Confession
Dino always enjoyed visiting his family in England, even though he had to sit through the same boring conversation every time before they left.
"Remember, Costantino, Hermione doesn't know anything about the Mafia, or the Famiglia. You mustn't break Omerta," his Dad told him on the way to their house.
"It's Dino, Dad. And I know." Dino was annoyed. His Dad acted like this was new, instead of something that they'd done every year.
"So if she asks about school…" his Dad prompted.
"I can tell her that I go to an exclusive school for heirs. I can tell her that I have a friend called Squalo who's really good with swords, but I can't tell her that he's killed people. I can only talk about normal classes, like History and Algebra, or Economics and Politics. I can't mention Familial Relations or Advanced Negotiation." Dino recited. They'd drilled him on this ever since he started going, since he wrote to his cousin at least once a month.
"Watch your tone, Dino," his Dad warned half-heartedly. Dino just grinned. He loved it when his Dad forgot to be stern and actually called him Dino instead of the monstrosity they'd put on his birth certificate.
"I know that Hermione is younger than you, but she's very smart. If you say too much and she figures things out, we'll have to take her into the Family. Do you want your cousin to be a target, Dino?"
"I know, Dad," Dino grumbled, sinking lower into his seat. He did know. If it wasn't for the fact that it would put her at risk, he would have told Hermione already. She was only nine, but she was way smarter than he was. He knew that she was lonely, and he thought that she might be bullied at school. She didn't have a Squalo to protect her.
"You can't tell!" Hermione whispered frantically, as she clutched the book to her chest.
They had been sat together in Hermione's room, talking about comic books (which Hermione enjoyed even though her parents thought they weren't 'proper literature') when Dino had knocked a glass of juice over onto one of her library books. Instead of spilling everywhere and staining the pages, the liquid had just floated for a moment, before pouring itself back into the glass. Dino was stunned, but by the look on Hermione's face, this wasn't the first time it had happened.
"What was that? It wasn't Flame…" Dino said, before biting his lip. He hoped she hadn't caught that.
"What's flame got to do with anything?" She asked. Damn.
"What was it?" he asked again, trying to distract her. She started crying. This wasn't going well. He grabbed her hand desperately.
"Don't cry! It's OK, just don't cry," he begged.
She giggled slightly. "I'm OK, Dino. I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry, it's just," she paused and sniffed, pulling her hand back from Dino to wipe her eyes. "Mum told me I couldn't show anyone. They don't know what this is, or why I can do it. I have to keep it a secret."
"That's alright, Hermy. I won't tell, I promise."
"Thanks. And I won't tell that you mentioned Flames." Hermione looked at him with serious eyes. Dino stared back for a moment, and made a decision.
"The school I go to isn't just for rich kids…"