Chapter 26: James Saves Pig Pimple School

Words: 2,970

Recap: Percy now lies unconscious as he fights off his nightmare, stalling the Wisp as the pair, Lily and Jack planned their next move to save the school.

Lily Evans stood by the corner, witnessing the entire scene of how Percy let one of the Wisp got to him and watched him slumped down to the cold floor, unmoving. Lily had to suppress the urge to cry out and running to his side as one of her best friends went down helplessly like how Severus did. She had to remind herself that this is Percy, the boy who would stand up to countless Beasts and doesn't flinch and sometimes laughed about it and was relying on her. She can't let him down when he needs her the most.

With firm eyes, withholding her unshed tears, she turned to Stingy Jack, "Tell me what to do!"

"Oh do those words sound like music to me." Jack grinned at her spirit, "First Lassie, we need moonlight which we happened to have an almost full moon just to our luck, next to a bowl of water, two wax candles, and a yarn. Preferably red."

Lily tilted her head, confused, "Why red?"

"Because I like red." Jack rolled his eyes. "Now if you're done asking stupid questions, get moving!" the sudden seriousness and urgent tone he used made her scurried. She wasn't sure how Percy expected her to save the whole school by herself. She wasn't as clever and brilliant as Sev was and despite being a Gryffindor, she wasn't as brave, daring, and strong as Percy. Even now, she thinks he would have been better off in her house than a house famous for duffers. Though she admits, Percy could be daft more than occasionally.

Yet, that's why he shines more brilliantly there.

Lily focused back on her task, renewed vigor in her veins. She got up and walked in long stride, her face set in determined scowl, and her head held high in confidence.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Lily paused before turning back to Jack. His arms crossed and his fingers tapping impatiently above the pumpkin Lily left on the floor and was about to abandon. Blushing, she scurried back, held the pumpkin around her arms and dashed forward but with less confidence in her steps.

Trying to forget the small humiliating moment she made, Lily focused on her task. It was easy finding the right tools whether it'd be a bowl of water or wax candles. The yarn she needed was a bit tricky, but a visit to an Art and Crafts Club Room was enough to find one.

"So, how exactly am I going to free you?" Lily asked of Jack, "Do I need to know a Breaking Seal Spell? Sev had taught me a few advance ones, I'm sure I still got the notes."

"Hmm? Oh no, you don't need to worry about that. I already have a surefire spell that would work and all you need are essentially rhymes, fire, and a Drachma."

Lily looked back at the coins she had on hand before putting in her pocket. She had many questions building in her head. Like what was this Drachma Percy seemed to know about? What was its significance? She didn't know what the words etched on it meant but it was written in Greek. Why Greek? Heck, Percy had long been invested in Greek stories but her instinct now told her it was more than just knowing some facts about myths. It's almost like his life revolves around it.

For the first time, Lily wondered.

Who is Percy Jackson?

Shaking her way out her thoughts, and she focused back at the task in hand. Stopping at a familiar spot in the hallway, and smiled when finding the perfect place to seclude herself. The Abandon Girl's Bathroom with a small window where the moonlight shone from it, she could only hope Moaning Myrtle wouldn't mind her presence there.

Oh wait...the ghosts are all gone so never mind.

Once she was in the bathroom, she started following Jack's instruction including the spell she needed to remember. Putting the pumpkin in the middle and made a circle around it with her red yarn. Then she started making patterns and rune letters along the way with the same yarn, making a magic circle. A very ancient magic circle being made. She didn't know what it meant, she only followed Jack's word in which letter to use. Once she finished, she placed the three bowls of water around the pumpkin. Then, she started burning the yarn.

Already up to date on how to continue, she placed her left hand to her chest and her right hand holding up the candle as she recited her incantation; "I call on Hecate, goddess of ancient times. Grant forgiveness for the sinner's crimes."

As if responding to her words, the fire began to burn more quickly and made a ring of fire from the yarn. Lily gasped before continuing the spell in a forced calm manner.

"Break the shackle on the prisoner's soul. And once again make him whole."

This time, even the yarn that was given space spontaneously burn without any prompt. No longer was there any yarn that surrounded the pumpkin, only fire.

"Grace me your power and blessing. Burn the chains that have him binding."

The fire was now crawling onto the chains that tied Jack down. Lily then began fishing the peculiar golden coin Percy had given to her. A coin Jack had called a Drachma. Then, throwing it to the burning circle which then disappear into the flames that Lily had almost thought her eyes had tricked her.

"Hear and answer me: awake his spirit!"

The burn came unexpectedly. Her free hand felt hot and she thought her hand was dimly shining gold. She wanted to cry out in pain and duck her hand into cold water but she didn't know if this was part of what happened in ritual and gritted her teeth from it.

It wasn't like any other spells she learned in Hogwarts, it felt like she was summoning a power so unnatural, so otherworldly, and so beyond her. She guessed that she was summoning only a fraction of this being powers and would have been ripped apart if she tried to even use its power for a second longer.

Once the chains were broken and Jack cackled madly, bellowing how he was 'free, free at last!' while Lily fell to her knees. Panting deeply trying to gain her breathing, her arms still trembling and felt she had done push-ups for her gym teacher but worse. Still, she couldn't help that despite the exhaustion, she let herself smile at the success she made and basked the glory of it. It wasn't long until she beginning to frown from Jack's constant cheering.

"Okay, enough cheering. Time for you to go thing and round up all the Wisps!"

Jack stilled in the air, "Yeah, about that…" he said without turning around. Making Lily eyes sharpened in suspicion.

"Jack...what are you not telling me?"

The ghost coughed nervously, his eyes sliding side to side but essentially anywhere but to her. That got Lily to closed her distance with a wand ready at hand.

"Wow there Lassie, no need to get violent and pulling your wand out with that scary face of yours."

"Then how about you start answering my question, what are you hiding?"

Jack became a bit meeker and had to gulp down a yelped that was struggling to get out, "Hehe, now don't get mad Lassie because it's nothing to exaggerate over. Only that I can't be the one fixing this... but you will."

Lily almost lost the grip of her wand, "Excuse me, but I thought I'm only here to break your seal?!"

"Ah, here's the thing Lass. The Will 'o Wisps are simple being, easily tricked. Not so twice with the same person, not to mention a third. So you'll be the one doing the tricking for me!"

Lily wanted to cry then and there if things weren't so dire. Out of all three of them, the one who had to the tricking was the least experienced while the two pranksters of the group were out for the count. "Okay, that's fine. I can do some tricking. It's all just a trick anyway. I know how to trick. I can do it." Lily turned to Jack with a smile that's a little too desperate, "How do I trick the Wisps?"

"Easy Peasy Lass, all you need first is some salt, some smart words and you're ready to go," he said as if the solution was easy. Which it was if one wasn't schooled in Hogwarts.

"...salt?"

"Yes salt, nothing better to trap ghost than a good handful of salt on hand."

"And where...do you think I could get some salt?" Lily asked with contained emotion in her tone, but one can tell how exasperated she was.

"Where? The kitchen off course? The easiest place to find some salt, don't you think?"

Lily really wished she could scream at the top of her lungs in frustration while wrangling her hand around that stupid fatty ghost's neck. To her credit, her burning gaze was enough to make Stingy Jack back away from her. "Easy?! How on earth is the solution is a common household item yet it's the one thing you can't find in Hogwarts. I don't even know where the freaking kitchen is! Not to mention there's no Cooking Club here in Hogwarts, and trust me, I've checked."

"Well off course you don't. Wizards are all too lazy to cook for themselves, they usually have magic to do it for them. Nevertheless, we better find that salt Lassie, because you can't save anyone without it."

"What should we do then?"

Jack closed his eyes, floating in contemplating way. Before snapping his finger as his ghostly eyes twinkled in idea, "Let's split up - now listen to me, don't raise a fuss yet." Jack said before Lily could open her mouth. "There's no way there isn't a kitchen here at Hogwarts, I'll try going through walls to find it while you do whatever you wizards do when finding something. We'll try asking people as a last resort, can't risk adding minions for the Wips now can't we?"

"But...isn't that why Percy's being possessed, to stall them from using other people's body?"

Jack made a disgruntled noise, "but we don't know for how long. We have to expect the worst scenario at all times because time will never tell when things might go wrong."

Lily couldn't help but shiver at the prospect of things getting worse than it already is but didn't want her mind to linger on that subject longer than necessary or else she might chicken off and decided that she should just agree with his plans. After forming an agreement, they decided they should meet up here after two hours.

Searching for the kitchen was hard when she didn't even know where to look. Lily tried asking some paintings but they were convinced she was only searching for some midnight snack and wouldn't disclose it. It took every piece of her will not to pull her hair out or burn some of the annoying ones. In her vague attempt to search for it, Lily got lost in her own thoughts. Thinking about Sev and how worried she was of him, Jack's revelation about the existence of Death as if it was a person and about Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld that Percy had told her and how he didn't seem surprised at its existence. As if the Greek myths that Percy likes to tell was something he truly believes exist.

So lost in her thought, Lily didn't watch where she was going she bumped into someone when turning in a corner, which was unexpected since it was in the middle of the night. For a brief moment, she thought she had collided with Pringle and how much in trouble and cumbersome it'd be if she did or, worse, Percy had failed and she had collided with one of the Possessed People now roaming the school.

"Lily?"

Hearing the mention of her name and the familiar voice, the tensed muscle relaxed and her paranoid thought was washed away. Lily looked up to meet with James' pair of confused hazel eyes.

"James? What are you doing out late at ni-" she couldn't finish her word when her eyes widen at the bundle of foods and snack no one should have at the middle of the night. From assortment of muffins, crackers, bananas, chips, bread, and brownies.

James looked at Lily, then down at his bundle of food, then back to Lily. His face paled at every turn but then turn to one of smug with a tint of desperation if one looked hard enough, "I should be the one asking you that. Little Miss Perfect turns out has a wild streak, do you always go aimlessly alone at night Evans?"

"Where did you get those?" Lily pointed out the foods, her eyes never left it all the while.

James's eyebrow furrowed at her. He wasn't expecting her persisting attention of his definitely-not-stolen-food. James asked for it but not stealing it, and had very much expected of her to tell him off and list out all the rules he had broken. James shrugged it off though, thinking that she must have been very hungry at the moment to care about the rules.

"The kitchen. It's actually not that far, heck it's next to the Hufflepuff's Dorm House. I'm surprised you hadn't already known. I thought Prissy would have figured and told you about it."

"Can you tell me exactly where and how to get there?"

James looked a bit surprised at the haste way she asked her question, "Behind the giant fruit painting, just tickle the pear until it laughs and it'll turn into a green door handle. Once you're there, don't be surprised about the house-elves. They're all nice so just ask them anything and they'll-" whatever James had to say was cut off by Lily planting a wet kiss on James' nose. It didn't matter what her feelings for him were. He was saving her, her two best friends and the whole school, and he didn't know it. That's good enough for her.

She gave him a bright smile before running off to continue her quest. Unknown to her, the smile she gave him (Oh he had seen her smile, and he couldn't help but glance at her, but that was the first time she smiled at him) was the final straw that broke him into falling in love with one, Lily Evans.

Lily, unaware of the start of the coming years of one-sided love from him, dashed away in hope of still capable to save her friends before worse comes to worst.

Lily dashed toward where she remembered the spot where the entrance of Hufflepuff Dorm House would be when Percy had first shown her the spot. She found the painting James had pointed out, feeling skeptical at first but did as James instructed and tickled the pear. It trembled and laughed aloud before turning into a green doorknob. She didn't have time to be fascinated by it once she had access to it, she turned the knob and slipped inside, couldn't help but creeping slowly and making herself small for she had thought she was breaking some sort of rule by barging into the kitchen by midnight. Though she later found it was no use, seeing as the House Elves James had briefly mentioned was much smaller than her despite that.

They were curious little things, with big beady eyes, bat-like ears and their scrawny features within their makeshift clothing from a tea towel that was stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied like a toga. They all looked at her all at once when she entered, freezing them from their work before they beamed and curtsied at her, continuing their job like nothing happened afterward. Students sneaking into the kitchen late at night must have been a normal thing for them, Lily thought.

It was Lily's first time seeing a house-elves, she didn't know much about them other than the passing mention from Severus. Had circumstances been different, she would have many questions. Like how do you greet a house-elf without embarrassing yourself

Those thoughts didn't matter as she cut the chase, "Can anyone give me some salt?"

Almost immediately after she said it, five house-elves came to her, one was handing her a handful of salt, one a teaspoon of it, one gave her a 30 pounds bag of salt, and one gave her a saltshaker, the last gave her a jar of salt which should be enough for what she needed.

Lily took the jar and gave them her thanks before rushing back out. At every step she took back, a smile slowly grew on her face as she finally truly felt the end was near and she was going to make sure of it. She was excitedly ready with Jack by her side to seal away the Will 'o Wisp back and turn everything back to normal.

That's what she thought before she froze, at the end of the hallway was Percy. Standing with his bronze sword aimed at her and glaring with fiery blue eyes.

Had Sev was there with her, she could have learned a few new curse words in her vocabulary she very much like to use again in the future.

AN: Aaaaand cue cliffhanger, muahahaha, I'm so evil.

Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews guys. Please keep the love coming, it helps motivates me.

And for TheRealAnnabeth, I accept your virtual cookie and thank you for it and I'm so glad you like it so much.

Anyway, tune in next week for the finale with the last 3 chapters I will post. Yes, that's right. Act I will finish in 3 chapters, you're not mistaken.