Old and Young, Inside Out

Chapter 16

AN: Honestly yeah technology might not work at Hogwarts but lets say for the sake of this story it does because...well, it's fanfiction and it's not that big of a thing...(and I'm just too lazy to change it)

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The next morning at breakfast, Nico and Dominic sat five feet apart at the Hufflepuff table. Nico still gave out heir of Slytherin vibes, leaving no one to sit between them. For the first ten minutes, it was silent.

"Are you going to scootch over here?" Nico finally asked. "I can't talk to you when you're that far."

Dominic shook his head. "I'm still getting your germs off me."

"I didn't even kiss you!" Nico groaned in frustration. "I got like two inches too close!"

"We use the metric system, Nico." Dominic dug into his cereal. "And I'm not letting it happen again."

"It was a mistake, Dom. I'm sorry. For some reason my mind...I just thought you were Will." Nico tried to explain. "You look similar...and talk similar...and I'm worried about him so I'm thinking about him more."

Dominic moved an inch closer but still remained at a distance. "Is he still in London?"

"As far as I know." Nico rubbed his tired eyes. "Did you have nightmares last night?"

Dominic nodded. "And you?"

"Like always."

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Valentine's day hit and Nico wanted to strangle anyone he saw. Pink was too bright, the red looked too much like blood. Throughout the whole day, he kept five feet away from Dominic. There were too many times he thought that boy was Will. Almost like his mind was slipping, he would mistake him for him almost every day.

"Aren't you going to send a valentine?" Ron teased. "You've got to if you've kissed him, don't you?"

It was all fun and games throughout the day for those who had the will to make it so. But Nico couldn't go anywhere near Harry without a splitting headache, and by lunchtime, he had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Later that night, he found out exactly what was wrong.

"Wait, explain it again." Nico sat on Ron's bed, having put a silencing charm on the door so no other boys could overhear. Harry was sitting on his own bed, his eyes lit with...with something.

"It's Hagrid," he repeated. "He opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"You two are insane." Nico put his head in his hands. "You're trusting Tom Riddle, a boy from fifty years ago, over Hagrid."

"You're from fifty years ago," Ron inputted.

"More than that but that doesn't matter." Nico went over to where Harry had the diary. "That thing needs to be destroyed."

"We can't destroy it," Harry argued. "It's got clues in it. Tom Riddle, he showed me who did it. He's showing me how to help."

"You really think he's doing it just to help?" Nico asked. "He's a boy from fifty years ago. He would have no need to help...he shouldn't even be able to help!"

"But he did." Harry put the diary in his bag. "We'll ask Hermione tomorrow. It's getting late."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Whatever. But we're destroying that thing. It's full of death, Harry."

"You feel death wherever you go," Ron spoke up. "You know you do, Nico. Even at Diagon Alley, you did!"

"It was more in Knockturn Alley, Ronald." Nico stood up. "I'm going to my dormitory. Just...don't do anything else dangerous throughout the night."