NOW

Chapter Twelve Part One

A claw slashing over his cheek jolted Percy out of sleep. He sprung up and in the process made Aria jump as well. She was looking at him concerned and Percy remembered the dream he had. It was the same as always and his companion was smart enough to wake him up before he could scream. The slash on his cheek had already healed and Percy sat down on the bed again. He breathed deeply in and out and held back the tears. It had been weeks since the last time he had a dream this bad.

It made no sense to try to sleep again, so Percy silently got dressed and left the room. The common room was empty apart from a fourth year that fell asleep on one of the couches. Percy walked around her and the wall made no noise as it opened. Aria followed him and together they left the castle behind and entered the forrest. Percy began jogging when he was sure he was out of sight from any windows and soon ended up in a full on sprint. Aria on his side, he shot through the dark forest. He could see perfectly clear and dodged every tree or creature they came upon. The white creature beside him was only a blur. When they had run a full circle, Percy was sweating. It was still very early but at least the sun had begun to rise now.

While Aria ran off to catch a mouse or something Percy entered the castle again. He passed the Great Hall and noticed it was still empty. He decided to get something to drink for his hurting throat and entered. He hadn't quite figured out how the table magic worked but as soon as he sat down a goblet was standing in front of him. He took a good gulp and already felt better. Becoming fully aware of the feeling of his sweaty shirt he felt in great need of a shover. But at first he took of his shirt and tried it with a wink of his wand.

Someone choked behind him and Percy shot around. Before him, across the room stood Hermione. She stared at him for a while and Percy remembered his current shirtless situation.

"Oh. I am really sorry. I mustn't have heard you come in." Percy hurried to put on his shirt again. Clearly he was making her uncomfortable, he had noticed the redness that had crept up her face.

"No!", Hermione shouted and got big eyes when she noticed what she had said. "I mean- please don't take this as your fault, I shouldn't have intruded your privacy like that.", she said quickly and looked to the ground.

"Well, there is nothing we can do now." Percy said and tried a smile to cheer her up. "If you came to eat I am afraid the house elves aren't done yet."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I just couldn't sleep." She slowly pulled herself together, but still couldn't look Percy in the eyes. "I hoped I could read here."

"I will leave you to it." Percy said, smiled at her a last time and left the hall to finally get a shower. Hermione didn't move until he was out of sight, but Percy's ears picked up her moaned "Oh my god. That body- "

The next time Percy saw her, during breakfast, she was acting all normal again. He had showered and gotten some stuff he would need. He planned on working on the rest of his homework in the library today and maybe pick up a few books while he was there. The other Slytherins weren't surprised he was already up when they opened their eyes and didn't even ask what he was up to. Draco just murmured something of the sort "Homework on a Saturday morning like this..." when he told him about his library plans.

"Hey, but if you are done until dinner, you may want to come with us to the Quidditch field. It is the lions first training and we need to see how Weasley is doing on a broom.", said Blaise and nudged Percy while he was taking a sip from his cup. Thanks to his reflexes and enhanced overall elegance Percy didn't spill the hot coffee all over himself. He still shot the Slytherin a small glare.

"Sure, I'll come." Percy shrugged why not. Plus he could see if there actually was as much to sport as everyone said.

The morning post came and Percy was surprised to see an owl coming towards him. It landed on his empty plate and held out a leg. A small paper roll was bound to it. Percy took the paper and watched what the owl would do. Apparently nothing. It just sat there and watched the immortal. Percy roles open the parchment and began reading.