I own nothing. Nothing at all.

CHAPTER 10

Hermione's POV

Well, Hermione thought, that's highly unlikely. Nico, Nico di Angelo, was standing next to her former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who looked like he was drugged and kidnapped.

"Professor Lupin?" She called. They were standing near Hagrid's hut. Too close to the forest for her liking. Lupin's daze seemed to wear off as he snapped his head in her direction. Unfortunately, that also got Nico and Harry's attention. She wasn't sure which one of them was more surprised to be in that position. Harry drew out his wand and before Hermione could yell at him to stop, he was racing down the hill.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted. Nico yelped and was thrown backwards into the air and landed with a THUD on the muddy ground. Hermione started towards him, but stopped. He destroyed the library, and now this. What was he doing with Remus in school?

"Professor?" Harry asked. Remus Lupin looked dazed and tired, he was dirty and his clothes were scratched up. The poor man had several bloody marks on his clothes and face.

"Harry." Our old professor smiled faintly and winced like it hurt. The man sank to his knees.

"What did you do to him?" Harry snarled in Nico's direction.

He was trampling across the ground towards Nico. The boy was trying to stand up. When she saw him, Hermione realized that Remus looked great compared to Nico. He had faint pale scratches all over his body, his shirt and jeans was almost torn to shreds and had gore all over it. Nico himself looked almost as exhausted as Lupin. Nico clearly hadn't slept in the past 24 hours. Not to mention that he must have hit his head hard on a rock when Harry hexed him, because his black hair and back were matted with fresh blood.
Harry pushed him over.

"Harry, stop it! Can't you see he's hurt?" She couldn't stand it. As much as Hermione started to resent Nico after he burned the library, he was in pain. Harry looked at her with surprise.

"Hermione look at him," He gestured to Remus, who's head was head hung low. "It's so convenient that Nico is just here, for no apparent reason, with a member of-" he cut himself off. But she knew what he was going to say. The Order of the Phoenix. Hermione was thinking along the same lines as Harry now, it did seem pretty shady.

Nico sat up and coughed out blood.

"I didn't do anything." He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Harry turned his gaze back on Nico.

"Then why are you here with him?" Harry started bombarding him with questions. "Why weren't you at the dormitory yesterday? Why did-"

"Because," Nico stood up shakily, "I spent last night in the forest."

"That doesn't explain why our former teacher is here!" Harry yelled defensively.

"How should I know why he's here? He's the one who attacked me!"

"Remus would never do that without a reason, Nico." Hermione said. "You must have done something."

Nico turned his dark gaze onto her.

"Last night," His lowered his voice, "was a full moon, Hermione." Realization dawned on Harry's face. Then guilt.

"What- what has that got to do with anything?"

"I know Remus is a werewolf." he said quietly. Nico dragged Harry by the sleeve of his robe over to the Lycanthrope.

"Um, how do you-"

"Later, Harry, we'll talk about it later." Nico's expression clearly stated that he was in no mood, nor the condition to talk about that. "Help me get him to the nurse." Nico and Harry draped Lupin's arms around their shoulders and carried his weight back up the slope and into the castle.

*** Some weird POV

It turned out that they didn't get a chance to talk about it later, because Madam Pomfrey decided to keep Nico, along with Remus, in the hospital. However, Hermione did find out what happened when Nico was telling the nurse about it. He had to explain how he'd come across the werewolf and they had a fight. Neither of them had any severe damage, not anything that couldn't be cured anyway. Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all surprised when she heard Lupin was a werewolf. Then again, everyone from fifth year upwards knew about it for two years already. It wasn't that much of a shock anymore. What she did find confusing, is why would he be on Hogwarts grounds. The nurse did know that the school would be hiring a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; surely Umbridge wouldn't hire a werewolf. Especially since Dolores Umbridge was one of the main reasons for Anti-Werewolf Legislations.
More importantly, Poppy Pomfrey wanted to know what the young boy was doing in the forbidden forest. She trusted him, and Dumbledore of course, but still, Nico di Angelo unnerved her.

*** Harry's very short POV

The following day, after hours and hours of Harry begging Ron and Hermione to make up, the two actually carried out normal conversations. Willingly. Harry was delighted, but with his friend's feud over, he could only think about how he treated Nico. He hexed him without thinking. Why didn't Nico fight back though? Harry definitely thought about that a lot, and he came to the conclusion that he's never seen Nico use his wand. But the kid did have funny customs. And a strange accent.

When Harry wanted to visit Nico in the infirmary, the boy wasn't there. Madam Pomfrey told him that he was in his usual brooding mood and went to see Dumbledore. However every time Harry did see him, Nico would hover in the corners of the room or courtyard, but he always seemed to be somewhere near the trio - Harry, Hermione and Ron. Luna was there too; however she and Nico seemed distant for the past few days. Like they just hung around together just for the sake of it.

Everyone was excited for the upcoming Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. The rumour was, Umbridge hired a new teacher, because she felt, ah, underappreciated as a mere teacher. She was the head of DADA, but she didn't carry out any of the lessons. Dolores was in fact not doing anything at all. Not that anyone was complaining. Everyone had just about enough of that toad.

Nico POV

Nico had enough of madam Pomfrey. That woman would smother him, fuss about him and all the things he didn't want. And he could do absolutely nothing about it, that's what frustrated him the most. He spent hours in that stupid hospital bed. But it gave him time to think about what happened. There was a werewolf in the school. But He was Sirius' friend, and any friend of Sirius, Nico would tolerate. The man had guts. Not many people would just go up to a fully grown werewolf and inject wolfsbane into its arm, and even less people would be able to put Mrs O'Leary to sleep.

Nico was especially pissed about Harry hexing him on sight. Nico thought he was feeling better after consuming ambrosia. Apparently not. It felt as if his insides were melting like butter and someone was drilling a hole through his head. And yet the thought that truly bothered him was that he had no way of defending himself against wizards. He couldn't use his sword. Stygian Iron could harm mortals and immortals, unlike Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold. He couldn't go around maiming those idiots.
That's why, as soon as the nurse let him go, he stormed straight up to Dumbledore's office.

"-But I don't know if I'll be able to use it, I'm not a wizard." Nico finished explaining.

"Possibly, however, I trust that lady Hecate blessed you with magic?" Dumbledore's sky blue eyes twinkled with joy.

"I- yeah, she did. But I'm still not sure, this doesn't seem like something I would be able to manage." Nico was annoyed with himself that he admitted that. He was a demigod, a son of Hades. Nico di Angelo was able to manage anything. Or die trying.

"Splendid! I'll arrange a trip to Diagon Alley right away." Dumbledore started walking around the office. He stumbled past his red bird, a phoenix. The headmaster focused his stare on Nico. "You will need a guide . . . maybe Remus would be willing. You only have muggle currency, is that correct?"

Nico knew that 'muggles' is what the wizards referred to as mortals. Yes, he did have mortal money. He also had golden drachmas with him, but they wouldn't be very useful in the wizarding world.

"Yeah, I, um, didn't have time to convert it. But-"

"Not to worry," Dumbledore silenced him with his hand, "you will use the school bank. It can't cost that much, besides, with the ministry meddling the school doesn't have to worry about bankruptcy." He turned toward the door and started out. "I will be back in a moment. Make yourself comfortable." The twinkle in his eyes brightened as he left the room. Nico looked around.
It was a rounded area, with thousands of books, probably more than the library itself could hold. There was a glass cabinet, in one of the corners, which emanated a silvery glow. The phoenix squawked happily from his branch. Nico eyes the creature with slight fascination. The bird flew across the room, perching on the boy's shoulder gently. Nico found it ironic, how the bird which he always recognized as a creature that represented life, just sat calmly on the shoulder of the Death Lord's son. Nico could kill it easily, and yet the animal was peaceful.
They stood there, gods know for how long, up until the door opened again, revealing Dumbledore and a much-better-looking Remus. The phoenix fluttered its wings and glided over to its tree again.

"Mr di Angelo, this is Remus Lu-"

"I know. We've met." Nico's cold eyes looked at Remus. He didn't know what to think about the werewolf. On one hand, he attacked Nico without any reason. On the other hand, the werewolf wasn't conscious of what he was doing.

"Nico, I cannot say how sorry I am. I hope you know that werewolves can't control what we do during a full moon." Remus said. Dumbledore, despite not knowing what could have happened, caught on immediately.

"I see." The old man said. "Well, Nico, Remus Lupin will take you to Diagon Alley so you can-"

"When?" Nico interrupted.

"Now. It is essential to your education, especially that professor Lupin teaches practical spells, not just theory." Dumbledore muttered something to Lupin, who gripped the headmasters robe sleeve.

"Hold on." Lupin said.

Nico frowned. "What?"

"Grab onto my arm." Dumbledore replied patiently. Nico didn't question the second time. He grabbed hold of the man's sleeve and with a satisfying CRACK! The three vanished into thin air.

*** TIME LAPSE . . . kinda . . . ***

Nico didn't like apparition. It was close to shadow travelling, only he didn't know how to do it and his ears popped. It felt like being sucked into a vacuum cleaner and spat back out the other end. Nico had to wait a moment to regain balance after they've reached their destination. It was a crowded old road, with the most random of shops on either side and hundreds of cloaked people rushing about. As soon as Nico let go of Dumbledore's robe, the headmaster apparated away.

"Come on, we have shopping to do." Lupin smiled at him.

Nico followed the werewolf around the streets, passing a shop with broomsticks; a shop with animals, even an ice-cream parlour! He walked into Remus suddenly as the man came to a stop. Nico looked above him. The golden letters carefully crafted Ollivander's on a plain black background. They walked in, the doorbell rang as soon as the front door swung open.
Nico's first impression of the store? Dusty.
The front desk, the bell and all of the rows and columns of black boxes were infested with families of dust bunnies. But the real shocker was the owner; the man had white hair, styled like a mad scientist, which went well with his crazy grin. He had wide silver gray eyes on his wrinkled old face.

"Hello, Mr Ollivander." Lupin greeted politely.

"Remus Lupin! It's been years! I last saw you when you were eleven, buying your wand for the first time. I will always remember that scar." Mr Ollivander pointed to a deep, jagged scratch that ran across Remus' left cheek.

"Yes," Lupin cleared his throat, "I am here on Dumbledore's orders. This young lad," he gestured towards Nico, "is in need of a new wand."

Nico despised the crazy look mr Ollivander gave him. It was strange, like he was pulling out information about him just by looking. The old man glanced around the shop for a second, before sprinting away towards one of the humongous shelves. Ollivander pulled out a long tube-like-box and blew on it, scattering the dust in all directions. The old man trotted over to them, rapidly pulling out a bronze wooden stick. He handed the wand carefully to Nico.

"Holly and Dragon heartstring, ten inches, brittle." Nico had no idea what it meant, so he just stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Remus noticed this and nudged him.

"Give it a wave." he encouraged. Nico obliged, flicking the wand to the side. The window to his right shattered.

"Um, sorry."

"D not worry. It was obviously not meant to be." Mumbled Ollivander. He disappeared behind another row of wands and scrolls of some sort. The shopkeeper re-materialized a couple of seconds later with a new, deep green, wand. It had strange runes carved into the side.

"Cedar and Phoenix feather, 12 ½ inches, swishy." Nico swung the stick. Unfortunately, he also took out the front desk. Oak splinters littered the floor, but mr Ollivander didn't seem to care.

"Nope! No, no, that won't do." He snatched the wand from Nico's cold hand and rushed off again.

They were at it for ages. Nico tried dozens of wands, and honestly, he was beginning to worry. The entire shop looked like a cyclone had gone through it, but mister Ollivander was too busy trying to pair Nico with a magic stick. From time to time he could hear the man mutter, the wand chooses the wizard. That was great and amazing and all, apart from the fact that Nico wasn't a wizard! Maybe lady Hecate didn't really bless him? Or it wore off already . . .

"Aha!" Mr Ollivander suddenly exclaimed. Remus was so surprised he fell off a nearby chair. The old man ran across the room like an Olympian athlete, waving around a box in his hand. If possible, his grin was even crazier than before.

"I am a fool! Why did I not think about it before? Stupid of me! It is so certain!"

"What's certain?" Nico asked.

"This wand! It is different from the others, just like you." Mr Ollivander unpacked the long wooden stick and pressed it into Nico's palm.
As soon as the boy's hand touched the wood, the room grew darker, like it was being swallowed by the shadows. Then, blinding white light light up the room from the tip of Nico's wand. Nico felt better. Refreshed. Like he had a good nights sleep and a cold shower. Lupin seemed a little weary of the wand, but the shopkeeper was delighted.

"Yes, this wand is definitely different." Remus stated. "But what is is made of?"

"Ah, you see, this particular wand was the most difficult want to make. It's made of a Whomping Willow tree, and yet, it is unyielding." Remus' eyes seemed to widen to an impossible size. "I managed to get it from Hogwarts once, with the headmasters permission, of course. It was not simple. I had to sneak up on the tree, which almost had me killed, but in the end I got it. It's 14 ½ inches long, quite long for a wand if you ask me.

"The core itself was the most terrifying part. I had managed to get the cloak of a dementor. It was dreadful, you will not believe what happened that night. It almost cost me my life, but it was worth it. After all the work, I pulled it off. However, this wand is dangerous in the wrong hands. It is extremely strong for dark magic.
Although, I suppose, how ironic it may sound, that it is also highly fit for opposing the dark arts. I believe that it could go both ways now, couldn't it?"

Nobody answered. Instead, Nico thanked the man for his time, Remus payed him the cost of 10 galleons and they left for the Leaky Cauldron.

The Leaky Cauldron was almost empty, which was convenient because it meant that there would be no queues to the Floo network. Lupin explained how the Floo powder worked and within seconds, they were both standing in Dumbledore's office. Nico couldn't shake off what mr Ollivander had said. That wand could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Nico's hands weren't exactly right. He practically was the dark arts. Throughout the night he would examine it for hours, sending sparks from the tip or just looking at the engravings on the side. The craftsmanship on that wand was impressive. The old wandmaker must have poured a lot of heart and hard work into it. Nico felt kind of guilty about the wand store, but then he reminded himself that Ollivander was a wizard. He could just use a spell to fix it all.

Talking about fixing things, Nico wished he could fix his friendship with Luna. She was distant, and Nico didn't blame her, since he was the one who was ignoring her, but he missed laughing with her; talking to her and, most of all, being her friend. Then again, he also didn't want his friend to get lied to. It's for the better - that's what he'd tell himself every time he wanted to talk to Luna Lovegood.

Okay, that's it for now :P I changed from first person to third person - I hope you don't mind - I'm gonna write in 3rd person because I find it easier, and better. :3
Tell me if you think my writing is improving, because I think it might be a bit better in this chapter than in the previous ones :P
Um, for those of you who didn't quite get it, because I didn't make it clear enough:

Harry's thoughts about Nico being Voldemort's son came from stupid conclusions because of his entrance and he seems like a bad guy, you know, like 'he can hurt people if they're mean to him' thing? Yeah, everyone is a bit OC in my story, oops. :/

Harry says that Luna was the only person who Nico talked to, and then in the the next chapter it was Nico and Luna's first meeting - the reason why they talked at all. - kinda flashback thingy? I dunno - Their friendship is kinda falling apart because Nico doesn't want to lie to her all the time, and he can't tell her the truth. Meh, something like that.

MASSIVE HOUSE OF HADES SPOILER!

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OMGS DID ANYONE READ HOUSE OF HADES YET?! IT IS SO DAM AMAZING! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! THE ENDING WAS SO SWEET! AND NICO! OH MY GODS, I USED TO HATE PERCICO AND NOW IM OKAY WITH IT BECAUSE RICK RIORDAN INTRODUCED IT IN THIS AWESOME WAY! One thing I wish I could change in my story is the previous chapter where Nico says he had a crush on Annabeth, well, now we know that's bullsh*t. :/

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Please, I will most likely be going over the previous chapters fixing shit, so tell me what I need to improve. Well, this A/N was long. . . I'm halfway through the next chapter, it's so awesome to write!