Two Different Worlds, Two Heroes : Percy Jackson and Harry Potter [EDITING]

Chapter 16: A Horrible Realisation

Percy's POV

"She's insufferable!" I growled angrily as Harry and I made our way back to the Gryffindor Tower. "She's a stinking, annoying, self-absorbed little toad!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Harry replied wearily. We were both exhausted and in pain and we didn't know how to make it go away. I had no idea what was in that black quill of hers but no matter how much I dipped my hand in water and willed it to heal itself, the scar remained. It shocked me so much that I had stared at my hand for five whole minutes before being brought back to reality by a concerned Annabeth.

I continued swearing under my breath as we turned a corner. To our utter surprise, Ron was there, lurking behind a statue of Lachlan the Lanky, with his brand-new broomstick in his hand.

"Ron?" Harry asked, confused.

Ron leaped in surprise, whirling around and flushing when he noticed that it was us. He attempted to hide his Cleansweep Eleven behind his back.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Er - nothing. What are you doing?"

A small frown appeared on Harry's face. "Come on, you can tell me!" He urged. "What are you hiding here for?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Why aren't you in the common room with Hermione?"

"I'm - I'm hiding from Fred and George, if you must know," Ron stammered wildly, clearly making things up at the top of his head. "They just went past with a bunch of first-years, I bet they're testing stuff on them again. I mean, they can't do it in the common room now, not with Hermione there."

"But what have you got your broom for, you haven't been flying, have you?" Harry asked.

"I - well - well, OK, I'll tell you, but don't laugh all right?" Ron said defensively, looking a little embarrassed with his face turning redder and redder with ever passing second. "I - I thought I'd try out for Gryffindor Keeper now I've got a decent broom. There. Go on. Laugh."

"I'm not laughing," I said honestly, causing Ron to blink in surprise.

"Yeah, I think it's a brilliant idea! It'd be really cool if you got on the team! I've never seen you play, are you good?"

"I'm not bad," Ron said, relief showing on his face that we didn't laugh at him. "Charlie, Fred and George always made me Keep for them when they were training during the holidays."

"So you've been practicing tonight?"

"Every evening since Tuesday ... just on my own, though. I've been trying to bewitch Quaffles to fly at me, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know how much use it'll be." Ron said, looking nervous and anxious. "Fred and George are going to laugh themselves stupid when I turn up for the tryouts. They haven't stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made a prefect.""

"I wish I was going to be there." Harry said, his tone bitter. He was unconsciously scratching his face with his injured hand. I was about to nudge him when Ron looked over to say something and his expression changed to one of surprise.

"Yeah, so do - Harry, what's on the back of your hand?"

Dismayed realisation dawned on Harry's face as he unsuccessfully tried to hide his injured hand. "It's just a cut - it's nothing - it's -"

Without listening, Ron grabbed his forearm and pulled the back of Harry's hand up to level with his eyes. He stared at the words carved into the skin before grabbing mine as well. There was a pause and looking sick, he released us. "I thought you said she was just giving you guys lines?"