Chapter Three
Nico went up the stairs to his room, Harry following his every step. Once he disappeared up the spiral staircase, Harry leaned towards his friends.
"Doesn't di Angelo seem a little weird?" he asked them lowly.
Hermione shrugged and didn't look up from her paper, "he's Italian-American but other than that he seems fine. A little unsure about magic but that's not weird since he never learned it before."
"Well he was good at potions," Harry argued, wondering why Hermione couldn't see di Angelo's strangeness.
"I don't think you get to talk, Harry," Hermoine pointed out with a sigh.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "your precious "Half-Blood Prince?"
Harry rolled his eyes and ignored the comment. "What about you, Ron?"
"Hmm?" Ron asked, looking up from his book he wasn't reading. "Oh, yeah, Nico's pretty cool. Wonder if he's any good at Quidditch . . ."
Harry groaned. He'd been stepped on the face by Draco Malfoy, taken to the castle by Snape, and then found out there was a new sixth year who was from America and apparently "didn't know magic" but was as good as the Half-Blood Prince. It couldn't be a coincidence that Draco became a Death Eater and Nico di Angelo came to school at the same time. Voldemort must have sent the American to Hogwarts to spy on them. Harry was smarter than that though. Voldemort had taken his parents, Sirius, and Cedric. He wasn't taking Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Neville, or anyone else. nOt under his watch.
"I'm going to sleep," Harry decided. "I'm not getting any of this done
Ron yawned, "I'm coming too."
"Well, if you two are leaving then I'll get some sleep now too, I guess," Hermione sighed.
Hermione bid them goodnight and walked up her staircase. Harry and Ron walked up to their dorms and kept quiet for their roommates as they changed into their PJs and slipped into bed.
Harry set his glasses on the bedside table and curled to his side. He could see Nico's bed, the curtains drawn around it, and wondered why he would close them. He'd had them up the previous night too. Could he be hiding something? He couldn't find that out now. Not with Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Ron in the room. He'd investigate the next morning.
***
Harry woke to a dying scream coming from one of the beds. He jumped out of his bed and grabbed his glasses from where they were put on his nightstand, although it didn't do much good since it was still dark out. Everyone was in their beds as far as he could tell except, of course, Nico di Angelo.
Carefully and a little stealthily, Harry walked over to the new kid's bed. What was the boy doing? Was he murdering someone on the other side or the drapes?
Hesitantly, he grabbed the curtains surrounding the bed, and pulled them apart quickly to see di Angelo fully awake in his bed, except not in the way Harry had thought. He was in his bed, curled in a ball, hands on his head, and sweat visible from his exposed arms.
A gasp escaped Harry's mouth and Nico's head whipped up to look fearfully into his eyes. The scared boy's eyes were haunted, almost empty looking and his skin was paler than usual. He was panting like he'd been running but obviously hadn't moved from the bed.
"Uh," Harry stuttered, unsure what to do. "I just . . . heard you scream and . . . uh . . ."
Nico looked confused, then seemed to realize something, and dropped his head between his knees.
"I didn't do it fucking right," he whispered to himself.
"Do what?" Harry asked, a little suspicious but also just curious.
Nico didn't answer but instead uncurled and grabbed his wand from his bedside table and murmured a spell while giving his dark-wooded wand a flick. A feeling of an invisible weighted blanket fell around the small part of the room and Harry felt almost claustrophobic.
"Just a spell that makes it so you and the others don't wake up to my screams everyday," Nico told him gruffly. He sounded like he'd hadn't gotten any sleep at all.
Harry looked back towards his own bed where the blankets were still tossed aside from his sudden evacuation. He could and should go back there and fall asleep again. Should pull the blanket around him and pretend he never saw di Angelo's fragile form.
Instead of doing that though, he asked a question.
"Why did you scream?" he asked.
Nico was quiet for a moment. He seemed to consider his response which would usually make Harry think he was coming up with a lie, but the way his next words sounded pushed any thought of that away.
"Back in America . . ." he started, fidgeting with his skull ring that was always on his middle finger, "I went through a lot and . . . lost a lot of people. In dreams they come back again. Sometimes it's okay and I just watch our moments again, but sometimes they come to haunt me."
"I've been there," Harry blurted without thinking. What was he saying?
Nico looked up at him and their eyes met. The dark boy had said, in that empty classroom, that he'd lost people too, but Harry had brushed it off as a lie or half truth. Now, he wondered if Nico was actually telling the full truth. What if he was really just a boy like him who lost more in the last few years of being alive than most would in a life time?
No. Di Angelo was not his friend. He would not let Voldemort win again. He wouldn't let his kindness talk over his head. The last time he trusted someone even a little, he'd been an evil man who worked with Voldemort and got Cedric killed. No, he wouldn't see di Angelo for anything other than what he was. A Death Eater.
"Why do you wear that ring?" he asked, changing tactics to get information. "A little . . . weird, isn't it?"
Nico looked down at his skull ring, seeming to forget it was even there.
"It was one of the last gifts from my sister," he said quietly, gazing into the dead eyes of the decorated skull.
No, no, no, no, no. He was bad. He was a Death Eater. No sympathy.
"Well, night," Harry told him shortly and turned back to his bed finally. Why did he even talk for that long?
"Goodnight."
Harry almost froze at Nico's unneeded response. How could the Death Eater be so . . . nice? How could he just sit there and not be so angry at Harry for being mean, or even mad at whoever killed his sister? Harry was mad at Malfoy for picking on him, and he was obviously mad at Voldemort for killing his parents, so shouldn't Nico be angry too. It made sense, but there was no anger. Just sadness.
***
Harry watched di Angelo carefully the next day. He looked for any sign of threat, which was frustratingly hard with the boy's charming smile and infectious laugh. He went to breakfast, followed Him, Ron, and Hermione to class, did pretty well for someone who "didn't know magic", and then followed them to the next class. He seemed normal, except in History of Magic.
It was right after their break and Harry was sitting with Hermione and Ron in the back of the classroom as usual. Nothing was strange till Seamus turned around in his seat to whisper to them.
"Where's Nico?" he asked quietly as Professor Binns lectured about some sacred parchment.
Harry scanned the room and saw, to his dismay and delight, that the exchange student was nowhere to be found.
"Conspiring with Malfoy," Harry murmured under his breath triumphantly. Hermione gave him a look.
"I thought he was with you?" Hermione said, turning back to Seamus.
"He said he was going to the library for a break," Dean informed them. "Haven't seen him since."
A vague memory of Malfoy walking towards the library before break came to Harry's mind and he smiled. There was no way that was a coincidence.
He was just about to open his mouth, and tell his friends the proof of di Angelo's partnership with Malfoy, when the annoying ravenette ran into the room. He was huffing like he'd been in a marathon and his black hair looked slightly damp from sweat.
"Sorry for being late, Professor," he apologized in a breath. "I got lost."
Professor Binns looked at Nico with a mixture of shock and excitement. Then, in the blink of an eye, his usual stern face had returned and Harry could almost believe he imagined it.
"Well, at least you're here now," he told him with a sigh. "Take a seat next to Weasley, di Angelo."
The boy nodded and slipped into the seat on the other side of Ron.
"Sorry we didn't guide you, mate," Ron told him with a yawn, clearly not that bothered about it.
"That's alright," Nico whispered back with a shrug. "I wasn't hanging around you guys anyway."
"Who were you hanging around?" Harry asked. Now he could get him to confess himself.
"Madam Pince" he responded matter-of-factly.
Ron snapped his head to him and Harry's eyes were wide with wonder.
"You talked to Madam Pince?" Ron asked in bewilderment, barely being able to keep his voice down. "And she wasn't yelling at you?
Hermione scoffed. "Some people have respect for libraries and books."
Di Angelo nodded. "She is actually a nice lady. Did you know one of her sons died when he was only six? She told me she doesn't like hanging around children because they remind her of the son she could have had. It's very sad."
Ron and Harry exchanged a guilty look. They had never even considered why Madam Pince acted the way she did.
Professor Binns' lecture went on for the whole class, but to Harry's surprise, di Angelo didn't take a nap or pass notes or even play a secret game of Exploding Snap under the table with a neighbor. Somehow, he actually paid attention and took notes. He even raised his hand a few times! Harry knew right then and there that Nico di Angelo was no ordinary wizard.
After class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione grabbed their bags and started about what to do on the next break.
"Let's study in the common room," Ron suggested tiredly. "Hermione, you can tell me and Harry whatever Binns was blabbing about today."
Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. She propped her bag on her shoulder and turned to Nico, who was collecting things into his black bag.
"You paid attention during class," she said to him. "Want to help me explain to these two idiots what his lecture was about?"
The boy smiled at her, taking his bag and starting towards the door.
"I'd love to," he said half sarcastically (he said things that way a lot), "but I have a class right now."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione paused their walking to exchanged a look.
"What class?" Harry asked.
Di Angelo paused and shrugged, "I took up Care of Magical Creatures. First class is today."
Harry gasped quietly. No one would willingly take that class. He must've had some kind of agenda.
Before Harry had the chance to threaten the little shit again, the scheming boy walked past them, calling out to a Ravenclaw girl and boy who must have been in his class.
"That American sure is something," Ron mumbled under his breath.
"No one takes Care of Magical Creatures willingly!" Harry protested for the umpteenth time to Hermione and Ron as they walked down to dinner. He hadn't seen di Angelo the rest of the day since they split after History of Magic and his suspicions were rising.
"That's not true," Hermione sighed.
"He's got an ulterior motive," He pressed.
"Listen, mate," Ron said to him as they entered the Great Hall. "I get that we've had a lot of evil people break into the school, and I'll admit, the Malfoy thing sounds like it could be true–"
"Ron!" Hermione scolded.
"–But," Ron interrupted her quickly, "di Angelo is just an American exchange student. He only found out he was a wizard a few months ago and now he's at a school in Scotland. Of course he's going to act a bit weird, he's never been here! He gets lost here if he's not with us or Dean and Seamus."
"Or maybe he acts like he's lost so he can sneak around," Harry argued.
Ron and Hermione sighed in exasperation but Harry didn't really care to notice since he'd just spotted someone at their table. Just as he had suspected, Nico di Angelo was sitting on a bench, towards the end of the hall, talking with Dean and Seamus.
'He thought he could hide forever,' Harry thought as he marched over to sit across from him. 'Thought he'd hide away from the rest of the day and I wouldn't find him and call him out.'
"Hey, di Angelo," he said cooly, sitting down across from him. Ron and Hermione took the seats on either side.
"Hey," Nico greeted, a laugh stuck in his voice from whatever Dean had just said moments before.
"How was Care of Magical Creatures?" Hermione asked, genuinely interested.
Nico's eyes lit up and he looked like a little twelve-year-old.
"It was amazing!" he told them, eyes sparkling. "There were these worm things that are like hedgehogs and could roll up into a ball. Apparently, they were used last class so I didn't get to look at them much. Then we got to ride a weird bunny-rhino-horse thing which was crazy! Only me, Hannah, Jake, and Summer got to ride it though, since Collin upset it and it ran off into the Forbidden Forest. After that we got to pet these skeletal horses and–"
"Skeletal horses?" Harry jumped in.
"Yeah!" Nico replied happily, like skeletal horses were the most adorable creatures to walk the earth.
"You mean Thestrals?" Harry corrected suspiciously.
"Oh yeah! I forget what a lot of things are called here. You guys have weird names."
Ron, Dead, and Seamus burst out laughing and Harry could see even Hermione was trying to hide a smile.
Annoyed, Harry leaned forward and looked the exchange student right in the eye. "Only people who have seen death can see them."
Nico faltered for a moment, the light in his eyes extinguished.
"Well, it makes sense," he muttered to himself, shifting in his seat.
"So you have killed someone!" Harry exclaimed, making a few gryffindor eyes turn to them.
"What?" Nico asked, flabbergasted. "I've never killed anyone! Well, not directly. There was this one annoying guy . . ."
"Then how did you see them?" Harry asked smugly.
A faraway look came to Nico's eyes and the dark irises were reflecting Harry's own face.
"I've seen Death take many people away from me," he whispered.
"What? Like your sister?"
Anger and fury and regret all swarmed the boy's eyes as he looked deep into Harry's like he was reading his soul. Harry had meant it as a genuine question but the sister seemed to be a touchy subject for him.
The American looked him straight in the eyes and said darkly, "no."
"I . . . I think you're lying," Harry said, not as confident as before.
"How can you see them?" Nico fired at him. "You knew exactly what they were. And don't give me bullshit about reading about them, cause you read less than I do, and I have an actual reason for it."
Harry stuttered. He had a point. Harry had never killed anyone, and he could see the Thestrals. He had forgotten that fact, got too wrapped up in accusations.
Nico finally broke eye contact and stood up from the table. He gave Harry one last look before walking out straight of the Great Hall before dinner was even surved.
"What was that for, Harry?" Dean asked.
Harry could find the words to defend himself.
***
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting on their couch in the common room, trying to do homework except Harry couldn't because his mind was filled with Nico di Angelo.
"I can't do this right now," Harry sighed. "I'll see you guys in the morning."
Ron and Hermione wished him a goodnight and he walked up the stairs to his room. He couldn't stop thinking about the boy and his sister and the words "I've seen Death take many people away from me." What did he mean? How much had he been through? Not as much as Harry, surely.
He put his hand and the dark doorknob, almost not seeing it in the shadows the torch behind him didn't reach. He was going to open it when he heard hushed voices talking on the other side of the wood. Neville was asleep and Ron, Dean, and Seamus were still in the common room. The only one left was di Angelo.
Sensing a perfect time to get more information on the mysterious exchange student, Harry leaned his head carefully on the door.
"He just doesn't know," a voice that was definitely Nico said.
"But that doesn't give him the right to talk about Bianca!" argued a boy who Harry did not recognize. His voice was deeper than anyone in his year and younger. Probably a seventh year.
"Shh!" Nico shushed. "Neville is sleeping."
"Yo! Neville!" a funny sounding voice said loudly.
"Shut up, Leo! Do you want my mission busted?" Nico paused. "Wait. I think someone's listening."
There was a creak of a bed and Harry back tracked a few steps away from the door quickly. He stumbled down to where the torch lit up his whole body and waited for Nico to open the door and yell at him for eavesdropping. It never did.
Slowly, he crept back up and listened again.
"-anything stupid," a girl who sounded older, but a lot like Hermione, said sternly.
"Will do," Nico replied with a slight laugh.
"Love you, Neeks," a boy around his own age with a honey voice told him.
"Love you, Sunshine," Nico responded with a voice so tender and loving Harry almost thought it was someone else.
The conversation was over, and Harry opened the door cautiously. Nico was there, sitting on his bed, fiddling with a chocolate frog card. He looked like he'd been there the whole time but Harry knew he heard that conversation.
The strange boy looked over at Harry's entrance and sat up when he saw him.
"Hey," Nico said quietly.
Harry didn't respond. He wanted to accuse Nico of talking to whoever he talked to, but something stopped him.
"I . . . wanted to apologize," the other boy said in the silence. "I shouldn't have gotten angry at you."
Now Harry was angry. How could di Angelo be so forgiving? He was mean. He was a killer. He was a Death Eater! Harry knew it! Right . . .?
Despite all the anger and frustration, Harry just said, "thanks."
Apparently not looking for an apology himself, Nico nodded and closed his curtains. Harry walked over to his bed and pulled out his pajamas from his trunk. Neither said another word to each other as Harry got ready for bed, and put his glasses on his nightstand, before siding into the covers.
As he settled into bed, Harry heard a muffled spell being cast and as much as he would have liked to believe it was an evil spell, couldn't stop thinking about Nico's screams that morning and how even though he wouldn't be able to hear them, they'd still be there, terrifying and sad.
When Harry closed his eyes to drift off to sleep, he remembered his own nightmarish dreams. Was that what Nico's dreams were like? No. His brain needed to shut up and face the facts that Nico was working for Voldemort and he was evil. Those were the facts. Right . . .?