Demigods at Hogwarts | the rescue mission ✔

34| Stupid Muggle Car Accident

Ariadne's POV

"Percy! Percy, wait up!" I yelled as he turned around abruptly and started walked in the opposite direction. I ran after him, trying to keep up---this was the first time I had seen him in weeks. For some reason, his friends wouldn't allow me to visit him in the Hospital Wing, and they had been acting as his personal bodyguards ever since he recovered—I couldn't even get a few metres near him without one of them blocking my path. I realized that he had been avoiding me since the Yule Ball. I felt a pang of sadness---he probably had a girlfriend back at that American school of his. And even if he didn't, there were loads of pretty girls to choose from at Hogwarts.

He had no reason to even like me.

Suddenly, Percy turned around, his eyes hardening when he saw that it was me chasing him. His expression was cold---not in the menacing kind of way though. He looked sad instead of angry.

"What, Ariadne?" he asked in a monotone voice that lacked any emotion. I felt like someone had stabbed me in the heart. Did he think I was annoying? Because he certainly acted like he did. I bit my lip nervously, trying hard to stop the tears from spilling out of my eyes. Of course, he had no idea.

No idea how much I wanted him to like me. No idea how I would lay awake at night thinking about him. No idea how I would defend him every time someone said that he didn't belong at Hogwarts.

Sometimes boys were just so incredibly dense.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay," I said in a small voice, realizing how pathetic I sounded right after the words came out of my mouth. Who do you think you are, his girlfriend? I barely knew Percy Jackson. So why did I care about him so much?

Percy's expression softened as he walked over to me. I noticed that people were starting to stare at us. "I'm fine, Ariadne," he said reassuringly in a low voice so that the others wouldn't hear us. "Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me out if I wasn't." He gazed at me expectantly. "Don't you have lessons to go to?"

I felt myself blush furiously. Why was he treating me like a little kid all of a sudden? Because he certainly wasn't acting like this when he kissed me right after asking me to the Yule Ball.

It's now or never, Ariadne.

"I was thinking," I began, struggling to keep my voice steady. "I was wondering if you would like to hang out sometimes. As something more than friends." I managed to finish. My heart was racing now, and I could feel sweat running down my neck. The last time a boy had made me feel like this was two years ago, when I first met Jake.

And he had died in a stupid Muggle car accident.

Percy's face paled as he backed away from me slowly as if I had some sort of deadly disease. "Listen, Ariadne," he said seriously, staring into my eyes. "That kiss was a mistake. So was going to the Yule Ball with you." He sighed. "I'm sorry. It's not like I don't like you, but I have a girlfriend, and her name is Annabeth, and we've been through so much together." His voice broke, and I could see that he, too, was on the verge of tears. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and the only girl I want to be with. Ever since I met you I've been dying of guilt because every time I see you, it feels like I'm betraying her. I'm truly sorry, but I can't-" He let out a gut-wrenching sob and turned around, walking away faster than before. A crowd of people had gathered around us, making way for Percy as he walked towards the Gryffindor dormitory.

Tears rolling down my face, I pushed past a crowd of onlookers and ran as fast as I could.