Harry Potter and the Lost Half-Bloods. *1*

Jason

Leo Valdez annoys me almost as much as Percy
JASON: My first day wasn't terrible. Jackson didn't constantly pester me. He must've finally looked up the word 'distance' in the dictionary. Things were good, until defense against the dark arts that is.

Piper McClean caught my eye from across the room. She made a point to shoot me a glare then turn back to Moody as he began to speak.

Things only got worse from there. I knew the second Moody announced he'd assign us a partner that this definitely wouldn't be my favorite class anymore. Why is it that in nearly every class we have to be assigned with a partner? I'm capable of completing my work perfectly fine on my own! Even worse, why did my double class have to me with Slytherin?

"Leo Valdez." A curly-haired, short boy stood up a bit too enthusiastically. "You will be assigned to..." Moody glanced in my direction. At least, I think he did. It was hard to tell with that eye of his. "Jason Grace."

At least I wasn't assigned with Piper. Great! It was only my official first day and I had already met someone who annoyed me more than Percy Jackson. Piper didn't like me from the second she ran into me in the halls--which wasn't my fault...

Whatever, it didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that this Valdez kid was totally taking up my personal space.

"Jason Grace! Leo Valdez here, you've been blessed with my partnership. It's funny, I thought I'd at least take you to dinner first before becoming your partner!" He laughed, and didn't stop even when he realized he was the only one out of the two of us who found his joke funny. He wasn't affected.

Moody droned on about how this semester we would be studying boggarts. Before Christmas break, we would be tested over how well we can defend ourselves from them. Though we've studied them before when Lupin was a teacher, he said he wanted to make sure we were truly prepared and really understood the creature.

While most of the Slytherins sat and complained that we were doing Boggarts again, Leo wasn't showing a hint of annoyance. He seemed excited.

"Ah, that's brilliant! I was complete rubbish at Boggarts the first time we did them. Now I've got time to show that Leo Valdez fears nothing!" He smirked. "Just so I won't be surprised, what are you afraid of, Grace?"

I shrugged. Besides the full moon, I wasn't afraid of much of anything.

"Come on, I'll tell you my fear! Fire gives me the creeps." He laughed, like it was some private joke.

"If I say something like spiders or clowns, will you stop talking?" I asked.

"I'll get that fear out of you somehow, Grace!" He exclaimed.

"Doubtful." Before he could continue annoying me, professor Moody thankfully continued on.

"This week, you are your assigned partner will work together to write an essay on the theories of where Boggarts originated."

"Awesome! A blondie and an airhead. We're bound to score high!" He held his hand up for a high-five. I glanced at him, then back down at the table. I already knew this year was going to be hell because of the whole full moon situation. Things were getting worse every second.

Of course, it HAD to get even worse.

"Grace." Moody growled. I looked up. Everyone in the class had their eyes on me. "Stay after class."

"First day and you're already on Moody's bad side." Leo nudged me. I forced a laugh.

***

All of the students had left. This left me sitting in a desk across from Moody.