Chapter Text
Nico had grown up hearing the same line over and over.
“The world doesn’t owe you anything, Nico. You live and then you die and it’s entirely your job to make the most of that short lifetime you’ve been allowed.”
Nico had always thought that was stupid coming from a man who clearly thought of himself as higher than many others due to his wealth and status, but then again, the quote matched Nico’s father very well. Cold. Brutal. And, unfortunately, honest.
Hades di Angelo was the kind of man who had a somewhat small collection of lines that he frequently used, because for most situations there was a Hades quote. The unfortunate thing was that Hades quotes were never terribly uplifting.
“Well that’s just the way things are.”
“It’s best not to overthink it.”
“Just pray that death is kinder to you than life has been.”
“The past is in the past so I suggest you stop bringing it up.”
“Nico. Stop.”
“For the love of Merlin, stop asking so many questions.”
“Just… Leave me be.”
“Well if you don’t want to be a disappointment, Nico, then stop being one.”
But the one that had started running through Nico’s head lately was, “Stop complaining about bad things happening to you and just be thankful for the fact that things are happening at all.”
For the first time, Nico actually thought that line made sense. Because the terrible, terrible thing about Nico’s life at the moment was that nothing was happening . And he was about to scream if something didn’t happen soon.
It had been exactly seventeen days since Nico had accidentally sort of admitted having feelings for Will. Not that Nico was counting. But honestly , seventeen days?! Seventeen days and Will hadn’t said a word. Jason had brought it up plenty, of course, but Will had just stopped acknowledging the fact that it had happened. But then again, maybe Nico should be grateful for that. Because Will clearly didn’t return the feelings and it was better that Will gave him the chance to forget about it instead of teasing him.
Frustratingly, that didn’t make Nico feel any less angry.
Nico was angry with Will for being attractive, with Jason for continuously teasing him, with Asclepius for making the class brew Amortentia in the first place, but mostly with himself for being stupid enough to be late to potions class and then blindly comment about how the room smelled like Will. How could he have been so clueless?!
But life had gone on. Will continued to tease Nico when they passed each other, though Nico’s teasing in response had grown noticeably more aggressive. Of course, no one had given Nico’s attitude a second thought. Nico had a reputation for not being a very pleasant person.
One day in second year, when they were supposed to be studying, Jason had looked up and asked, “Why do you always do that?”
“Do what?” Nico had asked in response, already defensive at having been called out for something.
“I dunno. Just… Just constantly looking like you’re plotting someone’s gruesome murder.”
“Who says I’m not?” Nico had quipped, unsure of how else to respond. He just frowned a lot. He always had.
Jason had bitten his lip, widening his eyes.
“That was a joke, Grace.”
“Well, yeah, yeah I knew that, just… You can be pretty scary, you know.”
Nico had rolled his eyes, returning his attention to the parchment in front of him. “Runs in the family,” he’d deadpanned.
Jason was silent for a while before asking, “Do you ever think you got sorted into the wrong house?”
Nico’s hand had stilled, leaving ink dripping from his quill. He could remember looking Jason directly in the eye for the first time and saying, “Every day.”
For some reason, he had found himself as Jason’s friend from that day on. It’d taken him a long time to figure out why Jason had chosen him for a desk partner rather than Percy, who Jason was clearly closer friends with, but when it did hit him, it hit him hard: Jason did it out of pity.
There were multiple times during Nico’s life that he’d felt his feet getting swept out from under him. Namely, when he’d discovered how he felt about Will Solace. But the biggest, worst surprise he’d ever had was when the Sorting Hat had been placed on his head before calling out, “GRYFFINDOR!” loud and clear. Even now, five years later, he still thought it was a mistake.
Growing up, he’d never been particularly fond of his father, who was a Slytherin just like the rest of Nico’s ancestors. He had, however, had to admit to something he hated very much: he and his father were very alike.
His younger sister, Hazel, had always known she wasn’t a Slytherin. That was why she’d begged to go to Beauxbatons, which their stepmom had luckily thought was a lovely idea. Persephone had gone to Beauxbatons herself and was delighted that Hazel wanted to follow in her footsteps. Little did she know, it wasn’t that Hazel wanted to go to school in France, it was that she didn’t want to be sorted.
But Nico had never been nervous about getting sorted into a different house and damaging the family name. He was obviously a Slytherin.
Except that he wasn’t.
~*~
On a late November morning, he settled down next to Jason in potions class, determinedly not letting himself look in Will’s direction.
“Alright, class,” Asclepius called. “As today’s potion is a bit more difficult, you have permission to work with a partner.”
The class immediately burst into excited chatter, before stopping as Asclepius once again raised his hand.
“However,” he let his gaze travel around the room as if warning them that they weren’t going to like what they were about to hear, “Your partner cannot be in your own house.”
The class stayed silent. Did we hear that right?
“Page 428. I suggest you get to work. I will be walking around to check on you all.”
The class started to scramble to find a partner. Nico was extremely unhappy with this arrangement. He disliked having to talk to new people, and people weren’t particularly drawn to him as they were to Jason and Percy. But then it got worse.
“Nico!” came a familiar voice from behind him. Nico tensed. No way was he working with Will Solace. Even though he didn’t turn his head, he could tell Will was trying to make his way towards him, so he quickly looked around for a different Hufflepuff that he was at least somewhat familiar with and called out the name of the first one he saw.
“Frank!”
Hazel’s boyfriend turned his head to see Nico hurrying towards him.
“Do you have a partner?” Nico asked, hoping he didn’t sound too desperate.
Frank smiled, shaking his head. “Nope.”
Nico let out a sigh of relief, dropping into the seat next to him. As he opened his book to find the potion they were supposed to be working on, he finally let himself glance over at Will, who it appeared had partnered up with Jason. Nico’s heart clenched.
Stop complaining about bad things happening to you and just be thankful for the fact that things are happening at all.
Merlin, he wished something would happen.