Nico

"To Percy!"

The demigods had gathered at the shore of the Great Lake to celebrate Percy's victory, leaving Gryffindor common room free for Harry and his friends. Greek fire crackled in a hastily dug pit, washing the beach in eerie, green light. Connor Stoll had led an expedition to the kitchens and returned laden with food and Butterbeer – a drink many of the half-bloods had taken a liking to – which were spread out on rich furs and blankets borrowed from the dormitories. Despite the shadows, the atmosphere was merry and sadly reminiscent of campfire singalongs at Camp Half-Blood.

"To Percy!" Nico chimed in with the toast, lounging on the sand a safe distance away from the slick water where, a minute ago, he could've sworn he'd seen a giant tentacle float to the surface.

Annabeth raised her glass, "And to the gods!" This was met by a half-hearted cheer. After all, what had the gods been up to lately? Not looking out for their kids, that was for sure.

From beside Will, Nico looked out at the silhouette of the school etched against the midnight sky. He wondered if Bianca had walked these grounds, swam in this lake, wandered the castle… She couldn't have been here longer than a year, but it was the closest he'd been to his sister since her death.

He had so many questions; What house had she been in? Who was Tom Riddle? What made him so special that Nico remembered him, almost a century later?

"Nico?" Will slung an arm around his shoulders, "Are you okay? You haven't eaten."

Nico wolfed down a pumpkin pasty as Percy called for attention, still clutching the egg.

"Go on then!" Connor urged, locked in a wrestling match with Paolo, "Open it!"

Percy grinned and prised open his trophy. A warm, yellow light spilled out, accompanied by the most horrible sound he had ever heard – a loud, screechy wailing that hammered against his eardrums. Nico hadn't heard anything like it since he'd caught his dad singing in the shower.

"Shut it!" he yelled.

"What?" Percy asked, seemingly unperturbed.

"Shut the egg!" Will snatched the prize from Percy's hands and snapped it closed.

Percy frowned, "What?"

"You didn't hear that?" Annabeth's voice was louder than usual or maybe that was just Nico's ears still ringing.

"I heard music."

"Music?"

Annabeth took the egg from Will and passed it thoughtfully from hand to hand. She strode confidently toward the lake, kicking off her sneakers and marching purposefully into the dark water, distorting the moon's pale reflection.

"Uh, Annabeth?" Percy called, "You might not want to do that. There are some pretty nasty things in there… Earlier I sensed a giant squid and-" Annabeth disappeared under the surface, "Oh. Okay, then. Go for it."

The lake was lit up with dazzling, golden light as Annabeth cracked open the egg underwater. Muffled singing wafted out over the grounds and a moment later she surfaced, smiling triumphantly.

"Mer music," she explained, "That's why Percy can understand it and we can't. We can only hear it underwater."

"What did it say?" said Will.

Annabeth wrung out her t-shirt as she recited, "Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground."

"And while you're searching ponder this: we've taken what you'll sorely miss, an hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took, but past an hour – the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back," Percy finished.

Nico grimaced, "That sounds like a prophecy." The other demigods murmured in agreement.

"No," Lou Ellen said, "It's a riddle, like the one to get inside our common room."

Chiara nodded, "The first line makes sense; they're merpeople, they can't sing above ground."

"But what about what they'll take?" Percy ran a hand through his hair, distressed, "How will I find it?"

Come seek us where our voices sound…

Nico grinned, "Percy! The last task is underwater!"

Annabeth was the first to get it; "Of course, it must be in the lake… which means it will be a piece of cake for you, Percy!"

The demigods laughed. The wizards had no idea what was coming for them…

Harry

"Mr Jackson!" Professor Trelawney's normally whimsical voice was heavy with annoyance, "I would think that you, in particular, would like to see what your future holds so might I suggest paying attention!"

"What?" Percy's head snapped up, "Oh. Sorry, professor."

He had been acting gloomy since the Gryffindors' Care of Magical Creatures lesson that morning when Hagrid had confiscated his sword. He insisted it was so he wouldn't attack any more Skrewts, but Harry suspected it might have something to do with the dragon Percy had very nearly killed. The demigod had confessed that the sword had reappeared in his pocket a few minutes later, though he still seemed upset at Hagrid's sudden coldness.

Usually, double Divination was Harry's worst nightmare but since becoming friends with Ron again he'd felt like nothing could bring him down. They'd spent the afternoon sniggering over their star charts and coming up with more and more absurd tragedies that would befall them in coming weeks.

"Uh… I think that's Saturn over there," Nico was saying, squinting at his map.

Percy groaned, "Can we not talk about him?"

Nico and Percy had partnered up, since Professor Trelawney had dragged Will to the front and forced him to stare into a large, crystal ball for the entire lesson.

"What did you see?" Harry asked him, once they'd finally escaped the unbearable heat of the Divination classroom. He was only half joking; from what the demigods had told him, prophecies were very real, and seers actually existed – Professor Trelawney just wasn't one.

Will smirked, wrapping an arm around Nico, "A very handsome face." The son of Hades just rolled his eyes, though his mouth twitched a little as Will kissed his cheek.

Just then, Annabeth ran up to them, her Ancient Runes book clasped to her chest, "Hey guys, how was Divination?"

They were silent for a moment before laughing. "Awful," Percy admitted with a rueful grin.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I have no idea," she confessed, "I looked for her after class, but she just disappeared. I wanted to talk to her about the homework. Do you guys know where she might be?"

"The library." Harry and Ron both said immediately.

But Hermione wasn't in the library, or in the Great Hall. Harry and Ron had just sat down by the fire in the Gryffindor common room with Percy and Annabeth when she burst in, panting.

"Harry!" she cried, skidding to a halt beside them, "Harry, you have to see – oh, it's wonderful, Harry! You have to come!"

"What is it?"

"Come on!" She dragged him out by his hand and the others followed, intrigued.

They hurried after her down through six floors, across the marble Entrance Hall and (after Harry had finally shaken his hand free) down a flight of stone steps. They were now in a wide, brightly lit corridor with a polished stone floor and wooden rafters framing the ceiling. The paintings were unusually quiet for Hogwarts, as they were all still lifes of food.

"Hermione…" Harry said, slowing down. He recognised the picture she had stopped in front of – a silver framed painting of pears – from Fred's description, "This isn't about spew, is it?"

"No!" she cried defensively, tickling one of the painting's pears, "And for the last time, Harry, it's not spew, it's-" She was stopped as the painting sprang open and out hurled a small, brightly coloured creature, flinging itself straight at Harry.

"Harry! Harry Potter!"

"Dobby?"

"Dobby?" Percy asked doubtfully as the house elf ushered them inside.

The school kitchen was as large as the Great Hall above it, with a vaulted ceiling and an enormous brick fireplace at one end. Stacks of gleaming brass pots and pans towered over the tiny elves as they worked, and the room was filled with delicious smells Harry hoped was dinner.

"Dobby, what are you doing here?" he asked in amazement.

The house elf was almost unrecognisable. His filthy pillowcase had been replaced with children's football shorts, a horse-shoe patterned tie and a tea cosy for a hat, crammed over his bat ears. Odd socks stretched up his skinny legs, one of them was Harry's own black sock – the one he had tricked Mr Malfoy into giving Dobby, setting him free – though it had clearly been washed since it's trip through the Chamber of Secrets.

"Dobby is working here, sir!" Dobby squealed, happily, "Professor Dumbledore is giving Dobby and Winky jobs at Hogwarts, sir!"

"Uh – Dobby, is it?" Percy said, "I don't mean to be rude but what-what exactly are you?" Annabeth elbowed him, but Dobby didn't seem offended. In fact, he seemed honoured that Percy had spoken to him.

"Dobby is a free elf, sir!" he squeaked, "Dobby is hearing of you, sir – you is a demigod and a friend of Harry Potter!"

"What do you mean, a free elf?" Annabeth asked.

Hermione flushed with anger, "House elves are like the wizarding world's slaves. It's horrible. They're not paid and most of them are treated really badly-"

"Not Dobby, though!" The house elf's tennis-ball eyes shone with happiness, "Dobby is paid one galleon a week and gets one day off a month!"

"That's not very much!" she argued.

"Dumbledore offered Dobby ten galleons a week and weekends off, but Dobby isn't wanting too much, miss. Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he likes work better!"

Before Hermione could protest further, Harry changed the subject, "Dobby, did you say Winky was here too?"

"Winky?" Annabeth asked.

"Mr Crouch's house elf."

"Ex-house elf." Ron corrected.

"Dobby will show you!" said the elf, and he seized Harry's hand and led him further into the kitchen, between four long wooden tables, each of which mimicked the position of the house tables above. Harry guessed that when it was time for meals, food was placed on the tables and magically transported through the ceiling to the Great Hall.

Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace where an elf sat, crumpled on a stool. Winky's once-tidy maid uniform was in rags and a bottle of Butterbeer was clutched in her bony hand.

"Hello, Winky."

Winky's tiny body quivered all over. Then she burst into tears, splashing down her front.

"Would Harry Potter's friends like some tea?" Dobby asked loudly over Winky's sobs.

"Uh, yeah. Please." Harry said.

Instantly, an elf trotted over carrying a silver tray with a pot of tea and mugs for each of them. Another elf appeared with a plate of biscuits which Percy and Ron immediately inhaled.

"We should go," Annabeth said to Percy. He sighed regretfully, cheeks bulging with food, "Will and Nico will be wondering where we are."

The elf carrying the tray let it slip suddenly, sending five mugs and a teapot crashing to the stone floor. "Nico? Nico di Angelo?"

"Yes," Harry frowned, "Why? Have you met him?"

The elf spoke quickly, as though afraid of being stopped, "I is serving at Hogwarts many years, sir. There was a di Angelo here, a long time ago, before Mister Dumbledore was headmaster… She was kind to the elves, sir. She spoke about her little brother, Nico. I heard-I heard a Nico di Angelo had come to Hogwarts, but I thought… It's not possible…"

Percy knelt, speaking urgently now, "Her name was Bianca, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir. Bianca di Angelo, very kind... but she disappeared after first year, sir. I is never seeing her again."

Percy and Annabeth exchanged looks, seemingly reaching a unanimous decision. "We have to find Nico," he said, striding toward the door, "Now."

"But… it's not possible," Hermione pointed out, jogging to keep up with the demigods, "Dumbledore's been headmaster for ages. Nico can't be the brother of someone who was alive almost a century ago."

Percy bit his lip, "I'll let Nico explain; it's not my secret to tell." He smiled apologetically at several elves trying to push various cakes into his hands as they said a hasty goodbye to Dobby and left to find the son of Hades…

Hermione

"Wait," Ron said thickly (his mouth was full of cream cake from the kitchens), "So, you're telling us that you're from the 1940s?"

Nico nodded warily, "Yes."

"And this girl – Bianca – she was your sister?"

"Yes."

"But she's…" Ron trailed off, eyes darting across the common room to where Ginny sat, laughing with her friends.

"She's dead." Nico confirmed.

Hermione gulped back her sympathy, she knew Nico wouldn't it.

"I'm so sorry." She said, hoping he would sense the genuine emotion behind those three meaningless words.

"It's okay," he stared out the window at the lake, glittering in the distance, "I mean, it was a long time ago. I miss her, obviously… but I got over it."

"Yeah, after he tried to kill me!" said Percy with a pained expression.

Nico sighed, exasperated, "I told you, I wasn't trying to kill you, I-" his voice caught, and he shook his head, looking down.

"Well, I think that's enough for one night," Annabeth said, briskly. She nudged Percy, "I'm tired, aren't you?"

"No… Oh-oh, yeah. Really tired."

Hermione forced a smile, "You're right, we should go to bed. Harry? Ron?"

They exchanged baffled glances – it was only 10 o'clock – and she rolled her eyes at their ignorance.

"Bed. Now." She told them, dragging them across the common room with Percy and Annabeth close behind.

"Night, guys."

"Night!"

"G'night."

The boys wandered up one staircase and Hermione followed Annabeth up the other, leaving Nico and Will alone by the fire. The room was cloaked in shadows but the darkest one of all was Nico's face as she tore her gaze away from the couple and headed upstairs to bed.

So not much happened in this chapter but I hope you enjoyed anyway. There will be a bit more drama in the next chapter. I finally got 40 follows and I'm so happy! Thanks to everyone who's given me feedback (ohmygods, Okurdek, Risa Silvara, aRTsyisAwesome, Nolifeking222, Geni Blaze, Matt, Anonymous, Guest, TheLoungeRoom, Solangelo4ever and - you're all awesome and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!) Keep letting me know what you think everyone.

Lileaf, xoxo