Voldemort's Heir: A Percy Jackson and Harry Potter Crossover (Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter 10: Ghosts

Harry POV
Perhaps it was nerves, but it hadn't taken long for Harry, Hermione, and Ron to realize that something was up with Percy.

Of course, they had tried to give him the benefit of the doubt: he really hadn't given them anything to worry about, and besides, who wouldn't be nervous about attending a wizarding school, in a magical world co-existing with the muggles' that, until a couple months ago, he had been completely unaware of?

But the trip to Hogwarts was still more than a month away, and because they had finished catching Percy up with first through fourth year, they couldn't blame stress for his odd behavior.  The closest they could come to pinning down what had happened was realizing that his shift in mood had come soon after their return from Olivander's wand shop. Before, he was grinning and goofing off like a normal teenager, and if one didn't take into account his extremely far from normal situation and post traumatic stress disorder episodes, he could have been just another carefree face.

Afterwards...even Annabeth said that Percy had been withdrawing from her, and the two were almost inseparable. She also reported many more sleepless nights on his account, and you could see the evidence written clearly across Percy's worn face.

"There's something happening, and he won't tell me," Annabeth growled in frustration, her stormy grey eyes flitting around the room as she scowled and ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, I just expected him to let me in, you know? We've always told each other everything."

Hermione nodded distractedly, her frizzy mess of hair hanging around her head as she pored over a mound of books. "Every psychology book that I've read so far suggests that he's afraid of people's reactions," she finally said, looking up and biting her lip.

Annabeth stopped scowling and began pacing back and forth. "But for all the years I've known Percy, he's never been ashamed of himself. Ever. He's always been so... Truthful."

"Where is he, anyway?" Ron asked suddenly.

"I finally got him to get some shut eye. Even for him, working on an hour of sleep is too strenuous."

"That's good," Harry mumbled, wincing slightly as a quick shot of pain flashed through his scar.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows knitting together. From past experience, the three Gryffindors knew that trouble was sure to follow if Harry's scar began to prickle.

Annabeth stopped pacing the floor, her head snapping up as a scream pierced through the air in the house, followed by a series of shouts and profanities (courtesy of the twins).

Hermione and Ron fumbled to stand up as Annabeth flung the door open and ran out of the spare room they were holed in. Harry himself would have dashed to make sure everyone was okay... If his scar had allowed him to.  Instead, he was huddled in a ball as a tremor of liquid-iron hot pain coursed through his body, a tattoo of fire stamped to his head. 

He must have screamed, even though he didn't realize it, as Ron and Hermione were standing besides him in seconds.  Through foggy eyes, he watched as their alarmed and frantic expressions moved to grasp at his clothes so as to shake him out of his stupor, their mouths moving rapidly, but all his ears could make out were the sounds of gurgled words, as though he were submerged in water. 

Sinking.  Not breathing. 

Another scream tore through the house, this time intertwined with what Harry realized was his own.  His vision began to dim at an alarming rate, and he heard the sound of footsteps as someone else entered the room. 

Another scream, closer, and sobs.  Harry's world began to bob in and out of focus. 

And then, in a flash of light, a halo of golden flame, so unlike the one that was consuming his body, appeared before his eyes.  Shaking his shoulders, yelling at him, trying not to cry. 

Harry emerged from his stupor. 

Ginny was frantically grabbing his shirt, scanning his face for any sign that he was about to shut down again.  "Come quickly," her voice called in hushed, hurried tones.  "There's something wrong with Percy."

Ah. He should have known.

Unable to shake the feeling that he had a desert on his tongue and his head had just exploded, Harry only nodded numbly as Ginny helped him to his feet and half supported, half dragged him out of the room. He had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out as the pounding of his head increased the closer they beard the sitting room (he guessed that was where everybody else was).

And sure enough, he was right: Percy was shaking on the couch opposite the stairs Harry and Ginny had just descended. The rest of the Weasleys were crowded around the door to the kitchen, apart from Ron, who had joined Hermione and Annabeth besides Percy.

From the look of helplessness on Annabeth's face, as well as the ones on Hermione's and Ron's, Harry could guess that they hadn't been as successful as Ginny when it came to calming Percy down.

Annabeth moved closer to her boyfriend, dipping her head so as to kiss his forehead and reassure him that he was okay, that it wasn't real, that he could wake up and none of it would have happened.

Percy sucked in a breath, tears streaming down his face. His voice, the only one present in the room, was broken and cracked as it rambled on, too entangled with sobs and shouts to be discernible.

And then, just like that, he went quiet.

Annabeth pulled him into a hug as his eyes opened, fog-filled with pain and shock. "They have them, Annabeth, they have them and I couldn't do anything, and I-I tried but he wouldn't... They wouldn't let me save them, and oh gods, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Who, Percy," Annabeth mumbled into his hair. "Who has who?"

"Leo and Jason and Hazel and Piper and Frank and Nico. They have them Annabeth, oh gods, they have them."

Annabeth froze. Her eyes slid shut for a fraction of a second and a sad frown twisted at her lips. "Percy," she said quietly.  "Percy, Leo's dead, remember?"

"No he's not."  Percy's voice gained strength.  "He's back and he has them all and I couldn't save them.  I couldn't save them, Annabeth, I was weak!"

Tears began forming in Annabeth's own eyes.  "Percy it's not your fault, whatever happened in you dream, it's not your fault.  It didn't happen, it's not your fault."

"It did," Percy insisted, eyes shining with determination more than tears, as he turned to look at Harry.  "Ask him, he saw."

The room grew quiet as everyone turned to look at Harry. He saw what?
Perhaps he could think of something that would fit the situation, but the pounding of his head was doing no good to help him focus. "I..." His tongue turned to sand in his mouth. "I..." The walls darkened. Faces swam. Voices faded. Once again, Harry was reminded of water. Sinking, drowning, suffocating.

Black.

••••••••••••••

Heyo, lovely people!

Don't kill me yet, I will do my best to not disappear of the planet. Promise.

Anyways, as some of you observant Demi-wizards out there probably realized, this is the new Chapter 10! I was just finding it really difficult to continue the story with the way the original chapter came out, so I decided to hit the redo button...

Sorry lovelies.

If you enjoyed the first ending better, and I get enough requests, I might think about creating an alternate universe where the original actually does happen... After this is done, of course.

Anyways, thanks a bunch for sticking with me!

Ciao,
CB