An Unlikely duo (AF/PJO/HP Crossover)

Things start to heat up

"What?" Nico couldn't believe his ears.

Harry nodded desperately. "Yes! Now come on!"

Nico and Artemis left the table, all thoughts of dinner forgotten. They followed the trio to what was apparently the Gryffindor common room. He could almost imagine Fowl mapping out the route in his head and memorizing the password for some shady reason or the other.

"It was Snape!" said Harry.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "I find that highly improbable."

Nico had to agree, Professor Snape seemed like a decent guy, a bit snappy and judgmental, but still a nice guy.

Ron nodded, "It's definitely Snape! He hates Harry, and he tried to get past the dog!"

"Wait, what?" That bit got Nico's attention. "How do you know?"

"I ran into him cleaning a huge bite on his leg when I went to get my book back. What other animal could possibly leave such a huge mark?" Harry explained.

Nico could actually think of plenty of things, but he decided that now wasn't the time for a sarcastic remark

Nico was still sceptical, and he could tell Artemis was too. Neither of them knew their Head of House very well, but they didn't want to believe that he was evil.

"While the evidence does seem to point to Professor Snape, I don't believe that he is responsible." said Artemis.

Hermione frowned at him, "Artemis, you know that I respect your skills, but you can't ignore the evidence that's right in front of us. Snape tried to get past Fluffy-"

"Wait, Fluffy? Who's Fluffy?" Nico interrupted.

"Oh right!" said Hermione, "We forgot to tell you, we asked Hagrid about the dog, and the artifact! He let it slip that the dog is called Fluffy, and that the artifact has somethi- "

"He named it Fluffy?" Nico asked with barely controlled rage, "And did he happen to mention where he got Fluffy?"

"He mentioned something about a Greek dude with a hood at the pub."

Nico groaned, he could guess who it was. A shady businessman at a pub illegally trying to sell a baby hellhound? The same businessman had tried to sell him once!

"Geryon"

"Who?" asked Harry.

"The Greek guy who sold that hellhound to Hagrid."

"How do you know?" asked Artemis, not really suspiciously, more... hopeful?

"He tried to sell me once too. Long story." He added hastily, noticing the horrified looks sent towards him by everyone except Artemis, who looked like being sold illegally was something that happened every day.

"What else were you going to say Hermione?" Artemis asked, trying to get back on track.

"The artifact has something to do with someone called Nicolas Flamel."

Nicolas Flamel? Nico had heard that name before, he was sure of it! But where?

Artemis frowned, "I've never heard of Nicolas Flamel. I've heard of Nicolas Warbly, Nicholas Yackingsmith, even Nicolas Bartleby, but not Nicolas Flamel."

Harry looked thoughtful, "I've heard that name before, but I have no idea where!"

Artemis nodded, "At least one of us recognizes the name. Hopefully, if we all work together, we should be able to find out more about him before Christmas."

Everyone nodded and turned to leave, including Nico, when Nico heard a voice call out his name.

"Nico! Wait up!" It was Harry.

"Oh, hi Harry. What's wrong?" Nico asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Harry looked as uncomfortable and fidgety as him, "Nico, I-I just wanted to apologize."

"For what?" Nico couldn't believe his ears, was he really apologizing for what he thought he was?

"I've been a jerk. I got caught up in all of those rumors about Slytherins being evil and forgot to look at facts. You're the first real friend I've ever made, and I just want you to know that I definitely don't think you're evil" he said, talking at the speed of a train to that Nico had trouble trying to understand what he was saying, "You're a really nice guy and I was just hoping we could go back to being friends even though I was a stereotypical idiot so... yeah." He finished awkwardly, rubbing his neck.

Nico was at a loss for words, so he said the first thing he could think of, "Blue birthday cake!"

Harry looked taken back, "Umm, what? For a minute it sounded like you said- "

"Never mind!" Nico said hastily. "What I meant to say was, thanks Harry. Apology accepted."

Harry blinked, "Oh, okay. That was... a lot easier than I expected. I had a whole poem ready, and even one of Hagrid's cakes, just in case. You don't really seem like the type to forgive so easily. No offence."

Nico smiled wryly, Harry had no idea how right he was.

"It's okay, I'm just surprised that you apologized, that's all. But, what made you suddenly change your mind about Slytherins?"

Harry looked sheepish, "It was actually Hermione. She and Ron were arguing about how much time she spends with Artemis, and Ron kept saying that Slytherins couldn't be trusted. But then Hermione launched into this huge speech about stereotypes, and it made me feel guilty. So... here I am."

Nico nodded, "Makes sense, although, Hermione does seem to spend a lot of time with dear old Arty."

"Hermione probably just wants to learn something new, apparently Artemis is a certified genius with the highest IQ level in Europe! I mean that's got to be the reason, right?" Harry sounded almost scared at that bit. Nico could sympathize, the thought of their friends having crushes on each other was just.... nope! He wasn't even going to go there.

Nico raised an eyebrow, Fowl had told him that he was a genius, but Nico had always thought that he was exaggerating. He really needed to find out more about Fowl. After all, he was pretty sure that Artemis was investigating him and his strange abilities.

"Well Harry, I've got to get back to the common room. See you later, I guess?"

Harry grinned, "Yeah, see you later!"

Nico shook his head fondly as he walked back to the dungeons. Having friends was a lot more trouble than it was worth. But hey, if Fowl could do it, he could give it a shot as well.

Sorry about the short chapter, and for not updating yesterday! 

Please Comment and Vote!