They spent the rest of the evening packing. That is, Leo, Nico and Percy were packing. Hermione was lounging about in the living room, trying to think up a training strategy.

"Hermione?" Hazel interrupted her thoughts.

"Hazel" Hermione smiled "Come sit down."

Hazel plopped down in an armchair next to Hermione.

"Gods, these are really too comfortable. I'll never be able to get up from here" Hazel laughed.

"I know. It reminds me of my old school." Hermione lit the fireplace wandlessly, enjoying the ambience of the firelight.

"Don't let Leo see you do that. He likes to feel special."

"But he is special." Hermione hummed. "All of you are."

"We try." Hazel smiled, and they fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the sound from the fire crackling.

"Why didn't he tell us about you? Tell me?" Hazel whispered.

"Because he was told not to. He hated it. Especially keeping it from you. Back then, he really worried, that maybe you would think he didn't care about you, as much as he did Bianca. Keeping that secret from you was really killing him, but he swore on it with his father. It was very important. They were afraid of the exact situation we are in now. Except, we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it back then. Besides, it was for the protection of every one."

"I know. I just wish I had met you sooner." "Me too. I saw you once though. In the Underworld. I'm happy Nico found a way to get you out"

"Me too. Obviously. Ugh. I need to go, I have patrol soon." Hazel smiled apologetically.

"No worries. I should get up too. I want a cup of tea before bed."

…

Hermione puttered around in the kitchen, thinking about the upcoming trials. Especially how to make Zeus mortal. That would be no easy feat. They would definitely need Apollo, and she would need all her power, and then some.

"You'll fail" A voice sneered at her.

She turned around, to look at Joseph with a lifted eyebrow "Excuse me?"

"You will fail, and you will destroy us all." He hissed. "It would be so much better, just to turn you over. There are people looking for you, you know."

"Yes, I do know. I saw the flyer."

"Oh, not those people. I'm talking about something else." He smirked menacingly "There are people, willing to pay a lot of gold for your little British tush."

"What do you mean?" She wrinkled her brow in confusion.

He bent down, uncomfortably close, and whispered "Does 'Mudblood' mean something to you?"

Hermione was hit with nausea, and she was sure, that if there were anyone else, in the living room, they would have seen her going pale as a ghost.

That was the one threat, she hadn't expected at Camp Jupiter.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you" she said much calmer and confident, than she felt. She used all her stealth to press the button on the intercom, on the side of the counter, without him noticing.

"What, you think you can threaten me? You're going down." He growled.

"And what makes you think that?"

"I'm the son of Mercury. You think I don't have contact with my dad? I've kept him informed, and he's loyal to Zeus. He knows all of your plans, by now."

"And the other thing?"

He chuckled darkly, grabbing her arms and twisting them around her back. It hurt, but she needed more information, so she didn't struggle too hard. "Oh, my little Hermione. I might be a demigod, but I have some other heritage on my mother's side. My uncle would be very interested in getting his claws in you."

"But you're not magical. You don't carry the blessing of Hecate. I can feel it." He slammed her head down, into the kitchen counter, making her head swim.

"No" He sneered. "My mother is what you would call a squib. So, she searched somewhere else, for me to gain power. But can you imagine the rewards I will have, when I've given Zeus both information on the betrayal coming from the half-bloods, and that I even have the threat eliminated? Combined with the Gold, the Death Eaters are going to pay me for the Gryffindor Princess? They are all looking forward to see you burning, I'm sure."

"Just out of curiosity, Joseph, what is your last name?"

"Oh, I believe you are familiar with it. My name is Avery. Joseph Avery, that's me." He said, a creepy smile stretching on his lips. "And you and I, are going to take a little walk."

He started guiding her towards the exit, but it was blocked by a furious Leo, fireballs in his hands.

"Over my dead body."

Joseph grabbed a fistful of Hermione's hair, and drew a knife from his pocket, holding it up to her throat.

"Move aside. You'll hit her, if you try. And even if you don't, I'll cut her throat."

Leo stood, wide eyed, close to panic.

"Gods, this is ridiculous. I have to stop ending up at knifepoint. It happens way too frequently" Hermione quipped.

The guy was sloppy. He was cocky, and easy to take down. Hermione stomped down hard on his foot, grabbed the wrist that held the knife, flipping the guy over her shoulder, slamming him down to the floor. She knocked his hand against the floor a couple of time, making him drop the knife. She finished with a wandless sticking charm to tie his hands together and stick them to the floor.

When she was done, she looked up, to see a wide-eyed Leo, and coming up behind him was Will.

Will was barely keeping it together. He stood near the door, shaking, his mouth pressed into a hard line and his eyes glistening with tears. The look of betrayal clearly written all over his face.

"Get him out of here" He seethed.

"Already on my way" Leo assured him.

Hermione transfigured a pair of handcuffs from a spatula, and gave them to Leo to put on Joseph, before she would release him.

"I'm taking him to Reyna"

"Alright, just, I might need to, uh, interrogate him about the wizarding connection." She stammered, glancing every five seconds at Will, who still stood in the doorway looking lost.

When Leo and Joseph left, so did Will's composure. He started sobbing, covering his mouth with one hand, tears spilling down his cheeks.

Hermione slowly went over, putting a trembling hand on his shoulder.

"I am so, so sorry, Will. I never wanted to-"

"Don't you dare." Will interrupted harshly, pushing her hand off his shoulder. She started to cry herself then.

"Don't you dare, for even a second assume, that this was your fault." He pulled her into a hard embrace. "This situation is messed up, and he made his own stupid choices. I'm just angry with myself, I didn't see it sooner. I'm – was his boyfriend after all. I should have known."

"Oh, Will. If I can't blame myself, then neither can you. If you do, I will too. Understood?"

"Okay. Yeah." He sniffled, releasing her.

"Now, I'm going to make a nice cup of tea, because I'm British, and we are going to sit here and relax. After that, we'll find you a place to sleep. I'm not sending you home like this. Understood?"

He chuckled wetly "Yes Ma'am" and gave a small salute.

…

It wasn't until she had made sure Will was sleeping, that she returned to her own room, where Nico waited, bags packed. She supposed Leo had come to fill him in, because he only spread his arms, for her to walk in to for comfort. That's where she had her own breakdown. She was impressed with herself, that she had managed to keep it together for so long for Will.

When Joseph had held her at knifepoint, she had flashback to the insane cackling and rancid breath of Bellatrix Lestrange. She had felt the cold metal of the knife, digging into the sensitive flesh of her neck. She spent the rest of the night sobbing, crying herself to sleep in Nico's arms, while he was whispering in her ear and stroking her hair.

…

The next morning, Nico was forbidden to see Joseph. Reyna had made an executive decision, that Nico surprisingly agreed to. They both remembered, what happened to Bryce Lawrence during the war with Gaia, and Nico wasn't sure he could keep calm. Especially, when Hermione insisted on going in alone to interrogate him. He was pacing outside the cell, when she came out, wearing a troubled expression.

"I need to contact Harry, but it can still wait till we get back. We really need to get training, and preferably yesterday."

"Good. Leo has Festus ready to go, and Percy is jumping up and down. I think he's excited to see what you're capable of. Me too, if I'm honest" He said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, come on, you've seen some of it."

"Yeah, but nowhere near your full potential."

"And thank the gods for that!" She laughed

…

On the way to see the dragon, Will stopped them. Nico nodded at him, walking ahead, letting the two new found friends have a moment.

"Thank you, for last night, Hermione. I really appreciated it. I was a mess. I still am, but I'm managing."

"You are such a genuinely good person, Will. I cannot express how thankful I am, that you took care of Nico. I feared so much for him, but I can see he was in good hands" She gave him a sly smirk, and made Will blush. "But I also get the feeling, that, while you are a very caring person, you don't let people care for you so often. Just let them." She said softly, turning around to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He nodded, smiling a little sheepishly, and they went up to the lawn, where they were supposed to meet the others.

…

The others had told her about Festus, Leo especially, had made sure she knew everything possible about it, but whatever they had told her, could never have prepared her for seeing the dragon in person. Sixty feet of bronze plates, with glowing red eyes, and huge wings.

Hermione's jaw dropped.

So did her stomach.

"I am not going on that thing." She tried arguing.

"Yes, you are."

"No. Absolutely not."

Nico's only response to that, was to grab her, and throw her over his shoulder, carrying her there, and plopping her down on one of the seats, giving her a smug smile.

"Yes. You are"

He climbed up behind her. Percy sat in front of her, and Leo sat up front, steering.

Hermione hated flying. With the first lurch of Festus' wings, she felt like vomiting. With the second she almost did. Then Nico wound his arms around her, rubbing her belly with his hands, making her settle a little. An hour into the flight, she had fallen asleep, exhausted from all the nerves. She didn't wake up, until Percy made a gasp. In the horizon, the outline of an island could be seen.

"Woohoo! Welcome to Ogygia my friends!" Leo yelled over his shoulder.

I felt bad for Will, as I was writing this. But there's a purpose, I promise.

Please review. It's been a while since I've had any.