RIPTIDE

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.

Note: They are all sixteen years of age. Percy defeated Kronos on his birthday, August 18, and this story begins on 1st September, the beginning of the Hogwarts school year. Draco Malfoy has been made a Death Eater, and it is their sixth year at Hogwarts.

Chapter 1:

What am I doing here?

That was the only thought that swirled around Nico's brain – quite an achievement for someone with ADHD. He knew the answer to that question, of course, even though he barely understood it. He was currently on a plane to England; which in itself was pretty amazing, since he'd never even thought of being up in the sky, what with an uncle who would be eager to blast him into a million pieces out of his domain. Just this once, though, he'd been given a special permission by Zeus, the God of the Sky, in order to complete the quest bestowed upon him: bring Tom Marvolo Riddle to the Underworld, where he should have been a long time ago.

His father was bursting with fury at this. That man had thought that splitting his soul into pieces would save him from death, from the Underworld. He believed it would grant him immortality and Nico was so disgusted by his utter foolishness that he figured the guy might have dung for brains. It was a coward's exit through and through, and it made him disrespect the guy even more so.

His sentiments might be reflected in his father too, because, in his rage, the Lord of the Dead recruited the Ghost King to bring Tom Marvolo Riddle's long-overdue soul to the Underworld. Hades had even called to the other Gods for help. In retrospect, it seemed to be one of Hades' better plans, since for the first time in a millennia, the Gods were on the same side.

And so, some of the Gods had granted him special powers, which he could use in times of great need, as the enemy was a powerful one, and not easily destructible. Zeus had, as mentioned above, allowed him to travel by air, along with anyone who accompanied him on his quest. Poseidon had granted him a pearl from the ocean, using which he could breathe underwater any time it was absolutely needed. Aphrodite gave him some berries, strictly forbidding him from eating them, which could be used to make anyone fall in love. Hades, his own father, granted him the power to create an earth-quake felt only by the person Nico wanted. Athena had given him a mirror and told him it will show him the right path when he needed guidance the most.

Armed with the powers and weapons he'd been given, Nico began his quest along with Percy, Annabeth and Grover. Of course, he was supposed to take only two along with him, but he had the gut feeling that he had to take them all along. Besides, Percy himself was on a quest to bring a few demigods back to camp, one who just happened to go to Hogwarts.

And so, here they were. Beside him, Percy was clutching tightly onto the armrest of his seat, muttering profanities and prayers under his breath. Nico couldn't really blame him as he himself was longing to do the same. Annabeth, seated beside Percy, was lightly stroking his back in a comforting manner, and reading a magazine about the architecture in England. Grover was seated in the seat on another column, the passageway in the middle, separating his seat from theirs. He was munching on some enchiladas he'd been lucky enough to get on the plane, enjoying every bite of it.

The speaker blaring to life shook them from their respective activities, announcing they were about to land. Hearing Percy breathe a sigh of mind-numbing relief, Annabeth smiled slightly, careful not to offend him. Nico sighed too, glad to be off this damn plane as fast as possible.

His wish was granted, as they were soon making their way across the airport, Annabeth in the lead and Grover bringing up the rear. Quickly, they managed to spot Hermes, who was in charge of taking them to King's Cross Station to board the train to the school they were going to attend.

As they travelled by car all the way to King's Cross, Nico fingered the wand he had in his pocket all along. He'd learnt how to use it, of course, all of them had, but he couldn't help wondering that a sword and a shield would beat that lousy piece of wood any time of the day. He would completely suck at a fight with a wand as his only weapon.

They went over each of their alibis, just to make sure they remembered all the details, and made their way out of the car, once they were all done, having reached King's Cross station.

King's Cross station was a huge structure, buzzing with activity. People strode about, running to catch a last minute train. Dozens of teenagers dragged around their trolleys laden with trunks, some even carrying cages containing owls of all sizes hooting disdainfully at being stuffed into their cages again.

Hermes cleared his throat loudly, bringing their attention back onto him. He handed each of them a small ticket, nodded his head and waved his hand in farewell, his parting words ringing in their ears. "Try not to get yourself killed, and while you're at it, try to have some fun too. Good luck! You're going to need it."

They watched the car drive away. Nico saw Annabeth smiling. "That was sweet of him."

Nico nodded slightly, used to being treated only in an unfriendly manner by the Gods. Especially Hermes, who liked to play pranks on him more than anything. Looking at his ticket, he thought, Yep. Another prank. Platform 9 ¾, honestly!

Annabeth's smile melted away when she saw the ticket too. "Oh. That's weird." She said.

Percy eyed his ticket, before deciding that Hermes wouldn't play a trick on them, at least not now. "Let's go stand by the barrier between platforms nine and ten and see if we can find any witches or wizards going onto that platform. If we do, we'll just follow them."

"Good idea." Grover said, already walking over to the barrier. "I really do hope we find some witches or wizards soon."

Grover had been the most excited to go to Hogwarts, the school for witches and wizards. He'd heard a lot about that school, and had been absolutely fascinated with it all.

Pretty soon, they saw a few really strangely dressed people power-walking towards the barrier and then straight into it and blinked in shock when they seemed to vaporize into thin air. "Bla-ha-ha!" Grover bleated. "Come on!"

Following their example, the four of them did the same and found themselves on an entirely different platform, facing a scarlet steam train. The Hogwarts Express.

"My heart stopped beating for a second back there." Percy panted, like he'd been walking for miles. "I thought we were going to become demigod pancakes."

Annabeth laughed nervously, looking back at the barrier behind them as more people appeared, looking none for the worse, and not looking disturbed by that at all.

The blow of the horn from the train startled them, and they turned around to complete chaos at the station. The train was about to leave and children scrambled around to get onto it, parents waving tearful goodbyes and the like.

"Come on." Nico yelled, making a mad dash for one of the doors of the train, the other three hot on his trail. "We'll miss the train if we don't hurry."

A mad stampede ensued and they found themselves heaving, leaning heavily onto the door and glad that they'd not missed the train. Once they'd caught their breath, they hurried along the corridor, looking for any compartment that would host all of them together. 'Course, there wasn't much hope since they'd come in late, but whatever.

Eventually, at the very back of the train, just when they'd lost all hopes that they would get a compartment, they found one, housing only one other person. Nico slid open the compartment door, and glanced warily at the boy slumped across the seat.

"Can we sit here?" he asked. "Everywhere else is full."

The boy barely spared him a glance. Instead, he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, which could either be a yes or a no. choosing to view it as an invitation to share the compartment, Nico entered and sat down by the door. Percy, Annabeth and Grover followed suit.

"Thanks." Percy said to the boy, who just nodded.

He had striking white-blond hair and a pale, pointed face with high cheek bones, Nico noted. He also had a melancholy expression on his face, an emotion Nico knew all too well. He looked like a lost soul, just drifting along, not knowing where he was meant to go.

The boy must have sensed his gaze on him, because he turned to glare half-heartedly at him, before stopping short. He glanced at each of them in turn, eyeing them suspiciously. His hand flew to his robe pocket, where, Nico presumed, he kept his wand. He tensed.

"Who are you?" The boy asked waspishly. "I've never seen you at Hogwarts before, and you seem to be in sixth year. Same as me. What are you doing here?"

Percy tensed too, right alongside Nico. "Hey, dude." Percy said, arms raised in a surrender- motion. "I'm Percy. Nico is my brother and those two are our cousins. We were home-schooled and now our parents decided that we had best go to an actual school, since the teachers were no good. So they sent us here, the best school there is for witches and wizards." He explained, just as they'd planned to tell.

Backing down slightly, the boy frowned then nodded grudgingly, not able to find anything wrong with their story.

Catching on, Annabeth continued. "I'm Annabeth, this is Grover and that's Nico." She introduced each of them, and turned expectantly to the boy.

He stared back at her until he realised he was supposed to introduce himself too. "Malfoy. I'm Draco Malfoy." He said, with a smug air that seemed forced. "Have you been sorted into your houses yet?"

Nico glanced nervously at the others, wondering what he meant. Chiron hadn't told them anything about being sorted into houses. What were they supposed to say?

Thankfully, Annabeth cleared it up for them. "No, we haven't. They said that we'll be sorted right alongside the first years."

The boy – Draco- nodded at this. "Yeah, that seems likely." Then, without preamble, he turned back to staring out of the window like he'd been doing before they'd turned up, ignoring them throughout the rest of the ride.

Nico shrugged at the other three, before turning to look out the window himself. Annabeth grabbed a book on architecture and began reading it intensely, eyes glued to the book. Percy decided that a nap was the best he could do at the moment, especially since it was the curse of Achilles he had to endure until eternity. They only got up from their places when they had to change into the school robes (Nico thought they looked disgusting and it took Percy, Annabeth and Grover's combined efforts to get him to wear it).

Time flew by mischievously fast, and sooner than he'd anticipated, Nico found himself staring at a pretty huge man who half smelled of monsters. Draco waved a half-hearted goodbye to them and walked off to the carriages which were drawn by skeletal horses. Thestrals, he remembered they were called, an ancient species of pegasi native to the underworld, although how that came to be he had no idea. As far as he knew, they were the only creatures native to the Underworld that were in any way, shape or form, gentle.

Stroking one of the Thestrals gently on its head, Nico fed it an apple which he had in his robe pocket. Feeling a little more better about this place now that he had a few companions who were native to the Underworld just like him, Nico left the Thestral's side, and got onto the boat that would take them across the lake.

"Don' yer worry. Yer will do great." The monstrous man, who'd introduced himself as Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, tried to reassure them, looking pretty friendly. "Now off yer go."

For the first time since they'd started the quest, Nico felt excited about something.

The last things Nico saw were Percy, Annabeth and Grover's anxious faces as the rim of the hat covered his eyes.

"I see." It whispered in his head, startling him. "Darkness and despair runs through your veins. I see a thirst for revenge and remorse for your actions as well. Bitterness for being treated as an outcast and hints of betrayal for your own gain. Hmm. But then, Nico di Angelo, you have great loyalty, love and friendship for all you hold dear. Yes, I know. You will be good for this house just as it will be good for you. Better be SLYTHERIN!"

The hat shouted the last word so that everyone present could hear and the students sitting at one of the tables burst into applause and catcalls, and, assuming that to be the Slytherin table, Nico headed that way, glancing nervously at his three friends.

He went and sat at the table, a little away from everyone else, not sure whether he was welcome there or not. He wasn't used to people rooting for him and just assumed that their shouts of glee were just customary for every person who went to that house. He was so busy eyeing everyone at his table, that he almost missed Annabeth's name being called out.

He turned sharply to see Annabeth being sorted into Ravenclaw house, followed by Percy who went to Gryffindor and then Grover who got Hufflepuff. Great! Now what are we supposed to do, being divided into separate houses? He sighed dejectedly. He'd been hoping at least one of them will be in the same house as him, but no such luck.

"Nico." Snapping out of his reverie, Nico swivelled around to see Draco Malfoy seated across from him, and wondered just how he'd got there. He wasn't there a second ago. "Look, I don't know who you are, but there is something different about you and your friends over there. I can sense that. Whatever you're up to, you'll not succeed. Mark my words. I'll be watching you."

Nico raised his eyebrow at the pale boy before him. Obviously, the stupid boy didn't know just who he was or he wouldn't be issuing these threats, but he decided to patronise him.

"Sure. Keep yapping. I couldn't be bothered talking to dogs anyway." Nico retorted, looking supremely unconcerned.

Draco only glared sharply at him (Nico was sure if he were to glare sharply at the other boy, he just might wet his pants and run away screaming bloody murder) and turned to his plate which had magically been filled.

Nico raised an eyebrow at the variety of food and looked around for a brazier, before realising that there probably wasn't one, considering everyone had already begun stuffing their faces. What in Hades do I do now, Nico wondered. He was sure that they wouldn't be excused from sacrificing food to the Gods just because there was no brazier. He looked up to see Percy, Annabeth and Grover glancing nervously at him. Clearly, they'd surmised the problem as well.

Oh well, Nico thought, setting down his fork and knife, Guess I've got to sleep on a hungry stomach. He just shrugged helplessly at them as he watched them dejectedly put down their forks and knives. He understood their plight, the food looked good enough to be licked off the plate, after all.

"Hey." Nico glanced up to see a dark skinned boy sitting across from him and beside Malfoy. "Nico di Angelo, right? I'm Blaise Zabini."

"Hey. Yeah, that's me." Nico smiled tentatively at him.

"How is it that you joined now?" he asked, looking mildly curious. "You and those friends of yours."

"Well," Nico began to tell him just as they'd told Draco and just like Dumbledore, the Headmaster, had informed the rest of the school.

"Interesting." Blaise said once Nico had finished telling his tale. "Now, how about you tell me the real deal? Because, you know what? I don't believe in that nonsense and neither does Draco. Tell us, who are you really? You don't seem like a wizard to us and your friends don't either."

Nico tensed up immediately. Who were these guys? Were they monsters in disguise or something? Did they know who they really were or could they see past the mist like Rachel Elizabeth Dare could? Should he warn the others?

He quickly removed his Stygian iron sword and kept it under the table in a way that it was hidden from prying eyes and but made sure that Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy could see it. They could, if the way they paled was any indication. And why wouldn't they? What with the sword and the 'Ghost King' look that Nico was giving them, even the bravest man in the world would turn tail and flee.

Blaise gulped. "Now look here, what – what is that? Where d-did you g-get it?" he stammered. "I know why you're here, but please hear me out. What - what my mother did was to protect me, alright? It was neither of our faults, you know. Please. Don't hurt any of us. Please. No more."

Draco looked just as fearful as Blaise did, although he was better at hiding his fear than Blaise was. "My mother tried to protect me too. It wasn't for any other intention. And we've told you people before! We're not going to come with you so just leave us alone."

Nico's menacing smirk was wiped right off his face. What were Blaise and Draco on about? No more? Why, is someone hurting him and his mom? And was someone trying to take them away? Trying not to look as menacing as he did before, Nico grabbed Blaise's trembling hand and spoke urgently to them. "When does this feast end? Tell me!"

"A-after dessert. And Dumbledore's speech." Blaise stammered, wanting nothing more than to run back screaming. He couldn't believe they'd found them here as well and they were completely vulnerable here, with no one to help them. At home, at least Lucius Malfoy was there to keep those people away from them but he didn't think Snape would do the same.

"Then you two are going to come with me after every one has gone to bed and you're going to tell me and my friends everything. Understand? Everything!" Nico whispered fiercely, sure that something was going on here. Something that none of them would have guessed.

His plate of dinner lay forgotten as thought over everything that had happened since he'd been sorted into Slytherin.

"You can't just take us away like this! We- we'll scream real loud if you do, alright? Watch us." Draco growled as fiercely as he was able, which wasn't much at all, considering that he was shuddering like a leaf.

"Just shut up, will you? You'll get us caught!" Nico snarled viciously at him, effectively shutting both their mouths until they'd reached one of the deserted classrooms where he'd planned to meet up with Percy, Annabeth and Grover.

"Nico. Why have you got them along?" Annabeth said through gritted teeth, looking warily at Draco and Blaise.

Immediately, Draco and Blaise tensed up, wondering just what was going on around here. "What, you- you didn't come to get us?"

"No! That's what I'd been trying to tell you. We're not here for you. At least, we don't think so." Nico said slowly, as if he was talking to two five year olds, and then turned to Annabeth. "Look, Annabeth, these two have already guessed that we're not really witch and wizards and they can see through the mist. Plus, I haven't heard their story yet, but what I heard, well, maybe you should hear it as well."

Annabeth sighed, and then nodded to show her consent.

"Alright," Percy started. "Nico thinks you're someone we should know about, so, if you don't mind, would you tell us?"

Looking guardedly at each of them, Draco and Blaise remained silent until Nico prodded them with a, "Explain what you told me while having dinner."

And so they did. They told them everything that had been going on. The really beautiful monsters who were threatening and abusing them and their parents. The people who'd married Blaise's mom to get to them, forcing her to somehow kill each of them. Everything.

When they'd finished, Nico was staring open mouthed at them, while the others sat on a few benches with their heads in their hands.

Grover was looking thoughtfully between them. He only asked them one thing. "Do you have dyslexia and ADHD?"

So, that was the first chapter. Do you think Draco and Blaise might be demigods? And who were those people who were troubling them and their parents? Why are they doing that? Which witch or wizard could be the demigods who Percy had come to Hogwarts for?

Ah, so many questions and no answers. Yet.

If you liked the story and do want me to continue, please say so in your reviews. I'll be awaiting them. Hope you liked it so far, and please let me know via reviews.

QuillDragon23746.