Big Three at Hogwarts

Part 13

Nico held it in his hand, studying it.

"How did you do that?" Ron demanded. Nico glared at him and Harry admitted that it was scary.

"Why were you spying on us?" Nico demanded.

"We wanted to know if you were Death Eaters!" Harry said. Nico snorted.

"Dumbest name ever. But, no, we're not." He said, "Obviously."

"We saw the Dark Mark on your arm!" Ron said. Nico gave him a confused look.

"What?"

"The Dark Mark." Nico pursed his lips.

"What is it?"

"How do you not know what the Dark Mark is?" Hermione asked. Percy pursed his lips.

"We're American?" He said it more like a question than an answer and the Trio just stared at him.

"It's a tattoo on your arm," Hermione explained. Percy nodded and rolled up both of his sleeves, Nico and Thalia followed suit. Nico and Percy had black tattoos on their arms. No, not tattoos, it was like they were burned. Or branded. Each one read SPQR and a symbol above some lines. Percy had a trident and Nico had a skull. Thalia's arms were blank. Hermione looked lost in thought.

"SPQR," she mused, "Like the Roman thing?" Percy and Nico grew suddenly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, Senatus Populusque Romanus, The senate and people of Rome," Nico said calmly.

"Why is it burned onto your arm?" Ron asked, horrified.

"Loyalty," Percy said cooly.

"Why don't you have one?" Harry asked Thalia. Her gaze grew cold.

"I'm not Roman." She said. The Trio gave her odd looks but the Americans seemed to understand. And they did after Jason died, she had grown cold to Romans, even though it wasn't their fault he died.

"Roman?" Hermione said, "But weren't those names you said Greek?"

"What?" Thalia asked.

"Phaeton and Apollo." She clarified. She rolled her eyes.

"Why can't it be Greek and Roman? Why does it have to be either-or?" Hermione seemed taken aback by her words and her icy tone but she didn't nay anything else.

"You wanna know why we're here?" She said coldly, "Gandalf asked us to come here and help. We didn't have to come and we don't have to stay. If you keep being suspicious, I'll leave. You need us to win the war, without us, you'll lose. Ever heard of the saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?" With those words, Thalia walked breezily down the corridor. Nico and Percy looked annoyed but not nearly as angry as Thalia had been.

"Romans and Greeks," Percy mused.

"One's gonna destroy the other," Nico said gravely. He handed them back their cloak and, with that, walked back down the corridor. The Trio heard Nico mutter something along the lines of, "Poor Jason, poor Thalia." And Percy reply with something like, "Brings a new meaning to 'stabbed in the back'." He said with sad humor. It made Harry wonder what happened.

They all went back to bed and fell asleep, the silencing charms doing good against the screams coming from all three.

The next morning, the demigods went to breakfast, sacrificed to the gods, and ate as much as they could. But, there was a tension in the air that no one could break. Thalia was distant and sad, memories of Jason flashing behind her eyes. Percy was mourning all over again for his friend. And Nico, he was sad and grieving for the first person who had ever really accepted him but also playing his nightmare over and over again in his head. He saw Tom but not Tom. He knew now what Hecate meant about facing an "Old Friend". Nico knew now that the boy he loved as a friend was now the monster that crowded the elevators. Tom was not Tom anymore, he was Voldemort. He was sure Voldemort had recognized Nico in the elevator but, for some reason, never said anything.