Chapter 6: A visit from dear old dad

I was standing on a dark field surrounded by strawberry plants. I could see Camp Halfblood and all its cabins from where I was standing. My heart felt lighter at the sight of my home and I smiled softly. I used to hate the place, but a lot of things had change in the last year. I was no longer the brooding kid who wallowed in self-pity anymore. My friends and family and especially Will had help me move forwards with my life and I was a lot happier now. Being surrounded by living people had done a lot for my mental health.

The campfire was burning brightly in the middle of the camp, and I could smell the roasted marshmallows. The campers were loudly singing the humorous lyrics of "Granma's armor". I would have joined the them around the fire if it wasn't because of the weird feeling I had. It was like something was off, but I couldn't figure out what. It was like trying to find the differences between to pictures.

I suddenly felt a present beside me.

"It is bigger now then last time I saw it."

My father Hades, the great king of the Underworld, was now standing next to me and looked down to the camp with an unreadable expression. If he was here it could only mean one thing; I was dreaming again. That did explain why nothing here felt quit right, dreams had a way of twisting your memory of things and make reality seem kinda blurry.

"Hello father."

"Nico you look… well…" He said somewhat awkwardly.

My father and I was still working on our interactions, but it was a whole lot better than when we first met. I would say that we have one of the better father son relationship, then most gods have with their children. He had after all told me that he wanted me to be happy and offered me a place in his palace.

"Why are you here dad?" I asked him carefully.

"I have come to warn you, and to give you a gift. You are now as we're speaking laying in a coma on a school in Scotland. The son of Apollo is watching over you."

"It is not the worse place I have passed out." I grinned slightly at the memories of my many trips to a small town in China.

My father gave me a look that said, 'this is not the time to be joking'.

"It is a school for wizards and witches."

"Oh..." I wondered if a witch and a sorceress was the same, demigods did after all not have the best relationship with most sorceresses. I really hope it was not the case as I did not want to spend the rest of my life as a Guinea pig.

"Yes, it is not adequate, but this is where my gift to you comes in. You can at the school find information about your mother's side of the family."

"Wait what?!"

I was still processing the fact that I was sleeping at a school for witches and wizards, when my father dropped this bomb on me. I had begged him for years for just the slightest bit of info on my mother, but he had always refused, and now he just casually gives it to me after all this time?! I could feel my cheeks heat up from my anger, but I forced myself to take calming breaths. It was imported for powerful halfbloods to control their emotions or their powers could get out of control. That and if I wanted my father to cooperate, I would have to keep my anger in check so I wouldn't start to scream at him. Our screaming matches never ended well.

"Why are you telling me this now?" I forced the question out from my clenched teeth.

"It is the right moment for you to know. Now boy shallow your anger and listen to me carefully, I can't stay here for long." My father looked at me to see if I was paying attention. "Your mother came from a magical family of high status, but I doubt there's anyone left of it. They followed the wrong man and faced dire consequences because of it. It has made them well know, so you can without a doubt find well documented stories about them and detailed family trees. But I have to warn you, you cannot tell the wizards who you are. There is a reason why you have never heard of them, and they have never heard of you. The other thing I will warn you about is that you currently are in the year 1993."

My mouth dropped.

"How is that possible?"

My father sneered in disdain.

"I am a god Nico, and the son of Cronos the Titan of time. Do not underestimate my power. It was not that hard to change your destination to another time, when you already are a child out of your own time. Hecate did give me a helping hand, since she owed me." Hades admitted a bit reluctantly.

"But I am afraid I must leave you now son. It did take a lot of my power to get you here and I don't have that much left to keep this connection up."

Hades placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a look that spoke of all the things he hasn't told me.

"Make the most of your time here son… and take care."

The dream land around me started to get blurry and I knew I was waking up.

"Wait dad! How can I get back home again?!"

My father was telling me something, but I couldn't hear him anymore, as my last grip on the dream was fading away.

Waking up was not a pleasant experience. My body hurt and there was a terrible thumping in my head. I couldn't open my eyes because my eyelashes stuck together, and I was still to weak to pull them apart. An unwilling groan escaped me. I felt like someone had run me over with the Ares cabin's bull drawn chariot. And I could not for the life of me remember why I was feeling like this.

"Hey Neeks I'm right here." Will's voice sounded somewhere to my right. Suddenly my head didn't hurt so badly anymore, and a warm felling spread from my hand which was being held in a tight grip. I don't know if it came from Will's healing powers or from the knowledge that he was alive.

The memories of our misadventure with some hell hounds came rushing back and the gruesome picture of the creatures trying to rip Will's arm off flashed in my mind. I was filled with panic and the need to spring into action, but my abused body refused to cooperate. The only thing I managed to do was turn my head to look at my boyfriend and ask him if he was alright. My vision was still blurry, but I could see that Will's eyes was getting watery. My focus shifted to our surroundings after he assured me that he was unhurt, so I could analyze our situation.

The room we were in reminded me of the infirmary back home with its clean white beds in a row. It did however lack the same business that there always was present back home, especially after a game of capture the flag. Here there were only one other bed that was occupied. A boy who looked to be around my age was looking over at me from his own bed. Two other kids were sitting beside him and was staring at me with the same curiosity as the bedridden boy.

"Where are we?" I asked Will.

"You're at Hogwarts my dear, you have in fact been here for quite some time." An old nurse said. "Now if you don't mind then I would like to examine you. There can be dire consciences by going in a coma so suddenly like you did."

I was instantly on edge. The dream I had with my father came to the front of my mind again, and I remember everything he said. Was this old school nurse a witch? I think Will could feel me stiffening because he gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It's alright Nico. She's good enough."

Most of my edge went away with just those few words. It was a bit scary how fast I had come to trust and depend so much on Will. He was perhaps one of the only people I trusted enough to just take their word for it. But it was also kinda nice to rely one someone else for a change.

I took a deep breath and nodded to the nurse that she could begin her examination.

I had spent enough time in the infirmary to know that she was following the standard procedure for when patients might have damaged their head. I am just glad that she didn't get that far down her line of questions before three new people came through the door.

The man in the middle was dressed so bizarrely that it was hard not to stare. The old man was wearing bright purple robes and witch hat with silver stars on it. His long beard was tide in a knot, but it still reached all the way down to his stomach. The man on his right had black greasy hair and a scowl that could rival Mr. D's. Those two on their own would have been enough to make me want to take a battle stance, but what really made me nervous was the man on the left.

Out of the three of the, he was the least threatening looking. He was badly dressed and looked tired, but something about him just felt off. I couldn't really say what it was about him that sent shimmers down my spine, but I knew that if they turned out to be hostile, I would go for him first.

The old man came over to us as I absent mindedly scratched my arm.

"I see you're awake at last young man." I almost snorted at the old man's words.

"Your observation skills are astonishing." Will was surely rolling his eyes at me now. He had told me that I need to work on interreacting with people without using that much sarcasm.

"We have all been waiting for your awaking Mr. Solace in particular." The old man wink at me for some reason after saying this. It was a little weird, but I chose not to dwell on it.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"You arrived here Friday afternoon and it is now Sunday morning."

That was a long time for me to have been unconscious. Poor Will, he had without a doubt been watching over me the entire time.

"Now I think introductions are in order before we figure out what we'll do with the two of you. I'm Professor Dumbledore headmaster of this fine school."

"My name is Nico Di Angelo."

"A Di Angelo, I thought they were all dead." My anger flared at the way he just casually commented on my whole family's demise.

"Sorry to disappoint…" I growled while truing to see the bright side. At least I know knew that the headmaster had knowledge of my family.

"Oh I am not disappoint Mr. Di Angelo quit the opposite in fact. It is just peculiar that you should be here now…" The old man looked thoughtful for a moment before he continued.

"Now as to what we should do with you two. You don't seem to be wizards; but you do have magic. Professor Snape confirmed this for me, when he told me you could brew a potion." The headmaster turned his gaze to Will when he said this, and I had to fight the urge to jump in front of my boyfriend who looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. "Only magical beings can brew potions. But that raises the question; what are you? Are you just wizards that somehow haven't gotten an education yet or are you something else?"

Will was looking at me with pleading eyes and I knew he wanted me to take the lead here, which was understandable since he was a shitty liar.

It took a moment for me to gather my thought as I started to form a cover story for us. The best way to lie was to tell the listener something they already suspected. Like when I told camp Jupiter that I was a Roman demigod. So what was this man expecting to hear?

"Will and I are humans sir, at least no one have ever told us that we were not. I first discovered that I had magic when I was 11 after I got into a fight with another kid, but before that I was just a normal child." I stopped my story there to see how Dumbledore reacted and so I wouldn't add to many details to my cover. It would make it harder to remember and easier for people to tell that I was lying.

The headmaster was staring intensely at me and I was almost afraid that he could see right trough me.

"11 is a little late to discover your magic. Can you tell me how it happened?"

"I was fighting with another kid as I told you, and I was just so angry at the time. I yelled at him that I hated him and to go away. Somehow while I was yelling, I made a big crack in the ground." It was a little hard to talk about this with a stranger, but it helped when Will took my hand. The headmaster gave Will a serious look at this but didn't comment.

"Hmm interesting. Did something happen to the child you were fight with?"

I smirked a little when he asked because I could see that he was worried that I had done something bad, even though he hid it well.

"No sir. He was a bit shocked but that's all."

"Good good. How about you Mr. Solace?"

Will looked uncomfortable but gave a little half lie like I had.

"I was 9 sir and I healed a small cut my mother had on her hand."

"So it's an ability that everyone in your family have? You did say that your brother taught you the hymn."

"It is from my father's side of the family or that is what my brother told me. I have never really met my dad before, but my mom does not have magic."

"Hmm this is very fascination." The old man was stroking his beard thoughtfully. "I do believe you are just young wizards who somehow did not end up in a school. It is not the first time I have heard of such missteps, but you are still a remarkable case. I will have to speak to the Minister of the American wizarding world, to let them know that there is a flaw in their enrollment system. You are welcome to stay here until we have figured out what to do with you."

"Thank you sir, that is very kind of you." I was grateful that he would let us stay at his school for the time being. It would have complicated matters if we had to sneak around while trying to find information on my mom.

"Now I want to introduce you to Professor Lupin. He will show you around the school and if you have any problems you can take them to him." Dumbledore put his hand on Lupin's shoulder and guided him forwards. The younger man was looking strangely at me but put out his hand for me to shake. He was still giving me a weird feeling, but I could not get out of shaking his hand without looking suspicious.

Will was handling it much better than I was. In fact, it looked like he couldn't tell that something was off with the professor.

"Nice to meet you sir and thank you for taking the time to show us around." He topped the presentation by giving the man a blinding smile.

"You are welcome Mr. Solace I think it would be a better idea to start the tour later in the evening when Mr. di Angelo are more well rested."

"Yes, that would be nice." I said gratefully. Anything to get away from the professor.

The headmaster then clapped his hands together and smiled broadly.

"Wonderful. I will take my leave now that this have been taken care of. Solace, di Angelo, can you have a good day."

We mumbled our goodbyes as the three men went out the door.

Will and I sat in silence for a little while after they left. I was exhausted but knew that I couldn't sleep any longer today. I had work to do. I felt Will giving my hand a kiss, and suddenly all thoughts of work left me.

"I am so glad you're awake sunshine."

I smiled softly to my boyfriend and caressed his cheek, before I noticed something over his shoulder.

"It's not that I don't enjoy staring into your eyes, but do you know that there's someone whispering about us behind you."

"Oh yeah that Hermione, Harry and Ron. They are here because Harry fell off his broom while flying."

"Do witches really fly one brooms here?"

Will laughed at my surprised look.

"He's a wizard but yeah they do." Will looked thoughtful for a moment before suggesting that we called them over to say hi. "It would be best if we did it now before they can come up with too many theories about us."

I didn't get the chance to reply before my boyfriend had called them over. The three kids looked at each other before Harry nodded and jumped out of his bed and walked over to us.

"Hey guys I want you to meet my… friend Nico." I raised my eyebrow at how Will had stumbled over the word friend. He was not one to hide our relationship. Will just shook his head lightly at my unspoken question, and I knew he wanted to talk about it later. "Nico meet the people who have kept me company while you were sleeping."

The red headed boy blurted out a question before I even got to say hello.

"Is it true that you are a di Angelo?"

"Yes, that was my mother's name."

"So you're a pureblood?"

"I don't know." I could feel a frown forming on my face at his rude questioning.

"How can you not know?" Ron was looking frustrated at my short answer, and I could see that he was getting angry. I don't think he was taking my aura of pissed off'ness very well, but I couldn't help it. I guess I just have a naturally resting murder face, especially in the present of idiots who felt entitled to ask me personal questions.

"I don't know what that is."

That took him by surprise. "Oh" he simply said, like he couldn't comprehend how a person didn't know that. The witch with the bushy hair came to his rescue.

"That's a person who comes from a family who all have magic."

"Well then the answer is still 'I don't know'. I don't really know my parents' families that well."

Ron jumped to the chance at pointing out a flaw in my answer.

"How can you not know your own family?!" He looked triumphant that he had found this "missing detail" and crossed his arms over his chest.

Hermione gasped loudly and hit the red head with her elbow. When Ron turned to look at her, she gestured not so discreetly at Harry, who was now looking at his shoes. It took a couple of seconds before Ron figured out what the young witch was trying to tell him, but then he turned bright red.

"I'm sorry mate, I didn't mean it like that." He hastily said to his friend.

"It's alright." Harry muttered, but I could see that he was bothered by something. I think that he perhaps had his own family problems.

An awkward silence came over us, before Will broke it with a smirk and tactfully changed the conversation before it got out of hand.

"So I guess you heard everything we were talking about before right?"

The three friends blushed at being caught eavesdropping and looked at the ground.

Will laughed and patted Harry on the shoulder.

"It's alright we should have left the room, if we or the professors wanted it to be a private conversation."

I couldn't help but admire my boyfriend. With just this one sentence he had totally changed the mood between us. There was now a light atmosphere, where before I had been ready to run my sword through the infuriating red head. Will really was good with people.

Harry smiled a little to my boyfriend before he asked.

"Is it really true that you haven't gone to school?"

"We have gone to normal school, but I don't think that's what you meant." Will joke lightly with the wizard.

"But no, we have never gone to a school for magic. We're both runaways so perhaps that's why? I don't really know how you get recruited for magic lessons."

Hermione looked thoughtful but told us absentminded that we would have gotten a letter by owl, which I think must be a really inefficient way to communicate.

The young witch suddenly got up from the bed she was sitting on and announced that she was going to the library. She practically ran out the door in her hurry to get to her destination, and I could only look after her billowing cape in surprise.

Harry grinned at my flabbergasted look and told us that it was normal behavior for their friend to just run out like that. He then began to stand too.

"Well um. Madam Pomfrey have told me that I could leave today, so I think Ron and I should get going too. I have some homework to catch up to." He sighed tiredly but gave us a small wave. "We'll see you around?"

I nodded "Yeah it seems like we're not going anywhere anytime soon, so you probably will."

Harry went to gather his things and nodded to us on his way out while Ron just sent me a glare.

Will sighed loudly when the boys closed the door behind them and stretched in his chair.

"Finally we're alone! I have so much to tell you I mean this place is just freaky, you have to see the kitchen! And the patients that come here, I tell you they are so weird."

I had to smile at Will's behavior. I still found his enthusiasm enduring even after we have dated for months.

"I have news too." I told him, thinking about my father's visit. He looked a bit concerned at this, but there was something more pressing on his mind.

Will looked around the empty room quickly before turning to me again with a serious expression.

"We will talk about it later, after we have gotten something to eat, but first there is something I have to do."

He then proceeded to grab my face and pull me up so he could give me a kiss. I was expecting it to be a light kiss like we normally have, since we haven't really crossed the line to full on making out yet, but my near-death experience must have taken a toll on him. He was kissing me with a desperation that took my breath away and left me lightheaded. His hand snuck into my hair and he pulled it gently which made me gasp. Will took this opportunity to deepen our kiss. My hand was pressed against his chest and I could feel his heart pounding quickly, which told me that he was just as nervous about this as I was.

I missed Will's present and warmth the instant he drew away, but the look he gave me halted any complaints that I had. Will was looking at me intensely and searched my face for any signs that he had crossed a line or made me feel uncomfortable.

I gave him a shaken smile and I could feel that he relaxed before he gave me another kiss with a little less passion this time.

"Let's find something to eat death boy." Will looked at me with such love in his eyes, that I could only nod and follow him when he took my hand and lead me out the door.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It is the longest I have written! And I would just like to annonce that this story has over a 100 followers! That's amazing! I would never have imagined that anybody would read my story when I first started it, so this truly makes me happy. So thank you all 3

There are a few things I would like to know, if any of you would like to write a review.

What did you think of the little romance bit in the end? It is the first time I have tried to write anything like it, so I would love some feedback if you have any :)

Do you think any of the characters are ooc?

Are there any scenarios you would like to see happen?

I love reading what you think of my story both the good and the bad, it's what keeps me going with this story :P

I will see you again next chapter!

Hugs from Skyggedrage