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Nico di Angelo was nervous.

This, of course, was a very big deal. The son of Hades didn't just "get nervous" at the smallest provocation. There was always a very good – or, in most cases, a very bad – reason for why he felt emotions. Any emotions, really. Most of the time, he was rather apathetic. He was almost never nervous. And this particular feeling was always very… picky. His eye twitched. His leg shook. His tongue felt dry, like sandpaper. His thin fingers were forever wriggling on his desk. No, he did not like feeling nervous. And the reason he was feeling so bad was all the more dreadful.

He hadn't planned on confessing about it, of course. No, it was more of the spur of the moment decision that he later regretted very much. He had known, though, that he would've had to tell Harry eventually. This entire war was revolving around him and Voldemort so he knew he had to admit to being a demigod soon. But he had been planning on telling only Harry, not blurting out his secret to the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio. Technically, he hadn't actually told them of his own accord; he was influenced by that Headache-Nausea potion and he had been very out of it for a while. Seriously though; he had spilled some sappy, pitiful little speech about Percy and Bianca and most likely Luke and he was humiliated. The three wizards had been surprised to hear about his heritage – obviously – and hadn't asked him any questions, thank God. They had been more shocked than anything and had reeled back when he had told them. But they had most likely gotten over their initial alarm by now and were probably dying out of curiosity. Nico now made it his priority to avoid them at all costs.

Nico was in the library, leg shaking, eyes twitching and hands moving. He was attempting to write an essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts. That was another problem; Snape was a total prick and it wasn't as if Nico wanted to do any work that bat assigned. So, he was in a bad mood. He scowled and rebelliously scribbled down another paragraph, glaring at the ink bottle next to him. As if in retaliation, it wobbled precariously on the edge of the table and Nico scrambled to catch it before it hit the pile of textbooks next to him. He swore rather loudly and froze when the librarian fixed him with her harsh gaze.

Madame Pince watched him hawkishly for a moment with narrowed eyes before slinking away into another aisle, muttering about idiot students mucking up her books.

Nico sighed explosively in relief before glowering at the ink bottle. He went back to his work, but he stiffened as he caught sight of a familiar bushy head of brown hair out of the corner of his eye. I swear, if she so much as looks at me funny, I'm out of here, he promised himself.

Hermione glanced at him before doing a double take. She took a deep breath and turned away, seemingly looking interested in all of the books in front of her, but Nico saw the tense line of her shoulders hunched near her ears.

He shifted unconsciously, twisting away from the girl, looking anywhere but at her. The tension was so icy and thick that you could cut it with a knife. Nearby students were staring at them in confusion, wondering why the heck the atmosphere had gotten so uncomfortable and dangerous. A couple of the more cowardly ones, fearful of an argument or worse, stood and left for safer places with their friends. Nico watched them, wishing he had the sense to go too, but he wasn't one to run away from things. No, he preferred clashing head-on and hard, damn the consequences. So, like the stubborn son of Hades that he was, he sat there and struggled to concentrate on his homework.

It was a couple minutes until she managed to speak to him.

"Hey Nico," Hermione greeted embarrassedly as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

Not quite looking into her eyes, Nico raised his head from his parchment and jerked a nod at her.

Styx, it was awkward.

"Listen, Nico, I –" but she cut herself off with a shuddering breath. She closed her eyes before continuing. "I know I haven't been the nicest to you…"

Nico snorted.

"… and I wanted to apologize for that," the girl said, ignoring his derisive sound. "I didn't like you because of – well, I can't really explain it. The way you held yourself, I suppose, just reminded me of Malfoy in all his pureblooded glory and it didn't really help when you'd make rude, spiteful comments and all that. You just rubbed me the wrong way at times. But I shouldn't have been so quick to judge and I'm sorry."

Nico evaluated her through lidded eyes. She seemed sincere enough. And he really needed to stop holding so many grudges. The olive branch path seemed like a good option. "Apology accepted. I kinda didn't like you that much either, so I'm sorry too. Truce?"

She looked relieved and smiled brightly. "Truce."

Nico turned back to his work and Hermione left him to his thoughts.

.

.

.

Luna sat next to him, slumping ungracefully onto the dining bench. It was lunchtime and Nico had been picking half-heartedly at his sandwich in the Great Hall when the loopy Ravenclaw had decided to sit next to him.

"Luna," murmured the demigod, sipping his pumpkin juice.

"Nico," greeted Luna with a dreamy smirk. She had pinned her dark blond hair up into a careless ponytail and her robes had been sloppily tossed on. She looked for all the world like a regular teenager with weird clothing on. But her eyes told a different story.

A short pause.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Nico started.

"The thestrals miss you," she answered with a quirked eyebrow.

"I visited them yesterday," he grinned at her.

"That's not a very valid excuse," she hummed. "They like you very much."

"Tell them I like them as well," he chuckled.

"Why don't you tell them that yourself?"

"I've been busy lately," he said vaguely.

"You told them about you being a demigod, didn't you?" Luna queried, interested.

"Who? The thestrals?"

Luna shook her head. "No. Harry and the others, of course. The thestrals already know."

Nico let out a short burst of sardonic laughter. "Yeah, I did. Not of my free will, of course. I had to get drugged in order to say anything about the Olympians, though. I think I said something about Percy and Bianca, too."

The girl inclined her body back, watching him. She then reached over the table and helped herself to some chicken, nibbling on her fork thoughtfully. "It could've been worse."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "How, exactly, could it have been worse?"

"You could've told them about the Fields of Punishment."

Suddenly, his sandwich didn't look so appetizing. "Yikes. Yeah, it could've been worse." Nico sighed and let his chin drop into his hand. He noticed vaguely that most of the Gryffindors were looking at Luna with disapproval in their eyes. He sneered angrily at one who looked like he was about to say something derogatory to the Ravenclaw. The boy averted his eyes quick enough and Nico grunted with satisfaction.

"Sometimes, you can be really scary. You know that, don't you?" said Luna, her voice soft and lilting as she noticed him glaring at the boy.

He breathed out heavily through his nose. "I have to be, Luna," he replied indifferently as he closed his eyes and tried to relax.

"Sure you do, Nico." Her tone would have probably been sarcastic if she had been born a normal person. "Sure you do."

"It's not a game, Luna," he scolded. "Being intimidating is a whole lot more useful than you'd think it'd be."

"Deters the monsters, I suppose," she teased quietly.

"Yes," he agreed before swigging his drink.

"You're looking a little pale, Nico," observed Luna casually. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Nico grinned wryly at her. "Don't I always? Seriously, I'm fine."

"Liar," she deadpanned.

"Worried about the trio and what they know," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken. "But fine."

Nico chewed on his sandwich and watched as Harry glanced at him from the other side of the table. The Boy-Who-Lived didn't look particularly hostile, just curious and a little cautious. Nico turned away; he wasn't ready to explain himself to the wizard just yet.

"They're going to start asking questions soon," Luna said, noticing where his eyes had gone. "You can't stop them from asking."

"Oh yeah," he murmured. "Watch me."

"Harry's probably told Dumbledore already," the girl continued.

"Luna," interrupted Nico. "I know you're worried and all, but let me handle it. It's not that big of a deal. Dumbledore already knows. You know that."

Luna bobbed her head slightly and tilted her head at him. "Okay, Nico. You keep telling me you're fine and I'll keep agreeing with you. But one day, you'll look back on this and wish you told me the truth." She stood up and began to walk away before turning back. "I'm always here if you need me."

Nico watched as she walked back to the Ravenclaw table. He felt a twinge of guilt for lying to the girl, but pushed it away stubbornly. He had other problems at the moment. He'd deal with his personal feelings later when he could afford to.

He got up from the dining table and strode out of the Great Hall gracefully, making sure that all the ghosts of Hogwarts were on the other side of the castle with his senses before moving to the Gryffindor Common Room. It was getting much warmer in early March than it was before in late February when he had fallen into the frozen lake. The air still had a little bite to it, but it was less severe than before and Nico was grateful for that. The warmish breeze ruffled his hair and he flattened it impatiently as he climbed the stairs three at a time, his feet barely brushing the steps before he leapt to the next one.

Nico skidded to a halt in front of the large portrait of the Fat Lady wearing a silk, pink dress. He said the password: "Veni Vidi Vici."*

The painting swung to the side, revealing the holed entrance to the Common Room hidden behind it and Nico crawled in the carpeted, hidden gap. Emerging from the tunnel, he stood and dusted himself off. He strolled leisurely across the living area to one of his favorite seats near the window. Perching on the cushioned arm offhandedly, he glanced out the pane and felt his eyebrows rise in curiosity.

Outside, the bowl-shaped purplish shield surrounding the castle that was the Hogwarts wards rippled and tightened. Small waves of energy surged through the semi-transparent barrier. Sickening yellow flashes of light erupted towards the edge of the ward and slammed into the magic protecting the school, but they just bounced off with no affect whatsoever. Angry screeches pierced the air and Nico winced, covering his ears.

"Dear God," he muttered. "What in Hades is that?"

"Death Eaters," answered a voice from behind him. Nico turned around to see Harry standing there leaning against the wall. The Chosen One sighed. "They've been trying to piece the wards apart to get inside. I say it's useless. Those protections are too old for them to really get anywhere."

Nico turned to frown at the yellow spells. "Useless or not, they're still here. That's a bad thing."

Harry laughed hollowly. "Tell me about it. I think they might've been interested in breaking into Hogsmeade too, but there are too many Aurors for them to take down." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration and Nico noted dully that it stuck up in black spikes when he did that.

The son of Hades turned back to the window. "I better alert Percy and the others about this," he muttered.

Harry looked at him curiously before turning away when Nico glanced at him. He knew the other boy had been avoiding him for the past few weeks and he didn't want to intrude on anything he shouldn't.

Nico frowned. It felt too awkward at the moment and he felt irritated with himself. He didn't want to avoid Harry for the rest of his stay at Hogwarts. It made him feel like a coward and he was anything but. "I know you're thinking it. Go on. Ask away," the demigod said after a short pause.

The wizard's eyes widened. "You sure?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Why not? I might as well get it over with now instead of dragging it out." He rolled off the arm of the chair and plopped onto the seat of the lounger, kicking up his feet onto the coffee table.

"Okay." Harry fell onto another couch opposite to Nico and steepled his fingers thoughtfully underneath his chin. "First question: Percy's a demigod. Who's his father?"

"Poseidon," Nico answered, letting his head lean back against the pillow supporting his spine.

The Boy-Who-Lived blinked. "Leo?"

"Hephaestus."

"Thalia?"

"Zeus."

Harry whistled lowly. "Impressive."

Nico smirked in amusement. "And being the son of Hades isn't?"

Harry grinned. "Of course it is. Much more scary though."

"If I had a drachma for every time I heard that one," Nico murmured. "Next."

"Why are you here?"

Nico shrugged. "A lot of the delegates in your government are pretty old fashioned. They didn't really trust me at first and decided that in order to put me to the test I'd have to be watched for a little while here. I passed the course. They signed the allegiance. Everything's pretty much worked out and we're helping you now. With fighting the Death Eaters I mean."

Harry looked at him thoughtfully. "You said you met Sirius. Do you know anyone else I might've known before they…?" he trailed off and gestured meaningfully with his hands.

"I know every single person who enters Elysium," said Nico conversationally. "I do the paperwork." His lips twitched wryly before stilling. "I… I don't usually meet them, the people who died. It's only writing up their files on a computer, after all. But I did meet Sirius and your parents when I was in heaven a couple weeks ago when I traveled to the Underworld to meet with my dad." It had been a short, extremely brief meeting for Nico and Hades. Not to mention, it had been very straining for the both of them, with their family problems in communicating and such. When Nico had recognized the Potters and Black sitting out on the porch of one of the many houses in Elysium, he had stopped and talked to them.

"It was after I started Hogwarts, of course. And it was an odd experience. It was like they knew I would meet you eventually. Lily was a very nice woman." He glanced at Harry to see the wizard clenching his fists. "I can stop if you want me to."

Harry shook his head and said calmly "I want to hear it."

"Hmm." Nico squinted at him and frowned but continued. "Lily was very polite, but Sirius and James were very… amusing." An eyebrow twitched slightly and Harry translated amusing to aggravating beyond belief. "A little too enthusiastic. Sirius missed you a lot too. And he told me to tell you to stop blaming yourself for his death." Harry smiled to himself, sad but pleased. "Thanks for telling me."

Nico shrugged. "It's the least I can do."

The silence that followed wasn't awkward in the slightest. Actually, it felt kind of comfortable for Harry. The weight that had been pressed on top of Harry's chest was now lifted away and the guilt that had been eating at his mind was now dispersed. He sighed and leaned back into the back of the couch.

Nico stood and walked towards the windowpane. The flashes of yellow light were coming in hard and fast now.

"Why aren't the Aurors dealing with them?" he asked Harry.

"They're at Hogsmeade, protecting the wizards there," he answered, frowning. "They can't really spare any more as it is."

"I really need to tell Percy," Nico said. He backed away from the window before turning on his heel and marching across the room.

"I don't think a letter will do much," Harry warned. "They take a while to be delivered and by then the Death Eaters will be long gone."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not sending an owl then, isn't it?" Nico snarked as he pulled out his wand from his robe sleeve. He cleared his throat before brandishing the wooden stick carefully before muttering something indecipherable under his breath.

What happened next was what Harry least expected.

A rainbow – a goddamned rainbow! – delicately spewed out of the tip of Nico's wand and arched into the air in front of him. It shimmered prettily in the air, the mixed colors looking rather – for lack of a better word – magical.

Harry blinked. "Uh…"

Nico ignored him and he pulled out a golden coin that glinted slightly in the light. He rubbed his fingers over the surface of the coin almost reverently before flipping the drachma into the rainbow. To Harry's surprise, the mist absorbed the coin before it managed to hit the ground.

Nico raised his arms and said loudly "O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my humble offering. Show me Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon."

Harry watched with wide eyes as the colors glittered and shimmered in front of them before melding together and swirling in the air. Then they pooled into individual parts of an image; an animated image, like the television the Dursleys had at Number Four Privet Drive.

The scene was of Percy. But this wasn't the laughing, happy-go-lucky Percy Harry had met over the holidays. This was a vicious, skilled swordsman slashing a glinting, bronze blade at snarling monsters. He was at a battlefield in Europe apparently. They couldn't see much of the background, but he was standing on dry, yellow grass that looked dehydrated and ugly. Nico watched indifferently as Percy beheaded a growling hellhound. The gold dust exploded over him and Harry winced as the dog disintegrated, howling in agony.

Percy's aqua-green eyes blinked away golden monster powder before turning to the Iris Message. "Nico!" Percy exclaimed in a surprised voice. "What the hell! You can't just IM me in –" but he was cut off when an empousa leapt at him. He parried the thrust the monster made at him easily before stabbing the thing in the stomach. As the creature wailed and shriveled into dust, he turned back to them. The son of Poseidon looked rather aggravated.
"What in Hades do you think you're doing!" he yelled.

Nico smirked. "Calling you."

Percy grumbled something that probably should've been censored before pouncing on yet another monster.

"Where are you?" shouted Nico over the clanging of metal against metal.

"South of England!" replied the other demigod as he smashed the hilt of his sword onto the skull of an enemy harpy. There was a foreboding cracking noise and Harry wrinkled his nose at the sight of black blood trickling from the side of the hag's head.

"I need you to do me a favor," continued Nico.

"As if I'm actually going to do you a freaking favor in the middle of a freaking fight; cute," Percy said sarcastically.

Nico opened his mouth to respond when there was the loud crackling sound of an explosion and the image shuddered for a moment. Static replaced Percy and then he was back, but the boy was lying on his belly, hand covering his head as a shower of dirt rained down on him.

The son of the sea turned to scream at someone they couldn't see. "GODDAMMIT, HECTOR! I TOLD YOU BEFORE AND I'LL TELL YOU AGAIN! THROW THE FREAKING GRENADE AT THE MONSTERS! THE MONSTERS, YOU IDIOT! NOT ME!"

Harry jumped at Percy's volume and traded a look with Nico as the other demigod twisted back to the rainbow.

"Now," the son of Poseidon said in a perfectly calm voice "you can see why I didn't want you to Iris Message me IN THE MIDDLE OF A FREAKING WAR!" His voice rose to a roar at the end of his little sentence.

Nico looked blatantly unimpressed. "Anger management, Percy. Anger management."

Harry gave him an incredulous look, as if to say are you seriously that insane?

Percy snorted as he dodged a rather pointy sword and stabbed the offending creature. "What do you want? And if it's something stupid, I swear, I'll murder you myself."

"We have a… little problem here," said Nico slowly, choosing his words very carefully.

"Boy-Who-Lived died?" asked Percy as he slashed at another monster.

Harry's eyes went wide. "Seriously?" he said to Nico with a raised eyebrow. "I'm right here!"

"I'll take that as a no, then."

Nico sighed exasperatedly as he ran a hand over his eyes tiredly. "Oh, Gods. Okay, the reason I called you is because we have a horde of Death Eaters trying to break through the Hogwarts wards and we need backup. The Aurors are preoccupied protecting Hogsmeade."

"I'm sorry, what? Hogs… what?"

"The town next to the magic school." The you moron went unsaid.

Percy frowned. "Well, I'm kinda busy at the moment, but I'll send Annabeth and her troops your way."

"Thanks, man. 'Cause if you don't send Annabeth, the Boy-Who-Lived will die."

* quoted directly from Julius Caesar; Latin for "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Booka: I know, I know. I'm horrible. Absolutely horrible. I really, really need to update faster. I'm SOO sorry.

Nico: On a brighter note, school's recently let out and all her finals are done.

Leo: Yay! Now she has no more excuses to her lateness and lack of updates!

Booka: *glares darkly*

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