"You think we'll get to see dad at St. Mungos, Harry?" Ron asked, biting his lips nervously.
In a tone as soft as he could manage, Harry said, "Yeah. You have a right to. Mrs. Weasley'll lose it if she couldn't see Mr. Weasley, and I think there's no point you shouldn't."
Ron slumped back into his seat, sighing. Harry could clearly hear Ginny and the twins arguing with the Sirius about wanting to go see their dad now. Harry couldn't blame them. In fact, he was just as itchy as the rest of them to see Mr. Weasley and make sure he was okay. The horrible vividness of the dream stuck to his mind, reminding him of how he...no, the snake, had sunk it's razor sharp fangs into...He shuddered. No, he wouldn't think like that.
"Sorry," Harry muttered. "We're delayed because of me, probably. What with the 'protection' and all."
Ron stared at him with a look that said; Are you daft?
"Mate," Ron said. "If it weren't for you, dad would be dead now. And it's not like everyone's out of it. Sirius looks happy enough."
Harry couldn't help but frown at that. More secrets; more things the order was keeping away from him.
"Why am I not surprised," Harry started to say, "that the Order's keeping yet another secret?"
Ron looked at him, baffled. "You mean you don't trust them?"
"It's more like they don't trust us." Harry said. "I mean, at the start of the term, did we ever suspect Nico was anything but a normal student?" Harry couldn't help but point out. "I'll bet you they won't tell us anything."
"Well, he-he's a good bloke," Ron said, looking at Harry as if to see if his answer satisfied him.
Harry thought about that. Ron had a good point. Nico was a good person. Harry didn't know him much, but he knew it was the truth.
"I know," Harry sighed. "I just wish I knew why. One moment, he's our house-mate, the next he's officially part of the Order."
Ron replied, "We don't know that for sure."
"What do we know for sure?"
Ron didn't answer that one. "Look, mate, I'm not Hermione, and I can't come up with something comforting to say to you or anything, but I suppose we're just lucky we know what we do know right now."
And just like that, Harry felt guilty. Ron's father was hurt right now, probably dying, and here he was, complaining about feeling left out. It was Ron that needed comforting. Harry shouldn't have expected anything, let alone some philosophical comment that would make him feel better. Not when Ron was in need of something to make him feel better himself.
He thought about something to say, but decided against it. "Where's Sirius, by the way?" Ron asked, trying to change the subject.
"Trying to calm everyone down, I'd guess."
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"What kind of magic do you use at your pavilion again?" Sirius asked, looking like a kid who'd just been offered candy. "Oh, and are your house-elves as bad as mine?" Sirius wondered aloud.
"Which reminds me...KREACHER! KREACHER!" But Kreacher didn't answer the summons. "Damn that elf," Sirius muttered. "Di Immortales..." He looked at Nico, apparently pleased with himself for remembering that particular curse.
For a person who'd spent years in prison, Sirius looked pretty happy. He had been asking Nico questions since yesterday (after calming the Weasley kids down), and Nico honestly was amused by him. He answered all his questions carefully, and Sirius would always be more than happy with the answers.
"Uh, we don't have house-elves." Nico said. Honestly, that was a fact he took in with relish. House-elves were...well, he didn't really know a lot to be fair, but if all of them were like Kreacher, then he was pretty glad not to have any back at camp.
"Nymphs do most of the work at the Roman Camp," he answered slowly, careful not to relay a lot of information. Of course, Sirius and all of the Order knew about the demigod world, but he somehow felt better just answering what he was asked.
"Does magic work the same way, though? You know, with the children of Lickatree or whatever." Sirius asked, squinting at the bacon and lowering his face to the pan carefully to see if it was hot enough. He had denied Harry's help and told him he had to keep with his friends and comfort them, dragging Nico along instead.
Sirius jumped away abruptly as the oil started to crackle. "I'll never know how Molly does this stuff," he muttered, staring warily at the bacon.
Nico couldn't help but smile a little as he answered. "Hecate," he corrected. "And no, not always. I think they can use wands, but they pretty much do stuff directly."
"Wandless magic?" Sirius asked, looking excited.
"Something as such," Nico replied, remembering Lou-Ellen and her pig-balls.
"MUDBLOODS! CREATURES OF FILTH! THE SHAME! BLOOD TRAITORS IN MY HUSBAND'S HOUSE!" Nico jumped.
"And that," Sirius said, sobering up a bit and turning off the stove, "Is how my dear mother welcomes visitors."
Nice lady, Nico thought.
He could hear footsteps growing closer and closer until a vaguely familiar woman with red hair he remember seeing from King Cross Station came running in.
The woman Nico recognized as Mrs. Weasley came running up to Sirius. She threw her arms around him and hugged him so tightly that Nico felt sorry for Sirius.
"Oh, Sirius!" she sobbed, with something like relief. "Thank you so much for taking care of the children." She pulled away, her eyes shining with tears of gratitude and relief. "Oh, when they told , Arthur." she sighed.
Then, all Nico's sympathy for Sirius quickly morphed into self-pity as Mrs. Weasley advanced on him as well. When she hugged him, Nico felt like every bone in his body was being crushed into dust.
"Thank you!" Mrs. Weasley cried. "You have played a role just as important at saving Arthur."
Nico drew in a lot of air once she let go.
"You must be Nico!" she said, wiping her eyes. "Oh, Dumbledore tells us a lot about your world. I must say, very chivalrous of you to send us help while we most need it."
"T-thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Nico said, grateful that his ribs hadn't cracked. Even Sally's hugs weren't that tight. Nico couldn't have pulled away even if he'd wanted to. His ADHD brain wondered how Clarisse would have reacted...
"I do really owe you, Sirius. Thank you for letting them stay the night. Of course, that may mean we'll be staying her for Christmas.."
That, snapped Nico out of his thoughts.
"Christmas?" he said, baffled. "I-I can't stay here that long."
"Why ever not?" Mrs. Weasley asked, sniffing.
Nico thought about what Annabeth had said- they needed him at the break. They needed his help with the Lares. Of course, he was still mad at her for not keeping him up to date with what they knew, but maybe she was just planning to tell him everything in person.
And, he needed to be at Hogwarts on Christmas. He guessed that the 'dead of the night' part had to do with midnight. Although it was pretty cliche, it fit. Someone wanted to meet him, and at night, too, so that no one knew about the meeting. Although Nico didn't know who he was supposed to be meeting, he also felt like it was important. It was simply an instinct not to ignore things like this. Because a) Either the mysterious person wanted to tell him something important, or b) a wild card that could mean anything from starting a war to setting up a blind date (Reminder: Pollux and Drew don't make a good couple).
He wanted to sign the form, confirming he would being staying for Christmas, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't get the chance to, now. Looking back on it, he was kind of glad. It would be easier to sneak into Hogwarts at Christmas Eve and stay there for an hour or two than to answer everyone's questions, as to where he had been all break if he had signed the list to stay at Hogwarts. He wasn't sure how long he'd be at Camp Jupiter with Reyna, Annabeth, and Malcom.
"I- have things to do." Nico said, uncertainly.
Sirius looked disappointed, but Mrs. Weasley nodded in understanding. " Of course, dear. Quite understandable that you would want to spend time with your family."
Nico opened his mouth to tell her he wasn't going to go see his family, and that he was on serious business, but he shut up immediately. No need to dampen Mrs. Weasley's holiday spirits, especially not when her husband was wounded.
Nico pursed his lips.
"Well, we can't head into St. Mungos without breakfast, can we?" Sirius asked, as cheerfully as he could muster. "Of course, including the fact that I almost burned my eyebrows off cooking the bacon."
TA-DA! I hope I didn't make Sirius too OOC...I just felt that he ought to be a bit cheerful about his godson and the Weasley brood coming to stay when he had no one but Kreacher for company!