Old and Young, Inside Out

Chapter 7

The next morning Nico woke up with his hair a mess and his clothes still on. Dominic's hair was still all over the dormitory floor.

They went down to breakfast half asleep. Neither had slept good though they didn't talk about it. Nico always had nightmares of his own. How could he blame Dominic for having some?

What woke them up, and put a smile on their faces, was the Howler Ron got from his mom. Nico spent the whole time chuckling to himself, unable to help it at the sight of his brother's face.

They got their schedules and started their day. When they got to Herbology, Nico's mandrake didn't kill him (he was expecting death from any kind of plant). Dominic's pink earmuffs made the day even better.

It was later, however, when Nico finally stopped smiling. He joined the group around the Golden Trio as Malfoy continued his usual insults.

"Jealous?" Malfoy was saying. "Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself."

"Eat slugs, Malfoy." Ron's voice was full of anger. Nico stepped forward incase he needed him.

"Be careful, Weasley," sneered Malfoy. "You don't want to start any trouble or your Mommy'll have to come and take you away from school." He put on a shrill, piercing voice. "'If you put another toe out of line'—"

Nico clenched his fists, stepping in front of Malfoy with a pit of anger in his stomach. "Don't make fun of my family, Malfoy. Do it again and it'll be the last thing you ever do."

Before Nico could do anything else, Lockhart came up and took Harry away. Dominic did the same to Nico before he could punch Malfoy.

Nico let all his anger out that night in the forest, practicing with skeletons and shadows. His collarbone was raw to the touch. He hated Malfoy, hated anyone that made fun of his family.

They took him in. They still loved him despite everything he had done. He would protect them with his dying breath.

When the weekend finally came the anger had died away. Friday after dinner, he packed his bag and shadow traveled to Camp Half-Blood. The dandelion burned but he felt amazing.

None of the senior campers were there. The only ones he knew were Harold and Chiron. Even Dionysius seemed to have something better to do.

Nico walked up to the Apollo table to where Harold sat, his small legs dangling from the bench. "Hey, kid, how have you been?"

Harold stood up on the bench and wrapped his chubby arms around Nico's neck. "You're back!"

"For the weekend." Nico returned the hug for a minute before letting him go. "I'm gonna be teaching you kids how to defend yourselves."

Harold's eyes lit up. "Awesome! Can you take another letter to momma for me?"

Nico sighed at the expected question. "When I leave for the weekend I'll drop it off to her."

Suddenly another kid was at his side, this a small girl around nine. She had her own letter in hand. "Can you take this to my mom?"

In an instant he was surrounded by these kids, some even classified as teenagers. He looked to Chiron for help, but the old centaur couldn't help but laugh at the situation the son of Hades had found himself in.

"Okay, okay!" Nico stood on the table to escape the pit of demigods. "Drop them off in my cabin and go to bed! I'll deliver them!"

After they stampeded away, Nico jogged to Chiron. "Why so many orphans?"

Chiron's smile dropped. "Why do you think?"

"I just...how can so many mortals die at once? It's not like they fought in the war. It's not like they were demigods." Nico reasoned.

"Do you know how many demigods there probably are in the US? Thousands. The Big Three don't have to worry about their children reaching 16 and starting a prophecy. War is everywhere, powering Ares. Even Apollo went through a year or two with hundreds of affairs. They are the Greek gods, Nico. They've always been like this. The kids just never lived long."

Nico looked down at his feet. "Oh..."

"You'll teach lessons starting at eight tomorrow morning." Chiron instructed. "Most of them have no experience. So please be patient with them."

Nico nodded before heading back to his cabin. Once there, he filled a duffle bag with the letters before collapsing on his bed.

Homework, curses, attempted sleep at four in the morning. He kept his wand and robes close.

In the morning he dressed in his robes with his aviator jacket over them. His wand and sword were kept on him as he made his way to the arena.

He hadn't seen Will yet. As he waited for his first class, he watched the early morning sun and tried to imagine how his love was doing in college. Was it easy? Was he failing? Was it too much work?

His many ages twisted around in his gut. Here he was: teacher, student, senior.

The Apollo cabin was first to arrive. Nico met Will's eyes over the kids that settled around him.

"I'll pick them up in an hour. The rest of my cabin have a free hour." Will reached out to touch Nico before quickly taking his hand back. "I've got to go check on the infirmary."

"Yeah, you do." Nico looked at the kids. "Do they know anything yet?"

Will shook his head as he let out a small laugh. "Good luck with them."

Nico grinned. That laugh always filled him with joy. "Thanks."

He stood there staring like an idiot at Will as he walked away. That little sunshine was enough for the whole day.

"Okay, which of you have held a sword before?"

None raised their hands. One was trying to eat his camp shirt.

Nico pinched the bridge of his nose before gesturing to the side. "Get a wooden sword...be careful, please. I don't want to take any of you to the Underworld today."

This silenced all of the kids. There was always that threat around Nico, the knowing of what he was capable of. Instead of working against him, this time it helped him keep those kids under control.

At the end of the weekend he delivered their letters and got some in return. He got back to Hogwarts Sunday night, his fingers burning from helping so many of those kids with their splinters. They were scared of the infirmary, so Nico helped them all after each lesson with an old trick Mrs. Weasley had taught him.

To say the least, Will hadn't known to find it amusing or adorable.