Chapter Text
Harry didn’t protest when Nico said it was time to go. Nico gave them more than enough time to talk… not talk. It was a wonderful thing, Harry realized, seeing Sirius actually smiling for once. When Harry got up to leave, he noticed Nico and Will’s hands intertwined, giving each other soft looks. Just as Harry was about to look away, Will squeezed Nico’s hand and then their hands fell down to their sides.
So, yes, Harry followed Nico without a word once the demigod had started down the tunnel that led to Hogwarts.
However, Harry did look back before he could return to the dark. He didn’t say anything as his eyes found Sirius, standing in the light, but apparently, it was enough for his godfather to know what was on his mind.
“I’ll be fine, Harry,” Sirius reassured and then he smiled as if to prove so.
That was enough. When Harry turned back around he started to walk and didn’t stop, his pace constant with Nico’s.
Soon the bright yellow light faded and Nico raised his own wand, casting Lumos. Their forms were alight with the white-blue glow, changing their colors and creating short shadows on the ground. Quickly, their footsteps became the only sounds they could hear.
“Thank you,” Harry said, breaking the rhythm of their feet.
He looked over to Nico beside him, not sure whether to be surprised that Nico’s face didn’t change or not.
Nico shrugged.
“It’s fine, you always end up doing what you want. At least, that’s what I’ve heard from Pansy.”
What?
Harry gave Nico a strange look, nearly tripping on his robe.
What is he thinking I am saying thank you for, ohhh-
“I’m persistent,” Harry admitted, “but I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about you saving Sirius. Thank you for that. You… you didn’t…” Harry trailed off, knowing what he was going to say was already in the air, in Nico’s mind.
You didn’t have to.
You didn’t have to be there at the right moment at the right time.
Harry clenched his fist and then splayed them out, frowning at what could have been. The worst thing that could have been.
“No need to thank me,” Nico interrupted, “I… I didn’t mean to save him,” What? How do you not mean to? “but, I don’t regret doing so. I-I know what it’s like… I know some of what you are going through.”
Harry didn’t change his expression. He knew if he did, it would be something of disbelief and… and other things. Other things that he knew he shouldn’t do. Anger, fuming, scowling, like he’s been doing the past year. Not now. Not anymore.
Nico glanced over at Harry hesitantly; the demigod must have known what he was thinking. So, Nico began to explain.
“When I lost my sister, I changed. I was angry at the world and myself for… for a lot of things,” Nico let out a long exhale and but then his head rose, his gaze ahead, “And I lost my way… My friends and- and my… my boyfriend reminded me that I could find it again. Or that I had never lost it. Just, uh, forgot it.”
Boyfriend? Will?
Nico glanced at Harry. Harry couldn’t believe how he had never noticed that Nico wasn’t like the person he thought he was. He wasn’t… He wasn’t a small Severus Snape. He had mixed feelings for both of the Slytherins, but now, Harry realized, it was for very, very different reasons.
“You aren’t alone, Harry,” Nico continued, “You never were, even before we came you had people behind you ready to help.”
Harry thought of Ron and Hermione instantly; their smiles, their banter together, and how many times he had laughed either in classes or when they were figuring out another mystery. Ron and Hermione were in his mind when the snake was trying to strangle him… and when the snake disappeared.
Nico seemed to be waiting for Harry to do something. The demigod was waiting to see if he was really going to take his words.
Finally, Harry nodded.
Nico was happy that Harry didn’t ask or add anything to what he had said. The son of Hades didn’t know how he’d react if the other boy had tried… And Nico didn’t regret saying what he did. Harry needed to hear it from someone; he needed to know what he had. Nico couldn’t find it in him to watch another person go through what he went through.
Once they had parted, Nico didn’t see Harry much. Harry spent a good portion in the Infirmary, hanging out with Ron as he recovered, as well as the rest of the people who ventured into the Department of Mysteries. As for Nico, he returned to his own friends and listened to what had happened while he was gone.
For once, there was nothing to worry about. Will and Sirius (in his Animagi form) were with the Jones family and soon the meeting with Dumbledore to explain everything would arrive. For once, Nico didn’t worry about that.
“She just left?” Nico asked, looking around at his friends, waiting for them to confirm this too good to be true.
They were hanging out in the Great Hall at their table. Without food being offered, the Great Hall was mostly empty, save for other groups of friends that had the same idea as them.
“Yeah,” Daphne answered, her smile as wide as he had ever seen it, “she left while everyone stared at her! It was sweet, sweet vengeance, leaving in the way that she intended for Trelawney to leave.”
Whoa. Everyone… Everyone did that to her?
Nico didn’t hide his surprise.
That’s… that’s the start of something, isn’t it?
Tracey frowned, “I thought you didn’t like Trelawney.”
“She was an easy A,” Millicent answered and Daphne shrugged in embarrassed agreement, her face lightly flushing.
Nico’s mind danced over their admittance of liking Trewlawney and instead stayed with the idea that Umbridge was turned away from Hogwarts. Everyone watched her go and she… she was gone. He hadn’t seen her around in the hallways, but he never expected this.
“How did that happen?” Nico asked, looking about them again as their conversation shifted to more nuances, “What was the straw that broke the camel’s back?”
The Slytherins became silent as they focused once again on him. At first, there was confusion, but then as they realized what he was saying, their faces changed. Their eyes became serious and somewhat solemn.
“Umbridge started to threaten Cassius when he stopped doing what she said,” Daphne started.
What was he doing?
“He’s part of the Inquisitorial Squad,” Millicent added, “Head Boy. It made her angry he was going against her again.”
That- that makes sense, she really doesn’t like it when people disagree with her…
“They were rounding people up, Nico,” Pansy continued with distaste, a scowl on her face and hatred in her eyes, “rounding up us, Harry’s secret club members- anyone to find out where Harry and you had gone.”
Nico felt his stomach twist at her wording.
“Tried to get the school to cave in by intimidating the rest of us,” Tracey said, her head held high, “but none of us did. When Summerby spoke up about how the treatment must have been against the rules, Cassius joined him. Umbridge threatened Cassius, pointing her wand at him, and… and Summerby went to stand in front of him.”
Something grim passed over the girls’ eyes. Pansy’s normal angry glare faded and instead, there was shame. Just Tracey finished, Pansy glanced away.
It was funny to think that at the beginning of the year, most Slytherins didn’t care for Hufflepuffs. That one of the first things Draco Malfoy had said was that it was the worst House. The girls in front of him had agreed with the boy then too.
But, there were many things that must have changed that. Nico, the Quidditch match, and…
A dead Hufflepuff when no one was supposed to die.
“Sprout sent her away,” Millicent finished, only the slight twitch of her eyes giving away what she had felt about the situation.
And she left? She left without a fight? Without turning into anything, she- she wasn’t a monster? No scales or anything, I mean, of course, she wasn’t, but… That was a possibility…
“What is wrong, angel?”
Nico looked up at his mother. She had such a kind face and her black hair had started to have strands of white. He frowned as he looked back down, his lips pursed.
“You can tell me, no one is here to listen,” his mother cooed as she knelt down.
He still shuffled with nerves. He thought of his teacher, with his uniform and stern expression. Bianca had whispered into his ear how he had shown a class a public execution. That the victim was something that was only an obstacle to the New Roman Empire.
“There are monsters at the school,” Nico answered.
Her eyes widened.
“Monsters?”
Nico thought of Bianca’s words. How she had trouble with the teacher. He was always… not happy with her. Not happy with her being happy and doing things that she wanted. Nico never understood why the teacher did that to his female students.
The only things that were ever upset at happiness were the monsters that he had read in stories.
“Monsters,” Nico confirmed.
His mother had a troubled look on her face.
“Then we must go.”
“What happened, Nico?”
The demigod blinked and saw that all of his friends had gotten much closer to him than he remembered. All of their eyes were trained on him, not quite showing their concern, but with so much focus if he had so much twitched they would have been about to tell.
“I... remembered something,” Nico answered slowly.
For some reason, he felt nothing. The memory was something important, yes. It meant that when his mother, Bianca, and he left Italy, it wasn’t because the real monsters were after them. Or, at least, the monsters that showed their true colors on the outside.
Maybe it wasn’t yet. Maybe they were coming anyway. Ugh… It...
“What was it?” Pansy asked.
Nico looked up at them and remembered what they had done for him. Pansy, not knowing what was happening when Nico had left, but going after him anyway. Slytherin, keeping their mouths shut against the pressure of Umbridge. And then when he came back, the understanding, the research. His friends didn’t want him to run away a second time and… and Nico wasn’t. Not anymore. Not again.
Umbridge threatened Cassius and… and Summerby went to stand in front of him...
What happened in Italy, in Germany, in Europe, Nico wasn’t going to let happen again. And now, after all that had happened, maybe he won’t be alone in that endeavor. Maybe not just Slytherin, but all of the Houses would change for the better.
I just have to keep on going and I’ll see.
“It… It doesn’t really matter,” Nico realized, “So… what are we planning to do before we leave?”
Instantly Tracey smiled.
“Waste some time doing stupid stuff and eat lots of candy.”
Harry did spend most of his time with the people who had come with him that fateful, horrible day. In the downtime, he also heard of what had happened at Hogwarts while he was gone. He didn’t have to hear about it though. He could see it in the tiny interactions between the students. There were only a few days left of school and surprisingly it was like some people were just starting to make new friends.
It was a strange sight, to see Summerby surrounded by Slytherins, and Slytherins by Hufflepuffs. All talking, smiling, laughing…
Harry hadn’t spoken to Nico yet. It wasn’t because he didn’t like the other boy. No… No, not anymore. He just didn’t have enough time left...
Besides, Harry knew he was going to be spending more time with Nico next year, perhaps during the summer too.
Harry stayed with mostly the D.A. members in the Hospital Wing. It made him feel better, being around them after what Nico had said. That didn’t mean Harry was talking much. No, his mind often wandered to Sirius, wondering what his godfather was doing at that moment and what would happen if he and Sirius stayed at Grimmauld Place…
Ron was hit with a terrible spell; he was on several potions a day. Thankfully, the number of required potions was going down as he was healing rather well. All of the members caught up in the Department of Mysteries were returning to normal, their cuts mending together, and the bruises fading to less horrendous colors.
The Daily Prophet began to print stories to patch up what they had done now that the truth was all in the open. Some were in support of Harry while others had listed why they thought Dumbledore was suspicious in effect to explain how such a well-respected wizard could be wanted and then reinstated in all of his posts without a formal apology.
In short, the stories did nothing to how Harry felt about the Ministry of Magic. Him, Nico, and a few other students would have the effects of the Ministry on their hands for a long time, maybe even the rest of their lives.
Before Harry knew it the final feast of the year was upon him.
And Harry was late.
“Excuse me,” Harry said, frowning as he tried to shove past a group of first years.
He was practically sprinting toward the Great Hall. How did he know dropping off some things was going to take forever? Just as he came to a student who was moving like a literal snail he was about to unleash some of his frustration when he recognized the long blonde hair.
In front of him stood Luna, who made no move to get out of his way. Just as Harry was about to speak, maybe say hi, Luna turned around, her light blue eyes landing on him immediately. In her hands were a pair of sneakers, clothes, and a few small items that were coddled like a child.
“Oh, hello Harry, are you going to the feast?” she asked as if they had all the time in the world.
Harry could already hear Melody’s complaining and maybe Ron’s added questioning of what took him so long, he just said he was going to drop off something! It shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes! There is good food to eat that’ll disappear before you get there!!
Harry blinked, realizing that he had to answer.
“Yes, yes I am,” Harry answered and just as he was about to pass by, he stopped.
Luna hadn’t stayed in the Hospital Wing for long. She had left early, saying there were some things she had to get done before the term ended. Harry surprisingly realized that he had missed her presence during that time.
Harry looked at the bundle in her hands and Luna’s patient face.
“Er… whatcha got there?” Harry asked.
Luna looked back down at her hands as if she wasn’t sure. However, when she glanced back up, her face was the same as before.
“Some of my possessions. People have been stealing and hiding them, I’m trying to find them since I want to pack,” Luna explained as if this was a common occurrence.
A pit of pity formed in Harry’s stomach at the thought that it probably was a common occurrence dawned on him. He looked back down at the small bundle in her hands.
“Do you need any help?”
“No… they always come back somehow,” Luna answered.
Harry nodded and then began to move, taking a step past her. However, in a second, Luna continued.
“I am happy that your godfather is still among us,” Luna commented as she smiled dreamily, Harry stopped instinctively and turned back around, “even though he might be Stubby Boardman, I know how much he means to you.”
Harry didn’t register what Luna had said for a moment, his eyes somewhat glassed over as she spoke. However, in a second his eyes focused in front of him and he stared at Luna with incredibility.
“How did you know?” Harry asked, his eyes wide.
Does she know about Nico?
“Death normally does not reach out to us,” Luna replied as if that would answer his question perfectly.
Luna put her wand behind her ear and after a second she continued.
“The transfers are different, Harry, I thought you knew that,” Luna commented with a frown, sounding as if she was disappointed, “children of Beings are always not exactly like us.”
Beings? What is she talking about? Is she talking about the gods being real?
“Like what then?” Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at her, “How do you know they aren’t like us?”
Sure, Melody was certainly strange, but who isn’t when they travel far from home?
“Different,” Luna repeated, “not bad, just… different. My father knows about them, the Muggle Truths, but he’s never published anything of the sort in the Quibbler. Some things can’t be published like that,” then Luna shrugged, “Most people know, anyway.”
Luna glanced again at Harry, very much considering him an outlier for not knowing, before she shrugged.
“Enjoy the feast, Harry,” and with that Luna left.
The last feast of the year was as wonderful as the welcoming feast. But, instead of hating everyone around him and grumpily thinking of the next time he was going to Iris Message Will Nico was talking and listening to his friends. Without too much care, Tracey spoke avidly of her adventures in primary school where she nearly lit a teacher on fire and the rest gave their own tales of their best moments.
Amongst the stories, sometimes Theodore and Blaise spoke up. Mostly Blaise, that specific Slytherin was always talkative and ready to comment without care. Theodore, on the other hand, was quiet. He was normally quiet, but this time… He was too quiet.
Theodore Nott didn’t respond. He smiled and laughed, but after that fleeting moment of joy, he was back to being empty.
His father had been arrested at the Department of Mysteries. He was likely going to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins for the summer.
Blaise obviously tried to distract his friend, but that didn’t work. Nico could see the deflation in Blaise’s antics as Theodore didn’t respond the way he wanted to. Still, Blaise tried to scheme, planning to have Theodore over for a portion of the summer.
Theodore wasn’t the only one.
Draco was much of the same since his father was arrested as well. He was angry, at first. He was obviously ready to scream and hex Harry Potter at a moment’s notice, but he wasn’t allowed to. Though Crabbe and Goyle were ready to do whatever Draco said, the rest of the Slytherins had other ideas.
Cassius had other ideas.
So, instead, Draco sulked. The few minutes he stayed at the feast, his eyes stayed on his plate as he barely moved his food around with his fork. Then, after a few sad moments, he got up, shocking both Crabbe and Goyle, and stormed out of the Great Hall.
A few Slytherins watched him go, some with something obviously at the tip of their tongue, but no one said anything. Only as he went through the large doors did Crabbe and Goyle get up as well as a redhead that Pansy had hated before: Aria Ostinato.
Some chattering started up again and Nico found himself staring at the empty spot Draco and the other two had vacated.
And then Nico began to realize, with both surprise and horror, that he felt his chest twinge with pity.
When he turned back toward his own friends he could tell Pansy had been watching him; her head quickly whipped around to avoid being caught as she drank some pumpkin juice. Wanting to let the moment drop, Nico began to stab some food on his plate.
“Don’t feel bad for him,” Pansy muttered, her eyes darting over to Nico as the conversations of their friends went on.
Nico didn’t hide some little surprise that came about because of her words. After all, this was the girl that had liked Draco Malfoy for so long… then liked him less, but still cared for him… But, now, as she spoke, he realized that her eyes were hard, just like when he had met her during the welcoming feast.
“He doesn’t deserve it,” Pansy finished with venom as she placed her goblet down.
The train ride home was surprisingly uneventful. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Melody, and Marvus had squished in one compartment. They all passed the time in different ways, such as buying and eating cauldron cakes pumpkin pasties, playing wizard chess, reading the Daily Prophet (which already was talking about how to repel Dementors, what the Ministry was doing, and letters from people saying they think Voldemort is their next door neighbor), taking a quiz in the Quibbler, stoking Neville’s larger and crooning to the touch Mimbulus mimbletonia, or arguing about how it was or wasn’t possible to have a seven-foot long wand.
“Not a staff,” Melody said, rolling her eyes, “a seven-foot long wand.”
Marvus face scrunched up in confusion.
“How would you even carry it?” Marvus asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
Melody scoffed and shook her head.
“You’d just-” Melody motioned holding a very, very large invisible stick, “it’ll be thin, really thin, or you’d get strong or something.”
"How long is seven feet?" Neville asked.
Someone is asking the right questions.
"It's pretty big," Marvus said, "like, taller than you. If you have it on the floor it goes beyond your head."
Neville's curious face changed as if he had tasted something sour.
“You’d have to make motions with it,” Neville added, frowning slightly, “very precise motions.”
Melody leaned back, squishing Hermione’s newspaper for a second before noticing. Hermione only had to glance up once before Melody apologized and then turned back toward the conversation.
“Practice makes perfect, Neville,” Melody explained as if it were common sense, “you’d just have to practice it and try not to do really hard spells right away until you get the easy ones.”
Neville obviously tried his very best to not appear to be dubious, but he failed. Instead, his expression was contorted between someone that very much wanted to say something but feared that the other would never listen to reason.
“I’d say that you never know until you try it,” Luna offered, smiling slightly. Her head was lifted out of the Quibbler in her hand, “Commission such a wand and see if you are able; that is to truly know if it will or won’t work.”
Only Melody’s face was happy at that declaration while the others had wide eyes and pursed mouths. Harry smiled. It was calming to see everyone being so… normal.
“Hey, Harry,” Ron said softly.
Harry looked away from the others and the chess board to see his friend nod toward the glass window peeking into the corridor.
What?
When he turned, he saw Cho Chang walking with Marietta Edgecomb, the latter wearing a balaclava to hide her scarred face. His eyes met with Cho and she smiled. And just as she did so, she looked away and kept on walking to her own compartment.
Butterflies didn’t stir up in his stomach.
“Er… what’s going on with you two?” Ron asked hesitantly.
“Nothing,” Harry answered as he looked back down at the chess. Ron hadn’t bothered to do his move just yet.
“I,” Hermione started and stopped as Ron and Harry’s attention turned toward her. She breathed again as she lowered the Daily Prophet, “I heard she’s going out with someone else.”
Harry was a little surprised that he felt nothing at all. Wanting to impress Cho, wanting to spend time with her even though it didn’t last… those wants had disappeared. The moment he thought he had lost Sirius it disappeared. Or, maybe, even before that moment he had realized trying to make things work with her was futile.
“That’s alright, she was-” Ron tried to reassure, but then his eyes widened, probably understanding that he might have just insulted Harry’s taste, “I mean, she was good looking! And all, but… you need someone more cheerful.”
Harry shrugged, “She’s probably cheerful enough with someone else.”
Nico skipped the Hogwarts Express. There was no point in going; not when two people needed him close to Hogsmeade. The demigod went through the tunnels after his trunk was transported to the Underworld, his legs taking him through as his mind wandered to how the last few days of the year went.
Nico was surprised to see that Professor Snape didn’t say much to him. It wasn’t that Nico was avoiding his Head of House, it just… ended up like that. Snape and the rest of the Heads were busy trying to make sure nothing was going to be left at Hogwarts as well as making sure all of the first years had someone to pick them up after they got off the train. Nico also spent all of his time left talking and saying goodbye to friends while also trying to meet up with Will every so often.
When it was the last day, Nico had purposely located and found the elusive professor. The demigod could still remember Professor Snape’s face as he said that whatever Nico wanted to say, he could wait until the meeting.
That was tonight.
The way Professor Snape tilted his head, Nico knew the other wasn’t being coy or mean. It was probably because there was a lot to be said and… and not a lot of time there.
Tonight we can speak and I can explain everything, Nico thought.
A yellow light appeared at the end of the tunnel, stopping Nico from thinking any further. There he spotted Will and Sirius.
Melody and Marvus didn’t have to wait at the train station for long. Their mother came, hugged them until their bones cracked a little and they returned the affection with the same excitement. When it came to their grandmother, she begrudgingly and loudly told them to take it easy and that she didn’t need to be sent to St. Mungo’s.
Despite the loving reunion, it was cut short. Ms. Jones took her children’s luggage, gave Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tonks a stern glare before telling them she didn’t want her children home too late before leaving.
Then Melody and Marvus left with the three Order of the Phoenix members.
And now, the Jones twins were sitting down in a meeting room at Grimmauld place, much to some surprise and some not surprise of the Weasley children.
“What’re you doing here?” Fred asked as he sat down in one of the chairs across from Melody and Marvus. His bright green suit gleamed with the little light, showing off the dragon scales they were made of.
Ron had left moments before to start writing a letter. Ginny had wanted to stay downstairs, but, she was told she was too young to be an Order of the Phoenix member. Thus, she reluctantly went upstairs.
“Yeah, and why is everyone looking at you two weird?” George added, glancing back at the large group of wizards muttering behind him before sitting down next to Fred.
Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Shacklebolt, and the parents of the Weasley children had been talking for a while now. Given from the way they were passing glances at the Jones twins, it was obvious what it was about.
“You’ll soon know,” Melody answered, then she smirked, “it’s a long story, okay? It’s… it’s going to probably take a little while to explain, so…”
Melody let her words trail off and her gaze went down to the table. She probably wasn’t supposed to know there were more members left to come. The instant that Fred and George did pick up what she left in the open, their expressions changed into more confusion and underlying suspicion.
“That was kind of you all to rough up Harry’s aunt and uncle,” Melody said nonchalantly as she leaned back into her chair.
“They must have deserved it,” Marvus added.
Fred nodded.
“Oh, yeah they did,” Fred said, frowning, his mind off of why his friends were really there.
“One year we had to take metal bars off of Harry’s window to break him out, he was practically starving!” George explained with a disapproving shake of his head, then his voice went low, “and we still got in trouble for it.”
“But it was worth it,” Fred said.
The two Weasleys had the same look as they thought of the memory. Both excitement, fondness, and some angry. Yet, that didn’t last. It was back to the Weasleys watching their friends with two very befuzzled faces.
“Er… you two keep on looking at the door, why is that?” Fred asked.
The two boys looked between Melody and Marvus. They had been trying to look at the door for quite a while. Or rather, all over the place, as if someone was going to come out of nowhere. Melody was tapping her finger on the table and
“We are waiting for someone,” Marvus answered.
“The Slytherin?” The Weasley twins instantly asked.
“Yeah,” Marvus and Melody answered in unison.
Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley were quiet all the way home. Vernon was practically fuming, his grip on the wheel caused his hands to turn white and Harry was surprised that his uncle hadn’t snapped his own fingers off. Petunia, on the other hand, seemed like she wanted to pretend like they hadn’t gone to pick up Harry and dutifully ignored Harry during the car ride, only looking at Dudley or pointedly staring out the window.
Harry didn’t mind it. He still had the high of the wizards telling/threatening the Dursleys. Almost nothing could make it any better, seeing them so petrified and angry. The silence instead of talking was like a cherry on top; not a requirement, but a wonderful addition.
But, Harry knew the silence wasn’t going to stick around.
There was something on the tip of Vernon’s tongue. Though his face was so red and disgusted that it looked like he would likely throw it up instead of saying it.
It was only when they were pulling into the driveway did Vernon finally spit it out.
“Someone… someone dropped something off for you here, Harry.”
Wait, what?
“Just make sure you keep it out of my sight!”
A knock sounded and instantly the house’s chattering stopped. It was a light knock, thank goodness, not loud enough to wake Walburga Black up. No one in the house could take the screaming, especially not now.
Melody and Marvus’s attention turned toward the door once again. No one made a move to open it; thinking that it was the wind. After all, the house was hidden to everyone that wasn’t an Order of the Phoenix member; the only reason Melody and Marvus made it inside was because the Order led them in. The members themselves had a special knock, not a simple one.
Then there was a second knock.
There was no mistaking it. It couldn’t have been the wind.
Everyone must have assumed the worst; many wands were out and even a few were pointed toward the door.
“Dumbledore said we have one more visitor to account for, maybe two,” Tonks said, glancing back at the other members, even though her hand was clearly gripping her wand in her pocket.
Dumbledore had said he needed to clear things up before leaving Hogwarts for the night. That and he was waiting for the rest of the Order of the Phoenix members to finish what they were doing. Heads of Houses had a lot of responsibility.
The members looked at each other, wondering who wanted to go first. With a small grunt, Mad-Eye Moody went lumbering toward the door first, his peg leg sounded against the floor.
When he got the door he only waited a second before he swung it open.
In the doorway were two boys, one still wearing their Hogwarts robes with Slytherin tie while the other adorned Muggle attire jeans and a blue shirt. Both of them appeared to be tired, worn out, but they held themselves in a manner that tried to hide that fact.
The members gave strange looks to one another and Molly Weasley’s face showed her shock and horror of more children being involved.
“Get inside before people can see us,” Moody ordered with a nonmoving frown.
Nico di Angelo and Will Solace didn’t hesitate.
As Nico walked inside the shadows traveled and grabbed softly at his feet. The darkness was like children getting nervous and wanting a hand to hold. Just as Will got to his side the shadows pulled back, following Nico from a distance. Will frowned and muttered about how tomorrow they were going to spend all day in the sun.
The phenomenon had an effect on the wizards who had welcomed him. Tonks moved away from Nico with some wide eyes and Moody’s constantly darting eyeball now was only spinning around the newcomers.
It was nothing new for the son of Hades.
Only one of the wizards seemed to not be as affected. Lupin walked forward, looking hesitantly over Nico’s shoulder before his eyes landed on the demigod. He had scars all over his face… Nico was reminded of the professor Pansy had talked about, the werewolf...
“If Sirius really is alive, where is he?” he asked.
He looks worried. Very worried. And like the years had taken a toll on him, those scars, those moth-eaten clothes, and… and the way his appearance screams that if he only had enough time he’d be put back together…
Nico didn’t regret his choice of saving Sirius.
Nico didn’t regret ever taking upon this quest.
Especially now.
“He’s with Harry,” Nico answered, and Lupin’s eyes widened slightly. Actually, all of them didn’t hide the surprise. He could see in their eyes, the immediate change in what they were thinking.
Maybe he really is an ally.
Harry had fallen asleep a while ago. His trunk was haphazardly unpacked, the glass shard that Sirius gave him on his desk along with a pile of books, his regular clothes and pajamas were tossed carelessly in a pile, and the boxes that his aunt and uncle had stuffed in his room when he was gone was shoved to the side.
Beside him, was Sirius Black, or rather Snuffles since he was in his dog form, curled up against him. While Harry slept, Sirius stayed awake, thinking about what he had heard… Or rather, what he thought he had heard.
Live the life you have now, Padfoot. You’ve got a second chance.
We’ll be waiting for you.
Finish what I started.
Sirius’s eyes moved to Harry’s sleeping form, remembering his long lost friends and younger brother. He had thought about his friends for a long time… What James did for him, Lily’s wittiness and good advice, and their love and excitement for their young baby.
What he hadn’t thought about was his estranged brother. They never seemed to agree on anything, not since Sirius had been “tainted” and sorted into Gryffindor… And then, Regulus Black disappeared without a trace.
For once, Sirius Black wondered why. What had Regulus started?
Harry stirred in his sleep.
Sirius turned and looked at Harry. He was so much like his father. Gently and quietly, Sirius nipped a piece of the blanket with his mouth and pulled it up and over Harry’s shoulders.
A crowd, close to five hundred people, stood on top of a desolate hill. The grasses grew short and lush, with a few flowers popping up here and there without a tree in sight. The sun began to sink down the horizon, casting long and bright rays of yellow, orange, and red.
Many trunks from Hogwarts piled up at the bottom of the hill; the owners left them with no worry of them being stolen or touched. Some of the trunks were haphazardly piled while others were placed perfectly on one another. Robes laid on a few trunks, specifically Hogwarts robes, with scarves of any and all colors. Yet, most of the colors were black and yellow.
The crowd had a large mixture of people; some wearing normal wizard attire while others had Muggle clothes comprised of long pants and shirts. People of all ages were standing, waiting, from the young to the white-haired. The different groups didn’t bother to be crass with one another, only gossip about classes, parties, who’s doing what, and the workplace.
Amongst them was an older man, his hair greying, and his bright brown eyes were close to tears. People patted his shoulder, gave him hugs, and told him meaningless words as he walked up the hill to the very top.
The large crowd’s soft chatting stopped as they realized it was time. Heads turned and mouths remained shut; whatever was needed to be known was seen through their expressions. Eventually, everyone noticed and stood around in a giant circle surrounding a lone gravestone.
One boy’s wands lit up a light blue, casting his pale skin, hair, and blue eyes with a deathy glow. Summerby glanced at his teammates, whose faces that were always so full of cheer and laughter were solemn. Their gazes turned toward their classmates; some of them they knew, some of them they only saw in passing, and some of them only became friends that year.
But, it didn’t matter. They were here for only one thing.
One by one, all of the wands glowed, creating such a powerful source of light that the words on the gravestone could be read easily as if the sun was still over their heads.
Cedric Diggory, the Kind and Loyal.
May He Rest In Peace.