"You have been taught how to duel. Harry Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness. "We bow to each other. Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed. . . . Dumbledore would like you to show manners. . . . Bow to death, Harry. . . . "

Bow to death. The wording ran over Nico's body as his blood dripped into his mother's hands. She was wrapping the wound in something, trying to stop the blood, but all he could feel was the pain and fear.

"Very good," said Voldemort softly. "And now you face me, like a man. . . straight-backed and proud, the way your father died. . . .And now - we duel. "

Nico knew Harry couldn't win in a duel against Voldemort, even if the latter hadn't used his body in years. He peeked around the gravestone and followed all of Harry's movements, did everything he could to help him without Voldemort or Maria noticing.

Mama...what have you become?

Voldemort raised his wand. Harry flung himself to the side, almost too slow, but a jut from a shadow got him behind a headstone in time. Nico immediately felt the impact using his powers had on his failing body, felt the blood soak his mother's hands.

"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," said Voldemort's soft, cold voice, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry. . . come out and play, then. . . it will be quick. . . it might even be painless. . . I would not know. . . I have never died. . . . "

Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face around the headstone. Harry stood up, gripped his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort.

Voldemort was ready. As Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Voldemort cried, "Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Harry's - they met in midair. Nico closed his eyes against the bright light and focused his energy on Harry, tried to give him everything he had.

Persephone, Hecate, father, please let this work, Nico prayed. Transfer my energy to his.

"Do nothing!" Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters. "Do nothing unless I command you!"

Nico could feel the sweat dripping from his face almost as heavily as the blood now. He could feel death in a way he hadn't before, not in Tartarus nor in that jar, in a way so sensitive and intimate he'd never be able to explain it. A bittersweet feeling, a cycle being completed.

"NOW!" Harry yelled.

Nico broke out of the acceptance he held and looked up as he felt Maria flinch beside him. Harry was running across the graveyard, knocking Death Eaters aside, zigzagging away from curses between headstones. Nico used the shadows to propel him forward, to keep him moving faster, faster...

Harry reached Cedric's body, flung himself down beside it, and screamed "Accio!" with his wand pointed toward the cup. In seconds it was in his hand, and both he and the dead Hufflepuff were nowhere to be found.

Nico didn't believe his eyes for a minute or two, only watched in stunned silence as Voldemort screamed into the night. His vision was almost gone and his breaths were almost too painful to draw, but Harry had gotten out alive and had gotten out without seeing his face, at that. Nico wanted to smile but couldn't find the energy.

"Leave," Maria commanded. "I will deal with him and be in contact with you shortly. Go, save your life before he loses something else tonight."

Nico didn't need to be told twice. He looked down at the bracelet Dominic had gotten him and clicked the button, hoping beyond hope that it worked. That Anubis would be able to shadow travel him out. A minute went by of only Voldemort's yelling and anger, no Anubis, his mother moving away from his side. Another moment without her by his side, the cold settling in, and then he finally saw Anubis appear from a shadow a few yards away.

"Anubis..." Nico used the last of his strength to put his fingers to his lips and whistle. He saw the half hellhound bound over to him, and then he slipped into the darkness.

When Nico came to, his first thought was that he did in fact die, that Anubis hadn't gotten him to help in time. He could feel the dead nearby, could feel the cold. When he opened his eyes, he saw he was on his bed in the Underworld.

The first thing he did was fly a hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath his skin and letting himself sink into the bed in relief. Yes, he was willing to die to save. But that didn't mean he wanted to.

His heart was beating, thankfully, and he knew blood was running through his veins. He was shirtless, his stomach wrapped in thick sheets of gauze and whatever else his healer used. He wasn't sure why he was in the Underworld of all places, but it was safe when he needed to feel it.

He'd have nightmares about that graveyard for awhile. He wondered how Harry would hold up.

After a few agonizing tries, Nico managed to rise to his feet. He swayed, feeling the effect of the blood loss, but didn't fall. There was no way he was going to risk using his powers, but he needed to know what happened. So he made his way out of his room and through the castle.

He didn't get far before he noticed Persephone's presence walking beside him, her black gown dragging across the floor as they moved through the dark hallway.

"You should be laying down," she advised. "You were too close to death for any of our liking."

Nico steadied himself against the wall. "How long have I been out?"

"Twenty-four hours. That pet of yours brought you here, and we saw it fitting to keep you here, somewhere you could rest and heal without anyone taking a notice." Persephone moved a hand, and suddenly the shadows brought them back to his room. He took the chance to sit, leaning back against the wall and steadying his breathing.

"I have to get back soon," Nico insisted. "Cedric...that's one Hufflepuff down. If they see I'm not there, too... Or worse, they're going to think I was in on it!"

"Have you forgotten you grew up a Weasley?" Persephone asked. "They won't think you're in on it. It's like saying Harry Potter's in on it."

Nico shrugged and looked down at his bandaged stomach. "Did I hit an organ?"

"No, though you were close."

"Maybe I should learn body anatomy," Nico muttered. He looked around and grabbed the nearest shirt, throwing it on. "Thank you for helping me, but I have to go."

Persephone put a hand on his arm. "On some conditions."

"Conditions? I'm not a child-"

"You will not use your powers for a week," Persephone started, "unless absolutely needed. You will not overexert yourself unless the same. And you will eat and sleep enough. Listen to Will and take care of yourself."

Nico was about to argue but remembered how close he had been to death. He had tasted it.

"Okay, fine," he accepted. "But I need to come up with a lie about where I've been. A lie they'll believe."

"That isn't my call." Persephone sat beside him. "That's something you will need to figure out."

Nico put his head in his hands. "Persephone...why me, again? Why do I have to get my hands dirty?"

"Because you're the only demigod that will."

"I'm sick of lying," he entrusted. "I'm sick of lying to Ron and Harry and even Will. I'm sick of covering this mark when it's what I've become."

Persephone's fingers dug into his arm. "What did you say?"

"What?"

"That mark is not what you've become," she insisted. "You are not a willing death eater. You are doing it to take him down from the inside-out. Right?"

Nico took a minute before responding. "Right." He looked down. "Right."

Persephone looked at her stepson for another minute before letting him go. "Do not lose sight of who you are, Nico di Angelo. It is one of the most dangerous things about playing the spy, the infiltrator. Do not let yourself be turned and do not forget where you came from."

"I let them turn me into a Weasley," he muttered.

She didn't answer.

When he was sure his body was covered, his wound and dark mark, he had Persephone shadow travel him to the Argo II, which was still parked in the Great Lake. He felt himself slip out of the shadow onto Will's bed, but the son of Apollo was nowhere in sight.

He didn't waste any time leaving the ship and walking to the castle. Things were...different, he could tell that much. There was a chill in the air, the scent of death and its aftereffects. Cedric Diggory was dead and the students of Hogwarts wouldn't forget it.

It was morning, and he, unfortunately, found himself listening to Harry talk to the Diggory's, which made his heart twist a little.

"He suffered very little then," the mother was saying. "And after all, Amos. . . he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy." A pause, some rustling. Nico stayed outside the door. "You look after yourself, now. "

"You take this," Harry said. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it -"

"Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't. . . you keep it. "

Nico waited until the parents had left before he slipped into the room, his cloak covering his arms and the bandages around his stomach. He looked around the infirmary before moving to Harry's bedside, lying like he always would have to in this world.

"Harry, tell me everything that happened. I have a theory and I need to hear it from you, not a secondhand account."

.

.

Hearing about himself without anyone knowing it was him was a new experience. Seeing that now anyone who believed Voldemort was back believed he had a son was worse.

Nico sat in the chair beside Harry's bed in the infirmary and listened to the story, heard the things he hadn't picked up on. Voldemort called him "son" right in front of Harry. Harry had already told this all to Dumbledore.

"It wasn't your fault...Cedric..." Nico knew if anything, it was his fault.

"I told him to grab the cup with me, I-"

"If you weren't planning on him dying, then it isn't your fault," Nico insisted. "I've seen a lot of deaths, Harry. Have fought a lot of fights. We can play what if's all day, but it's all about the intention. You didn't intend on him dying. You had no idea what was going to happen."

"But still..."

"Survivor's guilt is a thing," Nico muttered. "So I won't keep ranting to you about it. Just know you can talk to me if you need to, okay? I've had it before, too."

"What was yours?" Harry asked.

Too many. "In the first war, we lost a lot of demigods. Surviving that, then seeing the dead bodies of those who didn't..."

"Cedric, he was hit so quickly. I didn't have time to block it."

"That's good, though, in a way," Nico replied. "He didn't die with pain. There are fates worse than death, Harry. Tortures worse than it. He didn't have any pain, and that's a blessing."

"His parents..."

"Knew he signed up, right?" Nico asked.

Harry nodded.

"Then they were aware of him being in danger," Nico said. "No, they didn't expect him to be murdered, but remember at the beginning of the year? They made it clear people had died in this tournament before. Cedric knew it was a risk."

Harry didn't say anything, but Nico could see the ghosts in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," Nico apologized. "I...I didn't know..."

"I know," Harry accepted. "Don't blame yourself."

Nico gave him a small smile. "Do you need anything I can get you?"

Harry shook his head. "Just wanting to be out of this bed."

"I'll see what I can do."