He Who Walks Between Worlds

Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon

Beginning Notes

All characters are owned by J. K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.

Nico

Nico stormed out of the Hog's Head and down a random street. Plants wilted as he passed and curls of shadow trailed in his wake, even though the sun was behind him. Harry was just so --Gah! He punched a wall, then reeled back, clutching his hand. The stone wall was, unsurprisingly, hard. I shouldn't have done that, he thought to himself.

The worst of his anger was cooling now, and he was able to look back on the scene with a clearer head. Harry was undoubtably in the wrong. Why had he even punched Nico? All Nico had been doing was explaining to everyone else what had happened, since it was too painful for Harry. He'd been trying to help this boy, even though he had been nothing but a stronzo to him. And then Harry punched him! Not that it actually hurt, or anything, but still. 

Michael and Luna had been following him, and now they caught up. Michael spoke hesitantly, "Uh, Nico? Downtown's the other way."

"Thanks." Nico turned around, and Luna and Michael followed him.

As they neared downtown, Michael and Luna began leading the way. "You coming to Honeydukes?" Michael asked. "I need to stock up on candy."

"I don't like candy," Luna said, "but my tongue does."

"Not now," Nico said with a thin smile. "I want to take a look around."

"Okay," Michael said, rubbing his hand against his pants. "See you later."

Nico watched Michael and Luna walked off towards the sweet shop. He still wanted to hit something. He settled for kicking a small stone in his path. It bounced, once, twice, and hit the knees of somebody in robes. 

"Sorry," he muttered, brushing past whoever it was.

"Who do you think you are?" a high clear voice demanded from behind him. Nico turned around and looked up. It was a boy wearing Slytherin robes, maybe a year older than Nico. He was pale and slight and had shockingly light blond hair. 

"Sorry," Nico said, louder, "I wasn't looking."

"Who are you?" the boy demanded, taking in his Slytherin robes. 

"My name is Nico di Angelo," Nico said. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with people right now. 

"Are you a pureblood?"

"I don't see why that matters." 

The boy sneered at him. "You're not." He glanced at Nico's robes again. "But you're a Slytherin. You can still help me. I'm looking for Harry Potter."

For a moment -- well, for several moments, actually, -- Nico considered telling him. But there was something off about this boy. Nico didn't think he wanted to shower Harry with hugs and kisses.

"I don't know. Sorry." Nico started walking again.

"Hey!" the boy called after him. "I'm not done talking to you."

Nico ignored him. If he had to deal with one more stupid, stuck-up wizard, he would kill someone.

Hermione

She found Nico at dinner that night. He was at the Slytherin table, not the Ravenclaw table where they usually sat together (when she wasn't with Harry and Ron). 

"I'm sorry," she said.

Nico's foot was tip-tip-tapping on the floor, but he didn't look up. 

"I thought I could talk to him."

Silence.

"Are you mad at me? Please say something."

"I'm not mad at you," said Nico, still not looking up. "I just don't want to talk right now."

Hermione bit her lip. Nico moved food around his plate. "He really is a nice person; he's just going through a lot right now."

Nico said nothing.

"I think he just reacted to re-living that night and didn't think about what he was doing."

Nico's foot kept bouncing up and down. She wasn't sure if he noticed.

"He's usually not like this."

"Stop making excuses for him."

"I'm not."

"You are. Can you hear yourself?" Nico's voice turned high and mocking. "'Harry's really nice. Don't mind that he punches you and thinks you're evil.' Why don't you go sit with the rest of the Harry Potter fan club?"

Hermione felt like she had been slapped. "Fine. I don't know why I ever tried to be friendly to you. You're just like all the other Slytherins." 

"Look at you, the perfect little witch," Nico said, standing up to face her. "You'd fit right in with the Slytherins, too, being all judgmental. Go on, make fun of me for liking black and skulls, too."

Of course he had brought up her muggle-born status. Why had she expected otherwise? He was a Slytherin. "You think you're so great because your father was rich and famous. That doesn't make you any better than the rest of us!"

"No. It just makes it so wherever I go, people judge me based on what they know of him! I tried to keep it secret here, but Harry decided to eavesdrop! But somehow I'm still the bad guy."

"You were being all secretive, and you had just joined the Order, even though you're underage! Of course he was suspicious."

Nico rolled his eyes. "And it doesn't hurt that perfect Harry can do no wrong."

People were watching them, wondering what the raised voices were about. Ginny had gotten up and was moving towards them, while Michael hovered anxiously and Luna stood there staring at them. Nico seemed to notice this for the first time, and before Hermione could respond, he stormed out of the hall, leaving Hermione staring after him in rage. 

"What was that about?" Ginny asked. 

"Nothing." Hermione stormed away.

End Notes

School's awful. Here you go:

Luna: I think I ought to say something.

Me: Yes, you're supposed to--

Luna: I remember. The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy. They're working to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a mixture of dark magic and gum disease.

Me: Yes. Also vote and comment.