AUTHOR'S NOTES
So, yeah, I had left the notebook at school again over the weekend. Oops. Anyway, he's a good chapter for you guys ;) Thanks for all the faves and reviews! They are very much appreciated.

The first thing he thought of when he heard her sentence was, we're actually going to Hogwarts?

Then he wondered if he should trust Luna. He knew they were fighting against Voldemort; that was about it. Maybe Luna could clue him in, and he'd make a judgement call on whether she could be trusted or not.

"What do you mean?" He questioned after a moment. She took a seat next to him on the bed. She had cleaned up and changed clothes since the manor. He couldn't help but notice, she was very pretty.

"Well, first, I think I should know you real name if we are to be friends." She told him in a dreamy voice, her pitch rising in some places as she talked. She always sounded like that for some reason or another.

"Who said we are friends?" The words were out before he could stop them. They seemed mean, but Luna was unphased.

"Oh, I did." She smiled at him. "You seem like a nice boy if one can get past that tough wall you've placed around yourself. I also think you would help against You-Know-Who."

"Okay. Everytime someone talks about him, I get confused. Can you please just tell me what's going on?" It came out more desperate and demaning than he had intended. Almost like his dad. . .

"I'd gladly help." She told him matter-of-factly. She looked straight into his eyes. "Don't let the nargles and wrackspurts get to you, Nick." Then she told him the story, or all she knew of it. Sometimes, Luna added her own little flair to the story, but she had gotten the basic summary correct.

"That's why people think Harry's so important." Nico thought out loud. Even though he knew everyone here was a wizard, Nico characterized them as being children of gods and goddesses. For instance, he'd figured Harry was treated so well because his dad was Zeus. It just helped Nico get a grasp on things.

'Now that you know, Nick, will you help us with him?" The way she said "it" made it sound like Voldemort was a mere pest, almost like a naughty child that nobody could get to.

Nico looked at her and held the gaze instead of looking down this time. He nodded in answer to the question.

"I'm Nico, Luna, not Nick." He trusted her. If no one else, he trusted Luna.

She just smiled in response.

"You've nearly got it, Nico."

She was being kind. All Nico had managed to do with that wand in the past hour was some explosions in his face. He knew he'd said he'd never use it, but somehow Luna persuaded him that he needed it to fight Voldemort. Which he didn't. But he couldn't tell he that, now could he?

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Nico said half-heartedly. To his surprise, however, the feather obeyed, rising up into the air at Nico's command. Somehow, he'd channeled his godly power through the wand. This was a pretty useful stick, as far as sticks went.

"See, you're not a Squib after all." Luna smiled. "I knew you could do it. You just have to stop being so negative."

"I'm not negative." Nico automatically defended.

"Whatever you say. It is good to believe you can be postive."

"I never said I was postive, either. I'm a realist."

Luna just shook her head with another serene smile.

"I know I can't teach you everything about spells in these few days we have, but I can give you enough to stand a chance against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You will help us immensely in the fight, I know you will."

While staring at her, out of the blue Nico realized exactly what Aphrodite had meant in his dream.

F-ing hell.

That night, Nico couldn't hold onto sleep. After the initial thought about possibly liking Luna, he couldn't banish it from his mind. The thought was like an unwanted pest. It just wouldn't go away. Did girls think this much about stuff like this?

Now normally, Nico wouldn't dwell on this. But with all that had happened in the few days he'd been here, he spent an unusual amount of time thinking. It made his brain hurt sometimes. Nico had no need for romance in his life. Sure. He was a teenage boy, he had urges, he wanted it. But at the same time, it was despised. The only other time he'd felt this way was about that one crush on a girl from Aphrodite's own cabin. That never went anywhere however because she didn't realize Nico even existed. But, somehow, this - thing? - with Luna was stronger. She cared about his well being. No one really had before, except Bianca, of course. Sure people were worried about him because of his sister's early demise - but Luna didn't know about that. She had no reason to care.

And yet, she did.

After a long time of wrestling with the thoughts bouncing around in his head, he threw off his blanket and headed downstairs, donned in sweatpants and some old Tshirt. Even thought he's wasn't Poseidon's son, the sea helped him sometimes. He liked water when it wasn't trying to kill him. He opened the door and felt a blast of much needed cool air. He passed Dobby's recent grave on the way to the beach.

The smell of the sea was overwhelming, but it cleared Nico's head. He sat down on the wet sand, and stuck his feet in the rising and falling waves. Luna was not his focus. Right here - right now - defeating their villian was the focus. Anything involving anything else could wait, it was minor.

"Nico? Is that you?"

Or, it seemed, fate had other plans.

He whilred around and sure enough, grey eyes was staring back at him. She was trying to wrap a large bathrobe around her bitty frame. It was way too big for her.

"Yeah, it is. Go back to bed, Luna." He told her in a low mumble.

She seemed to ignore this. "I couldn't sleep either," she informed him while taking a seat beside him. Their bodies touched in this moment. Too close. "The ocean is so turbulent, but so calm, don't you think?" Nico scooted a little ways away from her.

"Yeah," he muttered. His mind was full of those thoughts again, some of them were. . .well. . .Nico was a teenager. Don't blame him.

He snuck a glance over at her, and she happened to do so at the same time. They held eye contact, and she glanced down at Nico's lips. He took this as an unconscious signal to go in, and he leaned closer to her. The distance between them was no more as their lips met in a soft touch.

Luna didn't seem surprised at all. She touched the back of Nico's neck, the coldness of it made Nico shiver. She pulled him closer to her as the innocent kiss deepened. He didn't want to, but Nico was forced to break off to breathe. Nico stared again into the grey eyes he barely knew, but felt like he'd known forever.

Damn it, Aphrodite.