𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒅𝒔 - pjo x hp

li. flying goats

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆?" 

Raya's dream was blurry, but very slowly began coming into focus. She saw Professor Snape and Dumbledore sitting in front of each other, in some sort of small room, an office, perhaps. The walls were bare, painted eggshell white. Besides the two chairs they sat in, and a very rickety table in between them, there were no furnishings in the room.

"I mean, Severus," Dumbledore's calm tone was quite a contrast to Snape's agitated one, "that he's been locked out."

"How?" Snape's voice was growing louder. He sat forward in his chair, "I thought that the Blacks had thought of absolutely everything!"

"You forget he's been disowned," Dumbledore said plainly.

"But the Charm," Snape sputtered. "It should reopen its magic to him once his mother and father died. That's how the magic works, isn't it?"

Raya had no idea what was happening, except apparently, Sirius was locked out of some place. She didn't even know where, considering Dumbledore sent him on a mission and Raya couldn't even send him any letters without the risk of blowing his cover. He was still a wanted man.

Dumbledore said nothing, but his eyes held a sort of guilt.

Snape stood up suddenly, pointing a finger in his direction, "I told you! I told you before, so many times. It's been years, and I've said it multiple times every year. And yet—"

"—I hoped it wasn't true," Dumbledore said, his voice more tired than Raya had ever heard. For once, he actually looked his age.

"The Ministry hopes You-Know-Who's return isn't true," Snape hissed. "That's not an excuse, and it doesn't make you any better than them. We should deal with the matter while we can."

"Our parents do not make our choices," Dumbledore said firmly. "We can't judge an individual based on someone else's choices. For now, we need to get access to the place. After that, we'll figure out what to do."

"But—"

"—You are not to reveal anything to anyone," Dumbledore cut him off. "Especially not her."

Snape looked like he was trying to swallow a golf ball, but he nodded, "Understood."

When Raya woke, her head was pounding, and the only thing she could think of was the dream. None of it made sense to her, but it gave her a bad feeling. Like this was only the start of something terrible.

She got dressed mechanically, making her way to the pavilion for breakfast. On her way back from burning some offerings, she bumped into Luke.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered, ducking her head.

"My bad," he muttered at the same time.

The two stared at each awkwardly for a moment.

Raya coughed, "You — uh, you played good at the last Capture-the-Flag game. I heard about how you outran the fart bombs."

"Thanks," he scratched the back of his neck. "You should play more often. Your sword fighting skills are insanely underrated."

"Thanks," she smiled nervously. "I'm gonna... head back now."

"Yeah, yeah, okay."

Ducking her head, she walked quickly to the Apollo table. She replayed the encounter, cringing at practically the whole thing. She hated how awkward her and Luke's relationship had become. It seemed that it would be impossible for the two to go back to being friends.