Chapter Four
The next few days for Nico and the trio were full of homework and classes.
Even though he'd never done any magic before, Nico found he was doing just as well as Harry and Ron in most of his classes. A lot of spells were just Latin words, potions was something that just came to him supposedly by his mom, and he did a ton of paperwork for his dad so writing homework was pretty easy.
"Are you going to try out?" Dean asked.
Nico looked up from the book he was trying to read at the breakfast table. "Try out for what?"
"For the Quidditch team," Dean explained, taking another sausage.
"What's Quidditch?" asked Nico as he set his book down.
"You don't have Quidditch in America?" Seamus asked, his words muffled and slurred by the scrambled eggs crammed inside.
"Nope." Nico shook his head.
Dean and Seamus went on to excitedly explain the game of Quidditch to him. There were balls and hoops that made Nico think of basketball at first. It seemed like the only sport they had at the school and it sounded fun enough, but as soon as they had mentioned that everyone flew on broomsticks though, he had already made his decision.
"Yeah, no," Nico told them, when they finished.
"What?" Seamus complained, "Why not?"
Nico picked up his book, "I don't do well with heights,"
"You should at least try," Dean begged. "Here, we have a free period now so let's go outside and use one of the school brooms!"
Despite his protests Nico was then dragged out of the Great Hall and out onto the school grounds. He tried to tell them that he would literally be shot out of the sky if he ever tried, but Dean and Seamus didn't get the hint. They walked to the Quidditch pitch and Seamus grabbed a school broom from a room and handed it to Nico.
Nico took the broom and just held it in his hands. "This is the most stereotypical wizard thing I've ever done."
"Give it a go," Dean encouraged, practically bouncing on his feet.
Nico put one leg over the broomstick and held onto it for dear life. He really should have prayed to Zeus before this.
"Push off the ground," Seamus explained.
Nico took a deep breath and pushed off the ground lightly and suddenly, the ground was gone.
Wind whipped Nico's face and his legs felt numb as they sailed up through the air and the ground became a little smaller behind him. Students and grass flew by as Nico flew across the grounds, gaining height and soaring away from his friends.
As he zipped through the air, surprisingly not pulverised, Nico relaxed a bit into the movement of the broom. He flew above the school and shifted his weight to make circles around the towers. When flew back across the grounds, he saw Dean and Seamus smiling and waving along with a few other kids who had spotted him. They pointed at him and shouted things he couldn't hear.
Nico danced through the air and he thought it felt nice to not be tethered to the earth. He wasn't grounded to his father's palace or Gaea's body. He felt as though all the pain and worry of being on the ground had melted away. He wondered if Jason felt the same way or if he felt tethered to the air like he was the ground.
He waved to the small crowd that had formed and flew straight upwards. That's when he knew he had gone too far.
His broom climbed up and up with him clinging on to it, and as he did, he could feel a prickling sensation. Clouds started to turn dark and gathered in front of him and Nico knew he needed to get down as fast as he could.
So, as someone would naturally do when they are hundreds of feet in the air and need to get down, he let go.
In panic, he took his hands off the broom, his legs detached and gravity started to take him. The broom fell with Nico, but he was many feet farther down than it was because of his weight. He was falling back first, which was the worst way to fall, and he had no clue how close the ground was. He needed to turn around and hopefully land on his feet. He'd break a few bones but it was the best way to not die.
He tried to flip himself but gravity wasn't budging.
As he was about to accept his fate and say his goodbyes, his fall slowed. He felt himself still falling, but it felt more controlled. Not by him though, by someone else.
The broom passed him as he was slowly lowered towards the ground he still couldn't see. He reached the ground softly and he just lay there for a minute, trying to remember how breathing works and staring at the retreating storm clouds.
"Nico!" someone cried.
Over Nico's face, Dean and Seamus appeared.
"Are you alright, mate?" asked Seamus nervously, biting his lip.
"That," Nico breathed, "was so fun."
They all smiled. Dean offered a hand and Nico took it, rising back to his feet. He stumbled a second and then was almost immediately toppled again.
"Oh Nico, we were so worried!" That blonde and brunette from the first day were there, almost tackling him in a hug. Their friend was standing a bit off which Nico appreciated since he wasn't a hug person (Will, Hazel, and Jason excluded).
"Are you okay, Neeks?" the blonde asked, eyes full of something that wasn't sympathy as she looked up from her spot by his waist.
Okay, that was it for Nico. There were a certain few people who got to call him Neeks without getting hurt and these two weren't one of them.
Nico pushed the girls away with all of his strength and they stumbled backwards. He was about to tell them off, admit he was gay, kill them, or do it all at once, but a stern voice stopped him.
"Mr. di Angelo." Nico turned and saw that the few dozen kids who were outside were looking fearfully at Professor McGonagall who was marching towards him, an expression he couldn't quite read on her face.
"What was that di Angelo?" she asked when she was standing in front of him.
"Um, uh," Nico stuttered. He was going to get in trouble for pushing those girls or something?
"Have you ever flown before di Angelo?" he inquired.
"I'm sorry I– what?"
"Have you flown on a broom before?" the Professor repeated.
"N-no," Nico said, unsure what was happening.
"It's true." Dean was suddenly beside him.
"Yeah, he told us, " Seamus put in, stepping up to his other side. "That's why he was flying,"
McGonagall gave them a glance before turning her eyes back to Nico.
"Well, I'll have to talk to Potter about putting you in the team then."
Nico took a step back in surprise. "What?!"
"I will tell Mr. Potter that he must put you on the Gryffindor team," McGonagall said as if things like that happened everyday
"B-but Harry should make the team."
"I haven't seen skill like that since Potter himself," McGonagall told him earnestly. "I made his coach put him into the team when he was eleven. He will understand."
The Professor walked back across the lawn, probably to go find Harry, and Nico spun on his heel to look back at his friends.
"I- what?" he stuttered.
"You're on the team!" Dean exclaimed, jumping up and down.
Seamus and Dean crowded him into a hug and Nico could see the blonde and brunette girls glaring at him and being pulled away by their other friend. Nico flipped them off which made the blonde cry and go running. Satisfied, he closed his eyes and embraced his friends.
"So I guess we're Quidditch enemies now," Nico joked quietly to Draco who was still looking at his book.
Draco cracked one of his rare smiles as he half read his book and half listened to Nico. The two of them had taken to hanging out in the library together in free periods, Draco helping Nico read and Nico sharing his knowledge for potions and spells.
After a few weeks of hanging out, Nico knew Draco was getting worse. He had bags forming under his eyes and his face was tight with stress. He was exhausted and not taking any time to preserve himself. Nico knew this because he had seen it for years in his own reflection.
"I think I might quit the team," Draco said suddenly and quietly.
"What?" Nico had learned that quidditch was one of the few things Draco actually liked. He found it hard to believe he would want to quit without a reason.
"I just have a lot going on," he sighed, not looking at Nico.
He studied the tired boy's face that was half covered by his hair.
"You should probably sleep on that one," he told him, trying to lighten the mood.
Draco's head ducked and Nico knew he was hiding a laugh.
"Sure di Angelo."
"Back to last name bases. I'm offended, Malfoy."
"Hey, Nico." Nico turned his head and saw Hermione, Harry, and Ron walk into the library. Hermione seemed confused, Ron looked like he was watching a bull do the salsa, and Harry was grinning with a sinister glint in his eye.
"Hey, guys," Nico greeted airily. He saw Draco's face return to a mask and continue reading his book, all laughter and jokes gone.
"You are studying with Malfoy?" Ron asked like Nico was crazy.
"Yeah," Nico replied in a calm manner. "You and Harry hog Hermione so I had to find my own tutor."
Hermione blushed and Harry rolled his eyes.
'You were the one who asked me to stay away from your friends,' Nico thought with an inward scoff.
"McGonagall talked to me today," Harry told him accusatively.
"Was it about the Quidditch thing?" he asked, hand crawling up to his neck in embarrassment.
Harry bared his teeth. "Yes."
"Sorry about that," Nico apologized, embarrassed by the whole thing. "Dean and Seamus wanted me to fly and then McGonagall saw and-"
Did I ask?" Harry cut him off.
Hermione jabbed Harry in the gut so he doubled over. Satisfied, she turned back to Nico. "We're going to study in the common room if you want to join?"
"No. I'm good here," he said without hesitation. "Thanks for the offer."
The trio exchanged looks. Harry seemed to want to argue some more, but Hermione grabbed his arm and Ron, still shocked and confused, and dragged them out.
"You could have joined them," Draco said quietly once they'd disappeared. "Hermione is way smarter than me."
"Maybe," Nico shrugged. "But you're way more fun."
Draco looked up from his book and Nico gave him a smile.
***
It was the day of Quidditch tryouts and Nico was told to be there to watch his team from. So, Dean, Seamus, and he walked down to the Quidditch pitch together. Dean went to go get ready and Seamus and Nico sat on the bleachers with Hermione. She seemed a bit tense and Nico noticed that she had brought her wand. Nico didn't usually carry his wand around since he had his sword in his skull ring if he needed it. It seemed weird that she'd need her wand for Quidditch tryouts.
As the time for flying came closer, more and more people started showing up, which was good, but a good portion of them were from different houses.
"Can other houses play on our team?" he asked, confused.
"No," Seamus scoffed. "I don't know why they're here!"
Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "He's the Chosen one. People just want to be around him."
Nico quirked an eyebrow. Chosen one? Chosen for what?
"What do you mean 'Chosen One'?" Nico asked.
"Oh! Sorry, Nico," Hermione apologized. "I forgot you don't know about Harry and You-Know-Who. Harry has been chosen to defeat Voldemort so people think he's really important."
'Oh,' Nico thought. 'That poor dude is a quester. No wonder he's paranoid.'
The tryouts were pretty eventful. Harry had yelled at some people, threatened someone, and watched others fly around the field. Many people came to watch with Hermione, Seamus, and Nico. Girls ooh and aahed over Harry, and the boys put in their bets and expectations for the team. Many were betting on a boy named Cormac McLaggen, who was trying for Keeper and saved four out of the five shots. Nico had noticed that on the last one, Hermione had had her wand out, but it probably had nothing to do with the boy zooming off in the opposite direction, so Nico kept his mouth shut.
Dean flew fairly well, he messed up a bit trying to catch the quaffle and didn't make the cut, but he was definitely second best.
At the end, it was finally Ron's turn. A girl with curly brown hair called out to him from a few seats down.
"Good luck!" she cried and Harry looked like he wanted to cringe.
Nico glanced at Hermione and she had her fist clenched around her wand. He hadn't spent a lot of time with Hermione and Ron and ninety percent of the time she's yelling at him, but he had sensed some unannounced feelings hiding there.
The trial started and Ron saved one, two, three, four, and five penalty shots, making him the best performing Keeper. Cormac seemed awfully angry about that and practically had a tantrum. Nico followed his friends down the stands and smiled as Hermione ran over to Ron. He wondered when they'd finally admit their feelings.
Nico congratulated Ron but he was quickly pulled away by Harry and them plus Hermione set off towards a hut on the school grounds. Nico shrugged and decided to walk back to the school with his new team, talking Quidditch and other things. They seemed like a solid group, Katie Bell, Ginny Weasley, and him were Chasers and Jimmy Peaks and Ritchie Coote were Beaters. They all had ideas for how to play the best and they were good at answering his questions on exact rules and things.
When they had reached the school and split up with Nico going to the Library and the rest finding places to spend their breaks, he realized that he could call them friends now too.
It was weird when Nico thought back to his first day at Hogwarts. He had planned to do his mission and go back to camp as quickly as he could. Now, only a few weeks in, he had found friends. As he walked to the library, he suddenly realized that he was going to miss the magical world. He had made a life there at the school with Draco and Dean and Seamus and even the trio sometimes. He had almost forgotten that there was a mission to do and he wasn't just going to school. He wished he could return or keep in touch with these people, but he knew that was never going to happen. He was a demigod, these were wizards. Even if Slughorn was right and his mother had gone to Hogwarts before and he was half wizard, his home was at Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupitar. But, when he did leave at the end of the year, he would remember these people and the memories he made with them all.
***
The next couple of weeks were the same as the first ones, except Nico had memorized his schedule and after a few nights of navigating the school in secret, he could find his way to all of his classes without help. Most of the classes kept him busy with homework, but he always found time to hang out with his friends and play Quidditch.
He had also been avoiding Slughorn and his 'parties'. Harry had thankfully scheduled practices on the same nights as said parties (probably because he was avoiding them too) but the Professor seemed pretty set on having Harry and Nico come.
One day, after potions, Slughorn called him over.
"Nico, my boy," the Professor smiled, making Nico feel extra uncomfortable.
"What is it, sir?" he asked politely.
"Well, I know Harry has a meeting with Dumbledor tonight, but you seem free to come to my party, don't you!" Slughorn smiled brightly, opening his arms wide like he was presenting a grand idea.
"Oh, uh," Nico actually didn't have plans that night. He had completed all homework and was going to have an extra long talk with Will and the others. He needed something and he needed to think of it fast.
"I, uh, I have detention," Nico told him.
"Oh?" Slughorn looked disappointed. "With who?"
"Snape," Nico replied. He had been avoiding Snape and his detentions by dropping Defense Against the Dark Arts all together and he didn't plan on changing that plan, but it was the only thing he thought of.
"What about Professor Snape?" A nasally voice said from behind him.
Nico straightened and he could sense now from the shadows that Professor Snape was indeed lurking behind him.
"Ah, Severus!" Slughorn called, beckoning Snape over. "Nico was just telling me that you two have detention so he'll have to miss my party."
Snape walked to stand beside Slughorn, looking down at Nico with a sneering smile. "Well, wouldn't that be a shame."
"Ah, yes it 'tis," Slughorn sighed. "Well, I'll be on my way."
Slughorn packed up his stuff and shuffled out of the room, leaving Nico and Snape staring each other down. Of course, Nico was terrified of what Snape would make him do, but he wasn't going to show it.
Keeping deadly eye contact, Snape took a step towards him. "You will come to my office at five sharp. If you are not there, I will make sure you go to the next Slughorn party myself."
To most people, they might find this as a stupid punishment. But to Nico, that was almost as bad as going through Tartarus. Again.
Nico stared daggers into the Professor's eyes. He must have seen the defeat in his silence because he smiled cruelly before walking past him and disappearing out the door.
It was four fifty-nine and Nico was outside the door, determined to knock at exactly five. Everyone else was heading to dinner and Snape must have thought that in itself was a punishment, but Nico was fine with it. He had been eating better since he got settled, but he'd lived on one pomegranate seed a day.
He checked his watch that he'd packed and waited until the second hand hit the twelve before knocking on the door three times.
It opened with a creak and Snape' looming figure stood in the doorway.
"Come in, di Angelo," he hissed and Nico stepped inside.
He had found Snape's office was in the dungeons and the room definitely looked like it. It was stone and cold and Nico wouldn't have been surprised if there were chains hanging from the ceiling.
"You will grade my papers for my class," Snape sneered.
Nico also sighed with relief. He'd done loads of paperwork for his dad and he knew the Dark Arts like the back of his hand.
Keeping his face clean of emotion, Nico walked over to where Snape was gesturing, a small table and chair stacked with paperwork. He sat down and began his work. Snape watched him for the first minute or two, then he realized that there was no point so he started rearranging his stuff, looking at books, and other things to pass the time.
At one point, when Nico was a quarter of the way through the pile, Snape seemed to see that the punishment was much of a punishment to him and took away his chair. It made the work a little harder but standing didn't bother him.
Just as Nico was finishing another fourth year's paper, Snape let out a hiss of pain. He grabbed his left forearm and Nico tried to get a peek, but he couldn't see anything except a small tattoo. Snape looked at Nico who ignored his gaze and continued to the next paper.
"I'll be back," he told him as he straightened, making Nico look up at him. "No funny business."
He swiftly left the room and Nico could feel in the shadows that he moved down the hallway of the dungeons. As much as he wanted to see what was happening, he didn't want to get in trouble and more importantly, he was too lazy to get up and follow him. Instead, he went back to his papers.
After half an hour of Snape being gone, Nico finished his detention. He thought about going back to the Gryffindor common rooms, it was probably late now and he was ready for bed.
'No funny business.'
Yeah, Snape would probably count leaving without him saying 'funny business' so that was out.
Nico stretched and stood from his chair. He turned to the drawers that lined the back wall and started opening each one. Plants, books, paper, pencils, potions, etc., nothing interesting.
Next he walked to the book shelf and read the covers. Deadly Plants and Their Life Saving Qualities, Deadly Magical Creatures, Potions 101 . . .
Ever since Nico had learned that he was a pro at potions, he had found a fascination looking through books about it. He grabbed the dusty green book off the shelf and started flipping through the pages. Only a few pages in, there was scribbled writing in the margins. Nico had always appreciated books, even if he couldn't read them, so seeing the book vandalized made him roll his eyes. He wondered what was so "important" that they had to take a pen and write it in the book. He brought the book closer to his eye but that didn't help, the letters were blurred and the swooping cursive made his eyes burn.
He decided to let it go and ignored the notes as he continued flipping through, deciphering the parts of the book that seemed important, until a certain patch of words caught his eyes. In the margins of a poison potion recipe, there were scribbled words, except these were different then the ones before because, Nico knew that handwriting. It was his mom's.
When Nico had lived with his dad after the Titan War, his dad had eventually given into his begging for more information on his mom and he brought out some old things of her's. Turns out he had really loved her, and kept grocery lists she had made and different letters she had given him. Nico had read those words over and over until they were ingrained in his brain. He'd know her handwriting anywhere.
Quickly, he flipped through the pages and found that it was full of the first person's notes and his mom's. He scanned them all until he turned to the last page and there was a note.
Dear Maria,
I know it isn't new or anything, but it has all of my edits on how to make you suck less at potions.
Happy Birthday little sis,
-Severus
Nico's jaw dropped. Slughorn had called Snape Severus earlier. Could Snape be his uncle?
Footsteps outside the door made Nico jump. He rushed to his spot in the chair, kicking his feet up to look like he'd been waiting there like a good student and made the shadows push the book back into place as Snape walked into the room.
He stopped in front of Nico, looked at the pile of completed work, and then to Nico's position in the chair.
"Can I go now?" he asked impatiently.
Snape looked sharply at him. "Can I go now . . ."
"Sir."
Snape nodded and Nico stood quickly. He grabbed his backpack and quickly walked out into the dungeon hall.
His footsteps echoed off the walls as he made his way out into the castle, his thoughts racing. Were his mother and Snape really siblings? Why did they have different last names? Did Snape change his last name? If so, then why didn't he recognize Nico's last name?
His mind was so consumed by thoughts that he didn't see Harry until he ran straight into him.
"Ow!" Harry cried as they collided.
Nico stumbled back and shook his head. "Sorry, Harry."
Harry looked up and he must have been lost in thought too, because he only then seemed to realize who Nico was.
Scoffing, he wiped off his shirt like Nico had given him cooties or something. "What are you doing at this hour, di Angelo?"
"Detention with Snape," Nico said with an eye roll.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
Nico had tried to be nice to Harry but his constant sass was getting really annoying. Gods, know he knew how Zeus felt whenever Percy was around.
"You can ask him if you want," Nico offered. "Why are you out here? Are you planning to murder someone's friends?"
Harry clenched his jaw, "it's none of your business what I'm doing."
A conversation he'd had earlier came to Nico's mind.
"You were in a lesson with Dumbledor," Nico told him. Slughorn had mentioned that that was why Harry couldn't go to his party.
Harry looked taken aback. "How do you know that?"
Nico shrugged, "Probably my super evil magic."
Harry looked furious and Nico was glad that he'd finally been told off.
Without a second glance, Nico walked past him and started back towards the Gryffindor tower. He had considered going to the Forbidden Forest to practice his sword fighting, but there was too much to think about. As he walked though, he felt Harry's presence in the shadows, following him carefully, but there was another presence, Death. Not his full self, but as if there was part of him there.
When he reached the portrait of the lady that led to the hole to the common room, he said the password and looked behind him and was shocked to see that no one was there. He frowned, he could feel Harry's presence, but he couldn't see him. Deciding that he was probably just tired, he crawled through the hole and into the common room.
He arrived in the room and saw that Ron and Hermione were bickering on the couch. He had assumed that everyone would be gone, but they were probably waiting for Harry.
"Nico!" Hermione called in surprise when she saw him.
Ron turned to see him and Nico gave a little wave.
"I had detention with Snape," he explained. "Harry was just behind me and I'm going to go to bed now."
With that, Nico walked past the two and up to his room where he promptly fell onto his bed. He'd have to wake up early to call Will and the others so they wouldn't worry, but he couldn't be bothered to call them yet.
He cast his muffling spell and stripped down to his boxers before sliding under the covers and closing his eyes. That night, he didn't have nightmares. Instead his mind was full of his mother and young memories.