"You will be taking a Port-key," Dumbledore said.
"Wait, but he's coming too?" Ron asked, looking pointedly at Nico. Dumbledore gave a silent sigh. "Yes, Mr. Weasley." he said. "Mr. Di Angelo...will explain shortly after you get there." He looked at Nico, and his penetrating eyes said; We'll talk.
The Weasley children didn't pay Nico much attention, and nor did Harry; probably because they were too anxious to know how their dad was. Be worried now, and be suspscious later.
None of them even realized that Nico wasn't going for the portkey. As soon as the five worried faces disappeared, Dumbledore turned to Nico.
"Sir?" Nico asked, confused about what Dumbledore wanted to talk about. He had clear orders to maintain his cover, and he wasn't about to let it drop so quickly. What was going on?
"Mr. Di Angelo," Dumbledore nodded. He seemed a lot more different than that happy ancient man Nico had seen on his first day. He slumped back into his chair, sighing. He had his head in his hands, looking distressed.
"The reason for my requesting you to stay behind, is because I can sense dark days coming, my boy."
Well, that much was obvious. What else did he want to tell Nico? His eyes were rapidly losing their twinkle, and for a second there he looked like nothing but an old man who has suffered a rough life.
Nico said, "Yes, sir. That's the reason we demigods are going to aid the wizarding community. We work together, or we lose." Nico was familiar with this strategy; he'd been in two wars, and was a fairly major part in both of them. Either they fight together; or-well, perish.
Dumbledore looked up at Nico, and smiled at him. "I am aware. But unfortunately, the Wizarding World is not. To gain the others' trust, I am afraid you will have to be straight-forward."
Nico slightly tilted his head in question. What did he mean? Did he seriously want Nico to walk up to the others and say, 'Hey, by the way, I'm a demigod!'?
"Mr. Potter, Nico, is not to know of your- ah- status under any circumstances. Unfortunately, so shouldn't Mr. Ronald Weasley and Ms. Granger. The three are like peas in a pod, you see. If one knows, the others must. And if it happens so that Ms. Granger and Mr. Ronald Weasley know, Mr. Potter may feel left out."
Nico nodded, but was still slightly confused. "Does this mean I should tell the others my, status as you put it, sir The rest of the Weasley kids I mean?"
Dumbledore paused. "Not unless it's absolutely necessary. You see, most wizards have trust issues, I'm afraid. Indeed the past years have been ones of deceiving. A friend betraying a friend. So, if it is needed, then by all means, tell them what you have to."
Nico thought about that. Dumbledore had just told him that Wizards were subjected to a great amount of betrayal the past few years, and thus have trust issues. So in short, no one would completely trust Nico unless they knew they entire truth about him. He could accept that; he had trust issues himself.
Nico nodded. "I understand, sir. But I have the feeling that even the Ministry of Magic will highly object to my presence?" He inwardly smiled as he thought of Umbridge's face when he had fought her down.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled- however dimly- at the mention of the Ministry. "Ah, indeed." he agreed. "They are aware of your presence, I assure you, but as long as you are here at Hogwarts, and as long as I can call this school mine- they cannot by any means expel you."
Nico nodded appreciatively.
"Thank you," Dumbledore exhaled. "You may leave now."
For a second, Nico was confused. Then, he cursed himself for losing it, nodded once at Dumbledore, and blended into the shadows.
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Unlike popular belief, Ron Weasley did think occasionally. Nico Di Angelo may be absolutely insane, weird, dark, and maybe a little scary sometimes, but he knew he was a good guy. That much was pretty obvious. He had that Gryffindor bravery about him- he stood up to Umbridge, stood up for Harry and Hagrid, and even Hermione seemed to find him okay. Ron's circle of trust did not extend easily, but come October, and the way he was looking back on it, the thought of Nico being a Death Eater made him blush. He didn't know why he had thought that, but there was something about Nico- an aura about him that particularly screamed 'death'. But like Nico and Hagrid had stated, not everything unfamiliar and dark was evil.
Ron didn't like deep thinking much. It twisted things around and made everything complicated. There were possibilities, and pros, and cons, and a lot of things that made his head hurt. All the trio's sleuth came mainly from Hermione ad Harry. Ron was not dumb. He just let them do the thinking. To put it short, he didn't want to give matters a lot of thought in case he was wrong. With Nico, he was. But no matter how much Ron knew Nico to be a good person, he also had a right to suspect him after that day.
Of course, now he knew that Nico knew about the order, and they probably won't say a word about it. Nico wasn't a normal Saturday-evening student. But for some reason, he couldn't come to care now. He didn't pay attention to it then, and now, worry was crushing him.
But honestly, at that time, he hadn't given the matter a lot of thought either. He was worried about his dad; was he really in Harry's dream? And why-what did that mean? Why would a snake attack his father?
Honestly, though, it's hard to not have your brain jump back to the point when someone you weren't expecting just appeared next to you.
He was sitting alone in one of the countless rooms of Grimmauld place. He didn't want his siblings to see him so messed up with guilt and concern, so he took a room to himself. He was sitting calmly there, left to his thoughts until...
"Bloody hell!" Ron cursed loudly, jumping out of his seat quickly. Something heavy had just fell on him whilst he was busy feeling concerned for his dad.
The person who had fallen onto the dusty seat didn't seem to happy about it, either. Cursing, he sat up, muttering something that sounded like "...losing my touch."
Temporarily disorientated, the boy looked up, then cursed again. "Styx," he said.
Ron blinked, trying to get over his slight surprise. "And people say I should mind my language." he remarked, although he wasn't sure what he had meant.
"Sorry," Nico said.
"For the language?" Ron asked, confused.
Nico raised his eyebrows. "For falling on top of you. You literally must have had enough of your shoulders, and I'm not exactly as light as I look."
"Yeah," Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck. He sat down beside Nico, sighing. "I figured. Thanks, by the way." And he meant it.
Nico was looking at him, and his lips quirked a little. "For apologizing?"
Ron bit his lip nervously. He didn't know how to approach Nico, so he decided to do what he was good at- being straight-forward and flat-out honest.
Ron said, "For being a git. You-you and Harry, you practically saved my dad. And I was really being stupid- I don't know, I guess-" he took a deep breath "for judging you a bit too quick. That was a really brave thing you did, standing up to Umbridge. I don't know what you're doing Nico, but I know you're on our side." He looked at Nico, then quickly diverted his line of vision because he couldn't stand to stare into Nico's penetrating dark eyes.
Nico waiting for a second, as if deciding what to make of all of this. Ron played with his fingers nervously, clenching and un-clenching them on his lap, seeming more interested in them than Nico's face.
"It's alright," Nico said. Just like that, Ron abruptly looked up. What? Why was Nico forgiving him so readily? It reminded Ron of Harry; people always judged him and blamed his for things he didn't even think about doing. Why was he letting it go so smoothly? Ron knew he wouldn't.
Ron blinked again. Somehow, forgiveness from Nico seemed strange...wrong, even. Did he even deserve it? He felt like he was back in his fourth year again, with Harry- his best mate for the past years - looking at him with pure hatred. But just like Harry, Nico forgave him.
"That's...that's good." Ron said, determined not to offend Nico by sounding too surprised.
Nico's lips twitched again. "I can't tell you a lot," Nico said. "But I can tell you that you weren't wrong when you said I was on your side.
At that moment, and before Ron could grin stupidly or something as such, Sirius walked in, probably to see who was cursing out loud.
Nico stood up and dusted himself. At first, Sirius just looked at him warily, then, realization seeming to dawn on him. He nodded at Nico.
"Ah," he smiled, his eyes gleaming with something like relish. "our friend downstairs?" Sirius asked rather formally, making Ron consider if Azkaban really did make him go bonkers after all.
"More like his son, but yes," Nico said, nodding back in a similar manner. Sirius held out his hand, and Nico shook it.
"So," said Sirius, grinning broadly. "tell me all about you. Must be interesting where you 'study', eh?"
Nico stared for a moment, looking slightly confused. Sirius could do that to you. Even Ron had to wonder how someone locked in prison for twelve years could manage to be cheerful.
"Uh, sure, Mr. Black." Nico said, unsure of how to talk to Sirius. Ron stood up as well. Sirius was looking past Nico, and at him, with a look that clearly said; Get the heck out of here.
Confused, he started to head reluctantly toward the door.
"Oh, quit with the 'Mister'. Call me Sirius." Then, he threw his arm around Nico's shoulder like he was welcoming an old friend. Nico stiffened. Ron had to suppress a snicker at his expression. He looked baffled.
However, not wanting to meet Sirius's wrath, he walked out, his worries out of his mind for a brief second. He was afraid they would all come crashing back at him, but not before he heard Sirius say to Nico; "So, Styx? Is that a curse, and are there others? Can you give me the pleasure of teaching me some?"
However confused, Ron was glad that he was able to smile and ease his worries for a fraction of a second; his dad would be okay. He just knew it. He was a survivor, and those didn't go away easily.
There! Ta-ta! I guess I should really work on my word fluency. I think I'm not good enough at it. But I'm pretty sure I'm good when it comes to sentimental stuff! Anyway, just wanted to show you guys that Ron is not as dumb as he sounds, and even Crabbe and Goyle can see Nico's a good guy. I'm just so damn confused at to why most fanfics show him as the one who's all like 'NICO'S A DEATH EATER!' even thought he does something that proves he isn't. So, did I do a good job? Any suggestions and request are, as always, more than welcome.
Next 4/5 K. word chapter at 160 reviews, and thanks for getting me this far, guys! Love you all!
"I'm not lying to you- I'm just alternating the truth."
-Ron Kurby.