The Coming of Nico di Angelo

Do the Stabby-Stabby and the Burny-Burny

CHAPTER SUMMARY

With the help of the followers of Hecate, Percy and Annabeth continue their horcrux hunt.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: General Audiences
Content Warning: None
Word Count: 2781

I just passed the 10K mark for this fic. Thank you guys so so much for all your support!

Letting you know--31 & 32 will be edited by Sara only because Giulia is away on vacation for the next 14 days without Internet. Never fear, though, she shall return for 33!

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.

____________________HARRY____________________

The first ten minutes after Sirius voiced his decision to look into adoption, Harry could do nothing but sit there, his godfather's arms on his back, and process the meaning of those words.

If you and I survive until next year... maybe we can see what it takes to make that happen.

It wasn't happiness Harry felt, nor excitement nor even bliss. He'd felt all that before. This wasn't the kind of feeling that made him laugh or smile or make his insides squirm. It wasn't the kind of thing Harry could name--English hadn't yet invented the language necessary to do so--but it was the kind of thing that made him so overcome with emotion his brain elected to remove all feelings from his body, leaving him with a blank and buffering mind that could only focus on the cause of the circle spinning into infinity.

If you and I survive until next year... maybe we can see what it takes to make that happen.

It wasn't like the end of Harry's third year when he'd just met Sirius; this wasn't a stranger but friend of his dad's who'd offered to take him away from the Dursleys. No, this was Sirius Black, the closest thing Harry had to a father, discussing a near future in which he'd be free of the Ministry's shackles and able to call Harry his son. His son. A near future where the Order didn't spend every day in the Black Manor, a future where the place would be livable and pleasant and a place Harry would one day consider home.

It was an opportunity for summer to be more than waiting for Hogwarts, more than reflecting on whatever Dark Magic had interrupted final exams that school year, more than running from Dudley and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. A near future where Lord Voldemort didn't lurk behind every corner, where living past twenty wasn't just guaranteed but an exciting prospect. A future where Harry wasn't an orphan. A future where that long ago Halloween no longer defined every waking moment of Harry's life.

If you and I survive until next year... maybe we can see what it takes to make that happen.

A future, in short, that Harry had never dared to imagine. And now, in twenty words, that future wasn't just a dream, but a prospect. A goal. Something to work towards. Something to ponder and plan for and maybe even expect.

If you and I survive until next year... maybe we can see what it takes to make that happen.

There was something almost poetic; how the worst night of Harry's life gave way to the best morning of his existence.

But, before any of that happened, Harry had to do his part to make sure the world got through the next nine days unscathed. And that meant getting to work doing what Nico could no longer--hunting horcruxes.