He couldn't help but think, why is this always happening? as he woke up. A soft groan escaped his mouth, before making way to the rhythmic drum beat pounding in the back of his head. 

His eyes fluttered open, squinting in an attempt to ward off the bright light. Shutting his eyes tight and shaking his head slightly, he opened them once more. 

As he stared straight up to the bleached white roof of the infirmary, he heard a faint sound to his left. He moved his head slightly to look, and saw the pensive figure of McGonagall, staring straight ahead, deep in thought. Her lips were drawn tightly, and her eyes narrowed, lost in whatever thought had occupied her. 

Shifting up slightly onto his elbows, rustling the bedsheets as he went, he drew her attention. 

"Thank Merlin." Her Scottish accent whispered out as she let out a deep breath. Climbing to her feet, she leant a hand on the bed railing, looking down at him in concern. 

"How are you feeling Mr Jackson?" Anxiousness resting on her voice. 

"I-I really don't know Professor. What happened?" Memories flashed across his mind, but they all folded into the darkness soon enough. 

A flicker of confusion ran across her face, before stating, "You fell off your broom Mr Jackson. Madam Pomfrey assured me that you sustained no severe damage to your head, so I believed you would have remembered such an event."

Percy's face mimicked hers, bewilderment flashing across his eyes, "Well yeah I remember that, but that was like 4 days ago." He said, a slight amount perplexity in his tone. He thought she'd have been more concerned about the couple days he went missing. 

"4 days ago? Whatever do you mean?" Exclaimed the professor, slight worry marring her features. "Your crash was only 4 hours ago."

"4 hours ago? No it can't have been!" He said in disbelief, more to himself than anyone else.  "But there was that hole, and I was dead, and then the water, and then I passed out. And the flashlight eyes and the..." 

However, the more he spoke, the less he believed it himself. It was far too fantastical for it to have been true, even for the wizarding world. He was even finding it difficult to remember the exact workings of what had happened, as well as the correct order they happened in. 

Professor McGonagall stood still for a few seconds, trying her hardest to process everything the young boy before her was telling her. Madam Pomfrey clearly made an error with regards to the boys head damage.

"If you would excuse me for a few minutes, Mr Jackson, I need to inform Madam Pomfrey that you have woken up." She hesitated by his bed, looking down at him with worry, before nodding slightly, and backing away. Her silken green rob spinning behind her as she turned neatly, and quickly, on the spot, and heading straight for Madam Pomfrey's office. 

He let out a breath, before dropping his head back onto his pillow resting his arms by his side. Today? He thought. How could it have been today? Everything had felt so real. It couldn't have all been a dream, right? He sighed once more. 

Now, he knew he had a certain proclivity to strange dreams, but even he couldn't have dreamt up all of that, could he? It had all felt so real though, he thought, but even as that crossed his mind, he could feel the stories of what had happened in the past few days begin to blur and lose shape. Certain details were already completely lost to him, and he could only remember the faintest traces of what had happened. Something to do with water. And maybe a bad dog? 

His brow furrowed as he tried to recall what happened, but the more he tried to remember, the quicker it all seemed to fade away. 

He was vaguely aware of Madam Pomfrey's door opening, and the sounds of two people talking. 

A dream. He really dreamt up all of that. He had to have done. But even for him, that was strange. 

"...should be fine, Professor." He heard as he slowly tuned back into his surroundings. "Ah Mr Jackson, how are you feeling?"

He blinked up at the faces of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. His dream already faded from memory. "Erm, I think I'm alright. A bit of a headache though."

A small smile made its way to her face, "That's perfectly natural. You did sustain some mild head injuries, but nothing that couldn't be fixed like that." She said, as she snapped her fingers to emphasise the last point. 

Her eyes flicked to the side, glancing at McGonagall, and noticing the hard stare from the Professor, cleared her throat before turning back to Percy. 

"Although, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to look over you once more, to make sure everything's alright? Is that okay?" She asked, wand in hand. 

"Yeah sure. Of course." He nodded whilst he talked, and lay down properly as to not lengthen the process. 

Madam Pomfrey drew closer, before hovering her wand about an inch above his body. As she slowly dragged her wand from his head to his feet, a weird tingle passed through him. He shivered slightly from the foreign feeling. 

"That feeling is completely normal Mr Jackson, try not to let it worry you." The voice of Madam Pomfrey reached his ears,  as she tried to ease his nerves. 

As soon as she finished, she turned to McGonagall and shook her head ever so slightly, before turning back to Percy, "Everything looks like it should, Mr Jackson. Though I do recommend you spend the night in here, so you can fully recover." 

He nodded his head, rather mutely, not really wanting to spend any longer in a hospital bed, and not in his comfy dorm room, nut knowing he really had no say whatsoever.

McGonagall, for her part, was quite relieved. She feared the boy had maybe suffered some slight brain damage with the nonsense he was spouting off, but once being assured for a second time that everything was normal, could finally chalk it up to the imagination of an adolescent. 

"Get some rest Mr Jackson. I will come back in the morning to check on you and escort you to the Great Hall for breakfast." McGonagall said, before taking her leave.

"Now, get some rest. It's past curfew and you'll want to be fully refreshed for tomorrow. Alright?" Suggested, or commanded if her tone was anything to go off, Madam Pomfrey.

"Okay." He replied, eyes already drooping a little. 

"Good." She said, as she headed back towards her office. 

Percy's eyes felt heavy, as he struggled to keep them open. Fear of falling asleep and seeing whatever else his mind could concoct. Despite not being able to remember what had happened in his weird dream, he certainly remembered the feelings he had. The feeling of dread, and the feeling that something big was on the horizon. 

He lost his battle eventually, after about 28 seconds. He must have been really tired. 

His eyes opened to the sight of his dorm room. A familiar place to him by now, a place he always felt safe. 

But something was off. Nothing looked out of place, though. Everything was how he remembered it. But the whole atmosphere felt cold. Felt dangerous. 

He slowly sat up in his bed, glancing around the room for his roommates. None were to be seen. He stood up and walked towards his window. Casting his eyes towards the sun, he realised it was breakfast time. 

Before he even had a chance to comprehend how he could know exactly what time it was by just the suns position, he saw the world around him spin before fading to nothingness. And then, suddenly, the entrance to the Great Hall was before him.

He looked down at his clothes, making sure he hadn't forgotten to put on his robes. Apparently he had forgotten. 

Instead of the black robes, with the Gryffindor insignia, he was wearing mud caked blue jeans, and a ripped vibrant orange top with a black logo on. But as he focused on it, it became blurry and out of focus. Where was his school uniform? 

Looking back up towards the doors, he could hear the voices of his fellow students. He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders a little more, and standing up straight, he pushed through the massive entrance. 

Immediately all eyes were on him. 

He could hear the room go deathly quiet. He looked over the faces in the crowd. Most turned away as his eyes passed them, but others sneered as he made eye contact with them. 

He looked around, desperately trying to find the faces of his friends, just someone who would back him up, show that they were still on his side. 

He found none such faces. Nobody was willing to offer him a friendly face. One by one, the student population turned away from him. 

He slowly walked forwards, heading towards the Professors table. His eyes locked on a figure in all pink. A cruel smirk playing upon her lips. She took a cursory glance towards his attire, her face contorting into disgust. 

He heard her start to speak, but everything was muffled. As though he had water covering his ears. Every so often the water would part, and he'd hear a word slip through, 

"...Disgusting...mongrel...half-breed...filthy...ashamed..."

He could feel his mouth moving, but no words reached his ears. He saw shock and anger flash across her eyes. He had said the wrong thing. 

She stood up, hand gripping her wand. 

The world slowed. 

The other professors all watched on, eyes hardened into glares. None making an effort to move. To help. To save him.

He turned his head to either side, looking around at his once peers. Every single one had their back turned to him. 

He turned back to the woman, who was in the middle of flicking her wand forward. A flash escaped her wand, and the world sped up again. He closed his eyes tight, and braced for the impact of whatever spell she had chosen to cast. 

Nothing.

It hadn't hit him.

He slowly opened his right eye, peeking out at whatever was going on. 

He was underwater. 

He opened his other eye, trying to make sense of everything. 

He could see, for starters. Despite being exactly 3819ft beneath the water, where light no longer reaches. How he knew how deep he was, he didn't know. 

Thousands, maybe millions of voices suddenly erupted in his mind. The sound was so loud, forcing his hands to his ears in a desperate attempt to stop it.

Every sentence being uttered overlapping the other, but one constant word making it through, "Returned." 

He looked down at what he was wearing. He was wearing a robe. 

But curiously enough, not his school robe. 

An itch appeared on his cheek, just below his ear. He went to scratch it, but pulled back once he felt hair. Did he have a beard? 

Going to scratch the itch again, he realised he did indeed have a beard. Pulling his hand away from the itch, it crossed his eyeline. 

He marvelled at how calloused and aged the hand looked. He brought his other hand up in front of him, turning them both over. They were both tanned, far more tanned than usual, and had grown more hair. 

"I'm back." He heard himself whisper, involuntarily. 

Suddenly, the water ripped against itself in front of him. Bubbles forming out of nothing. They took the shape of a man. Slowly, the form of the man became more and more real. His features became more distinctive. Colour started to be added. 

A deep inky black. Powerful sea green eyes. 

"Welcome back, my heir. Your kingdom has missed you." The man's powerful voice boomed out. A natural authority to his tone, with a slight warmth. 

"It's been too long, father." He heard himself reply. His voice was deep, and smooth, far different to what it normally sounds like. The voice belonged to someone grown, but yet still sounded distinctly like him. 

"20 years to this day, Perseus. Happy Birthday, my son" The man, his father, replied. 

So yeah, it was him then. Or at least him 20 years from some point in the future.  

He smiled at the man in front of him, before it dropped from his face, as he saw the mans (his fathers) face. 

The man was looking at him, straight in the eyes, with a deep confusion. Head tilted ever so slightly to the side. 

Percy gulped, as it felt like this man wasn't looking at Perseus from the future, but the Percy dreaming. 

The man in front of him, his father, suddenly stopped his piercing gaze, eyes lighting up. A soft smile adorned his features. 

"You shouldn't be here just yet, Perseus. Not long now."

At those words, he felt his body, tug and twist. Before flying backwards. He flew about 50 ft, before coming to a still. he looked back to where the meeting was taking place, and could see both his father and his future self. 

His future self had his back turned to him, completely oblivious to his existence. But his fathers eyes never left his. The smile stayed upon his face. 

The last thing he saw was his father winking at him, before he felt his body blast upwards, straight towards the top of the sea. As soon as he broke through the surface, he felt himself sitting up. 

He looked around the room, noticing he was back in the infirmary. 

He groaned as he felt his head pulsing. The makings of a headache simmering just below the surface. He could feel the blood pumping behind his ears, a slight ringing being developed. 

He took some deep breaths to get his body under control, and felt everything settling down. 

He lay back down on his bed, trying to make sense of what he'd seen. 

So that was definitely a dream. And that seemed realistic too, as if he was actually there. 

Man, he hated his subconscious. 

Before he had time to properly curse out his own mind, he heard the door to the infirmary open up. Sitting up on his bed, he looked towards the figure of McGonagall striding purposefully across the room. 

She took note of his awakened form, and as she stopped beside his bed, said, "Ah good, you are awake. I have taken the liberty to collect your robes for you." Before setting a bundle of his clothes on his bed. 

"I will be checking in with Madam Pomfrey to make sure everything is in order. Make sure you are ready to leave by the time I get back."

All Percy could do was nod at her, which she returned before setting off towards the office. 

He looked towards his robes, before having a slight moment of panic. Where was his wand? 

Professor McGonagall surely would have collected it for him as classes began near enough straight after breakfast. 

He quickly turned his neatly folded robes inside out checking where it was, before moving his inquisitive gaze towards his bedside table. 

Letting out an audible sigh as he saw his pristine wand lying elegantly on top of them. 

He chuckled to himself. He really had become deeply attached to his wand.

Reaching for the curtain to use as a privacy shield, he spread it around his bed, before grabbing his clothes. Quickly stripping out of his hospital gown,  he tugged on his school uniform. 

Opening the curtain once more, he slowly clambered out of his bed, taking extra care just in case he wasn't 100% fit still. Pleased to see he felt fine, he stood up straight, twisting his wand around whilst waiting for McGonagall to return. 

She did so quite promptly, gesturing to him to follow her as she left the room. 

Jogging slightly to catch up with her fast pace, he heard her say, "Madam Pomfrey requests that you see her straight away should you feel any less than normal."

"O-okay." Percy said, slightly out of breath from having to race after her. 

Professor McGonagall took note of this, and slowed her pace for him. 

The two walked in silence for the remainder of the way. Neither really having anything they needed to say to the other. They passed by a few student who let onto Professor McGonagall, before same gave him amused and apologetic expressions, believing him to be in trouble. 

It wasn't long before the reached the Great Hall. There was already quite a few students to be seen from the open doorway, hinting that breakfast was already well underway.

McGonagall stopped a couple of feet away from the door. Watching as a group of students passed, laughing between each other. 

"I am glad you are okay, Perseus. You gave us all quite a fright." McGonagall said, before entering into the Great Hall, heading straight towards her seat. 

Percy followed a little hesitantly behind, wondering what his classmates were going to say to him. 

He cautiously looked towards the Gryffindor table, trying to spot one of his friends. 

He saw Hermione sitting by herself, slowly nursing down her food whilst reading. 

He smiled a little as he saw her, before setting off to sit in the empty seat by her side. 

He quickly sat in his desired seat, and waited to see how long it would take her to register him being there. 

After about 5 minutes, he had his head leaning on his fist. She still hadn't looked up from her book. 

Finally having enough, he tapped her on the shoulder, before quickly reeling his arm back as she ferociously whipped around to see who was disturbing her, only to see Percy smiling at her. 

Like the time this happened before, once she saw it was him, the anger washed off of her face and a smile graced her features, before she reached out and engulfed him in a hug. 

"Oh thank god you're alright. I told you that you shouldn't have gone up there. You were only going to get yourself hurt. And you did. You should have just listened to me. Why doesn't anybody ever just listen to me?" Her words came out rapidly, but the sentiment wasn't lost on Percy. It was nice to know he had found a friend who genuinely cared for him. Even if said friend was currently cutting off his air supply with a hug. 

He just chuckled, before saying, "I'm sorry you had to worry, but do you think you could let go a sec, I'm fairly certain wizards still need to breath."

She blushed as she pulled back, before mumbling a slight apology, "Sorry about that." 

He just smiled at her, "Don't worry about it. It's nice to know how much you care."

"Of course I care."

The two finished up their food and started to head to class. Well, Hermione finished up, Percy started and then finished up eating. 

The classes, thankfully, didn't involve anything to do with flying, so he actually managed to make it through each of his classes today without a rogue storm knocking him off his broom. 

The only downside was, that lessons were all theory based today. Did he appreciate that to become a really good wizard you had to understand the magic behind it? Yes, he did. Was he still an 11 year old kid who wanted to produce magic spells from his wand? Yes, he was. 

His ADHD was probably at play for his boredom throughout classes. He never could sit still and do nothing. He always preferred being active. Learning on the job. It always seemed to stick a bit better. 

Despite his boredom throughout the day, the end of classes for the day didn't wait too long to appear. 

And he soon found himself meeting up with Hermione and heading down towards the great lake, as they still had a bit of time before tea. 

They started walking around the lake, chatting about everything and nothing. Hermione was asking how he'd felt throughout the day, whether or not he was still feeling the effects of his fall the day before. 

He assured her he was fine. And asked about how her day had been. 

She talked about how much she was enjoying her classes, and was appalled when he brought up how he might have fallen asleep in a couple of them today. 

Time passed so quickly as they lost themselves to their conversation, and it was only when they saw the other student milling about outside heading back towards the castle did they realise just how close it was to tea time. 

They both started back, before something out of the corner of his eye caught Percy's attention. 

It was on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. 

A large shadow moved in and out of the foliage, before suddenly stopping. 

Now that it was stood still, Percy could just about make out its form through the shade of the trees and the lowering light levels. 

It appeared to be a man riding on a horse. And what looked like the silhouette of a bow on its back. 

Percy's pace slowed down as he tried to get a better look. 

His eyes focused in more, and he sae the man reach for the bow. Yeah, it's definitely a bow, thought Percy as the man held it away from his body.  And why does it look like he's currently aiming it at me?

Percy's blood started pumping, adrenaline running through his veins. His mind whirred as to what he should do. Should he draw his wand? Or would that make the man attack? Should he make a run for it? 

He didn't have to think too long, as Hermione's hand shook in front of his face. Apparently she'd noticed him lagging behind. Although when he had completely stopped still, Percy didn't remember. 

He looked to Hermione, before looking back towards the man on horseback. Only to see the mans silhouette fade into the darkness of the forest. 

Seeing where his eyes were looking, Hermione followed his gaze. "What are you looking at?"

Percy shook his head a little, before checking the spot where the man was once more. Nothing. He shook his head again. 

"Nothing. I just thought I saw something in the forest for a sec, but it's gone now."

Hermione looked sceptical, but looked back over to the spot he was staring off into, and upon seeing nothing, shrugged and turned around. "Well, I can't see anything either, so we heading for something to eat?"

"Yeah, sure." Percy replied, although his mind was elsewhere.

He cast one last glance towards the forest, trying his best to see anything moving, but couldn't.

Finally giving up, he turned his head back to the castle, and made his way towards the Great Hall. Making casual conversation with Hermione as he went. 

One thing was for certain. He had seen a man in the forest. 

And why had the man aimed a bow at him?

A/n - See? A much quicker update. 

Ahem, yeah apologies about the lack of updates for a very long time. I have no real excuse, except a lack of general motivation. I'm not making promises anymore, but I do currently have motivation to be continuing this story, so you should expect to see more chapters soon. 

Now, it may seem as though I completely made the the past couple of chapters useless by just having them be Percy dreaming, but we all know what a demigod dream means. Whilst what happened in them, didn't actually happen, each individual part of his dream sequence is very important. Whether or not these dreams are events that will come to pass, or just an allegory for how people/things react, they all hold meaning. 

So yeah, I don't really want to spend the entire time apologising, so I'm sorry. Can we just move on from that?

As always, please tell me what I can do better with regards to my writing, I'm always looking to improve. And let me know if you have any suggestions for where you want things to go. I have my general plot that isn't going to change, but I'm open to suggestions that I could fit in around it.