Old and Young, Inside Out

Chapter 25

The feast lasted all night, something Nico hadn't quite experienced before. Half of the wizards and witches were in their pajamas, while the others had hurried and thrown on their robes. All the victims were back and full of life, zooming between the tables to talk to their friends. Even Hagrid showed up at around three, officially free from Azkaban. It was a nice sight to see, though even he didn't get out of Azkaban without a slight change to his soul.

"Five bucks Gryffindor gets the house cup," Nico whispered to Dominic halfway through.

"I'm supposed to be the psychic," Dominic grumbled. And they were right. Gryffindor once again won the house cup, followed by the announcement that there would be no exams and that Lockhart wouldn't return the following year. It had been a while since Nico felt so alive, so happy.

During the feast, he actually felt like he belonged. He could walk over to the Gryffindor table, make small chat with most of the kids there. He could sit at the Hufflepuff table and know nobody wanted him gone. Not to mention the number of people in that hall.

The rest of the year continued on in the same bliss, much to his shock. He and Dominic spent most of the time in their dormitory, even cutting some classes most days. They got a couple of detentions, one in which Nico cut Dominic's hair again before he had to go home.

But Nico wasn't going to let him spend much time at that hell of a house.

It was eventually time to get back on the train, though Nico wasn't too excited for the summer holidays. He wasn't just going back home to the Weasley's, not when he had to keep going to camp on the weekends. And he would miss Hogwarts, to be honest. When there wasn't a lifesaving job to be done, it was one of his favorite places.

Damn, had he changed. After the giant war, he could barely agree to stay at camp, let alone admit he liked the place. He didn't like much, back then. But in this wizarding world...he was happier. He finally had a chance to be happy, even though all his memories were still there.

For the train ride, they used magic for the last few hours that they were allowed to. Nico and Harry practiced disarming each other, both getting rather good at it. Ron and Dominic played Exploding Snap, though Nico could tell Dominic was dreading the end of the trip. Even Hermione joined in on the dueling from time to time, giving pointers about how they were holding their wands and how they pronounced the spells.

As the train came to a stop, Harry handed Ron a piece of paper. "This is called a telephone number. I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer - he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to..."

"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" Hermione asked as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you did this year?"

"Proud?" said Harry. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious..."

Nico snorted. "Keep proving them wrong, then." He turned to Ron. "I have somewhere to go. I'll meet you all back at home."

"Somewhere to go?" Ron repeated. "Where?"

Nico stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm going to follow Dominic home and then take him to camp."

Ron walked off shaking his head, mumbling "stalker" under his breath.

Nico looked around the platform and eventually found Dominic. His friend, as expected, changed as soon as he was forced into the muggle world. He dragged his trunk behind him, his head hanging low as he walked up to a woman that looked all too much like him.

No, Nico wouldn't even let him step foot into that house.

"Dominic!" Nico ran over to them the best he could with his trunk. "Remember what I said? You can spend the summer at camp, and you're going to."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" the woman asked. She looked down at him with a sugar sweet smile that Nico could see right through. "Are you this Nico he keeps talking about?"

Dominic seemed to hang his head even lower. "Nico...can we go to camp?"

"Yeah, we can." Nico stuck his hand out. "Ms. Cook, I'm Nico di Angelo. I'm taking your son off your hands from now on."

"Excuse me?" she grabbed Dominic's arm to keep him from walking off. "He's our only source of income. I-"

"That's my money that's being used," Nico cut in. "And I gave him permission to because I didn't want him homeless over the summer. But now that he's coming with me, you're going to have to find your own source of income. Now, please release my friend."

She seethed. "Why, you little shit-"

Nico yanked Dominic away from her, just long enough to shadow travel them away without her as extra luggage. The first place he had in his mind, unfortunately, was back behind the enchanted barrier. "Damn..."

Dominic leaned against him for a minute before straightening up. "Did you seriously just do that?" He grinned. "I've been wanting to take that tone with her for years!"

Nico shrugged. "Hey, I told you that you could stay at camp this summer. We needed to let her know before going. I decided to have some fun with it. Are you ready to go?"

Dominic grinned. "You bet."

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AN: last chapter, hope you all enjoyed. Next book will be up soon~