Old and Young, Inside Out

Chapter 11

Nico was about to leave for Hogwarts Sunday afternoon, not knowing yet about the other attack that had plagued the school. But he stopped quickly when he saw Will approaching, saw those blue eyes full of worry. "Will? What's wrong?"

"I'm glad I caught you in time." Will grabbed Nico's hand as if he was scared he was going to run off. "We need to talk. I had a dream-"

"A dream? And you didn't tell me this morning when you woke up from it?" Nico asked.

"I was too busy." Will defended. "You know the Infirmary's been crazy all day. This is my first break."

"Okay, tell me." Nico sighed. "But I have to go so hurry it up."

Will looked around to make sure they were alone before lowering his voice. "I think it was dad talking to me."

Nico blinked twice before frowning. "What?" Sure, he had Persephone and Hecate in his head, but gods still rarely talked to their children directly. It was a fact that all demigods learned the hard way.

"It was dad," Will continued. "Or I think it was. He sounded like him but I didn't really see him. It was just his voice."

"Okay," Nico accepted. "What did he say?"

"He gave me a quest."

"Are you kidding me?" Nico looked up at the sky with a scowl as if he could catch a glimpse of the sun god. "Doesn't he know you have college?"

"Yeah, but that isn't really an important thing to the gods." Will wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulders and pulled the younger boy closer. "It's freezing. Help keep me warm."

"You're the one that came out here without a jacket." Nico didn't pull away. It almost felt like old times. "Have you talked to Chiron?"

Will shook his head. "Not yet. I wanted to catch you before you left."

"You need to go to Chiron." Nico thought for a minute before starting for the Big House, Will following while refusing to let go of Nico. "Come on."

"Don't you have to go back to Hogwarts?" Will asked. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

"It'll be fine." Nico insisted. "I may be a wizard but I'm also a demigod. And you got a quest. So I'm here to help."

Will's smile sent warmth through Nico's cold bones. "Okay."

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"We already know — we heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That's why we decided we'd better get going —"

Nico cut Hermione off as he stepped from the shadows, his eyes raw from lack of sleep. "I don't know."

"Nico!" Ron turned to face him. "You scared us!"

"Yeah, yeah, now, what happened?" Nico asked, eyeing the cauldron. "Another attack?"

Harry nodded before telling him the story of the night before. Dobby, Colin, the Quidditch game. Nico listened silently before looking back to the potion. "How's it coming? The sooner you can use it, the better."

"Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though." Ron thought out loud, ignoring Nico's question. "I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."

"Maybe it can make itself invisible." Hermione stirred the potion. "Or maybe it can disguise itself — pretend to be a suit of armor or something — I've read about Chameleon Ghouls —"

"You read too much, Hermione," Ron commented as he helped with the potion.

She ignored him but rather looked to Nico. "Are you just getting back?"

Nico nodded. "There's some stuff going on at camp. I had to fill my role as Head Counselor."

Hermione always had interest in demigod affairs even though it had become a normal thing to talk about to Ron and Harry. She leaned forward, her eyes off the potion. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah...it'll be fine." Nico bit his lip. "Will had to go on a quest. He took two other demigods but..." He trailed off.

"You're still worried." Hermione finished.

Nico nodded. "Yeah...I'm still worried."

"Do you know what the quest is for?" she asked. "Is it dangerous?"

"His father sent him to England without a prophecy," Nico grumbled. "Seems fishy to me. And all he said was 'you'll see when you get there'."

"That's not really helpful," Hermione commented.

"The gods never are."