14
Cedric woke up to find Percy already gone. It wasn't a super unusual occurrence so he thought nothing of it.
At least, until he started walking to breakfast and found two bags, one of them Percy's, on the floor in the hallway.
He grabbed both, frowning, and continued on to the Great Hall.
When he got there, Annabeth was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, looking quite disgruntled. When Cedric joined her, she looked up.
"Have you seen Percy?" She asked before he could even sit down.
"Uh, no. I'd thought he'd be here but then I found his bag and this other one in the dungeon hallway." He replied, sitting and lifting the other bag for the grey eyed girl to see.
"That's Luke's bag! I wonder where they are."
Fred and George entered the hall, making a bit more noise than was needed as they approached. The last time they snuck up on Annabeth, she punched one of them in the face instinctively and the other got the same treatment because "I thought you two did everything together".
"Were you two looking for someone?" Fred asked.
"Cause we can help you there." George said with a mischievous smirk.
Annabeth pursed her lips, clearly unimpressed, but told them who they were looking for. She still didn't understand why Percy was friends with those two.
The pair grinned gleefully at each other and pulled out an old piece of parchment, hiding it from view in between them. They muttered a few words, there was the sound of paper moving, then Annabeth and Cedric watched the grins slide off the twins' faces.
"What? What is it? Where are they?" Annabeth demanded, firing off questions faster then they could be answered.
"They're in the hospital wing." George said, a small frown on his face.
The four of them exchanged concerned looks before jumping up and rushing out the door, Annabeth in the lead. On the way out, the blonde girl nearly ran into Beckendorf.
"Hey, where are you four off to in such a hurry?" he asked with a small chuckle but stopped when he saw their serious faces. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Luke and Percy are in the hospital wing so we're going to find out why." Annabeth explained.
"Are you sure?" the older boy asked. "How do you know?"
"Well, they don't have their bags," George started.
"Good ol' Ced found them in a dungeon corridor and brought them with," Fred continued the explanation.
"And Fred and I-"
"Have our ways." Fred concluded with a shared secretive smile with his twin.
"Do you know if the teachers are aware of this?" the buff boy asked.
"Well I'd assume they are considering they went to the hospital wing as opposed to some abandoned classroom or corridor." Annabeth said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Well, we'd better get going if we're gonna see what's wrong before classes." He said and started walking with them.
Luke had been sitting there at Percy's bedside for hours. The young boy had been unconscious for just as long but even in his sleep he seemed to be in pain.
When the five friends burst into the hospital wing, they were immediately shushed by the Slytherin boy.
Annabeth gasped at the sight of her best friend laying in the bed, his usually tan skin blending in with the white sheets.
"Madam Pomfrey is in her office, speaking to professor McGonagall, professor Sprout, and professor Dumbledore." Luke whispered to them as he rubbed his temples.
The others figured he just had a headache. In reality, there was a voice whispering to him.
If you steal it, I will take his pain away once I am free.
He pushed the voice to the back of his mind.
The six conscious students in the room could hear yelling from the office.
Ten minutes later, the door was ripped open by professor McGonagall who then stalked out and towards the bed holding her charge.
"Minerva-" Albus started as he followed the woman out of the room but was quickly cut off by the angry head of Gryffindor house.
"No Albus. You will stay away from Percy and his brother. They are children, not pawns on a chessboard."
The headmaster looked gravely at his colleague.
"Minerva, you are well aware of the risks-"
"Risks be damned!" She shouted at him. "I have vowed to protect those boys and there is no way that I'm going to break that vow. The reason why we are known as good is that we don't do sacrifice! We don't let an innocent suffer even if it is for the good of many!"
Dumbledore took note of the students in the room and sighed condescendingly at the transfiguration professor.
"We can talk more later Minerva." He said before striding out of the hospital wing.
By this point, the woman's lips had transformed into a single, thin line. Her nostrils were flared and all Percy's friends eyed her warily as she turned to them.
"It is my understanding that Mr. Castellan is the one who brought him here?" She said as Professor Sprout joined them.
"Yes it was me Professor McGonagall. I got up early and found him on the ground in the hall."
Cedric decided to pipe up with what he knew.
"Last night he only had one pill left. I tried to tell him to tell someone or save it but he just cut me off, saying he'd be fine, and took it."
Minerva sighed heavily and looked down at the young boy, looking so small and frail as he lay in the bed. His normally tan skin was pasty, blending with the sheets.
As they were watching, his eyes shot open, the sea green standing out against the white as a scream tore itself from his throat. His hands clutched at his hair and he writhed on the bed, tears streaming down his face.
"Please! It hurts!" He screeched.
Annabeth buried her face into Luke's shoulder. Beckendorf had paled drastically and stepped in front of the twin Gryffindor boys and Cedric in an attempt to shield them from the sight.
Madam Pomfrey came running down the ward, a potion bottle in hand.
"What is that?" Luke demanded but could do nothing as the head of Hufflepuff house ushered the group out.
The last they saw of Percy before the doors closed was McGonagall holding the raven-haired boy in a half sitting position while the Matron forced a potion down his throat.
Luke stood there, thinking of what was happening and what he'd heard.
We don't do sacrifice, we don't let an innocent suffer even if it is for the good of many!
They are children, not chess pieces!
I will take his pain away once I am free.
The boy's expression hardened. His scar only enhancing the intimidating image as the thirteen year old made up his mind.
He would join the titan lord Kronos and, that Christmas when he visited Mount Olympus, he would steal Zeus' master lightning bolt and Hades' helm of darkness.