Secrets of Hogwarts and the Slytherin Prince

NIGHTMARES

"Percy." Waves surged around him and his friends. Piper and Annabeth were closest to him. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were farther away. "Remember, Percy. Be wise. Be careful. Or the water will destroy you all."

As if on cue, the water began to tighten around his friends, squeezing and constricting. Annabeth, Piper, Hermione, Ron, and Harry began screaming. He closed his eyes, desperate to erase the images of their terror stricken faces from the backs of his eyelids. But when he closed his eyes, they only seemed to open once again.

His friends were gone, but their screams still echoed in his mind. The water surrounding him splashed onto the ground, coiling up and shaping itself into a giant snake. The screaming stopped. Percy tried taking a step back, but the coiled snake tensed, head turning. It hissed and uncoiled itself, slithering towards him.

He turned to run, but was faced with his friends, laying crippled on the ground, each one held in the grip of a giant snake, made of water. Their faces were frozen in looks of agony and terror, each one staring at the dark sky, with glassy eyes.

"This is your doing." A new, yet familiar deep voice hissed at his shoulder. "You think you capable of protecting them? Your reality is that you are the one who will kill them all."

"No." Percy shook his head. "They're my friends! I wouldn't! I would never hurt them!"

"But you will. It's in your nature. You come from a long line of dark, dark wizards, including the darkest of them all... Your friends will fall at your hand. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."

The water snakes split off from their victims, from his friends. Annabeth, with her storm grey eyes and honey blonde halo. Piper, her hair a dark crown around her shoulders, eyes loosing their shifting colors the longer she lay still. Ron, with his freckled cheeks and pumpkin orange hair. Hermione, with her frizzy curls and her sharp features. And Harry, with his too familiar looks, his near image reflection.

The snakes surrounded him, growing tall. One formed a trident, in his hand, glowing blue, and another rose up, taking the shape of a black crown, over his black hair. As it began to rest on his head, the remaining snakes slithered out, shaping a large rectangle around his friends. The ground disappeared, and they fell into a black pit, water surging to the top like a reverse whirlpool.

Snakes slithered down the walls of the pool, distinctly white against the black water. They rested at the bottom as the water came to a still glassy surface at his feet. Terror gripped his heart, as his mind went to the tapestry in the tunnels. His heart raced in panic. Was he really going to kill them all...?

***

Percy sat up in his bed, gasping rapidly, heart pounding in terror. The sheets were tangled around his legs, and he was stuck in the blankets.

"Percy!" A voice hissed. He froze, looked over to the door. It was empty, and everyone else in the dorm was asleep. "Percy, over here!"

His head turned to the secret passage doorway. Annabeth was poking her head out. "Bloody hell!"

He shot out of the bed, and over to her. Hercules was in the passage with her already. He stepped inside and she hugged him. Percy sucked in a stiff breath, feeling frozen. "What are you doing here, Wise Girl?" He said slowly, hugging her.

"Come with me!" She jerked away and grabbed his hand.

"What?"

"Please, Percy. I need to show you something." Her grey eyes begged him to agree. He hesitated, before sighing.

"Fine. Lead the way."

She dragged him down the coordioors until they reached the mosaic on the wall. The one he'd been reminded of by his dream. He stopped in his tracks, feeling sick. Annabeth frowned, turning to him. "Percy?"

"I had a dream. I was in this picture..." He points to the man, holding the trident and blue orb. "I was him. With a black crown. Snakes in the water, you and everyone else... Piper, Hermione, Harry and Ron... The water... It was strangling you all. I tried to make it go away, but it didn't. I closed my eyes, i-i tried to..." He cut off, feeling nauseated. His stomach revolted, egging him on to puke, but he held it in, closing his eyes and leaning against the mosaic.

He couldn't breathe. The air felt toxic. His tongue burned like acid. Glancing at Annabeth, he saw he wasn't the only one. She was covering her mouth and coughing. "My wand-" She choked, fishing around in her robes. Percy grabbed for his own before realizing it was on his bedside table.

Looking up, he saw green mist floating down on them. "P-" he coughed. "Poison. Move!"

Annabeth was practically on her knees. He grabbed her hand and started running, pulling her after him, desperate to save her. After his nightmare, the tunnels terrified him, even though he was beginning to understand them perfectly.

They got to the door Percy had first taken Piper through, and they fell out into the corridor, Percy landing on his back, catching her by the waist. She was still coughing violently, head face hidden by her hair. Percy wasted no time getting to his feet, ducking behind the statue and holding upright as she choked. She was an inch or two taller than him, but was clearly still struggling to breathe.

Percy was fighting the same issue. He couldn't breath either. "We have to... To find a way back without-" He coughed viciously into her shoulder. "Getting caught."

Annabeth nodded, gripping his hand in hers. He felt himself internally start to panic as she looked up at him. She looked ridiculously pretty, her cheeks pink and eyes blown wide. She coughed again, covering her mouth with her fist.

She pulled him out from behind the statue and they, both holding back vicious coughs, ran down the empty corridor. Their footsteps echoed off the walls like rocks on cement.

Paintings shushed them as they ran, finding a new entry way that they'd located days before.

"Wait..." Percy nearly doubled over as another coughing fit hit him. "Are you sure its a good idea to go back in there? What if the poison is still-"

"Percy, its either this or-"

"Well, well..." A voice chuckled darkly from the passage door. A familiar voice. "Two students out of bed at this ungodly hour. What on earth could you two be up too?"