Chapter Six
The next day Nico found out what Draco had done.
Or at least he assumed it wasn't a coincidence that Katie Bell had been taken to a hospital because she was cursed by a magical necklace.
Nico sat with the trio at breakfast that morning and had to hide his surprise when Harry told the story and suggested it was Draco's doing.
"C'mon, you can't deny it now!" Harry complained to his friends, Nico watching silently from the other side of the table.
"He wasn't even there," Hermione sighed.
"She also got the necklace from the girl's bathroom," Ron pointed out, mouth half full of scrambled eggs. "It's gotta be that Bellatrix lady."
"Who's that?" Nico asked.
"Crazy witch," Ron said plainly, swallowing his eggs. "Don't mess with her."
Nico noticed Harry clenched his fork tighter at the mention of the witch. He wondered if there was some history or something between them.
He spent the rest of that day doing his regular routine and Iris Messaging his friends at the end of the day. He would always call Will, who was usually with the whole gang. They asked him questions about the wizards and the school and Nico told them everything. The only thing he didn't mention was his and Draco's conversation the day before. Not because he regretted telling him that he wasn't a wizard, but then he'd have to tell them about Draco's problems and he wouldn't tell other people's secrets.
The day after was the first Quidditch match, Gryffindor vs Slytherin. He sat with Harry and Ron at breakfast and Ron seemed almost as nervous as he was.
"Cheer up, Ron!" the annoying, curly haired girl, Lavender, told him. "I know you'll be brilliant."
Ron, thankfully, ignored her.
The redhead hung his head and for once he wasn't stuffing his face. Nico himself was terrified to fly in front of others and be expected to pass a quaffle back and forth. He did remind himself that he was also nervous for his first day at the school, and that wasn't so bad. He even won a magical potion, along with a detention.
Suddenly, Nico had an idea. He glanced over to the giant doors and saw Hermione walking towards them.
"Tea, Ron?" Nico asked his queasy friend. "Coffee? Pumpkin juice?"
Ron looked up glumly at him. "Anything."
Nico reached for the Pumpkin juice and poured a cup. He then grabbed his small bottle of Felix Felice and uncapped it. Hermione came down and sat across from Nico. Perfect.
"How are you guys feeling?" she asked us.
"Fine," Harry replied and Nico nodded as well.
Making sure Hermione had an eye on him, he capped the bottle and shoved it into his pocket.
"There you go, Ron," Nico said, handing the cup to him. "Drink up."
Just as Ron grabbed the cup of juice, Hermione jumped up.
"Don't drink that Ron!" She exclaimed.
Harry and Ron jumped in their seats and looked between her and Nico.
"Why not?" Rn protested.
Hermione stared at Nico, who put on his clueless face. "You put something in that drink!"
"Excuse me?" Nico said, feigning innocents.
"You heard me! I saw you! You put something in the drink and then put it back in your pocket!"
Harry's eyes practically turned to fire. Nico had known that would be the reactions of Harry and Hermione, he just hoped Ron also followed the plan.
"Stop bossing me around Hermione," Ron told her. Apparently he would.
Hermione looked hurt, and Nico felt bad, but Ron needed to be good for the game. He would explain afterwards.
"You're going to drink that?" Harry asked Ron, like it was an accusation.
"Yes, I am Harry," Ron told him defiantly. "I'm in your little 'theory'."
Harry's cheeks flushed and Ron picked up the drink and swallowed it in one gulp.
"Nearly time," Harry grumbled as they walked to the stadium.
"Pretty lucky the weather's good, eh?" Nico asked pointedly to Ron.
"Yeah," Ron answered quietly, still looking queasy.
Ginny and the replacement for Katie, a girl named Demelza, walked up to them when they entered the changing room, already in Quidditch attire.
"Conditions look ideal," Ginny told them. "And guess what? That Slytherin Chaser Vaisey, he took a Bludger to the head yesterday during their practice, and he's too sore to play! And even better than that, Malfoy's sick too!"
"What?" Harry and Nico said at the same time. Nico and Draco had joked about playing against each other just the other day. Where was he now?
"They're playing Harper instead; he's in my year and he's an idiot," Ginny informed them.
Harry continued talking with Ginny while Ron and Nico went to get their robes. As they retrieved them from their hooks, Nico leaned towards Ron to whisper.
"Lucky, isn't it? Malfoy not playing?"
"And Vaisey off too," Ron agreed. "He's their best goal scorer, I didn't really fancy – hey!"
He suddenly stared at Nico who innocently threw on his robes.
"What?" Nico asked when he was Ron still staring.
"I . . . you . . ." Ron's voice dropped to a whisper. "My drink . . . my pumpkin juice . . . you didn't . . . ?'
Nico shrugged. Ron just stared in astonishment.
"Go grab your boots Weasley," Nico told him with a smile.
Ron walked off and Harry came by to grab his things as well. The captain chose a spot a bit away from where Ron was tying his shoes, and Nico found it the perfect moment to talk.
Nico grabbed his own shoes and sat next to Harry.
"Hey," he said quietly. "I didn't actually do it."
Harry gave him a little confused look.
"I didn't put the Felice in his drink," Nico explained. "I didn't put anything in it."
"But, Malfoy-"
"Real luck."
Harry looked unconvinced.
Nico sighed and pulled out the bottle. "Here."
He threw him the bottle and with his Seeker reflexes, he caught it.
"You can keep it actually," Nico told him, tying his boots. "I don't want it."
Harry looked at Nico like he was searching for something. Probably, something to tell him that Nico was lying or it was some kind of scam.
After a minute of just staring, Harry turned to the rest of the team. "Alright everyone. Let's go."
They walked out onto the pitch and met the Slytherins in the middle. The crowded stands screamed and cheered with students holding up signs and shouting their names. Nico felt a warm and tingling sensation run through his body. He'd never been cheered for by so many people. It was liberating, and also a bit frightening.
"Captains shake hands,' Madam Hooch commanded and Harry and Slytherin captain shook. The larger, Slytherin Captain seemed to want to break Harry's hand, but Harry didn't let him and instead held his gaze sternly.
"Mount your brooms," Madam Hooch told them.
Nico glanced around at his teammates. They all had stone faces but Nico had gotten good at reading people, so he could tell they were just as nervous as he.
"On the whistle! . . . three . . . two . . . one . ."
The whistle sounded and Nico kicked off into the air.
He let himself fly high enough to get to the playing level before he evened out and scanned the field before him, looking for any way to help get the quaffle in the other team's goal.
Commentating was heard in the stands as he watched his teammates fly off, but Nico ignored that and let himself fall into the rhythm of the game. He had found that he could fly pretty high without worrying about Zeus, and he had prayed to him that morning before breakfast, so he relaxed into the piece of wood and bolted off towards Ginny, open for a pass.
She tossed him the ball and he grabbed it for only a second or two before tossing it towards Demelza, but it was intercepted by the captain. He shot down the pitch and Nioc lifted his broom to do a full loop backwards. Teh crowd cheered at his move but he tried not to pay too much attention to them as he raced after the Slytherin.
The chaser flew through the air and dodged a bludger before making it to the hoops. He threw the ball to one of the rings and Nico held his breath. It sailed through the space but before it could fit between one of the hoops, Ron caught it.
The crowd screamed, and Ron beamed as he threw the ball to Nico, who gave him a nod and bolted off to the other end of the pitch. He bent low to go faster but there was a bludger coming his way, so he threw it to Ginny. She caught it and sped off while Nico got a bludger to the side.
He let out a puff from the impact, but all pain was forgotten when he heard someone say, "And Gryffindor scores!"
They played for twenty more minutes before Nico started getting fed up and tired. Gryffindor was up sixty to zero, Ginny scoring four times and Nico scored the other two. Ron was doing splendidly, which was good. Especially since Nico could hear the announcer saying more than once that the Weasleys were only there because of their friendship with Harry. Nico knew for a fact that was not true, and both Ron and Ginny were incredible players. So, he couldn't help but smile when the announcer had to admit that they were "actually good".
Nico glanced up to see if Harry was on his way to end the game, but when he did, he saw that the other seeker, Harper, shoved Harry so forcefully he almost fell off his broom. Nico looked at Madam Hooch to see if she saw, but she was watching Ginny about to score another point. Nico would have to keep an eye on them.
The Keeper blocked Ginny's shot and someone on the Slytherin team got it and tried to pass it to someone else, but Nico stole it from them and dashed back to the Slytherin's rings. He bolted past them and tried his own turn at shooting but was once again blocked.
The Slytherins got control of the ball again, and just as Nico was going to chase after them, a force hit his back. He lurched forward and saw an ugly looking boy sneering at him, a bludger bat in his hands.
Nico glared at him. He wanted to fly over there and beat him up. He was so exhausted from flying back and forth and getting hit with stupid balls. Did the boy even know how much damage he could have caused? Nico could have been paralyzed, or have a fractured vertebrae, or get disc herniation. He didn't even know what some of those were, but whenever Will got hit in the back during battles or Capture the Flag, he'd always talk about them.
Before Nico could do anything rash though, Harry's voice came from the chaos.
"Yes!"
Nico turned and saw Harry was holding up the glinting, golden snitch. The whole team raced to him and, somehow, Nico found himself being hugged by the whole team and he was hugging them too.
"Ginny," Harry called. "Where are you going?"
The red haired girl sped past the cuddle puddle and, to Nico's delight, ran right into the announcer podium.
The whole team landed and ran to where Ginny was standing, a little unsteadily, by the wreckage. The announcer, a boy Nico was now pretty sure was named Zacharias Smith, was looking dazed in the wreckage and Professor McGonagall was staring irritatedly at Ginny.
"Forgot to brake" Ginny apologized. "Sorry, Professor."
The whole team laughed and Nico saw Harry hug Ginny and then quickly back away again. He wondered how long it would be until they got together.
"Party in the common room!" Dean and Seamus called as they ran to congratulate the team.
Nico, Ron, and Harry cheered were about to join them when Hermione grabbed them.
"Hey!" she called. "You don't get let off the hook, Nico."
Nico sighed and all three of the boys turned to face her.
"Hermione, listen," Nico said calmly.
"No! That was unacceptable! I'm going to Professor McGonagall –"
"Hermione, he didn't do it," Harry told her.
"What?" Ron and Hermione asked.
Nico glanced at Harry. Had he just stuck up for him?
"He didn't put the Felice in the drink," Harry told them. "He just made Ron believe it so he wouldn't be so worried."
Ron and Hermione were both quiet for a moment.
"I-I'm sorry Nico," Hermione said finally. "I shouldn't have assumed you cheat like that."
"It's okay Hermione," Nico told her truthfully. "I knew you'd probably respond like that. I was kind of counting on it."
"So, you forgive me?"
"Of course."
Nico saw Harry shift out of the corner of his eye. What was with that guy? One moment he was accusing Nico of stuff he'd never done, then the next he's convincing his friends he didn't do anything. He talked back to him about his sister and then just dropped it and defended him? What was he thinking? Nope. Forgive, Nico. No grudges.
"Let's go to this party," Ron suggested in the weird silence.
The group nodded and walked back up together to the castle.
***
"Hey, Nico," Harry said as he approached him. Nico was sat on the couch in front of the fire of the Gryffindor common room. The party had been fun, lots of back pats and shouting. Ron and Lavender Brown had been making out on and off the entire time, so Hermione had gone to bed early. Now there was gold and red confetti on the floor and just Harry and Nico left to go to bed.
"What's up, Harry?" Nico asked, looking up from his essay he was getting a head start on.
"I just. . ." he paused.
Nico sat back on the couch, waiting for him to talk.
"I'm sorry," Harry finally got out. "I'm sorry I thought you were a Death Eater and . . . I'm sorry I was so rude to you."
Nico let the words hang in the air for a second, contemplating what to say. Part of him wanted to be mad. Get him back for yelling and threatening him. He wanted to call him out, telling him every time and way he made Nico relive his early life when he felt unwanted. He wanted Harry to really realize how much Nico cared about his opinion, even when he tries to brush it off. The words were at the tip of his tongue, ready to fire off at the boy in front of him.
But, then he remembered when he'd found out Harry was an orphan. How both of his parents were killed by Voldemort. He had lost so much, just as Nico had. When Nico had apologized, he was greeted with love and acceptance. Everyone understood he was young and was going through a lot. He didn't know what he would do if they would have yelled at him.
"Nico," Bianca's voice whispered in his mind, taking him back to the forest where they said their last goodbye. "You must not hold grudges. It is the fatal flaw of every child of Hades. I want you to break that."
"Thank you," Nico finally responded with a smile.
Harry looked shocked and confused. He probably had expected Nico to yell at him.
"You're not mad?" he asked.
"No," Nico replied. If he had been in the same position a few years ago he might have. He might have been mad at Harry for making his job difficult or for reminding him of how it felt to be thought of as a monster. But Nico had grown. He knew that Harry was just as he was, scared and careful. And even if Nico knew he would never do what Harry did to him, to anyone else, it wouldn't help anyone to hate him.
"How?" Harry asked.
Nico gave up on his essay and leaned back on the couch again, staring into the fire.
"Someone once told me that I shouldn't hold grudges," Nico answered. "They said it was a waste of energy. It took me a few years, but I understand it now."
Harry turned to look into the fire. He stared at it with a certain sadness in his eyes, watched the flames as if picturing a face inside it.
"I had someone show me that you shouldn't believe everything you hear," Harry said quietly. "I guess I haven't learned that yet."
"It takes a while to learn," Nico reassured him. "But you'll get there."
Harry looked back to him. "How do you know?"
Nico met his gaze. "There's something special about you."
Harry half laughed and half grunted, turned to face the fire again. "Yeah, I've been told that for years."
"Not just in that way," Nico explained. "Not because you didn't die, or because of a scar on your head, but because you have been through so much and somehow, can still find love."
Harry looked back at him. "What do you mean?"
Nico dropped his gaze and started to fidget with his skull ring.
"I've lived through a lot," Nico told him quietly. "I've seen a lot of things. I've lost so many people and now it becomes hard for me to let others in. It feels like if I let myself love someone, then they get killed."
"I know that feeling," Harry breathed.
"But you still do. You still love Ron and Hermione and Dean and Seamus and Nevil and Ginny-"
"What?!"
"Don't lie, Harry. You still love so many people, even though you're afraid to lose them."
"Don't you have friends?"
"Yes," Nico smiled at the thought of his friends. "I have a lot of them."
"So, you are as strong as I am."
Nico looked up and Harry and Harry looked at him. They sat in comfortable silence for a minute, just letting their mutual respect and strength just sit in each other's company.
"I should go to bed," Nico sighed, starting to gather his supplies.
"Me too," Harry agreed.
Nico collected all of his things but Harry didn't move as he did so. Only once Nico had everything in his hands, and turned towards the stairs, did Harry move.
"Friends?" he blurted.
Nico looked back at him and smiled. "Friends."
Harry and the rest of Nico's roommates were sound asleep. Nico had been waiting until Harry came up the steps and sunk into sleep before calling Will and the others.
He brought out Leo's little machine, and threw a drachma into the rainbow that glittered off of a small flashlight. He recited the usual blessing and asked to see the room where his friends stayed.
When the rainbow shimmered, all Nico saw was a dark room. It was the room he had requested, but no one was in it and clothes and items were scattered everywhere.
"Will?" Nico asked quietly, even though he had already cast his quieting spell. His boyfriend was always in the room when he called, but this time he wasn't.
"Huh," Nico said to himself. They probably dragged Will along to some party and were having fun laughing and drinking. He would check the next day.
Nico stopped the machine and stuffed it back into his bag. He flung the red blankets on top of him and closed his eyes. Images of his friends back in America, and his friends he had at Hogwarts (Harry included) swirling in his mind, keeping the nightmares away and letting him sleep peacefully.