Just to be safe, I also don't own the song 'This is War' by Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Percy
Percy had never been good at waiting patiently. His ADHD had never lended well to sitting quietly and waiting for news; which was very unfortunate considering the circumstances. Thalia was off making sure everything happened the way it was supposed to happen, while Percy and Nico were left to wait. Nico seemed to be taking it well; but then again it was hard to tell what he was really thinking sometimes. He was expressionless as ever, only his eyes moving as he tracked Percy's movement around the Gryffindor common room.
"Why don't you try sitting down?" Nico suggested with a sigh. "You're going to wear a hole in the carpet."
Percy groaned in frustration and threw himself onto a chair by the fire. "Something had to have gone wrong," he said, anxiously fiddling with Riptide. "There's no other reason that Thalia would have had to use the mist; and it must have been something really big if we could feel it all the way up here!"
"I'm sure Thalia handled it," Nico said, though he looked uneasy as well. "I mean, we heard Snap yelling, and the minister didn't look very happy when he left; that has to count for something, right?"
"I guess so," Percy muttered, unsatisfied. He stood up and began pacing again. "Is it late enough to shadow-travel to the hospital wing?" He asked, turning to Nico.
Nico checked the time. "Probably," he said. "It's nearly one; they should be asleep by now." He stood up and stretched. "Be prepared to think up a really good excuse if someone sees us," Nico warned.
Percy nodded impatiently, holding out his arm for Nico to grab. The son of Hades obliged and in an instant they found themselves in the hospital wing. Nico stumbled slightly, barely catching himself on the wall and breathing heavily.
"Are you alright?" Percy whispered worriedly, reaching out a hand to steady him.
Nico nodded, taking a deep breath and straightening up. "Where's Thalia?" He asked quietly.
"Over here," Thalia whispered from a bed on the far side of the room, waving her hand to get their attention. Percy and Nico crossed the room to sit on the bed across from her.
"What happened?" Percy demanded as soon as they were settled.
Thalia sighed and looked down at her sheets. "Pettigrew didn't show up at Hagrid's house," she began, keeping her voice soft so that she wouldn't disturb the sleeping patients. "That was the first problem; but you should know how big of a problem that was."
Percy and Nico nodded grimly, and Percy could feel tendrils of dread working their way around his heart. If that was only the first problem, then how badly did everything turn out in the end? What if they had changed too much and completely destroyed the timeline?
"I managed to recover the situation," Thalia continued, "so Ron was still dragged off by Sirius. Then we met Edward at the Whomping Willow, and he came with us into the Shrieking Shack."
Percy clenched and unclenched his fist, trying to steady his breathing. So much had gone wrong…so many things could be changed…and this was such a pivotal moment in the timeline…
"Everything in the Shrieking Shack happened almost the way it was supposed to," Thalia said. "Except that Pettigrew wasn't there, so there wasn't any evidence…" Thalia hesitated briefly. "There was no other option," she said quietly. "I had to use the mist…there was no other way to fix everything."
"We know," Nico said. "We felt it up here…what exactly did you do?"
"I told them that the deaths were an accident," Thalia said with a sigh. "And I told them that we found Pettigrew, proved that Sirius and Remus's story was true, and then that he escaped. Except–" Thalia paused again. "I couldn't have done it by myself."
Percy and Nico looked at each other in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Percy asked, puzzled.
"Someone helped me," Thalia admitted. "When I was using the mist…there was a voice…I don't remember it exactly…but someone – or something – helped me with the mist."
"Who do you think it could have been?" Percy asked, fiddling with Riptide again. "Could it have been Hecate?"
Thalia shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe – I didn't see anyone, I don't even remember what the voice sounded like – it could have been anyone."
There was silence as the three demigods considered the possibilities. Footsteps from Madame Pomfrey's office interrupted their musings.
"Hurry and get out of here," Thalia hissed, pulling the covers up around her to look as if she were asleep. Nico grabbed Percy's arm, and then they were back in the common room.
~o~O~o~
The morning dawned hot, sunny, and normal – as if nothing remotely extraordinary had happened the night before. In fact the atmosphere was more lighthearted and happy then Percy had seen it in months; no doubt the result of Thalia's changes with the mist. Another change from the mist was that Hogsmeade visits were no longer prohibited; and so the castle was nearly abandoned by the afternoon.
Hermione and Ron, though able, had no desire to leave the castle. Instead, the friends spent their afternoon traversing the grounds. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been quite excited to share the events of the previous night. Percy and Nico nodded throughout the whole thing, displaying appropriate reactions as if they knew nothing about it.
They eventually came to rest beside the lake, lounging on the warm grass and watching the water. The atmosphere was so peaceful that Percy wanted to close his eyes and sleep. Though that may have been a result of his lack of sleep the previous night. A shadow suddenly fell over them, blocking the sun's warm beams. Looking up, it was revealed to be Hagrid, who appeared overjoyed.
"Know I shouldn' feel happy, after wha' happened las' night," he said. "I mean, Black escapin' again, an' everythin' — but guess what?"
"What?" They asked, pretending to look curious.
"Beaky!" Hagrid declared happily. "He escaped! He's free! Bin celebratin' all night!"
"That's wonderful!" Hermione declared, shooting a reproving look at Ron, who looked close to laughter.
"Yeah…can't've tied him up properly," said Hagrid, gazing happily out over the grounds. "I was worried this mornin', mind…thought he mighta met Professor Lupin on the grounds, but Lupin says he never ate anythin' las' night…"
"What?" Harry asked quickly.
"Blimey, haven' yeh heard?" Said Hagrid, his smile fading a little. He lowered his voice, even though there was nobody in sight. "Er – Snape told all the Slytherins this mornin'…Thought everyone'd know by now…Professor Lupin's a werewolf, see. An' he was loose on the grounds las' night…He's packin' now, o' course."
Harry's head jerked up. "He's packing?" he asked, alarmed. "Why?"
"Leavin', isn' he?" Said Hagrid, looking surprised that Harry had to ask. "Resigned firs' thing this mornin'. Says he can't risk it happenin' again."
Harry scrambled to his feet. "I'm going to see him," he declared.
"But if he's resigned–" Hermione began, surprised at Harry's sudden movement.
"Doesn't sound like there's anything we can do," Ron warned Harry.
"I don't care," Harry said. "I still want to see him. I'll meet you back here." With that, he dashed off to the castle.
"It's shame that he can't stay," Ron sighed as he watched Harry's retreating figure. "He was better than any other Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've had."
"We've only had three including him," Hermione reminded him. "Our next teacher may be just as good."
Percy resisted the urge to grimace. If only she knew…
"Oi!" Ron said, drawing the others' attention. "There's Edward!" He pointed to the small red figure walking along the lake.
"Edward!" Hermione called, waving at the young professor. He turned and walked over to them, and Percy caught a glimpse of a serious expression on his face before he replaced it with an easy smile.
"How's your leg?" He asked Ron, nodding to Ron's previously broken limb.
"It's fine now," Ron said. "Madame Pomfrey fixed it up."
Ed frowned in annoyance. "That shouldn't be possible," he muttered. "Just like everything that happens around here."
Percy smiled in amusement. Even after months of seeing magic, it seemed that the alchemist still refused to accept it as logical. Not that magic was logical.
"Are you coming back next year, Ed?" Hermione asked hopefully.
Edward scowled. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he declared. Seeing Hermione's crestfallen expression, he hurried to assure her. "It's not anything to do with you – or the people – but I have things I have to do at home. I'm sure you'll get another teacher though!"
"There isn't any chance you're going to come back?" Thalia asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I will if I'm ordered to," Ed grumbled. "But this whole 'teacher' situation has never suited me. I have more important things to do–" Edward suddenly winced and brought his hand up to his head.
"Are you alright?" Ron asked, alarmed.
"I'm fine," Ed managed. "I just got a headache all of a sudden…but it's gone now."
From there, the conversation turned to final exams and holiday plans. Thalia had an odd expression on her face and kept giving Edward odd glances, though Percy couldn't imagine why. The rest of the day passed quickly, as did the remaining week at Hogwarts.
The cheerful chattering on the Hogwarts express almost made Percy forget their serious situation. They hadn't caught Elsie – not only that but they hadn't accomplished anything. They had information, but no way to do anything with it.
That meant another year at Hogwarts. Another year away from home. Another year hiding in plain sight, with only each other to confide in. Percy didn't want another day of that; but there was nothing he could do about it. Looking around the compartment at his friends, Percy felt a stab of guilt for wanting to leave them.
'There's no way to win, is there?' Percy thought forlornly. 'While we stay here, everyone and everything we know is unreachable. When we go back to our time, we're going to leave them – our friends – behind. There's no way around it.' Percy smiled sadly. 'But that's the way it's supposed to be. We aren't supposed to be here…when we do leave…they'll be fine without us.'
Elsie
Elsie bent over her work, writing at an astonishing pace. She filled the last page in her notebook and sighed in frustration.
'That's the second one this week,' She thought in annoyance. A smile quirked at her lips. 'Well, I guess I was asking for it when I decided to time travel.' Closing the notebook, Elsie added 'part one' to the title.
'I wouldn't have to have more than one notebook if those stupid little demigods weren't so persistent,' Elsie grumbled to herself. 'They think they're so smart with their minimal control of the mist and oh-so-wonderful godly abilities…'
A little voice Elsie's mind whispered that for teenagers, they actually were fairly powerful. She told the little voice in her mind to shut up and go sit in a corner. Leaning back in her chair, Elsie reached behind her to grab a stack of full notebooks. Flipping through the titles, she found the one she was looking for.
'Harry Potter…Ronald Weasley…Hermione Granger…Ah! Edward Elric, that's the one!'
Flipping to the back of the notebook where the last few empty pages resided, Elsie brandished her quill and began to write.
Doesn't want to return to Hogwarts for obvious reasons, which is problematic for obvious reasons. I should have known he would be resistant to coming here a second year, so really this is just stupidity on my part. Options for his return:
Manipulate Amestrian government again so that he is ordered to return…this could work, but he's sure to put up a fight about it, and I may be exposed. Can't risk that happening.Plant a believable and very promising lead on the philosopher's stone. He would jump at the chance, even if it meant coming back to Hogwarts again. If I can ensure that Alphonse comes as well, that doubles my chances.Elsie set her quill down and examined what she had written.
'The second option is the most promising…after all, he'd do anything to get Alphonse's body back. What a useful weakness that I can exploit.' Elsie smirked. 'You will be coming back, Edward Elric, whether you want to or not.'
Closing the notebook, Elsie shoved it back onto the shelf with the others. She scanned the titles, debating whether or not to pull one out to study or to get some much-needed rest. Her eyes landed on the notebook titled demigod interference - part one and smirked again. Stroking the title, she whispered:
"You think you can stop me, don't you? You think you're so clever because you figured out my name, don't you? Because you've 'fixed' a few problems? Well, let me tell you a little secret…" Leaning in closer, Elsie's smirk grew. "I've always been in control. And I always will be."
