As they walked back to the castle, Neville ended up next to Nico. "Sorry I doubted you," he said sheepishly.

Nico sighed. "It's okay. You're not the first friend ever to accuse me of trying to kill them. At least you didn't try to strangle me."

Neville eyed Nico askance. "I'm not sure I even want to know."

"In fairness, I did nearly get him killed…but I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, I definitely don't want to know," Neville decided.

Nico took a deep breath. "Look, Neville, you're right—I have been keeping secrets. It's nothing personal; I just…"

"You're afraid of people judging you?" Neville guessed.

"Plenty already do," Nico said with a grimace.

"I get it," Neville said quietly. "My…" He swallowed and took a deep breath. "My parents were tortured by You-Know-Who's followers, just a few days after Harry defeated him. They were tortured so badly they completely lost their minds. They've been in St. Mungo's ever since. I'm proud of them, but at the same time…it's not something I like to share."

Nico wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that. "I'm sorry," he finally replied.

"Thanks." Neville took another deep breath. "But the rest of my family keeps comparing me to them, and sometimes I just really want them to understand that I'm my own person, y'know? And you are too, Nico. No matter who…"

At that moment, a cloud shifted, and the group was suddenly bathed in light from the full moon. Lupin, Pettigrew and Ron stopped abruptly, and Snape collided with them. Sirius flung out an arm to block Harry and Hermione's path. Nico also stopped, wondering what was wrong—and then Lupin began shaking, and he understood.

"No killing!" Sirius hissed at Nico. "I'll handle this! The rest of you, run!" Harry tried to grab Ron, who was still chained to Pettigrew and Lupin, but Sirius hauled him away. "Leave it to me—RUN!"

Nico dragged both Neville and Hermione away while Sirius turned into the great black dog once again. Lupin growled and snarled, his transformation nearly complete. Ron was struggling with the chains, unable to get away. Nico quickly summoned his sword and sliced through the chains connecting Ron to Pettigrew. The magically-conjured chains evaporated, their magic drained by the sword. Nico dragged Ron towards the other students.

Meanwhile, the werewolf wrenched himself free of the other manacle. Sirius seized him around the neck and dragged him away from the others. Nico placed himself at the front of the group of students and kept his sword out—he wouldn't kill Lupin if he could help it, but he wasn't going to let Lupin hurt anyone either.

Then Pettigrew dived for Lupin's fallen wand. Nico quickly leveled his sword at Pettigrew instead, but Pettigrew cast a Disarming Charm and the sword went flying. Nico hurried to retrieve it while Pettigrew started casting curses at the other students. Nico finally found his sword right as he heard Harry cast a Disarming Charm of his own.

"Stay where you are!" Harry shouted. Nico whirled around just in time to see Pettigrew scurrying away, back in rat form. Nico and Harry both gave chase, but Nico tripped over the remains of the manacle that had bound Pettigrew to Lupin and he fell to the ground.

"Nico!" Hermione called, sounding frightened.

Nico looked over and saw both Ron and Neville lying unconscious. He hesitated, looking around for Pettigrew, but even his enhanced night vision wasn't much use when looking for a tiny rat in tall grass. He headed over to Hermione instead, transforming his sword and pulling out his flask of unicorn draught. He gave some first to Neville, then to Ron. Neither woke, but both stirred slightly.

There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Lupin was now fleeing into the Forest. Sirius was bleeding from several wounds. "Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry shouted. This seemed to galvanize Sirius, and he scrambled to his paws and raced across the grounds.

Harry came back over to Nico and Hermione. "What's wrong with them?"

"I don't know," Hermione said worriedly. "He didn't use an incantation, I don't know what spell it was…"

"I've given them some healing potion, but it usually takes a little while to take effect," Nico added.

Harry gave Nico a suspicious look. "I thought your healing stuff burned up us mere mortals."

Hermione and Nico both gave Harry strange looks before realizing he'd meant that last word sarcastically. "This potion is different, completely safe for all of you," Nico assured.

Harry looked around. Their only potential help was a still-unconscious Snape. "We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone. Come on…"

But then, they heard the unmistakable sounds of a dog in pain. Harry, Nico and Hermione all looked worriedly at their unconscious friends, then ran toward the sounds.

Hermione was the first to notice the unnatural cold. She grabbed Nico's arm. "Nico, you can't…"

Nico shook her off and kept going. "I wasn't going to let him get Kissed when I thought he was guilty and I'm definitely not going to let it happen now." Hermione reluctantly followed him.

The yelping stopped abruptly as they caught up to Harry and Sirius on the lake shore. Nearly a hundred dementors were gliding across the lake toward them. Harry drew his wand. "Hermione, think of something happy! Expecto patronum!"

"Expecto…expecto…" Hermione murmured weakly, but she couldn't think of anything happy. All she could think of was Nico's horrible memories of Tartarus, and the sight of him fading on the floor of the Hogwarts Express. She shot a worried look at him, wondering why he wasn't also trying to cast the spell.

Nico had fallen over and was clearly fighting to remain conscious, though he remained thankfully solid. "Stronger than…boggart…" he gasped out, feebly lifting his sword.

"Just use your wand and cast the spell!" Hermione urged.

"Can't," Nico muttered, looking at Sirius. Hermione followed his gaze to see Sirius clutching Nico's wand like a lifeline. She quickly dropped to her knees and wrested the wand from his unconscious grip. Then she carefully pulled the sword hilt out of Nico's hand, instantly turning it back into the ring. Her hand brushed Nico's, and she was thrown into another memory.

"What do you remember?" Professor McGonagall asked, grimacing.

"We…were…oh, dimenticalo," Nico muttered. He said something lengthy in Greek, which only Professor Dumbledore appeared to understand.

"He doesn't remember," Dumbledore explained to the other teachers, sighing. He looked back at Nico. "I'm sorry to have to tell you there has been another attack." He pulled back the curtain separating Nico's bed from its neighbor, revealing Hermione—completely Petrified.

The room instantly chilled and the candles blew out. "No," Nico growled, trying to get out of bed. Madam Pomfrey pushed him back down, but he threw her off and staggered over to Hermione's side. He gripped Hermione's wrist, an overpowering combination of panic and anger rising within him. "Bring her back!" he shouted in Italian. He followed this with something about his father. "Bring her back!"

Hermione jerked back to the present, swallowing hard. She could only think of one time she'd ever seen or heard Nico that upset before—the time she'd heard his memory of Bianca's death. It appeared that he held Hermione in nearly as high regard, and she felt slightly guilty that she'd been letting his memories scare her away. She had to do something to help him.

Hermione tried to shake Nico back awake, gripping his shoulder through his shirt and avoiding his bare skin. He did not stir, and Hermione herself was growing weaker. Foggily, she saw Harry still trying to cast the Patronus Charm. He'd conjured a faint wisp of glowing silver mist, but he seemed to be weakening too.

And then she thought of the Patronus he'd cast at the Quidditch match, and it hit her. "Stag," she gasped out. "Harry—your Patronus—stag—" He looked at her, uncomprehending. "Your father, Prongs—stag—"

A look of realization came over Harry's face, and he shouted the incantation once more. Hermione caught a glimpse of a dazzling silver animal before she, too, passed out.


Nico came to in the hospital wing. Curtains had been pulled around his bed, and Neville was sitting at his side with the canteen of unicorn draught. Neville heaved a sigh of relief when Nico opened his eyes. "Good, you're awake."

"The dementors…" Nico said groggily. "What happened?"

"Harry managed to cast a Patronus and send them all away," Neville explained. "And you stayed completely solid, in case you were wondering."

"Oh…good." Nico pushed himself up to a sitting position. "What about Sirius?"

Neville cast a nervous look around the edge of the curtain. "Apparently, as soon as Snape came around, he took Black prisoner and brought him to the Minister of Magic."

"What's the Minister of Magic doing here?" Nico demanded, bewildered.

"He was here for the appeal…didn't you meet him then?"

"I didn't actually catch the names of any of the Ministry wizards other than Malfoy's father," Nico admitted.

Neville grimaced. "Anyway, Harry said they locked Black in Flitwick's office. Harry tried to explain things to the Minister, but Snape has Fudge convinced we were all Confunded. Harry got sent to the hospital wing with the rest of us. Ron and I came around about ten minutes ago, but Hermione still hasn't woken." Neville handed Nico his ring. "She had this."

"Thanks." Nico put it back on. "So…are they still going to have Sirius Kissed?"

"Any minute now," Neville said worriedly. He took a deep breath. "Look, about what Hermione said on Halloween…I didn't entirely understand what I overheard, but I could swear she said something about you being able to Apparate in Hogwarts. I think that might be the only way to save Sirius now."

Nico grimaced. "I don't Apparate. What I do is a different sort of magic altogether, and it's dangerous. The reason I was in such bad shape at the start of the year is that I did far too much of it over the summer. I haven't done it since."

"But could you do it to save Sirius?"

"I could, but if I haven't recovered as much as I hope I have, I might end up killing us both." Nico paused, frowning. "Then again, you say I stayed solid despite all those dementors, so clearly I've come a long way. And if worst comes to worst, better dead than Kissed." He grabbed the canteen of unicorn draught and took a long drink. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Neville replied.

Nico stood up, walked over to the curtain and vanished into its shadow.


He reappeared in a corner of Flitwick's office. He staggered slightly, but to his immense relief, he didn't feel like he was about to pass out.

Sirius leaped out of his chair, looking utterly shocked. "Nico! What—how—"

"No time," Nico replied. He took another drink of unicorn draught just to be safe. "We need to get out of here."

"But how…" Sirius was cut off when Nico grabbed his arm, dragged him into the nearest shadow and vanished again.


This time, they reappeared in the Forbidden Forest. Nico staggered again and leaned against the nearest tree, feeling far more drained this time. He took another drink of unicorn draught.

"What…how…what did you just do?" Sirius demanded, looking down at himself like he couldn't quite believe what had just happened.

"Shadow travel," Nico explained, slightly out of breath. "I'd have taken you farther, but I'm a little low on strength and I could kill us both if I overexert myself."

"What on earth is shadow travel?" Sirius asked, baffled.

"I can transport myself just about anywhere using shadows. It's a family thing."

Sirius stared. "Who are you?"

"Now really isn't the time." Nico looked around, knowing this clearing was frequented by thestrals. Sure enough, he spotted a nearby pair of eyes gleaming in the moonlight. A few moments later, the thestral emerged from the trees and sniffed Nico. Nico stroked the thestral's nose and spoke to him. "Do you think you could help my friend here?"

The thestral whinnied. Nico decided to take that as a yes and turned back to Sirius. "Can you see him?"

"Yes."

"Climb on, then."

Sirius hoisted himself onto the thestral, then looked down at Nico. "What about the others? Are they all right?"

"They're all fine," Nico assured.

"How can I ever repay you for this?"

A ghost of a smile crossed Nico's face. "Now that you mention it, there is something I believe you can help with. I hereby grant you permission to enter Camp Half-Blood."

"What's…"

"Tell them Nico di Angelo sent you. They can explain things when you get there." Nico turned to the thestral. "Camp Half-Blood on Long Island. Go."

The thestral reared and began flapping his wings. "Wait," Sirius called, leaning forward. The thestral settled back onto all fours. "Tell Harry I'll see him again. He truly is his father's son."

Nico nodded. "I will."

"And be nice to Moony; he really is a good werewolf, I promise."

"I believe you." Nico adopted a wry look. "Don't worry, the werewolf I killed last summer was equally bent on killing me in both human and wolf forms. I don't hate all werewolves on principle."

Sirius looked somewhat relieved to hear that, and he nodded. "Take care, Nico." He dug his heels into the thestral's side, and the thestral took off. Nico watched until they had cleared the treetops. Then he vanished into the shadows one more time.


Neville watched Nico's empty bed, anxiously awaiting the latter's reappearance. Periodically, he checked to make sure no one had noticed Nico's absence. Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey was far more preoccupied with Harry and Ron, who were being very argumentative.

At last, Nico reappeared and collapsed onto his bed. He weakly drained his canteen of healing potion.

"How'd it go?" Neville demanded.

"He got away safely," Nico said drowsily. Moments later, he passed out.

Neville pulled the curtain back, hoping nobody would ask questions about why he'd drawn it. Then he noticed Hermione stirring, and he walked over to her bed. "Hey."

"Hey," she murmured groggily.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over and set down a large slab of chocolate. "Oh good, you're awake."

"What…what's going on?" Hermione asked.

"It's all right," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly. "They've got Black, he's locked away upstairs, they'll be performing the Kiss any moment…"

"WHAT!?" Hermione exclaimed, shooting upright.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Not you too."

Moments later, the door burst open, and Snape and Cornelius Fudge walked in. "Is everything all right?" Fudge asked, concerned.

"It seems Miss Granger is still under the effects of the Confundus Charm as well," Madam Pomfrey explained.

"I'm not Confunded!" Hermione protested. "Black is innocent, you've got the wrong man…"

"Give it a rest, Hermione, the spell will wear off in a few minutes," Neville said loudly. He tried to subtly jerk his head in Nico's direction and he gave Hermione a pointed look.

Sadly, Hermione didn't seem to understand. "How can you say that?! You were there, you saw it all, same as me!" Harry and Ron shot Neville similar looks of mingled confusion and anger.

"Trust me, everything will be fine," Neville insisted.

"There, listen to your friend," Madam Pomfrey said approvingly, stuffing a piece of chocolate into Hermione's mouth. She turned to the other adult wizards. "Forgive me, Minister, but these children need care. Please leave."

Fudge consulted a large gold pocket watch. "The dementors will be arriving any minute now. I'll go and meet them." He left, followed by Snape.

Hermione swallowed her mouthful and gave Neville an appraising look. "Snape must have Confunded you."

"He hasn't had the chance," Harry said bitterly. "Neville was fine a few minutes ago, and Snape hasn't been in here until now!"

"You see? Neville is the only one of you who is not Confunded right now," Madam Pomfrey said patiently, giving Hermione more chocolate and watching like a hawk to make sure she ate it.

Neville walked over to Harry and Ron and lowered his voice. "I know Sirius is innocent, but we're never going to convince Snape or the Minister. Don't worry, Nico took care of it."

Harry gave Neville a flat look. "Maybe you are Confunded. Nico hasn't even woken up yet."

"Yes, he has. He did more ward-defying stuff to sneak out while you were busy arguing with Madam Pomfrey, and it tired him out. Sirius will be fine, I swear."

Harry and Ron shared a look. "You'd better be right, Neville," Ron growled.


Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard a distant roar of fury somewhere above them. Angry voices grew louder and louder until at last Snape burst into the hospital wing, shouting at Harry and accusing him of helping Sirius escape. Snape was followed by Fudge and Dumbledore, both of whom looked baffled, though Dumbledore did not appear particularly concerned. He calmly pointed out that neither Harry nor any of the other students had left Madam Pomfrey's watchful eye, and therefore they clearly were not complicit in Black's escape. Snape eventually stormed away. Dumbledore talked to Fudge about withdrawing the dementors from the school, then Fudge also left, muttering about becoming a laughingstock once the story got out.

"Professor…do you have any idea how Sirius escaped?" Harry asked cautiously.

"I'm afraid I haven't the faintest idea," Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling. "But I dare say Wormtail will have to stay on his guard."

"You believe us?" Harry asked, raw hope in his tone.

Dumbledore winked at Harry. "I believe Black is no longer a danger to you."

Harry heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Professor." Dumbledore nodded, then left.

Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey had gone over to check on Nico. "Should be awake by now," she muttered. She reached out to feel his forehead and immediately frowned. "Cold as ice again? Boy was warmer than this twenty minutes ago…"

Hermione's eyes widened and she shot Neville a look of understanding. He nodded back at her.

Harry frowned at Nico, then looked back to Neville. "Nico really did free Sirius?"

"Told you."

Ron gave Nico a considering look. "He may be weird, but he really is a good bloke underneath it all."


A/N: Sorry, exonerating Sirius was never part of the plan for Prisoner of Azkaban.