The first morning after the holidays, Nico was accosted by Harry and Ron at breakfast. "Where's Leo?" Ron demanded.

"New York," Nico said irritably, not looking up from his toast.

"Why didn't he come back with you?" Ron pressed.

Nico huffed in annoyance. "It was his idea not to come back, and to my knowledge he is alive and well. I could tell you exactly why he decided to stay behind, but you're not going to believe me no matter what I say, so I think I'll save my breath."

Ron opened his mouth, thought about it for a moment, then closed it again. "You know what, you're right. I don't believe you." He and Harry walked away.

Fred and George scooted closer. "We'll listen. Where the hell is Leo?"

Nico sighed. "Long story short, he's working on a massive project that will hopefully save the world. And give him the chance to avenge his mother."

"Something to do with Dirt Woman?" Fred asked.

"Oh, he's told you about that, has he? Yes, Dirt Woman is causing problems. Very big problems."

"Anything we can do to help?" George offered.

Nico shook his head. "No, but thanks. Dirt Woman kind of has a personal grudge against our family."

"Good luck. Hope Leo kicks her arse." The twins returned to their own conversation.

Several weeks later, Hermione pulled a wrapped package out of her bag during dinner and handed it to Nico. "Happy birthday."

Nico stared at Hermione. "How did you know? I've never told anyone my birthday, not even Hazel."

"It was at the end of that article," Hermione explained. "Dates of birth and death for you, your mother and your sister."

"Dates of death?" Neville asked, overhearing. "Why would you have a date of death?"

Nico jumped, then sighed. "You remember I told you my dad erased my sister's and my memories after our uncle tried to kill us? The murder attempt involved blowing up our hotel and killing everyone inside. Since no one could find Bianca and me afterwards, the authorities assumed we'd been killed in the blast."

Neville frowned. "He killed everyone inside? Your uncle sounds like a horrible person."

Nico glanced upwards. "Better not to discuss it. I've got nothing good to say about him."

Neville dropped the subject. "Well, happy birthday, anyway."

"Go on, open your present," Hermione encouraged.

Nico pulled open the wrappings to reveal…a book, not in Greek. "Hermione, you do know I'm dyslexic and don't generally read for fun?"

"I know," Hermione assured. "I didn't give it to you for reading. Open it."

Nico opened the book. It was full of pictures of Venice throughout the ages, from Renaissance paintings to recent photographs.

"I thought you might be interested to see how it's changed since you left," Hermione explained.

Neville shifted for a better look at the book. "Venice, a Reflection of the Years…so, you're from Venice?"

"Yes."

Neville furrowed his brow. "I thought you only left Italy a few years ago. How much could it have changed?"

Nico closed the book and stuffed it into his bag. "I'll find out."

Hermione's face suddenly lit up. "Wait a minute. Reflection. Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Think of what?" Nico asked.

"My mirror. Maybe we can use it to find some clues!" Hermione stood up, looking excited.

"You want to come?" Nico offered to Neville.

Neville swallowed nervously. "I'm good, thanks."

Hermione led Nico out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. "So, where are we starting?" Nico asked.

"The hospital wing," Hermione answered. "I want to get a look at the victims. Keep an eye out for Madam Pomfrey, will you?"

"Sure," Nico agreed.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the hospital wing. Once Nico confirmed that the coast was clear, Hermione snuck inside and approached the nearest victim—Justin. She examined him with her mirror and found that his eyes faintly reflected the image of a yellow, slit-pupiled eye. The very sight of it made her feel strangely feverish and ill. She quickly looked away, deciding it might not be good for her health to check the other victims' eyes.

Outside the hospital wing, Hermione related her finding to Nico. "Makes sense," he said thoughtfully. "People turned to stone when they saw Medusa. But we know she's not the monster, and that eye could belong to any number of beasts."

"Let's check out the Heir's message next," Hermione decided, leading Nico away.

The ominous message was less helpful. According to the mirror, it was exactly what it looked like—tall, blood-red words written on a wall.

"You know, maybe the entrance is somewhere nearby," Nico suggested. "Keep looking around?"

Hermione spent several minutes examining the entire corridor. "Nothing here," she eventually concluded. "Maybe in Myrtle's bathroom?"

"Oh come on, who would hide a secret monster lair in a bathroom?" Nico scoffed. "And wouldn't Myrtle notice?"

"Not to insult her, but I get the impression she spends most of her time hiding in her toilet and crying. Come on."

Nico reluctantly followed Hermione into the bathroom. "Myrtle?" he called.

Myrtle drifted out of her stall. "Oh, you brought a friend."

"Yes." Nico paused when he sensed Harry entering the corridor outside, but he decided to ignore it. "You haven't seen anything suspicious in here, have you?"

"Do girls coming in and insulting me count?"

"That's rather rude of them, but I don't think it qualifies as suspicious." Nico turned to Hermione. "See?"

"I'm still going to look around," Hermione decided. She pulled out her mirror and began looking at the stalls. Myrtle returned to her toilet.

On the other side of the wall, Harry came closer. Then the doorknob rattled. Nico quickly grabbed Hermione and melted into the shadows of the nearest stall right as the door opened.

They reappeared in a nearby empty classroom. Nico sagged against a nearby wall, exhausted from the strain of bringing Hermione with him. Hermione staggered and collapsed into the nearest chair, shivering.

"That…was terrifying," she said weakly. "Please don't do that again."

"Sorry," Nico apologized. "I won't…unless it's a matter of life and death, anyway."

"Fine," Hermione conceded. "Was that…was that the Underworld we passed through?"

"No, that was…actually, I don't know what that was. Some shadow dimension, maybe. I've never really thought about it."

Once they had caught their breath, they left the classroom. Ginny rounded a corner and approached them, looking unusually cheerful. "Hello! Wonderful evening, isn't it?"

"Uh…yes, I suppose," Hermione agreed, confused. "What's put you in such a good mood?"

"Oh, I just did something I should have done a long time ago, that's all." Ginny turned to Nico. "Oh, and happy birthday!" She tried to hug him, but he quickly backed away.

"I'm fine, thanks. And how did you know?"

Ginny shrugged. "Neville."

Nico sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Great. Does the whole school know now?"

Ginny shook her head. "I don't think so. What are you hanging around in an empty corridor for, anyway? It's your birthday, you should be celebrating!"

"I'm not really big on celebrations," Nico said stiffly.

"Oh, come on," Ginny urged. "Let's go to the common room, I bet Fred and George could do something really fun for you!"

She skipped away in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. Nico and Hermione shared a bewildered look, then gave up and followed her. They were too tired to bother investigating further, anyway.

In the following days, Nico could swear that Harry was giving off a stronger sense of evil than usual. He kept staying up late in order to avoid entering the dormitory he shared with Harry. On the bright side, there had been no further attacks since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. School morale was improving.

When Nico went to breakfast on February 14th, he found the Great Hall decked out in lurid pink flowers while heart-shaped confetti fell from the ceiling. He sat next to Hermione and brushed confetti off his plate. "Did Aphrodite throw up in here?" he complained.

Hermione shook her head, giggling, and pointed to the teachers' table. Lockhart had just stood up, wearing bright pink robes that matched the flowers. He waved a hand for attention and encouraged them all to get into the Valentine's Day spirit. To that end, he introduced about a dozen surly-looking dwarves dressed as cherubs. Apparently, they would be delivering valentines throughout the day.

"Kill me now," Nico muttered.

"Don't say that, Nico, some Greek monster is going to take you literally," Hermione reproached.

"Don't care. I'd rather be in the Underworld than…here."

"Why, scared a girl will flirt with you?" Hermione said teasingly.

Nico edged away from her. "I don't need a girlfriend, thanks."

"Don't worry, I wasn't offering," Hermione assured, still amused. She glanced in Ron's direction, then turned slightly pink and began eating very quickly.

Throughout the day, dwarves kept barging into class to deliver valentines, much to the teachers' annoyance. Nico became increasingly tempted to summon his sword and cut off the dwarves' heads…or at least destroy their harps. Then, to his horror, a dwarf walked up to him during Potions.

"Valentine for Nico di Angelo," the dwarf said gruffly.

"You must be mistaken," Nico said stiffly, stirring his potion.

"No, my instructions were very clear," the dwarf insisted.

Snape cleared his throat. "Mr. di Angelo, just accept the valentine so that we can get on with the lesson."

Nico reluctantly took the valentine and shoved it into his pocket without looking at it.

"Read it," the dwarf commanded.

"Fine!" Nico pulled the valentine back out. It was a black heart with a red border, decorated with ghosts and skulls. There was a message in dyslexia-friendly white writing.

Hermione looked over his shoulder. "To the ghost who stole my heart, happy Valentine's Day."

Nico shoved the valentine back into his pocket and glared at the dwarf. "Happy now?"

"Good enough." The dwarf walked back out of the classroom, twanging his harp.

Nico rounded on Hermione. "That wasn't funny!"

"What, you think that was from me?" Hermione responded, taken aback.

"Who else would it be?" Nico retorted.

"I don't know, but it wasn't me!" Hermione looked around and saw that the entire class was watching them. It was clear that no one believed her, including Professor Snape. "It wasn't, I swear!"

"If we could get back to work now…" Snape commanded, the corners of his mouth twitching in what might have been a smile. The class reluctantly returned their attention to their cauldrons.

"I mean it, Nico, I swear on the Styx!" Hermione hissed.

"Fine," Nico relented, looking even grumpier than usual.

As soon as Potions ended, Nico pulled away from the group and shadow-traveled to the Underworld, intending to remain there for the rest of the day. The dead might bow and scrape, but they never tried to give him valentines.

By dinnertime, Nico still had not reappeared. Luna walked up to Hermione at the Gryffindor table. "Where's Nico?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "Someone gave him a valentine during Potions, and he's been hiding ever since."

"He's hiding?" Luna repeated, sounding hurt.

"Yes, he…oh." Hermione trailed off as she realized what was going on. "Don't take it personally, Valentine's Day really isn't his thing. And he especially hates being the center of attention."

"Oh…okay." Luna looked rather downcast. "I guess I'll see him later, then."

Hermione gave her a small smile. "It was a sweet gesture, just…not the best way to go about it."

Luna nodded. "I understand. I, uh…I'd better go eat."

After several hours of staring at the River Lethe and wishing that Bianca was still alive, Nico finally decided to risk going back to school. He reappeared on his bed and immediately sensed Harry's presence. His curtains were open, and he almost panicked when he realized Harry might have seen him appear—but then he noticed that the room was empty.

Curious now, Nico cautiously approached Harry's bed. The evil presence was emanating from a vaguely-familiar diary that lay open on the covers. Nico picked it up for a closer look and saw a name written on it—a name that looked suspiciously like "Tom".

Before Nico could decipher the last name, the book opened of its own accord and he dropped it. Harry flew out from the pages and landed spread-eagled on his bed. His eyes were wide, as if he'd just discovered something shocking.

"What in Tartarus is that?" Nico demanded, nodding at the book.

Harry started and quickly hid the book under his pillow. "Quite possibly the biggest clue I've found so far, which means I'm not letting you anywhere near it. And what is Tartarus, anyway?"

"A place worse than hell. Pray you never get sucked into its depths."

Nico returned to his own bed, making a mental note to investigate further when Harry wasn't around. That diary looked suspiciously like the one from his dream…and he wasn't entirely convinced that the evil presence was coming solely from Harry.