A/N: From now on, I'll be sticking to a Saturday update schedule.
Hermione was beyond excited as she boarded the Hogwarts Express. She'd spent the last couple of months inhaling any information she could find about the wizarding world and her new school. Apparently Hogwarts was a castle—imagine that. And…maybe she would finally make some friends. She'd never had friends at her old school.
Speaking of which, she spotted Nico sitting in an otherwise empty compartment and staring out the window. His undead kitten was curled up on his lap, looking happy as could be. "Mind if I join you?" Hermione asked. Nico shrugged, which she interpreted as assent.
Hermione stowed her trunk opposite his and sat down. "Did you have a good rest of your summer?"
"Not really." He turned away from the window. "You?"
"I've learned all our course books by heart and tried some spells—just a few simple ones, but they've all worked for me—and I've done some general background reading on the wizarding world. Did you know there's a boy called Harry Potter who defeated the most powerful dark wizard of the twentieth century when he was a baby?"
"The most powerful dark wizard of the century was a baby?" Nico said, confused.
"No, Harry was a baby. And he's our age. He's probably in our year!"
"How'd he defeat this dark wizard?" Nico asked curiously.
"No one knows. You-Know-Who—"
"I don't know who," Nico interrupted.
"It's apparently very bad luck to say his name," Hermione explained. "You-Know-Who killed Harry's parents and then he tried to kill Harry too, but the curse rebounded. Harry survived with nothing but a lightning-shaped scar, and You-Know-Who disappeared. Harry Potter is the only person who's ever survived once You-Know-Who decided to kill them."
"Huh." Nico didn't sound all that impressed.
"I've also done some reading about Hogwarts itself," Hermione continued. "Students get sorted into one of four houses—Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best and I hear Dumbledore was in it—"
"Who's Dumbledore?"
"Professor Dumbledore, our headmaster. He's one of the most powerful wizards ever, though I hear he's a bit eccentric. Anyway, he was in Gryffindor, and they're known for being really brave and chivalrous. Slytherin has a bit of a bad reputation, most dark wizards including You-Know-Who himself were in Slytherin. Apparently its founder was a major blood purist, he didn't like to teach any students who weren't from old wizarding families—"
"That's stupid," Nico said flatly. "People can't help how they're born."
"Yes, but apparently the attitude persists today, You-Know-Who was a massive blood purist too."
"Good thing he's gone then."
"You'd probably be fine, your father is clearly a wizard."
Nico scowled and looked back at the window. The train had left the station while they spoke and the English countryside was now flying past outside. "I don't want to talk about my father."
"Well…what about your mother? What do you know about your family?"
Nico continued scowling for a while. Hermione was about to change the subject when he sighed and looked at her again. "My earliest memory is of waking up in a hotel last year with my sister. The hotel was the most amazing place you'll ever see, it had all sorts of games and activities and just about everything you could ever want. We were so entranced by the place that we didn't even realize our memories were missing. We were there by ourselves for…well, we weren't really paying attention to the time, but it felt like a couple months before this lawyer showed up and told us it was time to leave. He took us to this boarding school in Maine and told us that we were orphans and our parents had set up a trust fund to pay for school. Life was fairly normal until December, when…" Nico swallowed. "When the monsters came. My sister was killed. I ran away, and I've been fighting monsters ever since. I still don't know why my memories are gone, or who that lawyer was, or what happened to my parents."
"That's…wow. I'm sorry."
"Thanks." Nico began unconsciously petting his kitten, who made a distorted purring sound.
"What was your sister's name?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Bianca," Nico answered, tears in his eyes.
"I'm sure she'd be proud of you."
"Yeah," Nico agreed, sounding bitter.
Suddenly, something occurred to Hermione. "Nico, if you can't even remember most of your childhood, how do you know your father was absent? Maybe he used to be a perfectly loving and attentive parent, but whatever happened to make you lose your memories also forced him to leave. Maybe he had to go into hiding, or maybe he forgot you too…maybe your mother's still alive as well."
Nico sighed and shook his head. "I'm pretty sure she isn't. Don't ask me how I know, I just have a sort of intuition for that kind of thing. And Dad was obviously able to walk into Gringotts and tell them I was coming, so I'm pretty sure he remembers me and he's not in hiding."
"I'm just saying, maybe there's more to the story than you realize."
"Hmph." Nico scowled again. "So, Gryffindor and Slytherin…what were the other two houses?"
Hermione continued telling him what she'd learned about their new school. Nico seemed particularly interested in the ghosts and the numerous wards protecting Hogwarts. After a while, there was a clattering in the corridor and a smiling witch opened the door to their compartment. "Anything off the—AAAHHH! WHAT IS THAT?!"
"Vescia?" Nico asked, holding up his purring kitten. "She's friendly, don't worry."
"If you're sure about that, dear…" the witch said, sounding unconvinced. "Anything off the cart?"
Hermione and Nico both stood up and went into the corridor to investigate the cart. Hermione went right back into their compartment once she saw that the cart was full of candy, but Nico bought several Licorice Wands and Skeletal Sweets.
"You'll ruin your teeth," Hermione said disapprovingly.
"I've fought monsters who want to ruin much more than my teeth," Nico retorted. He bit off a piece of Licorice Wand.
Disgruntled at being ignored, Vescia hopped over to Hermione's lap. Hermione cautiously petted the kitten, avoiding the fleshless parts. "You know, from what I've read, reanimation is a very dark branch of magic."
Nico scowled, and Hermione could swear the room dimmed and the temperature dropped. "How so? It's not like it hurts them. If you don't make the corpses do anything evil, then what's evil about animating them?"
"What good cause could there possibly be for animating corpses?"
"What if you're attacked in a graveyard and need backup?"
"That's…that's just wrong," Hermione insisted with a shudder.
"Mew?" Vescia hissed, looking up at Hermione.
"What about Vescia?" Nico challenged. "She's friendly to everyone, even when they scream at the sight of her. Are you saying she's evil?"
"Well…no."
"Then clearly reanimation isn't all bad," Nico said firmly. The lighting and temperature went back to normal.
"You really adore her, don't you," Hermione said quietly.
Nico sighed. "You saw those animals at the Magical Menagerie. Living animals hate me. Most people aren't much better. I take what affection I can get."
Hermione considered pointing out his insistent rejection of his father, but decided to leave the subject alone for now. "At my old school, I was the teacher's pet that no one liked. Everyone made fun of me for enjoying the schoolwork and doing extra research just because I could. And for using big words that no one else knew."
"There's nothing wrong with being different," Nico shrugged. "But most people just can't understand that."
At that moment, there was a knock on their compartment door. A round-faced blond boy poked his head in. "Have either of you seen a toad?" the boy asked, sniffling.
"Trust me, no toad is going to be hiding in here with me," Nico said darkly.
"I can't find him any—AAAHHH!" The boy shrieked and closed the door when he saw Vescia. Nico scowled and petted her.
"I'm going to help him," Hermione decided, getting to her feet.
"You'll probably have better luck without me," Nico muttered, not moving.
"Well…see you later, then." Hermione followed the boy into the corridor.
A few minutes after Hermione left, a skinny blond boy and two thuggish-looking cronies came to Nico's door. "Why do I keep hearing screams from this compartment?" the blond boy asked with a slight sneer.
"Because I'm terrifying," Nico replied, deadpan.
"You?" the boy scoffed. "You look like a twig. You don't seriously—AAAHHH!"
The boy and his two companions had spotted Vescia. She meowed at them, unfazed as usual. The boys slammed the door and fled.
Nico sighed and scratched her ears. "Well, I suppose you make a pretty good judge of who would accept me if they knew who I really was. A list that currently only includes Hermione…and maybe not even her, seeing as she thinks necromancy is evil." Feeling despondent, Nico laid down on the seat and took a nap.
A few hours later, Nico felt someone shaking him awake. He instinctively lashed out with his left fist and tried to transform his ring into his sword. Luckily for Hermione, the ring had come off in his sleep.
"Whoa, take it easy!" Hermione exclaimed. "I just wanted to let you know we're almost there. You should probably change into your robes."
"Sorry," Nico mumbled. "Reflexes. And I don't like being touched."
"Duly noted," Hermione said ruefully. "You're stronger than you look."
"Thanks, I think." Nico found his ring and put it on again. "You mind giving me a minute to change?"
"Oh, all right," Hermione grumbled. She left and closed the door again.
Nico opened his trunk and pulled out his school robes. He glanced out the window as he put them on; dusk had fallen. Thanks to his excellent night vision, Nico could clearly see mountains and forests flying past.
A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
Nico joined the crowd out in the corridor. Hermione was just outside their compartment. "There you are," she muttered. "Honestly, you're the only other person on this entire train who isn't acting like a total child."
Looking around at the laughter, horseplay and occasional explosions, Nico had to agree with her. "At least they get a childhood," Nico muttered.
Hermione winced. "Sorry." Nico shrugged at her.
The train slowed down and finally stopped. The crowd surged toward the doors and pushed their way out onto a tiny, dark platform. Many of the students shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, held by a very large bearded man with wild black hair. Definitely not human. Nico fingered his ring.
"Firs' years!" the giant called. "Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"
Nico didn't see "Harry", but he warily followed Hermione toward the giant.
"C'mon, follow me—any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
Slipping and stumbling, the first years followed the giant down a steep, narrow path lined with trees. The group had largely fallen silent, although the toadless boy sniffled a few times.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the giant called over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here."
There was a collective gasp. The path had suddenly opened onto the edge of a large black lake. On the other side, a vast castle sat atop a high mountain, its windows twinkling in the night. The castle was very impressive, but Nico was a bit more concerned with the fleet of tiny boats on the near shore. "Oh no," Nico muttered, taking a step backwards. "Oh no, I really don't like boats…"
"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant called.
"Please no…" Nico mumbled.
"Come on, Nico, I'm sure it's perfectly safe," Hermione soothed, getting into a nearby boat. Nico reluctantly followed her. They were joined by the toadless boy and a skinny blond boy with an upturned nose.
"I'm Neville," the toadless boy introduced himself. "Sorry about earlier, your cat startled me."
"She startles everyone," Nico shrugged. "I'm Nico."
"Zacharias," the other boy added.
"And I'm Hermione."
"Everyone in?" the giant shouted from the front of the little fleet, where he had a boat all to himself. "Right then—FORWARD!"
The boats took off. Nico tightly gripped the side of the boat, afraid that Poseidon would take issue with this. Fortunately, they made it across the lake without incident, although Nico's heart was hammering in his chest. He didn't know if Poseidon was more lenient about freshwater or if he was simply in a good mood today, but Nico had no intention of crossing that lake again if he could help it. He quickly climbed out of the boat and clutched the cliff face, trying to soothe his frayed nerves.
"Are you all right?" Hermione asked worriedly.
Nico nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He distantly heard the giant shout something about a toad, much to Neville's relief. Then the giant led them on a path up the cliff face, eventually reaching a large, oaken door. The giant raised his fist and knocked.
