Percy’s POV

All of us hit the ground so hard our knees buckled. I quickly scrambled to my feet just as a voice said, “Back again, the blood-traitor brats. Is it true their father’s dying?”

“OUT!” a second familiar voice roared out.

I looked around the gloomy kitchen that belonged to number twelve, Grimmauld Place. It was dimly lit with only a fire in the grate and a flickering candle that illuminated the remains of a solitary supper on the table. Kreacher was disappearing through the door to the hall, but not before shooting all of us a look of contempt. I ignored it as an anxious-looking Sirius hurried towards us all.

“What’s going on?” he demanded to know, reaching out a hand to help Ginny up. “Phineas Nigellus said Arthur’s been badly injured –“

“Ask Harry,” Fred interrupted.

“Yeah, I want to hear this for myself,” his twin added.

All of us turned and stared at Harry, who still looked a little pale and sickly. I faintly heard Kreacher’s footsteps stopping.

“It was –“ Harry began,  sounding uncomfortable. “I had a – a kind of – vision …”

With that, he proceeded to tell us everything that had happened. I felt sick when he described how the snake had ambushed Mr Weasley and I caught Ron’s face turning whiter. When he was done, all of us just stood there and continued staring at him, at a loss of words. I noticed Harry looking apprehensive. Then Fred broke the silence.

“Is Mum here?” he asked Sirius abruptly.

“She probably doesn’t even know what’s happened yet,” Sirius replied. “The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore’s letting Molly know now.”

“We’ve got to go to St. Mungo’s,” Ginny piped up urgently from her spot, looking around at her brothers. “Sirius, can you lend us cloaks or something?”

“Hang on, you can’t go tearing off to St. Mungo’s!” Sirius said.

“Course we can go to St. Mungo’s if we want,” Fred said indignantly. “He’s our dad!”

“And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?”

“What does that matter?” George asked hotly.

“It matters because we don’t want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having visions of things that are happening hundreds of miles away!” Sirius said angrily. “Have you any idea what the Ministry would make of that information?”

Fred and George looked as though they didn’t care less. Ron was still silent, as were all of us demigods. We were worried for Mr Weasley, but definitely not as much as his own family. It was not our place to say anything

“Somebody else could have told us … we could have heard it somewhere other than Harry,” Ginny tried to reason.

“Like who?” Sirius said, sounding impatient. ‘Listen, your dad’s been hurt while on duty for the Order and the circumstances are fishy enough you could seriously damage the Order’s –“

“We don’t care about the dumb Order!” Fred yelled, losing his temper.

“It’s our dad dying that we’re talking about!” George shouted, joining in the argument.

“Your father knew what he was getting into and he won’t thank you for messing things up for the Order!” Sirius said, equally furious. “This is how it is – this is why you’re not in the Order – you don’t understand – there are things worth dying for!”

“Easy for you to say, stuck here!” Fred bellowed. “I don’t see you risking your neck!” Uh-oh.

The colour drained out of Sirius’ face and he looked as though he was about to hit Fred. However, when he spoke, his voice was calm and determined.

“I know it’s hard, but we’ve all got to act as though we don’t know anything yet. We’ve got to stay put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?”

The twins seemed as though they wanted to continue arguing but Ginny took a few steps towards the nearest chair and collapsed onto it. Harry glanced over at Ron, who just made a weird movement somewhere between a nod and a shrug and both of them followed Ginny’s lead. The twins glared at Sirius before taking seats on either sides of Ginny. The rest of us filed into any other spare seats.

“That’s right,” Sirius encouraged. “come on, let’s all … let’s all have a drink while we’re waiting. Accio Butterbeer!”

Bottles came flying out of the pantry and stopped neatly in front of all of us. I immediately picked it up and drank the warm, delicious liquid, trying to pass the time while waiting for Mrs Weasley to show up. There was silence after that. Until fire burst in midair, drawing cries of shock from us, and a scroll of parchment fell with a thud on the table, along with a single golden phoenix tail feather.

“Fawkes!” Sirius said immediately, snatching the parchment up. “That’s not Dumbledore’s writing – it must be a message from your mother – here – “

He chucked the letter at George, who ripped it open and read, “Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo’s now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum.” He stopped and looked around the table.

Still alive? Horror settled in as I realized the meaning behind those words.

“Still alive …” George echoed my thoughts. “But that makes it sound …”

He never finished the sentence because everybody already knew what it meant. It meant that Mr Weasley was hovering somewhere between life and death. Silence settled once again around the table. My hands were trembling as I picked up my bottle and judging by Harry’s white knuckles, so were his. We spent the rest of the night, just sitting there. It was only interrupted when Sirius suggested going to bed but the Weasleys’ looks of disgust were answer enough.

Fred had dozed off, his head lolling. Ginny was curled up in her chair but her eyes were still wide open. Ron had his face hidden in his hands so it was impossible to tell whether he was still awake. Harry and Sirius occasionally exchanged looks but said nothing. Tyson’s eye was filled with unshed tears but he too remained silent, his face a mask of grief. Nico was concentrating hard on something. I knew he was trying to sense whether Mr Weasley was okay and didn’t interrupt. Annabeth had come to the same conclusion as me and she leaned closer to me as we both simply watched Nico, trying to read his expressions and body postures. Grover stared blankly at his drink, but the slight trembling of his body gave away his fear and nervousness while Clarisse just gazed at the sword in her hands, deep in thought.

After hours of just sitting there, the kitchen door swung open and Mrs Weasley finally entered, her face deathly pale. I jumped up from my seat as everybody looked over at her, Ron, Fred and Harry half rising from their seats. She gave us a wan smile.

“He’s going to be all right,” she said weakly. “He’s sleeping. We can all go and see him later. Bill’s sitting with him now; he’s going to take the morning off work.”

At those words, Fred fell back into his chair with his hands over his face. George and Ginny got up, walked swiftly over to their mother and engulfed her in a tight hug. Ron gave a shaky laugh and downed the rest of his Butterbeer while Harry’s whole body sagged in a relief. The tension lifted from the air as warm, sweet relief filled all our bodies.

“Breakfast!” Sirius shouted joyously. “Where’s that accursed house-elf? Kreacher! KREACHER!”

There was no reply so Sirius just grumbled and took to preparing breakfast himself, along with the help of Harry and Mrs Weasley. I watched Harry carefully; there was something wrong with him. His face still looked weary and slightly depressed. There was also fear in his eyes. He was hiding something from us. My suspicions were only proved further when he suddenly muttered something to Sirius and led him away from the room, after being thanked by Mrs Weasley.

Nobody else had noticed what I saw; not even Annabeth. All of them were too busy celebrating among each other. And so, I decided not to say anything, not until I find out myself.

                                                                        **********

After sleeping for the rest of the morning, we finally left for St. Mungo’s with Mad-Eye and Tonks around noon. When we arrived at a large, old-fashioned, red-brick department store called Purge & Dowse Ltd, my eyebrows shot up in surprise. The place was clearly deserted with its shabby, miserable air, a few chipped dummies in the display window and dusty doors. If that still wasn’t enough, there was a huge right reading: ‘Closed for Refurbishment.” Were we really in the right place? Everybody seemed to share the same concern as we stared around.

“Right,” Tonks said, beckoning all of us forward in front of a female dummy modelling a horrible green nylon pinafore dress. “Everybody ready?”

With nods of agreement, Tonks leaned close to the glass, looking up at the dummy and said, “Wotcher. We’re here to see Arthur Weasley.”

My jaw dropped in shock as the dummy gave a tiny nod and urged us forward with a beckon of its jointed fingers. It seemed like I was the only one shocked by this. I guess it made sense because I was unconscious when they brought me here the last time. Tonks seized Ginny and Mrs Weasley by the elbows, stepped right through the glass and vanished.

“Please, please let me be reincarnated into a wizard in my next life,” I muttered as I stepped through the window after them, clutching Annabeth’s hand and pulling her in with me. Ron sniggered, looking smug.

I emerged in a crowded reception area where rows of witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs, some looking normal and some sporting gruesome disfigurements. It was a madhouse in there. I saw some witches and wizards in lime-green robes walking up and down the rows, asking questions and making notes on clipboard. Those must be doctors, I figured, until I overhead Ron telling Harry that they were Healers, not ‘Muggle nutters that cut people up’, as he so kindly put it.

I continued absorbing the sights around me as Mrs Weasley moved up towards the inquiry desk. Once we had gotten the floor and room number of Mr Weasley’s ward, we followed her around different passages and doors, before climbing up a flight of stairs and entered the Creature-Induced Injuries corridor, where the second door on the right bore the words: ‘Dangerous’ Dai Llewellyn Ward: Serious Bites.

“We’ll wait outside, Molly,” Tonks said. “Arthur won’t want too many visitors at once … it ought to be just the family first.”

We agreed with her decision and all of us stepped back. Harry drew back along with us but Mrs Weasley grabbed his arm and pushed him through the door, saying, “Don’t be silly, Harry, Arthur wants to thank you.”

The door swung shut behind them and I leaned against the wall, everybody copying my action. “I never thought I would have to come back here again,” Annabeth murmured next to me.

I smiled down at her. “Well, it’s not like I died or something so everything’s good.”

“Don’t even go there,” she shuddered.

“I’ve ever actually seen the hospital before. After all, I was unconscious the last time I was here. And I left for Hogwarts straight after,” I mused.

“I’ve only been around a few areas, I never really took the time to explore,” she shrugged.

“We might as well go and look around while they’re in there,” I suggested, grinning.

She faked shock at me before laughing and letting me pull her along, after telling the others of course. I was happy that she was always more relaxed around me and I realised we were never really alone ever since we came to Hogwarts. I figured now was as good a time as any, even if a hospital wasn’t really an ideal place to have fun.

We walked together hand-in-hand through corridors and talking portraits. To our amusement, a Healer in one of the portraits thought we were Muggles and almost had us kicked out. We had run right out of there when he began hollering accusations. Breathless and faces red, we were gasping for air and choking back our laughter when we came to a halt in another corridor. We were in the Janus Thickey Ward, a ward for permanent spell damage.

“His face,” I choked out, bursting into laughter again.

“Gods, that was hilarious,” Annabeth gasped, as she straightened up.  Suddenly, realisation dawned on her face as she looked around. “Hey, this is the place I met –“ she stopped suddenly, biting her lip and looking guilty.

“Met?” I questioned, standing next to her.

“Nothing,” she said hurriedly, her eyes darting around nervously.

“Met who? When did you meet this person? Is it a he? Was it when I was unconscious?” I asked her stubbornly, digging my heels into the ground as she tried to pull me away. I feel jealousy rearing up in me although I tried to clamp it down. “You’re not cheating on me, are you?” I asked in horror.

“What? Gods no! Of course not!” she protested, looking offended.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s nothing. I just met somebody here and it’s not my secret to tell,” she finally told me when she saw my unrelenting gaze.

I looked at her some more and saw the truth in her eyes. That was really all she had to tell me. I couldn’t stop the burning curiosity in me but I let it go just this once. When she had the permission of whoever it was, she could tell me then.

“Let’s go back to the ward, shall we?” I changed the subject and I saw relief in her eyes.

“Yeah, let’s go see Mr Weasley,” she agreed and we headed back together.

When we finally reached back there, I was disappointed to see the demigods filing out of the ward and Tonks and Mad-Eye entered instead, closing the door behind them. “I can’t believe we missed our turn,” I groaned, coming to a stop in front of them.

“Well, if you hadn’t decided to wander off …” Nico pointed out, eyeing me critically.

“Shh,” Clarisse hissed at us and only then did I notice flesh-coloured strings inserted into their ears and entering underneath the ward door. Extentable Ears. Fred and George passed two more to us and we inserted it into our ears, just in time to hear Tonks whispering.

“… they searched the whole area but couldn’t find the snake anywhere. It just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur … but You-Know-Who can’t have expected a snake to get in, can he?”

“I reckon he sent it as a lookout,” Moody growled. “cause he’s not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he’s trying to get a closer picture of what he’s facing and if Arthur hadn’t been there the beast would’ve had a lot more time to look around. So, Potter says he saw it all happen?”

“Yes,” Mrs Weasley answered, sounding uneasy. “You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Harry to see something like this.”

“Yeah, well, there’s something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that,” Moody answered.

“Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning,” she whispered.

“Course he’s worried,” Moody growled. “The boy’s seeing things from inside You-Know-Who’s snake. Obviously, Potter doesn’t realise what that means, but if You-Know-Who’s possessing him –“

At that, all of us turned to stare at Harry. He had pulled the Extentable Ear out of his own, his face flushed and panicked. That’s when I realised that everybody else’s was fearful. There were afraid of him. And I had to admit, so was I, if what Moody said had been true.

I felt a gentle tugging on my arm and turned around to see Annabeth pulling at me to the side. Removing the Ear from my own, I followed her.

“If what Moody said was true, we have to tell Chiron about this,” she murmured softly to me, trying not to let the others here.

“I don’t believe a single word of it,” I said stubbornly, changing my mind about what I had just thought a moment ago. Harry wasn’t that type of person; he was strong enough to resist Voldemort, I know he was.

“I know you don’t and honestly, neither do I,” she frowned. “Ginny told me once about how being possessed felt like when I asked her and that doesn’t sound like Harry at all. But we still have to talk to Chiron, it’s been a while since we’ve talked to him anyway and we have to keep him updated.”

I nodded my head; she was right. We left silently and made our way to a quiet place right to the back of the hospital. There was a bathroom there and it quite deserted too, which was a good thing for us. Grabbing a drachma from her pocket, Annabeth made the offering to the goddess and soon enough, we had our connection with Chiron.

“Percy! Annabeth!” he exclaimed, a smile appearing on his face. “It’s been a while, I thought you had gotten injured or something.”

“Hey Chiron,” Annabeth smiled back before sobering up. “We have something to tell you.”

His face turned grim. “What is it?”

She explained everything that had happened since we had last talked to him and his face was grave when she finished. “Seems like things are worse than we thought,” he sighed.

“Yeah it is,” I nodded. “How are things at camp?”

“Not too good but we’re coping. The new demigods are doing well and our boundaries are holding strong for now,” he said.

“I see,” I said before switching to another question that I had been curious about for a while. “So how’s Thalia? Are the Hunters glad to see her back? Can we talk to her?”

“Thalia?” Chiron asked, sounding confused. “What are you talking about, isn’t she still with you?”

“No,” I frowned, a chill going through my body. “She left a while ago. She said she was heading back to camp because there was one too many people on this quest and her Hunters were getting impatient.”

“Percy,” Chiron said gravely. “Thalia never came back to camp.”

My blood ran cold.

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A/N: Sorry for taking ages! But like I posted on my message board, there's a huge problem with Wattpad on my comp and I had to go onto another comp to actually upload this chapter. It's quite annoying because when my dad touches it, it decides to work. When I touch it, BAM! it's like saying "I refuse to work for you." Pssht.

Reminder: This chapter, or any other chapter in this book and future chapters to come, will not be edited so any mistakes feel free to point them out. Thank you!

I also wanted to say that although I have not been replying to your comments and I do apologise for that, I just want you to know that I read each and every single one of them and I adore them. Seriously, you guys are the best and I love you. This is dedicated to blueandbronze because of one of her comments ;) If you're reading this and have no idea which comment am I talking about, just message me! Also, Malakut12, I'll be dedicating a chapter to you soon! To make up for the last time where I didn't dedicate one specially for you. And everybody, pretty please help me get this story to 200, 000 reads? x3

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