A/N OMG! I just want to thank everyone who actually favorited, followed, or reviewed my story! I can't believe I already have what, 32 favorites, 29 follows, and 17 reviews? As my first story, I never expected that people would actually like it. Makes me feel so proud. :)
I forgot to do a disclaimer, so . . . Harry Potter and Percy Jackson belong to J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan respectively. This is purely a creation of fan work and of non commercial use.
Warning: I was dissatisfied with Blood of Olympus and House of Hades . . . so BoO and HoH will be AU. Of course Half-Blood Prince will be AU. Despite what my first chapter/prologue seemed like, the rest of the story is kinda different. It has some depressing parts.
Hope you enjoy!
P.S. Question: PJO is in first person, while HP is in 3rd person . . . should I put HP in 3rd, and PJ in 1st; or should I do them all 3rd?
Harry bathed in the sight of the bustling people on Platform 3/4, the shiny red paint of the Hogwarts Express, and the mothers fussing over their children. Despite the war against Voldemort, he couldn't wait to be back at his first home. The Dursleys had made it quite clear how they felt about him, Grimauld Place had a subdued air around it, and despite the Weasleys nurturing of him, it wasn't quite the same.
Harry, Ron and Hermione had already sent letters to Neville and Luna to meet up on the train. As Harry dragged his trunk down the corridor, people were shamelessly pressing their faces against the windows, trying to get a peek of the "Chosen One." Frankly, he did not enjoy being in the spotlight, and even worse was the way people were treating him: like some angel that desended down from Heaven to save them all. He felt more like a zoo animal that little kids tried to touch with sticky fingers and viewed with facination. He was as normal as the rest of them, for Merlin's sake! Sort of.
"Harry!"
The before mentioned person turned around with a sigh a relief. It was not a vicious fan, but instead, a slightly round, chubby teen by the name of Neville. And following him was a girl with misty eyes and long, blond hair.
Harry smiled. "Hi Neville, Luna. Fancy finding a compartment?"
"Yeah, sure Harry. All the ones down their are full or filled with snobby girls. Everyone keeps looking at me now. It's quite unnerving."
Harry grimaced. "Everyone's heard of out little Ministry adventure by now. You'll just have to get used to it."
While the quintet moved down the corridor, Harry felt like he was forgetting something. Stopping Neville in his blabbering about his new wand, Harry asked, "Does anyone else feel like something's missing?"
The rest of the group exchanged glances. Ron spoke up. "It's Percy, mate. He's been gone, remember?"
Harry felt a pang in his heart. He felt so used to Percy's horrible puns, outrageous stories of American life, and his everlasting, contagious, cheerful mood that lit up the entire environment. Without their last member, the air around them didn't have the same feeling to it. Instead, it seemed . . . depressed.
"Let's keep going," Harry continued, half-heartedly. In silence, the group checked the compartments around them. It wasn't long before Hermione noticed an availability.
"There's only one person in here. He looks like a older student, like a sixth or seventh year. But I don't recognize him, so he's probably a seventh year. Doesn't have his robes on so I can't tell what house he's in. Do you think he'll let us barge in on him?"
Ron rolled his eyes. "Probably. We've got bloody Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived. The guy would probably stumble over himself to speak to the Chosen One. Unless he's a sneaky, conniving Slytherin snake. Then he'd probably report everything back to You-Know-Who."
Feeling uncomfortable about the casual mentioning of his titles, Harry suggested that they go in and ask. "Excuse me. Do you mind if we sit here? All the other compartments are full." Hearing no reply from the stranger, Harry decided to do what Ron had suggested and throw his name out there. "Uh . . . I'm Harry Potter, and these are my friends Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood."
The dark haired stranger chuckled and Harry startled at finally getting a sound out of the assumed seventh year. "Resorted to using your fame, have you Harry? Didn't know you were the type to do that. Or have you changed during fifth year?"
"What do you know about . . . me?" Harry angrily asked before trailing off.
The stranger had turned his head away from the window he was staring out of, and as Harry got a good look at his face, he discovered that he wasn't really a stranger at all. Windswept, black hair falling into his face and powerful, sea green eyes like the ocean peaking out from under the fringe. There were those odd beads strung by a string of leather around his neck and his speech stood out by his American accent.
"Percy?" Harry ventured doubtfully. The others were apprehensive.
"Do you know any other Percys that are as devilishly handsome as me?" The stranger-turned-friend flashed a smile at the group.
Percy had returned from where ever he was . . . and yet, this wasn't Percy. His smile wasn't that friendly, genuine smile that Harry was used to. It was a half smile, forced. Percy had severe ADHD, he would always be tapping his foot, playing with that pen he never seemed to write with, or drumming his fingers against his knee. But now Percy was sitting oddly still, he could have been a statue if it weren't for the blinking and the noticeable signs of breathing. There were strange scars on his arms and legs that weren't there before. Harry was particularly attracted to the scar that started slightly above his left eye and trailed down, narrowly missing the eye, as it curved around his mouth and ended at the collarbone. Percy always had that inviting aura around him, but now it seemed darker, scary, and more powerful. Then there was that glimmering bronze and gold ring that was strung onto the bead necklace and a new bead with a golden dragon and words etched around it. This was Percy, and yet . . . it wasn't.
The two parties stared at each other until Luna broke the silence. "You have a lot of Wrackspurts floating around you head."
Everyone turned to stare at her. "Is that so?" Percy murmured. "I recognize everyone else, so you must be Luna."
"Hmmm . . . yes I am. You go by Percy, don't you? But that's not who you are. You're true name is Perseus, the Destroyer, named to give you luck in life. It hasn't really worked, has it?"
Percy's eyes bore into those hazy grey ones. "No, it hasn't."
"You're an interesting one, player of Fate, one of the Seven, and blessed of the gods."
Player of Fate? One of the Seven? Blessed of the gods? The Destroyer? What did that mean?
"Why don't you all sit down?" Percy waved his hand around the compartment.
Harry blinked. He hadn't even noticed that they were all lingering around the door. Hurriedly, he slid into the seat next to Percy.
"So . . . where have you been, mate? We missed you last year. Were you captured by Death Eaters and made a daring escape that got you that wicked scar? That would explain all those new scars you have," Ron continued, oblivious to the darkening glare Percy had on his face. Harry kicked Ron in the shin. ". . . Blimey! That scar is huge! I bet you taught them a good lesson not to mess with a Hogwarts Champion . . . OW! What was that for, Harry?" complained Ron, rubbing the newly forming bruise.
"So where were you, Percy?" Hermione eventually asked after a couple moments of silence.
"Family emergency."
"And you couldn't send us any letters?" Harry demanded.
"No. It was top secret. My family is kind of high up in America. My aunt had to kidnap me."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"
"Completely." Percy deadpanned. "Anyways, enough about me. Still that Herbology prodigy, Neville? Still complaining about Snape, Ron? You still top in our year, Hermione? Is the Daily Prophet still spouting lies about us?"
Ignoring Percy's bipolar turn of events, Harry addressed the last question. "Actually, the five of us, plus Ginny, went on a mission to stop Voldemort from getting a prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. The Ministry got saw Voldemort, couldn't deny it, kicked Fudge out, and the public is worshiping me as some so called 'Chosen One'" Harry said bitterly. " Sirius was declared innocent, but . . . " He hesitated.
"But what?"
In hushed voice, Harry said, "Sirius died."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Percy paused. "Well at least Fudge was kicked out. That incompetent boot-licker."
Harry felt anger boil up in him. Sirius had died, and Percy just brushed away his death like a gnat on his shoulder. He was about to chew him out when the door burst open to reveal a third year with three scrolls of paper. "I'm sorry, but I'm supposed to deliver this to Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Perseus Jackson."
Harry unrolled the parchment to reveal:
Harry,
I would be delighted if you would join me for some lunch in Compartment C.
-Professor Horace E. F. Slughorn
"Did you get the same thing? From some Professor Slughorn for lunch?" Neville asked, turning toward Harry and Percy. Both nodded affirmative. "Do we have to go?"
"It's from a professor, we probably have to unless we want detention." Harry sighed. He'd rather spend time asking Percy questions about what happened, and the thought of spending time with Slughorn made him slightly nauseous.
"Well, Ron and I have to do our prefect rounds anyways. We've spend enough time here," Hermione said, dragging Ron along with her out of the compartment. Harry muffled a laugh at Ron's pleading look he shot toward him.
"Luna, will you be okay by yourself?" Harry turned toward the last occupant.
"Of course, Harry," Luna nodded as she took out a the Quibbler and a pair of Spectrespecs.
"She won't be alone," a curt voice cut in. "I'm staying here."
Harry looked alarmed. "But you got an invitation too!"
Percy sneered, "I have no intention of playing favorites to professors, nor eating lunch with them."
Frowning at the un-Percy like behavior (when had he ever sneered like Malfoy?), he and Neville left the compartment toward compartment C.
Harry was tired from pretending to smile. This whole lunch was just for the Slytherin professor to establish connections for his own greed. He was interrogated about the events of the Ministry, watched Neville fidget under Slughorn's mention of his parents, then fidgeted himself at the mention of the fabled prophecy, listen to some hot-shot brag about his father, and endure the skeptic looks from Zabini. By the end of it, Harry was wishing that he did a Percy and just skipped.
Which is why he was thanking the unknown deities out there when Slughorn finally noticed the darkening skies, and yelped, "Good gracious! I didn't notice they had lit the lamps already. You all better go change into your robes before you arrive there. Harry, give Mr. Jackson my well wishes, will you? It's a pity he couldn't come. I think we all would have loved to hear his stories of America."
Harry nearly scoffed. Well wishes? Pity he couldn't come? Stories of America? More like he was disappointed to miss out on a chance to get into the good graces of a foreign country. Instead, he faked a smile, and said, "Of course, Professor Slughorn. I'm sure Percy regrets the decision to study instead of coming over for lunch." Studying was the excuse Harry had given for Percy's absence. Of course, Percy never studied a day in his life.
"So nice to see boys working so hard these days! But your friend should take a break once in a while. It's only the beginning of they year!" Slughorn chortled.
"I'm sure he won't miss out next time." Without giving Slughorn a chance to reply, Harry slipped out the door to head back.
"He's kind of odd, isn't he?" remarked Neville.
Harry merely shrugged. The two complained about the new professor and how he was sure to pick favorites, until . . . CRASH!
"What was that?" Neville jumped.
"You go back to the compartment, I'll check it out." Before he could give Neville a change to protest, he headed down the other way, throwing on his Invisibility Cloak. There were two voices -two familiar voices- steadily getting louder.
". . . idiot! You're going to attract the entire student population towards us!"
"Shhh!" One voice dropped lower and Harry had to strain to hear it. "You're going to attract people if you don't shush!"
It was clearly two boys. One had windswept, midnight hair, and the other a platinum blond. As the light caught their faces, Harry nearly let out a gasp. It was none other than Percy Jackson and Draco Malfoy.
The now identified Percy spoke. "Of course I'll have to report it back!" he whispered angrily, "It's my job as a spy!" Harry's blood chilled. Percy, a spy? There was only one person that Percy could be spying for. And it wasn't a pleasant thought. He edged closer to hear better.
"Why'd you take it anyways?"
"I had to, okay?" Malfoy defended. "You should be happy, anyways. Now you have somebody on the inside!"
"That's what Severus is for, Draco! You're not supposed to be involved!"
"I had no choice. I had to take it, or die! Besides, he doesn't trust Severus!"
"He doesn't trust you either! You're risking your life!"
"Oh, like you don't everyday? Huh? What about the last couple weeks?" Malfoy retorted.
Percy went still. "That's different, and you know it," he growled. "It was my duty."
"Well, I'm doing my duty too!"
"Technically, I'm your superior. I could just order you to stop getting involved."
"You know you can't do that! I've already made my decision! It's too late. Besides, your orders have no authority here."
Percy sighed. "Fine, if you insist on it, then go stick your neck out there. Just go keep an eye on the other Slytherins. Don't worry about the Dumbledore problem. I'll keep an eye on Harry."
This time, the Boy-Who-Lived couldn't keep in his gasp. Percy was spying on him. If nothing else, this confirmed the horrible suspicions rising in him. Perseus Jackson was a spy for the Dark Lord. Malfoy was no doubt keeping an eye out on the Slytherins for potential recruits. Snape was a traitor to the Order and no one knew about it.
Why else would Percy, Malfoy, and Snape consort together? And what were they planning to do about Headmaster Dumbledore?
"Who's there?" Malfoy's voice rang out. Harry's heart pounded.
"You idiot! No intelligent person is going to reveal that they were eavesdropping on us. It's not safe to talk here. We'll reconvene later."
With Percy's footsteps coming towards him, Harry fled back toward the compartment and threw himself in, breathing heavily.
"What happened, Harry?" Neville asked, concerned.
"Nothing."
"Are you sure? You don't look like nothing happened."
"Nothing happened, alright? Someone tripped, that's all." Harry's curt tone seemed to make Neville stop his interrogation as he reluctantly accepted Harry's answer.
The compartment door slid open once more as Percy came in, and took a seat to Luna's right.
"Where were you Percy?" Harry asked, hoping to get some answers out of the American.
"Just the restroom. Or as you British would say it, the loo," Percy replied, adopting a British accent toward the end of his sentence, which received laughs from the rest.
Harry wasn't fooled. He was positive he had seen Percy talk to Draco as if they were buddies for years. Percy had lied so easily about his whereabouts.
What else had Percy lied about?
Was Percy Jackson really his friend?
Most importantly, did Percy really have a family emergency, or was he working for Lord Voldemort?
A/N MWAHAHAHAHAHA Cliffhanger! It's okay to hate me. I was tempted to stop at "It was none other than Percy Jackson and Draco Malfoy," but I didn't . . . so you're welcome.
If you don't understand, what's going on between Draco and Percy, you will. Don't worry.
I kinda felt this chapter was rushed, and that some of my word choice was awkward, so give me some constructive criticism if you have any.
Also, updates will be erratic. This one was fast, but the next might take a week.
