They kept travelling through the Underworld. Sometimes by foot, sometimes by shadow travel.
Nico showed her the rivers of the Underworld, but they only saw Phlegethon and Cocytus, from a distance. Nico never wanted to go anywhere near Tartarus, if he could help it. He had heard enough scary stories to last a lifetime.
He had shown her the Lethe, river of forgetfulness, which he had been washed in, when he was younger, in order to forget about, what happened to his mother
and Mnemosyne, the river of memory, which he so often had felt tempted to drink of.
Every time he had refrained. He had seen in a vision, what happened to his mother. He didn't need to remember the feelings he had, at the time as well.
He felt tempted to tell her, but decided not to. He didn't want her pity.
Their last stop before returning to the palace, was Persephone's garden. One of Nico's favorite places in the Underworld. He and Persephone got along better, after the war. She had even agreed to move the petrified victims of Medusa to another part of the palace.
Without the grotesque statues, it was really rather beautiful. He heard Hermione gasp beside him, as they entered the courtyard. In the flowerbeds were glowing mushrooms in all colors, casting an ethereal light over the entire garden. Instead of flowers were precious stones. In the middle were the orchard of pomegranates, spreading their scent of temptation. He didn't realize how romantic it actually was here, and that thought made his cheeks red. He hoped the light from the mushrooms would cover that up.
He didn't need to worry about that though. He looked at her, as she stared transfixed at the strange plants and precious gems of diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. He shouldn't have looked at her. She looked too beautiful in that light.
He was broken out of his reverence, when she turned her attention to the orchard. She felt drawn to the pomegranates, he could tell. She reached out a hand, to touch the nearest fruit.
"Don't" He said. "You don't want to be bound here forever."
She retracted her hand, as if burned, when she broke out of the trance. Nico decided it was time to return to the palace. He grabbed her dress again, and they shadow traveled into the throne room. Hades sat on his throne, rubbing his temples.
He looked up, with weary eyes, when they entered, and sighed heavily. He sent Nico a look, that made him not want to ask any questions.
"Miss Granger."
"Hermione, please" She smiled at the god of the Underworld, who raised a brow.
"Hermione. I believe your time with us has come to an end. Although the days-"
"DAYS!?" Hermione interrupted "Merlin! They will be so worried!" She panicked.
Nico smirked. "Don't worry about it, Princess. In upper world, it will only have been like three hours. You could just say you had fallen asleep or something."
Hades smiled at the moniker, his son had automatically given the girl. Very interesting.
"Nico, will you please escort Hermione back to the world of the living? And after, please return. I have something to discuss with you."
Nico nodded, and grabbed her dress again, shadow travelling to the place he had found her.
…
They stood under the tree, Hermione had been sitting under, when Nico had found her. Hermione was blinking in the sunlight that suddenly felt way too harsh.
It was hard to comprehend, that she was suddenly back in the normal world. But what was normal anyways? Her head was buzzing with all the information she had received. In the Underworld, it was easy to pretend it was all a dream, but now, in the harsh sunlight, it was harder to pretend.
She was adopted. Her father was a god. She had met a son of Hades. She had been to the goddamn Underworld!
What was she supposed to do now?
She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, but found herself unable to speak. She saw her book bag was still lying in the grass near the tree. She dug around for a spare piece of parchment, and a pen, she had snuck with her at the start of term. She didn't understand, why people in the wizarding world were still using quills. They were messy, they broke easily, and it was unpractical having to carry around bottles of ink, that might crack or spill. Unfortunately, she was already an outsider. No need to advertise it, so she kept her pens hidden.
She gave him a scrap of parchment
"This is my address. If you ever have time, you're welcome to stop by. You- you know. If you want." She stammered.
He looked surprised, but took it anyway, staring at it reverently.
"Thank you" He whispered.
"The phone number to my parent's house is there as well. I don't know how good reception you get in the underworld though." She tried to joke, but Nico was still staring at the piece of parchment, hesitating.
"I'll try to keep in touch." He smiled slightly.
She went to hug him, but he stepped away, making her frown.
"I'll see you around" He said, disappearing into the shadows.
That's when Hermione looked down, and saw, that she was still wearing the beautiful red dress, with the ruby encrusted belt.
"Oh, for crying out loud." She mumbled, exasperated. Now, she had to somehow sneak into the school, all the way up to the Gryffindor Tower, without anyone noticing her statement outfit. It was times like these, when Harry's cloak could really come in handy.
She looked around, seeing no one, and she started sneaking towards the castle, staying in the shadows.
She had forgotten to look up, though, or she would have seen a very curious Draco Malfoy, sitting on his broom, observing her from above.
…
When Nico returned, it was to an even more weary looking Hades. He cleared his throat, and Hades looked up at him.
"Father?"
"I have spoken to Poseidon" He sighed heavily. "He had not known, that his daughter is alive. It seems, something happened, not long after her birth, that convinced Poseidon, Hermione and her mother had passed away."
Nico hesitated. "Do you think it was Zeus?"
"No. It wasn't. It was my first thought as well, but it seems like it had something to do with the war I sent you to investigate."
Nico nodded. From, what he had learned through his observations, that war had been brutal.
"But then what? Why didn't Poseidon stay? Didn't he want to see her?"
Hades ran a hand over his face.
"No. He did not wish to see her"
"How could he not want to see her? If he thought she was dead, why didn't he want to see her?"
"Nico. Poseidon's business is his own. You would do well to remember that." Hades told his son, sternly.
Nico bowed his head.
"He did, however request that she be trained."
"Okay, so we'll send her to Camp Half-blood."
"No. He requested you to do the training. She would need to be kept secret."
Nico snapped his head up. "Me? Are you kidding? No way." He said, in disbelief
"Yes, way." Hades said dryly. "You will train the girl, and I will send you on missions together."
"No, absolutely not. I work alone. I'll just freak her out."
Hades lifted an eyebrow. "Like she freaked out, during your trip around the Underworld?"
Nico huffed. He really didn't want to give the real reason. That he was scared of getting too close to her, that in reality, it was him, being freaked out by her and the way, that she apparently didn't care at all, that he was the son of Hades, and had almost killed her. What was he supposed to do with that? And then there was the crush he had on her brother.
He frowned, and decided that a change in subject was in order.
"When we were walking in the Fields of Asphodel, there was this girl. She was in Asphodel, but I could tell she was remembering everything. She wasn't fading. She is a sister of mine, isn't she? I mean, I tried to find Bianca once, but she must have been in Elysium. But this girl is my sister too"
Hades frowned.
"That sounds likely. Is there a point?"
"I was just wondering. You know, if it might be possible to-" Nico interrupted himself. There was no use in asking the question, when he knew the answer was negative.
"Thanatos is gone at the moment" Hades said speculatively. "If a soul were to leave the Underworld, it could be possible. With a little help."
Nico looked at Hades, his brow knitted in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"If I were to lend a hand in such a venture, will you agree to train the girl?"
Nico's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Y-yes" He stammered
"Shall we swear it on the River Styx?"
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