Order of the Olympians

Order of the Olympians Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The chilly month of March flew by in a whirlwind, making way for a brisk and sunny April. Nico's time at Hogwarts had significantly improved ever since the Winter Break. Malfoy and his goons gave him an especially wide berth, which he thanked Hades every day for. The one Slytherin who didn't seem to keep his distance was Blaise Zabini, and he had strangely grown to enjoy spending time with someone from his own house who wasn't a) afraid of him or b) in the business of trying to make his life hell.

Speaking of potential friends, Nico had been spending a lot of time with Harry. Originally, he wasn't particularly warm towards the young wizard due to a couple of reasons, namely his involvement of putting him and his friends in danger yet again, and the way he had initially written him off as a dark wizard just because he was put in Slytherin. It seemed as though Harry had seen the error in his ways and put in some time trying to be Nico's friend, which was an incredibly foreign concept to the Son of Hades. At Will's persistence, Nico finally opened up and enjoyed the time he spent with the object of their quest.

Harry, Will, and himself had spent plenty of evenings up in the Owlery attempting to coax Bianca out of her shadowy corner. His heart warmed ten degrees when she dared to take a lap around the tower with her new friend, Hedwig. She was making incredible progress, and he couldn't help but hope that she would be free to fly out in the sunlight by the time summer was upon them.

Although things were looking up for the demigods, Nico never once let his guard down. Erebus was still out there preying on young wizards. Three more students had fallen into mysterious comas that forced them into a permanent state of pain, and he could practically taste the tension drifting through the school. D.A. meetings were still going well, and it seemed that a fire was lit under each and every student after Umbridge's spectacle of trying to kick a Hogwarts professor out of the castle. The knowledge that they were "fighting back" in their own way was dangerous and exciting.

After an incredibly insightful Divination class with Firenze, Annabeth approached two of her friends in a huff. "Have either of you noticed that Percy seems a little...off?" She asked nervously, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Nico raised an interested eyebrow, the Son of Poseidon seemed just like his happy-go-lucky self with an added amount of sassiness that could rival Rizzo's from Grease. He shook his head at the thought, he did not need to relive his favorite musical at the moment.

Will leaned back in his chair in their corner of the library, "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, seemingly unsure of herself, which was not like Annabeth. "I'm not sure. He just suddenly seems more attentive, and more affectionate, maybe?"

Nico frowned, "I thought people generally consider that a good thing. Your boyfriend is spending more time with you...I don't get it."

Annabeth grumbled under her breath and packed up her books. "That's not what I mean. Just...keep an eye out for him, okay?" She turned on her heel and headed towards the library doors.

Will shot a confused look at his boyfriend, "What do you think that was about?"

The Son of Hades scowled, "I have no idea."

So, Nico spent the next week watching Percy a lot closer than he normally did. To his surprise, he noticed the subtle change in his friend's personality. Rather than his normal confident strut, Percy seemed to have an air of resolve around him. His eyes also lingered on his friends longer than normal, like he was trying to drink in every second spent with them.

After classes ended on Friday, Nico pulled Percy aside and cornered him against a darkened corridor.

"Woah, what's up Neeks?" He asked with widened seagreen eyes.