Hermione had a lump in her throat, as she got off the train. Just on the other side of the barrier, her parents, who weren't actually her parents, would be waiting for her.
She kept busy a little longer, by making sure, that her trunk was properly secured on her trolley, and by saying goodbye to the Weasleys, who would be apparating back to the Burrow.
She felt about ready to hyperventilate, when she felt Harry's hand on her shoulder. He looked into her eyes with concern, and that's when she realized, that she was actually crying.
"Are you nervous about telling your parents about the basilisk?"
"Ye-yes," She stammered. In all her emotional turmoil about the demi-god thing, and being adopted, she had completely forgotten, that she had actually been petrified, not long ago. She had been wondering, why the school hadn't notified her parents. Just the same. She had already decided, not to tell them. If they knew, they would pull her out of Hogwarts, for sure.
"It'll be fine" He assured her, giving her a squeeze.
She took a deep breath, and plastered a cheerful smile on her face.
When she walked through the barrier and saw her parents beaming with happiness, she was almost about to start crying again.
She ran to them, throwing herself into their embrace, almost hitting a grumpy man with her trolley.
"Watch it" He growled, and then he stared at her strangely. Something was off about him. She felt a strange and very strong pull from him. He looked strange too. Like he had just come from a fishing expedition. But that didn't make any sense. There wasn't exactly any water to fish in, at King's Cross. She pushed it from her mind, dismissing it as another wizard, who didn't know how to look inconspicuous in public.
She turned back to her parents.
"We've missed you so much, love!" Her father gushed.
"I've missed you too, daddy" She said automatically.
"Let's go home" Her mother suggested "You must be tired."
…
In the car on the way home, her mind kept wandering to the strange man, with the black scruffy beard, and the sea green eyes. The pull she felt, was almost familiar. She also couldn't shake the feeling, that she had seen him before. It was probably just a parent of one of her school mates though.
…
The next few days passed by in a daze. Her mind kept running around in circles; to tell, or not to tell her parents, that she had been petrified by a basilisk. To tell, or not to tell her parents, that she knew she was adopted.
It became more and more clear to her though. By the third day, she had decided, not to tell her parents on either count. Keeping the peace seemed like a good idea. Her parents would tell her she was adopted in their own time.
She had noticed more and more; how blind she had been. Both her parents had blue eyes. Hers were brown. She would have been a biological impossibility. They loved her though, and that's what mattered in the end. She had inherited more important things from them than eye color. She had her mother's thirst for knowledge, and she had her father's temper. Family is not just biology.
She was curious though, about Poseidon, about the identity of her mother. About the powers, she apparently had. Powers, that she was terrified of.
…
On day four of her summer vacation, she almost died of a heart attack. Metaphorically of course.
She walked into her room, absorbed in the book she was carrying. She went directly to her desk. It wasn't until someone cleared their throat, that she registered, that someone else was in her room.
"Please don't scream" He said hurriedly.
"What in the world are you doing here?" She hissed instead.
"You gave me your address!" He told her, bewildered.
She looked at him incredulously. "Seriously? I don't know, what you usually do, but in normal society, it is customary, to knock on the front door!" She half shrieked. "How did you even get in?"
He pointed innocently at the open window.
"Unbelievable"
"So, you're not at all curious as to why I'm here?" He smirked at her.
She struggled with herself for a moment "Of course I'm curious, you idiot." She grumbled, making him smile.
"My dad, spoke to yours, and they agreed, that you are going to need training. Being a demigod isn't easy. We attract a lot of monsters, and general trouble. For you, it's going to be especially difficult. You are very powerful, even for a demigod, and monsters are attracted to that. We can't take you to camp though. For one, I have no idea, how we would transport you all the way to Long Island. Secondly, we need you to be kept a secret."
"That just – that doesn't make any sense. I get the monster thing. I was recently petrified by a basilisk, after all, but what training? And what camp? And why isn't Poseidon telling me this himself?"
Nico scratched the back of his neck.
"You are a demigod, and I am a demigod, but we're not the only ones. In fact, there are many. Children of Athena, of Hephaestus, Aphrodite and so forth. Apollo and Hermes have a lot of kids."
That got her attention. "There are more? How many kids does Poseidon have?"
He sighed "Only two. You, and another guy called Percy. But he wasn't supposed to have any at all."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there were demigods involved in World War Two. Poseidon, Hades and Zeus – " He looked nervously to the ceiling, but nothing happened. "We call them 'The Big Three'. The demigod children of those three gods, are the most powerful. 'The Big Three' made a pact after the war, not to have any more children. There was a big prophecy about a child of one of them. Zeus and Poseidon broke the agreement. Zeus has a daughter, called Thalia, and Poseidon has a son called Percy, and now you."
She looked at him with a shrewd expression. "Obviously, Hades wasn't so innocent either."
He chuckled nervously. "Actually, I'm kind of a loophole. I was born before the war." He looked uncomfortable, telling her that.
Her eyebrows shot all the way to her hairline, but she managed to contain herself, somewhat.
"You look pretty good for an eighty-year-old" She quipped.
He grinned. "Thanks, I suppose"
"So, he somehow found a loophole. But does that agreement matter, if all of them have kids anyway?"
Nico ran a hand through his hair.
"It's complicated. Zeus – " He looked to the ceiling again. "He doesn't like it, when Poseidon and Hades has kids. He tried to kill me and my sister, killed my mother. He wanted to kill Percy as well. I think he feels threatened. You are, without a doubt, the most powerful one. I don't doubt, that Zeus would try to have you killed. At best, it would create a large conflict between him and Poseidon, if it was discovered, that Poseidon didn't just break the agreement once, but twice."
It was hard for Hermione, to comprehend, that the kind of the gods, might want her dead. She knew, she wasn't entirely welcome in the wizarding world, considering her heritage, but a group of pureblood snobs, she could handle. The king of the gods? Not so much.
She sat down on her bed in shock. Nico was standing in the middle of the room, looking awkward. He went to kneel in front of her.
"We need to train you, to defend yourself, against monsters." He told her gently.
She nodded numbly. Her life was changing so drastically, she couldn't keep up.
She threw herself at Nico, burying her head in the crook of his neck, crying.
He sat, completely frozen in fear, but slowly gave in, drawing his arms around her in an embrace.
I got a guest review, about a clumsy formulation, when Nico is trying to explain about The Big Three. I tried to clear it up. Hope it works better now :)