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Chapter Text

When Nico envisioned a going overseas with Will he thought of something akin to a honeymoon. Both older, less stress, a much more romantic situation.

Having to risk his life to retrieve an annoying demigod was not on his bucket list, but it was something that was more aligned with reality.

"So let me get this straight-" Will almost snorted at that, "oh shush Will, you're saying some demigod from across the Atlantic has been found ,but for some reason or another, the satyr assigned to him came back with almost no memory of seeing him?" Nico started, already feeling a headache creep up.

Chiron merely nodded with a tired look in his eyes. With the new injury he acquired to his horsely behind (a shooting accident that both Nico and Will probably would never forget). 

"It seems we were lucky that Cooper was able to call and remember the camp's location. With further testing it seems he can't even remember immediate family members," Will Solace added. Showing the test results for the other occupants to see.

"What's strange however, is the fact that his memory lost isn't consistent, and I couldn't find a concussion at all. I mean, he was able to remember his aunt Fanny one minute, that forgot he had any aunts at all the next. I haven't dealt with memory loss like this before, even with demigods with harder concussions."

...

Nico, a son of Hades, felt his blood run cold. He instinctively leans forward, a steady gaze holding up as the gears turned in his head. 

Processing the information.

"This isn't a normal case of demigod fetching isn't it? Some entity, heck maybe a god is messing with us." He says calmly. The shadows in the Big House solidifying into tendrils of black matter, betraying his relaxed stance as they writhed to pounce. Circling through his being as his eyes darken. His cold skin gradually syncing with the colder temperature that he was creating.

A touch of a hand and a few comforting words to his ear was what made him calm down.

Slightly.

"My dear boy, I'm afraid you might be right. However, we have not received any prophecy and-"Chiron looks at the sky in a pleading manner "-let us hope it stays that way."

"You will be going a week from now with Hazel Levasque. She agreed with the added condition that she would need to research on the status updates on Roman demigods in Scotland," Chiron looked at the two expectantly, "think of it more as a vacation, dear gods knows that's how I've survived."

... 

"Besides cherishing all of you of course."

After a few more plans prepared (and a complaint with the lack of toilet paper in the infirmary) the duo head of to the dining hall.

In the cold stone of the Hades seat, Nico sadly slurped his McDonald's spaghetti ( where did they sell the McDonalds spaghetti again? he'll have to revisit, this is good, was it in Italy or Philippines?) fidgeting slightly with the toy that came with the packaging. Wishing that the skeleton he asked to pick up his meal chose the rainbow unicorn with wings instead instead of the purple one. 

Will's eyes were watching him. He could feel it, but he wasn't ready to face him or the quest just yet, he'll finish his Mcghetti, wash up, meet up with Solace as if they both didn't know what the grim possibilities were, and give a peck on his cheeks. Tomorrow can wait, tomorrow can go suck a di-

He inhales before he finishes the thought.

Tomorrow, he would have to pack.

Chapter Text

It was a nice night before the trip to Scotland and Hazel Levesque took that as an opportunity to have one last goodbye movie marathon with her boyfriend. She still marvels over it, a theater in your own living space, colored pictures and small pixels, all at the comfort of your own roof with no one telling her to quiet down.

It was perfect experiencing it with Frank. Filled with snuggles, and popcorn, and some movies from a man named Tim Burton. They both fell asleep late at night with Hazel cuddling a large pit bull at the end. (Gods she loved it when Frank did that). She tried not to think about being too far away from New Rome, or separating from Frank, or having to part with the flame resistant cloth holding a very flammable stick that was tied to her boyfriend's life force.

Instead, she thought about how warm and fluffy he was, and the soothing sound of the TV as it payed the end credits.

Clearly she did not think the whole movie night through because right now, she was rushing towards the meeting place. Thalia's tree. She never asked why they called the pine tree that, but she could recognize it from a distance with the shimmering Golden Fleece and the snoring dragon at it's roots. She felt a sweat build as she closed the last few steps towards it.

To be fair, she was still getting the hang of shadow traveling and she was only a small distance off.

"Hello Solace, hi Nico, sorry I'm late," Hazel immediately greeted. Hugging her brother and shaking hands with Solace before grabbing hold of both of their hands.

"Okay, so Scotland. Across the Atlantic," Will started looking at Nico, "that will be the only time we're shadow traveling, doctor's orders."

Nico looked at his lover with exasperation, "whatever, Solace. This won't be the most dangerous thing I've done."

The two children of the underworld looked at each other one last time before shadows enveloped all three of them. 

Their quest has just begun.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

At a residential property somewhere in London

Sirius Black looked at his family tree. Wondering what in hell happened to his bloodline while trying his best to avoid that charred mark in a certain branch.

Soon however, he felt a certain chill in the air. It felt all too familiar to him. Too-dark.

"Dementors"

He whipped out his untraceable wand, his legs bent out in fighting stance, eyes wide with his iris moving faster then a snitch, his sweat coming down through the buckets. 

The shadows around the tree mural shifted and twisted. Turning so dense and dark that he could barely see anything.

"Whose there!" He shouted at nothing in particular.

He moved to look for some floo powder to communicate with Moony, but suddenly, IT caught his eye.

AND HE

WAS

GOING

TO 

BARF.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Sirius belched at empty air.

On a corner far from him, where the Black family seemed to intertwine with the Gaunts, a new name appeared.

Voldemort has an heir.

'Bloody hell that is disgusting!'

Chapter Text

This day had really set Harry up for a rollercoaster of a ride. Resting on his bed and ignoring his aching stomach, he contemplated on how he just felt so-tired. Emotionally at least, he was just very tired with everything that transpired in a single day.

First, he wasn't being told anything about this special anti-Voldemort group by his own friends. Just the thought of it sparked a flash of indigence before it sputtered out from his exhaustion.

Then he went to court and was miraculously not expelled from Hogwarts for defending his cousin. From a dementor attack. What else would he be using a bloody Patronus spell for?!

Not being expelled was great and all but his celebratory spirit was cut short by a screech that didn't sound like Mrs. Black.

Next he was shoved outside of the dining room before he could even bite into his food (a delicious serving of mash potatoes with some ham)

And now? When the hunger finally got to him he found himself leaning over the stairs with every other kid in the house. Hearing a somewhat clear conversation with the extendable ears. 

Well, beyond what he can hear through the other's rumbling stomach.

"You can't seriously be thinking of that hell spawn as a child! He's probably on his way to kill my godson!"

"Sirius! This boy probably has no idea who his grandfather is calm down!"

"Think of it though, what a coincidence it is that the man has a legacy. Who knows how long of a game he's planning on playing? We need to stay VIGILANT!"

The last word left a ringing in his ears as the adults continued to argue. Now Harry was starting to get paranoid, worried, and dare he say it perhaps a little curious.

Who are they talking about? Some kid who has mad powers on hand? Someone with a connection to Lord Voldemort? Someone who wanted to kill him? I mean, not that that was new but he didn't think anybody in his age range had the guts for it. He didn't have the guts for death despite all that's he's seen last year- what he saw-

Harry's dark thoughts were cut short by an aloof voice.

"These are all fair assumptions to have of this new figure, and I'm sure we're all very worried, but perhaps we should let the kids in on this manner?"  

One that always accompanied the most esteemed member of the Hogwarts' faculty.

A voice that also happened to belong to the leader of the Order of the Phoenix.

The same man who opened the door smiling up at them from the ground below as he gestured for them to sit at the dining table, his blue eyes not as twinkling as usual.

Oh.

(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)(-:-)

"So what you're saying is that someone actually thought Voldemort was the ideal type for them?" Fred tried. The joke falling flat as the implications of the new information brought.

"Headmaster, perhaps we aren't asking the right questions at this moment. Or perhaps we're thinking of things narrowly-"

"What exactly are you implying, Minerva?" Dumbledore's signature eye twinkle returning as Professor Mcgonnigal shuffled uncomfortably.

"W-well, I just think it unlikely that the boy even knows of his heritage if he lived in the States his whole life, who knows? Perhaps we can find an unlikely ally in the boy."

When the elderly witch gave her suggestion it sounded like something she should have said drunk. 

Harry checked her eyes though, they weren't red.

That was a really-

"Wonderful idea Minerva! We must immediately send a friendly message to them. In the form of a personal greeting!"

Goddang it Albus.

Chapter Text

Hello, Author's note here, comment a line from a very potter musical if you enjoyed so far!

It was very dizzying to be shadow traveling as a child of Apollo.

But shadow traveling while holding hands with a cute emotional mess that he still needs to convince to go to therapy wasn't so bad. 

It was 'eh' at worst.

What really gave him a bad feeling was the dark, mysterious cave with torches lining the walls and a ferret staring at him with it's cold dead eyes.

"This isn't Scotland," Nico deadpanned. Looking at the ferret as if it would answer why they weren't in their desired destination.

"Trivia?" Hazel shouted, making the ferret seem to die a little more inside.

"Demigods," a regal voice proclaimed as the goddess herself appeared in a gathering of mist, wearing robes that seemed to be more fit for hiding into then for a casual chat with demigods.

"It has come to my attention that my little pet world may have caused some problems between me and Nike."

"And what does that have to do with us?"

"Nico, can you not insult a goddess for a few minutes?!"

"This was supposed to be our first trip abroad somewhere and I just thought it would be nice if the gods just kept their noses out of it for a bit."

While a lover's quarrel was being whisper shouted, the divine lady turned to her unofficial apprentice, "It's Hecate for now, my apprentice. Nike isn't exactly happy about her grandson being killed in my little pet world while in an interrupted game. So I am instructing you demigods with this task, appease Nike by giving her grandson a proper burial fit for a champion."

Hazel seemed a bit skeptical on such a simple task, but something still wasn't answered.

"We still need to find a half blood though, a satyr lost their memory and the only information we have so far was that they were in Scotland," she stated with a ticks on her eyes. She might have to check that out later.

Hecate seemed to cough a little nervously.

"Yes, yes, the child is safe for now and will continue to be but I may have changed his destination." Hecate paused for a bit of effect, "the half blood also happens to be in the same school that the deceased grandson of Nike attended. I can get you an instant invitation and give you a touch of magic that lasts a whole school year. Yes, very generous of me, I know."

Nico looked up from his glaring contest with Will to look back at the goddess,

"What do we get in return?"

"Excuse me?"

Will cleared his throat in an almost guilty manner, "we want to know what we get in return for doing this for you."

"..."

"..."

"You never cease to amaze me with your boldness, demigods. Very well, this is a relatively easy mission but my interference can come much easier since this little pet world of mine is influenced by my very essence. So what you get in exchange for such a simple quest? Credit, work experience, an enchanted medicine bag, a cloak of invisibility, and a soul of one Tom Marvolo Riddle to keep quiet about this whole ordeal, how's that for a bargain?"

The half-bloods seemed to perk up at this deal, especially two children of the death god. Looking at one another with their eyes, they all nodded. 

"It sounds like a deal."

Hecate smiled smugly and said one last farewell (and a few oaths to the River Styx) as both she and the scenery faded away. The trio now found themselves in a strange busy road next to a pub (or, at least one of the pubs in the street). 

"So, we find the family, we get a body buried with honor, get the kid back to camp, AND we get some gifts". Will smiled wide and bright at his two companions, who both smiled back with different degrees of optimism.

"I mean, what could possibly go wro-"

"Stupefy"

Chapter Text

It was pure coincidence that Will always lagged behind the two death siblings. Either from window shopping, coincidence, or the pure protective instinct that came with taking care of his siblings, he never knew. 

Usually he would feel pretty happy with just looking out for his boyfriend and his boyfriend's sister. Now though, he can confidently say that he might have a hard time with lagging behind.

Especially since whoever lugged him had used a god awful vehicle that made him too aware of his organs for comfort.

He can't tell for sure why everything seemed so murky and numb, or why the trip seemed so short.

'Did they drug me or something?' He pondered as his eyes finally adjusted to see his two fellow victims who were in a much different state of awareness.

Let's just say Will was having the worst slumber party/ kidnapping of his life ever. It seemed like the usual enthusiastic energy of Hazel was seeped out of her, leaving her a motionless heap at the corner. The only indication that she wasn't in a coma was that she was casual mumbles and whimpers escaped her lips.

Nico was wrinkling his nose a bit, but other then that didn't seem to stir at all.

He would have looked cute, finally relaxed and sleeping, if it wasn't for the fact that they were still being dragged across a wooden floor.

Right now should be the time for Will to panic about getting hauled up from his place on the floor and being put on a chair. He could faintly see movement at the corner, like a small gremlin child wearing rags, before he saw light.

The blonde let his eyes drop and strained his ears as far as he could hear, which was pretty far considering how sensitive he was to sounds.

He could hear at least 3 other people in the room. Talking over each other as if they were arguing over releasing them or killing them.

Will's heart was pounding in his ears as the shouting started veering into the latter option. A near crazed voice shouting how they had to kill the grandson of the dark lord. 

'Dark lord? Like Hades? But he only had two kids and they were teens! Or did they mean Kronos? Were they coming for both Nico and Hazel? Holy hell in heaven, are they going to kill Nico and Hazel?!'

Will's thoughts suddenly freezes when he heard a groan and the swish of several wands.

"Frick, why does my head hurt so much?" Hazel slurred out. Her voice sounding like she just woke up from a little nap, and hadn't just been knocked out unconscious. Her eyes still seemed clouded by sleep, and her shoulders stayed relax despite something being waved around. Will could only pray to his father that it was a gun that was put on safety-

"That's a re-ally nice stick, mister," Hazel started laughing at her joke, her head bobbing side to side lazily as she started waking up more, her movements seeming sluggish and sleepy. The other inhabitants of the room did not seem as amused.

"Who are you and what is your connection to the dark lord!" A man's voice shouted, slightly gruff, very angry, and Will prayed wasn't getting any angrier.

"Dark lord? What fricking dark lord? My brothers the only emo lord I know, I haven't gotten out much since the- yawn- since that place I stayed in-" Hazel's voice, still heavy with sleep, responded. Her brow furrowing before taking another slow yawn. "The next thing to that is my Father, but he's lord of riches or something. I don't wanna talk about him-"

Hazel yelped as someone grabbed her across the face, and it took everything in Will to stay relaxed as he hears someone force a drink into her throat. 'Gods, are they tired of waiting for us? Are they just going to poison us now?' Sweat was slowly forming on his brow as the chilly air of the room turned bone cold as Hazel continued to hack and cough.

"Moody! That's a child! You can't just feed her veritaserum like that!" The slightly gruff angry voice from before shouted, seemingly being held back from attacking the man.

"Shut it, Sirius, diluted veritaserum is an Auror must have these days! Constant vigilance even with underdeveloped brains is important!"

Hushed whispers and apprehensions filtered into the room, before a stern woman's voice cut through it all, "Moody's methods are questionable, but there's nothing we can do about it now. We must continue on with this."

And just as the room was bone chilling before, now it was freezing, as Will felt a familiar cloying presence in the room, a sharp darkness that hissed and snapped at anything close enough that wasn't familiar to their master.

"May I ask what the Hades you're doing to my sister?"

Chapter Text

When Nico woke up, he found himself bound, bust up , and in a very bad mood. When he saw his sister coughing up as some tall official looking lady who reminded him too much of an English teacher in cosplay stood over her with a sharp hand holding on to her shoulder, he was on his way to outright pissed-

The shadows continued to whip and writhe as he glares at their kidnappers. Noting how, at least, his sister only looks a little pale and sick, no bruises or scars to be seen. And Solace was up, aggressively working on freeing his bound hand with a sharpened fragment of metal he somehow got ahold of.Doesn't mean he's not a minute away from ripping the other occupants to shreds, with them pointing flimsy sticks at them.

'They must really just see us as some unexperienced kids if all they're waving around is a bunch of- wait a diddly darn second-'

Colors started to ebb into his vision, emitting like auras around each stranger before coming to a swirling channel through the sticks.

'Wands', something in his mind supplied, just as the colors were blinked away, and he had a feeling that his companions had the same word whispered to them. Not a second later his body was free from their entrapments by his boyfriend. Getting to savor only a minute of warmth from his hand before he darts off to untie the bonds of Hazel's hands, strange, he didn't notice how cold his hand had gotten-

"What kind of magic is this! You truly are the son of the dark lord if that spell you got there can channel dementor magic!" A peg-legged man said, Nico internally mused if he was some kind of ugly male espousai in disguise. The man's blue mechanical eye swiveled to him, his hand that wasn't holding a wand had a vial in it, still dripping with clear liquid.

Hazel seemed to have fully shook whatever made them drowsy "Nico! That bottle! They made me drink it! It's some kind of truth detector! Gag me or something!" 

Will and Nico paled, whoever these weird kidnapping people were, if they had the means to gouge the truth out of them from a simple bottle, then they would have to use the mist to hide the existence of their ancient roots, and so far Nico wasn't ready to make that gamble.

Will made a move to do just that with a piece of rope before another man pointed  his wand at him,

"Expelliarmus!" A ragged man yelled, pointing his wand at Will, and the rope flew from his hands. Another wand flick, and both the demigods were flung to the chairs once more. Nico felt his head ring from the impact, and cold sweat dripped down his neck, whoever these goddang magicians were, he just hoped they worshipped a merciful god, and that they were hopefully friends of Anubis. 

The ragged man continue pointing his wand at them, wild eyes jumping from Nico, to his boyfriend, then to his sister, and Nico was trying to wrack his brain trying to come up with something to get them out of this.

"Let's not pretend to be goody-goody here, you young whelps are from the States, so let's make it easy for you to understand. We're going to be asking questions from this young lady right here, since we're not trusting a word out of un-veriteserumed mouths, and she's going to answer them truthfully. Once we get enough information to know if you're not a harm to us or my nephew, then we can let you all go nice and easy."

With the last syllable, he thrust his wand towards the nearest captive in his vicinity, which just so happened to be Nico himself, who felt helpless as he nodded along. For once he was marching into something he had no idea of, and he can only hope he lived long enough to strangle Hecate for no doubt sending them off in an insane quest with a bunch of magical stick wielding bozos.

"Now," the ugly empousai man stalked to them, his weird mechanical eye swiveling from the three half-bloods before resting solely on Hazel, who squirmed with unease with the attention.

"Which one of these young men is William Solace, grandson of Voldemort?"

Chapter Text

"The blonde one with the Texan accent-" the minute the words left her, Hazel tried to swallow them back, but it was like fighting against the tide of an angry river. "Don't know who the hell Voldemort is, I heard Texans had weird ways of calling things but didn't know they had weird taste in French names too-"

"You didn't have to point out my accent-" Will's face was red, his voice low and hushed as if trying to hide the Texan lilt in them even more.

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry-"

"Enough!" The stern bespectacled woman spoke with enough authority to make Hazel feel both ashamed and bristled. If anything she should have been the one to scold the woman, age paradox be damned.

The child of Pluto tried to take account of all the people in the room who pointed wands at her and her companions, but they all just seemed like the strangest assortment of mortals she's ever seen.

The stern woman with green robes she hasn't seen since Miss Roberta passed away CENTURIES ago, a haggard man with greasy black hair and eyes only marginally less crazy than Leo's, someone with a scarred face, peg legs, and a swiveling blue...thing on his face.

The stern woman spoke again, and Hazel started paying attention to her, maybe if she acted all nice and cooperative with whatever potion they fed her, Nico and Will could MAYBE get a clue on how to get the schist out of here.

The woman seemed to have calmed down, her shoulders less tense but her face still pallid and pale, "So neither of you three know about the Dark Lord, I see, I see, but you must understand why we must take precautions and why we brought you here, which brings me to my next question. What are you doing here?"

"We-I, I was here trying to check up on some people from my camp, I go there during the summer and all and sometimes my friends go to other parts of the world and I need to-", Hazel tried to focus her attention into one last escape plan while feeding half truths out of an uncooperative mouth. 

"And those two? What are they here for?"

Hazel hesitated for a moment before the technical truth spilled out of her, her tongue feeling looser and less constrained by the potion. "They came over to accompany me, see their camp is like a sister organization and sometimes we just happen to- have similar places to pick up newcomers-"

The woman sighed, as if sensing the potion's effectiveness has come to a close and helped Hazel up from her chair with surprising gentleness. Her stern face relaxing to one less hostile, but still carrying hints of suspicion.

"And what exactly is the name of these camps you go to, young lady?" She asked in a softer voice as she started moving to help Nico off his chair. His pale face growing paler in his close proximity to the other woman as she gently brushed imaginary dust of his shoulders, his fingers flexing away from summoning his sword.

"Ah, well, I go to Camp Jupiter, have been for about a year now, Nico and Will go to Camp HalfBlood," a moment of silence reigned over the room as the woman looked strangely at the names before sighing and walking over to Will.

"Perhaps we have been to-" a wince as she waved her wand and a cushion turned into a tea set. Setting it on a table as she transfigured the wooden chairs into comfortable pillowy seats. Hazel took some time to marvel at the stick as it continued to move this way and that, turning the once frightening interrogation room to something more lived in. She had never known anything to control the mist so convincingly, the ability to feel the mist swirling around the woman before being channeled into the wand. 

"-harsh on you children, this is a matter that should have been handled with utmost delicacy," at this she subtly glared at the other occupants of the room. Before motioning for the three of them to take a seat on the now furnished table with a tea set and cushioned seats.

"We won't make you answer any more question with veritaserum. We can handle this like reasonable parties, yes?" The lady smiled professionally, but Hazel still saw the twinge of nervousness underneath it. The spirit of an adult with much to lose and not knowing what to do with the pressure of it, in a way it almost reminded her of her mother, and she might have fully cooperated if she didn't have the lives of her friends at stake. 

Like a well oiled machine, Hazel and Nico covered their ears as Will released an ear splitting whistle, and Hazel winced in guilt when the mortals started crumbling to the ground. 

'No time for that though, it's either them or us-' Hazel thought as she made the metal bits of a portrait come loose and smack the three adults at the back of their heads. Putting great care to not cause more harm then needed.

"We're really sorry," Nico started, while striding to the door, opening it soundlessly with some effort, "but you're not going to whatever it is you think you can do with my boyfriend-"

And with that, they escaped the strange room.

But now what?

Chapter Text

Hiding behind a dusty barricaded room, both Nico and Hazel were trying to conjure shadows and mist respectively, with varying degrees of success. 

"Why are the shadows talking?! Did we hit our head!? has the air decided to be tinged with LSD now!?" Will whispered hysterically as Nico tried to tame the shadows he roused from it's natural state. Panicking as he tried to calm it down before it started crying and giving away their hiding spot. 

Hazel had the unfortunate timing to suddenly gain dog ears and a bat nose as the mist continued to battle against her. No longer feeling the easy callings of the mist, Hazel panicked if they chose the right path of action before hearing a loud pop and shriek. Turning swiftly, the three were met with the sight of a gremlin like creature with pointed ears wearing a cloth sack. And the three of them tensed up for a fight.

Looking back, Will would have to laugh at how prepared they were to fight them, but at the moment his muscles tensed towards his hidden bow and arrow and he could feel Nico's hand creeping into his sheath. It wasn't until a comedic little 'poof' sounded that Hazel slowly stepped in front of the creature, without the mist acting like a Snapchat filter on her face, her lips gently pulled into a smile. 

"Hello there, little guy, are you-" the creature scuffled before retreating quickly to the farthest corner of the room. It's finger raised threateningly as it looked at the three of the demigods and hissed.

"Cursed half-breeds! Half-breeds desecrating the noble house of Black! Kreature should push you out right now!" Will felt familiar venom inside him boil, allowing himself to take a long breath before he did anything drastic, he took another look at Kreature. Suddenly the rest of his anger slowly taper of, Kreature looked sickly and malnourished, and his skin was grimy and rough. He might have been spewing insults with such poison that Will almost found familiar, but it didn't have the same effect when the one doing the insulting looks like they haven't smiled once since birth. 

"Listen, we didn't come on our own either, some nasty wizards kidnapped us-" Hazel tried to continue nicely. Nico slowly relaxed and tugged softly on Will's hand to go back to the looming shadow that seemed to only seemed to want to cuddle the dark haired boy like a clingy cat. 

"He's so sad," Nico whispered to Will, letting his eyes go back to Hazel and Kreature while he pets the shadow. "It's strange, his grief feels so- amplified. I haven't sensed this longing for the dead since- y'know."

Will felt an itch at knowing exactly what he meant. The green fields of camp could be stained with blood in under a minute, patients lives could be lost while so many others were clinging on to theirs, the cots in the infirmary at camp could be a deathbed in a blink of an eye. As the head medic and cabin counselor of of the Apollo cabin, Will can understand grief while failing to save friends from mortal injuries. 

Will leaned into his dark haired boyfriend and felt his hand slowly being guided to stroke the living shadow. Letting themselves relax and study the family tree that seemed to stretch through the whole room. They could both still hear Hazel and Kreature converse quietly, but as it is, they relaxed into their own little world before Hazel called back to them.

"Kreature knows a secret hallway in this room that could lead us outside, but he wants something in exchange," Hazel looked at Nico, a knowing expression on her face.

"Kreature wants to see young master one last time"

Will was about to loudly object to the idea of Nico using his powers just after they woke up from being knocked out before a round of loud banging would be heard from the doors.

Not waiting for a second round, Kreature gently pressed his fingers on a part of the tapestry. Causing it to shift and swerve to reveal a hidden passageway lit by green fires. Will let himself be dragged by Nico into the surprisingly well lit hallway that defied a lot of laws of physics, but Will ignored any thought of that and just continued to run while hearing Kreature close the entrance.

'Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it-' Will chanted to himself as he followed the two heads ahead of him. Letting himself be pulled this way, that, and around before Hazel leaned into a wall for support. 

"This passageway doesn't make any sense- it doesn't feel like the tunnels under New Rome-" Hazel started, chest rising up and down as air seemed to get sucked out of her. Nico face gleamed with sweat, as he too started staggering, his new shadowy pet seemed to waver itself. Will hadn't noticed how it was now the size of an arm when it previously took up an entire wall.

Hazel continued to trace her fingers along the stones as if they might show another passageway, only for her to flinch and and hiss. "Yup, found it-"

Will took a second to give her some ointment and a bandage before the three (four if you counted the shadow now the size of half an arm, then four) were in front of the particular stone bearing a blood spot. 

Nico nearly tripped on his own feet when he leaned to examine it, and Will held him softly as he stared intently at the stone.

"That is one blood thirsty stone-" Nico said, his hands in front of the stone without touching it "I think it might want blood from something NOT affected by whatever the hell is happening right now." 

With that, he collapsed softly to the ground, followed by Hazel as they both only seemed to grow weaker, the shadow now the size of a hand, and Will wondered if the tightly coiling feeling around his lungs was panic or simply the effects of the passageways finally catching up to him.

'No, stop, deep breath in, okay think-' Will looked to his medical bag which he thankfully still had, ‘I’m still been fully stocked, but that wouldn't only prolong whatever was happening to Nico and Hazel, I can- I could. Nono, that would only- I can’t just keep feeding them ambrosia while they continue to waste away, it would more likely slowly turn their insides to mush than help them-‘

Something guided his eyes to the blood stained stone, remembering what Nico said before passing out.

“I think it might want blood from something NOT affected by whatever the hell is happening right now”

“Y’know what? Fuck it-“ Will cursed as he put his entire hand on the said stone, and promptly cursed again when it felt like a knife sliced his palm. Blood dribbling but never going past the very annoying stone. Soon, Will felt like he could actually get his hand off without an invisible claw digging into it and watched in frustration and awe as the stone promptly glowed.

The kind of greenish glow that reminded him of glow-in-the-dark stars as it promptly started to shift and shatter it’s neighboring rocks until a large hole remained. Leading up to a garden that would have looked beautiful if the sky wasn’t so gray.

He didn’t think much of it afterwards because his attention snapped away when he heard a tiny gasp.

Chapter Text

Will nearly collapsed in relief when relatively fresh air came back to him in lungfuls, and he most definitely did not use that lungful to nearly shriek when he heard a gasp that was neither Italian, New Orlean, or eldritch shadow pet.

It was, however, depressed gremlin because Will finally noticed Kreature under a bush, staring at him with wide eyes before shooting off to him. His more reserved nature gone and he seemed more- Will couldn't describe it if he tried, kid in a candy shop didn't entail the absolute discomfort he felt while having the goblin look at him as if he was Jesus returned.

The elf seemed to jump from adrenaline high, suddenly  looking like he's never known a sad day in his life, and Will hated to tamp that down but the tunnel exit was still open and connected to the grimy abandoned building they just escaped from, and the elf seemed to forget that the group was seemingly trying to run away from kidnappers who could still hear them. "You truly are a heir! A proper heir for Kreature! Room of Regulus would not work if not a master for Kreature!"

"I have no darn clue what you mean by an heir for you, but if you wouldn't mind, quieting down and helping me with the passed out bodies over here!" Will hissed, as he started to haul Hazel up and out of the creepy hidden hallway and into the strange garden. The fresh air seeming to help as her breathing evened and her complexion turned to something less- dead.

Another pop sounded, and Nico's body (along with the shadow demon thing that still stubbornly clung to him) appeared a foot away from him. Along with Kreature who's huge eyes were akin to puppies when begging for a treat. If said puppies were also drawn by horror artists. Will couldn't complain though, because before he could, mist started swirling around the garden. 

Hecate arose, looking annoyed as if it was Will's fault that they were kidnapped by stick wielding maniacs. She stepped over the passed out forms of the other two, and Will could himself shaking in his shoes at the close proximity between his face and the goddesses long nails. One hand on her hip, and the other pinching the bridge of her nose, the goddess finally spoke.

"Must I do everything myself? William, you had your entry ticket to your mission just then!" Hecate flared her hands towards Kreature in a 'can you believe this boy' manner, and the goblin seemed to have enough preservation instinct to heed Will's mouthed 'no'.

"But Lady Hecate, we weren't sure if they were allies or enemies. They kidnapped us and said some weird things-" Will found himself stumbling as the goddess moved even closer, her hand reaching out as Will braced for his face to be shred to ribbons.

Her hands instead patted his face as she moved past him. "Oh William, I know you're no Prometheus, but do you really think that I would trust some demigod with this precious world of mine? An Apollo one at that? No offense, child, but your siblings weren't knows for keeping their mouths shut. No-" at this, Hecate smiled, her hands waving through mists like a shawl. 

"Children of the underworld are good for keeping secrets to the grave, but with you, this world is yours as much as theirs."

Her head serenely looked back to the tunnel where they just got out of, and Will's blood ran cold at what he knew she was implying, but what could he do? Her form was already disappearing as Nico and Hazel started coming to, and Will forced himself to snap away from spot where the goddess stood to keep the two half-bloods from hurting themselves any further. 

"Slowly Nico, slowly you guys lost consciousness twice in one day, and we don't know what that walk did to you guys." Will started fussing over him before the boy rested his pale hands oh his and smiled weakly. Will felt himself relax into the chilly touch.

"Dad visited me in my dreams," Nico started, slowly sitting up with Will's help and watching him help Hazel next, "we need to go back to that house, as much as I hate it." 

Hazel groaned as she rested her hand on her head, "let's do that after my head stops trying to reenact the birth of Minerva."

Nico and Will both nodded half-heartedly, "after that, though-" Nico started while cracking his knuckles, " we have a deal to keep.

Chapter Text

Hazel was in a claustrophobic room trying to consume her life essence one moment, and the next she was kneeling next to Nico at the foot of what she assume is her father's throne. Hazel would have thought they both finally kicked the dust if she hadn't died before and knew how grating dealing with Charon was. So as it was, she held on to that thought as she knelt on familiar obsidian floor, trying to block out the thoughts of being dragged back into the underworld and leaving her whole life behind, again.

"Rise, both of you," a voice finally said. Though, it was much smoother than Pluto's, Hazel obeyed it, and found herself facing a familiar entity. 

"I would say that it is a pleasure to meet you once more, but the sentiment might not be shared, Levasque," Thanatos, the god of death, calmly stated. Unlike last time, his form seemed to be hidden by a cloak that Hazel had to focus to actually see instead of the throne behind him. 

It didn't make sense why they were here, she was pretty sure she was warned to stay clear of the underworld or else her soul might not escape a second time, she's never even been to palace of Pluto before. "Uhm, what brings us here, Thanatos?" Hazel finally asked, finding herself go stiff as a whisp of smoke escaped Thanatos before he answered.

"Clearly it is for me to finally claim what was rightfully mine to take and keep."

Hazel knew one day it would come to this, that one day someone much more powerful than her would change their minds about her situation and decide to drag her back down and leave all the precious things she still had to live for. But she also knew she wouldn't give all of it up without a fight, so she set her fingers grimly on the hilt of her spatha, ready to unsheathe her straight blade to-

"Thanatos, for the last time, stop trying to scare my children, it's been a millennia, isn't this getting old?" Hades huffed as he finally entered the room with a bundle of quickly wilting flowers in his arms. Seeing the bewildered faces of his children, he huffed some more, to the point that Hazel was tempted to poke his cheek. 

"Persephone tries to be subtle, but she knows I didn't get much flowers in my worship. So she thought of this funny thing, flowers for the dead that they tend to just give to me, the white ones are my favorites, but moving on-" Pluto shuffled over, shadows consuming the flowers until they disappeared to god knows where.

"I know what Hecate has tried to bring you two to do behind my back," Pluto shrugged, as if his children committing an act that could sound like treason on paper happens every other Wednesday, "frankly, I found it funny she could hide anything from me when it comes to my children, but it does give us an opening for a certain opportunity." He sat on his throne in a relaxed manner, his foot tapping definitively being a simple deliberate act to add to his stoicism and not a tell for his nervousness. 

"A soul that's escaped the clutches of death through means not entirely known to us, I'm proud of you both for recognizing such a sly problem, and as it stands, there is a certain bargain that can be struck." Hazel heard Nico's breath catch, but she didn't dare look away from her father, something inside her was stirring, like her soul was trying to know it's way out of her body to feast on something empty. 

Like hunger, but for a certain opportunity.

"A life for a life, a lost soul for the proper return." Thanatos had whispered it but the words still rang loudly through the hall, or maybe that was just Hazel. "I'm generous to give you more exemptions until you can bring Tom's soul to me from Hecate, and then, you may properly claim your place as a princess of the Underworld, young Levasque."

"We personally don't know how he stayed alive for so long,but I trust you two to be able to figure out, you two are the best of the Underworld, so-" Pluto looked weirdly mischievous with his usual grave expressions gone.

"Good luck, my children, and do tell Hecate I said hello."

—————————————————————————————

Coming back to the living world a second time was less like waking up from a good dream, and more like her soul was slammed back into her body and decided to punch her stomach while it was at it. She almost felt like passing out again from the pain of it, taking comfort in the eldritch shadow (that she really should come up with a name for, she was starting to get attached) that had slowly inched away from the couple to rub it's head on Hazel's leg like a cat.

Of course, not all recovery periods from near death last, and Nico just had to remember the deal they made to Kreature. Hazel gave an exaggerated sigh before slowly standing up. She found herself in hole-digging duty with Nico while Will and Kreature searched for food.

"So-" Nico started, mouth opening and closing like a fish like he wasn't sure what to say.

"We have to find some wizard's soul to make sure that no technicality can be traced to make you go back to the underworld again."

"Mhm."

"And we'll most likely have to find out how he escaped Thanatos for so long-take out the rock over there please."

"Mhm, sure"

"Are you nervous about it?"

This time, Hazel paused, and it almost cause the rock to hit her between the eyes before she took control of her powers again. The rock, which actually looked like a lovely silver lace agate, slowly turned in the air as she contemplated her brother's question.

"I am, a little I think, but at the same time this could mean that I won't have to be afraid of going to the Underworld, I could get stronger, and it also means a bad man can finally get what's coming to him." She finally set the moon lace agate to the ground. 

"I'm scared of failing, but I always will be, and I'm scared of what I have to do once we actually find him, will I be able to do the right thing? Will I do something selfish? But with you by my side, I'm sure we'll be able to come out of this just fine, big bro." Hazel loops her arm on his shoulder and shakes him lightly, smushing their cheeks together and seeing his spirits start to lighten even more. Nico gave a soft smile before pushing her face away and standing up just as Will and Kreature walked back into the clearing. 

"Just so you know, necromancy after passing out twice in a day is something I don't recommend you do as your doctor." Will pointed out as he carefully handed the delicious assortment of food that Nico wasn't even going to ask how he got, "we never agreed we'd summon Kreature's master immediately, just that we would."

"I know, Will, but a deal is a deal, plus, if your his successor he'll probably give us more clues about this world than anything Hecate will give the next time she comes around." Hazel saw Will tense, but decided not to comment on the dark look that passed over his face for a few seconds. 

"Alright Neeks, but just so you know, this is very ill advised."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Somewhere else at the Gimmauld House, someone clutched their forehead and wailed as if they were in great pain. And an unconscious godfather awoke with a cold feeling in his veins.

Chapter Text

Harry thought a dementor was above him, because Merlin's neckerchief, his head hurt-

Like iced water was being poured from his forehead and into his nose, it felt like his skull was trying to hammer itself away from his skull. It hurt, and he wanted to curl up and block the light that was making the cold burn worse, and to never move, and just accept the darkness he would eternally be in just to stop feeling like a 'dementor suffering smoothie tm'. His mouth drying like any fluid in him froze as well.

He felt someone shout near his ear and jostle him, but he only had the strength to whimper and try to push them away while still hunching over himself. The moments (or was it hours?) seemed to pass by in a blur, his back was starting to hurt from curling in on himself, but his head seemed to clear up a bit. Less like an ice bag brutalizing his head, and more like it's been in an ice bath for a bit too long. When he became more aware of his surrounding, he heard the slow breath of someone beside him, and he didn't know why, but his headache receded even more. 

'Magic probably,' he thought to himself, as he finally willed himself to lift his head and met the eye of one Professor McGonagall. Her eyes were sunken in a way Harry had never seen in her face before, but despite it, she didn't seem willing to close her eyes for a rest, only looking away once she saw Harry no longer hiding his face.

"Harry, thank Gwendydd' fingers you're alright!" He felt two pairs of arms embrace him, and he tried not to hiss at them being too loud. He decided to just enjoy the warmth that the hug provided him that soothed the headache further back, still pounding at his skull but not as harshly.

"What-what happened? Why are you guys here?" Harry finally decided to ask, surveying the room to find, not only McGonagall, but Sirius and Moody in the room with him, all seeming worst for wear with Sirius rubbing an ice pack at the back of his head and and Moody wearing fluffy pink earmuffs that Harry thought looked familiar.

"The grandson of Voldemort happened, mate, the git is slimier then we thought he would be!" Ron hissed as Hermione helped Harry slowly lie down properly. "That cold feeling earlier, you felt it too, Harry, didn't you? Hermione's been telling me that I'm imagining things, but the chill was definitely there, something dark-"

Ron didn't continue as he shivered once more, Harry could bet 20 galleons it wasn't because of the earlier cold either. Hermione merely huffed at Ron, and Harry was glad that Ron had enough maturity to glare at her before returning his attention to him. He was glad to have friends like these.

"In any other case, the grandson of Voldemort escaped, and is pretty much at large in the house." Hermione's voice was stiff and indifferent, but Harry's known her long enough to clutch her shaking hands along with Ron's. "Mrs. Weasley sent us here to watch you while she's got the other kids in another room."

"Well we've got to find him then!" Harry tried to shout through his dry throat, only ending up coughing as Hermione passed Ron a cup, that Ron then carefully brought to Harry's hands to guide to his lips. "As much as I agree with you, mate, Hermione definitely wouldn't let us," at that Hermione half-heartedly elbowed him but didn't interrupt, "and this Solace guy must be formidable if he was able to trip up three adult wizards!"

Harry tried to get up either way, but darn his friends for knowing him too well, immediately a hand from each immediately secured a side of his ribs and started digging lightly, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to freeze him with the grievous threat.

"If you think we wouldn't use this tactic on you, then you'd be wrong, Harry," Harry would normally scoff at the tone of Hermione's voice, but her hand just dug deeper into her side of him rib, letting a panic and a gust of air rise up in him.

Silence.

Then all hell broke loose and Harry couldn't stop laughing as Hermione and Ron tickled the living hell out of him, and for a moment he can forget about the other people in the room, about the entire hell storm of a mess that's been going on between the three of them since summer, and he was just back in first year spending the best time of his life with his best mates. The warm fluttering feeling in his chest was new, but he ignored it as he was finally freed from their grasping arms.

Of course it didn't last long, because now someone downstairs, probably Molly, was yelling about a stolen dinner and what she'd do to the culprit if she finds them with the bones of the bird for dinner. The trio shuddered. 

"I better go help Mrs. Weasley with dinner, I suppose. Do you feel strong enough to join us Harry?" Hermione was already standing up, and dragging a half-heartedly struggling Ron as well. "Oh, so I couldn't venture on my own to confront an enemy, but we can go down to confront an angry Mrs. Weasley?" Harry joked, but the light tone from earlier has already receded. The warm bubble popping and the trio back to the awkward shuffling from before.

"We might as well, mum might point at me if I don't show her I'm innocent right away."

So down through the stairs they went, expecting to be greeted by a fuming Weasley Matron, and instead are greeted with three strangers exiting a still closing magic wall (because of course there's a magic wall). Their conversation halting as well when they saw the other three on the stairs. 

Even stranger, Kreature was smiling.

"Uhm, do you want some ibuprofen?"

Chapter Text

Harry had to do a double take, "pardon me, stranger that just pranced out of the walls, but what?", his tone came off much more snarky then he intended, but his nose is still clogged, and his patience is still thin. The one who spoke was a freckled teen about Harry's age with blonde hair and several heavy looking bags on him. Behind him, a dark skinned girl with curly hair had the same stunned expression, and leaning on her-

Harry forgot how to breathe. 

A pale boy, maybe around his age as well, leaning on her with his dark hair obscuring his face, but the feature was familiar enough that made Harry's breath hitch painfully.

The blonde who spoke did a double take this time, embarrassment catching up to him and a speckle of pink dusting his cheeks. "Well, with the way you're holding your forehead, you most likely have a tension headache or something-" the silence that ensued only turned more awkward.

The new girl was finally the first one to snap into action and made a break for the front door, hauling the pale boy with her while her blonde companion grabbed Kreature, who looked like he was having the time of his life. Harry was stunned by the sudden motion, but Hermione's yell snapped him out of it, and both of them chased down the stairs to pursue the group. The three were walking through the mounted elf heads, towards the portraits, almost making it to the front door, if Harry could just grab unto his wand-

"Locomotor mortis, seriously, how many times are you guys gonna forget your wizards!" Ron shouted as he started joining them in the chase. His spell hitting on the sprinting girl, and her sudden inability to move would have caused her face to be caved in if the blonde hadn't dove and saved both her and the other boy. Harry almost pitied the way he still tried to get away from them, shuffling the two bodies and heavy bags. Kreature stopped smiling as well, Harry would have thought he looked rather panicked actually, close to tears even, but Harry was still having whiplash on the fact that Kreature could even feel.

Soon enough, the blonde's legs shook enough  to cause him to collapse too, using his body to shield the other two from Harry and his friends. The sound of more footsteps could be heard descending the stairs, panicked shouting and wands being brandished and pointed at the three kids just a few steps away from the front door. Perhaps it was fear, or the way that he was clearly outnumbered, but the boy raised his hands up in surrender.

If you asked Harry, he looked resolved to his fate.

"Please, we've never done anything to you people, we just want to go home," his voice was soft, but Harry could hear the sentiments of it. He wasn't sure if others did, but he could recognize the words from somewhere. Perhaps a memory locked away deep inside him that he never thought he'd think of again. A closet, a squeaking animal, an angry uncle. Just as quickly as it came it left, and he came back to the present with Mrs. Weasley ushering them to dinner while the three strangers were left to the other adults. 

His plate was empty before everyone else's, there wasn't much to begin with, and now he wasn't trudging up the stairs towards his bed. This summer was generous with the amount of stress he got to deal with. And now the stress was gracious enough to keep him up at night as he thought of the grandson of his parent's murderer right around the corner. Sighing for the upteenth time, Harry got out of the bed and lied down on the floor.

Which is where Ron found him because they shared the same room, and because they probably also share the same brain cell, he lied down with him on the other end of the carpet. 

Maybe this could just be one long fever dream, and nobody was actually desperate enough to sleep with Voldemort of all people, even when he was known as Tom Riddle. But the three people that, as Ron overheard, were now being kept in the basement could prove it. Could prove that the grandson of Voldemort actually existed in this crack house of a universe where shitty uncles and shitty wizard fascists existed, and oh look, Ron's vocabulary has tainted him. 

His barrage of thoughts were interrupted as a blanket was thrown over him, and another beside him as his newly appointed floor mate also threw a pillow straight to his face. "If you aren't going to sleep on a proper bed, then you might as well make yourself comfortable on the bloody floor, mate." Leave it to Ron to make the situation feel just a little bit better, he missed this in fourth year and he definitely misses it now, but he doesn't know how to accept the thoughtfulness when his thoughts where all over the place.

"Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Ron."

And even if it was already close to the witching hour, when Harry fell asleep, he felt more tired then he's ever had since the summer. 

Chapter Text

Hermione knew her sleep wasn't adequate to proper decision making, but so what? Yesterday was hectic and left too many variables into play. Her annual plan of keeping her boys alive, and more importantly passing their subjects, has become compromised early. And the thought that kids their age were most likely being kept against their consent didn't exactly sit well with her either. 

So she was now here, early at 5 o'clock whereas the whole house would be awake around 8. Careful not to make a sound even after casting an extra muffliato charm around herself. She crept towards Ron and Harry's room, prepared to have to cast even more charms just to wake the two up without waking the entire neighborhood. 

Instead, she found Ron staring blankly at the ceiling and Harry holding him close like a teddy bear in his sleep. 

"Not a word Hermione-"

"Pfft-"

"I'm serious, and please help, Harry hasn't been letting me breath since 10 minutes ago."

So after waking a very flustered Harry up, casting a strong muffliato charm on all three of them, the trio descended the house and found themselves in the very door that's plagued Hermione all night. She couldn't hear any pained breathing, which was good, then again she couldn't hear any breathing at all, which was bad.

Even after all these years the adrenaline rush that came with breaking rules still left a thrill in her, and she'd die before she said anything of it to the boys. She tried to shake the anxiety out of her hands and just made them shake even more. She watched as Ron reached towards the doorknob, wand at the ready and looking like he might bolt if Harry and Hermione weren't right behind him. Slowly, ever so slowly, the room came into view.

The room itself was a vast one, but the amount of clutter in it made it seem more cramped then it actually was. Hermione was sure that a huge portion of it consisted of dark magic relics that she wouldn't touch with a meter long stick. And near the middle of it, three slumped figures who weren't even tied up with rope, not that Hermione would have been comfortable with that either, mind you.

The trio almost jumped out of their skins, and Hermione had to stop Ron from shouting expletives, when one of the three figures suddenly sat up. His face no longer hidden by inky black hair, his body seeming less weak then just a night before.

The boy with skin like death stared at them with dark eyes, he gazed at the three of them warily, shifting his body slightly for comfort. His boots digging through the thick layer of dust that coated the floor.

"I already told you guys, we don't know anything about Voldemort."

Hermione leveled him with her sharpest glare, the one that usually had others backing away unless they wanted to be left looking like blubbering idiots. "Voldemort or not, we still have a lot of question to ask you, Will Solace."

The boy only looked unimpressed.

"Well, first day of class taught me to always start with an introduction to be polite, my name is Nicolo Levesque." He held out a hand to her, and when she didn't reciprocate he only shrugged and muttered a soft 'rude' that was loud enough for only her to hear.

She doesn't let the embarrassment color her face, but Hermione decided he's talked enough.

"Listen, Nicolo, if you're not Will Solace then you were probably with him for even a bit. The tracing we did wouldn't have led us to you three if that were the case, we know he's a boy so it can't be that girl you're with, and it can't possibly be the blondie so obvi-"

"It's the blondie."

Hermione's mouth snapped shut, then opened again.

"You could be lying."

"And you probably aren't as smart as you think you are, we already told this to the other three people who we saw yesterday. With all that trouble they went through just to get that information, especially with that sick truth potion, you would think they would brief you on it that day, wouldn't they?" His eyes narrowed before quickly looking down at the floor, preferring to instead grimace at the scum at the bottom of his boot. "If not, then that would mean you three aren't supposed to be here to begin with, and the adults are keeping you away from this."

He looked at them square on, face in a strange mix of sneer and squint. 

"You could get in big trouble for this, I wonder if that means anything to you hoodlums."

Ridiculous face or not, the words left Hermione without air in her lungs. She could feel her hands shaking, from fear or rage she didn't know, just that a smaller hand than hers grasped one of them in an attempt to comfort, and a larger one wrapped around another to make sure she didn't do anything drastic. Which was a fair assumption, when words failed she's learned that a punch would make a mighty good substitute. Especially if she could punch the kid's face, which wasn't even turned to them anymore.

"Oh, I see where this is going to go, just punch a kid your age after he was kidnapped and kept in a dingy basement under and dingier house-"

Before she could fire back with the vocabulary Ronald was so fond of, his hand left hers and instead rests on the bo-Nicolo's shoulder.

"Listen we don't want to fight you, we definitely don't want to be your enemies either. But we can't let you go or else someone's going to get in trouble, so how about we compromise?" His voice was getting deeper with age, and he almost sounded like wise soothing advice giver if Hermione knew the amount of pubescent cracks it has (and still does) suffer from. But it did it's job of loosening Nicolo's tense shoulders and making him interested. (Or at least appear so, he still wasn't looking at them)

"You don't tell the adults about this little early morning meet-up, and we'll put in a word for you that will get you out of this basement faster than if you did tell on us," Ron proposed despite the lack of response. Nicolo curled deeper into himself.

"Swear on the River Styx."

 Before Hermione could stop him, Ron already did, and she wondered if it was just the draft that caused all her arm hairs to raise. The name sounded familiar, and with the amount of dangerous materials she's researched for the sake of survival, that can only mean bad things.

Still, instead of dramatically flinging away his closed of demeanor to smugly explain his evil plan while manically laughing over them, he simply peeked his eyes out and watched them leave one by one, Hermione being the last and only one to see his eyes look lost in sad contemplation. 

Maybe she should have been gentler, but she'll be better next time, it wouldn't do well to antagonize kids her age who could very well end up being with or against Voldemort. And in the off chance that they might be allies, she should keep a closer eye on them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Achoo!"

"Well that went well."

"You think?"

Nico rubbed his nose as the two sleeping (read:eavesdropping) figures beside him stood up, looking reasonably shocked at his handling of, well, THAT.

"Might I remind you that getting punched after passing out 3 times yesterday is not shining a bright light on your well-being for this entire quest?" Will reprimanded, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe the running snot that was dripping from Nico's nose.

"It was one way I could goad them into letting us out, the girl would have just relentlessly bullied us for answers. She seemed like the type," he smiled as memories of blonde hair and a terrifying interrogation voice flashed through his mind, but the frazzled girl clearly didn't have the street smarts needed to outsmart him. Her with the redhead however-

"The freckled guy and the frizzy haired girl could be a problem together. They remind me of some duos back at camp," Will said exactly what the three of them had in mind. Hazel's head languidly stretched until a soft crack could be heard from her head, "so, Ron the Knight, Hermione the Rook, and how does the scrawny kid factor into this?" 

The three shared a look, "Harry the Bishop" they said simultaneously. Nico wondered what the titles meant while scratching the shadow's neck(?), but if the way Kreature screeched them was any indication, something good.

Oh right, Kreature-

Nico thought back to yesterday, how the house elf was jumping in joy as the ground collapsed and emitted a sickly green light. How the wisps of spirits put a whimsical look into his face. Lastly, hesitant confusion before the soul-crushing scream he emitted when none of them rushed forward as Regulus Black.

Nico couldn't feel the overwhelming dread that oath breakers were said to feel when invoking the wrath of the River Styx, which means that there was still some way to fulfill their promise to Kreature. Who knows? Perhaps he was alive but stuck someplace where even a popping elf couldn't get to.

His musings were interrupted by a Hazel clearing her throat loudly, more to catch his attention then actually clear it out.

"So, why my last name? Is this going to be another espionage mission of yours?"

Chapter Text

Ron thought, perhaps, not for the first time, that he made a bit of a fucking mess for himself.

As the three of them returned back to his and Harry's room, he could feel the weight of his promise settle into him, as if threatening to crush him if he dared to break it. He didn't know what the River Styx was, but he knew one thing.

It was probably as bad as an idea to go back on as an unbreakable vow, and that was honestly fine. He would have gone on with the promise if what he swore on was a pinkie promise and a piece of lint. Because seeing kids trapped in a dark room against their will, even if one of them was the grandson of a mass murderer, it wasn't right. Perhaps he was being stupid, but he wouldn't have been a proud Weasley if he didn't embrace a little stupidity for the sake of what he believed was right.

Of course, that wasn't going to be acceptable to a fuming Hermione and a dangerously quiet Harry. He tried to organize his thoughts to figure out something to say, but it was harder in real life then it would be in a chessboard, why couldn't life be like a chessboard? Because instead of being able to calculate his moves, he's left fumbling for the right things to say.

It seems the other two were having the same problem, and for a long while the tension in the room felt suffocating. At least Hermione looked less murderous and more contemplative, which was a good thing, or maybe a bad one knowing her. Harry still remained silent staring at the Quidditch poster, probably lost in his head again as well. 

Ron could already see the rays of sunlight from the gaps of his curtains, and since he couldn't hear the soft pattering of his mum's footsteps, decides that it might as well be time to make breakfast, and possibly escape the suffocating tension in the room, so he leaves to head to the kitchen.

And what do you know, the tension followed the three of them to the kitchen too, but at least Ron now has something else to put his jittery mind into. Trying to figure out the oven (at least he thinks it's an oven) while balancing a stack of bread to make some toast for breakfast for a big group. Perhaps he should try speaking now, while the house was still asleep and the issue recent enough to-

"Harry, Hermione! Sweet dears, why are you both up so early?"

"Merlin, mum, not even a hello for your son?" 

Ron rolled his eyes and smiled softly at his mum's voice, making sure his face was hidden so she wouldn't pinch them. His fingers were already starting to hurt looking for the proper switch on the blasted oven. He wondered if this was one of those-

"One of those old fashioned ovens, dear, only works with a specific spell, here let me do it," Molly slipped her wand to her hand, and with a little flourish, pointed it towards the stove.

"Nobilis ignempara! See Ron! Isn't it lovely? A bit messy to work with though you need one hand on the pan and another on the wand. Goodness knows why anyone would keep them these days, the muggles had the right idea to just have a separate notch for it-when we got the one in our house, it was your grandfather's wedding gift to both your father and I. I always said he was the best father in law I could ask for and a good part of why I decided to settle with your pa-"

Usually Ron would have felt his face go red in embarrassment since they were in front of his friends and his mum was going to go prattling on about a muggle oven of all things. But this time, he decided to let her run her mouth, and shot his own thoughts back, and suddenly it felt like he was in simpler times. When Hogwarts was just a daydream and all he knew was his 10 year old knowledge of the wizardry, chess, and making breakfast with his mum for the rest of his family. 

"Ron, how much bread do we still have in the pantry? We might not have enough with this big bunch all cooped up in here. Let's see, 1 2 3 4 5 adults, 6 if you include Kingsley but the man hasn't sent a word of it yet. 2 for twins, 2 for Gin and you, two for your friends-12 people. At least it's smaller then the breakfast for yesterday." Molly was already grabbing a bowl, mixing up enough eggs to fill a giant iron skillet for a big batch of scrambled eggs to match.

Ron hummed in affirmation, preparing two slices for each person and taking note that they'll have to get some more bread. The tray smoothly entered the oven and Ron closed it, turning to ask his mom what else should be on the breakfast menu only to see her face screwed in a troubled manner. Before Ron could question her, her eyes briefly flickered towards the door.

"What are those children supposed to eat down there-"

Ron wasn't sure he was supposed to hear that, considering that his mom said it in a voice that he could barely catch and he was right next to her, and he was planning on leaving it alone.

He should leave it alone.

...

"So mum, what are those kids in the basement going to eat?" He catches a quick look to see the three other occupants startle at his voice, but he prattled on, part nervousness and part braving through the nervousness. But he still looks away, already feeling the bile from fear rising up just seeing his mum's surprised face and instead looks around for the flour, eggs, and milk. Thinking up the Weasley pancake recipe.

1. Mix together milk, oil, and eggs in a medium sized bowl

"I mean, we're going to feed them down there, right?" 

Gods, Ron wanted to shrivel up to three headed Magick and ask her to send him to hell for being an ass of a son-

"Ron is right, Mrs. Weasley, it wouldn't be right to starve them for being from a bad family. It's not even right to keep them in such a dark place!"

But whoop-de-fuckin-doo at least he wasn't going alone.

2. Sift  flour and baking soda into the bowl and mix

"It just seems so awful Mrs. Weasley," Harry chimed in as well with an exaggerated pout and tears eyes pulled out, "the blonde one from yesterday looked so desperate to save the other two. He could have escaped but now all three of them are stuck in a- in a basement-" if Ron wasn't a witness to enough of Harry's bullshit he would have felt as crushed as his mom too.

3. Mix in salt and sugar for taste

"Mum, surely we could ask the other adults to reconsider this whole nonsense, right? The order is supposed to be about protecting the light and the innocent, those kids don't deserve to get subpar food, and definitely don't deserve to be stuck down there." Molly seemed like she wanted nothing more than to agree as well, but just nodded numbly as she firmly dumped the eggs in the skillet. The eggs crackling like a hissing snake when hitting the oiled pan.

4. Heat a pan over a fire at medium heat, carefully oil to prevent sticking

"Now kids, I know how you feel about being part of the Order. I'm not discrediting the three of you, but all I'm saying is that the Order has reasons for taking actions like this- you shouldn't have to worry about those other children right now. I'm sure the Order will get it sorted out tonight, even if they do spend a lot of time shouting and flipping over the bloody table-"

5. Distribute batter unto the pan, cook both sides evenly

"Mom!-" "Mrs. Weasley!-"  "But Mrs. Weasley!-"

The woman only tutted at the three of them, face concentrated as all the pieces of egg was transferred to a clean dish. Setting it on the table and facing the two occupants of it. "For the last time I told you to just call me Molly, at least say my name if you're all ganging up on me, and I can't understand what any of you say if you all speak at the same time. Ron, you go first."

Ron's mouth gaped open at being singled out, he stalled for an answer by flipping a pancake over. "It isn't right, it's all I'm saying mum," he finally settled on hoping his white knuckles wouldn't be noticed for his nervousness. 

Hermione, always eager for her turn, already shooting up when Mrs. Weasley turned to her. "It's unethical for this sort of behavior to be observed, Mrs. Weasley. Children being held as hostage in cramped spaces with lack of sunlight can have detrimental effects to growth and development. Not to mention what that would do to their mental health! And being around all those cursed objects couldn't be a good for them at all. Wouldn't it be better for them to have a house arrest? Or perhaps learn to integrate into Wizard society?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded, taking time to consider her words, and Ron had to focus completely on the pancakes to wonder how she came up with a goddamn thesis in barely a minute. It was Harry's turn and he also took some time trying to bring up his own thoughts, but knowing his best friend, he most likely had something awesome to say. Ron almost dropped the pan while plating when he finally heard Harry's soft voice.

"It isn't right Mrs. Weasley, they're our age, and if we were in their shoes you would do everything you could to make sure we were treated well. Those kids probably have parents waiting for them out there too-" 

6. Plate and garnish with syrup and fruit and enjoy with the family

Ron pretended not to see his mom wipe the tears from her eyes and continued setting up the table. The heavy footsteps of his dad echoed until he could see the yawning older man kiss his wife. Ron took his cue and sat with Harry and Hermione, a distance away from his parents as he saw his mom and dad try to have a discreet conversation in the breakfast table. Instead he shoveled in toast and eggs, washing it down with orange juice, and enjoying 6 steps pancakes. Mordred, next time he was going to ask Hermione to draft the terms and conditions before he makes a promise.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"I don't know dear, we weren't part of the Order of the Phoenix last time and I'm not sure we have a lot to say even for the second round. What brought this on?"

"I don't know Arthur, it already bothered me since last night, but now the kids are getting concerned about it as well. Right now only Ron, Hermione, and Harry confronted me about it but I know the way George looks whenever something bothers him and he's trying to hide it, and Ginny looked sick to the stomach when she saw them dragging the Voldemort boy down the basement. We've got to do something!"

Arthur sighed but saw the point in his wife's arguments, she was always much better at reading the kids anyways, it would be wise to listen to her.

"Alright Molly, when the other adults come down we'll confront them, I'll talk to Mad-eye and you take Minerva." And the radiant smile Molly sent him was enough to make his day seem brighter. Even if Fred ruined it by shocking the lights out of him with a white 'pop' and a 'hullo dad!' again.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm just saying Moody, the fact these kids had the drop on you of all people is impressive. They worked around that vigilance, I bet?"

Moody let out a gruff snort, which the Weasley Patriarch took as reluctant approval.

"Those kids would make good Aurors compared to the recruits we had to train back in the day, spoiled socks the lot of them. We should add hostage handling to the course for them as well." Moody's eye zeroed in on Arthur with the ever constant trace of suspicion underneath them.

"No Moody, I'm not one of their allies in polyjuice potion here to bust them out. Code muggle peanut wonder and all that, but I do think it's a bit excessive to lock these kids in the basement, and it isn't exactly ethical is it?" Moody only rolled his eye taking another serving of egg and doing his long process of poison checking that Arthur knew not to interrupt. Eventually Moody deems the eggs acceptable and shovels them into his mouth. 

"C'mon Moody, you're already looking much better than you did yesterday, I'm sure you could sniff out if the three did anything wrong. Plus, it's kind of against Dumbledore's point to antagonize them so much, allies and all that, right?"

Moody seemed deep in thought while chewing before nodding, "they would make good reminders for the children to be vigilant, who knows, maybe it will rub off on them." Suddenly his blue eye swiveled to (at least where Arthur thinks is) where the kids were being kept, seeming to nod in satisfaction.

"They even packed their own provisions properly in case for emergencies, good vigilance!"

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Minerva?"

"Oh, Molly dear, there you are, I was just about to ask you something!"

"Ah, yes, I as well!"

...

...

"Do you think the whole basement thing with the children is a ridiculous idea?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely, even the children could see it."

"Good, good, surely that room on the third floor will be suitable for them, and it will be close enough to Moody to sate his paranoia." Minerva sighed as she eyed the kettle of tea, "say, I hope the children don't take too much offense to us...taking them so to speak."

Molly tried to bite back her laughter, but knew she failed when she saw McGonagall's eyes roll and just let the chuckles fall out. "If you're so worried about that how about start making a nice impression? Here, I needed someone to drop these off anyways." Minerva suddenly found her arms heavy with a platter of plates of three. Heaped high (or too little according to Molly) with eggs, toast, and divine smelling pancakes, she'll have to give her compliments to Molly once she gets a nice bite of it.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Sirius added in his mental tally 'a point for Lily on forgiving nature, a point for James for being a persistent bastard' because Harry found him every which way trying to convince him that that hell spawn wasn't going to stab his godson in the back the first opportunity he gets. 

"C'mon Sirius, you can't be judging a kid my age of all things for their legacy, unlike you, he didn't even grow up in it!" Harry protested once more, and dammit his words made sense.

"Listen, Harry, I thought I could trust someone too, but Wormtail-"

"Wormtail abandoned his friends for a vague notion of superiority, this kid struck by his friend while surrounded by strangers waving glowing sticks."

Sirius smacked his head on the nearest wall, which just so happened to be the tapestry containing his family tree, his eyes leading to the newly formed branch where Will Solace and his squib mother Naomi (no husband, which made even less sense to Sirius because even if the Dark Lord looked fucked up Solace must have got his dad's decent looks). Harry stood beside him, staring at the Solace branch. 

"He's technically your family, and he need you to protect him too." Harry looked deeply into his eyes, as if trying to peer deep into his guilty soul. One of the twins soon called Harry up the stair and his godson followed it, giving one last look to Sirius before turning his back on him and the family tapestry. 

Sirius sighed, before looking back to the close little scorched spot where his name had been blacked out, right beside it the name of a boy he hasn't seen in ages. Regulus would have made some snappy comment at him turning his back on family too, something a bit more substantial and designed to hurt, but that was what siblings were known for. The convict couldn't help but think that Harry could have ended up in Slytherin like Regulus and he still would have broken out of Azkaban for him. 

Maybe because of the harrowing last few days, or maybe the guilt finally caught on to him, but he rested his head gently to where Regulus name stood. Closing his eyes to remember the days where a smaller boy looked up at him to choose the next game to play, or snack to steal.

"Fine, just this once for Harry," Sirius rushed out of the room before the phrase 'and you too' could be uttered. Assumed dead men shouldn't need to be burdened with his antics even after passing the veil.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry peered in precariously as Ron dangled the 'Weasley Extension Ear  Wonder, Now with state of the art line drop, yes Ronniekins you have to say the full name' above him, Hermione holding the other end while linking arms on both Ron and him because, did he mention he was peering precariously?

Anyways, the ear finally stopped chittering incomprehensible and the three could now make out understandable words. 

"So you three decided to be responsible adults and give your votes to have them properly settled? I must admit Padfoot, I'm impressed with your newfound maturity."

"Fuck you, Moony"

A old wizened voice cleared his throat, and the trio held their breath as Dumbledore counted out the votes of the Order members.

"1 2 3 4 5 6- well, I think it's already clear what the general consensus for this vote is. Majority wins, the three youths that have now come in our care shall receive proper lodgings and go with the children to Hogwarts to have a proper magic education. That was quite easy now was it? Now all they need is someone to bring them to Gringgots and take them shopping-"

"Shopping!" Molly's shrill voice interrupted, "that's what I forgot to do! We were supposed to shop for the children's supplies today, but with all this excitement-"

"Excellent, then they shall accompany the children! How well this worked out for all of us, hmm?"

Barely audible to the room, three matching groans echoed through the Grimmauld House.

Chapter Text

"Okay, I don't know how you managed to get us out after a DAY, but I'm not complaining," The dark circles under Nicolo's eyes seemed to have lessened after being able to sleep on a proper bed. His hands calmly cupping his bowl of vegetable soup, closing his eyes to savor the heat and flavor, at the back of his mind Harry wondered if Nicolo was willingly ignoring the eyes that pierced him in every direction, or if the soup was really that good. He'd like to think it's the latter.

The girl across from him was more hesitant, but seemed to enjoy the food as well, her eyes darting between the French toast and Mrs. Weasley as if telepathically asking permission to get more, making the older woman huff and shovel more into her plate, and her smile lit up the room. Harry thought her eyes flashed gold in those moments, but he dismissed that to the early day's light filtering through the windows.

The last of the three he observed was the other boy right next to Nicolo, the one William Solace, grandson of Voldemort, the boy who shouldn't exist.

'Geez Harry, rude much?' His conscience seemed to jab back at him.

On the table the golden trio sat stiff as boards, with the twins acting like a barrier between them and the new comers of the breakfast table. Ginny hasn't woken up yet either, and judging by the twin mischievous looks of the two Weasley brothers, Harry decided to keep his hands clean of whatever will inevitably come. His attention going back to the blonde boy as he used a tanned hand to scratch at the back of his neck.

"So, I'm guessing we should break the ice a little bit?" Will Solace seemed to wince at his own suggestion, but only for a few seconds because his resolve shone a bit more in his blue eyes.

"I could start first." The girl who he still doesn't know the name to calmly chimed, her smile was strained but her warm brown eyes seeming genuine in wanting to be civil.

"Hazel Levesque, I'm 14 years old and I like horses and sweets," as if to emphasize her point, she took one of the slices from her stack and toasted to them before taking a shy bite from it. "And-uhm, I hope we get along too!" She seemed to have reached her limit with her bravado and took a bigger bite out of her toast, as if to distract herself from the eyes on her.

Harry would too because from his vantage point in the table, he can see both Ron AND Hermione putting their laser focus on the now named Hazel and Nicolo. He wasn't sure if it was curiosity, distrust, or just the interesting fact that they have the same last name or whatnot, but when both of his mates have their interest piqued on something, it can be pretty disconcerting for the object of their attention. The line of introduction continued on from her, who judging by the sound of a harsh kick and and his wince, the dark haired boy across from her was next. 

"Ahem, my name would be Nicolo Levesque, I'm Hazel's half-brother and that's all you need to know currently." Another sound of a swift kick could be heard under the table, "I also like the color black and my friends call me Nico."

No sound of under-table kicking ensued, so the boy beside him cleared his throat and faced the rest of the table. 

"You guys probably already know who I am, but I'm Will Solace, 15. I go by he/him pronouns and I like music, and hanging out with my siblings. I want to be a nurse when I grow up," his smile admit-ably charming, but so was Voldemort's before he got into the dark arts.

Hermione's voice then proceeded to dump cold water unto his head, "younger siblings? S-so, did your mom have-" at the chuckle of  Hazel and Nico and the embarrassed flush of Will's face, Harry wasn't sure to panic or go completely boneless in relief.

"N-no nothing like that! I've been to this camp since I was like- 10 I think, and well, I've been made cabin counselor last year and my cabin mates were always like siblings to me!" His dull thud followed his rant, Will planting his face harshly on the table in an attempt to hide his red face. Harry could see Mrs. Weasley look at the table with amusement while stirring her cup of tea.

A cough brought his eyes back to Hazel, who wasn't choking on a too large bite of French toast, but was instead looking at their side of the table. "It's usually polite for the other party to introduce themselves too," she timidly points out. Her words similar to Nicolo's that he could hear the gears in Hermione's brain turn faster while the Weasley twin beside her widened his smile and tipped an imaginary hat.

"The name would be the noble Lord Gred of House Weasley," George started, before melodramatically pointing at his identical twin across from him, "and that ugly troll over there is poor Ford of the Lethe River bridge!" Fred peaked over at his mother, who's attention was on Ginny's list of materials, before showing a finger lovingly to his brother. 

"Fred and George, basically," Ron intercepted, pointing at the corresponding twin before pointing at himself, "and Ron Weasley, their victim for the longest time, basically." His tone lightened the tension, and Harry felt himself relax from a tension he didn't realize he was holding. "I fancy myself a good quidditch and chess match, I guess," Ron finally ended with a shrug. "Chess?" Nicolo seemed to perk up at the game, "my cousin's girlfriend has been teaching me some new tricks with the game, maybe we can have a match sometime."

Hermione intercepted Ron from viciously threatening defeat, and instead introduced herself. "My name is Hermione Granger, I'm 15 years old and I've been studying to be a witch for 4 years going 5 now." She says, prim and properly if only to hide the nerves from meeting new people. Harry's mental hearing might be impaired by her internal screaming. 

"And I'm Harry," he said bluntly, not trusting himself to say more in front of the three and continued pushing around his own soup chunks, the broth long consumed. The ensuing silence heavy enough to start weighing on even the twins, who didn't try to joke around to lift he atmosphere. Harry tried to catch the eye of Mrs. Weasley, but she met it with a stare that said 'your idea, you learn how to handle it." 

"FRED, GEORGE, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU-"

Thankfully the sound of angry stomping and raving saved him, and he got to witness as a soaking wet Ginny Weasley, with murder in her eyes, set her sights on her two older brothers who have stopped snickering and now seemed tense and ready to bolt. "When I said I wanted to wake up early to meet the guests, I DID NOT MEAN SPELL A WATER BUCKET TO POUR ON ME AT-" Ginny glanced at her mother who raised up 8 fingers. "-8 IN THE MORNING, YOU ABSOLUTE KNUCKLEHEADS!"

Fred and George bolted out of their chairs, a loud pop echoed and Molly ran off shouting for the two to get back and finish their plates.

Turning her head to meet the gaze of the semi-unwilling guests at the other end of the table, Ginny smiled as though she not about to commit homicide a mere ten seconds ago. "My name is Ginevra Weasley, but please call me Ginny. And you three are?"

"Hazel-"

"Nico."

"Will!"

"Well now that introductions are done," Mrs. Weasley chimes while holding a set of twins by the scruff of their collars, "I believe we have some shopping to get, so hop to it all of you. Fireplace in five minutes, and I want the plates washed.

Ginny stuffed her cheeks with leftover French toast and chugged the warm milk from Fred and George's mugs, staring straight into   their disgusted faces as she wipes a drop from the corner of her mouth. "Last to put their plate does the dishes!" She shouts, already dropping of the mugs on the sink as she rushes to her room, presumably to change. Harry thought quietly to himself that she's really grown from the awfully shy girl who was taken advantage of by the memory of Voldemort. That thinking led him to jolt as he realized he was the last one on the table, all the others having already left or heading towards the dishes. The one closest to him being the descendant of the man he was thinking of with scorn

"Hey, are you okay?" He said? Blue eyes painfully sincere as he scanned him up and down. Harry didn't know where to put the guy, but for now he's keeping him at an arms length and hoping for the best. At least he isn't a git to be around, which shouldn't make him as conflicted as it does.

He hesitantly nods at him, and gets a grin in return. "Don't worry, I can wash the dishes with you. I'm done getting ready anyway." And Harry noticed that, indeed, Will's clothes were acceptable for shopping (if a bit too much like a muggle with khaki shorts and flannel) his shoes were tied, and his hair was brushed and styled far better than Harry's consistent bed head of a mess. Instead of kicking him in the shins like he petulantly wished to, he just nodded and headed to the sink with the guy behind him.

'Showing your back to the Voldemort spawn already?' His inner paranoid pessimist whispered. "Shut up," he whispered to himself, soft enough for only him to hear, but based on Will's bewildered face, he should have said it softer.

Washing the dishes was an awkward affair, enough said. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Soon enough they were all in front of a fireplace, George standing placidly as Molly explains how to use the floo network to the three guests. 

"Okay, now, George is gonna show you what I mean, remember to speak clearly and throw the powder after. George?" George slowly lifted his hand, as if he was an informercial seller trying to show how a product worked. "Diagon Ally!" and in a poof he was gone. Molly turned back to the rest of them with a huge smile.

With much swearing, a chaffed knee, and lots of chimney soot, all nine children plus Molly Weasley found themselves on Diagon Alley. Harry saw Will marveling at the sight while holding on to Nicolo's hand, who himself was holding on to Hazel's. With a cheerful 'harumph' Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands to get all of their attention.

"We're not going to be able to finish shopping in one day if we go as one group, so we'll have to split. Fred and George, you can handle your own shopping but I need you to buy these books too if you can, I'll be with Ginny, Hazel, and Nicolo so that they don't get lost. And Ron," at this, the Weasley matriarch leaned close to her son. Staring him meaningfully in the eyes as she holds a bag full of money to him, "I'm letting you lead the rest of the kids in your year around and not die tragically, can I trust you with that?"

At his enthusiastic nod, Mrs. Weasley handed him the coin bag. A mesmerizing blue velvet that looked like something he'd seen before. "Dumbledore was helpful enough to supply funds for all of us this year with the trouble he's given me keeping up with all this none sense, so you better spend it wisely you four, got it?" At that, her biological children nodded while pocketing the money, Harry only resisting to do the same by sheer will.

And off they were, watching the retreating forms of the two groups and Fred and George went off for the books, Mrs. Weasley leading her group to Ollivanders, and Harry swallowed down the bitter bile clawing from his throat and sent a friendly smile towards Will.

"Well, you heard Mrs. Weasley. Let's start shopping!"

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Will wants to clear any misconceptions and say that he loves shopping. He loves sneaking out with his siblings to smuggle lollipops and find the newest edition of comics, health magazines, and gossip tabloids. He loved looking at boutique windows and breathing in the scent of cheap coffee and street food. This, however, was near the bottom of his shopping experiences.

Separated immediately from his boyfriend and friend, and surrounded 3 out of 4 directions by British teens his age, he is definitively not having fun. Moreover, he had no clue what the shopping list was.

"Slug slime?" He said with disgust, "aren't those things filled with parasites? Why in hell are we getting those but no gloves?" 

He could see Hermione purse her lips in distaste, and he found himself shutting up. He didn't need these three to hate him more than they already probably did. 

"Next on the list is a pewter cauldron for Solace," Hermione said with a clipped tone, following Ron as he navigated round the potions shop. Until they finally found themselves in a corner of the shop filled with rows of cupboards filled with cauldrons. None of them labeled or marked down.

"Fucking hell, why does this shop look more of a mess then it usually does?" Ron exclaimed, already sorting through the cauldrons looking for something at the bottom. "It's only natural Ron, we're shopping a few days later than the usual, we must have came here after the back to school rush." Hermione chimed as she joined in looking for a cauldron, sorting through small sizes compared to Ron's messy squabble for whatever his hands could grab. 

Will saw Harry awkwardly shuffle off, claiming something about 'newt's tongue' as he slinked off to another section of the store. He almost went of to join him, but the guilt of leaving the two teens who were searching for something that was only in HIS shopping list made him rooted to the ground, awkwardly shuffling through to cauldrons that looked to be 'size 2' according to Hermione. In the silent corner of the potion's shop, the small 'tink' of metal was all that could be heard.

Until Hermione took a broken piece out of the bottom of her mound and caused a tiny hill of cauldrons to fall loudly. Somehow Will thought the sound was familiar-

-The sound of pounding metal could be heard as he and a gaggle of other young half-bloods were herded into the forge for the first time. The warmth of the furnace undoing the stiff effects of mid-winter and Will basked in it while holding his brothers hand, an older brother who was talking to a tall boy his age who was carrying a tray filled with various metal scraps.

"Remember guys, pewter is a pretty soft metal, since it's an alloy mix of tin, antimony, and copper, so when you hit it the right way-" Charles Beckendorf lightly hit a silvery-blue tin, the sound like a weak tinker of a bell to a young Will. His mouth already forming to match the high note of the metal.

A younger and more care-free  Lee Fletcher covered his mouth before he could make a sound out of it, "Will, don't even think of using that whistle again, dad may have blessed you with perfect pitch, but I got aunt Artemis' arm strength."

Will only smiled innocently before covering his brother's hand in slobber, running away screaming before Lee could get him back with a noogie-

-"I think one of the cauldron's there is made of pewter," Will chimed out of nowhere, his head still lost and chest faintly aching as he shuffled over the fallen pile of small cauldrons. Flicking them with a finger and humming disapprovingly each time it didn't match the note he remembered hearing. Until he finally heard a light sound, deeper than what he remembered, but still like the resonance of the soft alloy.

"This one," he softly heard himself say, just as the skidding of a sneaker on the floor took his eyes off the cauldron.

"Are you guys okay!" Asked Harry raggedly, as if he darted the whole store to their corner at the sound of the crash. Impressive considering the sizeable crowd of shoppers that Will saw behind him.

"Solace? Are you okay? You-you're crying," Will could see arms outstretched to help him, but he didn't want to be touched. Not now, not by them.

"I'm fine, we got the cauldron, what else do we need here?" He spits out while drying his eyes, almost harshly but it gets the job. "We have enough newt's tongue for all of us this year, we can go to the register and get uniforms next." Hermione stated, her voice softer than usual, leading the quartet through the crowd. Will still clutching tightly to the cauldron along with his other shopping items.

He ignored the feeling of the stares of the crowd as they payed for their things, if only the same could be said for their whispers.

Chapter Text

Hazel was having a great time shopping with Nico and Ginny, the actual transactions being taken care of by Molly while the three of them explored the shops they visited. From the endless tinkering done with the telescopes in the supplies shop, to arranging a pile of clattered cauldrons in a potion's shop, this was probably the most stress free Hazel has been in a mission. For a moment she was a normal 15 year old with a normal amount of trauma and no weight of parentage or deadline above her.

"So Nicolo, I overheard from some of the adults that a camp tried contacting you with one of those square 'phones' that muggles use, the guy seemed pretty worried about you three." 

And-the moment ended.

Hazel nervously chuckled while Nico subtly wiped the sweat off his palms. Smiling softly as the new 'Nicolo' would do, he turned to face the curious face of Ginny. Nico was a loner, ambassador of Pluto was a businessman, but Nicolo Levesque was a sweet old fashioned older brother who took care of Hazel and their affairs. 'He could have been an actor if life was different,' Hazel thought to herself.

"That must be Chiron, our camp director, he always worries about us when we don't call often, he's practically our second dad." Hazel nodded along, letting him do the talking while feigning interest in a dispensary jar of newt's eyes. 

"Hmm, makes sense, I admit I've never been to a camp before," cheerfully, she picks up a jar of bat's wool, tucking it into the shopping cart besides the two pewter cauldrons. "I would have liked to go to one, but my parents are awfully protective of the only daughter in the family."

Nico saw Hazel nod at the corner of his eyes, smile charming and polite but not quite reaching her eyes.

"Though, that does beg the question, how are your parents feeling about this? They probably aren't into having their kids apply to a European school in the middle of nowhere, you're American aren't you?"

"Well," Hazel started off, noting the stiff way Nico held his shoulders, "our parents-aren't exactly around anymore." The dawning mortification on Ginny's face was instant, and Hazel was fast to mollify her, "it's nothing new at all, we're used to it, it's why we go to camp, it's a place for kid's with complicated living situations," she recited, the half truth flowing like mist out of her mouth.

Ginny's eyes glazed the slightest hint of white before turning to their normal brown color.

Ginny's eyes followed Nico's figure, who pretended to be interested by a cupboard of intricate vials and stoppers, "I wouldn't know how I would cope if something happened to my parents, probably be taken care of by my brothers too, but I'm not sure I could hold up like you do." The sincere smile she sent Hazel's way made her stomach churn, but she just smiled back. Subtly petting the newly named 'Cat the Shadow' hidden by the great silhouette of the shelves they were standing under.

"Well dears, we're about done here," Molly called out, herding them towards the counter to pay, "let's see, we've done uniforms, potions, parchment and quills for all of you, ah, I suppose you two don't have wands yet?" Molly gazed kindly at the two of them, Hazel and Nico both stiffening at so much-maternity that wasn't from a Jackson towards them. "Ah, I guess that sort of answers the question then, hop to it you three, we're off to Ollivanders-"

Then they were off to the pavement, Nico holding on to Hazel, who was holding on to Ginny, who was holding on to Molly who lead the train with a shaking head, but she laughed anyways all the way to the wand shop. The sound of bustling and giggles filling the air, making it light and comfortable. She almost missed the regal looking woman and her son passing by them and glaring at them because, honestly? Who even cares when she's having that much fun?

Well, she says almost but she got a mouthful of red hair in a moment, and she tried not to think about the spluttering noise behind her and the wet sensation she felt on her own before turning to look back at Mrs. Weasley, surprised to see the usually maternal woman looking a tad murderous. Her maroon overcoat stained with a greenish-brown color that also dripped from an ice cream cup that was still held by the same boy. 

The red head women lightly pushed Ginny to the direction of Ollivander's, and Ginny took both of their hands to continue on their way.

"Uhm, are you okay there, Ginny?" Nico dared to ask, Hazel was confused herself but didn't dare look back, the unadulterated bloodlust permeating behind her made her sweat drop, and instead focused her eyes on Ginny. The red head girl didn't seem to hear them, only leading them to a secluded alleyway where no one seemed to be around. There, her posture finally slumped.

"It's whatever, some family feud that's been going on for a bit-" Ginny huffed, her voice no longer sounding kind, and more like it was hanging on to neutral civility at best. Hazel couldn't help but notice how her knuckles were turning white from gripping on to itself. 

"It's a stupid thing too, my parents don't even know why it started but they've just been feeding their side of the fire for who knows how long!" Ginny harshly punched the wall she was leaning on, and Hazel cringed at her poor form, but the girl didn't even wince at the cracked sound coming from her knuckles. Leaning her head to the red brick, Hazel met Nico's eyes and saw a solemn recognition in them. "There were so many people on both sides hurt in the crossfire, but the Malfoy's won't leave us alone and-"

"And your family are as short in fuse as they are in money-," a snide voice called out, the blonde boy from earlier now closed to the secluded alley than Hazel realized, feeling the way his shoes clacked against the cobblestone with her powers. "A real shame too, I've been told that before you all reduced yourselves to blood traitors that you were a powerful family with deep ties to magic, guess even the mighty fall as low as you are now."

The words he said were different, but the way he said it was familiar, and judging by the way Nico's face hardened, it was familiar to him too. The vitriol, the sneers, the people who thought themselves above the common people. The want to rub their privilege onto this who were on the verge of breaking, and Ginny right now was broken, and couldn't build herself quick enough, and the Malfoy boy knew it.

Disgusting.

So when she saw the pale face appearing from the dim alleyway, it was like a target as she subtly flicked her wrist, and a small stone shot out to hit him right at his nose.

"AGH!" The nose was bleeding red, and his eyes watered from the sudden attack to the sensitive structure, obscuring his vision of the crying but upright Weasley and her two companions. He would ultimately live, even if he was acting like it was a bullet that shot at him and not a pebble.

"My father will hear about this, Weasley!" He shouted, before clutching his nose, leaving a trail of blood as he shouted for his mother. 

Hazel only felt a moment of victory before a hand clutched her shoulder violently. "How did you do that-" Ginny hissed at her, her body more caged and suspicious than even before. "You just did wandless magic with that rock, how did you-" a rush of fabric later, and a woman with similar red hair appeared through the alleyway, too elated to notice the tension as Ginny scrambled away from Hazel and Nicolo and towards her mother. 

"Ginevra dear, I know I told you that you shouldn't throw stones at people just because they get on your nerves, having said that, do you want ice cream?" Her mischievous smile faded as she saw how shaken up Ginny was, and before she could start asking questions Ginny was already tugging her to the direction to Ollivanders.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Ginny didn't know what to think of how her new- friends? Acquaintances? Learned to perform a wandless spell with such accuracy when they 'supposedly' had never learnt of magic before, and had never even known they were wizards. We're they actually spies of Voldemort like the adults at the table said? We're they trying to lure her into a false sense of security again? The grandson of that monster was with her brother!

She fumbled from her steps, a small hand steadied her, and she met the golden brown eyes of Hazel. 'Later' the girl mouthed at her, with her brother nodding solemnly. Once she got her footing again, she looked up to find they already at their destination, the wand shop seeming to have been frozen from the first and only time she had stepped foot in it.

That was fine, that was okay, it meant they thought she was still stupid enough to fall for whatever excuse they had for her. She couldn't go all in on her feelings alone again like some first-year, she needed to see if she could learn more. 

So with a faux understanding smile, she waved them in front of her and to the tall dusty building of Ollivanders. Instead of going straight away, Hazel worriedly bit her lip, seeming to scan the store for something Ginevra couldn't see. Not making any more to step forward until Nicolo offered his hand for her to hold, and together the two siblings(?) stepped into the building, the face of both their panic slipping out for only a second before steeling itself again.

And maybe, just maybe, Ginny Weasley believed that they were still good people, and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Hazel, relax-" Nico's hand immediately went to pat his sister's back comfortingly as her panic overcame her again. The eccentric man who took their...'measurements' busy rambling about wands and cores or something so Nico payed no mind to him, right now his sister needed comfort, and he can afford quiet reassurance for her at least.

However his sister thought otherwise. "Seriously?" Hazel hissed at him, lacking any venom, "I just jeopardized the mission AND Ginny is scared of us, ugh why didn't I think about just throwing the damn thing?!" He grabbed her hand before she could try to hit herself on the head and she shrugged him off with a huff. Nico's chest felt tight at that, he was only trying to make her understand that things like these happen on long term missions, that going to covert operations means making mistakes, that they were new to this world and don't know how much of a big deal of those stupid ridiculous twigs they call-

"WANDS!" The voice of an old wizard crowed from the ladder he had climbed, almost causing it to topple before stabilizing itself like magic. Mr. Ollivanders slowly slid down the ladder, holding two ornate boxes, both decorated with golden skulls and flowers. The old man huffed as he carried them to the table.

"In all my years, I've never had to pull these boxes from their corner before-" he looked faraway, as if looking at another time. "An old partner of mine made it with me, said it would be attracted to powerful forces dealing with the balance of light and dark." Despite Nico giving him his darkest look, Ollivanders only had eyes for the boxes, fumbling around his desk for gloves just to keep it in his sights.

"Oh, at last, to finally have these beautiful wands find a holder, don't you worry precious things, you won't be collecting dust any longer!" He swiveled to Nico, holding out the wand like a precious artifact, and Nico admits it was a beautifully crafted wand. A light ashy color, an elegant handle carved with feather details and a glittering black band at the middle. It felt warm in his hand, like dipping it into warm water, or holding hands with Will on a summer day.

"Hmm, good reactions so far, now give it a swish," Ollivanders instructed, demonstrating a delicate flick with his own wand that Nico copied. Immediately, a light symphony played from nowhere as soft whisps of white light swirled from the tip of the wand. The dark haired boy startled so badly that it ended just as fast as it begun. 

"Wonderful! Just wonderful, now May the young lady go next?" He held the next wand out, and Hazel marveled as she grasped it, giving a soft flick and causing a shower of gold sparks to come out from where the wand ended the action. It lasted a few seconds longer than Nico, but by the end the old shopkeeper was giving a standing ovation at the show. 

"Wonderful, I've always waited for these extraordinary wands to claim a holder. For the gentleman, your wand is made of a Beech wood, they tend to be attracted to those who are wise beyond their age. While the lady here has a wand crafted with Cypress wood, they seem to have a liking to those who are noble and self sacrificing. In these times I'm afraid however that I might be meeting someone who will die a heroic death should they possess a Cypress wand-"

Alarm bells rang in Nico's head, and this time his glare was enough to make the old man shiver and step away from his sister. 

'Now now young man, simply stating what must be said these days, do be careful. That will be 11 galleons in total."

The transaction finished stiffly, with Ollivander resting one last hand on both of their shoulders with a serious enough look that Nico resisted the urge to shrug him off and run with his sister.

"These wands we're not made by my own shops standards, and their cores are most unusual-" gesturing to Nico's wand and then Hazel's with his hand, "-a horn from a summer fae and a gilded finger of a war criminal respectively, I need you two demigods to be careful on your quest." As if he didn't just metaphorically punch Nico's gut, the man patted them on the back and shooed them off. "And do tell Chiron to visit and stay for tea, it's been too long since I've had talked with that horse!"

Nico felt Hazel tug him out the shop, and soon they were face to face with a beaming Mrs. Weasley and a distant Ginny enjoying scoops of red ice cream. "Hello dears, care for a cone?"

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Will entered the dingy dusty shop alone, the shopkeeper practically shooing Ron, Hermione, and Harry away. He used the time to look around the shop, curious to the rows upon rows of small narrow boxes he assumes carried the wands. He saw a heap of wands on a table, and not being able to resist the curiosity enough, tried waving the one on top, expecting at most for a whisp of pathetic smoke to rise. 

But nooo, demigod luck was shit because the wand recoiled like a gun and Will ended up clenching his nose as a chuckling shopkeeper deftly snatched the wand away from him. "Ah, I don't believe the blackthorn is for you, young man, hold out your wand arm, quickly now-" the man tutted, swiftly working on returning the pile of wands back to their boxes. Will held up both his hands, hoping that being ambidextrous wouldn't effect the wand finding process.

Suddenly, a tape measure whizzed to take the measurements for both his hands, then hit his arms till he put them sideways for it to measure, then his general height, his bust, his shoulders, his waist, and other such places that made absolutely no sense, how in hell was foot size important for a wand-

"Hmm, yes, yes, try this on for size, young man-" he said, as he handed Will a wand with a wizened appearance, Will barely even getting a good grasp on it before it was taken back. "Oh, nonono, that just won't do, no-"he muttered as he shooed away the tape measure.

"Ah, yes, I have quite a good feeling about this-" Mr. Ollivander almost singsonged as he held out a box, opening it to Will to reveal an intricate wand, made of a yellowish brown wood of some kind and carved into a shape that was reminiscent of a conductor's baton. With delicate but familiar care, Solace picked up the wand and waited on Ollivander to give some instruction of some sort.

"Well? What are you waiting for boy, give it a swish!"

Ah, well, if the expert insisted, Will angled his head further away from his wand, and gave it a dramatic 'swish'. Unready for the greenish mist that slowly emerged from the wand, coiling around like a snake in the air before gracefully slithering back to the wand it came from. 

"Ahaha! Excellent young man! I've haven't seen such grace and care from a first conjuring in a while!" The old shopkeeper was surprisingly very deft at hopping for joy, and rang him up while explaining what his wand was made out of, which Will tried to ACTUALLY listen to because it sounded important. 

"Ah, yes, 12 inches, stiff, and a wonderful specimen of laurel wood, it was nearly flying off the box from being unused for so long-" at his strange pause, Will looked up, only to meet the eyes of Mr. Ollivander as he held his wand towards him with great delicate care. "Strangely, instead of a Phoenix feather core, I worked with a Phoenix ash core for this wand, the very end of their life cycle before life can start again for them. Perhaps that says something about you, William Solace. Will you be the end of something bigger than life, or will you be the one to bring it to a new stage.? 4 galleons please."

Will could only stare dumbfounded and handed the money before walking out the store, feeling dazed at the interaction until he heard the sound of his name being called. Hazel and Nico rushing to him with Ginny walking calmly behind them enjoying an ice cream cone. Will noted how she seemed to keep her distance.

Nico seemed to rethink before going in for a hug in public, instead skidding a halt in front of him and giving him a small smile in greeting. "There's a band playing around the corner and they're taking a short break before continuing, c'mon let's go!" He said hurriedly, grabbing his hand and hauling him to the corner where the sound of music and a voice with a showman quality to it called out to the audience.

"C'mon fellas, just one volunteer from the audience for a song, the last song for the day, the closing act!" A man strumming a bass shouted out to the mic, clapping along to a basic soul beat while waiting for a brave soul to step up to the stands. Will couldn't remember when he was able to sing something more close to home, being so used to leading the campfire sing alongs for so long he wasn't even sure he could get into the right rhythm of it. But looking at the excited faces of Nico and Hazel, and feeling the familiar rhythm of the genre, he decided he might as well find something to distract himself from the shitty couple of days.

"Over here!" He shouted, raising his hands as he marched up to the front, the band giving a cheer before settling further into their instruments, the bassist giving him a smirk before asking in a low voice what song he was doing.

"Uhm-Downtown, by Petula Clark?" The bassist seemed to pause, as if scanning the song in his head before exploding in a grin. "Hey Bishop!" The drummer perked up from his perch, his hands not straying from the steady beat he had set up, going even faster as if in anticipation. "We're playing the muggle song that you had for your birthday! Keep up!" With that announcement, the drummer laughed, and changed his beat to an explosive swell before stopping point blank. A stage hand rushing over with a microphone stand and placing it right in front of Will. 

The stage felt so much different then when he last performed at 6. The eyes felt so much more invasive, the setting sun causing almost a spotlight on him, blinding him, making him feel smaller. His breath stuck to his throat, but then his eyes found Nico's in the crowd's, his eyes understanding. As if all the ugly feelings that was visible under the spotlight didn't even phase him. And suddenly breathing in for the first note was easier.

So he held the microphone closer to his mouth, and breathed out the first note.

"When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you could always go-" he breath caught in his mouth, but he swallowed down the nervousness and sighed out, "-downtown."

Someone in the audience dog-whistled before giving out a pained and frightened screech, and Will opened his eyes to see Nico giving him a smug smile back at him.

"When you've got worries all the noise and the hurry seems to help I know~Downtown. 

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city

Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty

How can you lose?"

He let his hips sway, letting all the stress of the past few days melt away as he sang the next lines,

"Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city

Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty

How can you lose?

So go downtown

Things will be great when you're

Downtown

No finer place for sure

Downtown

Everything's waiting for you-"

" (downtown, downtown)~"

Will almost stumbled when two women seemed to appear from thin air next to him, both with a microphone and an instrument as they sang the chorus with him, and he slipped before catching up to the next line.

"Don't hang around and let your problems surround you

There are movie shows

Downtown

Maybe you know some little places to go to

Where they never close

Downtown

Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova

You'll be dancing with 'em too before the night is over

Happy again

The light's so much brighter there

You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares~"

Nico and Hazel had started swinging together with the beat, mischievous smiles that was usually the Stoll brothers gracing their faces as they positioned themselves together in a form fit for a certainly outdated dance, but if anything it looked perfect for the two siblings.

"So go downtown

Where all the lights are bright

Downtown

Waiting for you tonight

Downtown"

They looked free and happy, like the music was drawing something back from their time even if it was decades off. It caused something warm to bleed into his chest, and the next lines were sung softly.

"You're gonna be alright now~"

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Somewhere in an old dingy shop, a shopkeeper gently brushed the box of a wand fluttering to be let out, giving soothing noises in an attempt to calm it. 

“I know how hard it is, little wand, to have been abandoned by such a promising choice of yours. But no matter, she will return once the time is right. My partner did not intend for you to go unused and I made you as so. Give it a little time, and you will be rightfully in her hands again.”

The rattling of the box calmed, and he returned it to the little tuck in corner. Ready to be pulled out for when the time is right. In the meantime-

He hummed as he picked up a crystal ball, just because he was old doesn’t mean he should have to miss the new episode for Wands and Wonders.

Chapter Text

Ron was panicking as they rushed out of Ollivander's, the old wizard chuckling as he pointed to the direction that Solace had left to a while ago and he hadn't seen him since. He tried not to panic as he scanned the thinning crowd of Diagon Alley for the head of blonde hair, only succeeding in finding Hermione and Harry in other parts of the shopping district trying to find the bloke.

He let himself fall unto a bench, resting his head in his knees trying to keep the worst thoughts from coming to his mind. His head too troubled to even feel hungry at the sight of the Florean's ice cream parlor. Finding his heart jackrabbit out of control even more when he could already hear the stern calls of Hermione over the chiming bell and shouts of the man manning it, and the faint sound of music drifting through the corner, and the- wait.

His feet followed the less crowded corners, the brick walls turning darker, but not dark enough for it to be as shady as Knockturn Alley. Keeping one hand near his coin pouch and another on his wand, and avoiding any eye contact to get closer to where the sound of outdated music drifted in the air, something that sounded like it would play in a muggle radio her parents would play for a dance in the kitchens when they thought none of the kids were looking. The low melodic voice getting louder the closer he got, and soon he found himself looking at a stage with the summery blonde kid swinging as if his body was possessed by the song he was singing. A catchy melody that made something warm creep into Ron's insides, like gulps of hot chocolate or the sips of fire butterbeer that he sneaked from Charlie's mug whenever he wasn't watching.

Looking to the audience, he could see the two siblings, Hazel and Nico, doing a dance that looked like it could have been 'the thing' in his parent's time with smooth transitions and daring tricks, looking nothing like the waltz that he had to learn last year. For one, it looked like they were actually having fun as they danced through the verse of the song, and as Ron peered further, he could see Ginny and his mom further in the crowd enjoying the ends of an ice cream cone as they languidly watched the dancing duo.

"So go downtown

Things will be great when you're

Downtown

Don't wait a minute more

Downtown

Everything's waiting for you~" 

He rushed towards them, noting how they didn't have a scrap on them, and how his mother's eyes twinkled in joy as the chorus echoed, slowly coming to an end as the small crowd gave an applaud and the people on stage bowed deeply.

"And what a wonderful performance today, lovelies! Be sure to hear from us again, Hot Howls, remember that name folks!" An enthusiastic voice yelled, bringing Ron's eyes back to the stage, where a red-faced Will was being pat on the back by the older band members as he climbed back down. Meeting back with Hazel and Nico as she jumped back happily at his performance, while Nico had a small- not a sarcastically smug- smile on his face. 

At the tapping sound of footsteps, his eyes moved to find Hermione and Harry jogging over, very much looking like they were looking for the person they were supposed to watch out for. However, if Molly realized their slip-up, she wasn't saying anything as she walked over to compliment Will's performance, flustering the boy even further. 

"We shouldn't trust them-" a voice hissed at him, and he could feel his sister's stare on him as he continued watching the three Americans who seemed to be basking in the after-show atmosphere. "And what's this sudden change of heart? I thought you were all buddy buddy with them."

Ron finally tore his eyes from the group, only to see a conflicted Ginny who wouldn't look him in the eyes. "I know that look Ginny, don't try to figure this out by yourself, you need to tell us what you saw that was suspicious-" his hands grasped her shoulders but she shook him off. Her eyes looking dark and distant again, as if all the progress they made as siblings disappeared and it was back to his second year where she could barely stand to be with him.

The cold feeling of rejection crept up inside him, and he violently shook it away as two pairs of footsteps came closer to them.

"Ginny! How long has Will been with you guys-"

She looked away from him at the sound of Hermione's voice, with a wheezing Harry beside her as tried to catch his breath. "Not too long, mom didn't even notice you lost him, especially after the show he put on," she walked over to their mom, her stance screaming 'done with this conversation, now join the next one loser' and Ron dragged his two friends to do so.

Will still seemed flustered, but the redness on his face looked less like a glowing tomato and took on more of a soft tint as he laughed at something red headed mother said, meanwhile Hazel and Ginny seemed to be unable to look each other in the eye while Nicolo was checking his nails like some teen mean girl from an American show. Ron hated to admit that he actually looked cool doing it so he shifted his attention back to his mother, who seemed to be finishing up the compliments with Will.

"Really miss, it was just something fun I would do with the other campers, you should hear Austen sing-" the blonde chuckled. And Molly shook her head at his modesty, before clapping them all to attention. "Alright, the sun is almost down so we should start heading back, Fred and George would be around the 2nd shop by the opening by now with all our books, so let's head off to meet them now shall we?"

Peering upwards, Ron was surprised to find the day almost ending, the molten gold of the sun turning to the color of his hair, finding a strange hollow feeling to the day, even if nothing truly went wrong. Today would be the last day he spent with his family before boarding the Hogwarts train. 

"C'mon all of you, we still need to pack once we get back to the house."

————————————————————————————————————————————

Will looked at the very solid looking brick wall that separated the 9th and the 10th platform. "They're not fucking with us, right-" he heard Hazel whisper grumpily before Nico hissed at her language like a cat.

"I'm sure what they're doing is a completely normal part in Wizarding culture-" Will replied, trying to psyche himself up to either see something absolutely awesome or have to treat a concussion at a moment's notice. Nico must have noticed his hesitance behind his smile, because he simply bumped his hips with his own. 

"Stop worrying so much, you're supposed to be the dumb blonde himbo in the relationship," he jokingly whispered, chuckling when he felt a hip bump in return. "And you're supposed to be the bad boy with an I-don't-give-a-shit attitude, I'll be a dumb himbo when you stop fucking up the dynamics too." He teased back, before falling quiet when he at Ron's head snapping at them, the suspicion in it made his stomach twist in such a nauseating way, and he could feel Nico inch away hesitantly. 

Ginny elbowed her brother and got him to stop looking, but not before looking at Nico and Hazel in a less suspicious glare before snapping back to attention to their mother. Will didn't know what happened during the shopping trip yesterday, with all of them cramming their new purchases and clothes into trunks and barely missing a wild prank experiment gone wrong. All he knew was that somehow something went sour between them and the three were now walking on eggshells with each other, and Ginny told Ron so now he was acting like a very tall, tomato bodyguard.

The red head matriarch's voice cut through his thoughts, and his attention went back to Mrs. Weasley.

"Alright, for the last time, I know you're Fred and you're George now get running to the mirage before I throw you in there myself-" she hissed at the twins, who sprinted towards the wall between the 9th and 10th while holding back their laughter, and before Will's eyes they disappeared just as they hit the brick wall. He looked around, and nobody seemed to see them, except for another family who seemed relieved and raced over to where they were as well. 

The mother of the family seemed hesitant, but stepped forward to Molly, "I-I hope we're not being a bother, but would you people happen to be-" she mimed waving a wand, in which Molly immediately clapped her hands and hurried her over. 

"Oh, yes yes, I'm telling you Hogwarts needs to give better instructions for the school year, I can count on my two hands and toes how many families we've had to help get to the platform!" Molly recounts cheerily as she clapped the fellow mother's shoulder. "Simply take a nice running start around the border, and you should get to the train. Go on, just the way my sons did it-" and with her prodding, the family of three to take a running head start and disappearing beyond whatever was hidden beyond the solid brick wall.

"Well?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she turned to them, gesturing to the wall once more.

"On three?" Hazel suggested groggily, hands on her trolley while lowering her legs to a running stance.

"One-" Nico responded, relaxing his upper body in preparation for collision.

"Two-" Will continued, his grip on the trolley tightening while a bead of sweat trickled down his face.

"Three-" Hazel took a running start to the solid brick wall, the two boys following behind her.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Ow ow ow, that hurts so much, why did we have to run-" Hazel muttered from where she was, her form crumpled dramatically next to a giant bird's cage, Will could see one of Nico's legs peeking out from behind his trunk, where he presumably collapsed from the impact. Will found himself face to face with a kid paler than Octavian, with the pasty blonde hair and ugly face to match.

"Watch where you're going, you bloody idiots!" The boy shouted at them, dusting himself off while two bulky kids stood behind him like bodyguards. 

And apparently the annoying attitude too. Gods he hopes he's in a different year. 

Nico and Hazel had brushed themselves off, and stood behind him too, mirroring the trio across them. "Listen, I don't know who died to make you king, but it's not very polite to call people idiots when you were the one in front of the entrance that has people taking running starts." Hazel bit back, her voice sounding like it was craving either a caffeine hit or a fight. "Not to mention how stupid it was to park your trolley right in front of it too," Nico murmured loudly, smirking when the pale blonde's head shot to him.

"Just wait until my father hears about this, you filthy heathens," the boy started again pointing at Nico and Hazel as if they were wanted criminals, "I recognize your voices from that alleyway, I bet it was one of you who had the nerve to throw that rock at me, no bother, I'll just need to point my fingers and you'll be locked in Azkaban for the rest of your pathetic lives-"

 Now, Will probably shouldn't make more enemies in this new world, but nobody talks to his friends like that, and he didn't spend summers with Clarisse AND Drew for nothing. 

"And what will your daddy say? That his little baby boy can't fight for himself?" Will snarked, feeling the rush of hot poison slip out his mouth, waxing itself together to find where it hurts, "couldn't even stop himself from crying over an itty bitty rock? What are you, a first grader?". All the stress and nonsense from the week flowing out like broken faucet head struggling against the water pressure. "Please, if your father is half the man he should be, he would kick you for being such an incompetent-" 

"Don't talk to me that way!" The boy hissed, grabbing at Will's shirt at some poor attempt in intimidation, "my father has a high place in society, and he won't have trouble putting you in yours". His pale hand had a good grip on the cloth though, and Will responded with putting his face even closer to the kid. "Go on, show me what you've got to lose-" his threat was cut short with a familiar yell, and the pale boy's hand let go of his shirt to sneer at it's source.

"Solace, Levasques, there you guys are-" Ginny huffed from where she ran, grabbing the two 'Levasques' and heading over to the platform, leaving Will to continue to deal with the other boy. "Will, come on, the train is coming soon, Malfoy's bothered us long enough," Ginny said, leaving him with a knowing glance before she dragged his two friends to the train. The look telling him to get it over quick, and get it over now.

"I'd follow you're little friends if I were you," the newly named 'Malfoy' spat out, releasing his hold on Will's clothes with a sneer, waiting for him to scamper back to his friends. "And I'd find actual friends, because as far as I can see your back is left wide open."

The two blondes parted, one followed by two others, and another with friends waiting for him.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

A woman paced nervously behind a stage, her water bottle having been emptied hours ago and crushed with a shaking grip and a phone in her grasp on it's way to meeting the same fate. 

"Chiron, I trust you, I've known you for years, I left him there because I knew he'd be safer from BOTH problems in the family with you so why-" she growled before she cut herself off, harshly taking a breath before continuing. "I might not know much about the goddess, but she's left that monster to continue crawling through the Wizarding World, destroying homes, ripping apart families, playing boogeyman to orphan children-"

Naomi Solace's voice hitched.

"I just want my baby back safe-" her voice peters out. Waiting for the judgment from the centaur that raised her only child more than she did. Only to hear his wizened tired voice let out a sigh, "that is what every parents wants for their child, Naomi. And I find no fault in you hiding these things from young William," from his end, Chiron stared at the walls of trinkets decorating his space, each filled with memories hard to forget. His hand holding two crumpled up letter with the Hogwarts crest on it, one slightly more yellowed than the other.

"For now, all we can do is worry here, at home."

Chapter Text

The train was different to Luna this year. The shadows of it longer with the sharp sunlight for a September, the red metal looking more scarlet than ruby, jagged despite still having the same exterior as last year. Luna appreciated the new look as she hopped on, following the shadows to her usual car, thrilled to see it even reached her usual car with Ginny.

"The shadows are where things that are hidden hide, unless they like hiding in plain sight" she chimed as she saw three new people in the car, she squeezed through their bodies and the quakspurts they seemed to bring in, but she wasn't one to pry into a person's life unless it could be funny.

"You guys bring a lot of quakspurts," she simply noted, and left it at that while feeling a sudden weight to her left side. 

"Luna! You're finally here! The train was almost leaving!" Ginny nearly shouted in her ear. Her hands especially sweaty today and her magic trembling just beneath her skin, hyped up on sugar or adrenaline, Luna didn't know, and she didn't particularly care. The train ride continued with a stilted sort of silence, save for the sound of the train tracks and the tappings of the three new strangers on various surfaces, but it made for great background noise as she opened up her copy of the quibbler and snapped her glasses in place.

"What's that?" Someone asked, and she looked up to the curious eyes of the other girl in the car. With eyes like molten gold, veins with hypnotic rainbow oil dripping  through all her jagged bones like it was turning to bismuth crystal, skin living and breathing and dead that Luna expects to see plants to sprout out and wither in a span of seconds just looking at it-

"Luna?" A voice calls out, snapping Luna out of her stupor to feel Ginny's hands on her forearms, her grip strong enough to feel like it would bruise. But Ginny wasn't surrounded by Malebranche, her brows were crunched up in worry, not fury. She wasn't hurting her because she hated her, it was because she was worried.

So instead of ripping her arms away, she smiled. "Arms, please," she said, and her request was granted, giving the circulation time to circle back and waving off Ginny's apology. Turning to look at the new people and seeing their curiosity and caution spark. Luna took off her glasses. 

"These are called Spectrespecs, these ones my dad bought them for me so I could see Wackspurts," at this she paused, taking in their reactions which only seemed enraptured by her answers, a giddy feeling bubbling up inside her. "They're little creatures that fly into your ears and make your head fuzzy, but sometimes I can see other things with the Spectrespecs too."

A pale boy, so curiously pale that Luna decided to put her Spectrespecs back on, only to see his face turn skeletal and haunting, with something warm dripping through his nervous system, like blood trying to wash away the faint glitter that clings to him. All of it twining round dusty bones. Round the femur and pelvis, rib cage and arm socket, to his opened jaw and-

"What else do they let you see?" He asked, and Luna startled once more before happily responding. "Oh, all kinds of things! Since it was meant to catch Wackspurts while they're camouflaged, a lot of illusion charms are made useless with it on! Like the moving pictures and charms in newspapers stop moving entirely! Which helps with my headache every time I look at them. I can't even see ghosts with them on, imagine the implications of that!" She chattered, unable to stop herself. "I tried running through the platform with the glasses on, and you wouldn't believe how complex the spell was for the train station to be at the same area as the train station, but not disturb any of the people in the muggle side! It's like it goes below and above the station while being in it at the same time! Which I understand to be physically impossible!" 

The one with a skeleton for a body cocked his head curiously, like a puppy finding something confusing. "There are ghosts?" He asked, as if it was new, and with their American accent maybe it was. Maybe they were muggleborn transfers, but either way they would be interesting to watch for the time they'd be staying. Hopefully they wouldn't be bullies who were so easily influenced by emotions. 

"Uhm, Luna? Your nose is kind of-"

She felt her head sway as a headache and warm liquid dripped down her nose, touching it gently and pulling back to see blood on her fingers. Like her brain was leaking out, and it wasn't pouring out fast enough from her nose as pressure behind her eyes turned blindingly painful.

The blood was dripping rapidly, and with her thin frame, Luna wouldn't be surprised if the blood was enough to make her pass out, accepting the darkness before a warm hand slipped under her head. Opening her eyes to see blinding sunlight, like a view of heaven if she succumbed to the blood loss with grace.

"Let me take off the glasses, okay-

And the last thing she saw, as the glasses were removed, were a pair of concerned blue eyes, and a head of curly blonde hair.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"And she, uhm- she just passed out-" Will finalized, his fingers checking on the pulse point to find it slowly steadying, and using a handkerchief that Nico handed him to gently wipe away at the slowing blood flow. Opening her eyes to find them bloodshot but responsive.

"What did you do to her!" Ginny yelled, her fist finding his collar and hauling him away from Luna, while still being seated to cushion the pale blonde's head on her lap. "Luna's Spectrespecs never made her bleed her fucking brains out! So why the fuck that in under five minutes of staring at you three, she's now lying unconscious in a 9 hour train ride with three strangers and enough blood to look like a murder scene!" 

Her face was turning a furious red from her shouting, and Will put his hands up to calm her.

"Look, I get it, I'm the grandson of some weird-murderer guy in this society, but I swear we didn't do anything to make her react like that, we don't even know how her Spectrespecs work. I'm a trained first aid respondent, let me keep her stable and then we'll talk, I promise-" Will waited for Ginny to snap something back, which she nearly did, but she simply sighed heavily and leaned back to her chair.

"Can't believe my brother left me with the grandkid while he's off doing prefect things with his girlfriend-" she mutters quietly, but Will hears it anyways. He ignores it and focuses on checking Luna's temperature, and sighing in relief when the trembling of her hands stopped.

"Wait, if your brother and his girlfriend are prefects, can't they alert the teachers about it? Or maybe get them to transport her to a clinic?" Hazel chimed hurriedly, still crouched down with Nico to clean up the blood that got to the floor (and hear Ginny and Will's argument without getting involved)

At this, Ginny's breath caught, and her eyes scanned the entire cabin as if thinking up of a plan. 

"You and Nico could go, I'll stay with grandson and Luna. They should be at the carriage labeled with a fancy 'P'."

The two nodded, leaving Will alone with the red head who's grip still didn't leave Luna's comatose hand. 

The nervous energy was thick enough to be cut with a rusty knife, and Will's leg was jumping up and down faster than his heart rate at the weird vibes of the carriage. Should he do something about it? Or would it just make things more awkward? Which one would be more beneficial to the quest? 

"So-why do you call me grandson?" He decided. Surely just an explanation on a nickname won't open too many cans of worms, right?

Apparently he was wrong, because Ginny just stared at him blankly and he had to smack himself because 'right, look over here! Kid who was apparently grandson of some weird French murderer!' "Listen, I get that to you, my granddaddy was the worst person probably alive, but I've never met the man and I wanna know what crimes I'm having pinned on me, okay?" He finally spits out, matching her hostile energy after having to keep up with it. Gods, he reminds himself to pray to Annabeth for keeping a cool enough head to not snap out at Clarisse when she's like this.

Ginny, at least, looked taken aback by his emotions. As if she was surprised to him snap like an actual human person when their buttons are pushed. Sure, Will realizes it probably wasn't a good idea to snap at her, but he's tired, and his boyfriend is gone, and Ginny seems like the type to appreciate honesty over charm. And he was proved right when she deflated while making a comical farting sound like an accompaniment for all the pent up air exiting her. 

"Listen, personally I have nothing against you, but your grandfather led a massacre that killed almost more than half of the wizard population in Britain, and his followers are still around snaking off with his work. And-" she hesitated while saying her next words, "I saw Hazel throw a stone at Draco Malfoy, and I was under the impression that none of you knew you were wizards. But wandless magic is difficult, and nobody could have done it with the amount of skill to hit that annoying prat head on."

Malfoy, Malfoy Malfoy Malfoy, why did that name ring a bell to Solace-

"The pale brat on the platform? That's who Hazel hit with a rock?" Will nodded his head in approval at his boyfriend's sister, "nice."

"That's not the point!" Ginny shouted. Her form turning tense once more until Will raised his hands up in surrender, showing her that he was taking her seriously. Then he put himself in a contemplating position, trying to think of a way to twist the truth to something believable and usable.

It would take too much effort to recount the whole thing to the other two, so it would be smarter to wait until they brought the prefects over before coming up with a back story. And judging by the sound of hurried footsteps-

"Listen, the things we did back in America- it's kind of personal to them. I could share you bits of mine, but it might be better if we do that after your brother and his girlfriend gets here to check up on Luna." He crosses his heart and hold up a hand like a stereotypical blonde boy in old shows.

"Camper's honor, Ms. Weasley." 

He finishes just as the carriage door opens with a panicked Ron and Hermione at the other side of it.

"Oh, great, your brother and his girlfriend are here, I'll just leave to give you guys more space," he says, as he rolls out of the carriage in time to escape the amount of swearing that a red headed (and very red faced) brother let loose on his younger sister, and just around the same time that Nico and Hazel made it back to the carriage at a more leisurely pace. Closing the door gently while apologetically ignoring Ginny's hurried justification from her brother's ranting.

He wishes that he felt bad, but he has far more important things to pay attention to.

"Nico, Hazel, over there! I see candy!"

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

'You're not real, you're not real, this isn't real anymore-'

A young girl chants to herself, surrounded by all sides with suffocating darkness, feeling her feet shift and unsteady from a scaly foothold she couldn't see.

She jumps as a silent green light flashed like lightning, and the soft thud that could be heard might as well be the thunder.

'This isn't real, you're dreaming again, this isn't- you're not-'

Pitch black was bleeding into her dyed blonde hair, her skin turning sickly pale and dry.

'Fuck fuck fuck-'

She shot up, trying to feel for walls to follow while forcing her feet one step after another, just to move to another dream, any dream but this kind. Her hands not feeling any surface in front of her, and her feet dangling dangerously, as if she was suspended in a terrifying, ever shifting and hissing platform.

A hand of chalky gray latches unto her shoulder, clawing at her until she could feel her balance shift to the dark emptiness of her dream. Just on the cusp of falling over the edge.

"Come to me, my daughter-" she heard, just as she free falls.

Naomi Solace gasps awake in the cramped mattress of her touring van, the sky still dark and her manager still snoring in the bunk above her. The driver is silent, in contrast to their constant calm whistling. She decides she's not getting back to sleep, and walks to the shotgun seat to take a breather. 

"You're up early," the driver says, her voice much deeper from the lack of sleep but just as chipper as usual. Naomi hums back at her, pleasantly surprised to realize she recognized the streets as the one leading to her neighborhood. Soon enough, the van stops right out her doorstep, and she's shaking her manager awake to tell her she's off.

One last hug, a selfie, and an autograph later, Naomi finds herself in her lonely 2 bedroom house, making something semi-edible for breakfast while blinking the rest of the sleep away. She finished setting down her table with two fried eggs and a piece of toast, saying grace and just a tantalizing inch away from breaking a bite from the golden brown bread-

And then the doorbell rang.

Groaning, she shoves the plate away and stomps towards the door, avoiding all the luggage still left in the doorway.

"Listen, Melissa, if I forgot about my guitar again I could just pick it up later at the studio," she starts, squashing any hope that the person behind the door was her son. If he wanted her to know he was alive, then she would get the call from Chiron. "I was planning on buying a new one anyways, you know how old that damn thing is-" she continues, undoing the three latches and one lock before swinging it open.

"If I didn't know any better, I think you were knocking just to-" her words cut short upon seeing three figures right outside her doorstep, an elegant aged woman with a pair of specs, a ragged ratty middle aged....something, and a man in a thin tweed jacket.

All of them holding out their wands, held firmly and ready to cast a spell but not aimed. 

"Ms. Solace, I believe we have much to discuss."

Chapter Text

Naomi cursed inside her head, enough to make any psychic blush, at her creativeness. She moved to shut the door, but the ratty goth at the other side of it held strong, leaving just a tiny enough gap for them to keep talking. 

"I don't know what new cult popped up since I came back from tour, but I want none of it, this is a God-fearing home, you hear me!" She lied, hoping to maybe wake her lazy neighbors up with the sound, but knowing it was for moot with the way not a single nosy head peaked out the curtains.

"Ms. Solace, I have no idea what your story may be, or what you've had to do to live so far from your father, but-" the understanding speech stopped as the man in the tweed jacket got pushed aside with the other man putting all his weight into the door, Naomi fell as the door opened wide for the three weirdos to barge into her life. 

"Listen, we have your son, and as long as you cooperate, nothing happens to him-" the feral man (who reminded Naomi too much of the equally feral abandoned poodle a few block away from the town church) was interrupted as well by the elegant woman pinching his ear, as if he was a badly misbehaved child. She closed the door with a swish of her wand, and if Naomi wasn't scared before, she's shitting her pants now.

"What WE mean to say is, we have many issues to sort out, Mrs. Solace, and we would prefer it if we can keep this encounter confrontation-free," she finishes with letting the man's ear go, and extending a hand to help her up. Naomi slaps it away.

With shaking legs, she decides to play along, heating water for tea for the posh Brits and sitting down to scarf down her food, her appetite completely gone as she thinks about the guns she hid all over the house. When the kettle whistles, she drops three tea bags into three mugs, and a packet of instant coffee in another. 

"So, what's all this about?" She starts, peering through her own mug, gripping the handle hard to disguise her shaking hands. The man in the tweed jacket straightened, "we are alumni of a school for wizards in the United Kingdom, Hogwarts, we aim to churn out well-rounded wizards and witches with the best magic education in the European continent," he pauses for a sip of his tea, appreciating the flavor even if it was cheap and American. 

Naomi thinks about the gun she hid under the sink. 

"I'm Remus Lupin, the lady here is Minerva McGonagall, and- the other one here is Sirius Black. The school offers students the ability to be with their own, to grow into their gifts, and explore the wonders of magic in a safe environment-"

Naomi interrupts him, "yes yes yes, unfortunately I'm not a child, and my son is already enrolled in a school that can keep up with his gifts AND disabilities," she says the last part with a hint of spite. Before learning of Camp Half Blood, she ripped every school advisor to shreds for ever calling her son a problem, before shutting the door and hissing at him to stop helping strangers who were hurt, it was the only way she knew how to show her love, next to sending him to the safest place in the world for him.

She downed her steaming hot coffee, ignoring how her tongue was burnt as she casually stood to place her dishes to the sink.

"Now now, we get that your son has special needs, but growing up as a squib, you need to understand the severity of the situation, your father is alive and your son could be a target if he catches wind of both of you being alive and in America," the man, Remus, continues, noticing faintly the slight hitch in breath when he mentioned Voldemort. "Hogwarts is the only place he wouldn't dare step foot in, and we can guarantee both you and your son's safety there if you just-"

"SHUT UP!" she yelled.

Sure,  Voldemort killed other wizards as well as muggles, but she taught herself to be vigilant with both for similar reason.

"Shut up, you don't know anything about what I do or don't know!" She breaks down, her sobs growing louder as the stress starts to break her.

She opens the cabinet doors, at first glance filled with liquor and cleaning materials. She could hear the lady, McGona-something, reprimand her for reaching for a drink during an important discussion, none of them noticing the gun hidden right around the corner till it was aimed at them. 

In hindsight, Naomi should have expected them to respond with their wands pointing right back out her, but she forces herself not to freeze, to cock the safety off and finger the trigger in warning. "I don't fucking owe you shit, now give me my son back or I'm putting lead on one of us in this room!" She yelled. "I'm done being afraid of him! I'm done being his twisted little experiment! And my son is never meeting him if he just stays an ocean away instead of being in the same continent!" 

All the occupants stood at a standstill. One side with three wands capable of any magic possible, and the other staring at the barrel of a loaded gun. For a full moment, the room felt devoid of any breath.

And a gunshot was heard.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Hazel thought back to what the giant said about the four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, each with their own criteria to get in. The brave, the hard working, the bright, and the evil.

It felt like he had a bad history with one of the houses, and Hazel knew first hand how giants could hold grudges. Just seeing the relatively short giant made her shudder a little in fear, but she didn't feel the sort of-connection that she had felt even with the worst Roman monsters. The feeling of being a concept out of time, of something not truly sculpted of the modern world but rather adapted to it. Concepts given breath by the very power of human mind and story, and sometimes she wondered if other demigods felt the very power of man's memory in half their being.

In other words, Trivia's/Hecate's world didn't feel entirely Roman or Greek, and any grudge between her and the possible new teacher did not currently exists, and she hopes to keep it that way.

Currently though, she's trying her hardest not to vomit off the side of a boat that's giving her more flashbacks to Pax the little boat during her first quest. She could hear Nico having the same predicament as she miserably sniffed some medicated remedy that Will had given her. The crystal like concoction giving off a minty scent that held off the nausea for a little while before the motion came back again. 

She could roughly hear murmuring from another boat about a giant squid, and Nico slowly pulled her into the boat when he saw movement in the water. So she ends up staring at the growing sight of a large gothic castle as the cluster of boats nears it.

Being a child of Pluto sucked.

She almost cried as she made it to land, Will supporting Nico as he dry-heaved his organs out on a bush. The same giant got out of his own boat, and lead the group to the front of the enormous castle, and Hazel was proud to see that she barely staggered while staying at the back of the group of eleven year olds.

"Now, normally it would be Minerva who'd walk you all to be sorted, but she's off in Texas doing business. So I'll be doing the honors of calling you all to the front. You just gotta relax and let the hat decide what's the best fit for ya, really." The giant, Hagrid, then opens the large heavy looking doors all by himself. Hazel gives herself a moment to panic before she's lead into the candlelit hallway of the castle.

Soon, they found ANOTHER set of heavy looking doors, but as Hagrid opened them, Hazel let herself gape at the starry sky that was where the ceiling should be. 

"Woah," she said to herself. 

The three demigods were all at the back of the group, with Will getting the most stares as the tallest kid there. And when the Hagrid herded them all into the large room, Hazel could make out four tables, each under a banner of green, blue, yellow, and red. She wondered which one was for which house, before snapping to attention to where Hagrid now stood, beside a stool with a dusty old hat, and struggling with a long piece of parchment. 

She worried for a moment that he had said something important, but seeing as everyone else was nervous, she simply-turned her head around to look at something else.

From one side of the room, she could catch Ginny's bright red hair beside her family all under a bright red banner with a lion roaring ferociously. She was conflicted on whether she should wave hello or not, but her dilemma was interrupted. 

"Joan Amarie!" Hagrid bellowed, the young kids jumping in surprise before one shuffled forward to the stool. The dusty old hat lowered to their head and Hazel waited to see what mystical ceremony would commence. 

Then she got bored. Her eyes straying to the opposite table under the emerald green banner with a snake. The people in there carried themselves in a familiar manner, and- Hazel narrowed her eyes at the feeling of precious metal and jewels on their person-almost all of the people in that table were rich, or at least influential. They must have been the Slytherin table.

The students in the serpentine house had an air of confidence, which Hazel could admire if she didn't catch sight of platinum blonde hair and annoying face. 

Now, Hazel didn't hate people, and even if she did she'd try her best to not act on it. But ever since coming back to life, and Octavian-

She looks back to the stage, and curses as she realizes that it was an entirely new kid and she had missed what exactly the hat was even for. Hissing, she was at least relieved to see that Nico and Will were still in the group, with Nico at least looking like he knew what was going on. 

"RAVENCLAW!" Hazel gawked at the talking hat, who was lifted off the kid as they moved to their new table, the one under a blue banner with an....eagle?

She decided to ignore the-weird animal choice, and instead chose to scan through the table. There wasn't anything about the people that immediately told someone they were the 'smart' group. There were no nerdy glasses, high piles of tomes, or dignified straight posture of teacher's pets.

But if Camp Jupiter and her quests have taught her anything, it's that people's genius can come in very different ways; you just need to dig deeper than the surface. And sure enough, she suppresses her smile at the sight of books hidden under the tables, bits of technology broken apart and scribbled on, and if she ignored the giant yelling children's names and the outrageous hat yelling house names, she was able to make out the slightest sound of pens scratching and coins being exchanged. 

"Hey, Nico-" she whispered. Her brother looking at her while tracing pattern on his own hands, he let them drop to peer on what she was looking at, 

"Don't those people reminds you of certain someone's?" And just as she thought he didn't snort or make any sound of amusement, but his lips press flat in his face in a joking grimace. No doubt already seeing the fire and chaos that would descend should a certain smokey-headed Latino and an ambitiously capable architect sat among the the students under the blue and bronze banner.

Her smile fades as Will joins their huddle, his own face grim, but light enough that it can be passed off as nerves. When he speaks, it's with the same easy going tone that makes him an easy demigod to underestimate. 

"Have you guys noticed we haven't been called yet?"

Another thing Hazel has learned, never underestimate any demigod. Her eyes scan the group of eleven year olds, and finds them a much smaller group then they could have possible been. 

"Bettina Noire!" Hagrid bellows, and the group turns smaller still. With the girl in pigtails making her way up the steps. "They called all of them by alphabetical, but they're leaving us behind on purpose-" Nico realizes, the sudden nervousness causing a drop of temperature before he put himself together. 

"They might realize my last name isn't actually Levesque," he murmured.

Hazel didn't know what her brother was thinking, but most of the children were already finished, and the names have already entered the W section with only five kids left with them. 

Soon enough, they were finished sorting too. And it was just three demigods left shuffling awkwardly while the students around them gawked.

The same old man they saw briefly at the Grimmauld House stepped into a podium, clearing his throat.

"Students of Hogwarts I believe we are all famished and ready to dig into the lovely feast prepared for us by our hardworking house elves, but just for a moment, as your headmaster, I would like us all to greet new students from America to our beloved Hogwarts." At his cue, the students put up a polite enough applause.

"Now, to have them sorted to their houses, our first student, Nicolo Di Angelo!"

A collective gasp came from a number of students, with the others appearing confused, whispering from one ar to another on what was so shocking.

"A Di Angelo- but weren't they all-"

"Yeah, back in World War I or something."

"Idiot, it was during World War II and the bodies weren't found, so it could be-"

"The daughter with her two kids and a mysterious lover, why's he the only one in all these years?"

Hazel swallowed down the bile that itched up her throat. She wondered if Nico knew all about whatever these wizards were talking about, then groaned as she realized that he probably knew exactly what they were talking about. He had used her surname, made it clear they were related, acted absolutely clueless about ghosts and magical shit, and Hazel knew damn well how close Nico likes to hide his cards close to his chest just to rip out the ace in his sleeves.

Hazel watched him stiffly make his way to the podium and grasp the hat gently from the giant's hands.

"I go by Levesque now, actually," he said bluntly, staring meaningfully at the headmaster. The old man's smug grin didn't change, but he lowered his head in some form of acknowledgment. "Nicolo Levesque it is, may you do us the honors of learning your house?"

Nico nodded briskly and set the hat on his head, sitting straight on the stool as if it was in front of a king and not a gaggle of children waiting his house. It took a long time before either the hat or Nico moved from that position, almost like a stall in place as the hall waited for it's answer. Some students grumbling as impatiently as their stomachs.

The hat finally opened it's mouth-brim? And gave out a sigh as if exhausted by her brother's mind. 

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Nico flipped his hair cooly, and sauntered over to the only table Hazel wasn't able to view well. One decked with yellow and black and a...skunk?

"Hazel Levesque!" The old man continued, and Hazel walked down the aisle with all the confidence she could muster, head held high like she's trained herself to. Brushing the pocket which once held Frank's lifeline, and now where her Spatha was enchanted into the form of a pocket knife.

Hazel swallowed down the worry as she sat on the stool, the hat lowered until it covered her eyes with it's ridiculous brim. What if they weren't in similar houses? What if she had another blackout episode (even if they stopped coming randomly after Frank entered one with her, but still-), what if she needed him? What if he needed her? Hazel had separated with her brother before, but after Tartarus he was still weak, and nightmare ridden, and had trouble with his joints as if his true age had claimed them- and and-

"Goodness, you're almost as anxiety ridden as your brother," a disembodied voice cut in, shocking Hazel as a sound, a conscience made itself known. Not in her head but somewhere near it, asking for permission.

The hat.

"Indeed, that is my name, now, if you could keep your thoughts still and allow me to at least find some justification to put you in the same house as him. The voice was deep and raspy, and with a start she realized it sounded like Trivia in her crone form.

"Oooh, I hoped that you wouldn't draw that conclusion when I heard your brother say SHE was your apprentice," the hat continued, and for a moment was silent. "Well? Are you going to let me in your head?" He-she...it? Said crossly making Hazel startled but comply, lowering her mental walls until she could feel a mental presence slip into it and roam around. 

"Just as I thought, traumatized," the hat's voice echoed in her mind, and she shivered at the cool sensation behind her eyes. Flashes of her memories moved fast, slowing down at random parts she couldn't fully comprehend-

"I'll keep it safe, Frank."

"WE'RE NOT LEAVING NICO-"

"They'll be fine, if I know anything about those two, it's that they can do anything when together."

"The asphodel fields, I'm sure."

Hazel gasped when the entity crept it's way out of her head, it's voice humming in contemplation. 

You definitely fit the criteria for any house, but like your brother said, you're not safe up in the skies or under the water. Therefore, the only house for you to be in is-

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Hazel sighed in relief as the hat was taken off her head, and walked as calmly as she could to her brother's side where he had already cleared a seat for her. She settled in and brought her attention back to to the front, where Will was already marching up to the stool before his name was said. Dumbledore shaking his head and letting the blonde continue, already sitting on the chair and waiting for Hagrid to lower the hat to his head.

Except the hat didn't even reach his head.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat yelled, and Hazel turned to see Nico's face contorted into an upset grimace, before it smoothed itself quickly to a mask of indifference. Hazel was a little stifled too, the entire mission would be easier if they could be in the same house, or at least one of them be in the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw house to keep close with the acquaintances they've made so far.

The headmaster cleared his throat, smiled at the unsure look of Will Solace as he gestured to the house clad in green, and Will visibly grimaced before making his way there, and Hazel noticed how plenty of people from different tables were also giving him nasty looks.

She'd starting to think it wasn't just the giant who has a grudge towards the serpentine house. 

"Well then, now that William Riddle has been sorted into his house, i would like to remind you all once again that the forbidden forest is forbidden lest you be punished by our groundskeeper Argus Filch, and that the current lack of Professor McGonagall will be temporary, she will arrive shortly the next day to hand out the timetable for Gryffindors and introduce a new member of staff. Now, I believe it is time for us-" with yet another wave of his hand, food appeared from thin air. 

"-to feast!" 

With plates that Hazel could feel were made of real precious metals, and still fresh and steaming hot with the delicious scent wafting, Hazel watched as the people in her house ravenously dug in. Yet the daughter of Pluto couldn't bring herself to enjoy the food with a new question gnawing at her mind.

"William Riddle-" Nico voices out next to her, making eye contact with Will who had taken his seat in the Slytherin table, facing in a way that he can make direct eye contact with the other two. He cocks his head towards the headmaster, and then another towards an alcove just out of sight near the grand set of doors. Both an acknowledgement and a place to further discuss it.

Hazel sighed as she finally mustered up the appetite to grab a chicken leg and and something that looks like mashed potatoes but the color was just a bit off and reminding Hazel of all the jokes Leo made about British food. She sighed but plated it, resting her head in her palms and doing little to hide her frustrated face.

"This just keeps getting messier and messier to sort out."

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

McGonagall huffed in disapproval as she waved her wand once more to fix her hair in the mirror.

"Now that this whole debacle has been...sorted out, I believe we've come to an agreement?" She states, whirling to review the room, bullet ridden and tossed over as it was.

Naomi Solace returned with frozen peas and a steak, handing the peas to Sirius while nursing her own bruised face with the steak. The old witch could already feel pressure building behind her eyes, knowing without a doubt that Naomi would have fitted right in with the rowdy Marauders, Sirius especially, if she had been given the chance to attend. 

Something about the American demeanor and the shotgun immediately endeared the two to each other despite clawing at each other's hair just moment's ago.

Lupin sighed next to her, using his wand to quickly pack up the first aid, out of all of them, he was the least injured, with only a slight burn of his hands from knocking the pistol away from the woman. But Minerva didn't expect her to be so muggle as to continue the fight with her fists instead. Causing Sirius to use his own hands as well, and through all that messy and delinquent scuffling some sort of-'understanding' was reached.

If Minerva hadn't seen the tapestry herself, she would have assumed the woman was a full muggle. But she still notices how the woman retrieved the gun, but didn't return it.

But then younger woman cleared her throat, and the ease in her eyes was gone, replaced by nervousness.

"So, this Hogwarts, even if you DID take Will there without my consent, is completely safe from-him?" Naomi started, fiddling with her gun before putting it aside, and oh- Minerva almost smiled because as much as Naomi resembled her father, she also resembled a certain student that Minerva had the blessing to teach. 

"Yes, I'm sure. Our headmaster, Dumbledore, is a powerful wizard. A Merlin's first class!" She huffed proudly. Before noticing Naomi's hunched form, like a mixture of relief and dread. 

She searched in her sleeve to find the envelope she had kept there, horribly crumpled but straighten up with a quick 'reparo'. Handing it gently to Naomi, who looked at it with caution, breaking the seal and reading the letter carefully.

"A caretaker?" She mouthed, tracing the word on the letter, sending a lost look at Minerva, and the older woman saw the resemblance of Naomi to her son. A willingness that came with a healthy dose of reluctance. As excited as she would be to have either William or Naomi in her house, she knew that the familiar glint in their eyes could only put them in one house.

"I-I can't take this offer! I have a life here, a career! What would my manager think?!" She spat out, her voice almost in hysterics, Minerva was startled by the change in attitude. 

Remus seemed to raise at the voice, and Sirius looks upset at his new friend's tone, but Minerva waved them off, pointing them to the still hole-riddled wall and non-verbally set them to work. She calmly sits beside Naomi, it does nothing to release the angry tension in the woman, but she isn't pointing with her gun again, so Minerva waits for her to breath. To let go. To make a plan that hides her cards, put on a mask, and make her decision.

Naomi took another shuddering breath, before she steeled her shoulders. She set the steak on her lap before reaching into her pocket for one of those square devices that muggles use, the old professor watches as she taps in a series on the screen before pressing it into her ear.

"Mels, hey, you know all those recordings that were planned? Yeah? I need you to cancel them," she spoke, and the person on the other line could be heard scrambling before screaming out something unintelligible to Minerva, but Naomi sat as calmly as ever.

"Listen, I know this is just last minute, but we finished the tour, and we did great! But something came up with William," Naomi inspected her nails as the two wizards stopped what they were doing to see the singer talk on the phone.

"It's just tragic Melly, his wrist and ankle! Both of them twisted! And in the right hand too! You know how difficult it is to do things one handed! He's in his boarding school right now and his counselor said that he needs supervision since the accident affected so many students" She sighed dramatically, letting out a convincing sniffle with a deadpan face as she continued the call. 

"Yup, yeah, Mellisa, you're the best. Of course I'll send him your regards! In the meantime I'll keep writing for the new album we have planned," with that, her screen turned black and she let the phone slip from her hands to the cushioned seat.

"Hope you got that, you motherfuckers," Naomi sighed as she let herself melt even further into the couch. Fiddling with the gun before smoothly disassembling and reassembling it with ease that comes with constant practice. The professor tried not to make it clear how nervous the action made her but it must have been anyways because Naomi stopped with an apologetic look.

"Listen, I need to sort some things out, pack some more things, get my visa and shit unless we're going there with a portkey or something-" she rambled, and Minerva put a hand around her shoulders, wondering if this was okay for the mother of a kid she, quite literally, helped kidnap and also what the ethical implication were that she sees the young woman so similarly to her long lost friend and student, and maybe even why the family of the man she wants most dead act nothing like she thought they would.

Her ear rings once more as a reminder of the young boy, and she winces. She needs to get Pomfrey to check on it, she must be getting old. Or maybe that was the boy's favored magic. Offensive and unassuming, perfect for a Slytherin. 

She's snapped out from her lone musings as Naomi slips out of her arms. She looked put together and the steak she held had started bleeding by now. 

"Now that this whole mess is done, I'm gonna repack. And I'm bringing my gun with me."

Chapter Text

Ginny wants to say that she was fully attentive of the new frie- enemi-....students of interest as they got sorted. That she kept eyes on them like a hawk and assessed their every move. That nothing they did slipped past her attention.

But that would be bullshit, because she barely paid attention to the food, much less which house they got into. The only thing that's been haunting her mind was Luna's blood stained face, mixed with sweat and her still labored breathing as the Trolley Lady and Professor Flitwick apparated her off to Hogwarts. Her thoughts ran each other over. If she didn't have the trauma, she'd be writing it all down in a diary to keep the ideas straight.

She shifted her beef around as she thought back to what had happened at the infirmary just earlier, which she immediately dashed to once the carriages had touched down school grounds.

~

"It was amazing Ginny, seeing them, truly SEEING them. They were beautiful!" Luna had beamed while the moonlight shone on her pale features and still red-tinged eyes. It made her look unhinged, less her normal 'loony' and more 'listen to my newest conspiracy theory or I'll shiv you'. Ginny will admit that-even she was scared of her, for a moment.

Her hands were painful to hold onto, her short nails leaving imprints on Ginny's freckled flesh, "I'll show you, I'm sure you'll love it! You just need a pair of Spectrespecs, I can lend you one!" Luna continued to rave. Waving their arms in jazz hands like a kid stuck on a high.

or an Azkaban inmate who's truly lost it, but Ginny beats the thought back.

"I'll show you, I'll show you- my papa always said that the public only wanted us to believe they died out, and they're here! They're in Hogwarts! I get to have classes with people like them!" Luna's giggle was chilling, but at least it was familiar. "Why do you think they're here?" Ginny asked, trying to sooth Luna back to bed. Madame Pomfrey was busy at the back preparing the right spells to find out what went wrong with Luna's veins, and Ginny was begging that she would finish up faster. 

"They never tell unless they think you're useful for it, Ginny, their secretive like that," Her energy seemed to dip after that, like her head had finally gotten the message that they were lacking way too much blood and oxygen to function. Luna's head dropped to the pillow, with her hair falling limply around it. 

"They're more than human, Ginny, you'll see soon enough,"

~

 Ginny wasn't able to ask Luna what the she meant by 'more than human', Madame Pomfrey had finished what she needed and shooed Ginny out of the infirmary to join the sorting ceremony. Which, again, she didn't have the energy to care about. Soon enough people were eating the last morsels of food and chatting up a storm, and she's still stuck barely glancing at the new kids with the weird feeling that things were wrong, but not having the perception of how wrong. Like some kind of mist before her eyes.

The food soon enough all disappears, Professor Dumbledore says something about sleeping that could sound like an innuendo about either sex or certain doom. She sighs as her brother finally stands with his 'definitely not my bloody girlfriend, you stupid sister' buddy, and shouts about heading to the dorm rooms. She stands to follow, but she feels two firm hands around each of her shoulders.

"Aww now Ginny, I hope you still aren't upset bout' your friend," Fred crooned, petting her head slowly and tenderly enough that Ginny wonders if he sneaked in Fire Whiskey again.

"Yeah, I bet your souls so full of worry. It's starting to show in your figure, sweet sister-" George didn't finish before he had to duck his head to avoid Ginny's surefire strike to the back of it.

Raising his hands in surrender, George kept his smug grin on his face while Fred tapped Ginny on her shoulder. His amused grin more tinged with guilt, but mischief still shown as a first year suddenly burst into tears crying and breaking out in rashes.

"Damn, that first year was not lying when he said he was a good actor, anyways we'll buy some time for you, and if your stubby legs can't make it by then-"

"Then we'll wait for you by the entrance to let you in, now go, shoo shoo-" Fred made the motion with one hand while rummaging through something in his pocket. Ginny didn't wait to find what he pulled out, immediately slipping away and following the torchlit path back to the infirmary. She should be frustrated that the people she wanted to find out about were in different classes, but at the same time she was relieved for the distance that was available.

She found herself in front of the infirmary, and she pushed open the doors to find silence. She walked through the room to the only occupied bed, Mdm. Pomfrey carrying a tray of empty plates away as she smiled kindly at her.

"I thought you'd be led to your dorms by now, Ms. Weasley," the nurse tutted as she put the tray down a table while wiping her hands off a cloth. "Well, I'm still glad you volunteered yourself to be useful, I need someone to calm Miss Lovegood again. She's restless even after supper and the flobberworm mucus isn't as fresh as I'd like it to be for someone with a sensitive stomach as Ms. Lovegood, so fluff her pillow, tuck her in, massage her temples. Do something while I look through the more old-fashioned potions to soothe her into sleep."

Ginny nods politely before pulling back the curtain, finding Luna staring at the ceiling, her eyes clear from blood, and seeming much calmer than hours ago, but only because all energy seemed to have drained from her body. 

What was that muggle saying that Hermione had taught her in Grimmauld House? 'Bravery wasn't the absence of fear but because of it?' Whatever it was, she's doing it proud forcing one nervous step in front of another.

Ginny sat on the bedside, and Luna's hand searched for hers drearily. Luna seemed more delicate like this, nothing curious holding her curiosity, nothing fascinating to fantasize about, nothing surprising to share. Like any energy from before had been zapped out, leaving a hollow husk of her friend lying on a bed.

"I can't fall asleep," Luna mumbled, the skin around her eyes looking blue in the lighting and with her complexion, Ginny hums in acknowledgment. Patting the platinum hair soothingly like how her momma would do for her, watching as Luna closed her eyes in contentment before opening them again.

"I forgot about your three friends too, it looked like you wanted to tell me something about them, in the train," she says, off handedly, and Ginny tried not to pause too long before continuing the hair patting. "I could swear there was something about them I wanted to show you, but it faded away, I can only remember their names-" her voice trailed off as a particular spot on her head was patted. 

"I won't go chasing after it," Luna continued with a sense of finality that confused Ginny, but she didn't interrupt. "At least not for some time, whatever happened back at the train was definitely my first warning, and the fact it's slipping from my mind is another. So I think I should focus my energy back to my original goal of the Crumple-Horned Snorkak, because I'm not dying until I finally get to shove it to Hermione Granger's face-" 

Ginny burst out laughing, the knot of worry turning loose as Luna feigns indignity at her laughter, hitting Ginny petulantly to 'take this seriously, damn Weasley!' before bursting out herself. 

They stopped as Mdm. Pomfrey opened up the curtains with an unimpressed look carting a tea tray. Ginny pressed her lips close, making eye contact with Luna for a split second, and the twin hysterical laughters burst forth again.

"That's it, I should have known better than for you to actually follow my instructions, Ms. Weasley, now get out of here so I can put my patient to sleep," Ginny tried to at least follow that order quietly, but giggles still racked her body, and she could hear Luna going through the same as Ms. Pomfrey tried to shush her and make her drink something that smelled like lavender.

Ginny exited the infirmary more relaxed then she did before, retracing her steps from the now dim corridors back to the still lit up Great Hall. But she slowed to the sight of three people, hovering around an alcove as if they didn't know what to do. Ginny sighed seeing them, and sighed even longer when they turned to see who she was. 

"Did you guys meet up here to chitter or whatever?" she groans out, raising a hand when Solace opened his mouth, "that was a rhetorical question, I don't actually want to know." She peeks out to find the Great Hall deserted, all tables clear and the floating candles extinguished. A few ghosts like the Fat Friar and a one that looked like a sour cat that Ginny swore she saw hover at the Slytherin table once or twice.

"Aight, you guys are probably lost at this point, so I'm going to dump you with your house ghosts and they can sort it out," see? She had a plan, a great one! And soon she'll be off to her own commons and relaxing in her own bed after the long day.

Except, of course, the three teens had begged her to come with, freaked out by being guided by ghosts. The Slytherin ghost being just as freaked out being with 'the new students', though Ginny thinks she was just a stuck up pure-blood extremist by the way she refused to float next to the Hufflepuffs. So through the hundreds of flights of stares OPPOSITE to her dorm, she guides three confused new students as they cling to her like puppies, jumping at a random thud that sounded below them that was probably just Peeves making a mess of the bottom floors. 

Sure enough there was a shoe that seemed to have taken a beating from it's fall, and Ginny pitied the student who's going to have to deal with one less shoe. Other than that, the 'doors' to Hufflepuff was soon seen and the Fat friar had asked the other Ginny to busy herself while he shares the password. 

Ginny thought it was suspicious that Solace wasn't asked to leave either, but Ms. Cat-ate-a-lemon-ghost was floating right next to her making sure she didn't turn before she was told to.

"Bloody snake," she whispered as the ghost gave her a nasty side eye. They both stood in front of a painting with a a bowl of fruit as the three new students were saying goodbye with the Fat Friar happily floating above them. "Do hold your tongue, lion cub, just because your friends are gone doesn't mean I'm going to be anything more than civil towards you." Ginny raised her eyebrows.

Still, she turns her head back to the portrait, feeling bored with the still life that they've both been staring at for hours. She hears the ghost sighs before tracing her translucent fingers through the canvas. A feeling of longing permeating the air before it disappears, Will Solace's face peeking out from where he had been saying goodbye. A soft and mushy look on his face fading away as they marched farther from the cozy Hufflepuff commons, and Ginny can relate as she resisted shivering from the cold dungeons they've found themselves in.

The corridors were familiar the way a fever dream gave you deja vu; cold, damp, and dark like an entire school year spent wasting away into a slave for the Chamber of Secrets. Her hair rising as she realized how close she was to a room full of people in a rival house, full of people probably bigger and older than her.

Right, she was also a girl alone with a bigger and older guy who is now in said rival house.

She tries not to let the nerves get to her as they slow to where she assumes the Slytherin entrance is, and she turns abruptly to say goodbye and bolt only to realize they were way closer to each other than she thought they were.

Like a knee jerk reaction, she slapped him, and Solace was just fast enough to avoid getting hit in the face.

"Oh my gosh, right, murder grandpa, got it," he squealed, clutching his face tenderly where Ginny's hand would have struck if was a smidge slower. The ghost with them gave them both disapproving looks before resolutely staring at a painting a few meters away.

Watching the specter leave, Solace looked back at her with a slight twinge of fear that Ginny felt very guilty for. "Listen, I know I ditched you back at the train and I still owe you an explanation, so I'm honoring that promise." He spoke as if he was trying to stop a mugger, and Ginny let herself be slightly offended by the tone before he continued on.

"And I promise what I'm telling you is the truth, but some of it isn't my truth to tell, and I want to let Hazel and Nico share their own side of their story instead of doing it for them, they deserve that," well, when he says it like that she can't give a rebuttal without coming out like an arsehole. That arsehole-

Will paused before slowly sliding down the damp floor, and Ginny cringed as she followed him. He had a nervous look to him, like a nervous school boy sharing gossip for the first time, and Ginny ignored the cold damp floor to lean closer, hoping to prompt him into sharing it.

"Where we come from-it's a special place," he starts, picking at his finger nails and Ginny tries to look calm while fuming for him to get over his nerves and tell her the bits already.

"People like me, and Nico, and Hazel, and all our other friends-" he scanned through the corridors before leaning in to whisper the big juicy secret into her ear canal so she can finally put this to rest, and get of this forsaken cobblestone, pass out on her bed, and hopefully be able to tease Luna for having a bloody (pun intended) exit from the conscious world straight out from a muggle book that Hermione smuggled in for them for Christmas.

"It's a place that's special-" Will's whisper broke her out from her thoughts, and this time she didn't hesitate to grab him by the throat and start wringing his neck. She can hear his choked confusion through her half hearted attempts to turn his face blue.

"Either you spit the secret out or it's dying with you, Solace," she whispered with the last dregs of her sanity, and Solace picked up on it as he stopped struggling and raised his arms in surrender. His eyes worried as he smiled to calm her down, once she did he rubbed his neck where a soft line of red started forming. "Sweet baby Jesus, you're worse than Neeks when I stall for dramatic effect," he muttered, and Ginny was too tired to wonder who Neeks even was, only glaring at him to finally get the point through.

"Fine fine fine, the place is special because it takes in kids who ARE special, no matter the 'novelty' of what they are."

At this, Solace held his breath before letting it out as well, looking just as exhausted as Ginny felt.

"For a long time, I didn't know why I was so different, just that I was and my momma was scared of it. I could heal people by saying some weird made-up words, I'd make people deaf when I was throwing a tantrum, and my hands-" he flexed his hands, as if unsure of a part of himself he's had his whole life, and Ginny couldn't even begin to understand the confusion on his face just from looking at it.

"I thought, when I went there, that I found what made Momma so scared, and I could train to make something out of it, something to make her proud but-" he sighed, seeing the ghost was done perusing the paintings of the corridor and was heading back to fetch him. "In the end, my life just got a whole lot weirder, more dangerous, and I don't know if I can protect my friends or my mom from it, not like I've been very good at protecting others before though."

Before Ginny could process anything he said, miss ghost Sourpuss entered their corner and looked pointedly at both of them, and Will stood to finally see his common rooms. Giving her a final smile as a goodbye before fixing himself, following the ghost as she opens the door and sees him in.

Ginny turns to make her way back, only to feel a presence behind her. And soon, beside her.

"I thought you didn't want to be civil with the 'lion cub'," Ginny said, already dreading the amount of stairs that she finds herself looking up to. The ghost only harrumphed beside her. "That is true, but I also do not wish to be wringed by the neck by Nicholas if it was to be let out I left you alone." She sniffed before continuing, "you Gryffindors are more prone to doing it than you think."

Ginny groaned before taking her first step to a long trek up.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-———————

Sirius tried to be supportive of his newly discovered cousin as she heaved out the last of her breakfast down an unfortunate bush. He winced as another glob of saliva sickeningly drops down before she wipes the trail with the back of her hand

She groped for something inside her bag and came out with a white plastic bottle, popping it open and swallowing something small and pink from it. It must have been some kind of muggle medicine because she stood up a moment later as if she didn't just expel her guts on the ground like a hammered teenager. Putting the bottle back as she shoved her hands into the pocket of her red flannel shirt.

"Okay, where is this school again?" She asked, scanning the surrounding forest area as if one would magically appear from the ground. "Just around here, Mrs. Solace," Moony chimed over the mountainside, and her eyes grew wide as they walked over to join him.

"Wow," she breathed out, and Sirius felt a swell of pride at her reaction. Hogwarts had always been more home to him than anywhere else next to the old Potter's residence, and now something warm inside him flooded seeing Naomi just as in awe by it.

As if caught in a trance, she took a tentative step down the hillside and would have tumbled the rest of the way if Lupin's hands didn't catch the back of her jacket. "We've got carriages for that, Mrs. Solace," he chuckled nervously, and Naomi swatted him softly.

"Call me Naomi at this point, now, where are the carriages?" She bit back, before gasping a bit at sight of skeletal horses, pulling a delicate carriage behind them. Though, since they can only be seen by death, she's probably just fascinated by the horseless carriages.

"Oh my goodness, my future son-in-law would love you-" she softly whispers before stroking one of their muzzles. 

Or maybe not. He hears McGonagall sigh before leading her back into the carriage, Naomi giving the horse one last kiss before hopping to it, as if it was fulfilling all her little pony girl dreams. 

He gets in as well, just for the memories, and Moony joins beside him. Enjoying the soft rocking of the carriage with the nostalgic view, and laughing at Naomi's look of wonder. It reminded him (somewhere, in a deep painful and buried part of himself) how Regulus had looked as he scanned through Hogwarts the very first time. He shrugged the thought off, going back to admire the rolling hills and spiraling towers, before something life changing happened.

Minerva cursed-

"Oh Merlin's- I forgot that Ministry toad I was supposed to pick up, it was on my list, the list that I didn't finish because I forgot the time difference, and now-" she cursed again, and Sirius tried and failed to keep his snicker to himself, and he flinched back at the glare McGonaagall sent him, and then at Naomi.

"If you two hadn't spent 4 hours fighting like animals-stop laughing Remus- if you two hadn't spent 4 hours fighting like animals, this would not be a problem. Now I have to deal with that bitch in an even worse attitude tomorrow." The old woman sighed as she rested her head on her hand. 

"I will have to drop you off at your new living quarters and be done with all this before rushing for Dolores Umbridge. Goodness knows it's been hours past the welcoming feast but I'll still have to try to keep her from exploding on the Ministry more" and with that half-convicted declaration, the carriage fell into silence until it's eventual halt. 

The silence didn't follow them into the castle.

"WHY DO THE STAIRS MOVE-" Naomi cried as the sound of her shoes hitting something on the way down echoed into Sirius' now dog ears, and whatever wonder she had previously been experiencing was thoroughly washed away with mild inconvenience and terror. They continued the descent on to where Sirius THINKS the quarters for the groundkeepers are, and finding himself having to be tugged away by the scruff as they passed a familiar painting of a bowl of fruits. 

He had sniffed back the shoe from the last floor from where it fell, and sure it was a bit wet and chewed on, but he still deserved a reward!

His hungry whimpers went unheard as they finally reached a simple and unassuming room so far below to what he remembers is near the Slytherin Common Rooms. His fur prickling at the silence of the empty hallways, wary of seemingly sleeping students just a few doors away. Still, it was hard to stay focused as watch out when Minerva extracts a key from her long robes and motions for Naomi to open the door. 

He wasn't surprised to see it was far simpler than the common rooms, but it was definitely furnished enough that one could pretend they in a vacation in some isolated woods in a cabin. Naomi seemed to wince slightly at the large glass that gave a large view of the lake as several mermaids peeked their heads at the new resident.

"This will do-," Naomi sounded as nervous as she looked, which was to say she finally recovered from the moving stairs and was trying to recover her dignity. She smoothed down her jacket and settled her bag somewhere to the corner. "Yes, I can manage with this, and Will is?" "From what I heard from Severus, his Common Rooms is just a few doors away, your introduction to the other staff members and students will be done Tomorrow during breakfast, and I expect you to be early. You'll be working with Mr. Filch and your assignments will be determined by the headmaster, Dumbledore."

Naomi sniffed and studied the room one last time, searching for anything out of place with just her eyes before giving a smile. One that didn't quite reach her eyes but wasn't fully forced as well. 

"Well, I suppose this is goodnight then, I'm not one to want to make a bad impression," McGonagall nodded and swiftly left the quarters to fetch whoever this 'Dolores Umbridge' was. Remus followed her, scratching Sirius' head to make him join him. And Sirius turned to do so, but he turned around in his human form for one final goodbye and apology to Naomi.

Only to see her staring horrified at the window overlooking the lake.

"There's a giant squid-" she managed to whisper, as if scared of calling attention to herself. 

Sirius just let himself snicker as he did a half-hearted salute goodbye. Closing the door just as she started screaming from the squid's giant eye pinned on her. 

Back as a dog, he quietly follows Remus as he travels through the once familiar halls. Hiding behind a pillar upon noticing firey red hair and billowing robes. Ginny Weasley looking dead on her feet while followed by who Remus recognizes as Will Solace, they both were following a spirit who seemed to have spotted them. She raised her brow in question, but with some sort of signal from Remus that he didn't recognize, the ghost turned back her head, guiding her charges away from them.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" Sirius started, now in human form and behind the familiar state  of the shrieking shack. He shook his limbs to get back the feeling of being in them, not unlike a wet dog, and Remus had snickered when his hair had ended up falling all over his face, but Sirius was much too tired to fight him over it, just curious enough on the interaction with the ghost to keep his mouth running.

Remus only sighed, looking fondly at him. "I was a teacher in Hogwarts for a while, remember? Before a certain mutt got me unemployed," his knees buckled from the kick Sirius threw at them, but that only served to make him howl with laughter. Sirius let him have his laugh, watching unamused as he got his breathing under control and wiped the smug smile off his face. Something more soft and gentle took it's place.

"There's a reason there are so many ghosts in Hogwarts, other than them having magic to cling unto this world, they also apparently have nowhere else to go," Remus cocked his head as if that also confused him, but he continued anyways. "Some of them only end up as fragments of who they once were, held together only by strong emotion or unfinished business. Others are more human, and more able to form new connections with the world, making them stay around longer instead of fading away."

He found his hand being encased by a warm scarred one, and he turned to softly smile at Remus' face, "and pray tell how you suddenly know so much about ghosts? Got any afterlife plans?" Moony only huffed in amusement before shaking his head, "no, Myrtle just gets lonely from time to time, and she offers to help me grade papers if I have tea with her on the new moons."

Sirius head had to reboot at the mental image of Remus crouching on a toilet with a floating Myrtle, sipping hot chocolate and grading papers while Myrtle prattled on about ghost politics. His shoulder patted in comfort, and he shrugged it off before it could scratch the spot on his neck that made him turn into a mushy fool. "You worry bout me too much Moony, c'mon we need to skedaddle before someone sees us on school grounds." 

Remus had the audacity to pout at having his nefarious plans foiled, but he raised his wand up, clutched Sirius' hand, and together they apparated away into the night.

Chapter Text

Nico relaxed unto the giant comfy cushion in the middle of the cozy room, staring into the dying embers of the fire as a little of it flickered to life at his attention. He stroked the newly named 'Cat' as it curled around his arm like a band. Letting out weird vibrations like purring. Hazel sat adjacent to him, lounging on the loveseat like one would at a Roman banquet. No doubt it felt more familiar then sitting for so long on a long table, trying to keep up with modern references in British culture and trying to blend in, only to end up blending to the background once the novelty of exchange students were forgotten in exchange for the food.

'Why was recon so much harder than fighting for your life?' Nico mused, his hand toying with one of his rings as if it wouldn't turn into a silver dagger at the wrong move. He decidedly stops playing with it after that particular thought. 

Instead snaked his arm into his long robes, and pulled out a piece of beef and bread he had been able to sneak out, trying not to shiver in disgust with the feeling of it on his skin. He walked slowly to the dying fire, and he tossed the half-haphazardly made sandwich into the flames, and watched as it hungrily devoured it.

"To Hades, and to Hestia," he whispered, "guide us in this unknown, and guide our way back home after." The smell of sweet-savory meat and smokey bread wafted into the air, fading away as quickly as it came. From there, Hazel joined him, taking a pack of pastries swiped from the table out of her pocket. Throwing them cautiously to the fire, Nico could catch Trivia's name in her prayer, but he kept that to himself. Staring at the flames as it slowly dwindled down, like a face of ash slowly succumbing to sleep.

"How do you think Will is doing right now?" Hazel whispered, leaning into him and tried to soak up more of the fleeting warmth to her perpetually cold limbs. Nico wondered if they would warm up once she collected a fragment of the soul for her father, or if she would stay forever shivering from 'poor blood circulation' as Will called it. The same thing that makes Nico shiver and wear such large aviator jackets for warmth when alone.

"He's probably being murdered right now for being so weird and annoying," he says half heartedly, knowing that he wouldn't be half as nonchalant if he really thought it true. He was followed by a ghost, a ghost that was very much still in Hades domain despite being in Hecate's play world, and if Will was hurt under her watch, she would know the consequences first hand.

"Geez, you look constipated," Hazel flicked his ears playfully, "this is why people are so scared of insulting William at both camps now, you're the only one allowed to do it 'cause you're so possessive," 

"Pfft-no, I'm not-I'm not that possessive," he defends, crossing his arms haughtily. "The man can go choke for all I care," he stretches before grabbing unto a wool blanket off one of the couches, wrapping it between the two of them and snuggling next to his sister. 

"Liar," Hazel muttered, before leaning on him too, her eyes feeling heavy as she turned to look at her brother. "Y'know, if anyone says anything about you and Solace, I'd fuck them up for you, you know that right?" The silence shouldn't be so loud, but it echoed in Nico's lack of answer. Just a non-committal hum that showed he heard her. 

"Language," he said, closing his eyes in sleep, and Hazel only had the energy to respond with a light hit before she stared once more at the burning fires. 

They couldn't treat this like a mission during the prophecy of the seven, and without the full knowledge of wizard culture they'd have to walk on eggshells. Hazel groans at the amount of books they'd likely have to read to make up for the lack of information on Trivia's part but stops at the sudden burst of pain in her abdomen.

She pressed her stomach once more to ease the discomfort, like a hunger she never knew she was capable of feeling. She wondered briefly if this was what period cramps were like before shaking her head. She's never had her flow before, and probably never will from her time in the underworld. She sighs in silent grief before closing her eyes and embracing Hypnos.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Will knew demigod dreams were weird, but perhaps it was a bit much when he dreamt of being cradled by something in between fashion model and sleep paralysis demon. He froze at the unsettling smile the-thing sent him, their sharp chin, dark hair, and striking presence would have made him swoon, but the sight of pale, almost translucent skin and red eyes made his breathe choke in fear. His-her? Her arms weren't strong enough to punch him, despite telling her dad that she was a big girl already, and now both her parents were on the floor of her room. Their eyes glassy in a way she's never seen before. 

But she knew, she knew what the glassy eyes meant, and she could barely cry as she was whisked away by the horror that killed them. Barely able to mourn as she was trapped in some kind of perversion of a childhood fantasy with a prince charming whisking her away into a nightmare. 

Will woke up in cold sweat from his place in a luxurious four poster bed, his nightmare didn't make sense, but all of his dreams eventually will. What took his attention elsewhere was the ache behind him.

The mattress was too soft, the cushions too thick, and his neck absolutely sore from the unfamiliar surface. At camp, his mattresses were stiff like one found in school clinics. Even camping out in the basement he was able to use the cold hard dirt softened only by a thin carpet and use the hardness beneath him as a pressure for his aching back. 

He groans once more finding himself up before any of his roommates, but it was better that way. To be fair, he didn't know anybody actually respected the Malfoy kid, but admittedly Octavian was also respected for merits he couldn't fully wrap his head around. Still, he should proceed with the mission cautiously, and after the way he basically pecked the pecking order, he'll have to be cautious even while sleeping.

At camp, he was with his brothers and sisters who held on to each other afraid to lose another sibling. Here, he needs to be a fellow serpent in an enemy's den. He groans after realizing how much he sounds like Nico.

He already misses his boyfriend.

He shakes himself off and starts his routine, loosely brushing his teeth while one handedly fixing the bed. He took a quick moment to spit out the paste before heading back, stopping himself from jumping at the sight of an elf looking at his decently made bed as though it's a grave insult to their entire family line. 

She (Will notes that she's a she) does jump when she sees him though, squeaking softly enough to not disturb the other occupant in the room. She seems panicked at being seen, but Will makes himself appear smaller, waiting for her to share...hopefully something so he can avoid whatever taboo he just committed.

The house elf seemed to calm down enough, but had taken to hitting herself hardly while muttering something along the lines of 'stupid stupid Winky, waking too late for the new young master-' and Solace decided it was time to stop her before she hurt herself too much.

"Uhm, may I ask what I did wrong?," he starts, before a line of denials gets thrown at his face in rapid pace. 

"Nononono, young master Riddle did nothing wrong! It was Winky in the wrong, wrong wrong Winky!" She continued to whisper, but her hits were getting harder to ignore, the thumps of it loud enough to become noticeable to even mortal ears.

"Of course of course, could you tell me where you went wrong?" He tried instead, and sighed in relief when Winky's hands hovered at his question. "Winky didn't clean up after young master, and he's done it by himself in the early morning. It should be Winky! and Winky had bothered him by not doing Winky's duties!" She almost wails, but Solace covers her face before the sound could reach his sensitive ears. He uses the same hand to pat her in an attempt to stop her from hitting it again, and he stops himself from wincing at the several lumps hidden under the scant patches of hair. 

"I see, I see-" Will didn't, not really, but he still felt guilty for doing her job that she clearly cares for so much. He could relate, distantly, the feeling of miserable uselessness that would simmer when he was replaced for a job, even the ones he didn't like. The way it would burn into his stomach and make him bitter for days on end, which would cause him to beat himself up over being incapable and to overcompensate with taking in more shifts till he dropped dead and had to be sat down for a lecture on self-care and mental health by Michael-

Okay, maybe he could see, just a tiny bit.

"Well, I have to thank you for flattering me so much," he decides to go with instead. Trying the truthful-ish route and redirect her attention to somewhere where her help would be necessary for him. But what would that be? He thought as the air was filled with confused silence.

"I mean, considering I pride myself for rising with the sun, it's really cool that I managed to fix up my things before a house elf got to it," he added quickly, shrugging in a 'what can you do' manner. Instead he dragged his eyes back to his bed, looking back to where the hanged canopy was covering most of it. It would give the owner some privacy in a dorm room, but a voice that sounded like a certain son of Athena reminded him that it was also the prefect place to make a sneak attack or set up a trap for a certain blonde who made an enemy too early.

He tsked at himself internally, but continued talking to Winky with a calm smile, "Y'know, I know I said I'm mighty proud, but it would be really great if you could check my bed curtains for me before I head to sleep, make sure no one messes with it." 

Winky was confused, 'messed with?' She thought to herself, and with a squeak realized she had asked it out loud, a loud house elf was a bad one!

But the new master only grinned nervously before adding a bit more to the orders, "Y'know, I'm a little new here and I get worried. Just make sure there aren't any spells, jinxes, snakes, whatever that shouldn't be hanging unto bed posts. I'm also really worried about my stuff being stolen, I need someone to charm it so I'm the only one who could open it, and someone else if I allow them, think you could help with that?"

Winky was unsure of new student, but he was student, he was new master, so Winky obeys with a nod. 

"Thanks for being a dear. mind helping my roommates wake up in, say, 15 minutes?" He winked as he gave the command, and Winky nodded before whisking herself away, tucking into the shadows as the new master rushed through the rest of whatever he was doing. 

Fifteen minutes was almost up, and Will was by the door out of the rooms before he looked back at where Winky had made herself scarce on a pillar of the four poster bed. "By the way, call me Will, and if not, my last name is actually Solace," he winked before closing the door. He hears a snap and surprised yells of teenage boys suddenly assaulted by the bright light of too early morning. 

He exits the Slytherin common rooms while fighting a cackle, and makes his way down to where he remembers the food was. The robes still felt constricting, and it was nerve wracking to constantly having to check his wand and concealed bow and arrows, the shoes felt tight despite being perfectly fit. He tried to not let is show how uncomfortable the castle made him, and he tried to believe he succeeded.

The discomfort washed away as soon as he saw his friends sitting at the Hufflepuff table, both of them looking dead to the world but unable to nap in the tantalizingly uncomfortable table filled with plates and cutlery. Will scanned the room once more to find it near to empty with the early hour. There was an older Hufflepuff drinking from her cup desperately as she pushed another page of a book, someone in Ravenclaw had actually managed to sleep on the table despite the awkward angle, and two Gryffindors were aggressively making out on their table.

Will let his blushing face wander back to his friends and sat beside Nico, giving him a small squeeze of the hand that made him blush harder. Hazel's soft laughter was pointedly at him as Nico raised an eyebrow with only the softest of pinks staining his cheeks while a dash of maple stained his lips. 

It wasn't fair his boyfriend was cute, and Will turned back to the plate in front of him huffing. Filling it up with pancakes and some fruits. "Aww, don't be mad Sunny boy~" Nico teased him, poking at his cheek while it was puffed by food, and Will retaliated by quickly swallowing and biting where his finger would have been if Nico hadn't moved it away. 

Breakfast continued like that, lazy teasing as three sleep deprived demigods enjoyed breakfast. Even if Nico ate less than what Will would have professionally preferred, but a grumpy Nico so early in the morning wouldn't be worth it. He basked in this, the morning, the feeling of the sun warming the September air and his friends beside him, the taste of good food and jokes in his mouth. He felt light, relaxed, he didn't have any younger siblings to worry about, no godly family butting into his life, not a single person depending on him when he wasn't ready for the weight of a cabin head to fall on his shoulders. He was-in a school, like a normal teen and he could pretend this wasn't a mission. He doesn't think anything could ruin it right now.

"I'm sorry, but you're supposed to be sitting with your own house during meals," a voice across them said. Snapping him out of his daze. 

The hall was almost full by then, but he could still pinpoint the girl who had spoken. Her words were loud enough, and the Hufflepuff students near them quickly took notice of the the snake at their table. Will knows they noticed, he thinks he could feel their stares prickling his skin. None of the teachers had said anything yet, however, and while Will wouldn't hold Nico's hand with so many unfamiliar eyes, he wasn't willing to move away from the only two people he knew either. 

He relaxed his shoulders, flicked his hair, and did what Clarisse called 'dumb Texan pretty boy' stance and what Annabeth called 'the disgrace to blonde-kind' voice. 

"Oh Jesus Christ, I didn't know-" he started, and Nico and Hazel already looked at him in that particular way that reminded him that they were siblings. "It's just, y'know, I'm a bit shy and all with so many new people around-" he blushed for a minute, fluttering his eyelashes to add to the affect. He could hear Nico internally banging his head on a table at the sound of the voice.

"Plus, it's only for mealtimes and I finished eating, it wouldn't be such a bother to hang out with my pals afterwards, right?" He flashed a small smile, and the girl's face became conflicted, good. 

He faced back to the two, and was about to continue their conversation when a loud wind blew through the room, and all eyes made their way to the faculty table. Will turned to see what was happening, and someone had whispered about morning announcements. 

The headmaster had risen to his full height, and even if his smile was gentle, it didn't give comfort like Chiron's did. It immediately set Will on edge, and he side eyed Nico as he felt a hand on top of his.

He grasped it with his other hand, finding all eyes too preoccupied by the headmaster to care. 

"It's been a pleasure to greet you all during the welcoming feast, but it was unfortunate that we were not able to introduce everyone. Yes, truly it's been a bit of unlucky happenstance that we did not have the time to have the meeting until now-"

Whatever the headmaster was saying was interrupted by a faux sound of coughing. Just to the left of him stood a woman who wore such a large amount of pink, it reminded Will of the burial shrouds of the Aphrodite cabin during the Titan war.

Will- stuffed that thought back into his head for a bit. 

He suppressed the shiver that passed through him to see her press her wand to her throat before speaking, the sound of her voice reaching the entire school, yet leaving Will's sensitive ears only slightly affected, interesting.

Sadly, her voice took the interest away.

"Ahem, yes, thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome," the woman nodded at the man, looking anything but thankful before turning back to the rest of the room. "And how lovely to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me. I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends. It will be an honor to teach here, and as a member of the Ministry of Magic, I'm sure that Hogwarts will be meeting Ministry Standards, and if not-" her smile turned sickly sweet. 

"Well, I'll be here to fill in any shortcomings," it was a promise, but it sounded like a threat if Will ever heard one.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizard of vital importance. Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school," her head nodded back to Dumbledore, but still her gaze never left the students. Will found something sharp in them, like a predator's, something not quite matching her soft smile, "progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited."

Will frowned a little, his neck itching at the sound of her voice. It was spasmed at her inflection and tone, and Will's fingers tensed to rub at the spot ruthlessly just to ease the tension it caused. He didn't know enough about this world to understand why he felt this way, or the grumblings that he could hear from the other students. But at the feeling of pressure on his hand, he smoothed his face, turning it to something more neutral instead of-whatever it possibly was. 

"For us to move forward, surely we must do away with-" 

This time, it was another woman's voice who interrupted the violently pink woman, her faux coughing sounding familiar as the  Headmaster hummed in amusement. 

"Ah, thank you, Ms. Dolores Umbridge, but I believe I shall introduce the newest addition to our staff-" and just like that, the itch in Will's neck started up again. Nico's hand forcefully pushing one of his own down while he clutched his uniform to ignore the itch. His eyes wide as the new speaker's face filled up the podium that Umbridge had been on. Her face showing the smile that was for the public, the 'look-pretty-face' that Will rarely saw because she had a smile just for him to see that was warmer, and gentler, and one he hadn't seen in so long-

"Mama?"

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Mrs. Riddle, if you could introduce yourself as Hogwarts' newest caretaker!" The headmaster stood by mysterious woman at the podium, holding his wand out for her to project her voice into. If the woman was uncomfortable with the attention, she didn't show it, her face showing a smile more convincing than the woman earlier. 

"Oh professor, how silly of you~ I go by Solace, Naomi Solace. Uhm, wow there sure are a lot of you brats here," the lilt in her voice eased a little of the tense air, succeeding in pulling a few nervous laughs from some of the students. "For this school year, I'm sure we'll find some common ground. Professor Dumbledore here has been so kind as to offer me a job in this castle, so I hope I can spend my year contract-" she cleared her throat.

"I hope I can spend my year contract learning how to have fun the Hogwarts way. Ya'll willing to help me with that?" Her accent was Texan and laid on thick, her smile sweet and charming, blonde hair and blue eyes, and even with a paler skin tone, Harry was struck with how familiar the face was.

"That's not really Solace- I mean-Will's mum, is it?" Ron's voice whispered quietly, but in the awkwardly silent great hall, he might as well have shouted it, and it seemed enough to spark on the rumor mill. Already Harry can hear some 3rd year whisper to her friends, who whispered to her friend, who whispered to his friend, who whispered it to one and only Colin Creevey, camera angled and a sharp snap filling the room. 

Hermione's hand stressfully kneaded her face at the amount of noise growing in the room, the rumor mill of Hogwarts spinning in business as the whispers spread to the other table too. "Yes, excellent observation Ron, shout it louder why don't you-" she hissed, and got a heatless shove on the face for it. 

"Guys, not the time, the schedules are being passed out," and indeed, McGonaggal was walking down the expansive length of the Gryffindor table, a neat stack of schedules in her hands as she distributes it to their housemates. The conversation ceasing at her stern gaze, no Gryffindor brave (or stupid) enough to continue talking until she was a distance away. As she approaches Harry's side of the table, he could see what made them so hesitant.

Her eyes had dark circles on them that he's never seen her with before, her usually pristine spectacles smogged and her hair a few strays loose. It's about as close to a wreck as he's ever seen her. 

"Professor?" Hermione prodded gently, concern hear in her voice, standing tall even as the older woman's head whipped to her in annoyance before softening to something gentler.

"Not now, Hermione," McGonagall sighed, and Hermione wilted back to her seat, half-heartedly taking the schedule from the teacher's hands before she continued on through the Gryffindor table. Harry peered through his schedule, wincing at the sight of potions...with the Slytherins...yay.

Looking to change the conversation, he focused back on the woman from his hearing. Dolores Umbridge, his newest DADA teacher. "How likely do you think she'll try to kill me this year?" He whispered to Hermione, her head snapping to him in shock and giving him a face full of hair before seeing her scandalized face. He kept his face straight as Hermione kicked his shins, "I mean, clearly she wants me to at LEAST be expelled, she was the woman in the hearing I told you guys about. She's not exactly a fan of Dumbledore either." 

Ron whistled lowly, scanning the row of teachers again till his eyes landed on the pink monstrosity of a cardigan. Face just as impassive despite an equally hard looking kick to his shins landing. "I don't know mate, she seems more like the type to kick you out, then maybe she'll kill you."  A small smile sneaking out of his face as Hermione hissed for him to shut up, shaking his arm harshly. Her face turning as red as Ron's hair.

Harry's eyes met Ron's, and in a snap they both burst into hysteric laughter. Clutching on to Hermione who immediately buckled under their combined weights, sending them tumbling off of the bench and unto the floor. Her fists smacking both of them in the chest as she scrambles back up to sit, smoothing her hair and trying to scavenge her dignity. Harry finally found his breath again, trying to not look at Ron lest he breaks out laughing again, and smiles cheekily over to Hermione's still flushed face.

The glare she sends him almost made him crack, but he resolutely got back up, dusted his clothes, and ignored the eyes still following them, the hysterical laughter of Ron still echoing through the hall.

Harry glanced around, and finding familiar grey eyes on him.

Draco was sneering at them, no doubt finding their 'tomfoolery a proof of the rowdy and insufferable house of Gryffindor that couldn't hope to keep up with the likes of Slytherins such as he', Harry scoffed at the stuck-up voice he can already hear inside his head. Instead peering over to the other tables, maybe hoping to check on a freshly-out-of-the-infirmary Luna. 

Instead, he blinked his eyes over a spot of green over the Hufflepuff table.

Solace looked exhausted, resting his head gently on Nico's head, who looked disgruntled but ultimately allowing of the gesture. Even letting Will play with the multiple rings on his hand. But despite the intricate fiddling, he doesn't take his eyes away from the woman on the raised seat right next to Filch. The newest caretaker of Hogwarts looked less upbeat then she did at the podium, scanning around the tables looking for someone. 

Eventually their eyes met, and Harry didn't know what to feels at seeing their relieved faces. Something straight out of Aunt Petunia's drama's where two family member meet each other after a long time of separation and tragedy. He'd used to dream of that being the reunion he would get with him and his parents if he ever made it to them in death. That they'd hug their boy with all their strength, apologize for leaving him with terrible muggles, promise him an eternity of happiness that a closet would never be able to contain.

He shakes himself awake, and finds himself staring once more at Will sitting on the Hufflepuff table. Before, he thought he would have been the poster boy for Hufflepuff. He looked comfortable beside his two friends, and he had the soft Texan boy look going for him. Still he was the grandson of Voldemort, and despite the whispering at the back of his mind to trust him, a pain in his chest reminded him of the last time he trusted a newcomer of hogwarts, which ended the life of a boy who was nice to him, with family and friends and a whole future ahead of him. 

Harry clenched his nails deep into his palms.

"C'mon guys, we should head to our first class. Care for magical creatures, right?" He called out to the both of them. The rest of the tables starting to trickle away as other students dust off to head to their first periods. Both of his friends looked at him with concern. 

"Harry, mate, we have Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins."

Harry brings his hands to his face and exhales into them. 

"On second thought, let's stay here a bit longer-'

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Professor Plank was patient in showing the fifth years the creature of the day. It resembled a stick bug with it's camouflage and thin thin body, but it's articulated limbs and intelligent eyes gave Will the urge to coo over it and freak out at the same time. Dealing with mythical creatures gave one a rather mixed reaction to animals. 

He was grouped with two Gryffindors who didn't bother to introduce themselves, but they were the only last two people who didn't have a third for the trio groups to sketch the bowtruckle assigned to them. The little creature made a questioning sound, and Will melted as he cautiously gave it another spoonful of lice. Awing over it as it delicately nibbled on the absolute menace of a parasite. It was so adorable, like the video of a snake nibbling on a knitted hat that Conner and Travis showed him recorded on a phone. It was just so itty bitty and he wanted to show one to Nico and maybe he should ask some of the nymphs if they had bowtruckles in their trees whenever there was another lice infestation-

"So, you're the new transfer student right?" One of the girls sitting with him asked, making him jump out of his jumbled musings. "Oh, uhm, yeah. My name's Will, Will Solace."

"Really?" The other girl with them piped up. "I thought you were Riddle, William Riddle or something-I'm Lavender Brown by the way. If you're interested~"

"No."

Will dialed back at the offended look of Lavender, "no, sorry that was rude, but no. I have no interest in a new relationship at the moment." His formerly air headed zone crashing unto anxiety at having said something so blunt. 

"Oh? A new relationship? So there was an old one right? Or is it a current one?" The other girl asked with a wiry smile. Will flushed at the cornering between the two, but breathed and let it pass maturely, "I'm not dignifying that with a response."

As much as he would have liked to share it, he didn't want to take the choice away from Nico. And he didn't want it in a new place where he can be ostracized again for something he didn't have control over.

"Sorry if that was too personal then, my name is Cali Patil," she smiled on apology, before glancing at his sketch. Letting a low appreciative whistle out at the sight. "That's a pretty good sketch, mine just looks like a stick-" Patil flipped her own sketch, and the bowtruckle did indeed just look like a stick with eyes and thin limbs reaching out awkwardly and with little detail resembling the articulate joints or leaves of the creature they were trying to sketch. 

"At least yours looks like a good stick," Lavender haughtily rebutted before showing her own paper filled with more eraser marks and chicken scratches more than the actual subject. A singular line with two more perpendicular to it the closest thing she could get to capturing the bowtruckle. Will tried to be polite and hold in his laughter, Cali had no such reservations. 

Lavender huffed at her friend's tearing face and took a look at Will's sketch, frowning deeper at the better detailed image of the bowtruckle. "Well now I absolutely have to hate your Slytherin ass, I bet you're one of those pricks who had private lessons on art or some shit, don't you?" Lavender threw her sketch in the air and let herself fall on her back. Covering her face as if in deep despair and catching the paper back in the other. 

"I was actually in public school mostly, and then I spent most of my summers in camp. We had arts and crafts at camp though," he added politely, a nervous smile coming out. He hasn't been outside of camp in a long time. Was this how people made friends outside of a high stakes life? No screaming for their lives, no screaming to end the other person's life, no cheerful pat after successfully attaching limbs like it was a weekend favor. Heck, he got a boyfriend by doing a desperate stake out mission with Lou and Cecil and being a nervous wreck while overreacting about the horrors of childbirth just to touch Nico's hands-

"So you were raised muggle?" Lavender interrupted, even more intrigued and getting up from her position on the floor. 

"I don't know what that word means," Will admitted, cocking his head to the unfamiliar term.

Lavender nodded as if it answered her question, "definitely muggle raised-"

"It just means that you grew up not knowing you had magic, so you lived with people who didn't have magic," Cali informed him, and indulgent smile as Lavender nodded beside her.

Will smiled slightly, going back to his work to add more details. "I guess I was 'raised muggle' then, but it was mostly just me and my momma-"

"Aww, your momma? That sounds so cute! Do all Americans call their moms that?" Lavender giggled before having her shoulder bumped by Cali, and then they proceeded to giggle together. 

"Oh-uhm, no. Just the people from Texas, I guess-" 

Cali sighed in response, "my mother would freak if I called her anything other than mother or miss. My dad says she's way too uptight for a western woman, and then they go on and on about that before making my sister and I go out of the house," Cali shivers as if reliving a bad memory, "I'll never forget the day I learned how babies were made."

"That's a bit TMI Cali-and that's coming from me," Lavender points out, bracing with her arm as Cali hits her. 

"Forget I said anything then and worry about your sketch! No way Professor Plank is grading you well with that rubbish," Lavender's only response was a hastily made middle finger before hiding it from the Professor's gaze. 

"It's not that bad," Will lightly jokes with them. "In fact, you really capture the feel of the little guy. Really elegant-like. Something that should be posted in the Louvre out there," he nods sagely. Preparing another tiny spoonful to feed for the bowtruckle as he released little chuckles to his group's antics.

But just as he went to feed them to the creature, a hard kick met his wrist, causing the spoon to clatter to the ground and the bowtruckle to scuttle away with a squeak. Will's anger spikes in his blood, and he turns to meet the pinched gaze of Draco Malfoy. He gets off of the floor to meet him eye to eye, and he glares at the satisfied look Draco gives him in response. 

"Heard you talking with your new friends over there about practically being a filthy muggle," Draco snidely drawls out. Will only looks at him boredly, causing the other boy's smile to widen. 

"Did your father leave your mother then? The miserable lady we saw this morning? It was painfully easy to match the names together, and the features were so commonly peasant that I almost had to take a double take. You really take after her don't you? Father was probably too ashamed of being seen with her that he fled immediately, back to proper wizard society as if he wasn't a mudfucker." The Malfoy heir stood proudly, waiting for the other boy to snap and cause a bigger scene.

He was only met with silence.

"Or is it your mother? So basic, low-minded, and whorish that she bent over for some muggle and let him beat some into her in the sack?" Will didn't change his face from the stormy indifference. Leaving his hands open despite the urge to grip Malfoy's neck and wring it, or maybe curl his fingers and give him a proper punch like how Clarisse taught him. He was calm, he was tranquil, he felt the rage inside him making it harder to keep his mouth shut, so instead he smiled serenely and looked somewhere behind the pale blonde. 

"Wow, I didn't know stupidity ran in the family. Is that why your mother's a caretaker now? Is she a dumb squib who couldn't find a job so that oaf, Dumbledore, gave her an opening to be the school's new laughingstock?" Malfoy wasn't seething, but it was close to it in venom that Will's smile turned a little sharper. His body leaned a little closer. His eyes glowed a little harsher. Surely all Malfoy had to do was say the right thing and the buffoon will fall right into his-

"What are you doing now, Mr. Malfoy?" Plank's tired voice shocks the pale Slytherin, straightening his back and flashing an innocent smile at the Professor. 

"Just helping my new housemate, professor. You know how Gryffindors are with the house grudges, wanted to make sure they weren't cornering him too much on his first day of schoo-" his words choked out of him as a strong strike to his back, resting on his shoulders and harshly squeezing him.

"Yup, he was so helpful, really feels like family in the old rattle house!" Will's accent was obnoxious, and the professor raised their eyebrow questioningly before sighing in deep exhaustion. "Very well, but the next time you deign it reasonable to interrupt class for something you find necessary, please do not scare the specimen away. I've heard your problem with the previous years with allowing animals like the lovely Hippogriff to trust you. Perhaps you turning a new leaf can welcome them better with your magic- if ever." The professor clearly didn't mean for the last part to be heard by anyone other than himself. But Lavender and Cali snicker like he told an excellent inside joke and Draco turned red in embarrassment.

"Why you-"

"Really! Well, I hope whatever Draco's doing now will help him get along with the cute fella's!" Will's hand lands a swift strike to the back of Malfoy's head, ruffling them roughly at the root causing the other boy to grunt in discomfort. "Would be a shame if a Slytherin couldn't even be crafty enough to make a critter trust them, ain't that right sir?

The professor merely chuckled, and waved the students goodbye while approaching another group having trouble with their bowtruckle. "Ah, such youth and vigor. The last time I had it I was more of a man than I was," his little joke got a giggle out of the girls and a large grin from Will as the Professor hobbled away. 

"Get the fuck off of me, you bloody git-" Draco seethed as the hand only ruffled his hair once more, tearing himself away from the smug smile of the taller Slytherin. He marched his way back to his group, ignoring the sound of snickering behind him. Scratching his neck, he'll find a way to get back at that upstart by the end of this week.

Will sat back down with his group in a more calmly manner, his face the perfect mask of innocence as the two girls stared incredulously at him.

"Did you- put lice on his hair-" Cali muttered, a scandalized look on her face. 

Lavender clapped her hands in glee beside her, "oh, you're definitely a Slytherin, Solace. That was one way to get him off his high horse, remind me not to get on your bad side!" Will gives a hum of assent, turning the idea over as he clasped his quill and parchment, adding fewer details than he'd like with his model gone. Lavender put on a cutesy pondering look, resting her head on her fingers daintily.

"Well, since you're taken, is that Di Angelo boy that was with you looking for a girlfriend at least?" Lavender turns a strand of hair around a finger while sighing dreamily.

Will's quill snapped in his hand.

"No."

Chapter Text

At the corner of his eye, Nico sees Hazel fiddle with her wand, trying to familiarize the grooves and smooth surfaces by gliding her fingers over it again and again. He twirls his wand around his own fingers, mimicking the tricks that he's seen Percy do with Riptide. He lets his feet nervously tap as his only indicator of his nerves, to the annoyance of the students next to them. Hazel eyes flit across the room and Nico's own follows. The reflective surface of the multiple picture frames giving him full view of the red head's attention on the both of them. 

Nico does a trick with his wand that sends it over the air and caught in between his fingers, Hazel thrums her own in an imitation of an applause.

They both freeze at the slow opening of the door. Tucking his wand back to the table and smoothing over his uniform once more, Bianca made sure to teach him to make a good impression. He closes his eyes and takes a calming breath, steadying his mind and body. Opening his eyes to a sickly sweet grin meeting him. 

"Good morning students!"

"Good morning-" 

Nico's voice froze at the lack of response from the other students, having stood up to attention to greet Ms. Umbridge like the last school he had gone to almost 5 years ago. Hazel herself was on her way to stand up, but slowly slinked her way down back to her seat seeing no one else stand up. Nico slowly doing the same in shame.

Jesu Christi- Percy said that being too posh with introductions makes you look like prime bullying material when you go to high school.

"So you gotta- y'know- play it off. Hopefully you'll fall back into obscurity and people will stop snickering at you after a week." An internal Percy rattles of his 'totally fool proof forget-it-didn't-work-in-the-last-dozen-or-so-schools' plan to survive high school.

Slumping to his seat in a poster image of nonchalance while trying to ignore the burning sensation from his ears. 

Hazel's face was buried  in her hands.

Nico let himself cringe at the approving look Umbridge gave both of them, he wasn't one to be rude but something about her-demeanor set him off.  Like following Bianca to have a private chat with Mr. Thorne- like lambs being corralled to their slaughter. 

Only this time Bianca was gone, and this time Nico had to be the one to protect the one sister he had. Scary teachers had to be treated as neutrally as possible. Be as insignificant as possible and they'll take longer to corner you alone to reveal their monstrous sides to eat you, just like the camp orientation film said. 

(They also said if all else fails to shout obscenities loud enough that hopefully an adult would be close by and rush what's left of your mutilated body back to the hospital, but Hazel said one needed to manifest positivity to receive positivity. So they got her attention and stood out, but at least she's giving them appraising looks that were less predatory than the manticores. It could get worse-which it won't-)

Nico sighs as the thoughts in his head run wild. Closing his eyes and breathing into the palms now covering his face to cool off. Feeling the comforting shoulder pats from Hazel at least made him feel better. 

Yeah, really embarrassing introduction and now the teacher was making the other kids do it. This is definitely already the worst first day of school. No way it can get worser, not by the rules of grammar and self-gaslighting.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

It got worser.

Nico watched in a mix of mortification and satisfaction as his sister's hands shake with the force of keeping herself from breaking the table. Her chair overturned as she grits her teeth as non-menacingly as she can at a tightly smiling Umbridge slowly turning red. Nico did the sign of the cross at the looks they were exchanging each other. 

"In my experiences miss, half-breeds aren't dangers to society. It's society that's a danger to them for the lack of accomodation and understanding. If you push a person, and keep pushing at them, it's only natural that they push back." Hazel's patient but impassioned speech was met back by Umbridge's grimace. 

She slowly stalked over to their row, her pinched face leaning over Hazel's in an attempt to make her pull back. Hazel stared back at her just as fiercely.

"Civilized society comes when we work together, and we turn our backs to it when we turn our backs on one another." Hazel's voice swelled with vindication, and Nico didn't try to suppress the smile that took over his face. But what Umbridge said next wiped it right off his face.

"By all means, Miss Levasque, I'm sure you and your mother know much about civil society. Maybe she taught how to climb up as well." 

Nico body reacted before he could act, his feet bounding from their tense curled position like a spring and causing his chair to fall off as well. Faster then he could blink, he was in front of Umbridge and her face recoiled at the sound of a loud slap echoed the classroom. 

His deathly calm stare was met by Umbridge's furious ones, and yet he couldn't bring himself to recoil or fear the repercussions. These wizards had already kidnapped his friends, drugged his sister, forced them into a basement and then a school so full of hazards that it made Chiron look like a perfect chaperone.

The last straw was repeating filth that should have died with the rest of their era. To his sister.

"DETENTION! DETENTION TO BOTH OF YOU! FOR DISRUPTING THE PEACE AND ASSAULTING A TEACHER! 50 POINTS FROM HUFFLEPUFF FOR BOTH OF YOU!!"

Nico huffed in acceptance, and softly grasped Hazel's hand before she could say anything in his defense. He leveled a cold regal stare back at the woman, and he felt Hazel do the same, her usual warm gaze burning like molten gold. Hazel returned to her seat, sitting with a pride that lifted her lips in a victory. Nico copied her as Umbridge continued to fume over the both of them.

"Meet me in my office after school, after which you will have thoroughly learned your lesson," Umbridge seethes out. And despite the feeling of danger singing in his blood, Nico doesn't stop Hazel from leaning forward with her teeth bared. An equally saccharine voice to her response.  

"We'll be charmed to."

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Ginny leaves the classroom feeling lost in herself. Since she had been one oft he few darting out quickly instead of trying to process the unbelievable tension in the classroom, she inevitably bumped into the two Levasques (Di Angelos?) in her haste. The two of them turned to stare at her. Nico in a resigned manner and Hazel with a hint hope in them.

"Ugh, Hello Ginny," Nico starts while resuming his walk, pulling his sister along with him. Ginny trailed after them, leaving a wide enough distance that seemed to satisfy the older boy. Hazel looked back at her with a polite excitement, her smile shining tamely and her eyes turned back to the warm brown instead of the bright gold that Ginny swore she saw in class.

"Our next class is Care for Magical Creatures, how about you, Ginny?" She asks tentatively. Her voice level and almost monotone, and her hands were pressed firmly to her sides. Despite it, Ginny remembers what Solace said to her, and the promise she made herself.

'Welp, you can't make new friends without putting yourself out there. Strange that you can't catch Voldemort without doing the same,' she thought.

"I was actually gonna head to the infirmary to check on Luna before going to herbology with her. I think you'll have a class with her next though." Nico's head creased in thought before his fingers snapped in memory. 

"Transfiguration?" He said the statement like a question, but at Hazel's vigorous nodding he seemed to cement it mentally. 

"I hope the teacher is nicer than Umbitch-," Hazel chimed before immediately being smacked upside the head by Nico in reproach. Despite that, it was clear that Nico was affected by the teacher's nickname as a small smile broke through his gloomy demeanor. "Professor McGonaggal is actually really sassy as a teacher, but she tries to look strict in front of us," Ginny decides to pipe in, and she doesn't miss the way the two froze for less than a second before resuming their walk. 

"McGonagall you say? The same one that-uhm..." Hazel looked uncomfortably around, as if unsure if sharing their-less than legal acquisition was allowed. "The one with more manners compared to the other adults responsible for our welcoming," Hazel decided on. Nico snorted to the side, silenced by Hazel's elbow jamming into his side. 

"I suppose? Who were the other ones in charge of it for you?" Ginny asked, allowing herself to stall as they approach the stairway where they would split up. 

"Some person with a prosthetic eye named Moody and the other one kind of smelt like wet dog now that I think about it," Nico mused back to her. Her face curled as if someone spoon fed her fresh lemon. "Yeah, she was definitely the one with more manners." 

The three of them shared a chuckle as Ginny turned away from them to the staircase leading to the infirmary. 

"Keep going straight till you find a staircase next to a portrait of Anne the Lost, go down till you find the main gate and exit from there, you should find Professor Plank's clearing for the class," Hazel nodded back at her in acknowledgement as she turned to follow her directions. Nico following close behind her calmly checking each painting to find Anne. 

Ginny continued her way to the infirmary, pushing open the doors to find Luna saddling her bag to her side, her glassy eyes brightening at the sight of her friend. 

"So, were you able to share a class with your new friends yet?" Luna asked as she pushed Ginny forward. Pointedly closing the door just as an indignant shout from Mdm. Pomfrey could be heard by the red-head. 

"First off, the blonde one, Solace, is a year ahead of us and a Slytherin so we don't share classes with him." Luna hummed to show she heard, so Ginny continued on. "Funny thing is I just had a class with Nico and Hazel Levasque, they're siblings. Nico is the one with pale skin and Hazel's the one with dark skin, anyways I had a class with them and they got detention the first day."

Luna whistled low in disbelief, "goodness, I think they beat your families' last record, you need help reclaiming it?" Ginny snorted before pretending to seriously consider Luna's offer. "Nah, need some moral high ground so I can rub it in their faces later," she nodded sagely at her own words before turning back to Luna.

"Maybe we should check on those two after their detention then," Luna responded and Ginny considered her words with a bit more seriousness. 

"Yeah, maybe I-," a soft jab to her side quickly corrected her statement. "Maybe we should check on them," she remedied, and at Luna's self-satisfied nod, linked her arms with the fae-like girl and went their way to the Greenhouses.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"I cannot believe you found a way to get detention on the first day-" Hermione's head snapped at a voice that was quickly becoming familiar. Slowing her steps and gesturing her two friends to follow her as she slinked back to the tree line. Silently following the voice once more until she found Will Solace in a clearing, both of his Hufflepuff friends near him, Hazel lazing on a stump while Nico stood in front of Will, seeming to have been the one conversing with him. 

"First off, it was entirely not our fault. The professor was saying the most-" Nico's hands made an exasperated gesture that swirled over itself before opening itself up, "-preposterous stuff about people like us, and I don't know how many times I have to say this but I have my limits in diplomacy."

Hazel's giggles filled the clearing, causing both boys to face her. "Yeah, sure your limits were definitely reached," Nico's hands were on her, both of them wrestling playfully as Nico tried to cover his sister's mouth from saying anything more. 

"Your lovely beau here-" "shut up shut, up you overly sentient piece of geode-" "you're well mannered, mysterious, absolute diplomat of the ethereal realm of beauty-" "I should have left you in the fields where I found you-" "BUT YOU DID'NT-"

Hermione felt a headache forming behind her eyes as the bickering continued, with William only looking used to it and making no moves to stop the two wrestling forms. She kept herself frozen however as her two friends leaned in to listen to the conversation as well.

Without a word she kept herself there and powered through the headache, she brought the trio here, so she better see it through the end. 

"He absolutely winded his arm and slapped her to her next Sunday confession! You should have seen her face when he did it! It looked straight out of a season premiere of the Kardashians!" Hazel's voice finally declared, and Hermione tuned back into the conversation they were... conveniently made audiences of.

"Wait wait wait, hold your mother-flippin horses. He slapped who? And how do you know the Kardashians?" Will's bewildered voice responded. The tone of the conversation was so jovial, between them as they shared the details of physically assaulting a teacher and a migraine inducing plot of an American reality TV show.

However, without reason, their talking stopped. The hair on Hermione's arms standing up as their breathing suddenly echoed from the immediate silence of the clearing.

"Does- does it feel like someone is watching us?" Hazel's voice rang out from the silence, her voice tinged with worry along with the sound of something being drawn. Like retrieving a wand from one's cloak but with severe hesitance and a metallic ring; Hermione wonders if her wand was made of metal, if wands could even be made of metal, or if maybe there was a sharp knife on her person that they failed to confiscate from them. Every step that Hazel took closer to them, the more sure Hermione was that they were going to be skewered. She calmed her nerves as she drew out her wand. 

"Hazel, wait, let's not be hasty-" Nico's voice caused Hazel to halt in her steps. His soft whispering filling the clearing as Harry, as silently as possible, drew out his invisibility cloak from his messenger bag. Guiding the three of them to huddle as close as they possibly could before throwing the cloak over them. Most of their forms hidden, they waited with bated breath once the whispering stopped and silence filled the clearing once more. 

"Welp, I'll check on you guys after detention. I'm sure it won't be so bad," Will's voice happily resumed talking, the sound of their feet leading out of the clearing allowing the hidden trio to finally breath out a sigh of relief. 

"Sure thing Will, we'd appreciate it."

"Have fun in herbology, Solar Panel."

"Hey-" Will's voice shone with mock hurt before chuckling afterwards. Passing by the trio's hiding spot while the two Hufflepuff's made their way to the class clearing for Care of Magical Creatures. 

For a long time, none of them moved. All of them trying to lower their heart rates, and afterwards allowed themselves to slip out of the invisibility cloak. But even with the time too calm down and more space to breath, Hermione's thoughts ran wild and "Oh, this is just perfect! We just learned more questions, our uniforms are ruined, we're definitely late for transfiguration! I shouldn't have-"

Harry's hands on her shoulders calmed her frantic movements by a fraction, his stern eyes meeting hers and letting the buzzing adrenaline still in her bloodstream to slow to an easier to deal with hum. 

"Look, the entire conversation may have revealed next to nothing but more questions, but I'm sure that with time we'll uncover them like we always do." Harry's warm hand on her shoulder grounded her, "the brightest witch of her age could probably uncover their entire story in no time."

A churning guilt of leaving him out the entire summer came back full force. His trust in her abilities flustering, so she busies herself dissecting the overheard conversation some more. Mentally writing down the newly arisen questions to make a map of the vast expanse they still have yet to learn of the new students of Hogwarts. 

"The professor was saying the most preposterous stuff about people like us-"

"I should have left you in the fields where I found you-"

"Does- does it feel like someone is watching us?"

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT STICK, RUN!" 

Ron's scream interrupted her train of thoughts as a looming shadow suddenly overtook the ground they were standing on. It's form dark and  shifting like a boggart, but with tendrils releasing bouts of energy as if it was attached to an electrical source and searching for more. 

Hermione felt something deep within her being, somewhere instinctual and illogical freeze at the sight. She had only read books about it, a parasite that's severance was one of the hardest treatments even with modern healing magic, a creature that caused panic around the first Wizarding War against Grindelwald for the utter destruction and confusion it caused, a parasite that was supposed to be impossible to survive without a host-

But deep inside her where her magic rests, it knew only danger. 

"Obscurus!" She shrieked as her entire being threw itself into getting away from the clearing and back to the castle. Her legs pumping with renewed adrenaline as they sped their way back to school grounds along with her friends. All of them running past a blonde haired Slytherin leisurely making his way to his next class, so a greeting was missed despite the languid wave of the Slytherin's hand to their retreating forms. It didn't stop the smug smile from growing on his face, however.

"That's one darn good cat after all," he chuckled as he headed to the Herbology classroom. Looking back to the tree line where the next class for Care of Magical Creatures was starting up, he nodded to a giggling pair of Hufflepuffs. Winking at one with handsome eyes and dark black hair falling over his pale face. 

Maybe he should have lunch with Nico outside, as a treat. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

News of the golden trio falling late to transfiguration with bruised and disheveled appearance ran the rumor mill of the Hogwarts lunch hour. With them last being seen heading to Charms holding bags of ice (previously pieces of rubbish transfigured by them under the scrutiny of Professor McGonagall) to various parts of their body as they sat for lunch and losing 20 points each fpr their tardiness. At least, according to the mixed amusement and exasperation of their house table. 

Ginny wondered to herself what sort of mess they got into this time, and if it was good enough blackmail material to use against Ron. However, she busied herself with picking up another sweet bun into her plate and enjoying the sweet gooeyness of the chocolate filling. Her sweet indulgence, however, is utterly interrupted by the arrival of two- thirds of the very trio she was thinking off. 

Th rumors may have had it's liberties, but the tales of Hogwarts were not lying when they said they looked like miserable pieces of shit.

"What happened to you two-" Ginny asked as Ron's hands desperately reached for the nearest source of sustenance like a lifeline, his usually tidy (often unfairly smooth)hair was tangled with bramble and mud. Both his freckles and clothes flecked with grass stains making him look as if he just finished a class encounter with herbology, even though she knew the fifth years were going to have them tomorrow.

"Don't talk to me, I wanna eat, sleep, and cry. And I'm not afraid of changing that order right now," her brother unhelpfully added. Sulkily munching on the turkey he grabbed, he did indeed seem to follow that rough plan.

"You probably wouldn't believe us-" Hermione said instead of an actual answer, and Ginny bit her tongue from a rude answer. As much as she respected Hermione, she often treated her just like the rest of her family did. The youngest child with too much innocence and the greatest need of protection.

"Yeah? Well I believe the newest Gryffindor Prefects just turned up late to Transfiguration looking like they snogged in the Forbidden Forest," she replied loud enough for students a year below her to hear. Their eyes widening as they whispered amongst themselves, good.

"I'm gonna kill you for that-" Ron muttered.

"I'll get over it," she snapped back. "Anyways, where's Harry? It was weird enough seeing you guys without him during the summer, did he got mad at you again?" Hermione's already stiff expression turned stiffer as she shoved potatoes into her face, as if buying herself some time to give an answer Ginny would not like.

Or maybe Ginny would like it a lot and she'd start laughing at them, who knows, she didn't but she was a nosy brat. 

So she rested her head on her palm as she waited for Hermione to finish chewing the potatoes. She swallowed the morsel with a pained look not deserving to the softly cooked serving.

"He got detention with Umbridge for saying that theoretical Defense Against the Dark Arts was stupid."

Ginny raised an eyebrow, doubtful of that being the whole story.

"And he also called the ministry stupid."

The eyebrow remained arched high on her face as she took a slow sip of her pumpkin juice.

"And he also, maybe not so wisely, implied that You Know Who has come back."

Ginny calmly finishes off her pumpkin juice. Letting the empty cup down as she stared blankly at the high ceiling banners and ghosts. Nodding as she connected dots and processed information.

"Nico and Hazel are doing detention with her too," she says in lieu of a full reply. Knowing that Hermione is quick enough to know what she means.

Hermione's form froze, as if suspended in time, and stayed frozen until a dejected Harry marched into the dining hall and took his place right next to Ron. Getting a careful amount of beef and potatoes before checking on Hermione and frowning at her despondent stillness. 

"What's wrong with Hermione?" He asked before taking a slow careful chew of his beef. 

"You're going to share a detention with Nicolo and Hazel Levasque," was said witch's monotone reply.

Twin sounds of choking were heard, but Hermione stayed still in her misery, and soon the rest of the trio mirrored her stance. Ginny squinted suspiciously, if anything she thought that being closer to their 'persons of interest' would make the three of them start conspiring new plans to catch 'You Know Who' this school year.

She took another bite of her sweet bun while contemplating the reactions of the three. Just what trouble did these buffoons get into this time-

Chapter Text

Hazel hesitantly took her seat next to Nico, both of them stuck in the front row as they waited for the third person stuck with detention from Umbridge. She tried to pass the time by doodling some drawings of her horse Arion, her boyfriend Frank, and Frank with Arion on a scrap piece of paper she found waiting on the desk with her ink and quill.

She cursed as a wrong slant caused the ink to blot over one of the doodles. St. Catherine of Bologna, the quill has been a buzz to use the entire day and she still can't get the angle right for her strokes. There was a reason she preferred dry mediums like charcoal and colored pencils.

Finally, her boredom ended as the door opened, revealing a heavily disheveled and bruised Harry making his way to a seat next to Nico. She allowed herself to glance at his frustrated face, and her brother's analytical expression before putting her quill down and facing Umbridge.

She watched as the woman approached her with a predatory gleam in her eyes. In front of Harry, her thin lips stretched to form out words too soft for her to hear, but Hazel's spine  tingled more than it had any right to. 

Harry reached for his pack for something, but Umbridge waved his hands away, her own reaching into her pink cardigan and pulling out a vibrant red quill. Handing it to him and motioning to the paper.

She did the same to Nico, though this time, Hazel was able to hear what she was saying. They were to write lines, 'I shall not assault figures of authority'. Hazel snorted to herself at that. If anything, figures of authority were always assaulting them!

She straightened her face when Umbridge made it to her. Keeping her composure neutral as she leaned towards her personal space in a way she knew displayed power over her.

It was always about power with people.

"Now, Miss Levasque. It's truly disappointing for me to say this on the first day of teaching, but you'll have to write the quite a lot of lines today!" Her false disappointment made Hazel want to share a few more choice words and actions that would have gotten her paddled last school semester almost 60 years ago.

But she closed her eyes and counted her breath. 

"And what will I be writing, Professor?" She spat out as politely as she could.

As if the straight set teeth couldn't get any more demonic, her smile widened.

"I shall remain silent during class time, just keep at it until the message sinks in, dear."

Hazel's hand reached for the quill set to the side, but Umbridge's hand waved the action off.

A similar vibrant red quill slid across the desk, it's sharp nib nicking a bit of Hazel's hand before she grabbed it, glaring at the older woman who's smile didn't waver.

She writes the first letters, already feeling the back of her eyes burn in an effort to keep the letters as they should be. And a little while later, she realizes there was a more literal burn on the inside of her wrist.

She paused on her fifteenth line, turning her wrist around to see faint thin lines on her skin raising. Like an irritated rash or some nightmarish case of a parasitic worm.

There, starting from the inside of her wrist, thin lines were erupting, painfully inflamed. 'I shall remain silent during class time' in her own handwriting scrawled from far into her forearm just below her elbow. She turned her head, finding her brother's eyes dead locked with Umbridge's. His own arm a pale pink in his spidery writing that contrasted with the white-knuckled grip he had on the quill. 

"You're making us write lines- in our own blood?" he stated more than he actually questioned. Despite the angry tone, there was a level of bitter acceptance. As if he was disappointed in himself for being surprised at the twist of their punishment. 

"My my my-" the professor's saccharine voice responded back, her smile even wider and the gleam in her eyes only shining a sick delight at the sight of their forearms. "Quite a late reaction to your punishment."

Her eyes narrowed in a mixture of glee and suspicion. "An almost-unhumanly late reaction," her eyes turned to the last table away from Hazel. And Hazel's already cold blood froze at the approving noise Umbridge made behind her smile.

"You see, Mister and Miss Levasque, Mr. Potter perfectly demonstrates what a proper human wizard ought to be experiencing when learning an important lesson," and if that was true, Hazel gripped her own forearm while thinking of Pluto's blood running through her veins in rare gratitude.

Because on the third desk farthest from the door, Harry's pale skin found itself dyed with dark reds and pinks. Shaking, he had added another line of blood on the parchment, the paper spilling with the scarlet substance as he pushes onward with his punishment; either through sheer determined pride, or complying fear. 

Where Nico's and Hazel's forearms only gave a heavy irritating burn, Harry's forearm was bleeding profusely. But despite the distance, dyslexia, and blood making a mess of his forearm, Hazel could roughly make out what was painfully etched on the too-thin arm.

'I shall not tell lies'

Hazel felt her ribcage close around her lungs as she stared unbelievingly at the bleeding arm; something close to hysterics squeezing through the tight space as she tried to ground herself. She felt like she was falling through another flashback. Like too many things were sparking familiar scenes from a time she thought she put to rest. Should she really have joined this mission? Should she have stayed instead? She drops the cursed quill to press fingers into her skull, a headache battering behind her eyes. 

She sees Nico stand up from his desk, ignoring the shouts of Umbridge as he whistled a tune that Hazel thinks might be from a song she has heard him sing with Will once during joint campfires. 

He held his paper with both of his hands, and in the next moment there was a ripping sound and two separate pieces. And another and there were four pieces, and more and more until the paper was merely confetti, blowing in the now freezing temperatures of the classroom. He tilted his head appreciatively while doing so, as if Umbridge's enraged screams were the songs of the heavens.

"I think detention has lasted long enough, Hazel?"

Hazel's grim face hardened. She lifted her own paper, almost feeling stupid that it took her so long to do so. She sighed to steady her mind, her breath visible as she let a torrent of mist flood over the classroom. 

"You enjoyed punishing us immensely and took the time to rip our papers to shreds to taunt us," she started, letting the rhythmic sound of paper ripping to fill the room. Umbridge's voice dimmed, which was great for Hazel's headache as she focused on the glassy appearance the woman's eyes took.

"You dismissed us."

The ripping sound reverberated, despite the room logically not being large enough for that affect. Still, the echo persisted in it's fluid hypnotic effect, mist doing it's work as Hazel felt the soft, flexible mind of a mortal bend to her will. However for a brief moment she paused, unsure what to do next. She needed Umbridge out of commission and unable to stop their exit without actually...killing the woman, at least for now.

Like a puppet, Hazel let her hands move without her full permission, allowing it to slowly cover Umbridge's eyes without understanding why she did so. The confused face disappeared under her palm, and she felt something beneath her skin pull. "And you felt tired, so very very tired," she tried, and Umbridge's yawn made Hazel want to smack her head on the desk she was starting to lean to. She let the thought rush out of her head as she breathed out deeply, keeping her mind clear as Umbridge's head fogged over even more.

"You should go to sleep."

"I-I should go to sleep," Umbridge repeats, like she just realized how exhausting it was to unlawfully torture students.

The unnatural echo of the detention room only reached higher and higher as Umbridge's head descended to rest on her desk. Ghostly winds howling until, finally, they stilled. Hazel's eyes remained hooked to the woman's sleeping form. The blinding rage she felt beforehand returning as she wondered if she could drag her soul down to hell through sheer force and prolonged staring. Along with confusion at the slumber Umbridge had fallen to. She had no memories of having any affinity to the call of sleep from Somnus, she briefly considers Venus' charm speak before dismissing herself.

"Hazel-" even Nico's voice couldn't tide over the rage she felt, it felt like a fresh wound over layers upon layers of scars, waiting to be healed over just to rip apart once more. Still, it was a voice she associated with safety, she ripped herself away from the overwhelming feeling. She has never given into the urges of vengeful Invidia when it compromises a mission, and she does not intend to start today.

"Yeah-yeah," she cleared her throat as she turned her back on Umbridge, instead staring out into the clear Scottish countryside. "So, Harry, let's say we get out of here and never talk about this encounter, hmm?" 

...

"Hazel, I think he also fell asleep."

"Shoot-"

—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-—————————-——————————

Will was off trying to sort through possibly useful library books when he stilled, the whistling tune of 'The Littlest Minotaur' faintly echoing creepily through the silent rows of bookshelves and cushions and right into his ears. It was one of the first songs that a half-blood learned during the campfire.

It was also a common code for help or a symptom of a terrible ear worm, but knowing his luck Will mentally declared his search for sources to be done for the day.

He inconspicuously set down his books to the librarian, asking to check them out with a dazzling smile. She checks out the admittedly disappointing pile and Will thanks her, stuffing the books into his bag a little carelessly to follow to where the soft sound was. He paused, lost for the long moment that the tune stops before it continues again, this time louder and with more urgency. Following the faint whistling to where he remembered Nico said he'd be spending detention in. 

Panicked, he threw open the door to a sight that was, surprisingly, not as bad as it could have been.

Umbridge's right arm was definitely gonna cause problems with the way her entire head leaned on it, blocking the blood flow and guaranteeing a sore neck and a near bloodless arm. Concerning sleeping habits but, as far as he was concerned, just asleep.

Instead, his eyes trace to the trail of red in the hasty process of being wiped away by Nico while Hazel staunched the source. The arm was thin, stick like, and Solace became more concerned at the sight of more blood-stained cloth in the corner, clearly from earlier cleaning and blood staunching. The closer he approached, the more harder it was to remain calm.

Lifting Hazel's arm for him to survey the wound, he forced himself to remain calm. Trying to brush away the concerned look Nico sent his way with a confident smile, despite feeling anything but. His mind sifts through possible causes and explanations for the arm to be bleeding so heavily despite the small shallow cuts around his arm. He picks up a strip of cloth, not bothering to question the questionable fuchsia shade of it as he starts to fold and tie the cloth effectively around the boy's thin arm. 

"So, can I ask who exactly my patient is?" He begins just as he finished the knot, preparing to carefully lift the face to make sure the person was responsive enough for questioning or a trip to the castle's infirmary. At the two's silence, his head slowly turned to check on them. His chest growing cold at their guilty expressions that couldn't meet his eyes.

"So, ugh, babe. Don't freak out-" Nico started nervously, kicking the soiled strips of cloth to one neat pile.

"Nico, when you say that I automatically freak out more. Who the hell-"

"Y'know, we just have the worst luck, but it was a good thing we were here because the teachers here are actually pretty loco. This might potentially benefit us in the long run-" 

Will's heart thumped anxiously in his chest as he carefully lifted the kid's face, only for his eyes to find familiar unkept hair, glasses, and lightning bolt scar. Green eyes lazily open with the light hitting it.

"Ugh, no infirmary please-" Harry-freakin-Potter mumbled before his head lolled to the side and continued lightly snoring.

For a short awkward moment, the three demigods looked at the passed out wizard with no idea how to react to his request. Finally, Will sighed in exhaustion before carefully maneuvering Harry into a bridal carry, looking far less pleased compared to the other times he bridal-carried patients.

Though, in fairness, his usual patient in need of bridal carries was Nico who was too sleepy to head to the dining pavilion for breakfast.

"Aight, my aid kit is in the Slytherin common rooms. A simple in and out and I can grab it." He grunts, carefully positioning the too thin body to transfer safely to Hazel's arms. "In the mean time, you find somewhere clean enough for me to treat him."

Hazel nods, heading to the door while carefully holding Harry.

"And Neeks-" Will asks before the boy could follow his sister. The demigod stilled, meeting his boyfriend's eyes to see the quiet plea for comfort. Nico pulled Will's hands into his own, moving his thumbs in calming circles and cooling sweaty and shaking hands. 

"What's on your mind, Will?" He asks, charging up his shadows to bring them to an empty hallway near the Slytherin Commons. Will made no comment on the shadows climbing up his legs and slowly pulling them under, so Nico continued. He froze upon feeling a finger trace over where the skin was slightly raised on his arm. 

Dangerous clear blue eyes followed the writing "What happened in here?" 

Nico guided Will's head to lean on the crook of his neck, blocking his view of the letters written in his own blood, and now scarred into his own flesh. 

"Wizard detention, Sunshine," 

And as darkness consumed both of their beings, a classroom was left empty, save for a slumbering woman.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

 Nico sees the silent fire in Will's eyes that he rarely let anyone see. Hidden as well, almost better than his mountains of insecurity, heaped, hopped, and buried under calm and faux confidence, now shown plainly across his face as Hazel recounted the events of detention as diplomatically as she could.

It was the type of fury that Nico had rarely seen from his boyfriend, a boy so warm and personable, like a warm light that made people forget the dark side of Will's father. The vengeful golden god who had means to disastrous ends, and used them throughout history.

He didn't resist when Will finished cleaning up Harry's arm and rushed into the pale demigod's space. He delicately raises his own arm to let the medic carefully inspect the scars. His warm hands ghosting the inflamed skin before digging into the enchanted kit and bringing out two containers and mortar and pestle.

"I'm going to kill that woman-" he darkly mutters as he mixes a turmeric-yellow powder with a shimmering liquid, the resulting ointment viscous and entrancing. He thickly slathers it over Nico's wound, and the brunette bites his lips as the sting hisses steam before slowly lowering. "Stab her with those stupid quills and give her skin to Chiron as a trophy," the blonde continues as he examines Nico's arm until he deemed it acceptable, wrapping it in clean linen.

"Not yet, Will," Hazel sulked as she reprimanded him. "As much as I want to, she's not the kind of monster that the mist will easily cover the disappearance of, we might need to stage an accident if we really have to," she finishes just as Will motions for her to raise her own arms. She winces at the oily remedy dabbed into the scars, before relaxing into the soothing feeling of the godly ointment slowly mending the damage done; thin white lines was what was left of the inflamed skin before being rigorously wrapped by Will.

"You both have no business being this murderous this late at night, murderous thoughts are my thing. Get away from my thing," Nico dryly jokes as he starts picking at the wrapping on his arm, pouting when Will smacks his hand away from it. 

Will's annoyed look lacked fire while scooting closer to Nico's side for a dry response, "well if you want me to do my thing, then fine. You both need to undo the bandages in the morning to let the injury breath a bit. Make sure to monitor if there is any additional swelling or redness. Make sure to REALLY monitor if there is any case of red or yellow fluids seeping out of the pores in the area-" Nico's squinted, faux annoyance as Will continued his tirade, but the fond smile spreading on his face ruined the effect.

"Yes yes yes, we will keep a close eye on our injuries, Doctor Solace. Whatever would we do without your wisdom and bossy attitude?" He says instead. Hazel suppresses a snort as Will bonked Nico's head in retaliation, which causes Nico to break character and struggling to hold back his laugh, which causes Will to throw it all out the window and let out a lax, heavy guffaw over the entire thing.

The three laughed at the absurdity, getting the tension out of their shoulders, trying not to acknowledge the hysteric edge or the scant few tears wiped away before they could be seen. It was the way laughter tended to be for a good portion of their life, a happiness that was too aware of it's fleeting nature. So it was painfully easy for the laughter in the room to quiet at the sound of a pained, waking gasp.

Nico knows nightmares, and he knows what it's like to wake up from a nightmare to a room you definitely weren't in before. So Nico wasn't surprised at Harry's frozen-still reaction to waking from a possibly bad dream to looking up to a rotting ceiling, probably wondering why he was suddenly in a dusty classroom when last he last remembered being in detention. It at least gave him time to find an angle to explain everything away.

"Oh Harry! You're awake!" Will says instead of the 30 beautifully crafted scripts his boyfriend was just about to telepathically send them through wishful thinking. He can't blame Will for his quick reaction though, he was a combat medic, treatment first, gaslighting later. 

Harry's eyes had a distrustful edge to them at seeing Will approach him, which caused the blonde to stop and raise up his hands instead. Continuing at a slower pace like one would a frightened pegasus. "Listen, Harry, I know this is weird but the amount of blood you lost is...it's not ideal. I need you to tell me what you remembered before passing out." 

"Uhm, I remember detention-" Harry breathed out, pushing himself off the ground. "Which reminds me to ask, why were you in the detention room? What did you-" a hand came up to wipe the lingering sleep off his eyes, Harry's brows furrowed at the texture. His emerald eyes opening at seeing the well-bandaged forearm, a look of dread spreading on his face as the pervading smell of antiseptic and blood. "...What the FUCK-"

"Language," Will interrupts, barely fazed. Instead, he took exaggerated calming breaths, Harry unintentionally mirroring the blonde as his own chest slowed from it's frantic movement to a slower, calmer pace of air. The wizard watched just as wearily as Will took a hesitant step closer. Nico couldn't turn away as Will gently reached out for Harry's shoulder, leaving space and allowing Harry to close the distance himself. The medic examining the injured arm with a stern demeanor that managed to not come off as sympathetic or as a sign of superiority, but like a simple fact to be  presented. A gospel of truth. A scripture of existence. A fundamental part of Will that he has nurtured and allowed to grow into his entire being. 

Something was broken that he must fix, and Nico watched as Will was fully immersed in his element. 

"I disinfected and wrapped the area, but I'm still concerned with your radial artery since you bled out the most despite the injury being shallow," Will continued. Slowly unwrapping the bandages to show Harry the damage, and wrapping it swiftly back at seeing Harry wince at the sight. "I'm not sure how affected your hand will be, but it is your dominant hand so try to avoid strenuous activity for it and ask your friends for notes instead," with a final clip back, Harry's arm was securely wrapped and the bleeding had stopped completely. Nico wonders if Harry will remember how freely it bled not even an hour ago.

Will stayed crouched next to Harry, Nico already having stood and moved to another part of the classroom to give them a semblance of privacy, Hazel having similarly gravitated towards the chalkboard. Tracing lines to appear like she wasn't eavesdropping either.

Harry had a hard time looking away from the floor, a conflicted look flashing on his face before anger covered it up, leaping to his feet as if it burned to sit so close to Will. "Oh of course you find a way to be harder to hate-" he snaps instead of rightfully thanking him, and Nico feels his shadow grow a smidge sharper and defined despite the low light. Will seemed just as startled, but quicker to compose himself as he stood as well. "Harry, wait, I just want to-" 

"Want to what!" Harry demanded more than he asked. "Help me? Get me into your debt? Have some fun while you dangle this-", Harry's wrapped arm raised pointedly like it was a weapon, and Will's brows furrowed with the urge to stop him from jostling the limb, but he bit his lip instead. Reassessing his patient the way Nico has seen him do so many times. Rethinking treatments, approaches, bed side manners, anything to help them with their recovery. Nico steps away from the scene to contemplate as well,  and sees Hazel had already abandoned the board, uncomfortably inching towards the door.

It was too bad Will was as perceptive as he was, because he seemed to arrive at the same conclusion Nico does. 

"This is about my grandfather, isn't it?"

"OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT YOUR GRANDFATHER-" Harry burst, "everything ALWAYS has to be about him. My entire life RUINED before I could walk BECAUSE of him. A whimsical new world of magic and wizards and I dread being here BECAUSE of him. A boy DIED just LAST YEAR because of him. I have every REASON to HATE you by extension!" 

Harry groaned into his hands, "and you being so nice and-and familiar and not-an-asshole causes complicated feelings for an already complicated year. You go acting so nice and familiar and nothing like the fascist-wizard jackass who just won't DIE ALREADY and I'm paranoid that you're exactly like him and your using some kind of mask a-a charm to get people to like you so you can control them just the way he did. And if not then I'm worried that I might actually be an arse to you for something you're not even doing!" Harry paced the classroom with an irritable energy that bothered Nico. Looking for an excuse to join Hazel outside and not have to see the interaction any more than he has to, but he breaths in a calming breath and tries to suck it up for Will.

"For Merlin's sake, Nicolo has more physical resemblance to him than you!" He hysterically shouts too close to Nico's face, and Nico decides he's been civil enough for the day. He pushes the frenzied wizard away from his personal space, "do that again and I'm washing your mouth with lye," he growled before stalking towards the door. Harry gulped before turned back to Will.

"Why do you have to be this-paragon blonde guy who's-" Harry slumped back unto a creaking chair, "why do you have to be so human? Why can't you just be another shitty thing trying to kill me this year?" Will didn't answer him, just sinking back to the ground to pack up his kit. Hazel already gone once the shouting had started and Nico was hanging by the doorway. Waiting as Will to wrapped up the scene and went to join him, but stopped just before he could really exit.

"I don't like killing, Potter," he says distantly that Nico wants to screw being in the closet just to pull him close for a hug. "I don't like the sight of death, or loosing the people I love and not being able to do anything about it," the blonde continues, but a passion sparks in him that turns his blue eyes bright, like a clear sunny day that was impossible to taint. "I don't know this world like you do, so I can't say much about how safe you'll be, or if the medic here is that bad that you really didn't want to head to the infirmary to care for-" Will gestures to his own hand in lieu of speaking, "-that. But what I do know is that you're not alone, and that you don't have to carry this weight by yourself."

Will's voice is strong, but his hand shakes as it lightly touches Nico's, a silent request that Nico grants. Smoothing his thumb over the tanned skin to anchor him. "I won't pretend to know what you felt growing up because of my grandfather but-just so you know, I hope he dies too, not really a big fan of fascists. And Potter-" Will takes another step out, leaving the dorm open with one outstretched hand. "Unwrap your arm tomorrow morning and disinfect it regularly. Tell your friends about it and make sure it gets proper rest. Bye."

The door closes, and Harry is left in a dark room, alone.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Harry doesn't know how long he took in the classroom alone, having a real good shouting session, and then a crying session, and then a passive break everything with his own bare hands session. But it made him leave the abandoned classroom with a clearer mind. Finding the irony to realize that the classroom he had that wonderful encounter was also the classroom where he had Voldemort as a teacher. 

"You have got to be kidding me." Indeed, Professor Quirrell's classroom was dilapidated beyond recognition, but he recognized the portrait next to it labeled 'Sir Galahad Du Lac' featuring a handsome blonde man, relishing a sip from the chalice he held. 

"Oh, Harry, I'm so glad you're awake now," Galahad exclaimed once he looked up from his drink. "Your friends are around the corner, they've been looking for you for a while. Would you like me to call them?" Harry shook his head in response.

"Thank you Mr. Du Lac, but I can go there myself. But could you perhaps-", Galahad raised his hand to interrupt him, resting it on his chest like he was taking a knightly oath. "This encounter shall be between us. Now go on, shoo, your friends are worried and it's almost curfew."

Nodding in respect, Harry left the corridor. True to the knight's word, he could hear his friends calling him. Not loud enough to be echoing, but it carried well over the silent hallways for him to follow. Turning a corner, he found Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna, all presumably having roamed the area and opening several doors to check if he was there.

"I'm here," he called out, and the four heads swiveled to where he was. "Harry! There you are mate!" Ron called out, sounding haggard as he pulled Harry's ear, "do you have any idea what kind of stress you put us through? You weren't in detention even though we arrived 10 minutes early! Only to open the door after 30 minutes to find Umbridge snoozing!" Ron shivered as he put his arms around Harry's shoulders and shook him back and forth. 

"Did you see what that woman's face does when she snoozes, mate? It looks like she's a horse chewing up her meal while her dentures fall off. Just where were you and why didn't you tell us detention ended early for you. I had to miss an hour of lunch time and now..." Ron slowly shut his mouth as Hermione invaded their space, her hands softly brushing the well wrapped bandages that circled his right arm.

"What happened to your arm?" Hermione asked. The unsettling, straight to the point way that Harry grew to know, but also grew to fear whenever directed at him. He never liked questions aimed at him directly, questions that point out his skinny figure, his deep eye bags, his grayish complexion. Those questions were too close, too personal, caused hands to tighten on his shoulders to give incentive on him to react accordingly; he'd either panic, deflect, or shutdown, and he could feel himself going through the third option. His head feeling heavy and empty, limbs weighed down and pressed in front of him, face feeling numb even though his mind is shouting several defense spells like Hermione and Ron wouldn't go through them with better spell work and sheer stubbornness. 

"It's fine," he's declares in a not fine tone. Prying his hands away from Hermione's gentle grip and walking ahead. His mind slipping further into a static mix as he held himself tightly together. He vaguely hears Ron tell Ginny to walk Luna to her dorm, but the echoing steps that follow him get lost in the haze as he makes a point to face down, keeping his face unreadable.———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Harry feels guilt churning at the back of his head once he makes it back to the Common Rooms. The familiarity taking some of the numb that's taken over his body, and now a nervous energy fills him as he continues to ignore Ron and Hermione concerned gazes. Returning Hermione's goodbye when they split in a cheery manner that only causes more concern with the tense atmosphere between them. His attempt made his mouth feel bitter, and he crashes into his bed without changing out of the uniform.

Ron waves away the concerned look Dean throws them, and scoffs at Seamus pointedly closing his curtains at the sight of Harry. Harry himself feels his head sink deeper into the mattress, the desire to part from his body and just sink deeper till he phases through the bed, the floor, the castle's foundations, and yet even further down he goes following the soothing emptiness in his head. He perceives sunlight that stirs him, and it's gone just as quickly with the sound of water and hissing, gates stripping him of his clothes that he struggles to remember were for, a dog head watching him pass through while two others beside it overwatch a line of people that could classify for tangibility. More scenes flashed, and he was content in his dreamy-state until his mind decides to boot back up, leaving him standing in a dark room with a long table stretched before him. 

There were objects at the table, some small, some shiny, one a rather confused snake, all of them with a twisted sense of familiarity. His head hurts looking at them, so he draws his eyes  upwards to the seemingly countless amount of large beings that stand over him. They felt powerful, bigger than life, and Harry's internally screamed as he realized he was butt naked.

"So this is the boy I sent my own to fetch?" A man grumbles, his pale face twisted in a sneer that Harry can swear he's seen before, but the familiarity takes a back seat compared to the paralyzing fear and embarrassment taken hold of him. The man's many many companions tittered among themselves. "He's rather scrawny for a vessel," he feels a poke to his side and doesn't move. 'This is just a dream', Harry determinedly thought, 'you've had embarrassing dreams before, you just need to snap out of it. Like thinking of the guy in his underwear!' Harry focused on the man's chest to do just that and felt faint at what looked like hundreds upon thousands of people trapped in the cloth of the man's tunic. Screaming and clawing to be released.

"Now now, you are the one with many names, the one who welcomes many guests, your hospitality is desirable in handling the twitchy one. The other vessels we can deal with, and besides last we saw of your brood they were doing good progress, patched him up and everything," a feminine figure soothes sweetly, her dress resembled a feathered flapper dress that hugged her flatteringly. Harry wanted to ask what she meant by 'other vessels' but rustling took his attention as the woman kicked back her feet, revealing clawed talons stained with blood that resembled Hedwig's after her hunt, her feathered layers of her dress unfurled into wings.

"Now now, all of you. It's quite rude to bring the boy over and not have him know where he is," a different voice chimed. A dark green hand sways over Harry's vision, and he looks up to see a similarly green coloring on a kind face. The man's kohl lined eyes were kind, and he looked fatherly as he gently lifted Harry up to be face to face with him. Harry thinks this entire scenario must be what being a cat is like.

"I have a girl who grew up in England just like you, I think she'd find you fun to hang out with," the man's American accent felt layered with something older, ancient, dead. Yet the fatherly inflection he had in his words felt comforting, like being cradled to sleep after a hard, tiring day. Harry felt a oof of air leave him as he was transferred to another pair of hands like one would transfer a particularly limp cat.

"Let's hope you don't crash into each other though, it's risky enough having so many godly interventions over one man, it'll be a cold day here when little ones have too many playdates, don't you agree, friends?" A woman dangled him in front of her face, her long red hair falling like a waterfall over her pale face as a crow stood over her head. It's beady eyes looking tempted to take a bite out of Harry. "So, shall this meeting be concluded? If this one stays any longer his brain might crack," and Harry hoped all of them nodded, he rather likes having his brain uncracked. 

"Well then, in that case," the woman brought him closer to her face, her beady black eyes staring at him like a raven eyeing a corpse. "You better wake up now, little vessel."

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Harry woke up in cold sweat, his lungs burning like they hadn't breathed for a while while he greedily filled them with air. He waits for the beating of his heart to catch up to the fact that he wasn't dead or naked in front of a fever dream conference. Slowly, his arm lifts to right himself up to sit on his mattress, surveying the dark room, the faint glimmer of moon light replacing the warm glow he fell asleep to.

He lies back down but keeps his eyes open as he hears the soft breathing and snores surrounding him. Letting his mind hesitantly wander back to his dream, the details already growing fuzzy as he strips off the heavy uniform cloak he fell asleep in. Relishing the cool air hitting his sweaty back and he laid back down, pressing the covers closer to his heart and relishing the steady beat of it with relief. 

His mind continues to wander away from the dream entirely, thinking about the detention, the food next breakfast, the potions assignment he's dragging his feet to finish. He shift to the side to avoid his injured arm and stares at a bed beside him that is empty. Fully kept. Unused.

'Did we have another boy in the dormitory before?' He wondered sleepily as his eyes closed once more.

They cracked themselves open as Harry pushes himself up in horror and looks back to the bed again. An unexplainable shiver running across his back 

'That's-that's someone's bed,' he screams to himself as a faint ghost of a thought wiggled in his brain, seemingly trying to disappear once more into Harry's murky mind while sleep tried once more to claim him. Harry pushed through the murkiness and grabbed on to the ghost, using whatever mental strength he had left and pulled.

"You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again!"

A body stiffening and falling to the floor-

"Why is it always me?"

Eyes that sparkled with joy in herbology as much as they glistened with tears in potions-

"Has anyone seen Trevor?"

Gillyweed shoved into his hands right before the start of the challenge-

"The only problem is, I can't remember what I've forgotten."

A remembrall slowly filling with red-

"Neville-" Harry gasped out, hands aggressively combing through his messy hair as he paced around the bed that he hasn't seen occupied the entire school year. "How the bloody hell can I forget a Neville?"

In the end he didn't get much sleep that night.

Chapter Text

Will closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear his head before opening his eyes to the scene before him. His breakfast, a bowl of porridge with honey and oats, is now a splattered mess over Draco's clothes. Will felt a twinge of guilt over the way the porridge ran a sticky blobby mess over the uniform that Will knows isn't cheap. The feeling evaporates when Draco shrieks about his father throwing him to Azkaban for assault, and Will decides to save the guilt for the person who worked hard to make food he wasted on Draco, Amen.

It wasn't that the whole thing was intentional. Will feels like berating himself for reacting so strongly to BIRDS of all things entering the dining hall and causing a ruckus while delivering post. It was a stupid thing to jump over, and Will thought he was over the stupid fear, but the way so many birds of prey were swooping and swirling away made something in his chest feel tight, and Will was going to eat his stethoscope if he was going to have a panic attack in this table

His left hip burned from where a piece of it was ripped off, the wound openly gaping but bleeding slugishly as he dragged downed demigods under the rafters. Breaking off pieces of his emergency Ambrosia and forcing it into mouths closed shut by teeth hissing in pain. Forcing himself to drink Nectar till he could feel his throat become raw and scarred just to keep going when adrenaline was wearing off and the pain set in. 

Will closes his eyes and inhales deeply, before taking a muffin and an apple and deciding that Hufflepuff table was a wonderful dining spot next to a son of Hades who animals naturally tend to avoid, which included birds.

"Good morning, friends!" He chimes as he slides between Nico and Hazel, who both smoothly make way for him and causing the bird population hovering over the Hufflepuff table to give the three a wide berth. It makes Will breathe easier as he nibbles on his muffin while ignoring the stares he gets. 

"Hey, babe," he whispers to Nico, and he adores the way Nico's nose wrinkles as he faux gags at the pet name. "Never call me that again," the dark haired demigod hissed with his face flushing red as Will chuckles, leaning closer to him teasingly. "Aww, but I know you, you actually-"

"I thought I told you that this table is for Hufflepuff's only!"

His head whips to the authoritative voice and sees the girl from yesterday standing across the table. Her fist around her waist as she stares down at him sternly. With her chest puffed up instead of curled inward the badge on her chest gleamed. A genuine worry tied a knot in Will's stomach as he tried for his charming smile once more. The girl only sighed before moving to make it to their side, the time it took for her to reach them was enough to make it lose the intimidation, but Will wisely kept his mouth shut as she faced the trio again sans the table.

"I'll have to deduct points now at this point, there's really no reason for you to not sit in your designated table," she snapped but didn't rant, as if waiting for him to give a stupid excuse so she could deduct more points later on. Will shrugged, his fatal flaw wasn't exactly his competitive spirit, it made him a valuable healer whenever camp games got a bit too intense with the posturing...and the mauling.

It seemed Nico didn't share the sentiment though. 

"Sorry, Grendel, it's just that I'm kind of shy-" Nico started, his voice soft at the end with a lilt that Will has heard before, trying to convince Chiron of letting them break the rules for the nth time. "I'm still not used to this place, and I'm bad with new places and Will and Hazel are the only people I know here and-" a deep inhale before dark onyx eyes opened wide and pleading to the Prefect, "-can he please stay here? I promise we won't make a scene."

"Well-" Grendel said, adjusting her collar in consideration as Will snapped out of admiring his manipulative boyfriend, "I guess I can consider it, but I'll have to talk with the Heads of Hufflepuff and Slytherin for it, as well as Dumbledore." She raised her eyebrow at them, before turning and sauntering away, "just stay out of trouble during mealtimes and I won't care, we'll be sorting this out with the Heads later."

They watched her walk away, definitely more confident than the conflicted girl that Will talked to earlier. "She looks like if Percy and Annabeth had a baby-" Hazel muttered, and Will and Nico looked back at her.

"Eww, why did you have to plant that image in my head-" Nico groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms like he was trying to wipe the mental image away from his eyes. Will hummed as he thought back to Grendel, blonde windswept hair, tanned skin, piercing pale green eyes that softened at things small and cute (not that Will would ever call Nico small unless he wanted his kneecaps gone). "It wouldn't be that far a stretch of imagination, but any child of Annabeth and Percy would not be so adamant about following rules," he decides to say instead.

Hazel snorts, "Yeah, but who knows, back at the stables in Argo II-" but before she could continue, an eagle swooped down. Will felt bile rise from the back of his throat in sheer terror, and he squeezes Nico's hand tight enough that the dark haired boy ends up being the one yelping. 

'Get it away get it away get it away-' his head screamed as he leaned as far away from the bird as possible, his breath coming in short panicked spurts as the bird leaned closer to Hazel, cocking it's weird raptor head from side to side as if it was doing a dangerous happy dance at finding it's next delicious demigod meal. Hazel, instead of screaming and shooing away the bird, seemed to brighten up and coo at it.

"Relax, it's just Frank," Nico whispered to him, smoothing his thumb over Will's hand until the blonde relaxed his grip with a shuddering breath. Hazel barely gave them a glance as she held the overgrown bird like a teddybear and give it a squeeze that the bird seemed more than willing to nuzzle into.

Yup, definitely Frank.

"Welp, this seems like a good time for a picnic," Hazel happily says as she broke away from the hug, using napkins to pack some fruits, rolls, some pieces of sausage, and more breakfast items that the eagle (Frank, it's just big cuddly Frank who would NEVER interrupt a chariot race to feast on the flesh on innocent half-bloods as they screamed in confusion and terror-) vaguely points with his beak. 

"If it helps, I'll ask him to turn into something smaller once we head out," Nico whispered to his ear, taking the last bite out of his bread before standing and taking Will with him. Will let himself be led out, trying to block out the stray stares that followed them and instead focus on the cold rough hands of his boyfriend. It felt like running his hands through a course gravestone, and he let himself be grounded by the stern but gentle grip the boy had on his hands. Watching blankly as he snapped his fingers, and with a chilling collision of shadows, a picnic blanket appeared.

Will let out an oof as he was pushed down to it though, Nico leaning over him in a manner that would have been intimidating, if not for the concerned furrow of his brows. 

"So, can we make out?" Will asks obnoxiously, just for something to say, maybe for Nico to laugh at.

"No, mind sharing why you freaked out so much?" Nico asked instead, looking more like he would prefer to get the answer by peering into Will's soul then having a conversation about feelings. Will would have preferred neither, he would have preferred keeping that irrational fear in his head, buried in happy smiles and wonderful denial.

"It's nothing."

"Will-"

"I'm sorry, but a bird is hardly any reason for us to panic."

"But you did panic about it, didn't you say it's bad for the heart to bottle up feelings? Something about it exploding?"

"Just forget about it Neeks."

"..."

Will remembers more than realizes- he's always been one hell of a hypocrite. Nico seemed to come to the same conclusion before releasing a frustrated sigh, lying on the ground next to him and leaning his body away from Will's side. "Should've known you wouldn't follow your own advice when you gave me 21st Century etiquette lessons. Can't believe I trusted you to teach me how to get along with people when you introduced yourself by taking my hand and yelling about birthing a satyr-" 

"Alright alright-" Will interrupted Nico's rant. As mature as Will likes to think of himself, he knows he's easily dragged into arguments with Nico, the other boy's voice frustrating and engaging him in equal measures. Dragging out the argumentative side of him no one else was ever able to, and usually it was a thrill to experience. But right now he felt like an argument would expose that damned weakness, one of many piled haphazardly into a shape of him and fortified behind confident smiles and faux expertise, exposing the crippling fear that still haunts his dreams and makes his heart stop every time he hears a flutter of wings and ominous caws. Nico can't see the chinks of the armor that he constructed so carefully to hold back the emotional mess he hides inside it. Insecurity pulling him close and promising him that Nico would walk away too if he showed just how incapable and scared he was. What was a coward doing with someone as fearless as the Ghost King?

If (but with his luck, it was more like a question of when) he actually comes face to face with his mom in this school, he's torn between wanting Nico beside him and hoping he stays far away from the wreck Will is most likely gonna be.

"It's not you Neeks, it's not a problem with you, it's a problem with me. I'm sorry," he whispers, reaching for his hand and trying not to feel hurt when Nico moves his away. 

They stayed like that, awkward and silent until Hazel finally comes, a much smaller owl hitching a ride on her shoulder. It was definitely an upgrade from the eagle, but the predatory gleam of the eyes still set Will off. Despite the tense energy between them, he moves closer to Nico as if silently begging for the bird to not come any closer. Nico doesn't react, staring furiously at a distance as if distracted by something else pissing him off. 

Hazel and Frank, bless their hearts, seem to catch the feeling that something was wrong, and both decidedly sat on the other corner of the blanket. Hazel tearing bagels into bite size pieces for owl-Frank to gobble down. Will wallows deeper at the awkward loneliness he feels as Nico continues to stare at the distance and not at him. Like having a lover's spat and third-wheeling a date at the same time.

Before anything could be done for it, a shrill ringing sound was heard, and the tense couple watch as Hazel and owl-Frank press their foreheads close to one another, both breathing a sigh of relief, before Frank flew off. Without the feathery presence, Will was finally able to start wondering why the son of Mars stopped by this mission despite Hecate's insistence for secrecy for her pet world, and a new type of queasy entered his half-empty stomach. 

He stood and hesitantly held out his hand to Nico, not surprised when the dark haired boy picked himself up and brushed himself off before going off ahead. Hazel stared at the retreating form of her brother and gave Will a concerned look. He waves her off, but inside he feels chilling dread taking root.

He never did well when he was left alone.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Harry felt his eyes bulge after seeing the magnificent eagle turn into a tiny owl. He hid behind a pillar and rubbed his eyes, wondering if the sleep deprivation was getting to him before he peeked out once more. The pygmy owl was clutching unto Hazel's sleeve, cooing and hooing in time to Hazel's rambling, responding with an intelligence that was all too familiar. 

The exchange students had never held a wand until last week, their enunciation of magical terms horrendous and often misspelled, barely grasping basic points of wizarding culture. Yet they somehow knocked out Professor McGonagall, Sirius Black, and Made-eye Moody (so badly that McGonagall was still asking students to speak up when giving perfectly clear answers), having been in the same cabin as Luna when she passed out on the train, the whole of last night, and now the new pet. Harry's life did not come with coincidences, just cleverly written jokes about his entire existence, so it's natural that he becomes suspicious.

Harry ignored his grumbling stomach as he took out his invisibility cloak, learning from last time and keeping a distance from Hazel even with the cloak on, unwilling to test his theory of Hazel being able to sense the cloak SOMEHOW and focusing more on trying to find out more about the new bird, or person, or whatever it is that is now also in this school with the Americans. 

He followed them to the edge of the forest, wondering loosely where they could have gotten a picnic blanket from, before watching closely as they enjoyed their breakfast. Hazel and the owl taking bites and pieces while Nico and Will sat tensely. He couldn't hear if they were talking at all, and holds his breath at Nico's occasional squint to his general area. He stays there until the bell rings, and the owl flies off to the owlery, followed by a pissed off Nico who leaves without a glance to him, just stomps his way back to the castle. He presses himself close to the tree line as he watches the rest of them leave, and finally breathes a sigh of relief when he finds himself alone. 

"Why are you watching us!" A voice hissed, and Harry yelps at seeing dark onyx eyes staring at him furiously. Nico, who he had just seen walking back to school, was now right in front of him, the constant chill and dimness with him as he leans to where Harry hides behind his invisibility cloak. His eyes peering into Harry's own as if he could see despite the cloak, rendering Harry just as vulnerable as criminal before a hardened judge.

"I can't see you clearly, and I know others can't see you at all, so let me make this visibly clear for the both of us-" the darkness seemed to consume Harry where he stood frozen in fear as Nico leaned closer. His ghostly pale face turning haunted and skeletal, with the shadows whipping around him like a cloak of fluid fear. 

"If you hurt any of my friends- even raise a finger against us- you will be begging for death as I hand feed you that same finger while it's still attached to you. Understood?"

Harry's breath started coming out as mist the closer Nico leaned in, and the bellowing exhale seemed to be proof enough of his agreement. Nico huffed before receding, taking back the darkness and bitter cold before taking his exit, cape bellowing despite the now lack of wind. He disappears behind the tree line and Harry does not attempt to check if he is still there when he turns to run back to the castle.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Nico feels his breath come out in slow, deliberate drags as he heads to lunch with Hazel. The day was going slowly, with his frustration simmering to troubling contemplation. The mysterious stalker had a familiar presence, in the same faint way that old men and women wrinkled and hobbling his way were familiar, with conversation drifting in and out of his ears of times long past. The stalker was familiar, but he was mortal, and a killable unknown is always a good one.

Nico tsked to himself as he recalls how he didn't notice their stalker spying on their group while he was talking to Will. And then contemplating how to break it to Hazel who looked so happy being near Frank again, the large teddybear bringing her a sense of security amidst the wizard balderdash. The way Will brought Nico when he wasn't being a shining example of an idiot. Even if Nico was ...confused, he didn't dare continue talking with the ears and eyes of someone else on them. But besides that-

Nico signaled Hazel to go ahead to their usual meeting spot as he heads to the toilet, doing his business first then using the convenient location to curl up and let his thoughts spiral and maybe cry a little bit. He's practical like that. 

Cat curled out from his hiding spot of Nico's sleeve, seeming to have sensed their privacy and his distress to nuzzle what would constitute as it's head onto the demigod's  tummy like a cat. Nico knew his naming abilities were unparalleled. Allowing the 'Obscurus' to perch itself on his lap, stretching it's form languidly to nuzzle Nico's neck before returning to roll over and expose it's belly.

He sagged as he coursed his fingers through Cat's smoking form, the tendrils feeling more solid the longer they stayed at Hogwarts. Nico exhaled as he felt more grounded, and less likely to flood the entire bathroom with darkness and shadow. When he finally opened the stall, he was unsurprised to find a ghost standing far too close to his face.

"This is the men's room, sorry," Nico said, eyebrow raising at the impatient huff the ghost released. She leaned close into his personal space, just an inch away from being considered rude. Her expression showed just how much she was holding herself back from invading his privacy, unlike wherever her haunting spot was, intrusions would not be pardoned.

Cat hissed, a dark whispery warning, it made her back off, her face twisting at the whispy form of the Obscurus. The ghost says nothing, but her silence echoed her distain, and she floats farther away before bowing politely. "I am Moaning Mrytle of the Girl's Lavatory, unrightfully slain by a Basilisk and it's master and remaining until my killer is well and truly dead, my king," her introduction sounded bland and  unenthusiastic, as if she had learned a script from older ghosts and was simply getting formalities out of the way to get to the meat of what she really wanted to say. "I have urgent news to bring to you, news which I believe is worth your audience and words in which I trade for my continued haunting of-"

"You sound like a child of Nemesis-" Nico interrupts, and the ghost puffs up. "I knew they sent us a rude ghost king, but I didn't think you'd be so rude as to interrupt a lady who spent all this time and energy to bring you some critical information while memorizing the whole pompous script you divine folk seem to love so much." Nico awkwardly looks away before bowing in apology.

"Sorry, please continue."

The ghost lets out a hmph before leaning in close, cupping her mouth as if to whisper a secret, "the shifter friend of yours, he needs you and your sister's help, he found what he was looking for." Nico sighed in exhaustion before preparing to leave, only to  be pushed down again by the ghost.

"Hey hey hey! I'm not yet finished! I have more stuff to say!" She huffed, and Nico groaned into his hands before staring back at the ghost who was getting on his nerves. "What other knowledge would you share to your king," he asked, leaning forward to pinch the bridge of his nose. Myrtle preened all the same at the attention.

"I know who your invisible stalker is, and I can give him a name and offer my services in getting him to stop following you if you can get the school's poltergeist to leave me alone!" Nico's attention seeped back as he stared at the smug ghost, as if she fully understood the grip the questions had on the demigod. 

"Tell me how he was able to remain unseen and it's a deal."

"Deal!"

The ghost then smoothed her cloak before sitting crossed leg on the air, "the one who's been stalking you...is Harry Potter."

"...fuck."

"Right! And they say I have no respect for privacy! Anyways, don't tell any breathing folk, but I think it's the cloak of death itself!"

Nico stared at the ghost with his lips pressed thinly together, his brows in a disbelieving but concerned furrow. "Any reason why you might think that? Any records? Incidents? Feelings?" Myrtle snorted in response. 

"Oh, a ton of them! The cloak used to be held by the Potter's father before he kicked the bucket, Harry Potter would have been 1 by then and some headmaster portraits shared how the cloak was lying around in the Professor Albus' office while they went a bit too heavy on the butter beer. And it's not the biggest secret that the Headmaster has been searching for the Deathly Hallows for some time. So the cloak stayed there until some time during the winter of Harry Potter's 1st year in Hogwarts, where the cloak goes missing from the office and I started sensing a  presence hiding under a cloak of invisibility. And wouldn't you know it? The celebrity himself burst into my bathroom, shedding his invisibility cloak and leaving it on my floors, free to examine!" 

Myrtle cleared her throat before reclining once more.

"None of the older ghosts are willing to admit but the cloak makes them nervous, and they're not willing to snitch on the Potter boy while he has the cloak in his hands. I, on the other hand?" Translucent fingers twirled on pigtails before cupping her face with a self-satisfied wink. "I've always known that knowledge was power, my fellow wizards just don't get how powerful they can be. My parents were muggle union reps and negotiators, you see, and I picked up a thing or two from them." 

Nico nodded, finding himself more and more open to working with the ghost in the future. "The poltergeist will be dealt with, anything else you have on hand that you believe would be useful to me currently?"

The ghost stayed quiet as she stared into space, before floating down and leaning closer to Nico. 

"You know what it's like to hurt, right?" At Nico's hesitant nod, Myrtle floated away with her eye glazed and lost in thought. 

"You know what it's like to have something haunt you, even years after and the reaction just end up more ridiculous the longer it stays? I know you do, to some extent. Sometimes I still panic when I hear the water of the bathroom pipes creak, and it's silly, I've been haunting it for decades now, maybe more if I've really lost track of time. It still makes me shake like a leaf."

Nico swallowed thickly, thinking back to the morning, how he felt hurt at how hesitant Will was with him. He's spent his life feeling like an outsider someone people couldn't trust, son of shadows and king of ghosts. Who was he to have such a bright and warm person love him like Will did? Like he was something so normal yet so precious. The way Will wilted away from him this morning, it reopened a wound that Nico thought had healed,  he thought Will would trust him to tell him what was wrong, trust him to have his back-so why was he so dismissive? Why couldn't Nico take Will's hand in turn to assure him they were okay? The air of the bathroom darkened as the thought clouded Nico's mind.

Myrtle's form shuddered, like a poor parody of a nervous breath before floating away, "the trust you receive from others does not always reflect your character," she says in a far-away manner. She shakes her head before clearing her throat awkwardly. "So, yeah, maybe you should clear it up with him. Misunderstandings are the worst part of any romantic drama," Myrtle nods her head in a definitive way. 

"What? No way, it's definitely the annoying third wheel that's the worse. Misunderstandings are- never mind, where is Frank again?"

"Oh, in the Owlery. Third tallest tower of the castle."

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Hazel felt her eyes blur and her lunch trying to escape her stomach the higher she climbed. Even with the railing being up to her chest and windows not even big enough for her to fit, she cannot push down the feeling that one wrong step will send her off to an airborne demise. She can't believe Nico left her to receive Frank's message while he was probably making up with Will and consequently making out with him. She knew her brother, he wasn't slick.

She hopes Frank has a good explanation for having to pick the owlery of all places for whatever mission he came here for. 

Just as she reached the highest tip of the tower, she spots Frank in his human form leaning on a door that would have no doubt led to outside if not for the factor of magic being imbued into literally everything in this building. She could hear her legs trembling like an earthquake, except she's experienced earthquakes, much better than this. 

"Frank, you better have a good explanation as to why you're here and not on good sensible ground like any sane person," Hazel hisses while still holding unto the railing like a lifeline. She tries her best to glare like Nico but ultimately drops it at Frank's apologetic look.

"I'm... getting to that, let me call him over," Frank responds, before opening the door and entering quickly, shutting it before the she could have any glimpse of the drop outside. Soft conversation drifted until Frank came back inside alone.

Wait, no, Hazel pushed forward to see the way the mist seemed to bend around something, like an indent of a person under a blanket. 

"Hazel, this is Neville, he's kind of been stuck with an accident conjuring Mist and now, well-you can see what I mean," Frank explains awkwardly, waving at Neville's general direction before turning back to her. "He can't be sensed by humans, but he still alerts animals and I was able to track him here. "

Hazel nodded in understanding before carefully making her way closer. Carefully, her hands separated the air above the presence and closed her fist, dissipating the mist quickly. Though, she felt like the mist wasn't the right word for what she split away. It was minty- tingling in her hands like a little electric current or a shock of cold. She's been feeling that more and more the longer the mission has kept her here, like a little reminder that this wasn't her home turf, and this wasn't the mist she knows. She tucks that unsettling thought away and looks back to Neville and-

It was like seeing Frank for the first time all over again- there was less fat on his cheeks and he was DEFINITELY not Chinese, but the same nervous confusion and clumsy fiddling reminded her so much of Frank she felt like she was punted back into time. She tried to smile at him in a friendly way, he looked ready to puke. To be fair, so was she in this altitude. 

"Frank, Neville, how about we have this talk a bit closer to ground?" She-didn't really ask but only Frank knew that as he gave a long-accepting sigh, Neville vigorously nodded, and he was looking really green-

Grabbing both of them by the sleeve, she took a deep breath, and shadow travelled them to the haunted girl's bathroom.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Nico shuffled from where he and Will stood in the same empty classroom as last night. Will clenched and unclenched his hands for want of something to do. Strategically, he knew why they had to do this; a team that works makes the dream work after all, and a team can't work when two of it's members were having a lover's spat. 

"So, before I say what I'm about to say, I want it to be clear that we're not breaking up on my part," Nico said sternly.

"Wait what!" Will shot up, "that's-what- we're not breaking up on my part either! I didn't even- is that an option for this kind of thing?" Sweaty hands jolted as cold fingers softly clasped them, drawing soothing patterns until his breath calmed down. "Good, so we can agree on that, you're not getting away from me that easily, Solace." Nico said in a teasing manner, but Will could detect a hint of relief from the way Nico's shoulders relax. Will sank down into a dusty desk, shuffling to get comfortable before looking expectantly at Nico.

Will's field of view flooded with dark locks as Nico leaned his forehead to bonk with his in comfort, and Will bonks his back and feels slightly better. "So, with that out of the way, I wanna go first. I'm going to try to get all of...this-" he gestures vaguely to his chest "-out of the way all at once. And then you can be free to rebuff me during your turn."

Nico bonked his head to Will's again, but this time he let it stay, the long locks tickling Will's nose but he held his breath anxiously. "Will, I know that it's hard to trust for demigods, and I know it's especially hard to trust me when it comes to-emotional things," dark eyes stared far-away as if looking back to an unfortunate past, "I really, really suck at emotional things. And that's okay. I know you still love me despite that."

Will felt the sensation of a cold grip drift from his hands, up his arms, and to his hair where they played with his curls. He leans into that sensation. "What I'm saying is, I'm sorry for pushing you this morning. I shouldn't have when I was so stubborn to share my own problems. I guess I just felt...insecure?" He said the word like it was pulling teeth before relaxing back into Will's warmth. "Yeah, insecure. I thought you didn't trust me because I trust you, a lot. And it made me wonder what someone warm like you was doing with someone as scary as me." Nico inhaled heavily before leaning away from Will awkwardly, "welp, that's all I have to say. Your turn I guess."

Will slowly let's his arms circle around Nico's torso, giving him enough time to hit him if he didn't want to be hugged, but as the moment passes and his arms firmly circle Nico, he smiles at a reciprocating squeeze and leans back to look Nico eye-to-eye.

"Gods, Neeks, I don't know where to start," Will says, the irony of the son of the god of poetry being at a loss for words was not lost on him. "I never wanted to make you feel like I didn't trust you, cause I do. Besides taking care of yourself, you're the most competent person I know. I was- I am scared of not being enough for you, I was-" Will buried his face into his boyfriend's shirt just to stop himself from crying, just a bit. "There was an attack on camp a year before you came, it was the time Thalia's tree got poisoned so the barrier was weak, and Stymphalian birds got in-"

Will sobbed as he spoke. Nico's fingers froze on his scalp, unsure of how to coax the other boy out of his tears. In jilted, unsure movements, he wrapped his arms around Will's shoulder's and squeezed, hugging the blonde back, staying in that position for a peaceful moment until his shoulders stopped shaking. "Will?" Nico whispered, "do you want to keep going?"

A stiff nod was the response, and with a shuddering breath, he continued. "They swarmed us everywhere, and my older siblings tried to fight them off while the rest of us hid under the bleachers. It was terrifying. None of them could get a clear shot and the birds just kept coming, it felt like they were flooding the bleachers. Their beaks dug into our skin and their eyes were filled with so much blood lust, it was-" Will sniffed before wiping his nose. "It was terrifying."

"Is that why- during breakfast, the birds-" Will nodded, stomach tied up in knots as he let himself inhale Nico's graveyard scent. The soft smell of vintage cologne and wet earth bringing a sense of comfort as the arms around his shoulders squeezed him tighter.

"Will, don't ever, EVER feel ashamed for feeling this way. What you went through was scary, and you were so young, and I would know that you are one of the bravest and the kindest demigod I've ever known-" Nico gasped as Will stood, his warms arms lifting him slightly in their firm embrace, and he let out a deep exhale as he guided both of them to sit on the dusty abandoned chairs. "Will, we've both had our past experiences closing in on us. Sometime I still feel like-like I'm in that dam stupid jar again. But a good doctor-" Will scoffed in disbelief "-shush, a GREAT doctor once told me that we can't let our past deprive us of making new memories, and if we push others away then we get lonely and it's bad for our health and...stuff," Nico mumbled in a gross parody of what Will had said to him that day in the infirmary. He decides he got the message across and lightly hits Will's back, the demigod's shoulders now shaking with muffled laughter. 

Will released him while holding back chuckles, and Nico grumbles as he sits on a moth-ridden plus chair. He knows from the burning of his cheeks that he probably isn't fooling anyone, but he still faces away with a huff when Will approaches him with a fond look. 

"Aww, c'mon death boy, you know I'm just really flattered~" Will teased, "I mean, calling me the GREATEST doctor in the WORLD!-" a plush chair gets thrown in Will's general direction, but the demigod dodges and trots up to the other boy with a cheeky smile, invading a bit of Nico's space and waiting for his response. Nico could dismiss him, give a a simple 'no' and Will would back off and he could sulk in peace. There wouldn't even be a falter in conversation, Will would go on smiling with the misunderstanding cleared and their fight over. 

Nico could, but he didn't want to, even as he pretends to hate as Will snuggles closer to him again. "You are such a drama queen~" Will sings-songs, and suddenly they are both aware of how close they are, alone, with no Chiron, strict satyrs, or annoying siblings to barge in on them. Will clears his throat as his own face start glowing a soft red light. "Well, this is convenient-" he jokes, with a breathless quality that has Nico leaning closer to hear.

And Will, in response leaned closer too-

And Nico closed his eyes as he felt a warm hand on his cheeks-

And Will's breath hitched as Nico wrapped an arm around his waist-

The door creaked open just as their mouths were a millimeter apart from each other, and they both turned to the intruding sound.

There, where light invaded the once dim room, stood a pleasantly surprised Naomi Solace, and a slack jawed Harry Potter.

"γαμήσου," muttered Will.

Chapter Text

Hermione feels sweat drip down her brow as she focuses on brewing her potion, but revelation that Harry had shared with her that morning had plagued her mind throughout the day. 

The thought repeated like a nightmarish loop in her head as she goes about her classes in a daze. 

When Harry had barged in on them during a walk to their first period, she wondered if he had finally snapped under the psychological pressure of being simultaneously the Chosen One and constantly being called a liar in School. 

His eyes looked bruised with eye bags, his hands were cold to the touch when he gripped both Ron's and her hands, and his voice sounded rough and breathless. The last time Hermione had seen him like this was in third year, when the relentless dementor incidents had taken a toll on him. 

She wondered if she'd have to explain to the proffesor how they were late after wheeling Harry to the Infirmary.

Instead, like a bubble popping on her face, a clarity that she had not realized was missing slammed into her like a steam train.

Neville was missing.

And not only that, he spoke of a shapeshifter who knew the new students, Nicolo and Hazel's continued ability to see him beyond the invisibility cloak, and-

"But Harry, that's impossible- Hogwarts has been charmed to block any form of apparition on it's grounds, how could Nicolo possibly have travelled back to you when he hasn't even had a wand for long?" Hermione's mind throbbed at the dichotomy of it. 

On one hand, Ginny had shared how catching the two Hufflepuffs up with basic spells had been a pain, with both of them having trouble with a basic Lumos spell. 

Hazel's wand had only given off a low glow while Nico's hardly lit up at all. How could that be the same boy who apparently broke through Hogwarts level charms put in place to stop transportation?

But then again, from what Ginny said about their 'special summer place' and their ability to overwhelm three members of the Order- maybe she shouldn't be dismissing the three. 

No matter how little sense it made for Nicolo to not perform a spell as fundamental as Lumos, and then turn around to be able to use an advanced branch of magic like Umbramotoris. 

Hermione felt the two things slot vaguely together like a puzzle, but with 100 other pieces missing before it made a full picture. She was determined to go through the day acting as normally as possible while piecing together the disjointed parts, but that plan was thrown out the window when it was time for Potions.

With Neville still missing and the addition of Will Solace, a Gryffindor and Slytherin had to be grouped together. And wouldn't you look it, Hermione was the only student without a partner. 

She didn't want to be partners with a Slytherin who, after breakfast, has either had an upset scowl or a despondent expression on his face. Her dread gave way to devastation as Snape stared at his new student, then surveyed the tables, his eyes meeting hers before she could look away.

The prolonged uncomfortable eye contact sealed her fate. 

They barely talked to each other, merely minding their own stations as they collected the needed ingredients. Hermione's in a neat organized line and Will's in a chaotic pile up. 

She tried to keep her attention out of his station, tried to keep her eyes straight on her own potion and not be such a know it all but-

But there is a wiggling leech and a bottle of snake venom where the entire ingredients were plant-based.

"Solace-" she says as evenly as she could, her voice wanting to waver with worry. "The ingredients list is entirely plant based, why do you-" she eyes the pile of thorns that was definitely not part of the ingredients list either, "why do you have so many...additions?"

Will paused from what he was doing (reaching for a jar of Red Jig Beans, which WAS a part of the ingredient list). And looked back to Hermione with a sheepish look on his face. "I feel like-I might have misread the ingredients," he mumbles as he grabs the jar of Red Jig Beans and returns back to their work station to look back to the board. Squinting hard as if he struggled to see the letters from where they sat, which was only a few paces away from the board, not very far even, but-

"Are you near-sighted? Like Harry? Is that why you're struggling to read the ingredients?" She asks, and Will rubbed his eyes as if trying to relieve a headache. "No, no, I'm fine," his strained response just lending more credence to the theory. 

"No, cursive is just a curse to my eyes," Will squinted at the board as if he was willing it on fire- Hermione wonders if that's possible for the grandson of the Dark Lord- and shakes his head as if chiding himself. 

"I'm basically reading gibberish and trying to fill in the blanks with context clues and following my gut, but what else is new?"

Hermione side-eyes him before sniffing as she focused on her own cauldron, "if that's the case, then I'm not helping you if your cauldron suddenly explodes. I'm not one for making mistakes that could affect my grades."

"Strangely enough, I think that listening to my gut would work, if that makes sense," Will says off handedly as he takes a jig bean and grinds it, as opposed to roughly chopping it. 

Hermione feels a vein bulge out from her neck.

"That is just preposterous-" she hisses out in disbelief while she chopped her jig beans precisely as the instructions said to. She turned back to the blonde Slytherin only to see him smiling with a knowing glint round his blue irises.

"Well, I'm personally of the opinion that mistakes are better made in a learning environment where a safety net is present, but if you're so intent on proving me wrong then I'm not saying no to a bet."

Hermione hesitates for a moment, then sees Will's knowing smirk, and hurries to get back to her own potion. 

"Please, what would you even bet with? Dumbledore was the one who payed for your school supplies, I gain nothing from a bet with you," she says as she furiously powders her ginger root. 

The both of them pounding the root until it was a fine powder, Hermione adds it all in, Will sprinkles a bit of it and set the rest to the side as he steers. 

"I know it's enough for you to be proven right, unless you're scared with your pride on the line?"

Hermione slices her wheat stalk with more viciousness than necessary, the knife in her hand taken quickly as Will slices his own wheat stalk along with numerous thorns and branches. 

"10 galleons, and if I win, I want you to properly acknowledge that I told you so. In front of the entire class."

Will hums as he adds a bit more ginger powder, his potion bubbling into a caramel brown darker than Hermione's. He smiles as if it means a damn thing.

"Deal."

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Hermione held her breath as Snape approaches their table. His dark eyes staring unimpressed at Hermione's dark brown brew. Pursing his lips, he muttered an acceptable before moving on to Solace's potion. His eyebrow rising until it almost disappeared up his hairline at the potion much lighter than anyone else's, its mocha color swirling about in some taunting dance. 

"May I ask- what this is- Mr. Riddle?" Snape asked in the drawled out way that Hermione learned meant he was finding the proper mentorly way to call someone an idiot-

"My potion, sir," Will replied with a smile, uncaring of the way failure seemed to loom over him. "I worked really hard on it- if it would be possible for future reference, would you be willing to provide instructions in sans format? I can read that much better than cursive."

"Perhaps it would be better if you simply improved your reading abilities," Snape snipped as he examined the potion closer, surveying and sniffing the bastardized concoction. 

The raised eyebrow and moderate snarl the only indication that he seemed confused, and perhaps mildly surprised at the severity of the fuck up.

"Somehow, Mister Riddle, you did not make the intermediate Wide Eye potion, but an attempt at the more advanced Sun Spittle serum, miraculous if done right- and disastrous if done wrong." 

Hermione's eye twitched in Will's line of sight, and he suppressed the smug smile rising through his face and flashed a wholesome one instead. "Is that so, sir?" 

Severus sniffed as if unimpressed by the act of smiling, perhaps Will should have scowled instead. "Of course, to test this...experimental attempt on humans would be beyond foolish, so I would have to ask for your toad. Place him on my desk and-"

"Ugh, sir? I don't have a toad?"

Will sounded confused, with an underlying of panic as if he was unsure of whether he was MEANT to bring a toad which, in hindsight, at least meant Trevor was probably safe if they did do something diabolical to Neville.

"I seem to have...mistaken you, Mr. Riddle, for someone else. Perhaps Ms. Granger's cat could make for a fine test subject instead, as your work space partner she should have responsibility over any-mishaps made."

Hermione's gasp of horror ripped out of her before she could suppress it. Her hands trembled as she grasped for a way to get out of testing such a reckless potion attempt on Crookshanks without sounding like she was close to tears. 

"Sir, testing on Crookshanks would be troublesome, who knows where he is right now, really-" 

"Miss Granger, your cat, now."

Hermione gulped down a sob as Professor Snape's eyes remained unsympathetic. From the corner of her eyes she could see Ron and Harry standing up about to do something dramatic that would no doubt make things worse. She needed to solve this quick now or else-

"I mean, I don't think the cat will be necessary," Will quips as, in his hands, was a vial of his potion. Strained, bottled, tipped into his mouth, and currently going down his throat.

"NO!"

"Oh my god!"

"Did he just drink that-"

"Professor, I'll go fetch Ms. Pomfrey!"

"No! Lord why? You were too young!"

The rapid twitching of Professor Snape's eyes was almost concerning as he closed his eyes and took a deep inhale. 

"Well, seeing as you're still breathing and don't seem to have succumbed to circadian or cardiac shock just yet, you can wait here till Madame Pomfrey fetches you to wait out any negative effects your rash and petulant action might have cost you. 5 points to Slytherin for ambitious goals and the skill to not die while pursuing it. Never do it again."

Will's cheeky nod irked the older man enough to turn back and bark to the rest of the class. "Well? What is this incessant gawking for, bottle and label your potions and put them on my desk for grading. If I don't see your name, you won't see your grade, class dismissed!"

As the Professor's back was turned, Will's smile dropped and a serious look entered as he sat back down on his chair and pressed a finger unto the side of his neck. 

Hermione stared at him confused until her eyes widened in realization.

"Are you checking your pulse?" She inquired. The classroom was empty at this point, only her two friends hovering by the door waiting for her, unwilling to leave her alone. 

Hermione's hands twist her bag at the thought of the research at the library she should be getting to, but she decides that staying to make sure a new student was not dying was a good enough excuse to be a little late.

"Yeah, I am. If the potion is meant to keep someone awake, I'm going to guess that it's effects are similar to coffee since it's the closest drug I can compare it to. Ergo I'm keeping track of my heart rate, mental status, sensorium, and my gastrointestinal state"

Will grimaced as he registered his words, "I'm not looking forward to the last part-" he muttered, more to himself but Hermione heard it regardless. The focus in his eyes reminded Hermione of her parents, in the analytical way they seemed to scan their patients and point their sharp metal tools at every cavity and infection with professional care. 

It made her heart ache like it did back in her first year at Hogwarts. Her first time spending the year at a boarding school and missing her parents like a limb.

A warm hand rested itself on her shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts that she further shook off to get rid of the feeling coming from Voldemort's grandson of all people. 

She turned to see Ron's confused glance at Will, the Slytherin meeting the other boy's eyes with a sheepish grin.

"Madame Pomfrey's here, we'll see you after supper?"

Will seemed to consider Ron's words, before warmly giving his response.

"Sure."

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Will patted himself on the back for not making the stupid attempt to find the infirmary wing by himself. Despite the assurance to Madame Pomfrey that the potion wasn't making him light headed or causing palpitations, it was clearly taking a toll on him when the stairs swerved and swung. The motion forcing him to fold in to himself and cradle his head just to keep himself from puking.

Madame Pomfrey's exclamations of "c'mon lad", "just a few more" and " there ya go, good lad" motivating his just enough to reach the cot and collapse on it. 

 "Out of all my years here, I don't think I've had to treat a Slytherin who so recklessly drank a potion like Sun Spittle."

The old witch berates him as Will blearily stared at the nagging healer who busied herself with flipping through a book and scribbling something down, "it can stop a grown man's heart if he wasn't fit enough and as much your young body feels invincible now it won't be feeling that way for long if you keept treating it like this-". 

Her words passed through his ears like molasses as he morbidly realizes how he has taken the role of the patients he's treated day in and day out at camp. He hasn't sat on this side of the cot since Michael Yew was still alive.

"I'll get you something light to snack on, alright, as well as some water? But try to stay awake for me while I do. BARON, WATCH THE PATIENT!" she called out to empty before she pulled the curtains on his cot. 

Will wondered what that was about before a floating specter arose from the ground, nearly giving his heart another pulse of jumping jacks out his throat and a new bout of nausea.

"Ah, keep that heart inside you young one. The living often fail to appreciate the beating thing until they beat their last," the Bloody Baron said. His dry manner of speaking reminded Will of Mr. D when he had a phase and decided to bring Shakespearean theatre back into the Camp's activity schedule. 

Will side eyed his house ghost before deciding to toe his shoes off and get as comfortable as he could on the cots in the medical wing. Magic school, divine camp, or wherever the hell actually, it seemed that the scratchy linen will remain forever his constant companion. 

He did his best not to fall asleep, and by the increased rate of salivation in his mouth he didn't wanna risk vomiting while lying down either. He curled into himself while holding a bucket he found on the foot of his cot near him. 

He meditated on the feeling of kinship he suddenly had with pregnant women with morning sickness, which in all honesty meant he might have mentally clocked out until Madame Pomfrey shook him gently with a bowl full of salted dry biscuits.

After shoving as much of the sandy, salty pieces as he could and downing a pitcher's worth of sweet-salty liquid that might have been a potion made with nasty slugs but Will was telling himself was just Pocari Sweat, the nausea eased. He reclined on his cot and waved off Madame Pomfrey who went off to check her other patients and the inventory.

Will snuggled into the covers as best as he could to do just that, but by doing so allowed his mind to wander again. Back to this morning and his panic at seeing the owls and Frank swoop in, the irritation at Nico's prodding when he just wanted to forget about the fear and enjoy breakfast with him, the helplessness he felt when the other boy closed him off and turned away from him. 

He hadn't seen Nico during lunch, and every time they saw each other around the corridors, he would turn the other way to avoid the blonde. 

Will viciously shoved a pillow over his face and screamed his frustration and tears into it. He knew he's had troubles with accepting help from others, or in admitting he needed help in the first place. If he wasn't in perfect mint condition to give his all to heal others then he felt useless, worthless. 

Being a steady figure in the infirmary was the only thing he was good for when he wasn't a fighter who could protect his siblings or his friends. It was his only way he felt he could protect Nico, and having Nico see that stupid fear that's made his insides tremble at the sight of a CHICKEN-

Will slumped back to the bed in a depressed lump. Drifting off to the beginnings of a dream until he felt a cold ticklish sensation on his shoulders and hushed voices arguing beside him.

Opening his eyes, he sees the Bloody Baron arguing with another ghost, a translucent girl in Ravenclaw uniform. When the other ghost caught his eyes, she quickly zoomed into his private space to give him with a quiet yet rushed greeting.

"Ah, child of Apollo,  yes, hello. I am Moaning Myrtle of the Girl's Bathroom and I have come to you to deliver a message from the Ghost King!" 

At the sound of Nico's title, Will slowly sat up despite his still upset stomach, or was that nervousness brewing in there? He decided to ask for the message instead of thinking too much about it. 

"He wants to meet you in the abandoned classroom, immediately, to talk about your relationship. You better hurry on lover boy, the king seemed mighty impatient," the ghosts crooned with a teasing smile on. 

Great, the ghosts are having a field day with his love life. Well, he hated to keep his boyfriend waiting too, so with an exhausted sigh, he put his shoes back on and slipped out of the infirmary with Moaning Mrytle guiding him back.

With any hope, the meeting would turn out well.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Okay, so the meeting was turning out really well.

Misunderstanding were cleared out, internal struggles were dealt with, healthy relationship communication was executed, Nico's eyes fluttered as he leaned in close enough for Will to admire his long lashes and faint freckles, and his hands were cupping the other boy's cheeks as he was leaning in too-

And then the meeting was interrupted right before they could properly-ahem- adjourn so to say. 

Will let out a curse as he stared at both his mom and Harry Potter at the doorway while he was in a pretty compromising position with Nico, the other boy was blushing heavily before hesitantly putting distance between them. Despite that, his pale hand entangled themselves with Will's, squeezing in a silent form of encouragement.

The brief sign of support emboldened Will enough to face his mother again. Her hair was dyed a blonde this time, a few shades lighter than his own. She must have noticed where he was staring, cause she nervously fiddled with her locks. 

"I just got off on tour when I got the job offer- Melissa said the blonde would suit the album," she said as explanation, and Will nodded as the room dissolved in silence once more. 

"It looks good on you- better than your first dye job, right?" Naomi nodded and chuckled nervously as she went further into the classroom they were in. 

"Look at you- you've gotten so big! You're making me feel old!" This close, Will understood what she meant. Seeing her face to face again, he could now see her eye to eye without looking up, his height just a few inches away from matching with the taller woman, it made the wrinkles and smile lines that weren't there the last time she visited leave something quaking in his chest.

Will noticed that she was flicking her eyes between Will, Nico, and their conjoined hands. Her gaze softened from the sight of it.

"You don't seem surprised about- Nico and I,"Something must have shown in his face despite his attempt at a carefree tone cause she rested her hand on his face to run a thumb round his cheek.

"Chiron sends the parents letters sometimes—at our request. He told me my little boy started seeing someone special," and her soft voice, her crinkled eyes, the way her hand cautiously cupped his cheek like he was still her little boy.

He hiccuped as his walls crumbled and he found himself wrapping his arms around her and sobbing.

"Why- why did you have to leave me behind? Why did you stop visiting- what did I do wrong?" 

The hand that was on his cheek made its way to the curls on his hair. Will knew he was almost an exact copy of his father, the same tanned skin tone, the clear sky blue eyes, the 'surfer vibes', the light brown turned golden blonde hair.

And yet, he remembered how his momma treated and styled his curls and taught him how to take of them with her own. Running her fingers through them expertly without tangling them. 

"Oh honey, oh my little sunshine boy I never wanted to leave you-" Naomi whispered while rocking the both of them side to side. 

"I just- I couldn't have you with me- I couldn't have you mixed up with my mess when you're already dealing with so much because of your father. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you because of me-" 

Will fell silent as he heard her lulling whispers, her worries that led her to cease their visits. He couldn't bring himself to speak about the prophecies he's lived through, the wars he's fought, the campers he saw die that could have been him if he was any more unlucky. 

Despite Chiron's best efforts, the safe haven of Camp Half Blood had been compromised by the whims of the Fates, and Will doesn't know what that information would do to his mother who was whispering of finding a safe place for him to grow up.

So he said nothing, and buried his face deeper into his mom's shoulder to savor the warmth of the hug, the feeling of Nico's soft gaze on him. 

Harry's uncomfortable presence barely registered to him. He left that for Nico to deal with. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"So, Neville, care to explain why you were invisible?" Frank asked as they descended the last few steps, the now visible student guiding them had snagged a spare school uniform with the red tie for Frank somewhere to disguise his human form. 

It wasn't as comfy as his legion sweater, but espionage was espionage. He could admit it was even a little fun wearing the robes that had a certain 'swish' to them when moving around like the praetor cape did.

"Huh? Oh, I was practicing the Mist by myself. My Gran wasn't exactly subtle." At Hazel's and his confused faces, he scrambled to continue, "from my father's side, I mean. She had racks of weapons and war trophies and a stuffed boars head and- and a really big stuffed vulture as a hat-" 

Hazel daintily covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my-" she exclaimed in place of the 'what the fuck,' she would probably say once she recounts this to Nico.

"Yeah, it was the Mars legacy waved in front of me since I was a kid. My Gran had been trying to toughen me up before I left for the Wolf House-"

Neville visibly deflated as he let loose a self-deprecating laugh, "can't say it ever really worked so she tried to get me to master the Mist without using a wand before letting me leave to Lupa."

They were now huddled around a pillar that wasn't very well hidden, the three of them leaning casually, if a bit nervously, to continue the conversation. Frank might suggest moving somewhere else later, with how noticeable they were and the amount of students milling around.

"So, after my Gran was about to let me go with this faun family friend, Cooper, Trivia appeared in front of us. It was like she rolled out of the mist in the middle of the sitting room, and she did some wandless magic and the next thing I knew, Cooper's eyes glazed over and she was giving me instructions for when I get back to Hogwarts."

Frank's hair raised at the feeling of stares from people who definitely knew he was not a student there, he heard a snap and a gust of Mist blew over their eyes. They glazed over and went back to where they were going.

"Oh, can you also teach me how to do that?" Neville's voice asked timidly. "I know I said my Gran made me practice but- as you saw up at the tower, I'm sorta dull with anything outside of Herbology."

Hazel stroked an imaginary beard, a move Frank had seen both Annabeth and Leo do, and appeared to contemplate over her answer. A plan clicking into place as her wicked grin lit up her face.

"I'm absolutely gonna teach you how to use the mist- but!" She snapped her fingers- "you have to call me professor."

Neville raised his eyebrows at his underclassman who barely reached his nose in height. 

"The closest you're getting is boss."

"Deal."

Chapter Text

After a particularly sharp Mist blew by caused a stern woman that had been making her way to her spot stand perplexed for a few minutes before heading the way she came from. Hazel could hear her boyfriend give an encouraging whoop and a polite clap from where he and Neville hid just a few meters away. 

Ever since practicing more after the quest, and reading the notes Chiron had on handling the mist, Hazel felt accomplished at her new student's progress under her tutelage.

"Okay, now, the next group is pretty distracted already, so try masking us thinly. They'll notice us at the start but they won't be able to tell that we don't belong here, you got this Neville!" 

Just like she said, a group of two girls and a boy from Ravenclaw walked languidly through the hallway. The girls whispered and gossiped with one another while the boy, much younger than his companions, drowsily followed along while clutching one of the girl's sleeves.

A whispery gust flew over that resembled a failed attempt of holding fart in, and the three students were suddenly accosted by a vulture that swooped low and carried the boy away in its talons.

The screams the girls let out echoed through the hallway as they ran past the trios hiding spot. Hazel slowly turned to face the boys, her smiling face frozen in panic.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Frank exclaimed, arms extended as if he was stretching, his form changing smoothly into that of an eagle taking flight to where the vulture flew off to.

"Oh Merlin's tits Merlin's tits, I am never gonna get the hang of this-" Neville cried as he hid his burning face in his hands. 

"Don't say that, you're making some great progress, Neville!" Hazel comforted once she made her way back to where he stood in mortification.

"Thanks- you're probably saying that to be nice but I really wanna cry right now-" Neville says as he leans on the wall and slides slowly down.

Hazel patted him in pity and joined him on the floor in silence until Frank flew back to them and shifted back into his human form. Hazel's lost yet hopeful eyes along with Neville's despondent form makes him sigh and look side to side. 

"I think now might be a good time for a snack break," he mutters while scratching his belly. Just as he says so, a deep rumble emerges from his stomach, as if to remind the trio that they have not enjoyed the sumptuous supper of Hogwarts while busy with their hidden practices.

Hazel giggles as both boys now wear matching looks of embarrassment. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Harry has found many things he's done reprehensible.

When he was young, he tried to push Dudley down like his cousin did to him in hopes that Aunt and Uncle Dursley would pay attention to him. 

They did, but only to push him back under the stairs screaming about their Diddykins.

He once made a Valentines day card for a boy in class who he thought was the prettiest person he's ever seen, but forgot to sign his name. When the boy tried to find out his secret admirer, Harry chickened out and watched as the other boy moved to America with his mom.

And now, he laments having lied to the new caretaker about being her son's friend, even pulling out his injured hand and recounting the encounter in the abandoned classroom with the three Americans. It had worked as she carried on her search for Will with him tagging along. Her unaware of the extendable ears he has hidden in his pockets.

Harry thinks the horror of walking into what was clearly a snog-in-the-making was punishment enough from God, but clearly whoever was up there decided a little extra never hurt.

It was a silent trek downwards to Mrs. Solace's room. Her Texan accent thickening as she conversed with her son. Both leaning on each other and swinging side by side in a sobered version of a drunken walk.

The longer the walk became, the more conjunctions they were using, until Harry was very sure they were speaking some hidden cowboy jibberish rather than English.

Harry would have preferred to lag behind, if not outright bolt away, if it wasn't for the dark haired Hufflepuff who matched him pace by pace, no matter how much he sped up or slowed down. 

Harry wondered if they noticed they were doing it until he saw the boy's intense stare on him. 

Now Harry worried if he knew about the ears the same mysterious way he knew about the invisibility cloak.

The entire descent down multiple stairs was accompanied by Nico's death glare, the kind that reminded Harry of how he did interrupt his snog to then bug a woman's room to learn about their probable (and hopefully not literal) skeleton-filled closet.

Yeah, maybe Aunt Petunia was on to something when she said the devil had a special place for him.

Soon, the four of them reached one of the lower levels of the school and stopped by an unassuming door. The caretaker rustled through her pockets, pulling out a long copper key and sliding it into the keyhole before ushering the boys in. 

Harry didn't know what he was expecting inside, but a simple cozy room of worn wooden furnishings, ambient lamp light, and a closet full of flannel shirts, overalls, and other muggle clothing greeted him upon his entry. Nothing that screamed that the Americans were planning to isolate and murder him and then stash his body under the floorboards of an obscure room in the castle.

A burger thrust in front of his face snapped him out of his morbid thinking as a motherly face smiled kindly on him.

"You wanna sit down, sweetie? Or do ya eat standing up?"

Flustered, Harry sat down across from Will on a small round table, which inadvertently meant he sat right beside Nico who had no qualms turning his head to resume his intense staring. 

"Neeks, if you keep staring at another boy like that for as long as you have, I'm going to start thinking I have competition," Will cheerfully states while kicking the other boy's shins. Harry sighed in relief as Nico's face reddened and he kicked the other boy back.

A content sigh beside him made him turn to Mrs. Rid- Sola- the caretaker. The daughter of Voldemort, who was also dressed in plaid and denim while munching on a sloppy joe, was settled on a worn down but comfy looking couch, and looked fondly over her son and his beau.

Knowing everything he did about the dark lord, all his crimes, his deeds, his delusions, something inexplicably bitter arose in Harry's throat at the sight. Somehow such a horrible person had a kid, who went on to have her own kid, and despite the distance and time apart they functioned better as a family than Harry ever did with his aunt, uncle, and cousin back in Privet Drive-

Harry tried washing away the bitter taste with a bite of his burger. It tasted soggy and cheap, but warm, like the ones he was able to buy at the canteens in muggle school when he saved enough loose change.

"So, Will, baby, Chiron gave me your letter of how you and Nico met, but I wanna hear it face to face. How did you two meet and decide to-"

Naomi puckered her lips in an exaggerated manner, clearly miming a sappy kisser that caused Will to laugh nervously. Nico cheeks gained more color than Harry had seen in the past days he's known him.

"I didn't think you'd actually read them-" Will murmured, Harry would have not caught it if he wasn't already hyperaware of how awkward he felt with the mother and son.

"Well, we met when I was 11 and he was 10, around winter. He got a scrapped knee rock climbing and I was the one to patch him up." Nico wore an amazed expression as Will recounted their first meeting. That was until he caught Harry looking and schooled his expression back to a glare.

"Then, Nico had to- uh- transfer shortly to stay with his dad and he met his sister in another camp."

The other boy shrugged shyly as Naomi's attention turned to him, "and? What part of my son's charm did you fall for?"

"MA!"

"Don't yell at me young man, this is totally normal stuff that a mother asks, Mellisa said so."

"Mellisa couldn't keep an organic thing alive if she tried! And she hates kids!"

Harry wasn't sure if what the caretaker  said was true, but then again he had no frame of reference other than Molly Weasley and Petunia Dursley. Between the two women, he decides to wisely keep his trap shut with his lack of expertise and wait for Nico to answer.

The other boy's face was hidden by his fringe, but his shoulders distinctly shook with ill-concealed mirth. 

"I took one look at Will and knew he wouldn't survive without me, so I took it upon myself to keep him alive," Nico replied haughtily, if a bit hesitantly, to Naomi, who giggled like a school girl sharing gossip.

"Excuse me! I was the one who made sure your anemic ass wasn't fainting everywhere! I made you eat actual food! I nursed you back to health for three days in the infirmary!"

Nico smirked vindictively as he leaned forward, "oh? Someone else told me those three days were an excuse to flirt with me, so what was it?"

Will's cursed someone named either Austin or Audrey under his breath, and Nico and the caretaker giggled under their hands. Harry felt tension slowly seeping out of him with the teasing, slowly, he drew the Extending Ears out of his pocket and dropped them to the floor. Timing his legs just as Nico made another jab at Will, Harry swept his feet until the ears landed right under the wardrobe.

Harry stuffed the rest of his burger into his mouth and choked it down as best as he could. (Ignoring the very obviously concerned and scandalized faced Will made at the sound of his labored breathing) He stood up and headed out to the door.

"Well, this has been such a lovely night. Thank you so much for having me here, Mrs. Solace, but I really have to go back to my Commons before my mates get worried. Bye!"

Harry rushed out of the room before he could catch whatever response they would have said to him from the door, but that was fine. He could hear them loud and clear from where he was crouching under his invisibility cloak in a narrow nook with barely any light but the moon shining from the windows.

"Well, your friend seemed to be in a hurry. I guess it is almost curfew," the caretaker's voice stated from the ear Harry now held in his hand. "Maybe we should finish dinner now and hurry you both to your Commons."

Harry panicked at the idea of the conversation cutting short. It couldn't end here! His patience is as good as none and his questions weren't even answered! He didn't wanna keep an extendable ear in a random woman's room! Thankfully Solace seemed to think the same, his voice rushing as if panicked at the thought of leaving so soon, like his mother might disappear if he left her for the night.

"Mama it ain't so late. We haven't seen each other since I was eleven-and I have so many questions- and nobody is willing to answer them! It's been so long since you last visited-" 

"Will, it's dangerous. This place-this world, and once this school year is over I'll find some way to hide our trace and bring you back to camp-"

"IT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE DANGEROUS MA! YOU CAN'T KEEP RUNNING AWAY AND LEAVING ME BEHIND!"

The shout had been so panicked, so angry, so desperate that Harry could hardly believe it came from Riddle-Solace. The ensuing silence echoed through Harry's extendable ears as he held his breath. Making his way closer to his dormitory with a thundering heart and hoping he was just imagining the pitter patter of feline footsteps. 

"No more secrets, please-"

A sharp intake of breath was heard before a tired sigh is released. "Alright Will, I guess- I guess I can't protect you forever-"

There was a pregnant silence just as Harry entered his dormitory, listening intently, wondering if Naomi had changed her mind, until her voice returned with a longing quality to it. 

"It all began when I learned I was a squib-"

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"So- you also grew up with your grandma?" 

Frank pauses his famished decimation of Brownies, strawberry preserves, and lactose free poutine combo at the question. Hazel, who was midway from grabbing another brownie, paused too to look curiously at Neville.

"Yeah, my mom was on duty sometimes and-" Frank cleared his mouth from the small mush that was still there, "my Guama lived with us so I did grow up with her until I moved to New Rome, why?" 

Neville seemed to wilt at his answer before continuing to pick at his plate of shepherd's pie. 

"Nothing, it's exactly like my grandmother said. I bet you made her prouder than I do mine."

Frank stared in disbelief till the other boy fidgeted in discomfort.

"Sorry, that must be really callous of me to say-" 

"No no, nothing like that. I just can't believe anyone believed in my grandma being proud of me!"

The smack to the back of his head by Hazel was swift.

"I mean- I'm sure my guama is proud of me, she just has a hard time showing it. And even if she wasn't that shouldn't dictate how I feel about myself," Frank quickly backtracked.

"Huh," is all Neville has to say before shoving a spoonful of his pie into his mouth.

It's not until all three had their fill, and waved Hazel goodbye from the entrance of the Hufflepuff tunnel, that Frank turned back to Neville with a curious face.

"So- what made you bring up grandmothers in the first place?"

Neville didn't meet his eyes, but the glowing red of his ears definitely showed that he heard the question. 

"Nothing, really, it's just- ever since the Gigantomachy my grandmother's been preparing me to go train at camp and fulfill the family legacy of Mars."

Frank nods as if he understood the scenario, but Neville couldn't possible believe that. This was the great Frank Zhang, praetor of New Rome, legacy of Poseidon, son of Mars, one of the Seven half-bloods and possibly one of the coolest people Neville has ever met. There's no possible way we could-

"I understand," Frank said with a dejected yet reminiscent tone, "my grandma was also always putting crazy pressure on me to live up to my heritage, whether is be Greek, Roman, or Chinese I was never really up to her standard-"

Frank snorted as he stretched his arms up until he heard a crack, "I can't even tell you how long it took me to get myself on my own feet while in Camp Jupiter, I sucked at fighting with anything other than my bow and arrows, my anger issues made me angsty as fuck, I screwed up the most fundamental parts of the Siege Games- I even gave peanut poisoning to the war elephant!" Frank exclaimed with a finger raised for every screw up he made.

"Elephants can get peanut poisoning?"

"Apparently!"

"Then how did you get to where you are now? How did you stop being a- a weak link?" Neville stuttered, his fingers fiddling with themselves as they climbed up the stairs to his dormitory.

"Gonna be honest- I still feel like a weak link. It doesn't really just go away? Not even the blessing of Mars can clear that." Frank thumped his chest in emphasis before lowering down to scratch his belly lazily. "Besides, being seen as weak or whiny never really bothered me, as long as I can manage to keep the people I care about safe- make all the sacrifices people made worth it- then I can be happy with myself." 

The walk resumes in mostly silence. The soft patter of feet an instrumental track to their long ascent.

"Did you know I used to be chubbier than you are right now?" Frank asks as a conversation starter.

"Really? Any tips to lose weight?"

"Ah, no no-" waving his hand, Frank patted his tummy as if he was expecting a much rounder drum to tap to. "The weight loss was very much not planned. Turns out having the blessing of Mars is like burning calories with a flame thrower. I was hungry as heck when the blessing ran its course and almost ate through the entire quest's rations when I got back. I'm still trying to slowly get back to my previous weight because if I had held the blessing any longer than I did or weighed any less, I would have entered some kind of danger zone nutrient-wise."

"So why gain your old weight back now?" Neville asked, to him, the praetor seemed the model of what a young man, a young soldier ought to look like. None of the flab in the arms his grandmother would tut at, no folds on the stomach he would self-consciously hide, no flubby face he'd try desperately to not look at. Frank as he was now seemed the epitome of strength and masculinity in all the ways Neville was taught, why would he want to go back to a state that Neville himself felt most ashamed of?

"Well- I liked how I looked before the blessing of Mars. I know I'm more conventionally attractive now but-" Frank scrunched his face as if looking for a word or phrase to describe his thoughts, "there was just nothing wrong with how I was before. I was healthy, big, and frankly I miss being able to depend on my body weight when fighting. There's a reason I like long range fighting more- and not being thrown around so easily is one."

Neville hummed in thought as he patted his own stomach. "I want to lose some weight-" he mutters in a confessional way. "My grandma always heckled me on it- and I try but I worry a lot and when I worry, I start eating even when I'm not hungry."

"Oh, I remember a friend of mine mentioned something like this. Apparently it's really common among people with ADHD to skip eating or eat when they need to do something? Don't trust me on that though, I don't have ADHD."

"Really?"

"Yup, I've been told I should work on my temper though."

Again, Neville found himself having a hard time seeing someone as patient and calm as Frank having anger issues- but he'll just keep in mind not to get the praetor angry.

Eventually they found themselves in front of the fat lady portrait, Frank staring curiously at the painting looking at them appraisingly as he no doubt wondered why they stopped. 

"Oh, Mr. Longbottom, you've finally made it back to the proper dormitories, after a significant amount of days absent and after curfew mind you." the fat lady scolded. Neville smiled shyly as he turned back to Frank. 

"Welp, this is my dormitory. Hopefully Adder's tongue is still the password." his smile brightens as the portrait slowly swung open. 

"I suppose you'll want me to keep this a secret from your teachers as well?"

Neville hastily agreed and assured the portrait that, no, the accidental invisibility will not be a regular thing, and made his way inside the entryway before stopping.

"I forgot to ask, where are you staying for the night?"

"Oh, I was just planning to sleep in the Owlery again. The roost is surprisingly comfy once you fill it with enough downy feathers."

An awkward silence haunted the two relatives before Neville leaned in. 

"You sure you don't want to shift into a toad and just sleep here for the night?" Frank seemed to contemplate before shrugging and, in the blink of an eye turned into an endearing green creature that hopped closer. Neville scooped him up and walked to his dormitory, the portrait door closing behind him. 

They made their way to Neville's dorm, where the other 5th year Gryffindor boys were just getting ready for bed. Seamus and Dean looked up at him and, with a small nervous smile on Neville's part, greeted him as though nothing was amiss.

"Oh hey there Neville! Wondering where ya and your toad went of ta." Seamus had exclaimed when he saw him. As though the entire week of Neville's absence was a scant few hours at worst. Ron squinted at Neville suspiciously before moving to lie down on his bed. 

"Yeah, Harry and I were wondering the same thing-" before he shuffled under his sheets for bed. 

Neville took the lack of conversation as a cue and changed into his pajamas from the trunk that appeared at the foot of the undisturbed bed. He waited until the lights were out and the subtle snoring the other occupants to be heard before he turned to Frank.

"You still awake?"

The toad gave a slow blink before nodding.

"It was really fun hanging out with Hazel and you, I feel like I learnt a lot. Hopefully I can do more stuff like that when I get to New Rome. Grandmother always said that was when my true potential will surely shine."

Frank croaked softly before hopping to Neville's bed to bump his head softly into Neville's hand.

"Heh- you reckon if we met before you hit your growth spurt that we would have been friends?" Neville asked as he adjusted his blanket to cover Frank.

"I'd hope so, you're really nice Frank. You make me wonder what it would have been like if I had an older brother." Neville sighed happily before letting out a yawn and allowing the exhaustion of the day to roll him over into a slumber.

Unbeknownst to them, only two snores in the room were genuine. Ron Weasley currently laid very still in his bed, intentionally snoring, and wondering who the hell Frank is-

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Back in Camp Half Blood, an elder dryad sat  beside a bedridden satyr. She was flipping through an old photo book filled with pictures. It was opened to a page of a young, stone faced, and pimpled satyr with a blonde and grumpy looking teenage girl. Both of them perplexed at the broken wheel of a chariot and unaware of the broken wheel and scales softly glowing on top of the girl. The symbol of Nemesis.  

"Oh Alice- whatever happened to you-" the dryad sadly muttered as she dabbed her teary eyes of tree sap before resting them in the open palms of the unconscious satyr.

She would have continued grieving if it wasn't for the soft, minute fidget of the satyr's hand.

"... Cooper?"

A groan escaped the form on the bed as he moved a bit, as if uncomfortable.

"Ma? Where am I? I was supposed to be at Scotland and then-" the satyr's eyes blew open as he sat up.

"Neville- I was supposed to find-"

Cooper's paused as the dryad embraced him with broken sobs. He embraced his mother back tightly, not letting go as her soft Willow hair tickled his face.

"You'll find the boy soon, my child. But for now rest, I cannot bear the thought of sending you back out just to get injured again-". 

Cooper nods as he tightened his hold on his mother.

"I'll find him- I'll find Neville and bring him here where he belongs- it's the least I can do for Alice-" he sniffles as he catches sight of the open page of the album.

"I'm going to bring Alice's boy home-"

Chapter Text

"No more secrets, please-"

Naomi tightened her hold on Will's shaking shoulders as she guides him back down to his chair. If she was having this conversation than her son shouldn't have to stand for the sob fest-

She inhaled nervously once she took her own seat. "Alright Will, I guess- I guess I can't protect you forever-"

God, was it really the right time to share this to her son? He was her baby, he was only 15- 

15 and running from monsters.

15 and chasing after absent parents.

15 and having to pull his whole cabin together cause nobody but a centaur and begrudgingly sober god are the only adults.

15 and that man-that monster could be on the hunt for him too.

She inhales and starts from what she can remember.

"It all began when I learned I was a squib," Naomi massaged her head from the upcoming migraine she could feel creeping behind her eyes. The stabbing pain that comes every time she tries to visualize that horrible, horrible time as far back as she could with more clarity than blind despair.

"He- fuck, Voldemort was, he was so furious. He spent years perfecting his masterpiece, so when I learned that I couldn't do anything that he wanted. Not a single spell, no accio, no protego, or even a damn lumos would come out of me, even when I held his wand." Just recounting it made her feel short of breath with panic; her hands were shaking as if she was still gripping his wand begging any sign of magic to come out while his venomous stare dug into her. 

"After that, he barely let me out of my room. He'd keep me in there and told me the only people allowed to go in and out were the children worthy of a pure-blood line." The vast circular room seemed to mock her in her mind, its mirage flickering over the cozy quarters she was in.

"Some days he'd bring his followers- his death eaters- around the estate. He'd give them a tour and during that he'd let their kids show off their worth by opening the door and stepping inside. They'd get their chance to show the useless squib girl how it's done, their parents get to have approval from their stupid leader that their kids get a comfy place in the pecking order." Naomi sniffs as the pain stabs viscously in between her eyes down her nose bridge, teeth clenching as young faces flash and blur in her head. 

A boy with dark hair and grey eyes staring impassively with his grip so tight on his wand his knuckles were turning white. A girl with a sadistic, demeaning glare peering down on her while toying with her ebony curls before giving a cutting smile. A  girl, blonde, cautiosly approaching her with her wand shaking from her nervous hands. 

Features were flashing and blurring behind her eyelids as she felt bile rise up her throat.

Her ears buzzed; when she opened her eyes she was greeted by the floorboards stained with regurgitated grease and two bodies close to her.

"Ms. Solace!" the ebony haired boy, Will's sweetheart, Nico called to her as his hands hovered over her, as if scared a touch could break her. Beside him, Will looks at her, his eyes creased and mouth agape at the sight Naomi must be making. Naomi can't help but think she's failing him with her speechlessness, with her failing memories and heaving throat.

She tries to continue, tries to force the words out her mouth and give him what she promised, but all that comes out is a sob and a disgusting gurgle that tastes like failure and sick as apologies spill out. 

"Will, baby I'm sorry I-"

Warm arms surround her as sun-bleached blonde hair covered her vision. A soft glow pulsed, flickering fast like her haggard breathing but gradually slowing down-her own breath matching it. Her head cleared as the ache slowly receded, her body melting into her son's embrace; without meaning to, her eyes drooped closed.

————————————————————————

Like a dream, she saw herself in the same room again, silent and still without the head pains haunting her. The clarity felt jarring as her body moved without her in control of it. She felt bruised and battered like someone ripped into her muscles methodically with a knife despite the pale unblemished skin. 

She was around 20, she thinks, having been unable to count the days/years in her time inside the room. Her hands were free of callouses she would get from her guitar, and she could see her hair still a sickening slick black as she pressed her ear to the door, able to hear shouting and shrieks through the thick wood and fading silencing charms. 

She waited until the shouting, followed by flashes of bright green light and heavy thumps,  turned to silence, and waited even longer as she strained her ears to make sure footsteps were well and truly gone. The room was plunged to near darkness as the night claimed the sky, the sliver of moonlight Naomi's only guide as she gathered coins, clothes, foods and drinks into her bed before folding and knotting the bed spread into a makeshift bag.

Her bare feet cautiously tested the floorboards as she rested her hand on the doorknob.

"Willhelm?"

Her lone voice felt like it echoed in the cavern of the room, her bated breath coming to ease when the door opened a crack. Dark tendrils creeping in as the whispery whine of the Obscurus revealed itself. 

Naomi couldn't remember a time where she never knew Willhelm, and every time she tried it would end up with her soiling her bedsheets with sick from the migraine, so she decided to take her only ally at surface level and trust him with the only chance she has to escape.

She shouldered her bag and followed the sound of Willhelm bypassing magic barriers and loud obstacles alike. Making their way to the room with a family tree mural for some important pureblood line she couldn't bother to remember. 

No matter which house Voldemort moved to, he always kept her in the circular room. Eventually she gave up trying to remember her additional captors.

She waited for Willhelm to do something, show her the next step to escape, maybe speak in his distorted voice that she only sometimes believes is real and not a result of her final screws going loose. And a voice finally did speak, just not Willhelm's-

"You're real-"

Naomi heart froze at the voice, turning to see the shocked face of a boy, maybe a few years younger than her. Gray eyes sizing her up sharply despite the heavy bags under them. He points his wand cautiously at her. His knuckles turning white with his tight grip on them-

"You're one of them-" Naomi shivered, "you're a Death Eater."

Her hands flex and curl as if wondering whether she could punch him or claw at him before he brought her back to that room. He lowered his wand and Naomi lowers her body to the ground to pounce on him.

"I'm not going to take you back" the boy says, placing a hand on a part of the stone wall. 

A sharp hiss rang through the room, like a sound of a knife slicing through the air as sticky strands of blood stretched and broke as he peeled his hand away. 

Like shifting puzzles, the bricks moved away from the blood stain and left an open doorway to a path bereft of light. Naomi looked back to the Death Eater-Traitor, wondering if he really thought she would get in the tunnel.

"Well, are you gonna get in the tunnel or are you waiting for bloody permission?" He hissed as he anxiously looked at the door as if her father would burst in at any tense moment.

Willhelm, uncaring for the tension between the two young adults, zoomed into the tunnel, waiting by the entrance. He was buzzing a low frequency as if to tell Naomi to get going to freedom already, even if it came from sketchy death eaters traitors.

"Well, hope I never see your face again..."

"Regulus, Regulus Black. I hope you find some solace away from here, Naomi."

Nodding, Naomi turned back to the yawning tunnel entrance before steeling her courage, and ran with the intention of never looking back.

The darkness stretched on and on forever, endless and deep that her sense of directions felt buried alive. Willhelm's hum was the only thing keeping her going, and soon, when she started seeing light-

————————————————————————

Naomi opened her eyes to her son's sky blue eyes searching hers worriedly. 

"Mom, you back with us?" 

She nodded as Nico knelt beside her with a chalice of water, handing it to Will who guided her to gulp from it. The water felt like gravel going through her throat but soon drinking came easier, and her light headedness faded as she waved off her son.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I-"

Despite the whole glass of water she drank, her mouth felt dry at her realization.

"I remember-"

————————————————————————

Harry's stomach might as well crawl out of his throat from what he heard from the extendable ears. 

The sound of pained heaving and crying at the start made him feel vile, he was tempted to throw the ear out the Gryffindor Tower and go back to bed to pretend he never heard a grown woman dry heave in fear. 

Then Neville came in to the common area.

He did an awkward shuffle-crawl while holding tight to his invisibility cloak as the crying fortunately faded away to soft breathing and soft gulps of water. He stayed huddled as Will's mother talked about a small circular room she could never leave. The coming and going of young pure blood wizard and witches whose physical descriptions Harry can worryingly match to people in high positions of power. Even until an Obscurus and a young Regulus Black (which he's definitely going to pester Sirius about later) helped her escape.

Harry stayed huddled in the other side of the common room until Neville, bless and curse his still beating, still existing, but lingering and toad conversing heart, finally made his way to the boy's dormitory with Trevor. He all but throws the invisibility cloak away from his body that feels too warm and too cold and all nervous as he paces the room. The tightness in his chest made it hard to breathe as he listened to Will saying goodbye to his mom.

"I just- does dad know about this?"

Ms. Solace- not Riddle, Harry couldn't in clean conscience call her that after learning what she went through, hummed, "Apollo definitely knew something was up when we had you, but whatever it is that's wrong in my head isn't medical. All that himbo did was say I'd have to go back to Europe eventually and to go think deeply before drowning myself. Safe to say wasn't the best morning after cause I kicked him out."

Harry didn't hear the rest of the conversation as he felt a pain zap from the base of his spine to his forehead, where his scar felt like it burned with a vengeance at the words. 

Heaving to stave off the headache, Harry stumbled closer to the fireplace and chucked the extendable ears into the dying embers, needing to hear no more. He jumped at the flames that appeared and ravenously consumed the ear, until there wasn't even ash left and the flames disappeared back into dying embers, along with his slowly fading headache.

Taking a minute to breathe and stare into the fireplace, he stood up straighter and dusted himself off, marching up to the boy's dormitory and looking at the sleeping forms of the boy's his year.

Until last year, he didn't really think any of them-sans Ron and Hermione on account of their close proximity to him- would ever really die before he did. But then Cedric Diggory died in front of him. The green flash that used to only be a peripheral fear was shone right beside him and another boy died for it. Harry heard the soft voice that once whispered in the back of his head scream that he wouldn't be the only victim. That more people, good people, would lose their lives as he saw Mister and Misses Diggory on the grass wailing and begging for their son to wake up, to open his eyes, to pull just enough of a miracle to be another boy who lived and not Voldemort's newest victim.

But now a new realization slammed into him. He wasn't the first child that Voldemort toyed with and tormented. He wasn't the first orphan whose parents sacrificed themselves to save, maybe, probably.  He wondered if Ms. Solace was an exact copy of her mother, maybe with the exception of eyes that looked just like her father's.

Did her parents fight tooth and nail, bone and blood for her to have escaped Voldemort and lived? Did they find her disgustingly, freakishly lacking and willingly abandoned her to hands that would hit, words that would hurt, and rooms that would always look so inescapable?

Did she live to the age she was now with freedom, or does she still feel just as trapped? Just as small as he did when he forgets he's no longer sleeping in the cupboards under the stairs?

The stinging sensation of tears snapped him out from his spiral, but he allowed them to fall under the blanket of invisibility. His chest heaving for a few more breathes before he quietly forces himself to calm down. His body greatly exhausted and feeling just a bit thirsty from all the tears still falling from his face. 

Still under the safety of being unseen, he finally steps into the threshold, closing the door quietly. He buries himself into the excessively soft feel of the comforters, pillows, and blankets; his eyes closed, heavy from both sleep the moisture clinging to his lashes.

His sleep wasn't peaceful, but a small weight he never knew he carried felt lighter.

————————————————————————

The trait of rising early in the morning being inherent to the Apollo's progeny can be both a blessing and a curse. 

The emotionally exhausting ordeals of yesterday- and the magically taxing act of healing his mother- left Will feeling unappreciative of the cold Scottish morning that greeted him the next day.

He finished up his breakfast more out of habit than any appetite. Chewing and swallowing like a dull and painful military drill.

He felt the soft touch of a sharp finger poke his side and drank in the view of Nico's face. Bordering on blank and indifferent but an undercurrent of worry in his eyes. His sharp fingers trailing down and threading themselves with warmer fingers hidden by the long billowing sleeves. 

"You okay, Mi Sol?"

Will tried to fight the surge of warmth that flooded his face, controlling his powers as best as he could yet still noticing their corner of the hallway was a margin brighter than the others. A small smile managed to find its way to his face.

 "No, not really-" he answers honestly, a light squeeze in his hands making the hallways just a little bit warmer. "But I think I will be eventually," he settles on as he squeezes Nico's hand back.

Cold and warmth intertwined for a little bit in that small corner of the castle, before Nico's fingers slipped away. 

"Quest meeting at the girl's bathroom on the second floor, tonight," his solemn voice whispers, "Neville got us some info on how to accomplish one part of our quest. The location of Nike's grandson." 

And with a final searching glance, Nico joined a waiting Hazel at the staircase that led down to the dungeons for potions, leaving Will's light to dim slightly at his departure.

The blonde sighed before heading the opposite direction, going up, and up, and up until he finds himself staring up a rickety ladder with people he knows he shares this period with.

"Hi Lavender, this is the Divination room, right?"

The girl approaching beamed as she noticed and hurried over to him. Her enthusiasm for the subject making her movements bouncy and energetic, giving Will hope for a fun class. Though he was never really gifted in this sphere of his father's influence, it wouldn't hurt to dabble more into it with a supervisor present. Maybe it will give him more answers for this quest.

"Will! You made it! Can't believe you didn't get lost for this class. I know the castle can be a turn-around for new people and Divination is more a hole in the walls than the other classes."

Will shrugged with a good natured smile, waiting alongside her until Parvati made it into view and excitedly closed the distance. Pushing them forward to get to the classroom, Will leading the way both to push the trap door and hold it open like a gentleman, and to avoid any embarrassment from an up-skirt peek. 

"The school should really consider offering a skort option for you guys. I can feel the creepy guy stares and there isn't even anybody here other than us-" Will exclaimed as all three made it to the empty Divination classroom. 

He closed the trap door and let the scent of perfumed smoke envelope them. While he usually appreciated fresh flowing air and the smell of sun dried grass- and was more used to the rigorously disinfected smell of chlorine and alcohol in the infirmary- he can appreciate the cloying smell surrounding them. 

He can definitely appreciate the cushions as he sinks a full feet into it. Ignoring the two girls hunched in hysteric laughter as he adjusts himself for a nap. His eyes closed, and let his breath slow down as his exhausted body shut down as much as it can while the sun was still up.

That was his plan, until the seer slammed the door open.