Shadows and Magic

Chapter 9

"Bloody hell, you've never had Shepherd's Pie?" he exclaimed.

"Ronald, I think you've had enough pie. Go upstairs, now. Tell the others to get ready for supper at 5." Mrs Weasley said sharply. Shooting another bewildered glance at Nico, the redhead ran upstairs. She probably thinks I'm still dangerous, Nico thought, well, she's not wrong. Provided I can still fight in this situation.

"Finish it." Sirius suggested, "You need the extra weight." Rolling his eyes, Nico finished the rest of the pie slowly, bristling uncomfortably at the three adults staring at him. As soon as he finished the small slice of food, Sirius pushed a small glass of water to him. Nico glared, then downed it in small sips. He stood up abruptly.

"I'm done." he said, "Can I go now?" After earning a nod from Lupin, Nico turned around and trudged up the stairs, stumbling a bit as his tiredness swept back. Halfway up, Nico bumped into something. He looked up and saw a boy who looked a bit like Percy, with jet black hair, glasses, and emerald eyes staring at him, eyeing his bony frame with curiosity and suspicion. 

"Move, spy." he hissed, glaring at Nico. Nico was originally going to ignore Percy-Wannabe, but he had made big mistake on calling Nico a spy. A spy. Nico tensed, anger raging through him. He hated the word spy. 

It was what campers had called him for a while, when they hadn't trusted him yet. A spy for Hades. A traitor. It was what Romans had called him during the events of the Giant War. A spy for the Greeks. Graecus scum.  It was like the word representing all of the betrayal and hurt he had been through. I'm not a traitor, Nico had thought, but a little voice had whispered in his head, but they still hate you anyways. You might as well be one. You will always be alone, forever, with nothing but the dead for company..

Nico pushed down the train of thoughts, glaring into the boy's green eyes. This boy had angered Nico. An angry Nico is something no one wanted to see.

"Say that one more time." Nico hissed through gritted teeth. He felt the shadows solidify, and the temperature drop once again. He could hear the dead whispering in his ears We are ready to do your bidding, lord. The boy before him took a step back instinctively, eyes widening in shock. 

But before Nico could do anything, Sirius had jumped between the two, his eyes darting frantically. 

"Nico, it's best if you go back for now." he said in a hurry, trying to drag Nico upstairs. But Nico made no attempt to move, but stared at Fake Percy, and green flames seemed to flicker in his eyes. Sirius pushed Nico once again, and Nico finally budged. Shooting one last glare of resentment at the green eyed boy. 

"Harry, dear, what's wrong?" he heard Mrs Weasley say concernedly behind them, but Nico never paid attention to the boy's reply. Harry. That's who you are.

"Come on, Nico." Sirius said, gently pulling the boy upstairs by his sleeve. Nico grumbled and ripped his arm out of Sirius' reach. With a sigh, the man followed Nico up, shielding him from Harry's gaze. 

Nico stormed into his 'prison' and flopped right back into his corner. 

He had dragged a pillow and a blanket into a really dark area in the room, feeling safer in the shadows. He didn't like the provided bed much. It was comfortable, sure, but he felt uncomfortable sleeping there. It was facing the door, too easy to spot and too easy to ambush someone on it. The shadows on the other hand... it felt more like Nico's home turf. He sat on his blanket and counted his provisions. His Ziplock bag of ambrosia and flask of unicorn draught was in his pocket (it was a rather big pocket), a silver dagger in a hidden sheath, two more Stygian iron daggers slipped in a secret opening in his shoes, his Stygian iron sword stored into the shadows, three snickers bars Will had told him to bring on journeys, and two photos- Bianca, and the Seven (not including Jason), Reyna, Thalia, Rachel, Will and Nico, all together and happy.

Nico stared at the second photo for a moment longer. At that moment, Percy had just told everyone a joke, and a few of them were laughing while Annabeth was scolding Percy on how stupid the joke was, but she still had a small grin on her face. Frank and Hazel were holding hands, looking like an old married couple- relaxed and with a content smile. Thalia and Reyna were nudging each other, rolling their eyes. Rachel had flecks of green paint on her face, and she was looking at the rest of them with an amused why-am-i-friends-with-weird-people look on her face. Piper had been laughing at the joke, her look of grief gone for that brief second, and Nico felt a stab of pain for his lost friend, Jason. Leo, the sneaky little devil, was standing on a chair behind all of them, holding a water bucket over their heads and about to douse them with a maniac grin on his face. Will was just looking at the camera, looking chill, while Nico had just turned around and saw Leo, a look of surprise and regret on his face. 

All of them together...  Nico had felt more like he belonged in a family at that split second than any other event in his life.

He pushed down the sadness threatening to overwhelm him, and whirled around to see Sirius, who had never left. Ugh. This was going to be great. 

"Aren't you going to leave?"

"No.I'm not in case you do something life threatening to yourself again." Sirius sat back onto the armchair in the room. His unwavering glance never left Nico.

Nico sighed inwardly and laid down on the floor, even though he knew he probably wasn't going to sleep. 

Try to get my strength back.. the second I do, I'm going to try and break out.

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And.. that's it for today! Please comment suggestions if you are willing!

Btw, here's a song to share... by  Alan Walker & K-391!