Percy stood on the cracked sidewalk and looked up at Number 11 Grimmauld Place. Next to him, Mrs. O'Leary woofed tiredly, which was a bit of problem as her barks made the ground vibrate. The ten foot dog was a bit suspicious, he thought, and he needed to get her somewhere she could sleep. But that wasn't his main priority. Nico had been here, he knew. Somewhere near him, his cousin was being imprisoned. The very thought of it made him angry. How could anyone do that to Nico? He was just a kid!

A kid with a lot of trust issues, Percy might add, and likely this situation wasn't helping a whole lot with that. He could imagine Nico shutting down completely, not talking to anyone. Sadly, it was a fairly believable thought, as the kid hardly ever tried to make nice with anyone. He had been impressed when he got the Iris Message from him. If Nico was actually going to the trouble of connecting with someone, then he must be in trouble. To him, it seemed like Nico just didn't want anything to do with people. The kid was a walking example of 'once bitten, twice shy'. After Bianca died, he just clammed up around others.

Percy walked up to the door and shook the knob. It was, predictably, locked. Of course. He tried kicking the door a few times, but it showed no signs of giving in. Percy squinted. Was there something else keeping him out? As far as strength went, he was stronger than most after the whole Styx ordeal, and he hadn't expected that a pathetic door like this would keep him out.

He glanced up and down the road, which was luckily deserted, and then took out his trusty ballpoint pen. The nice part about having it look like a pen was that it didn't raise too many questions at airport security or when he had to go into schools or anything. Although he always looked like a douche when people asked to borrow it and he had to give them some lame excuse.

Uncapping it, Percy tried to keep the glowing bronze sword low and out of sight as he slashed through the door's hinges so that it swung in with one easy kick. Grinning to himself, he stepped into the grimy house and studied his handiwork. It looked like he could just put the door back up and it wouldn't look too suspicious that someone had forced their way in. Percy picked it back up and propped it into place, but he wasn't too concerned. With the house in a state like this, a door could easily blow down any day.

Mrs. O'Leary lumbered through, knocking the door down again and busting the frame of the door so that it looked like someone had run a tank through it.

Well, maybe that was a bit suspicious. Percy groaned, but there was nothing he could do about it. Should he contact Nico now, then? As Mrs. O'Leary settled in the kitchen for a good nap, he fingered a golden drachma. No, he didn't know if Nico was alone, and he could get him in more trouble by letting his captors know that he had contacted someone. He'd have to find him without inside help.

Percy started examining the floor for signs of life. The whole place was covered in dust, and he could see his and Mrs. O'Leary's recent prints. Mrs. O'Leary had made giant clouds of dust with each footstep, and she was now sneezing contentedly in her sleep. Even though her breathing was creating small tornadoes on the floor, she hadn't disturbed the footprints that littered the ground.

Percy swung off his backpack and dropped it with a thud next to Mrs. O'Leary, who didn't stir. In it was all of the stuff he'd brought for Nico, but he if he was going to run into a monster, it would be a tad inconvenient to have it over his shoulder. Instead, he followed after the prints as they wandered upstairs and ended, seeming to walk straight through a wall.

Confused, Percy extended a hand to touch the slightly damp and disgusting boards. Even for demigods, going through solid objects was just plain odd. Cautiously, he applied weight to the wall, but it didn't seem to give in the slightest, no matter how rotted they looked... and smelled. Percy wrinkled his nose.

Anyways, he'd need to get through the wall. If it was decayed as much as it seemed to be, it wouldn't be a big deal, and he'd be able to bust through in a matter of minutes. Percy took a step back and gave the wall a good, firm kick, one that had knocked many a demigod off their feet last summer. To his surprise, it didn't budge. "What the Hades?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. Then he started pounding it with his fists. "Fall down already!"

After about five minutes, Percy decided the wall was taunting him. It had a smug little aura around it, like it was making fun of him. That was it. He growled and uncapped Riptide. This wall was about to taste celestial bronze.

Behind him, someone gasped.

Percy spun around, his sword at the ready. A pink haired girl, who was probably only two or three years older than him and wearing what looked like a long, black bathrobe, had a stick aimed at his face. "Who are you?" she demanded, in a decidedly British accent.

"I could ask the same thing," he said, lowering the tip of the blade at her chest. It wouldn't hurt her unless she was a monster, and it wasn't like he intended to actually stab an innocent bystander. "You wouldn't have seen my cousin, would you?"

That gave her pause. "Nico is your cousin? Not much family resemblance there," she said, grinning cheerfully. That wasn't totally true. They both had black hair. Of course, Nico had a vaguely Italian presence about him and pitch black eyes. "Sorry, but you're not getting in. Those walls are protected by... well, they're stronger than they look," she conceded.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "As you've probably noticed, my cousin is sick, and he needs some serious medical treatment. I need to get him medicine."

"Yes, yes, I picked up the Muggle treatments from the pharmacy," she said, waving the hand that was still holding the stick. "He'll be fine in the morning. Stupefy!"

Percy was shocked as the wand shot a jet of red light straight at him. So shocked that he didn't even move out of the way. The light hit him dead center in the chest and bounced off, rocketing out the broken window. "What was that?" Percy asked, flabbergasted. "What was it supposed to do?"

The girl anxiously glanced at him, and then at the broken window that the light had flown out. "Blimey, but you're an odd one," she said, lifting the stick back up. "Stupefy! Obliviate! Levicorpus!" Similar jets flew at him, but they all bounced off of his skin. Percy was suddenly very relieved he had taken a dip in the Styx, suspecting that all sorts of bad things would be happening had he not. She dodged the last one as it rebounded off his nose. Percy let out an uneasy laugh.

Then he noticed what was in her other hand. A backpack. A very familiar orange backpack from Camp Halfblood. "Hey!" he blurted out without thinking. "That's mine!"

She looked down at the bag. "I rather reckoned it," the girl said. "That's why I picked it up. Nice pet, by the way. What does it eat?"

So she had seen Mrs. O'Leary. Lucky the dog hadn't woken up and eaten her, he'd have felt horrible. "Dry dog food, like most dogs, but we get it by the truck load," Percy explained. "Mrs. O'Leary is pretty friendly. If you weren't trying to obliterate me, I might even let you pet her."

The girl shrugged the backpack over her shoulder. "Obliviate, which really is just a short memory modification. Completely painless."

Percy was getting more and more frustrated. He wanted to use Riptide to slash a hole through the wall and rescue Nico then and there, but he was still wary of showing his back to her. His weak spot was more vulnerable than he liked. Plus, he wasn't totally sure about.

"Look," he said. "Muggle treatments really won't help in this situation. In that backpack there's a plastic bag and an orange canteen. Give them to Nico, they'll help."

"Wotcher, you're a serious one," she said, her hair fading from pink to purple rapidly. Percy blinked. Had he just seen that? "Why don't we strike a deal?"

Percy distractedly asked, "What kind of deal?"

She kept the wand pointed at him, even though Percy thought the point was kind of moot—she couldn't hit him anyways, why bother? "I'll take Nico this backpack. Get him past the infection. Bu-ut," she added, and Percy's face darkened. There was always a catch. Why did there always have to be a catch? "You're going to leave this place and not come back."

"Ever?" Percy asked.

"Ever," the purple haired girl told him. "Not for a million years, at the very least. Don't worry, we'll send young Nico along before then."

Percy pretended to consider. "Or," he suggested, "I could just cut a hole in this wall, take you at sword point, rescue my cousin, and go home." He motioned to the stick. Percy wasn't taking any chances. Not when it came to Nico, his cousin. Sure, gods didn't have DNA and they weren't technically related by blood, but it didn't make him any less protective of the kid. "Drop it."

"I like my plan better," she said, before vanishing with a loud CRACK! Percy blinked and swung Riptide through the space where she had just been. She really was gone. What kind of weird teleportation was that? Loud and obvious, and nothing like the shadow traveling Nico used. And she had taken the backpack. Aside from the nectar and ambrosia, there was a change of clothes for Nico and a Happy Meal he had picked up in New York. It was probably still warm, but he wondered if Nico would ever get it now.

Frustrated, he turned back to the wall and swung Riptide at it. It rang against the wood like it was hitting steel, and Percy jumped in shock. The wall certainly looked wooden enough. He ran a hand over it, certain that if he wasn't invulnerable, he would have been covered in splinters. As it was, he wasn't willing to rub his back along the wall, just to find out. But the sound... it was metal.

Just who were these people?

Nico was huddled in a ball under the blankets, eyes squeezed tight shut. It was freezing in this house suddenly. Only that morning, he had been complaining how hot it was. How had it changed so quickly? He shook all over, his teeth chattering together. Being a kid of Hades meant he was cold to other people, but normally he felt fine.

On the floor, Padfoot let out a long whine. Nico opened his eyes and glared at the dog. He wasn't too happy with it, even if it was in the same room as him. The animal was curled up on the floor right next to the door, like it really didn't want to share a room with him but did so out of duty. What duty? Nico wanted to ask. He didn't want sympathy from a dog. It was downright pathetic.

The door swung open and a purple haired Tonks, as he had learned her name was, bounded in eagerly. "Wotcher, Nico, I've brought you something!"

In a flash, Sirius was standing next to her. Nico blinked his eyes. He must have been more feverish than he thought, because it looked like Padfoot had turned into him. Weird. "What is it?" Sirius asked curiously, and Tonks swung an orange backpack off her shoulder and groped around inside. Nico's eyes widened in surprise. Was that a... camp backpack?

"Just a little medicine from one of your friends," she said, winking at him with a cheeky grin. "Had to split from him, he won't be getting inside, but said there was some good stuff in here for you!" She grabbed a black canteen and unscrewed the top. "Yum... this smells good," Tonks added, taking a deep whiff. Her eyes glassed over and she brought it up to her lips.

"Don't," Nico said urgently, and she blinked, lowering it from her mouth. As Sirius and she stared at him, Nico realized he wasn't quite sure how to explain why she couldn't have any. "It's not for you."

"Well, that's a rather selfish view," Tonks said, sniffing indignantly, but she handed it over to him.

"You'll burn up from the inside," he told her as he took a big sip.

"I don't see you being reduced to a pile of ash," Tonks pointed out.

He screwed the cap back on and set it down. It tasted like blue birthday cake from Percy's party to him, and he licked his lips. His arm felt completely better now, and the pain in his side was more of a weak throb now opposed to the constant stab it had been before. As much as he wanted more, he didn't want to risk too much nectar, followed by death.

"It's only for dem-... people not like you," he said, lamely. "Mortals really shouldn't..." And then Nico was kicking himself. How had he said that? It was such a dumb mistake.

It didn't escape Sirius's notice, either. Sirius was still leaning against the door frame, while Tonks had sat down on the foot of his bed. "Mortals? You say that like you're not," he said sharply.

"Oh," Nico said, floundering. "Did I?"

Sirius's eyes narrowed. Why was Sirius suddenly so cold in regards to him? Then again, Nico shouldn't have been surprised, he'd dealt with plenty of falsely sweet people in the past. "Let's get it on the table, then. Are you with the dark lord?" he asked.

Unsure as how to answer that, as if they meant Hades Nico was totally with him, Nico instead busied himself with digging through the backpack. Percy had thoughtfully included a change of clothes. Geez, Percy sure thought of everything. He must have assumed when Nico mentioned being attacked by a hellhound that his clothes might be a bit tattered. Nico was glad he had decided to help him out this time. Even if they weren't friends, Percy could be a nice ally to have around. He was a little disappointed that he hadn't dropped in any more drachmas, as he had all his confiscated by Moody earlier.

Oh well, Percy had assumed that he'd be leaving with him and wouldn't need to call anybody before getting back to camp. Nico had mixed feelings about Percy. On one hand, he was grateful he was rescuing him, and pretty sure he would reliably help him. On the other end of things, Nico knew that Percy could always turn out to be just like everyone else, and trusting him too much was a bad idea. And a Happy Meal! Greedily, Nico took a big handful of fries and stuffed it in his mouth. Now that was thoughtful. He'd have to pay him back, of course. Being indebted to anyone was not Nico's thing.

Tonks jumped up. "I need to tell Moody about the boy outside!" she cried, in a voice that told Nico she wasn't just trying to escape the tense room. She really was just clueless about things, he decided. Not necessarily a bad person, though. "Say, you wouldn't know his name, would you, Nico?"

Nico snorted. "I wouldn't exactly tell you," he said coldly, and Tonks seemed suddenly aware of the atmosphere. Her hair slowly turned dark blue and her easy grin slipped away.

"Right, then," she said, glancing hopefully at the door. "Best be off." As she breezed out the door, Nico saw Sirius following her.

Harry was surprised. For once, he, Ron, and Hermione had been allowed to stay at an Order meeting. Fred and George had also joined the group, although they were much less bewildered.

"We were hearing everything you said on the Extendable Ears, anyways," Fred joked. "It was about time you let us in for real."

Mrs. Weasley gave her two sons a death glare and tightened her grip on her tea cup. She clearly had not been one of the ones in favor of this idea.

Also, joining them at the table was the mysterious dark haired boy, Nico di Angelo. He wasn't quite sure what the boy was doing there—they had pegged him as a security risk when they brought him in in the first place, so why he was being invited to listen to the Order of the Phoenix's secret meetings was beyond him. He had traded his blood encrusted shirt for another one, but where he could have gotten it was beyond Harry. It was an American band, he assumed, but he had never heard of Pierce the Veil. Across the table from Nico sat another unpleasant face. Snape was joining them for a meeting. He was looking down his hooked nose in disgust, but Harry wasn't sure who he was glaring at harder—him or Sirius.

Sirius was equally uncomfortable tonight, it looked like. He was constantly glancing around, like a caged animal. It was the first time Harry had seen him so on edge since he'd come to Grimmauld Place that summer. He had a suspicious feeling that Nico had something to do with Sirius's odd behavior.

"So," Lupin said conversationally, "Nico, how's the arm?"

"Fine," Nico said, staring at the table. He folded his arms, obviously not interested in showing it off.

"Yes, I heard that someone came by to drop off medicine for you," he carried on. "Most curious how he found where we were, hm?"

Nico only grunted.

Lupin cleared his throat and carried on. "So, the Order of the Phoenix has gathered tonight to decide what to do about Nico. I personally feel he's a bigger threat to security by keeping him here than by letting him go. While supposedly being kept quiet, he managed to alert a friend to his location. That same friend is now relentlessly trying to break in."

"So he's the bloke pounding on the drawing room wall, then?" George asked, grinning lazily. "Bloody annoying fellow, isn't he? Nice friends you've got there."

"He's my cousin," Nico corrected, although Harry wasn't so sure what he was so touchy about. Cousin, friend... Then again, he was sure that he would make the same correction had someone called Dudley his friend. But Dudley wouldn't fly across a country and come hunt him down to rescue him, either.

"Either way," Lupin carried on, like nobody had interrupted him, "I think that as long as he doesn't know the address, he won't be able to let anyone in to Headquarters. We may as well let him go."

"So he can bring back more friends and knock down a wall?" Moody growled.

Nico's eyes darted over to Moody and he scowled. "If Percy's not able to knock down a wall, with Mrs. O'Leary's help, then I really doubt anybody I know could do it."

Tonks, who had bright orange hair that evening, asked, "Is Mrs. O'Leary the giant tank dog? Blimey, you Americans sure have odd pets," she added when he nodded.

"What makes Percy so able for the job?" Moody asked, suspiciously.

Nico hesitated too long. "He's just... stronger than the others," he said, but it was such an obvious lie that even he dropped his face to the table. Harry glanced at Hermione and Ron, who both had on skeptical expressions.

"Looked like a scrawny kid when I met him," Tonks said brightly.

"Yes, but you said all your spells bounced off him," Moody reminded her. An audible gasp escaped from Mrs. Weasley. "More than meets the eye."

Nico's head had come up when she said that, and he was now smirking. "Yes, I bet they would," he muttered to himself.

"You got an explanation for that, kid?" Moody demanded.

All eyes were on Nico, who said, "No, sir." His voice was dripping sarcasm. Harry was getting annoyed with the boy easily. "Clearly Percy's a freak of nature."

Moody drew his wand furiously, and around the table people began talking loudly.

"I say, I don't think that's really necessary!"

"For god's sake, Moody, put that away!"

"Let's all calm down!"

"I say the boy has it coming to him!"

"SIT DOWN!" thundered Mrs. Weasley. The room went deadly silent. "Very good. I personally feel that having the boy leave would be a major security risk. Some of us would be in more trouble than others were this place found. Isn't that right, Sirius," she said in a motherly tone that clearly wasn't a question. A tone Harry recognized from Aunt Petunia when she wanted Harry to make breakfast and it wasn't really an option.

Sirius glanced up from where he had been broodingly staring at the table and carving shapes into it with his fork. "Send the boy on his way, I say," he said, not meeting anyone's eyes. "The sooner the better."

Nico didn't meet anyone's eyes.

"You can't be serious!" spluttered Mrs. Weasley. "You could return to Azkaban! Is that what you want?"

Sirius became very still, and Mrs. Weasley seemed to realize she had overstepped her boundaries. She got up and began clearing plates from dinner to busy herself. Nico suddenly seemed very interested in the conversation, until it turned back to him.

"So are you with the dark lord?" Snape asked, his upper lip curling with disgust. He clearly was not enjoying his visit, and felt he had better things to do with his time. "Are you supporting him?"

Nico paused. "I feel like we're talking about two different dark lords here," he said cautiously. "Exactly who are you guys thinking of?"

Harry tried not to scoff at the kid. How could you not know who Voldemort was? Then again, if he was a Muggle... but Harry had heard of him popping in and out of rooms without Apparating, and he had fought off the great big dog next door. Sirius had mentioned that while they were cleaning after lunch.

"Voldemort," Moody said, and Ron drew in his breath sharply. Nico's face remained puzzled, or maybe even relieved.

"Oh, thank the gods. I have absolutely no idea who that is," he said, relaxing visibly. "No, I honestly don't know who your 'dark lord' is, and I am not working for him." Harry noticed his interesting phrasing. 'Thank the gods', plural, was not a normal Muggle statement. Having been raised with the Dursleys, probably the most normal people out there, he was quite sure. Of course, it could be some strange American slang, but he doubted it. Then it would be on the American soaps that Aunt Petunia loved so dearly.

It didn't escape Lupin's notice, either. "'Gods'? If you don't mind me asking, just what religion are you?"

"I do mind you asking, thanks," Nico said, his face getting hard again.

"What dark lord were you thinking of?" Snape asked. "There is only one as far as I am aware." The sneer in his voice reminded Harry how much he hated him. He was picking on the kid, who even as much as he annoyed Harry, was still just a kid. He instantly sympathized with anyone Snape picked on, having been in those shoes himself.

Nico stubbornly shook his head. "I don't feel like answering that, either," he said.

"And didn't you say you'd tell us what you were tonight?" Moody reminded him.

Nico glared into Moody's eyes, which was especially difficult and brave. Harry could never meet those odd swiveling eyes for more than a few seconds. "I think I said after I found out what your plans for me were."

And after much discussion that didn't really go anywhere and bored Harry to death, they reached a conclusion. The twins had begun to yawn convincingly, as the clock had long since struck eleven, and was now working its way toward midnight. George's head was starting to bob towards his chest. Ron had continued eating the entire meeting, and thus kept himself awake, and Harry had entertained himself by drawing shapes in his head with the mold growing on the walls over the sink. It created a quite interesting pattern, he felt. Hermione, on the other hand, had remained rapt at attention.

Nico had payed attention the whole time for the most part, as they were discussing him, but he was wearing a bored expression and looked as if he felt the whole thing was far beneath him, and that they ought to hurry up and make a decision. Towards the end he had begun to stare blankly over Snape's shoulder.

"Right then," Mad Eye announced. Nico glanced at him, clearly looking like he had begun to tune them out. "It's decided." He began to stand up. Everyone except for Hermione who was under the age of seventeen snapped out of whatever daze they had fallen into and wondered what decision had been reached.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Nico said, not sounding the least bit sorry.

"You'll stay until the school term starts," Lupin said gently. "After that, our main security priority will have left," he said, flicking a glance to Harry, "and you'll be allowed to leave." Harry tried not to be embarrassed too badly. Still, it irked him that they considered him to be the greatest priority when they'd spent most of the summer keeping him in the dark at the Dursley's. Nico cut him a fearsome glare that said he obviously blamed him.

Nico's face had begun to darken dramatically, but he kept his tone conversational, although it was a bit clipped. "And how long is that?"

Lupin hesitated to tell him, but it looked like Moody had no such qualms. "A month."

"A month?" Nico exploded.

"And a half," Moody added, which did not help Nico.

"You can't do that!" Nico cried. "I have things to do! There are places I have to be!"

"I don't remember asking your opinion," Moody told him, obviously trying to end the conversation.

Nico seemed to be struggling for words. He grabbed his chair and threw it onto the floor. "Percy won't just go away," he snapped.

"He won't just get in, either." Moody continued regarding Nico like he was a foolish child. Harry had to admire Nico's resoluteness against his gaze. Nico's hand reached inside his jacket, but it came out empty. "If you're looking for your knife, you'll want to look harder, I didn't just leave that kind of thing in your jacket when I cleaned it out."

Nico growled, "What the—" But he stopped himself, as if he had been about to give something away. "What the hell?" he remedied. Harry furrowed his brow. What had Nico been about to say? "You're lucky it wasn't my sword, you'd be disintegrated!" he mumbled, obviously not intending for anyone to hear it.

Harry blinked. Had he just heard that? He glanced at his two best friends, but Hermione and Ron seemed oblivious. No one else showed any signs of hearing it.

"So, I believe that completes our half of the deal," Lupin carried on, clearly hoping to clear the air by just pressing on through the discussion. It didn't look like it was working. You could have cut the tension with a knife. Everyone except for Nico was beginning to look a bit uncomfortable. Harry felt like he was staring at a young dementor. Fear swept over him like a sheet, and Nico was reminding him of what Cedric had looked like last spring. The light that had extinguished from Cedric's eyes was reflected in Nico's face. Death and despair seemed to accompany the boy.

Ron was shrinking down in his chair, and he had gone so white that his freckles stood out almost black on his skin. Harry felt he was justified in his terror, he too wanted to crawl under the table and hide.

"Well, I don't want to tell you anymore," Nico growled, picking up the mug he had been sipping during the meal and flinging it at the wall. It shattered. Hermione ducked to avoid flying pieces of pottery, and a shard shot right over Harry's head. It landed in front of him on the table, and Harry realized it was rattling in place. Shocked, he glanced up. Nico was doing this, he was sure.

"Enough of this," Snape said, standing up. His chair fell over backwards. Nico glanced up at him, startled by the gesture, and their eyes collided. "The boy is hiding something. I'll find out what soon enough. Legilimens!"

Nico took a step back as Snape obviously began rifling through his mind, and he narrowed his eyes furiously. For some reason, he didn't break Snape's gaze, and Harry realized it must have been more of a pride thing. Like when dogs stared each other down for dominance. Nico's face was dead white, as if he was being forced to relive painful memories. Harry watched as his shadow stretched and grew. The shard of pottery on the table had begun to rattle so ferociously that it created an audible din. Snape glanced down at it, distracted, and the connection broke.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Everyone's shadows around the room exploded. They contorted and solidified, becoming raging black whips that started tearing through the kitchen. One knocked Fred off his seat and pinned him to the wall, and another whipped the table so that it was flung over. Moody and Tonks were forced to duck, but Snape was not fast enough. He was trapped under the seat.

Sirius leaped to his feet, ducking a black tentacle. It stabbed into the wall behind him and seemed to get stuck. As Harry hauled Ron and Hermione to cover behind the fallen table, he shouted, "Stupefy!" The spell hit Nico dead center in his chest, and he fell to the floor, knocked out.

Cautiously, Harry poked his head out. The shadows had vanished and the room had returned to semi-normal order, although the wreckage remained. A large puncture hole was in the wall, and the drawing room was visible through it. Nico had knocked over a candle, but Mrs. Weasley was in the process of stamping out the little fire he had lit. Everything that had been on the walls had been torn off, and the shadows had left big gashes in the wallpaper and ceiling.

"What was that?" Ron asked, aghast.

Sirius walked over to where Nico's body lay on the floor. Had Harry been unable to see his chest rising and falling slowly, he would have thought that Nico was a corpse. Gingerly, Sirius picked up the boy and slung him over his shoulder. "I'll move him to his room," he told them, heading for the stairs.

"Bloody hell," George said, brushing himself off. "I would not want to be there when he woke up."

Nico opened his eyes. The rage had mostly gone out of him when he had been hit by whatever that was. For a moment, he was thought he was back in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The low lights reminded him of the way Bianca kept their hotel room at all times. She would have been watching over him if he was still recovering from a fever like this. "Bianca," he said instantly, turning his head to the side where she should have been.

Not Bianca, but Sirius sat in a chair pulled up beside the bed. He blinked, and everything came back to him in a big muddled mess. "You're awake," he said, smiling weakly. "That was quite the temper tantrum."

Nico shrugged his way out from under the blankets and reached for the canteen on the bedside table. His side was still aching, and he thought it had been long enough in between doses. If he wanted to kick this fever, it was time for some more nectar. This time, he finished off the canteen. Liquid birthday cake—a faint memory of Percy's birthday party. The saddest part was, the most delicious thing he'd ever had wasn't even meant for him. "I was in a bad mood."

"Yes, well, the giant shadow spikes threw us for a bit of a loop," Sirius teased.

Nico made a noise in the back of his throat. If Sirius just wanted to talk, he didn't have any interest. He didn't want to deal with Sirius suddenly changing his mind and vanishing off again.

"You're not alone here, you know," Sirius said suddenly. He looked like he was eating something very sour, as if the words were hard to get out. Nico felt the same way. The whole conversation was uncomfortable for them both. "I'm not allowed to leave the house, either."

Nico was interested suddenly. Everyone kept dodging around this. Why was Sirius so trapped in here? Everyone acted like he was their friend. "What's that about, anyways?" he asked.

"Well... I was sort of accused of murdering a whole bunch of people," he said, giving Nico a wry look. "Of course I never would, but I did a lot of jail time and nearly died. Anyways, I broke out a couple years back, but if they caught me I'd be shipped straight back there. Not my idea of fun."

Nico's jaw dropped. That was probably the last thing he would have guessed.

"So most everyone thinks I'm a raving lunatic, or a cold blooded killer," he said reproachfully.

"I get that a lot, too," Nico admitted. "Mostly because of who my dad is. He's... not the fuzziest guy ever. The shadow thing and scary aura is kind of a family trait."

Sirius smiled. "Oh, family," he sighed. "The Black name is quite spattered. We're not the cleanest people."

Nico grinned. "My dad does a lot of things that most people hate, too." For a moment, he felt close to Sirius. Not friends. But like they could be friends someday... Maybe.

Downstairs, someone began to shriek. "That'll be my mother," Sirius said, gloomily. "I better take care of it before she wakes the whole house." He rose from his seat and hurried out the door. "Goodnight, Nico," he said over his shoulder.

"'Night, Sirius," Nico said, and yawned. He glanced at the clock in the corner. Half past two. Gods, it was late.

A/N: Hey, guess what? This chapter marks one third of this story being over! And that's only if I keep the epilogue, which may not happen, it's rather dull. I won't be dragging this one out for a long time. It will be maybe nine chapters. If I keep writing at this rate, it'll be done in a little over two weeks! Whoa!

The next few chapters may be delayed because I'm doing viola camp next week, even though I don't play viola... Yet! They were pretty desperate for bodies, so I signed up. Promise I'm not abandoning it, though! I'm dying to keep writing, this chapter nearly killed me because I was so eager to do the next one!