I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Nico and the Winter of Change

Nico's life had changed quite a bit over the past few months. He and his sister had finally left the Lotus Hotel, they'd spent six months at military school, and then they'd almost been kidnapped, though Mamma had come to rescue them. Bianca had been kidnapped, though only for a day. They'd gone to Camp Half-Blood, learned that Papà was a god, and gotten to go to the Underworld, where they learned that Papà was Hades, Nico's absolute favorite god in Mythomagic! And Papà had given Nico his figurine! It was the only one he didn't have!

Then they went back to the camp, and played Capture-the-Flag with real swords and managed to win, because Mamma was in charge, and Mamma was perfect, even more so than all the Hunters who seemed to think that boys were awful, even though the one with the crown and the one with the white hair were keeping an eye on him and Bianca because Mamma asked them too. But Mamma had to leave with both of them on a quest with Thalia, the girl who had helped rescue them at Westover Hall. Percy, their other rescuer (he was so handsome!) had caught Nico outside the dining pavilion, listening in on the Hunters' conversation.

"Wait," Percy said from behind him.

Nico spun around, almost slipping on the icy steps.

"Where did you come from?" he asked.

"I've been here the whole time. Invisible," Percy said.

Nico mouthed the word invisible. "Wow," he said. "Cool."

"How did you know Zoe and Rhanis were here?" Percy asked.

Nico felt his cheeks darken.

"I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don't…I don't sleep too well at camp. So I heard footsteps, and them whispering. And so I kind of followed," he admitted.

"And now you're thinking about following them on the quest," Percy said.

"How did you know that?" Nico asked sharply.

"Because if it was my mother, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. But you can't," Percy said.

Nico felt his fists clench up.

"Because I'm too young?" he demanded.

"Because they won't let you," Percy replied. "They'll catch you and send you back here. And…yeah, because you're too young. You remember the manticore? There will be lots more like that. More dangerous. Some of the heroes will die."

Nico felt his shoulders sag. He shifted from foot to foot. "Maybe you're right. But, but you can go for me."

"Say what?" Percy asked.

"You can turn invisible. You can go!"

"The Hunters don't like boys," Percy said. "If they find out…"

"Don't let them find out. Follow them invisibly. Keep an eye on my mom! You have to. Please?"

"Nico…" Percy sighed.

"You're planning to go anyway, aren't you?" Nico asked. He stared into Percy's (pretty) green eyes.

"Yeah," Percy sighed. "I have to find Annabeth. I have to help, even if they don't want me to."

"I won't tell on you," Nico said, "but you have to promise to keep my mother safe."

"I…that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. And your mom's one of the most powerful people around. Besides, she's got Zoe, Rhanis, and Thalia–"

"Promise," Nico insisted.

"I'll do my best," Percy finally said. "I promise that."

"Get going, then!" Nico said. "Good luck!"

"Tell Chiron–" Percy began, but Nico interrupted.

"I'll make something up. I'm good at that," he said with a smile. "Go on!"

Percy had run then, putting on a baseball cap and disappearing halfway down the hill.

The next few days had been spent worrying about Mamma and attempting to adjust to Camp with Bianca. Bianca wasn't sleeping well, waking up with nightmares from her kidnapping, so Nico ended up sharing her bed, even though it wasn't technically allowed.

Then, Chiron got them all up long before dawn, bundled them into the camp van, and took them to the Empire State Building, because apparently Mount Olympus was on the sixth hundred floor, and the year-rounders always took a field trip on the winter solstice.

They made their way to the palace of the gods at the peak of Olympus. There was already a party going on. Nico spotted his mother almost immediately.

"Mamma!" he called out as he ran to her, Bianca right behind him. "You're okay!"

His mother wrapped them both in an embrace.

"Of course I'm okay, tesoro," Mamma said. "I promised to come back to you. And I did. I will always do my best to come back to you."

"She's good at that," a man said as he came forward and wrapped his arms around Mamma's waist. It took Nico a second longer than Bianca to recognize him. He looked very different in his ancient Greek attire.

"Hello, Papà!" Bianca said brightly.

"Hello, little ones," Papà greeted with a small smile.

They spent most of the rest of the party with Mamma, though they did veer off to talk to Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth at different times. Nico ended up falling asleep on a garden bench, Papà sitting nearby and Bianca on the bench across the pathway.

He woke up to a hand gently shaking him.

"Nico, tesoro, time to wake up," a voice said.

"Mamma?" Nico mumbled into his pillow. He slowly blinked awake. The room wasn't one he'd ever seen before, but from the black stone walls, he'd guess he was in the Underworld again.

"Good morning, my treasure," his mother said warmly. "It's time to wake up. There's going to be a meeting at Camp Half-Blood concerning the larger meeting last night, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come."

Nico's eyes opened and he shot up in bed.

"Yes, please!" he exclaimed. "Is Bianca coming too?"

"She wanted to stay here and explore a bit," Mamma said. "Your half-sister Makaria agreed to show her around. You can stay here or come with me."

"With you, Mamma," Nico said.

His mother smiled at him.

"Your bathroom is through that door over there," she said, pointing toward the opposite side of the room. "Your papà ensured that the dresser is filled with clothes that will fit you. Remember that although it's warm down here, it won't be at camp."

"Yes, Mamma," Nico said with a yawn, dragging himself out of bed and into the bathroom. It only took a few minutes before he was wandering out into the hallway. There was a skeleton in a suit waiting for him.

Nico tilted his head to get a better look at the guy.

"Are you a zombie?"

The skeleton nodded, then pointed down the hall.

Nico looked that way, then back at the zombie.

"That way to breakfast?" he asked hesitantly.

The zombie nodded again.

"Cool! Thanks!"

The only person at the table in the cavernous dining hall was Nico's blonde stepmother – Persephone. She was drinking out of a coffee mug while reading out of a magazine. Nico stepped hesitantly into the room.

He must have made some sort of noise, because Persephone immediately looked up.

"Nico!" she greeted. "Come in! Sit down! Do you have any preferences for breakfast?"

"I thought you weren't supposed to eat underworld food," Nico said as he slid into a chair a few down from Persephone. "Didn't you get stuck here that way?"

"That only applies to those not of the Underworld," Persephone said, waving dismissively. "I'm its Queen now, and you're born of its Lord and Lady. We automatically have back-and-forth rights. Well, until you're actually dead."

Nico didn't know how to respond to that, so he just asked, "A cornetto and hot chocolate, please."

Persephone snapped her fingers, and the food was on the table before him.

"I'll warn you, if my mother visits you'll be having cereal. She's very insistent on cereal."

That seemed to end Persephone's desire for conversation, as she went back to her magazine. Nico quietly began to eat.

Mamma appeared at the entrance just as Nico was finishing his hot chocolate.

"Are you ready, cucciolo? I apologize for leaving you, but I was having a quick chat with Makaria."

"Sí, Mamma," Nico said, rising from his chair.

"Leave your dishes, one of the skeletons will take care of them," Mamma said. She reached out her hand. "Ready for another round of terrible travel?"

Nico made a face, causing his mother to laugh. She grabbed his hand, and there was that rush of cold and pressure, and then they were in the same living room that Mamma had left him and Bianca in during the meeting after Capture-the-Flag.

Chiron rolled into the room in wheelchair form a moment later.

"Good, you're here," he said in greeting. "I believe it's time for another meeting. We're just waiting on you and Percy, who was telling Grover and the other satyrs something about coffee and Pan, last I checked."

"It's an interesting story," Mamma admitted. "I suppose it's time for my last confession?"

"More your last revelation," Chiron snorted. "As many secrets as you keep, I'm sure there will be more confession you must make."

Chiron waved for them to proceed into the rec room. The Stoll brothers, the buff guy from Hephaestus cabin, the pretty girl from Aphrodite cabin, and a girl with raggedy dirty-blonde hair and a scar on her chin were all there, along with Annabeth, who waved at them. Percy walked in a moment later. His eyes went first to the girl Nico hadn't seen before.

"I got news," the girl said uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is that you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"

"Luke is alive," Percy reported. "Annabeth was right."

Annabeth sat up straighter.

"How do you know?"

"I talked to my dad last night," Percy said. "He says that Luke and Kronos' coffin are back on the Princess Andromeda."

"Well," Annabeth said, shifting uncomfortably in her chair, "if the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

Chiron looked gloomy from his position in his wheelchair by the fire. Nico didn't know him well yet, but he could tell as well.

"Two years may seem like a long time," Chiron said, "but it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos' first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Nico asked, piping up for the first time.

"Why would he care about camp?" Percy asked, almost at the same time.

"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous…We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but the only guarantee is that they will come. It will not be until summer, at least. This winter will be hard…the hardest for many centuries. It's best that you go home to the city, Percy; try to keep your mind on school. And rest. You will need rest."

"And train," Mamma said, bringing attention in the room to her. "Percy, you're welcome to use the training room in my apartment. If you'd be willing to help Nico and Bianca as well, I'll be taking them home with me, but I will not be around as often. Annabeth?"

The blonde's cheeks flushed.

"I'm going to try San Francisco after all," she said. "Maybe I can keep an eye on Mount Tam, make sure the Titans don't try anything else."

"You'll send an Iris-message if anything goes wrong?" Percy asked worriedly.

She nodded. "But I think Chiron's right. It won't be until the summer. Luke will need time to regain his strength."

"Excuse me," one of the Stoll brothers said – despite sharing a cabin with them for a few days, Nico couldn't tell them apart yet – "but can we talk about the elephant in the room? And by that I mean the fact that Chrysa is apparently a goddess? And Nico and Bianca are Hades' kids?"

All eyes turned to Nico and Mamma.

Mamma sighed.

"I told you all that I was a nymph in my first life. I downplayed myself a bit. I was an Oceanid, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys – the first child of Oceanus and Tethys, in fact. The Elder Oceanides – the original fifty of us, who were born before Ouranos fell – among our number were many who held our own domains as Titanesses, and were eventually counted as goddesses. Tyche is the goddess of luck. Styx is the goddess of oaths. Amphitrite is the goddess of saltwater and sea creatures, and she became the wife of Poseidon. Metis was the goddess of wisdom and good counsel, and she was the first wife of Zeus. I was the goddess of shadows and secrets," Mamma held up her hand, and a dark shadow formed there, twining through her fingers, "and I was the first lover of Hades. He asked me to marry him," she said with a sad smile, "but I always said no. After I was murdered, as Leuke, my body was transformed into a white poplar tree in the center of Elysium. That tree finally died about a century ago, and I was reborn as Maria Olimpia Amaranta Corona Buonoparte di Savoia in 1913. I already told you how I met Hades in that life, and had Bianca and Nico, and then came to America and died."

"I can't imagine Hades being a god to stick around with his lover and kids for twelve years," the Aphrodite girl said doubtfully.

"Papà loves Mamma," Nico said indignantly. "He always has!"

"Hades has had fewer demigod children than any of the other gods," Mamma said quietly. "In thousands of years, there have only been twenty-one demigods. Bianca is the twentieth, and Nico the twenty-first. Hades has never been one to give in to lust. He only took lovers because of loneliness, and most of the time those lovers looked like me." She smiled softly. "I think even your mother would agree that there's always something about your first love."

Any further conversation was interrupted by Grover, who stumbled into the room, tripping over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a specter.

"He spoke!" Grover cried.

"Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"

"I…I was playing music in the parlor," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"

"Who?" Annabeth demanded.

"Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to…I have to find a suitcase."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Percy said. "What did he say?"

Grover stared at him.

"Just three words. He said, 'I await you.'"

That threw the council into an uproar. Nico winced at all the noise. They were only silenced when Mamma pulled out a whistle and blew it shrilly.

"Everyone settle down!" she shouted in the stillness. "Satyr, sit down. You're not going anywhere until you've calmed down."

Nico watched in awe as his mother easily took control of the room. Orders were handed out, several yelling matches were ended with just a sharp look, and Percy and Annabeth were ordered to go pack so that Mamma could send them home for Christmas.

It took less than an hour before Mamma used magic to transport the four of them to her New York City apartment. Bianca, Thalia, and Rhanis were sitting in the living room, Rhanis lounging on the couch with a blanket over her.

Mamma looked relieved.

"You're okay?" she asked the white-haired Hunter.

"Basically," Rhanis said. "Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo came by last night and healed me up, but after Thalia got introduced to everyone this morning, I got told that I was going on vacation with her until after Christmas."

"Lady Artemis said that I should spend my birthday with you," Thalia said quietly. "Have a family party again."

Mamma brightened.

"Well, I suppose it's time to plan for a party then. Percy, you go see if your mom's free. Thalia, take Rhanis out to McDonald's or a diner or something; go have all that ridiculously greasy food that you won't be having in the wild somewhere hunting monsters. Bianca, Nico, you're going to help me decorate."

If Nico had thought Maria di Angelo was a hurricane in human form (and he had as a child on multiple occasions), she had nothing on Amaranth Chrysocomê Potter-Black, who still had all the previous hurricane-ness combined with control over shadows, wind, and magic. Somehow, they managed to have a full-blown birthday party for Thalia that evening, complete with a fancy dinner, cake and ice cream, streamers, balloons, and presents.

It was also Nico and his sister's introduction to Percy's mother, Sally Jackson.

"It's great to meet you," she greeted warmly. "Percy spent the elevator ride here telling me about you."

Nico instantly liked her. She reminded him of Signora Morandi, their next door neighbor when they'd lived in Italy. She'd babysat them on occasion when Mamma and Papà went out on dates.

Bianca seemed to like her as well, but she still spent most of the party with Rhanis and Thalia, whom she'd instantly taken a liking too. They both looked a bit like Mamma, but Thalia was a lot louder. And she felt different. Thalia gave off the feeling of electricity. Mamma was less scary.

Nico followed Mamma around, helping her with whatever she needed. He helped collect the dirty dishes and put them in the sink, and then passed out the slices of cake after Mamma had cut it. When the night was over, he helped collect all the streamers and balloons and wrapping paper together so that Mamma could Vanish them.

Magic was so cool.

The next morning, Mamma gave Annabeth a pencil that she'd put a magic spell on. She called it a Portkey.

Mamma tapped the pencil with her wand and said, "San Francisco."

Annabeth disappeared.

"Where'd she go?" Bianca asked, sounding shocked.

"I sent her to her family's house in San Francisco," Mamma explained. "She wanted to spend Christmas with her family. Also, I thought that you'd want to see a Portkey in action, because we're about to take another one. We're going to stay with Sirius and Remus for Christmas."

"In England?" Nico asked.

"Yes, tesoro. In England. There's a ball at the Ministry for Magic tonight that I'll be going to, along with Sirius and Remus and some of our friends. You four will be staying with some of my good friends and their children, along with Sirius and Remus' children. Tomorrow, we'll have an Italian Christmas Eve, then a British Christmas Day, and then we'll combine the traditions for Boxing Day – St. Stefano's Day. That way we can celebrate both Christmas and Natale," Mamma explained.

"Will Papà be there?" Bianca asked.

"He said he'll try to come for part of it," Mamma said. "But trust me, we'll have plenty of people around. Let's see, there's five of us; six Lupin-Blacks; four Thomases; two, seven, eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty Weasleys. That's…thirty-five people in all."

"That's a big dinner," Thalia said.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had seven children," Mamma said. "Six boys and a girl. Fred died several years ago, and Charlie's never married, but the others are all married with two kids, except Bill and Fleur, who have three. Sirius never told me, but the Malfoys might also be coming, so that's five more people. Narcissa Malfoy is Sirius' only living cousin, so sometimes at the holidays they decide to ignore the fact that everyone dislikes Lucius Malfoy and Lucius dislikes everyone."

Mamma conjured a length of rope.

"Does everyone have their bags?" she asked.

They'd all packed lightly. Mamma assured them that they didn't need to have fancy clothes anything, so they'd mostly just packed jeans and sweaters.

Everyone nodded.

"Grab onto the rope," Mamma instructed, "and whatever you do, don't let go."

Everyone grabbed the rope, and Mamma showed them how to wrap it around their wrists so that they couldn't drop it.

"I'll warn you in advance, you'll probably fall over when we land," she said. "I almost always do."

She tapped the rope with her wand and said, "Grimmauld Place."

The world whirled around them in a rush of wind and color, and then they were all collapsing into a heap.

"Dad!" a boy's voice yelled. "Papa! They're here!"

Nico managed to pull himself up in time to see a boy about his age leaping onto Mamma, who somehow managed to twist around in time to catch him with magic. He was left hovering above her, turquoise hair falling into his face. The boy laughed as he stared down at her with golden eyes.

"Wotcher, Amaranth," he greeted.

"Wotcher, Teddy," Mamma smiled in reply.

As soon as Mamma put the boy on the ground, he reached out and pulled Mamma to her feet. Nico was impressed. He didn't think he could do that.

"Wotcher, Bianca!" Teddy greeted. He pulled Bianca to her feet next.

Mamma helped Rhanis and Thalia up, while the boy reached his hand out to Nico.

"I'm Teddy," he said. "Amaranth – Chrysa – is my godmum. I'm glad you're here. All the others close to my age are girls."

"Nice to meet you!" Nico said, trying to be excited. This was Mamma's godson. That meant he was important.

"Wanna go play?" Teddy asked.

"Whoa, hold up, Teddy-bear," a man's voice said.

Nico looked over to the door to see a man with dark hair like Mamma's and grey eyes come in. He was carrying a little girl with light brown hair and golden eyes like Teddy's.

"Sirius, these are my children, Nico and Bianca di Angelo," Mamma said, pointing to each of them in turn. "And these are my sisters: Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Rhanis, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. They're both Hunters of Artemis. Everyone this is my godfather and adopted father, Sirius Black, and his youngest child, Lily. Teddy is his eldest."

"My husband, Remus, has our middle two, James and Albus, in the bath," Sirius said with a large grin. "But it's a pleasure to meet you all. Except you, Bianca, since we met the other day. I've heard so much about all of you. Oh, and Anthie, Cissy and Draco told me to pass on that they'll murder you if you try to use a glamour on your recent injury. Which injury would this be, by the way?"

"It's nothing important," Mamma said.

"Amaranth," Sirius said in an obvious parent-voice.

"Later, Dad," Mamma said in the same tone. "Teddy-bear, why don't you take Nico and Bianca on a tour of the house? Thalia, Rhanis, you two can go along or stay here. Just remember, whatever you end up doing, we're leaving in – three hours?" she said, looking at Sirius.

"Two hours," Sirius said. "All the women were planning to get ready together – the younger ones at least. Fleur and Angelina have offered their makeup and hair services to help those of you who are going."

Teddy made a face.

"That's boring."

"You'll be with Bill, Charlie, and George," Sirius said. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Do I have to take them for a tour?" Teddy asked. "I wanna go play in the pool."

Nico blinked.

"Isn't it a little cold for that?" he asked.

"Nah," Teddy said. "We've got an indoor pool."

"Cool!" Nico exclaimed. "Mamma, can we?"

"Only for a couple of hours," Mamma said. "We don't want to be late. Girls, do you want to go?"

Thalia shook her head.

"Not really smart for me to go swimming, Chrysa."

"You're a Hunter of Artemis now, Thalia," Mamma said. "Poseidon won't touch you while you have Artemis' protection."

"I don't know how to swim," Thalia confessed.

Rhanis perked up.

"I can teach you. I am a water nymph, after all."

They looked over at Mamma. She waved her hand at them.

"Go ahead. Have fun. The changing rooms next to the pool will provide you with swimsuits in your size. And there are charms to prevent drowning, so don't worry about that," Mamma instructed.

"Wait, Nico and Bianca know how to swim?" Thalia asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Poseidon is usually less vindictive," Mamma said drily. "And we lived in Venice for most of their lives. It would have been more dangerous if they didn't know how to swim."

"We haven't gone swimming since the hotel," Bianca piped up. "There was a pool there, and a waterpark, but we didn't go very often."

"Probably wise," Mamma said with a nod. "But you'll be safe here. Zeus has sworn not to harm my children, and Poseidon won't do anything to make his wife mad at him."

"What are we waiting for?" Teddy asked. "Come on! Let's go!"

Teddy grabbed Nico's hand and pulled him out of the room. Nico could hear the girls following behind them.

The pool was amazing. The room it was in looked like a greenhouse, and had trees and plants growing over rocks that stuck out of the water. There were multiple slides coming from the rock cliffs, caves within the rocks, and the roof looked like the sky.

"It's charmed to show the sky," Teddy explained after Thalia commented on it. "But not the sky here, 'cause London's always grey and rainy. This is the sky in the Majorca."

All too soon, a man came to get them out of the pool and into normal clothes. He introduced himself as Remus Lupin-Black, Sirius' husband and Mamma's other papà. He told Nico and his sister that they could either call him Remus, grandpa, or 'grandpapà'. They could call Sirius Sirius, granddad, or 'nonno'.

They ended up walking through green fire in order to get to the place they were going. Teddy went through with Nico, and yelled, "The Burrow!" which was apparently the name of the people's house.

Once at the house, Nico, Bianca, Thalia, and Rhanis were treated to a dizzying number of redheads and their names. The oldest couple were simply Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Everyone else was a Weasley somehow….

They'd just made it through the introductions when the blonde woman grabbed Mamma and dragged her upstairs with some other women.

"They'll be getting ready for the ball for the next couple hours," someone said from right behind him.

Nico jumped as he whirled around, fists clenched and a dagger he'd gotten from Camp in hand.

"Whoa there, little man," the redheaded man said, raising his hands. "You're definitely Ama's kid. Same hair trigger. Sorry for scaring you. I'm Ron, since it probably got lost in all the names you just heard. Your mom and I were friends in school."

"She told us a bit about you," Nico said slowly. "You and your friend…Hermia?"

"Hermione," Ron corrected with a smile. "She's my wife now. One of the women who dragged your mom upstairs. I'd introduce you to our kids, but they're upstairs in the nursery. Rosie's two, same as Al – you've met Al, right?"

"Briefly," Nico admitted. "He was taking a bath when we got here, so I only just met Al and James. Mamma was happy to see them."

"She was even happier to see you and your sister, kid," Ron said, patting Nico's shoulder. "After the first time that she saw you and your sister, she came back to London and started ranting about how amazing it was to see you again and how unfair it was that she couldn't get you out of the hotel. And Sirius called after she and your sister came to London last week, and he was telling us all about how excited your mom was. Your mom's got enough love in her for you and your sister and all her godchildren, and the rest of the world beside. She saved us all with her love once, you know?"

"Really?" Nico asked.

Ron nodded and launched into a story of an evil wizard and the final battle against him at a castle, a battle Mamma had won. Mamma had mentioned something about it when she told her story to him and Bianca when she took them to see Papà, but when Ron told it, it was like something out of a fairytale.

The story ended up collecting a lot of other listeners. All the kids ended up sitting on the floor in front of Ron as he talked. He ended up having to restart the story three times when new people joined. The other adults ended up chiming in every now and then if Ron got something wrong or forgot something.

When it was finished, Nico was in even more in awe of Mamma than he had been before.

One of the other redheads tapped Ron's shoulder.

"Best head upstairs. You've only got half an hour until you leave, and your wife will murder you if you're late."

Ron said a word that Nico was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to know before running up the stairs.

"Hey, Nico," the man said. He had scars across his face that would have made him look scary if he wasn't smiling. He was another redhead, but his hair was long and he had a large tooth hanging from one ear. "I'm Bill. I'll be one of the ones here all night. Ron and his wife are supposed to go to the ball with your mom."

"Okay," Nico said. He pointed at the earring. "What's that from?"

"Oh, that's a dragon tooth," Bill said casually.

Nico's jaw dropped.

"Dragons are real?" he demanded.

"Sure are," Bill said. "My brother Charlie is actually a dragon handler at the reserve in Romania. Hey, Charlie!" he called.

A tanned man on the other side of the room looked up from his conversation with another redhead. He had large, muscled arms bigger than Beckendorf's at Camp.

"Come're a second!" Bill called.

The man – Charlie – wandered over.

"What's up, Bill?" he asked.

"Nico here'd like to hear some more about dragons, wouldn't you, Nico?" he said with a smile.

Nico nodded his head enthusiastically.

Charlie's stories about the dragons he worked with were interrupted when the blonde woman who had dragged Mamma upstairs came back down.

"They're ready!" she announced.

Everyone gathered round the bottom of the stairs, making sure that the shorter children were in the front and the tallest adults in the back.

The first person down was a woman with the color hair Mamma always called strawberry blonde. Nico still thought that it was a weird name for a hair color, but her hair did look pretty with her muted green dress. Her redheaded husband was one of the taller ones, but it wasn't Bill or Charlie or Ron, so Nico still had no idea who she was.

Following her was a redheaded woman whose hair was starting to grey – Nico was relatively certain this was Mrs. Weasley. Her dress was dark grey – almost black – and covered with small, black sparkles. All of the redheads in the room applauded when she came down the stairs. She then moved over to the oldest man in the room, whose red hair looked a lot greyer than her own.

Another redhead followed Mrs. Weasley, though this one's dress was blue. Nico guessed this was the Weasley sister, though she was married and her name wasn't Weasley anymore. He couldn't remember what Mamma had said her name was now though. Once down the stairs, she moved over to a dark-skinned man whose name also escaped Nico's mind.

Next was a woman whose light brown curls were piled on top of her head in a way that looked like gravity didn't exist. Her dress was red and reminded Nico of the picture of Mamma that Papà had kept in a locket. It had been Mamma on the day that she met Papà, at her birthday party. She instantly went over to Ron when she was done, so Nico assumed this was Hermione, Mamma's other best friend in England.

Mamma was the last one to come down, and she looked absolutely beautiful, though Mamma was always beautiful. She'd been stunning on Olympus two days before, but she was a different kind of beautiful now. She wasn't as scary, though Nico was sure she could still fight just as well in her dress as she could in her armor.

(He hadn't seen her armor, but Bianca had, and she'd told him about it. It sounded amazing. Scary, but amazing.)

Her dress was even more old-fashioned that the other women's, with long sleeves, a high collar, and a full skirt, mostly green like their identical eyes, but also decorated with gold.

Sirius – Nonno – met her at the bottom of the stairs. He took her hand and spun her around, her skirt making an even larger circle as she twirled.

"You're more beautiful every time I see you, Anthie," he said.

Mamma laughed.

"You say that every time, Dad," she told him, though she was smiling.

"He's right," Nico spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him, and he resisted the urge to duck his head. Instead, he told Mamma, "you look…più bella di quanto le parole possano descrivere, Mamma."

Mamma smiled warmly at him.

"Grazie, tesoro," she said.

"What did he say?" Nico heard someone ask a bit too loudly.

"He said Mamma was more beautiful than words could describe," Bianca translated loudly.

"He's not wrong," Sirius said, leaning in to kiss Mamma's cheek.

Further conversation was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

"That's probably the Malfoys," Mrs. Weasley said. She left the room, then returned a few minutes later with a trio of blonds, two adults and a toddler.

"This is my cousin, Draco Malfoy, his wife Astoria, and their son, Scorpius," Mamma introduced. "Draco, Tori, these are my children, Nico and Bianca, and my sisters: Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Rhanis, daughter of Oceanus. Both are Hunters of Artemis."

"An honor to meet you," Draco said with a small bow. "And a pleasure, Nico, Bianca. Is everyone ready to leave?" he asked Mamma.

"We are," Mamma said. "We'd best hurry, or we'll be late."

After that, everything became a flurry of movement. Mamma hugged and kissed them both goodbye, and promised to be back in a few hours. She told them to tell one of their watchers if they needed anything, and to have fun.

They certainly had fun while Mamma and the others were gone. There were still five adults left with all twenty of the under-twenties, even though Rhanis was a hundred times their combined ages and Thalia could take care of herself. Most of the other children were under the age of five, so it was mostly just Nico, Bianca, Teddy, and Bill's daughter, Victoire, who was eight.

Teddy and Victoire taught them several different wizarding games, such as Exploding Snap and Gobstones. By midnight, they were all tired enough that they were sent to bed – boys in one room, girls in another. The rooms were absolutely filled with sleeping bags and cribs, though there were more girls than boys. Teddy and Nico still stayed up whispering long into the night.

Christmas was both crazy and wonderful. For Nico's entire life, it had just been him, Bianca, Mamma, and sometimes Papà, so it was extremely strange to be at Black Manor with forty other people to celebrate the holidays. Like Mamma had promised, Christmas Eve was done the Italian way, Christmas Day the English one, and St. Stefano's Day (or Boxing Day, as the British people called it) in a mix of both.

Thalia and Rhanis had to leave on St. Stefano's Day, now that Rhanis was healthy enough to go back to the Hunt. Mamma spent a long time hugging them both before finally handing them the Portkey that would take them back to Artemis.

The other three didn't end up going back to America until New Year's Day, so they got to celebrate the New Year in both London and New York. Mamma bundled them up in coats, hats, and warming charms and took them to Times Square.

After the holidays, they started school at the same school that Percy went to in Manhattan. It was much nicer than Westover Hall, though history and English still gave both Nico and his sister trouble. Mamma enchanted pencils for them so that they'd be able to read and write in ancient Greek and have it automatically translate, so that they didn't have to worry about their dyslexia. Mamma had them constantly training when they weren't in school, sometimes with each other, sometimes with Percy, and sometimes with herself. Their skills with weapons were increasing rapidly under her training.

Nothing truly interesting happened again until Nico's birthday at the end of January.

Nonno, Grandpapà, Teddy, James, Albus, and Lily had all come to New York to celebrate. It was a Wednesday, so they weren't going out to do anything, but Mamma had made a special Italian dinner and invited the Blacks and Percy and his mother to come. Over the weekend, Nico, Teddy, and his friends from school would be going to an amusement park with Mamma and Papà. Papà had even made it to Nico's eleventh birthday dinner.

He'd just blown out the candles on his cake when there was a tapping at the window. Teddy scrambled out of his chair and opened the window to allow in a light brown owl. It wasn't Hansel, Mamma's Sooty Owl that usually hung out on the roof but only carried messages when Mamma needed to talk to someone in MACUSA. No, this looked like a normal barn owl.

The owl flew straight to Nico and dropped a letter in his lap before flying out again.

Nico looked down at the parchment envelope.

"Nico di Angelo," he read. "It even has my bedroom on it, Mamma!"

Mamma was smiling widely at him, as were Nonno and Grandpapà. Teddy was practically bouncing in his chair.

"Open it, tesoro," Mamma said.

Nico opened the envelope and pulled out the pieces of parchment inside.

"Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he read out loud in amazement. "Mr. di Angelo, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31. I'm…I'm a wizard?" he asked, looking up at Mamma.

Nonno and Teddy had both started cheering.

"It seems so, tesoro," Mamma said with a smile. "Now I suppose your decision must be if you want to go to magic school or stay here and be homeschooled, and whether or not you want to go here in the US or if you want me to transfer you to Hogwarts, where I went to school."

"Come to Hogwarts!" Teddy exclaimed. "You'll be in my year! It'll be so much fun! Pleeeeease!"

"Teddy," Grandpapà reprimanded. "It's Nico's choice. Don't bug him about it."

"You have a while to decide, tesoro," Mamma told him. "Let me know by spring break, so I can contact Headmistress McGonagall at Hogwarts if you want to transfer."

"I'll…I'll think about it," Nico said, dazed though there was a smile on his face.

He had Mamma, Papà, Bianca, Nonno, Grandpapà, Teddy and the other cousins. They weren't hiding from anyone anymore. And he had his acceptance letter to magic school, so he could be just like Mamma.

Best birthday ever.

AN: This chapter gave me so. many. issues. It just did not want to be written. I also took a massive sidetrip into the Arrowverse, and then managed to get another chapter written for A Mother's Choice, so there was that at least. But this chapter is finally done...even if it took being awake at three-thirty in the morning because my roommate likes to play rock music while doing math homework to do it.

I love you all, thank you for your continued support of this, and hopefully the next chapter will not take four months. The next chapter is going to be back to Chrysa for her perspective of Christmas and then everything she's busy doing between Titan's Curse and The Battle of the Labyrinth...and possibly delving into the beginning of Battle of the Labyrinth. I don't really know, I haven't written it yet.

Sorry if there's any mistakes, I literally finished this at 3:30 a.m. and uploaded it. I figured you all had waited long enough.