Draco and the rest of the Inquisitorial squad sat in Umbridge's office for one of their frequent meetings. The meeting was drawing to an end, as Umbridge ran out of things to update them. Umbridge took a small sip from her tea cup, before setting it in the saucer, and down on her desk.
"You all are aware of Percy Jackson, aren't you?" She asked, her shrill voice piercing the silence in the room. At their nods, she continued. "I want you to keep an eye on him. I suspect he is... up to something." She frowned, her face contorting into an unpleasant shape.
Draco raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. He watched Umbridge as she looked down at her desk. "I realize that he is a fellow Slytherin, but I implore you to let me know as soon as you catch him breaking any rules." She said firmly, but seemingly lost in her own thoughts.
"That is all for now." She said, looking up at them, smiling. "We will convene again a week from now. Good day." She dismissed them, looking down at the papers on her desk.
Jackson was a nuisance. Something about him unsettled her, and she wanted eyes on him at all times. She would not hesitate to punish him if he is caught breaking even the smallest rule. Although he was entirely polite in her presence, she felt his disdain for her, and knew that he could act out against her. Something was odd about him, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was. All she knew was that she didn't like him. He was a threat.
Draco stood up from his chair, letting the legs scrape against the floor. He exited the room first, the rest of the Squad following him. As soon as the door closed, he spoke. "I want you all to ignore Percy." He said, not bothering to look at his fellow Slytherins as they walked behind him to the classroom.
"You want us to go against Umbridge's direct order?" Pansy piped up, her nasally voice irritating his ears.
"Yes." He snapped. He stopped and turned around to face them. "Look, Jackson is a Slytherin. One of our own. We protect each other. Second, he's a useful ally. You can feel that he's powerful, and I don't want to make him an enemy. No one knows anything about his politics. It's smarter to leave him alone."
"What if she takes our power away when she finds out we ignored her?" Pansy asked, crossing her arms.
"Umbridge won't know." Draco said, rolling his eyes. "We're the only ones in this whole school that's on her side. She's just paranoid. She can sense his power, and wants to make sure he submits to her. But we're Slytherins. We're not going to blindly follow her just because of what she can give us. It's in our favor to stay quiet." Draco said firmly. "If anyone goes against that, you'll regret it." He warned. His little group nodded, and he relaxed his stance, satisfied. "If no one has anything to add, we're done here."
His group dispersed, and Draco was content to walk by himself, lost in thought. Draco had never thought much of the older 7th year. He was never very prominent in the House, or even at school. He kept to himself, a loner. Draco was puzzled by that, as Percy had a lot of qualities that could make him rise to the top. He was very good-looking, which Draco could admit. He had bright sea-green eyes, and sculpted features. He seemed reasonably intelligent, and was a smooth-talker. He had an air of charisma that was only natural for Slytherins, and he held himself with confidence.
He didn't know how the older boy could have faded into the shadows so much. Once Draco focused, he could feel the power rolling off him in waves. He was strong, and anyone would be lucky to have him on their side. It could only mean that it was purposeful, that Percy was trying to stay hidden. But Draco couldn't come up with a logical explanation on why. Perhaps it had something to do with his lineage. The Jackson name was not one of a pureblood, and no one knew anything about Percy's background. But even the most notorious blood purists would overlook half-blood lineage, as long as the wizard was strong, like Percy.
Draco sighed as he entered the library, mulling over thoughts in his head.
Percy was sitting in the library, studying. It seemed strange even to him. He hated reading. The letters swam around the page and made his head ache. Normally, he didn't care for tests, he was too busy focusing on survival. Yet, as he knew his mortal life was a no-go, he seemed interested in at least maintaining a wizard one. Who knows, after the war, he might like to stay, granted they didn't burn him at the stake for being a demigod.
The NEWTs for 7th years were coming up, and even though he was a little behind, he was quickly making progress. He wanted to do something well for once. Plus, it would look a little strange to the people trailing him if he didn't at least attempt to study.
Percy stood up slowly, trying to get feeling back into his legs. He needed to look for a different textbook on the subject he was currently studying, Potions. He thought it pretty close to cooking, which he used to do all the time with his mom when he was younger. He figured that this was a good subject to pursue, as he was already doing decently in the class.
As he perused the rows of textbooks, he noticed someone near him. It was Hermione. She clearly spotted him, as he saw her looking at him through the corner of her eye, yet she kept her back turned. There was an awkward silence between them, as Percy could tell she wanted to talk to him.
She turned around and started looking at the books next to him, not so subtly. "Jackson." She acknowledged, and Percy raised an eyebrow. Very few people referred to him with his last name, as it wasn't custom in America.
"Granger." He replied, a little amused. A few beats of silence followed before she spoke again. "Harry told us that you said you don't like Umbridge much."
Percy paused. "Yeah." He said simply, drumming his fingers on the books. "So?"
Hermione shrugged, still pretending to thumb through the volumes in front of her. "Just a little weird. Slytherin's love her, don't they?"
Percy rolled his eyes, once again cursing Dumbledore's decision on sorting him. "You sure love your stereotypes," he muttered under his breath. He saw Hermione frown. "You would be surprised to see how many don't." He said louder, yet curtly.
"I just thought Slytherin's would love her, given how favorable she is to you all. Slytherin's all seem to be quite. . . power hungry."
Percy reached up with his left hand to place back a book, sighing. His robe sleeve slipped down, showing off part of his forearm.
"Watch your mouth, mudblood." An angry voice appeared over Percy's shoulder, and he just knew it was Draco. He heard a gasp, and Percy quickly dropped his arm, his sleeve sliding back down. Hermione placed a hand over her mouth, turning away from them. She grabbed her nearby bag and scurried away, not sparing another word.
Percy stared at her retreating back, and cursed. If one wasn't paying attention, it could be assumed that Hermione was offended by Draco's words, and fled. But he knew what his tattoo looked like.
"Good riddance." Draco scoffed, although Percy barely listened to him anymore. He spared him a glance, before grabbing his schoolbag and hurrying out of the library. He intended on shutting himself in his dorm room until he could strategize. He needed to fix this, but he didn't know how.
As night fell, Hermione huddled around the fireplace with Harry and Ron. Her voice was low, but she had cast a muffling spell for protection. "I'm just telling you what I saw!" She whispered, frustrated. "I saw a black tattoo, right here-" She gestured wildly to her left forearm. Hermione frowned as she looked at Ron and Harry's faces.
The boys stayed silent, and gave each other a look. Finally, Harry spoke. "Look, Herm, I trust you, it's just… an actual Death Eater?" He asked, slowly. "I want to believe that he really is, and he's definitely evil, but. . . ."
"Yeah, why would Malfoy not be a Death Eater, but this random kid is? He doesn't have pure-blood parents that are known Death Eaters, like Malfoy does." Ron asked.
Hermione crossed her arms. "Well, I saw a black tattoo on his arm, exactly where the Dark Mark's are, mind you. So, based on the evidence, I don't think it's that hard to believe."
Ron and Harry shared another look. It felt like they couldn't really make their mind up about Jackson.
"I just don't want to admit that Hogwarts is breached by You-Know-Who's cronies." Ron said in a small voice. "If we all agree that he is one, what does that mean for us?"
Yes, he was a Slytherin, and most definitely evil, and Harry threw out the idea that he was a follower a while ago, but when faced with some evidence, it seems hard to believe. If his tattoo was really a Dark Mark, that meant there was an actual Death Eater in the castle: the fun and thrilling guessing games are over.
The trio went silent, thinking over the implications.
"A bit scary, innit?" Ron whispered, staring into the fire. Harry nodded beside him. "Hogwarts always seemed like an impenetrable fortress. Scary to see that it's not." He continued.
The three sat together, letting the quiet air wash over them. For now, there was nothing more to say.