Booka: Glad to see all of my loyal readers with me so far. Aren't you so proud of me and my update? Me too.

Okay, I've received a few comments on Leo's relation to Nico. Let me explain; you might wanna write this down: Hades and Zeus are brothers. Hades is Nico's father. Zeus is Hephaestus's father. Hephaestus is Leo's father. Hephaestus is Nico's cousin. So that makes Leo Nico's second cousin. So no complaints about Nico being Leo's uncle or aunt or whatever. I did my research.

Christmas. Gods, he hated that holiday. He felt more alone than ever because of it. Every year, he woke up on his own and cold and angry. It felt worse than ever now because he was in his old home. His real old home; not at Camp Half Blood or in the Underworld. The house he and his sister had grown up in with their mother, Maria. She should have died here, safe in bed, old and not like she did because of the gods he thought bitterly, his eyes still closed against the bright morning light. He didn't want to get up, not now, not ever, especially not here. But he was grateful to be away from the Wizarding School right now. It had been over two weeks since the Katie Bell incident and people were still staring at him in odd like he was some sort of war hero… Now that he thought of it, he technically was since he had fought in the Second Titan War and Gaia's Uprising. But that didn't mean he wanted to be treated like a deity, no matter how godly his blood was. It was getting annoying. It had gotten so bad that he had taken to cursing Cho Chang to the deepest pits of hell in his head whenever he passed her in the hallway. The Golden Trio had asked far too many questions for his taste when he had seen them after that day. Even Harry – whose control Nico had always grudgingly admired – has been unable to curve his ever-growing curiosity. A few minutes of stony silence and sarcastic remarks had them backing off rather quickly, but the interested glances that the three had been casting him had been rather disconcerting. Others bolder (or stupider) than the three had peppered him with annoying inquiries and he was getting rather tired of fending off their advances on his patience and he was grateful to be away from the unrelenting torture of his fellows.

But despite the indirect rescue from his overzealous admirers, he found himself wishing that he was in Camp Half Blood instead.

It was a tall, dark Victorian style house with glossy, polished wood and a large porch with the old rickety swinging bench. The cushion was threadbare and well-loved, just like he remembered it. His room was untouched; hell, the whole house was untouched as Hades had bought it after Zeus killed Maria. It was a memorial of a sort, Nico liked to think as her body had been too damaged by the lightening to give a proper burial. If he concentrated hard enough, he was sure he could hear her voice and smell the lingering flowery smell of her Italian perfume that she always seemed to love. As a reward, Hades had given him back his memories after a particularly hard mission and he treasured them now just as hard as he had when he had regained them.

Nico groaned as the sun strengthened and penetrated his screwed-shut lids. He turned on his side, pillow clamped tightly over his head before sighing and blinking open his eyes. It took a moment to focus his vision on his surroundings and when he did, he sighed. It wasn't a dream; he was still here, in his old room. The walls were a pale olive green and were plastered with old, very old posters of 1930s cartoons and celebrities. The bedclothes were a dark blue and pinstriped while the curtains were delicate and lacy, making it known for the world to see that his mother had helped him decorate the place. There were some crude, but rather eager sketches stapled up all around the former ten year old's bedroom. His old aviator jacket, which was now too small for him to wear, was hanging on the hook that was screwed into his bedroom door.

It was like he had never left, like he was still in his former life, the life that he had always wanted to have again. It was at times like these when he actually felt like his real age. He buried his head back into the scratchy, soap-smelling material of his pillow and he refused to acknowledge the ache that was tight in his chest.

Get up, you baby.

He reluctantly threw the covers off himself and sat up. His hair was severely rumpled from sleep and his vision was blurred with tiredness.

Still so weak! Fight, you idiot!

His mind was still half-drenched in dreams, which was weird because he never had normal dreams or nightmares; he only had demigod visions and black sleep, no dreams. But tonight he had a nightmare and his father, Hades, had been fighting him with his staff, testing him but hurting him in the process. It wasn't a dream; it was more of a memory. He felt so morbid in that moment; like Dracula. He laughed at himself and at the comparison.

Wow, you really are turning into a Zombie Boy, aren't you?

He slowly showered and dressed and he felt oddly light-hearted for Christmas. He almost always woke up in a black mood on Christmas but today was different. He wasn't upset, but he wasn't happy either. Neutral, he decided for now.

Wait, what's that? Sounds and laughing voices drifted up from downstairs. Nico stiffened. He recognized those voices and he knew that nothing good would come of today. He sighed and combed his hair with his fingers. Thinking he looked okay enough for the current company, he pulled on another sweater as it was cold today and walked down the stairs.

Three teens were seated in the house's living room which was decorated with flower-printed furniture and curtains, an extremely outdated television and a large coffee table. A good-looking man with silky black hair like Nico's but shorter cut and large sea-green eyes was splayed out on the cushy armchair. A girl with choppy, black hair and electric blue eyes so vibrant you had to look away had her feet on the coffee table and was lounging on the couch with the familiar Spanish form of Leo. They all held hot mugs of eggnog and were munching on soft sugar cookies.

The girl looked up when Nico descended the staircase. "Hey, Death Boy!" she jeered, but her tone was affectionate. Unlike the boys, if you looked closely you could see the shimmering cloak of immortality layering her skin. She wore black and silver clothing and jewelry with clunky combat boots that were scuffed up and torn black jeans that had seen better days. A silver circlet sat lopsidedly on her spiky hair and her skin was light colored just like most of the people in the room. She grinned and her pretty, youthful features seemed to rejoice. She was slim and well-built with a lithe figure that had people guessing that she regularly worked out. A silver quiver and bow was propped up on her right and her fingers occasionally strayed to it unconsciously, as if she had been using it for years and was rather uncomfortable to have it out of her reach.

The man with the green eyes laughed. "Nico! How are you?" A smile cracked his handsome face and the pretty orbs sparkled happily. The man was very young, but not a teen as was obvious and he seemed to be around Leo's age, maybe older. He was awfully good-looking with a masculine jaw-line and a straight nose. There was a streak of gray in the glossy black locks despite his youth and he wore a bright neon orange t-shirt with bolded Ancient Greek letters that spelled out 'Camp Half Blood'. Nico could see his beaded necklace clinging to his throat just like his own, expressing his heritage even more than the t-shirt.

Leo looked strangely morose even surrounded by his old friends. His thin, tanned arms were cradling a large tub of ice cream and he was slowly shoveling the dessert into his mouth forlornly. "Hey, kid," he mumbled sadly through his spoon, looking disinterestedly into the container, creamy liquid dribbling down his chin. He wore oil-spattered blue jeans and a nondescript windbreaker with the symbol of Hephaestus on the back; a bright red flame. His beaded necklace was wrapped tightly around his neck just like Nico and the boy's.

Nico's eyes flickered from one to another. He turned to the girl. "What's up with him?" he asked, jerking his head towards the depressed-looking Latino.

The girl smiled, eyes grinning with humor. "The girl he has a crush on beat him into a pulp earlier at camp." She shook her head.

"What'd he do?"

"Absolutely nothing," continued the girl "which is why he's upset."

"I mean," began Leo, humiliation coloring his tone as he swiped the ice cream off his chin with the back of his hand "I'd be able to understand if I was being a jerk or worse, but she wasn't even angry. She just wanted to make a point she's better than everybody at everything she tries!"

"Tough luck, Sparky. Maybe next time you'll pick a girl who's actually interested," said the girl with a laugh.

Leo glared angrily. "Shut up, Thalia. Just 'cause you're a major [insert curse word of your choice here] doesn't mean you have to keep rubbing it in my face."

Thalia turned a rather alarming shade of red.

As a loud argument broke out, the boy with the blue-green eyes grinned and turned to Nico. "Don't mind them," he said with a chuckle "They've been at each other's throat for the entire trip here."

"Yeah, Percy, why are you here? Not that I'm not completely psyched or anything, but you know, I wasn't really expecting visitors."

Percy's eyebrows rose into his hairline. "You didn't think that we'd let you spend your Christmas alone, did ya?"

"But, don't you have family? Why don't you spend the holidays with them?" Nico was incredulous.

"I had my Christmas dinner yesterday. I decided my mom deserved some alone time with Paul and Thalia wanted some time away from the Hunt. And Leo, well he doesn't really have any family to go to, does he?"

"How'd you get here?"

Percy laughed. "What is this, interrogation? If you need to know, we hitched the Wizard's Bus or whatever it's called."

Nico stared at him suspiciously. "How did you find out I was here?"

The son of Poseidon's brow furrowed. "You don't know, do you?"

Nico suspicion flared brighter. "Know what?" He sounded wary.

"The Legion's been using this place as a safe house for the past few months. Ever since we got here, actually."

"WHAT?" Nico was angry. Very angry. Actually, angry didn't cut it; he was steaming at the ears. And he was yelling, which Percy had only seen him do once before when his sister died. Nico di Angelo was normally a very calm, very cool, very suave demigod. So when he got mad, he got very mad.

What right, exactly, did they have to use his home as their personal little hangout? They have the gall to send him on a mission he didn't even want to go on in the first place and use his mother's old home as part of the plan and he was going to sit back and watch without complaint like some miserable, weak little pawn? No, no, no. Nico di Angelo, the son and heir of Hades was anything but weak. Stubborn and headstrong? Yes. Smart and witty. Sure. Violent and scathing when needed? Of course! But weak? I don't think so. They had absolutely no excuse and if they thought he was going to let them get away from this unscathed, than they had another thing coming.

Percy could sense that Nico was very upset, even if his expression said otherwise. "Nico, I know you're mad, but try to take it out on some other innocent demigod, 'kay?"

Nico took a shaky breath and nodded before schooling his heartbeat into a slow, calmer rhythm. Later, he decided. "So who uses it?" He gestured around him, indicating the – no, his – house.

Percy shrugged. "Anyone who's injured in battle usually comes here for treatment so there's a permanent healer from the Apollo cabin living in the basement. Other than that, no one comes here. You know, Nico, considering that the house is in the south of Italy, it was the obvious choice for the safe house."

"Hmm." Nico didn't say anything more than that before dropping the subject. The two cousins sat in silence as they watched Thalia and Leo engage in a furious wrestling match that Thalia won by slamming Leo's head into the floor repeatedly until he yielded.

"We need to teach you unarmed combat, Leo," commented Nico as the son of Hephaestus gingerly touched the purplish bruise on his temple. "You suck without a sword."

"No, I had completely no idea," said Leo, his tone dripping with sarcasm as he held his aching head.

"So how's Jason and Piper?"

Leo shrugged as he pressed the bag of ice that Thalia handed him to his forehead. "Completely hung up on each other, but other than that they're pretty good. It gets annoying sometimes, listening and watching them kiss and hug and all that icky stuff, but they're happy. They're actually celebrating Christmas with Piper's dad right now."

"What about Grover and Annabeth?" Nico turned to Percy.

"Annabeth's with her dad and her stepfamily. Last I heard she was having a pretty good time. And Grover wanted to stay with Juniper for the holidays, plus he still has his Lord of the Wild duties and stuff." Percy shrugged. "He's stuck at Camp Half Blood basically."

"That's a shame. I like Grover's company much better than yours," said Nico cheekily, dodging the couch pillow that was thrown at his head.

"Watch it, Death Breath," warned Percy with a grin. "You better learn to shut your mouth."

"Or what?" goaded Nico with a laugh "You'll splash me?"

"Don't tempt me!"

There was a short pause in which Percy and Nico traded good-natured insults and teasing before the quarrel was interrupted by a loud grumble emanating from Nico's stomach.

"Well, looks like someone forgot breakfast," commented Thalia.

Nico snorted. "As if I'd ever forget if you three weren't distracting me. Pests." He walked away from his company in favor of the overstocked kitchen. "Looks like the children of Demeter got here before anyone else did," he muttered to himself as he opened the overflowing fridge and was met with the sight of varied delicacies.

"You gotta love 'em," sighed Percy from behind him.

"Yeah, I get the feeling that I'd love them more if they'd actually leave a cook book or better yet, an instruction manual behind for the poor demigods who don't know how to use a stove." Nico wrinkled his nose in frustration at the oven.

Percy stared at him a split second before bursting into peals of laughter. "You… don't… know… how to… cook…!" The half-blood managed to gasp out before surrendering to his laughing fit again.

Nico sighed and watched as Percy very nearly suffocated. "What's so funny? 'Cause, I honestly have no idea," he said dryly with a raised eyebrow.

"Ha!" grinned Percy once he had recovered from his giggling fit. "It's funny because the perfect little son of Hades finally doesn't know how to do something."

"And I guess you know how to cook?"

Percy nodded before smiling triumphantly. "I know something you don't know! I know something you don't know!" His voice was annoyingly sing-song-y and Nico's eye twitched.

"Sometimes I wonder whether I'm the adult and you're the prepubescent teen here," the son of Hades said sarcastically.

Percy wagged a crooked index finger at him before busying himself by making breakfast with a practiced air like he had been doing this for years. Nico had once spent dinner at Ms. Sally Jackson's apartment before and had had the pleasure of eating her fabulous chicken and rice supper with a tasty but hearty salad on the side. He hadn't thought that he would taste something just as good but Percy's blueberry pancakes very nearly destroyed that expectation.

"Wow," he muttered as he bit into a fluffy forkful before looking up at Percy with something not dissimilar to suspicion. "You didn't put any poison in here, did you?"

The son of Poseidon laughed. "No, unfortunately."

"Good, I don't feel like dying just yet." He paused before saying "You're pretty good at cooking, aren't you?"

Percy grinned. "Well, Mom had to have me do something over the summer before I found out about demigods otherwise I would've gone insane from boredom."

"If you make cheesecake as good as you make pancakes, I'll worship you for eternity," said Nico, utterly serious.

Thalia waltzed in with a smile. "Trust me, it's the cupcakes you want, not the cheesecake."

"I'd settle for both," said Leo as he trailed behind her, looking slightly less saddened than before.

Nico grinned. Maybe Christmas wasn't too bad after all.

.

.

.

It happened when they were all in the living room, laughing and joking around. Nico had been practicing the aguamenti charm on Thalia who was throwing sizzling volts of lightning from her hand at him at an attempt of warding him off. He had just directed the blast away from him with a shouted "Protego!" when the amber flames in the fireplace had flared up bright green.

Harry Potter tumbled out of the hearth, covered in soot, blood staining the thigh of his pants.

The demigods had stood there, shell-shocked and horrified, staring at the Boy-Who-Lived for two seconds before Thalia had leapt into action.

Producing a canteen of nectar, she had rushed to Harry's side and tore his trousers off him.

Before she had even moved to pour the liquid onto the gaping wound that was now visible to the room, Nico had grabbed her arm and hissed "What the hell do you think you're doing? He's a mortal! He could die because of that!" The son of Hades gestured wildly to the nectar.

"He's a wizard!" she had growled back. "He can take small amounts just like demigods."

She uncorked the flask and Nico made no protest this time. After sprinkling a tiny amount of the godly drink onto the oozing gash, the injury had shimmered for a moment before the skin sewed up itself, leaving a thin gray scar where a bloody wound had been moments before.

Harry was conscious but not entirely sound of mind as his eyes were glazed over with pain and he didn't seem to be processing where he was at the moment. His glasses were nowhere to be seen and Nico suspected that they had been left behind from wherever he had come, but his wand had been dangling in his hand when they searched him over.

Just as Thalia had moved the Chosen One to the couch, the fire leapt up again and two people, covered in ash and unrecognizable were thrown onto the carpet. They wore black robes and pale masks that were stained with soot. Nico automatically recognized them as Death Eaters.

"Avada Kedavra!" one screamed, a long wand pointing at Leo.

A foreboding "TWANG!" pierced the air. One of Thalia's silver arrows sprouted from the wizard's shoulder blade and a keening wail of utter pain left the man's mouth as a warm rush of blood soaked into his robes. The bright, brilliant flash of green had spiraled harmlessly upwards as his arm had been thrown back by the weapon.

Two minutes of utter confusion later and both people were gagged and bound on the floor, one dead, the other unconscious. The one that was still alive was the man with the arrow skewered through his shoulder. Nico had 'accidentally' driven his sword through the other's stomach and no one had actually made a move to save the person's life.

There were three loud pops and Hermione and Ron along with a mousey-haired man with dark amber eyes and two long scars crisscrossing his face were in the room.

Hermione was breathing hard and the right side of her face was bleeding bright red from a long, thin scratch over her cheekbone. Ron was doubled over, vomiting but otherwise looked unharmed. The man was injury-free as well.

Nico pointed his wand at the group. His eyes were cold and hard and… Was that fear? "What were the first words you ever said when we first met?" He was staring at Hermione, who looked like she was on the verge of crying.

But she gathered herself together before she replied and her voice was strong. "I said: Well, that aside, how did you get here?"

Nico sighed and pocketed his wand. "Darn, I was really looking forward to hexing you." His words were meant to sound funny but they felt hollow somehow.

"Where's Harry?" the brunette man spoke up.

Nico was messaging his temples and waved them vaguely off in the direction of the sofa where Harry was being tended to by Thalia.

Ron had recovered from his first time apparating and promptly Vanished the mess he had made on the floor with a weary flick of his wand. "Sorry 'bout that." He grimaced. "Never tried Apparating before. Didn't think it'd turn out to be so nasty feeling."

Nico turned to the man as Hermione and Ron watched over Harry. "What happened?"

"Death Eaters." His voice was grim. "The Burrow – Ron's home," he added at Nico's quizzical look "was attacked. Harry and Hermione had been staying over for Christmas. I had been too. We didn't think that Voldemort would be so bold as to actually attempt another try at Harry's life. We didn't think." He laughed bitterly. "Not going to that again." He looked at Nico curiously. "Now who are you?"

"Nico di Angelo." He lowered his voice. "Demigod. You must be Remus Lupin. Dumbledore told me about you and your help with the lycanthropes. We Greeks have our own definition," he supplied at Lupin's look concerning the weird name for werewolves.

Lupin nodded and Nico took in his haggard appearance. The man's face was thin and gaunt, his skin tinted gray with bad health, not just from the recent Death Eater attack. His robes were splattered with blood and underneath the stains they were ripped and threadbare, from lack of wealth. Life as a lycanthrope must be hard, the half blood surmised. He knew that Ministry laws were werewolf restricting and he sympathized with the lupine man. The dark brown hair was streaked gray with premature age and there was something in those nonhuman eyes that made Nico wary as well as empathetic. He knew what it was like to have to grow up fast. He had a bit of a stare that said 'as much hell as you've been through, I've had worse.' It was similar to the look that Percy had worn after his adventures with the Romans.

Lupin's eyes had trailed to the other demigods in the room and he was studying them suspiciously. "Who are they?" he asked Nico.

"Perseus Jackson son of Poseidon, but call him Percy. Thalia Grace – never use her last name under any circumstances – daughter of Zeus."

Lupin blinked and turned his amber gaze on Nico. "You have some powerful friends." His tone was interested.

Nico shrugged. "They're my cousins." At Lupin's curiosity he said "I'm the son of Hades."

The werewolf's eyes widened and he mouthed 'Oh,' but didn't say anything.

"At the attack," began Nico after a minute of awkward silence "did anyone die?"

Lupin shook his head. "No, they all either apparated or Harry pushed them into the Floo. Ginny and her mother and father went to Headquarters (#12 Grimmauld Place. Lupin can't say the name aloud because of the Fidelius Charm) while the rest either raced home or went to Hogsmeade."

"Why'd you come here? I knew this was a safe-house for a demigods but I didn't think that wizards used it too."

Lupin smiled sadly. "It's one of the only places we actually knew was Untraceable. I told Harry that this was safer than anywhere else so I pushed him into the fire when he got cursed. When you use Floo powder without specifying where you're going, it sends the person to the last place anyone Flooed from the fireplace. I knew that. Unfortunately, two smarter-than-average Death Eaters placed a Tracking Spell on Harry and managed to locate his location before we could stop them." Lupin looked irritated with himself.

"It's not your fault," voiced Nico with a pained smile. "You didn't know about the attack."

Lupin grunted and turned away.

Nico nodded at the gagged and bound Death Eater. "So what do we do with him?"

Lupin frowned. "I called the Aurors. They probably will interrogate him under Veritaserum and condemn him to Azkaban after they heal him. Where's the other one?"

Nico shifted uncomfortably. "Dead."

The werewolf blinked and stared.

The half-blood made a face. "I didn't mean to." His voice sounded like a strange mixture of petulancy and repentance. "But I got caught up in the… atmosphere, I guess. Sorry. I'm used to fighting for my life, so I usually end up killing the one I'm against." He rolled his sneaker over the carpet in a strangely human show of discomfort. "I've been trying to correct that." He looked frustrated.

Lupin wasn't sure how to respond so he swallowed and tried to look noncommittal.

"I think Harry's awake," Nico said in order to get onto a different topic.

The lycanthrope disappeared from his side and Nico watched as the man hovered over his best friend's son like a worried uncle. As the werewolf talked to Harry in a quiet, concerned voice, Nico wondered if that was what it was like to have a real father who cared about him. Nico loved his dad, he really did, but their relationship was complicated. In his years of being groomed into being the perfect demigod son he had gained a mixture of respect and affection for his godly father, but he didn't forget how cruel and uncaring Hades could be at times. He still remembered how the Lord of the Underworld had ruthlessly compared him to his sister in the negative, how he had goaded him into near insanity in his desire to prove him wrong, how he had been hurt had his dad's lack of interest in him. How he had strived to be the best son any man could ever hope of having before he had realized in the depths of his mind that what he wanted was what he would never be; perfect.

Nico shook his head, angry. Why the hell was he even thinking about this at a time like this anyways? He took a step forward to talk to Harry. There was a loud crunch underneath his foot and he stopped, surprised. Lifting his foot, he was alarmed to see a pair of dark, broken glasses lying, shattered, on the floor. Wincing, but glad that he had discovered them rather than not, he picked up the ruined spectacles and breathed the repairing spell underneath his breath. They reassembled themselves rather nicely. He frowned at the bulky eyeglasses and grimaced; Harry didn't have a very good sense of fashion when it came to his eyes, did he? Maybe he should introduce him to the wonderful muggle invention of contact lenses.

He walked hesitantly up to the people crowded around the Boy-Who-Lived.

.

.

.

Right now, everything for Harry was a big, colorful blur of unidentifiable things. He had just regained consciousness from blood loss and he felt the cushy feeling of a sofa or a couch underneath him. His head was propped up by a pillow. He was faintly aware of a gentle throb in his thigh, but other than that he was comfortable. He settled down into his pillow and he felt a cool, damp towel wash his blood-crusted face. A soft feminine voice was talking to him in a foreign language and he found it strangely soothing, but he also felt naked without his wand in the palm of his hand. He lifted his arm and a hand grabbed his wrist, firmly but lightly.

"My wand…" Harry was frustrated with how weak his voice sounded.

"Right here," the person said in English. It was obviously a girl. She handed it to him and he gripped it tightly, as if afraid that she might take it away from him.

"And my glasses?" He blinked up at her. She was an unrecognizable blob of short black hair and pale skin. She wore dark clothes as well, like Nico.

The girl shook her head. "I didn't see any glasses anywhere. Sorry."

Right then, the voices of Hermione and Ron took over.

"Harry, we're in one of the Order's safe houses," she said as she carded her fingers through his unruly hair. She looked fuzzy too and he didn't bother trying to squint and make out her features at the moment but he was grateful when she took his hand. "We were so worried about you, Harry."

Ron's blurry red hair was nodding rapidly. "Yeah, mate. We had no idea."

The girl said welcomingly "Welcome to Nico's home. You'll be staying here until we can get some blood-replenishing potion into you. You lost a lot after that battle with the Death Gobblers – I mean, Death Eaters."

Harry could practically here Hermione going white. "T-this is Nico's house?"

The girl was either oblivious to Hermione's stutter or she was a very good actress. "Of course. He used to live here with his mother before his father took him in. My name's Thalia by the way. I'm Nico's cousin."

"Another cousin?" said Harry groggily.

Thalia giggled. "Yeah, he does seem to have a lot, doesn't he? Percy and Leo are cousins, too."

"How many uncles and aunts does he have!" exclaimed Hermione with a raised eyebrow.

Harry couldn't be sure but he thought that Thalia shrugged. "He's Greek; of course he has a huge family."

Harry sighed; a sudden tiredness had swept over him and he felt the need to take a long, dreary nap. He let his head fall back into the pillow and he closed his eyes, listening as the three began to converse among themselves. There wasn't much for him to talk about until Lupin came over.

"Hey, Harry. How're you feeling?" The man's voice was soft and concerned.

Harry blinked up at the vague impression of fuzz that was Remus Lupin. "Hey, Professor. I feel fine, really, just a little tired." He sat up and stretched, a yawn stretching his mouth.

Lupin smiled (or at least Harry thought he did). "Been a rather tiring day, I know."

Harry sighed. "Don't I know it." The way he said the question, it sounded like a statement.

The werewolf chuckled.

"Do you happen to have my glasses?" asked the Chosen One helplessly.

Lupin sighed and ruffled his best friend's son's hair with a hand before saying sadly "I'm sorry, but I don't know where they are."

"I do," said a familiar voice.

Everyone turned to see Nico di Angelo holding Harry's newly repaired glasses. He handed them over and said "Next time you're in a fight, put them in your pocket." The 'you idiot' was implied.

Placing them carefully on the bridge of his nose, Harry's vision was thankfully restored and he smiled wryly at Nico. "Thanks. Next time, I'll remember that."

"Hopefully, there won't be a next time."

Booka: DONE! DONE! DONE!

Nico: This is getting rather tiring. You just tried to sneak poison into my nectar, which, I should mention, counter-reacts with the poison.

Booka: Darn.

Leo: Don't worry, Nico. She doesn't really wanna kill you. She just doesn't want to admit that she has a crush on you. *Dodges the chair that Booka throws at him* See!

Nico: If anyone has a crush on anyone here, it's you on her.

Leo: WHAT! She means nothing to me!

Booka: Yeah. He likes Thalia, DUH.

Leo: YOU! SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

Thalia: Someone say my name?

Booka: Yes.

Leo: NO!

Nico: I refuse to get involved. *Walks away*

Booka: Anyone who thinks he's going to make out with Luna raise their hands.

*Everyone raises their hands*

Nico: I HEARD THAT!

Booka: The whole point of this little skit is for you guys to review. SO REVIEW!