Hi... sorry this took so long... I did mention school was starting, didn't I? I literally haven't even gotten the chance to practice my violin outside of Orchestra and lessons since the first day of school, and my teacher is starting to get irritated with me for it. We're supposed to be learning a song to play as a group at our recital, and normally I'd have it down by now, but I'm still mostly sight reading every time I play it for her. The only reason my Orchestra teacher isn't mad at me is because he's so busy grading Band and Choir's assignments that he hasn't gotten to Orchestra's yet and hasn't seen my practice record of "I didn't practice this week"... on every practice record assignment we've done. I'm pretty sure I'm failing English, Human Geography, and Biology, and I would be failing French if the teacher wasn't used to my sporadic late work. And I'm still on the first assignment of my online math class, even though I'm supposed to be on lesson five. It's a review assignment- almost completely material I've already learned. I'm barely halfway through it.

Also, my baby brother had surgery, so that took up my thoughts for just a little while (sarcasm).

Anyways, now that I've listed my excuses and ranted just a little bit, here's the chapter; please forgive the rushed ending- I finished it behind my mom's back when I was supposed to be working on math.

Third Person Singular- Ron's POV

Ron groaned with the effort of pulling himself out of bed the next morning. He wanted to sleep 'till noon, but the call of breakfast and the threat of Had- Harry conjuring a never-ending stream of shaving cream quickly rid him of that idea. (He didn't ask how or where his best friend had found a spell for that; when among those related to Hermes, ignorance was usually the best policy.)

As he dressed for the day, he pondered the dilemma that was fast approaching: who would they 'be' when the rest of Camp came for the tournament? Would they remain their Hogwarts "selves," or would they reveal their true personalities and histories?

When he had first started attending Hogwarts, Ron had been terrified by the prospect of attending a school full of non-demigods who, under the wrong circumstances, might attack if they discovered his true identity. Wizards, when it came down to it, were really only human, and humans tended to react overly curiously at best and violently at worst to new things. He hadn't been the only one. Chiron had explained to them all the pseudonym rule-of-thumb at that time, but it hadn't seemed like enough- to any of them. He still remembered it: Hendra had been the one to present the Idea.

"What if we acted like different people?"

Ronan stared at his friend (and crush, but only the Aphrodite cabin would ever know if he had anything to say about it) in confusion, along with almost everyone else in the room.

"What do you mean?" asked Hadrien.

"What if we were to pretend to be someone other than ourselves as well as having other names? We could distinguish between the two worlds with two names and two characters."

Lauren nodded, processing the idea and added, "it could be an interesting study in identity and development of character traits..."

Gennipher rolled her eyes at her best friend, "We're not even going 'till next year..."

"Yeah, but it's still a good idea," Nevan defended her, blushing.

Ronan thought about it for a minute. "How would we make sure we were still ourselves?"

Hendra contemplated that hard before answering. "It would be... kind of like being an actor, like on TV or in a movie. Act the character right, and then step offstage and be yourself for a bit, you know? We could be ourselves around each other, but as soon as there were other people around, switch to acting again."

Drey cut in now, "But it would be more like acting on a stage than in a movie- we can't slip up, because there are no retakes or edits. You know that in 'A New Hope,' Luke accidentally calls Leia 'Carrie' as he's getting out of the ship after he's blown up the Death Star? They edited it out as best they could, but if you watch closely-"

"That's a good point, what if we do slip up?" Lauren interrupted her brother.

Hendra leveled her gaze at each of them in turn, her irises glowing ever so slightly purple as she said simply, "We won't."

(And I totally didn't make this up to get away with a) not having read the books in three years and b) having a crazy headcannon, therefore having completely OOC Hogwartsians…)

Now, as he thought about revealing himself to his friends at school, he couldn't help thinking, RON'S friends- they don't know anything about Ronan at all.

"Wow, Ron, that has to be the longest it's ever taken you to get ready to go to breakfast. Are you feeling alright?" Hermione cut into his thoughts, smiling teasingly at him- which was so unlike her that he was left without a sliver of a doubt that he was not the only one among them stressing over the big reveal. Hermione's teasing was usually biting and sarcastic, with an expertly raised eyebrow and a straight face you could roll a bowling ball across (Don't question my comparisons- a bowling lane or whatever it's called has to be totally flat or else the ball will be deflected off course or lose speed... I could probably compete with Percy for weirdest comparisons ever...) whereas Hendra's was more light and devious (Ronan swore she was spending far too much time around Hadrien), and much more likely to come with a grin or a smirk- just the same way that Ron was blunt and empty-headed while Ronan was contemplative and, at times, brooding. If Hendra was cracking jokes, Hermione must be truly shaken.

Ron forced a blush and said, "Shut up, just 'cause you can tie a perfect knot…" (Geddit? Geddit? TIE a KNOT? His excuse is trouble with his tie? ...No? No one?... okay, then…)

Hermione looked alarmed for an instant as she realized she had slipped, before her face cleared and she replied, "Honestly, Ronald, you've been doing it daily for how many years now?"

He turned away from her with a huff, discreetly applauding her smooth glide back into her school personality.

"When d'you think Dumbledore's gonna tell us what's going on this year? It's already October," Harry cut in, changing the subject.

"Well, he did say that a few details were still being worked out. I suppose it'll be explained as soon as whoever else is involved gets finished with the planning for whatever it is. Though I can't imagine they can get away with it taking much longer; in fact, I'd guess we'll be hearing about it before the end of the week!" Hermione deduced for all those listening in, and that was the end of that matter.

In fact, Ron thought as the day dragged on, if Dumbledore didn't announce it by the end of the week, they might all lose their minds. The tension in the air seemed palpable only to him and his fellows in secrets, though other students were anxious as well. Going to classes felt like walking through molasses.

Luckily, none of them had to wait that long; Dumbledore gave a short message right before dinner started.

"Students, before we begin dinner, I would like to give you some forewarning that the final details of the event that will be taking place this year have been arranged, and that your heads of houses will be informing you further on the matter once you reach your dormitories. That is all."

Except that it wasn't. The students hardly ate, choosing instead to gossip about the coming announcement. By the time dinner was over, the tense air was almost impossible to breathe in for the excitement of almost every student and several staff members.

Finally, they were released to their dormitories. Ron and Hermione helped guide the excitable younger students to the dormitory, and once everyone was situated in the common room, Professor Mcgonagall dropped the bombshell.

Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville exchanged nervous looks and took a simultaneous deep breath to calm their nerves as their Head of House began.

"This year, Hogwarts will be taking part in the Tournament of the Treaty, to renew the treaty of peace between the Wizarding world and the Children of the Greek gods."

Ronan let out the breath he was still holding.

It was done.