Chapter 3

Nico

So I ended up staying in the Burrow days before September first. It wasn't so bad. After Mr. Weasley had put an expansion charm on the room, Ron, Harry, the twins and I managed to fit into the room comfortably. We all slept on sleeping bags instead of the bed, making it seem like we were camping.

I woke up early the next day, with Fred kicking me in a small part of my back…which was already bruised to begin with. I stared at the ceiling at around seven in the morning unable to go back to sleep.

I got so used to having to wake up this early everyday that I couldn't even get back to sleep when I could sleep in. I sighed then went downstairs. I found Mrs. Weasley making breakfast.

"Good Morning, dearie." She said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley." I said "Thanks for having me over."

"It's no problem" she said "Breakfast will be done in a while."

"You need some help?"

"Don't worry, I can handle it."

I insisted on helping her. She declined. But instead I just set the table.

When it turned eight some of the Weasleys were already awake. Mr. Weasley, Percy, Ginny and Hermione were already at the table.

"So Nico where have you been? Why weren't you at school last year?" Ginny asked

"I had more important things to do."

"More important than you education?" Percy asked "What could be more important than your future?"

"The fate of the world, my life, the lives of innocent people to name a few." I replied. "School really wasn't in the top of my list. It would be a miracle if I lived over sixteen."

"Don't think like that." Hermione said. "There are people who would protect you. Adults, those older than you."

"Where I come from we learn to fend for ourselves before we reach thirteen years old" I said "I have been fending for myself since I was ten."

"What about your parents?" Mr. Weasley asked curiously. "Surely there is someone who takes care of you."

"My mom is dead. My dad is too busy. My sister who took care of me for so long died in an accident."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I've learned to cope with it. Most of us did."

"When did you get a tattoo?" Ginny noted. "I didn't remember that there before."

I glanced over to my left arm where the SPQR tattoo was burned into my skin. A glyph much like the one on Hazel's with a mark for one year of service in the legion.

"This is a mark of the legion. A sign of my part as an army and of my heritage." I said "The glyph is the symbol of my father in the army. If you see anyone with this mark on their forearm in the legion that is probably one of my siblings or a relative. SPQR, Senatus Populusque Romanus, The Senate and the people of Rome. It's the motto of Rome. And the stripes at the bottom is the number of years that I have served the legion."

Percy looked up from skimming through the Daily Prophet. His eyes widened in recognition.

"You're a halfblood?"

"I think I mentioned something of the sort two years ago."

"No, you're a demigod?"

"Yeah" I said "Halfblood, Demigod not much difference."

"Demigod?" Mrs. Weasley said entering the room with another pitcher of Pumpkin Juice. "Who?"

"Nico" Percy said "I have to go tell Mr. Crouch."

"Mr. Crouch already knows" I said "I am the…representative of the other demigods for…you know."

"Do you really have powers just like the demigods from Hogwarts a History?" Hermione asked. "Like Godric Gryffindor and the other founders?"

"Not all of the demigods have special powers. Some of us are just a little bit extra ordinary. The Children of Athena have super smarts and tend to be a bit bossy in a 'we know whats right' kind of way, children of Ares are great at war, children of Aphrodite are very pretty or handsome some can lure you into doing things with mere words and flirty eyes.

"Then here Nico has big muscles and a scary aura" I jumped as Fred had said it behind me with George at his wake.

"What were you talking about whilst we were gone?"

"Nothing mischievous I hope" Fred continued.

"Nope nothing"

~(*)~

That afternoon the Weasley boys had invited me to join them in a game of Quidditch. Which I declined.

"Do you really want me to be blasted off the sky?"

They understood and I spend the afternoon in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley and Hermione.

"So what did you do in Rome. I heard it was beautiful."

"I was trapped inside a giant cookie jar with barely and air and a few pomegranate seeds." I said "Not fun. Though I heard Percy and Annabeth had a very eventful date."

"That must be a really big cookie jar"

"It is."

"What about Greece?" Hermione pushed. "I bet it was great."

"It was." I said "After the fight against Gaea, we went and watched the sights. The Parthenon, the theatre of Dionysus in Athens. Really brings you back to where it all began."

"Fights, wars, you are still children." Mrs. Weasley said "you could've gotten hurt."

"I am a Demigod, it's one of my responsibilities to fight in 's' what we are trained for."

"One of?"

"Some of the other demigods, like myself, have some responsibilities in their parent's realms. Percy has some responsibilities to do for his father checking on some of the sea creatures in Atlantis. The children of Hephaestus are in charge of the weaponry and whatever devices used in camp. Annabeth is the Architect of Olympus." I listed "Most of these are either from our talents or rewards for our deeds"

"And you are?"

I smirked "I am the Ghost King. I'm in charge of looking for lost souls and wayward spirits."

"Why don't the adults fight in these wars instead?" Mrs. Weasley asked "You are still children"

"There are only a hundred or so Adult Demigods. Most of them are veterans, retired demigods. There aren't enough to create an army enough to defend Olympus." I said "And it's all part of being a demigod, we would be lucky to reach adulthood. Most get killed by monsters or don't come back from quests…like Bianca." I looked down on my hands sadly. Remembering the last time I've seen Bianca. Knowing that I would never see her again…even as a spirit.

"Why can't the gods?"

"Because they need heroes." Charlie said entering the house with a broom in hand. "I'm guessing you told her of what happened in Rome?"

"Yes" I said "Reminds me of Bianca when I first went to a quest"

Charlie wrapped a brotherly arm around my shoulders as I smiled at him weakly. I learned from Percy of how empathetic some of the Dragon tamers are. How they can catch some of the most inconspicuous emotions. Apparently they had learned to read through emotions from dragons. Dragons have more emotional imbalance than girls. The slightest sadness or anger could cause chaos.

"How was your game" I asked

"It was great" Harry said "I can't wait for Quidditch this year."

I looked at Bill and Charlie who had a knowing look in their face. We all knew there won't be Quidditch this year.

~(*)~

I sat on Ron's bed as I watched he and Harry go through clothes and throw in some books for their last minute packing.

"Aren't you going to pack?" Ron asked "We're heading to Hogwarts tomorrow"

"I'm done." I said "My trunk is in Hogwarts already."

"What?"

"Well my father decided it would be easier for travel purposes" I explained. Though in truth the trunk doesn't have much. "So I mostly have this" I raised the string of my backpack.

"How are there so many things in here" Harry asked. Lifting the backpack which had held my clothes as well as some of the books that Mrs. Weasley insists I bring.

"Expansion charm" I said "along with a feather light charm"

"What is that supposed to be?" Ron was holding up something that looked like a long, maroon velvet dress. It had a moldy-looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs. I was trying not to laugh then there was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered Hogwarts robes.

"Here you are," she said, sorting them into two piles for Harry and Ron "Now, mind you pack them properly so they don't crease." Then she looked at me sitting on the bed with my dagger in its sheath.

"Are you done packing?" she asked I nodded then showed her my closed backpack and my knife/wand in my side.

"Mum, you've given me Ginny's new dress," said Ron, handing out the robes to her

"Of course I haven't," said Mrs. Weasley. "That's for you. Dress robes."

"What?" said Ron, looking horror-struck.

"Dress robes!" repeated Mrs. Weasley. "It says on your school list that you're supposed to have dress robes this year. . . robes for formal occasions."

"Wow, those make my cloak look normal, seriously I look like the Grim Reaper in that thing but that is what wizards use for formal wear?" I asked she just nodded

"You've got to be kidding," said Ron in disbelief. "I'm not wearing that, no way."

"Everyone wears them, Ron!" said Mrs. Weasley crossly. "They're all like that! Your father's got some for smart parties!"

"I'll go stalkers before I put that on," said Ron stubbornly.

"Don't be so silly," said Mrs. Weasley. "You've got to have dress robes, they're on your list! I got some for Harry too. . . show him, Harry... ."

Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasn't as bad, however; his dress robes didn't have any lace on them at all - in fact, and they were more or less the same as their school ones, except that they were bottle green instead of black.

"I thought they'd bring out the color of your eyes, dear," said Mrs. Weasley fondly.

"Well, they're okay!" said Ron angrily, looking at Harry's robes. "Why couldn't I have some like that?"

"Because. . . well, I had to get yours secondhand, and there wasn't a lot of choice!" said Mrs. Weasley, flushing.

"I'm never wearing them," Ron was saying stubbornly. "Never."

"Fine," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "Go naked. And, Harry, make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh." She left the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a funny spluttering noise from behind them. Pigwidgeon was choking on an overlarge Owl Treat.

"Why is everything I own rubbish?" said Ron furiously, striding across the room to unstick Pigwidgeon's beak.

"At least you have a family." I noted "Some of us live on our own fending for ourselves."

"What about you?" Ron said "Your dad is a god and you come from a huge family with a lot of cousins."

"Along with a gigantic 'eat me' sign for monsters hanging from the top of my head. My father is busy. Always busy. If it weren't for Percy they wouldn't even be talking to us demigods." I said "Other than my dad my real family are dead. My mom died when I was young, Bianca died from a monster attack. When I returned from Hogwarts, she chose to be reborn. I can never see her again."

"I'm sorry" Ron said sympathetically

"It's alright." I said "Come on, it's almost dinner time. You were going to show me the gnomes right?"

YAY FINALLY DID ANOTHER CHAPTER. :D HAPPY 2014 everyone :D

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Hope you all have a happy New year :D