Nico

The rest of the week passed by without any incidents, thankfully. The only interesting thing that happened was when some murderer who had escaped from the wizarding prison was spotted in London, but Nico couldn't care less.

This quest was getting a bit boring, seeing as his only job was to observe the wizards and see if they're a threat or not and what theyre up to; well no one was telling him anything and he could only observe so much before falling asleep.

He was snapped out of his monochrome thoughts by Malfoy slumping down next to him in the Slytherin table.

Malfoy looked moodier than usual, he had bags under his eyes and his hair didn't look as well tended as usual, so Nico asked him what was wrong.

"Father wants me to go back to the mansion for Christmas break." Even his voice was hoarse, like he had been screaming.

Nico was confused. Why would Malfoy be upset about that? From what he knew Malfoy went back to his house for all holidays; why would this one be different?

This was certainly interesting.

"What's wrong with that?" Nico asked cautiously.

Malfoy looked at him for a long moment. His look wasn't cold; it wasn't suspicious or mocking. He looked genuinely tired.

"We have some… guests over that I'm not really fond of."

Nico nodded, although he knew Draco was hiding something. It didn't matter though because soon Percy came into the hall and waved Nico over to the entrance, where he was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"What's up?" Nico asked as soon as he was in Percy's hearing range.

"Dude! You know this Hogsmeade trip tomorrow right? Well Thalia just IM'd me and told me that her and a few of the hunters are in good ol' Scotland doing something for lady A and that she could come see us in the 'tiny wizard city'!"

Nico perked up. It had been months since he last saw Thalia, and seeing her would be a break from this quest for both he and Percy. Although there was one thing he didn't quite understand.

"That's awesome! But how does Thalia know of our quest? Or wizards?"

"huh. I don't know?" the way Percy said it made it look more like a question.

"What don't you know?" Harry asked as he and his friends came into the great hall.

"Nothing." They said in synch, which was a bit creepy and very suspicious.

"Anyway, Percy. What are your plans for Hogsmeade tomorrow? You and Nico can come hangout with us if you want. We're going to the three broomsticks –which is a bar- and then were just gonna wander around aimlessly. It'll be fun!" Noah said quickly and cheerfully. Nico wanted to decline, say 'no thank you, but we have other plans.' but before he could even open his mouth, Percy said "Sure!"

Nico groaned internally but managed to give them a weak smile before turning around and walking towards the Slytherin table. He still hadn't had his precious breakfast.

Malfoy looked at him as he sat down, taking in his change of mood.

"What happened?"

"Just found out that my cousin is going to visit us in Hogsmeade. Bad news is Percy agreed to hang out with Potter and his friends, which means I have to socialize with people who think I'm evil."

Malfoy nodded. "you can come hang out with me and Nate if you want, we're going to the three broomsticks."

Nico's ears perked up. Malfoy and potter in the same bar? That's going to be interesting.

"Thanks." Nico nodded.

Harry

Harry was nervous.

Hermione had arranged a meeting in one of Hogsmeades old bars for the people who wanted to learn actual defense against the dark arts. Noah had suggested that they visit the three broomsticks first, so that it wouldn't be suspicious when a group of teenagers went straight to an isolated bar. They had also invited Percy and Nico, although Harry was very reluctant of inviting a Slytherin to their meeting, he knew that there would be no Percy without Nico. And they needed Percy.

Speaking of Percy..

"Get up." Harry grumbled sleepily as he shoved Percy and made a beeline for the bathroom. It was Sunday morning, and they were going to leave for Hogsmeade soon. They couldn't be late.

After about 15 minutes of Percy cursing whoever invented early mornings, they were ready to go meet everyone in the great hall, just as planned.

"You look awfully happy, what's up?" Ron asked Percy as they were going down to the hall.

"Oh you'll see." He replied mischievously, which only made Harry more suspicious. Percy being happy this early in the morning was not normal. At all.

They met up with Hermione, Noah and Nico at the entrance of the great hall and they all started walking towards Hogsmeade.

Harry noticed that Nico also looked cheerful. On the way, Percy and Nico were talking in hushed voices a few paces in front of them, so they started discussing their plans for the meeting. Hermione said that she had only invited a few people, but Harry doubted that.

When they got to the three broomsticks, Noah ordered all of them butterbeers.

"The fuck is a butterbeer? Is it butter flavored beer? Cause that does not sound appealing.." Percy rambled as they sat down.

"No, mate. It's not butter flavored beer. It's delicious." Ron answered him.

Harry was about to take the first sip of his precious, sweet butterbeer when the door to the pub banged open, as if someone had kicked it real hard, and a girl came in and yelled "Kelp-head! Sunshine!"

Harry was startled, to say the least. But what shocked him more was when both Percy and Nico yelled "Thalia!" and ran to the girl, engulfing her in a group hug. Harry looked around the table and to his relief, he wasn't the only one who was surprised.

The girl looked around their age, with short, spiky black hair, a pretty face and almost-punk clothes. The only thing out of place was a silver tiara like thing she had on her hair.

Finally, the group broke apart and they started walking towards the table.

"Guys, this is Thalia. She's our cousin, and she's visiting here with a few of her friends. Thalia, these are Harry, Hermione, Ron and Noah." Percy introduced them.

Noah was the first one who snapped out of his shock. "Welcome to England!"

That seemed to bring everyone out of their trance, and the all greeted her and made room for her to sit. From up close, Harry could see that she had electric blue eyes.

"So, Thalia, do you go to the same school as Percy and Nico?" Hermione asked kindly, though Harry could see she was wary of Thalia. He couldn't blame her, she had an intimidating aura.

"Nope. I'm homeschooled, kind of. My half-sister teaches me stuff as we travel around for her work." Thalia answered smoothly. She then turned to Nico and Percy, ignoring everyone else.

"How are things back home? Everyone alright? How's Reyna? And Jason? Annabeth? Gods, I've missed everyone, I should visit more." She asked rapidly, not waiting for an answer.

Harry was getting more and more confused and he wanted some answers. The only thing he knew was that Annabeth was Percy's girlfriend.

"Who are Reyna and Jason?" he asked before either of them could answer.

"Reyna is our friend and Jason is Thalia's brother. And to answer your question, they're both good. Reyna misses you though, IM her when you get the chance." Nico answered.

"What's up with the nicknames?" Noah asked curiously. Harry was wondering that too. Sunshine was not a normal nickname for Nico, after all.

Thalia smiled, as if remembering old memories.

"Well, as you all may have noticed by now, although Percy is very smart, he's not the brightest of blokes," she was interrupted by Percy protesting but she shushed him and continued on "and sunshine is a very significant persons nickname for Nico, and it kinda stuck with me."

Harry wondered what Thalia meant by a very significant person. Did Nico have a girlfriend back home?

They continued chatting lightly for a while.

"Well, sunshine, kelp-head, lady A told me I can only hang here for around half an hour otherwise we'll fall behind our schedule." Thalia explained as she got up. the boys nodded in understanding and also stood up to say goodbye. Thalia waved the rest of the group goodbye as she left the pub.

As soon as they both sat down, the door to the pub opened again and in walked in Ferret and his sidekick.

At just the sight of them, Harrys blood boiled. They waved at Nico, and Nico waved back but didn't get up to go sit with them. What surprised Harry was that the ferret didn't make any snarky comments about Harry or his friends. He didn't even look at them. Weird.

"your cousin was really cool. And pretty." Ron told Percy and Nico, ignoring Malfoy.

"Yeah, sorry to crush your dreams loverboy, but she doesn't date anyone." Nico said with a slight hint of a smile. Ron looked like Christmas had been canceled. Poor Ron.

"You must miss your friends back home, from what I've heard you guys are all really close." Hermione said gently, though Harry guessed she was looking for more information about them.

"yeah. Some… unfortunate things happened a few months ago that made everyone really close and attached to each other. I can't wait for the holidays, where I'll be able to see them again." Percy said wistfully. At this moment, Harry remembered something Sirius had said about wanting to meet the mysterious transfer students and blurted out "you guys should come to my godfathers' house for Christmas break. You can invite your friends, that way we'll also get to meet them. And you won't have to travel all the way back to America again!"

Silence.

Everyone was looking at Harry incredulously. Percy and Nico's looks were more like 'are you serious right now' And Hermione and Ron's looks were like 'you are such a dumbass! Why would you invite them to your godfather's house when he's allegedly a serial killer?!'

The only person not looking at him weirdly was Noah, who was calmly sipping his butterbeer and looking over at Malfoy and his friend.

"That… is very kind of you, Harry. Thank you! I'll call them and see if they can come once we get back to the castle." Said Percy after a few moments of silence. Harry nodded and smiled slightly, panicking on the inside.

Heyo.

So, sorry for not updating this for like two years, I had lost motivation but someone commented and my motivation came back full force :D

So, please comment and tell me what you think? Or if you have any questions and suggestions. Also you can DM me anytime to just talk about anything :)

Bye!