Heroes of Hogwarts: Being Brave is Believing in Yourself

Chapter 26

At Camp Jupiter:
Everyone was in the highest spirits. The monster army was long forgotten. The demigods that had been missing were resting. They hadn't said their stories yet.

"CHUDLEY CANNONS!" Ron yelled randomly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Weasley, at least yell a decent team." He flashed a grin at Ron before heading towards Percy.

Everyone kept the party going for a long time. But where was the son of the wine and party god during the festivities?

A while away from the party by the Little Tiber, there was a white infirmary tent, its flaps fluttering in the light breeze. Inside it, Dakota shivered and pulled Leila's covers up to her neck.

"It's cold right now, Leils," he whispered to her. Across the tent he could hear Hazel and Frank talking quietly to each other. Just to the left of them was Draco, fast asleep. To Hazel and Frank's right were both Reyna and Piper in a bunk bed, both deep in dream land. Despite the demigod's protests that they were fine, everyone had sent them to bed in the infirmary tent, just in case. They were exhausted anyways.

Dakota put a finger under Leila's nose to ensure she was breathing. When he felt a hot whoosh of air he was satisfied and sat back in his chair.

"What happened?" He murmured to himself. Of course, he had seen Frank and Draco helping bring everyone back to camp. He had been just behind that girl Millie, Persephone's daughter. To be honest, Dakota had been freaked out when she helped Leila live. It was strange, for she was not a daughter of Hades. But then again, Nico had been helping her. Later he had heard that Millie had described the way she saw everyone's death aura, but Dakota had been long gone, heading to the infirmary tent to be with Leila.

Leila's nose twitched. Dakota, determined not to be creepy, tried not to stare at her face. Sure, Leila was pretty, but he was sure she didn't like him that way. No matter what he felt towards her.

Being with Leila(when she was awake, of course)was like learning how to disguise your awe and true emotions. She was constantly sweeping Dakota away. When she wasn't near him, it felt like his oxygen supply was limited. How could he breathe with no air? (A/N: Jordin Sparks reference, anyone?)

"Dakota?" A soft voice asked. Dakota's eyes went from staring to a fly on the wall to Leila's face in a millisecond. But it wasn't her who had spoke. Turning around, he saw it had been Reyna.

"Oh...what is it?" He asked, trying to mask the disappointment in his voice.

Reyna managed a chuckle. "Sorry to disappoint you, but can you get me a glass of water? Piper's asleep beneath me and I don't want to wake her."

Dakota nodded. Standing up, he briefly stretched and walked past Hazel and Frank to the opening of the tent. Outside, he looked around. Where can I find water? he asked himself.

The party, duh.

The party was as crazy as ever. For some reason, he didn't feel like joining. Walking swiftly, he passed Ron yelling something about Quidditch, whatever that was, and Ginny cleaning something off her shirt with a flick of her wand. Hermione was teaching that girl Paisley some spells, with occasional yells from Harry, Neville, and Luna. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Nico, Will, Leo, Millie, Haley, Butch, Katie, Travis, Connor, and a bunch of other Greek demigods were playing a game against the Roman demigods with a lot of Latin and Greek swearing. Looking closer, Dakota noted it was poker.