A Prophecy of Two Boys

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Harry's Point of View

The sky was just tinged with the first pink rays of dawn when we woke. Our room was still dark as the sun began to clear the trees of the forest. Eager to be doing something we headed to the gym. Lily might have decided to ban us yesterday, but what could she do now? We would be heading off to camp in a few hours, so she couldn't exactly ground us. I animated several swords to attack us while Percy fended them off.

The first time Percy had persuaded me to help him with this training technique we ended up with a rather large cut down our back. It hadn't been a deep wound, but it had been enough for me to refuse to animate the swords for the next three months. But Percy slowly improved as his technique got stronger, and by now he could hold his own against three and sometimes four different swords.

It was James who found us, two hours later when the sun had properly risen, still training in the gym. By that time we had moved away from the weapons and were doing stretches to cool down. James grinned at us, noticing the small pile of swords on the floor. With a quick wave of his wand, each had returned to their proper place on the wall.

"I wouldn't let Lily catch you in here." James warned, catching our gaze. "She's still upset about that dagger."

Percy flashed him a crooked smile. "Well, we're leaving in a couple of hours anyway."

James snorted, but didn't reply. We did, however, catch an approving smile twitch at his lips. I guess the saying is true – like father, like son. Only, we're better than him because… well. We're half Slytherin aren't we?

Breakfast wasn't the typical loud and boisterous affair that we had gotten used to both at school and here in Potter Manor. Lily looked slightly upset as she tried her best to look happy. Unfortunately, we were all too used to seeing people wear masks after spending the majority of our time around the Snake House. Compared to our housemates Lily was wearing a transparent veil. We grinned at her and tried to crack a few jokes to lift her spirit. Charles joined in too when he finally emerged from bed, but that tiny hint of hurt still hung around in Lily's eyes. We felt a little bad, knowing we had put it there.

Severus came over shortly after breakfast, apparently having received a letter from James informing him we were going to a muggle camp for the summer. Our godfather didn't really say anything to us. He just hugged us tightly to his chest.

Severus pulled out of the hug to stare at us seriously. "You got your homework?"

We laughed, and Percy pulled a face. "Yes. Technically it's a muggle summer camp, but we'll make sure that we do it!"

'Harry!' Percy complained. 'Do we have to?'

'Yes!' I glared at him. 'You are getting lots of outdoor activity. Therefore, I get my studying.'

Charles pulled us away from our godfather. "You are going to write, you hear me? No matter what."

Percy grabbed him in for a hug. "We will. Expect weekly updates, ok?"

"I'm going to hold you to that." Charles warned us. We just smiled at him.

"Stay safe."

Lily and James hugged us next with even more warnings to stay safe and to write home. Sirius of course wanted us to cause mayhem at camp, while Remus to Severus' side and reminded us to have all our homework done.

We were handed a watch by James. Remarkably it was still working, providing an extremely accurate reading of the time. It was a gorgeous old thing with delicately carved hands and roman numerals for numbers.