A Long Way From Home

Chapter five - Potions

      "Ron! Do you know what this means?!" Harry asked as they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.
"Yes! What . . . No." Ron replied, looking at Harry.
"It means that Nico Di Angelo is really Nico Riddle!"
"How?" Ron asked.
"He just said he was the son of You Know Who! How many You Know Who's do you know? We need to get him to answer questions. They stopped talking as they walked into the boy's dormitory. They watched as Nico slept, all lines of worry gone from his face. He looked younger, less . . . Sad, and depressing and angry

Soon. Soon I won't be alone! Wills coming! Yea, Percy and Annabeth, but Will! Seeing as Nico was the last one waking up, and he was late, he was the last one on the common room. He made his way down the stairs of the boys dormitory and into the common room. As he jumped off the last stairs, he found the golden trio waiting for him, blocking his way out. Nico smiled, and tried to push past him, but they moved.
"Uh, can I help you?" He asked, one of his eyebrows raised.
"As a matter of fact, you can" Hermione said. "Please sit down" she said.
"Okay" he said. "How can I help you?" he asked.
"We need to ask you something" Harry said. "And you better answer"
"Oh really?" Nico asked, smirking. "Well what do you want to know?" he asked.
"are you related to Voldemort?" Harry fired. Hermione slapped his arm.
"We were to save that one for later!" She hissed.
"What? Oh, that's right, the warty guy, I had forgotten his name."
"oh, don't play stupid, we saw you last night!" Ron said. Nico visibly paled.
"Y . . . you did?" Nico watched as Harry and Ron shared a triumphant glance at each other.
"Yea, and we know what what you said. Your the son of YOU KNOW WHO! So, tell us; is that the truth?" Harry asked, fuming. Nico smirked.
"Anything else?"
"Yea, take your jacket off"
"why would I take my jacket off?" Nico asked.
"Do you have anything to hide?" Harry asked.
"No" Nico said. "But I doubt you'll like what you see" He said. Nico slipped off his aviator jacket, revealing scars from numerous battles, and of course, Tartarus. They could also see the skull on his arm - and not they knew what it was for - signifying he was a son of Hades.
"Well, it's not a Dark mark, so you aren't a Death eater" Hermione said. Nico scoffed.
"A Death eater? You gotta be joking."
"What? Something funny?" Harry asked.
"No, no, its just an absurd and stupid name."
"Any way" Ron said. "Harry said he saw a ghost talk to you, calling you 'My lord' and 'Your Majesty' wha's tha' 'bout?"
"Listen" Nico said, now standing. "I can't tell you"
"Then answer us this" Hermione said. Nico arched an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"Who is your mother, father, and if you have one, sister or brother?" Hermione took a step back. Nico tensed visibly, and the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.
"I can't tell you" He said, pushing his way through the trio, opening the door to the stairwell. "oh, and we're all going to be late.

Okay Nico thought to himself. Not as secret as you thought!
"Ah, Mr. Di Angelo!" Professor Snape said "I was thinking you'd never come." The trio came in right behind him. "Four of you, I see" he looked at us skeptically. "Ten points from Gryffindor. Each" all four of them groaned. Nico saw Draco smirk from his seat. He took the empty seat next to Seamus. There were lists in front of him.
"The lists in front of you tell you what you'll need to do, and this is a group project" He said. Nico looked at the list. He groaned. Stupid dyslexia he thought. Seamus saw him looking at his list funny, turning it and bringing it close to his face.
"You can read . . .right?" Seamus asked.
"Yes" Nico snapped. A hurt look crossed Seamus' face. "No, yes" Nico said going back and forth between the two.
"Now you're just confusing" Seamus said.
"I . . . I'm dyslexic" Nico muttered quietly.
"What?" Seamus asked.
"I said I'm dyslexic" Nico snapped.
"Oh" Seamus said. His face softened.
"Oh look!" A smug voice said. "Little Mr. Inferni Angelo can't read."
"Shut it, Draco!" Nico snapped.
"Ah, talking in class! five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Di Angelo!" Snape said in his droning, slippery voice. Nico groaned.

Nico waited silently as everybody shuffled out of the class room. Except for Hermione and Draco. Nico drew in a breath and smiled.
"First things first" he said. He walked over and hugged Draco. "How've you been?" he asked, his smile growing slightly. Draco smiled back. Nico looked at him and Hermione.
"Tonight, Room of Requirement, round midnight." They both nodded. "And make sure you're not being followed."