The Switch (pjo/hp)

Chapter 8: The Strength Within

"Draco, what am I going to do?" Percy said, panicking. The first task is next week, and Percy still didn't know what to do. He still sucked at magic - more than you could imagine. The only spell he could properly cast properly is the levetation spell, and if the object is slightly heavy, the spell didn't work. Life was so not on his side.

"I-," Draco froze, thinking for a second. "I actually don't know. I'm really sorry I couldn't help you, Percy."

Percy stared blankly at the wall. He remembered how he saw Karkarof sneaking around the night Hagrid had told him about the dragons, and Madam Maxime definitely told Fluer. Now, all the Champions knew what the task was... except for Cedric. Percy found that really unfair, and although telling Cedric would decrease his chances of winning, or even surviving, he felt he had to tell him.

"Hey, do you know where Cedric is?" Percy asked abruptly.

"He's probably out on the grounds with his friends," Draco informed suspiciously. "Why?"

"Nevermind that," Percy shoved aside Draco's question. "I'll be going now."

"Wait, Percy," Draco said, as he grabbed onto Percy's sleeve. "People are really hating on you. Just... ignore them."

"Of course." Percy said like it was obvious. "I don't give a damn what people think of me, especially those I don't know."

"Alright," Draco sighed, guessing what Percy was planning to do. His loyalty found no boundaries. It was really a flaw, wasn't it?

-----

As he walked down the halls, he immediately understood what Draco was on about.

People were wearing badges, but not just any badges. At first they would say: 'Vote Cedric Diggory, the real Chapion of Hogwarts', which wasn't really that bad, until it swirled into a different text. 'Potter stinks!' Was written over a violent shade of green.

Well, that was a little rude.

People kept stopping him, saying mean comment. Percy ignored them. He felt he had went through a lot of hate in his past, as the feeling of shame and hurt felt familiar. He kept ignoring them, trying to find Cedric in this maze of a castle.

He finally saw him outside, smiling and laughing and looking as charming as usual. That was the good news, the bad news, however, was that he was surrounded by a crowd of Hufflepuffs. His friends, probably.

Do you know how embarrassing it is to walk through a croud of people, to get to one person? If you don't, you're lucky, because it's pretty embarrassing.

'No, Percy, you don't care what they think. Just take Cedric aside, tell him about the task, and leave.' Percy thought, trying to encourage himself. 'Shouldn't be that hard.'

Okay, so the last part wasn't true.

Like, at all.

He took a deep breath, and strolled towards Cedric's group. "Sorry," Percy said, as he pushed through. "Cedric."

Everyone paused. Cedric opened his mouth to speak, but one of his friends beat him to it. "What do you want, Potter? Here to steal Cedric's glory again?"

"No, I, uh, need to speak to Cedric for a moment," he said, trying for a confident voice, but instead ending up sounding like a squeak.

"What, you- " another said, abviously wanting to tease Percy more, but Cedric cut him off.

"Hey, lay off a little, let him say what he wants," Cedric said, walking with Percy to the side, as his friend group continued laughing at Percy. "Sorry about them."