Harry spent the next three days unconscious in the hospital wing, during which time the Gryffindors played an embarrassing Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Neville, fortunately, awoke within hours with nothing worse than a headache. Nico gave Dumbledore a more extended story in which he completely omitted his sword and the fact that he had personally destroyed the Stone. He knew Harry would contradict him, but Harry would have a hard time proving Nico had conjured a sword from seemingly nowhere.

Soon enough, the end-of-year feast had arrived. Slytherin had won the House Cup, so the Great Hall was decked out in green and silver. A banner depicting a large serpent hung behind the teachers' table. Nico sat with Hermione, trying to ignore the fact that people had been staring at him ever since the incident with Quirrell.

Harry was the last to arrive, attracting a great deal of interest. A few moments later, Dumbledore rose to his feet and gave a brief speech. Then he addressed the standings in the House Cup: Gryffindor in fourth, Hufflepuff in third, Ravenclaw in second, and Slytherin in first (the Slytherins cheered quite loudly at this).

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," Dumbledore agreed. "However, recent events must be taken into account." The room went very still. "Ahem. I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see…yes…first, to Mr. Ronald Weasley. For the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house thirty points."

The Gryffindors cheered loudly and Percy pompously praised Ron, though Ron did not look pleased by the attention.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger…for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house thirty points."

The Gryffindors cheered again while Hermione buried her face in her arms. Nico awkwardly patted her on the back.

"Third, to Mr. Nico di Angelo…for incredible determination and remarkable bravery, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Now it was Nico's turn to hide his face while the Gryffindors cheered yet again. As a result, he didn't notice Harry and Ron glaring at him.

"Fourth, to Mr. Harry Potter…for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The noise was deafening—Gryffindor was now tied with Slytherin. Those who knew something about that night's events were particularly excited, knowing Dumbledore probably had one more person to reward.

And sure enough, he did. "There are many kinds of courage," Dumbledore said with a smile. "But none so great as the courage necessary to sacrifice oneself for one's friends. I therefore award sixty points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

The Great Hall erupted into a veritable explosion of noise. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws all burst into cheers while a white-faced Neville disappeared under a pile of people hugging him.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. The green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold. The serpent transformed into a lion. Snape shook Professor McGonagall's hand, a blatantly forced smile on his face. Then Harry caught Nico's eye, and Nico knew that Harry still hated him. But Nico didn't care. He'd made friends with Hermione and Neville, and if he survived the summer, he would actually look forward to returning next year.

Exam results came out the next day. Nico had done very poorly in Herbology, but the rest of his grades were decent and he passed the year. Neville had scraped through and Hermione, of course, had passed everything with flying colors.

And then it was time to leave. Trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found, and everyone received letters warning them not to do magic over the summer. Hagrid took the first years across the lake again (Nico almost gave up and shadow-traveled away right then and there, but Hermione coaxed him into the boat). Then they all boarded the train, where Nico and Hermione found a compartment to themselves.

"So…do you have any plans for the summer?" Hermione asked.

"Stay alive and discover my past," Nico answered.

"Come on, Nico, why not take some time to actually enjoy yourself? I'm sure my parents would be happy to have you over for a visit. Surely you can at least go a few hours without getting attacked?"

"A few hours, maybe," Nico conceded. "But I can't just hop back and forth across the Atlantic all summer."

Hermione frowned. "Wait, how exactly do you intend to get back to America? They don't normally sell airplane tickets to twelve-year-olds, do they?"

"Airplane?" Nico repeated, horrified. "I'm not getting on any airplanes, thank you very much!"

"Then how…"

Hermione's question was interrupted by Harry barging into the compartment. "You lied to Dumbledore," Harry said accusingly.

"Really? How so?" Nico responded casually.

"Well, for starters, you left me to die!"

"I went to get help," Nico corrected. "I don't like you, but I wouldn't try to get you killed."

"And you failed to mention that you had a sword and that you used it to destroy the Stone," Harry continued.

"Sword? Really?" Nico turned to Hermione. "Hermione, did I have a sword when we went through the trap door and faced all those challenges?"

Hermione felt slightly irritated at being dragged into Nico's lies, but she understood why he wanted to keep the sword a secret. "No, you didn't. So unless Harry's suggesting you conjured one from thin air—something I don't recall learning how to do this year—then his memory's probably a bit addled."

"So I suppose I'm also misremembering the fact that I made sure to drink every last drop of that potion so that you couldn't follow me?"

"Yep," Nico said blandly. "Pretty sure we also didn't learn how to make ourselves immune to black fire this year."

"Says the guy who claims that death and darkness are his domain," Harry retorted, his eyes narrowed. "You may fool Dumbledore, you may fool Hermione and Neville, but you don't fool me. I'll be watching you." He exited their compartment, slamming the door.

Hermione sat frozen in shock. Death and darkness…that sounded suspiciously like Nico knew.

Vescia batted at something she'd pulled out of Nico's pocket—a small lead figurine that Hermione had seen once before. She'd assumed that Hades had placed the figurine in the hospital wing as a way of introducing himself, but in hindsight, that made no sense—Hades could have simply said who he was. No, the figurine had been one of Nico's personal effects all along.

And upon reflection, Hermione realized there had been other clues. Nico had been more embarrassed than surprised by the way the ghosts treated him. He knew bad things would happen if he tried to fly outdoors, and that he would be safe underground. He'd mentioned encountering a three-headed dog before. And perhaps most tellingly, he used words like "Styx" and "Tartarus" in place of swear words.

"You know," Hermione whispered. "Oh my god, you've known all along. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Known what?" Nico asked, confused.

Hermione snatched up the figurine. "Your father. You know who he is."

Nico stiffened. "Give that back."

"Please, Nico, stop lying to me!"

The compartment dimmed. "My sister died for that figurine, give it back!"

Hermione gave it back. The light returned to normal.

"How did you know this was my father?" Nico demanded, slightly paler than usual.

"I met him," Hermione admitted. "Last September, after you got struck by lightning. He gave me some sort of healing potion to give to you, and he told me not to let you investigate your past. I assumed that meant you didn't know. I never wanted to lie to you, but…your dad is scary."

Nico glared at her for a few moments, then he sagged and looked exhausted. "Yeah. I've noticed." He took off his ring and began fiddling with it, seemingly subconsciously. "I wasn't lying when I told you that story about waking up with no memory. Well, most of it was true, anyway. Bianca and I really did believe we were orphans until the day we left our old school. A group of older kids turned up out of nowhere to rescue us from our vice principal. The goddess Artemis showed up too and scared off the manticore, and we found out that we were demigods. At the time, no one could tell us who our godly parent was. Bianca…" Nico swallowed and scowled. "Bianca pledged herself to the goddess. She up and joined a band of immortal eternal maidens without even asking me how I felt about it."

"Wait, so your sister isn't dead? She's immortal?"

Nico's scowl deepened. "The Hunters don't age, but they can be killed. Artemis was captured by Titan forces a few days after we met her. Bianca joined a quest to rescue the goddess. She found this figurine—it's for this stupid game I used to be obsessed with—only it was guarded by this gigantic automaton. It didn't like that Bianca tried to take the figurine. She sacrificed herself to deactivate the automaton and save her friends."

"I'm so sorry."

"I wasn't there. They'd made me stay behind at this place in Long Island, a safe haven for demigods. I'd been having nightmares about Bianca, but I tried to convince myself they were only that—nightmares. But demigod dreams are rarely just dreams. We all have a tendency to dream about important things that are happening elsewhere in the world." Nico briefly shut his eyes. "A few days later, Percy—one of the other questers—came back and confirmed that she really was dead. And then these skeletons burst out of the woods and attacked. I panicked, and somehow I made the earth crack open and swallow the skeletons. In that moment, I knew. I'd sensed it when Bianca died, and now I had power over zombies. There was only one god who could be my father. I knew the other demigods would never accept a son of Hades among them, so I ran."

"Ran where?"

"Anywhere but there. I found this tunnel in the woods and I took it. I met a ghost who helped me figure out my powers. Then my father found me and offered me a room in his palace. I tried staying there for a few days, but…it was hardly a family atmosphere. Father is always comparing me to Bianca, saying she was much more heroic than I could ever be, and my stepmother Persephone just plain hates me. She doesn't like the reminder that Hades isn't always faithful to her."

"I thought he kidnapped her."

"Back in the ancient days, that was romance. I'm pretty sure she ate that pomegranate on purpose so she could have the best of both worlds."

"So…you didn't stay at this safe haven and you didn't stay with your father. Where did you go?"

"Just kind of roamed around. Figured out that I can teleport with shadows, though doing it over any significant distance requires a huge amount of energy. And that ghost, King Minos…he told me it was possible to bring Bianca back. If I could find a soul that had cheated death, I could hold it ransom for her."

"And did you find one?"

"Minos sent me after Daedalus, but it turned out to be a trap. Minos wanted to use Daedalus to bring himself back to life. He sold me out to Kronos."

"Kronos…the Titan Lord? Wasn't he hacked to pieces and cast into Tartarus?"

"Yeah, he was. Now he's trying to make a comeback. And I'm particularly valuable to him because there's a prophecy that says that a demigod child of one of the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon or Hades—will make a choice on his or her sixteenth birthday that either saves or destroys Olympus."

"Are there any other people the prophecy could be referring to?"

"Well, there's Thalia, daughter of Zeus—but she joined the Hunters of Artemis the day before her sixteenth birthday, so she'll never actually turn sixteen. That leaves Percy, son of Poseidon. He turns sixteen this August."

"This August."

"Yes. One way or another, the war will probably end this summer. I intend to fight." Nico glanced at his wand. "As a demigod, not a wizard. I tried monster-fighting with magic over Christmas, but it doesn't seem to work any better than ordinary metal. I guess it's considered 'mortal' magic or something. You need immortal magic and weapons to fight in the world of gods and monsters."

"I guess I'd better stay out of the war, then," Hermione concluded.

"Yeah, you should. No offense."

"None taken."

Nico sighed. "I probably won't have the chance to write to you. And if the world doesn't end, but I don't come back to school next year…I'm probably dead."

Hermione looked somewhat shaken. "The world could end this summer."

"Quite possibly."

"…you know, I'm starting to wish I'd never learned that Greek myths are real."

"You and me both. That was half of why I never told you the truth…at first it was mostly that I was afraid you'd be disgusted with me, but eventually it got to the point where I also just didn't want to worry you. Even when there isn't a massive war going on, demigods rarely live to adulthood. We're monster magnets."

"Rarely?"

Nico grimaced. "The ancient Greeks invented tragedy."

Hermione swallowed. "Nico…do you remember when we discussed World War II?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I couldn't help but notice that you described it almost like you'd been there. And most people's minds would jump straight to Hitler, but your first thought was Mussolini…and you started talking in what sounded like Italian. Even when you switched back to English, you had a thick Italian accent for a few minutes."

Nico adopted a distant look. "The hotel I mentioned…time runs more slowly inside. Bianca and I thought we'd only been there a few months, but it turned out we'd been in there for over sixty years. Had no idea I was Italian, though…until You-Know-Who mistook me for my own grandson and mentioned two Italian children who barely spoke a word of English."

"You met You-Know-Who as a child?"

"Apparently. Couldn't tell you more than that, though—I still don't have my memory back. And I'm not going to let my father stop me from investigating. He's hiding something, and I intend to find out what."

Hermione dropped her gaze. "I'm sorry I lied to you."

"I lied to you too, so I guess we're even."

Hermione looked up again. "Okay, so how about a deal: from now on, we'll both be honest with each other. You don't have to tell me everything—I'm not sure I want to know everything—but at the very least, we don't lie to each other any more."

Nico nodded. "Deal."

"And…I'll understand if you're busy, but write to me if you get the chance."

"I will, I promise," Nico assured her. He doubted he would get the chance, but…he found himself hoping he would. Hermione knew who he was, and she still cared about him. It was more than he'd dared hope for.

A/N: I am working on Chamber of Secrets, and will likely begin posting in a few weeks.