Luna woke to the feeling of a chill wind. Gasping, she sat up.
She was outside, at the bottom of the steps in the courtyard that led into the castle. She realized that she was still only in her nightshirt and suddenly the cold hit her. Shivering, she quickly got up and ran over to the doors and went inside. As she walked back to the common room, she tried to remember how she had gotten to the courtyard in the first place, but her memories were hazy and veiled, defying all attempts to approach them.
As she entered the Ravenclaw common room, she remembered that today was Hogsmeade day, and that cheered her up. 'I probably just sleepwalked there anyways.' She thought.
Nico was lying in his bed, thinking. He had heard about Hogsmeade earlier, and while he didn't exactly want to look around the joke shop or drink at the pub, it was out from under the canopy of the magical barrier of Hogwarts, so he could contact the gods. However, that also meant that it was open to monster attacks... but he could probably handle anything local. Still, Nico had a feeling that going to Hogsmeade could go wrong, but he really had no choice. He had to contact the gods and tell him what he'd learned about the wizards.
Luna caught up with Nico as the main crowd of students filed out of the front doors.
"Morning, Nico!" She said brightly as she fell into step beside him. Nico turned and smiled, having become used to her sudden appearances.
"Morning, Luna. Sleep well?" He asked.
Luna gave a small frown. "I'm... not really sure. I woke up in the courtyard."
Nico frowned. "The courtyard? Do you think you sleepwalked out there?"
"I suppose so... but it doesn't feel quite right. I remember weird hazy, dark figures... I suppose it might've been a nightmare, but I've also never sleepwalked outside before." Luna glanced over at Nico and saw his concerned and brooding expression.
"Still," she said quickly, "probably just a nightmare."
Luna continued to talk about little things, making remarks that could usually rouse a small smile from Nico, but he didn't really respond. Eventually, Luna stopped for a moment, and asked quietly, "Nico... what's wrong?"
Nico glanced back at her, making an attempt at a smile. "Nothing, nothing. I'm fine." The truth was, though, he wasn't fine. Nico had had a small voice in the back of his mind warning him to not get too close, that making friends was a bad idea. Now it was right up front, and Nico knew that even telling Luna what little he had had made her, and himself, vulnerable. Nico would never give away his secrets, and could fight off something sent to kill him, but Luna... the thought of Luna facing down a hydra or a hellhound made Nico shudder. Would the gods punish her for what little he had said already? Would the people of her own world use her to obtain information about him? Where they using her already?
Yet all the while Nico was thinking this, there was still the temptation to confide, to tell Luna the whole truth. She was his friend, or at least he thought she was. He hoped beyond hope that he was right, but he still couldn't trust her fully.
Nico began to talk again with Luna, but he kept careful control over what he said. They walked on, and while Luna could still tell that Nico was worried about something, she decided not to comment, and they walked comfortably but uneasily to Hogsmeade.
Hermione was convinced that Nico was up to something. The three friends sat in the Three Broomsticks, trying to watch Nico and Luna without either of them noticing. Harry was bored and was reading more from his potions textbook, which held many useful and intriguing notes from someone called 'The Half Blood Prince'. Ron and Hermione, as usual, were bickering.
"Look, Hermione, I found your wizarding school in America, called 'Salem institute for-something'. So he's probably from there, yeah?" Ron said with finality.
"Right, Nico is definitely from the Salem institute for Witches. Honestly, Ron!"
As Ron and Hermione bickered, Harry noticed something. "In case either of you care, Nico is leaving."
"What?" Hermione said, her gaze snapping back to where Nico and Luna had been sitting. Nico had stood up, and was beginning to walk away. Luna looked confused, and a bit crestfallen.
"Easy, Hermione," Ron said, "he's probably just going to the toilet."
Sure enough, Nico did go in that direction. Right after he closed the door, Luna got up and went out the front door.
"See, there you go Hermi-Hermione?" Ron looked around, but Hermione was gone. Harry stood up. "She took my invisibility cloak!" He whispered anxiously. "She's probably trying to see what Nico is up to. Come on, let's check and see if he's in there."
Harry and Ron entered the restroom, but they found it empty, and the back window open. "C'mon!" Harry said, and they climbed through.
Luna had followed Nico for at least half an hour, from a distance so far he wouldn't have noticed her. She wanted to now what was going on. All he'd said was that he needed to talk to someone, and that he needed to do it alone. He'd been acting distant and brooding all morning, and she was beginning to worry about him.
Suddenly, the space opened up into a clearing, and Luna realized she was only a couple of yards away from where Nico was standing. The clearing was large, and the only person there was Nico. He seemed to be waiting for someone.
Suddenly, there was a burst of golden light, and another figure appeared. She was rather short, with long black hair, and Luna felt like she had seen her somewhere before... and then the memory struck, like a lighting bolt. Luna let out a gasp and quickly hid behind a tree. Could it really be her? That woman who had tried to control her family, who had led them to-
Luna could hear them talking. "...your father is not pleased at all. You cannot become so close to this girl, it will distract you from your mission."
"No it won't. I'm not being distracted enough to cause problems. I have analyzed the wizards combat abilities and stability to an extent, but I need more time. If I move too quickly and ask the wrong question-"
"Just stay away from the girl!" The woman's voice had flared up in anger, but calmed quickly. "She is vulnerable, and she may even give you away if she finds out why you're here."
Luna's mind was going into overdrive. Why was Nico here? Was his father working for Voldemort?
Suddenly Luna realized that the conversation had gone quiet. Nico's voice drifted over the clearing. "I know you're here. Come out know, or you will regret it dearly." Nico's words sounded to Luna strangely cold and full of anger, and her heartbeat felt like a drumroll in her chest. A horrible thought occurred to her. Why was Nico speaking to that woman? Was he... working with her? Searching for Luna? The thought was too terrible to bear.
Nico called again. "I can feel your shroud of death, Hermione. Come out. Now."
Luna peered out tentatively. She noticed that the woman seemed to have disappeared (although that didn't guarantee anything), and suddenly Hermione appeared to her left. Luna realized that she had been under the invisibility cloak.
"Why did you follow me?" Nico's voice carried a coldness that Luna had never heard from him before.
"I wanted to know what you're doing. Why you've become such close friends with Luna." Hermione's voice was tinged with suspicion and anxiety.
Luna saw Nico grow annoyed, but she noticed that under what he called his 'don't mess with me' stare, he looked uncomfortable. "What I'm doing is mine to know alone. As for my friendship with Luna, that is absolutely none of your business."
Hermione appeared to become angry. "You think you can just come to Hogwarts and act like you aren't up to something? You don't make any sense! You're from a school that doesn't exist. You're clearly a Slytherin, yet you're in Gryffindor, and you just decide to become best pals with a girl who is clearly a bit off, who just happens to be one of Harry Potter's friends? Did you think we wouldn't notice?"
Nico looked exasperated. "OK, seriously, what in Hades name did Potter do? You people keep vaguely referencing him! And by the way, Luna is not 'a bit off' and she's shown a lot more bravery than any of you Gryffindors!"
Hermione looked confused, then angry. "Don't be daft! There is no possible way you could not know who Harry Potter is! Now I find you talking to a strange woman in the middle of a forest who just disappears in golden light-"
The rest of the sentence died in Hermione's throat. Nico's expression had become a mask of regret and determination that was the most terrifying thing Luna had ever seen."How I wish," he began, putting his right hand on the skull ring, "that you hadn't said that."
Nico drew the skull ring off his finger and suddenly it began to morph. The ring grew wider and wider, and the skull began to rise off of the ring, revealing a smooth black cloth handle underneath, which Nico grasped. The skull began to grow, becoming wider and flatter, becoming a skull shaped guard. The mouth opened wide, and out from its dark depths rose a blade as black as the void that seemed to dim the day around it. In a moment, his skull ring had become a fearsome black and silver gladius, with a skull shaped guard and a large ring of silver for a pommel.
Hermione backed away in fear. Nico motioned with his left hand and suddenly two skeletal arms shot out from the ground, grasping her legs. Hermione screamed and fell to the ground. Two more skeletal hands grabbed her arms, and Hermione was trapped. Nico stood over her, sword in hand.
"I'm sorry, but you know too much. I'll make sure you get to Elysium." Hermione mouthed words back, inarticulate in her terror. Nico raised his blade. He stood there for a moment, and everything was still.
Nico looked into Hermione's eyes, and saw a terrified young girl. His finger's began to tremble as a war was fought inside his soul. Nico's mind told him that it had to be done, that she couldn't let her live after seeing one of the gods... yet something held him back. Something that hadn't been there before stayed his hand, the hand that had sent so many to Hades.
Nico flung the sword onto the snow. He felt the bitter cold of the air for the first time, and was overridden with anger and confusion. He turned to Hermione with an agonized look on his face.
"Why?" he asked quietly. "Why is it that this time I can't? It has to be done! If you live, and you tell, then I'll have failed my mission, my father, my world..." Nico looked at his hands, and realized that almost everyone he had slain in the name of his father had deserved it. They had been murderers, cultists, rapists... people who were barely human. But Hermione didn't deserve to die. Killing Hermione would've made him no better than them.
Nico's hands shook, and his mind went blank, as he realized what he had almost become. He slowly fell to his knees, his hands hugged around himself. Suddenly, behind him, Hecate reappeared. As she walked by him, she put out a hand and gave Nico's shoulder a squeeze.
"There, there. It's alright, you were just doing what you had to." She walked over to where Hermione was trembling in the snow.
"P-p-p-please-" Hermione tried to begin. Hecate put a finger to her lips. "It's alright. Hush, now. This was all just a very bad dream, that I'll make sure you don't remember. Now sleep." At Hecate's words, Hermione's eyes closed, and her trembling ceased, replaced by a soft rising and falling of her chest.
Hecate turned back to Nico. "I could do you too, if you like." She said playfully. Nico raised his eyes and stared at her blankly. Suddenly, his blank stare morphed into an accusing glare. "You almost let me-" Nico paused for a moment, shuddering, "k-kill an innocent person when I didn't have to?"
Hecate shrugged. "You looked like you had the situation under control. So," she said, quickly changing the subject, "anyone else around here?"
Nico stood up, shakily. "Can't you check? This is your realm, after all."
Hecate shot him an annoyed look. "Just for that, I won't tell you which monster's coming this way."
Nico shot back to attention, but Hecate had already disappeared. Cursing silently, Nico turned and saw that Hermione had disappeared with her. Concentrating quietly, Nico extended his senses to long-range detection-and got an unfortunate surprise.
"Luna?" Luna heard Nico call her name, and started to run. She didn't care who he worked for, he had almost killed Hermione. Almost worse than that, he had lied to her, and she had thought he was her friend. Luna's eyes began to fill up with tears, but she brushed them away as she sprinted further into the forest. "Wait! Luna, come back!" she heard Nico cry. He sounded closer, like he was gaining on her. She began to run even faster, but the tears began to blur her vision and suddenly her face smashed into snow and dirt. Frantically, she tried to stand back up, but one of her legs was caught on the stump that she'd tripped over. She tried to pull it out but the pain was too great.
"Luna?" She heard Nico say, his voice only a few yards away. "Luna!" She heard Nico shout. Desperately, she tried to pull away one last time, with all her strength, and she felt the splinters that had caught her pants leg give way. She jumped to her feet, but before, she could go anywhere, she felt Nico's hands catch her shoulders.
"Luna, please, wait!" Nico pleaded. Luna elbowed him in the face, but he held on.
Luna continued to try and punch him away, but Nico held on until Luna was too tired to continue. Carefully, he walked around her until they were face to face. Luna's puffy, bloodshot eyes were full of anger and pain, her tears mixed with melting snow and dirt. "You... you lied to me. You almost killed... how could you!"
"Luna..." Nico began.
"I thought you were my friend!" Luna yelled, her words tinged with anger and dejection.
"Luna, I promise you, I am your friend!" Nico said softly.
"You lied to me! You're working with that... that woman!" Luna shot back. "How can you be my friend if you're working for her?!"
Nico looked confused. "What do you mean? Do you know her?"
Luna was skeptical. "Do you really mean to say that you don't know- but you were talking to her, working with her, getting close to me."
Nico stood silent for a moment. He took a deep breath. "Look," he began. "if you let me explain myself, I promise to tell you everything." He let go of Luna's shoulders, and she immediately scrambled backwards. Nico sat down slowly and motioned for Luna to do the same. Luna looked uncertain, so he added, "Please, trust me. Just for now, then do what you will."
Luna sat.
Nico searched for words for a moment, unsure how to begin. "Alright. So, you know about the Ancient Greek gods, right?"
After a moment, Luna nodded.
"Well, they actually exist." He waited for the inevitable disbelief or protest, but none came. Luna Just sat there, staring at him. "That woman back there was Hecate, goddess of magic. The gods rule over their realms,controlling nature and emotions and things like that. There are monsters as well. Sometimes the gods become... infatuated with mortals. The Greek gods were like that in mythology, always falling for random mortals, and they're like that in real life. My father is..." Nico paused. This was the moment of truth. Betraying his father to Luna would set them both on a path that might lead to the wrath of the gods.
"My father is Hades, lord of the underworld and god of death and riches." Luna's eyes widened, then shrank back to their normal, round size.
"That makes sense, assuming that you're telling the truth." She said frankly.
"I can prove it, if you want." Luna shook her head. "Anyways, I was sent here because we just learned about the wizarding world, and the gods are worried." Nico gave her his best apologetic face. "I promise, Luna, I never meant to drag you into this, or to make you think that I wasn't your friend." Nico looked down at the ground. "Being the son of Hades... you don't make a lot of friends."
Luna looked at him, and a part of her wanted to go over there and tell him that she was still his friend and that she believed him, but that part of her that remembered him holding the sword above Hermione's chest held her back. Nico was the son of death. Then again, he had stayed his hand, and looked very remorseful for what he had almost done.
"Say... say I believe you. What happens now?" Luna said tentatively.
"Well... I've told you my secret. Can we still be friends?" Nico asked tentatively.
Luna took a deep breath. "Alright. Just... don't you ever try to kill one of my friends again. Okay?"
Nico actually smiled at her, then frowned. "I don't want to push you but... could you tell me why you hate Hecate so much?"
Luna opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly Nico sat up strait. "Damn!" He cursed. "That monster is getting close!"
He leapt to his feet. Luna stood up too. Nico turned to her and grabbed her shoulders. Looking into her eyes, he said, "Stay here." A note of worry entered his voice. "Please." Nico turned and rushed off into the forest.
Luna yelled after him, but he didn't reply. She stood there for a moment, debating with herself, and then came to a decision. Luna Sprinted after Nico, back through the darkening forest.