The video has nothing to do with, well, anything, but I just love it, and was thinking about it non-stop while writing this chapter. I'm in love with Encanto, sue me.
"Right," Nico said, clearing his throat, "The truth."
Artemis coughed pointedly, "Perhaps we should do this somewhere more private." he suggested, gesturing towards Ginny and Neville.
"What?" Ginny protested, "We want to know too!" she said, raising her voice for the first time since getting on the Hogwarts Express.
Nico raised his hands, "No offense, uh, what's your name again?"
"Ginny, Ginny Weasley."
"Right, Ginny. So you see, Ginny, I didn't even know your name until 2 seconds ago. So... do you mind leaving for a while?" he asked awkwardly.
Ginny huffed, her face turning as red as Ron's did when he was angry, "Ron will tell me." she said confidently, "Because Hermione will tell Harry and Ron."
"Uh, Ginny, I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but I don't think that Ron would tell you anything if he could help it." Hermione pointed out, slightly impatiently.
"Who said anything about him telling me of his own free will?" she said ominously, before storming out the compartment.
"That girl is scary for a first year." Neville said with a shudder a moment after Ginny had left.
"Uh, Neville, do you mind leaving as well?" Nico asked, uncomfortable with the number of times he'd had to ask people to leave in the last few minutes.
"Me?" Neville questioned, his eyes bugging out.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom." Artemis snapped impatiently, apparently fed up with the amount of obliviousness in the compartment.
"Okay, okay, I'm going." Neville stood up, looking offended, "Jeez, you seem to have gotten even meaner over the holidays."
"Now, Longbottom." Artemis said, sounding oddly like Professor Snape. Whether that was intentional or not, Nico wasn't sure. Well, at least it got the job done.
"Well, know that that's been taken care of," Artemis said, clapping his hands together and instantly taking charge of the situation, "Nico, why don't you go ahead?"
****I'm skipping the explanation because I'm super evil and lazy MWAHAHAA****
"So," Hermione summarized, looking incredibly baffled, "You can control shadows, skeletons and the dead? Which is considered dark magic? Because of a family gift?"
Nico nodded as confidently as he could, "Yep, that's what I said, isn't it?"
Hermione whipped around to face Artemis, "He told you the same thing?" she questioned..
Artemis nodded, looking a lot more confident than Nico, which was probably easy, considering the fact that he wasn't the one trying to reveal a huge secret without actually revealing it.
"And you actually believe his story?" She asked sceptically, "Do you really, truly believe that?"
"The wizarding world is... a strange place, Hermione." Artemis said slowly, choosing his words carefully, "We know for a fact that ghosts are real, skeletons literally performed at our Halloween feast last year and we, by we I mean Nico, fought a troll before our very eyes. Anything is possible. Next thing you know, we'll realize that fairies are real as well." he joked nervously, before turning serious once more, "But all things considered, it's... possible, and besides," he met Nico's eyes with his steady gaze, "I- I trust Nico."
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An Unlikely Duo 2: The Chamber of Secrets
FanfictionAfter an eventful summer involving his evil granddad, his complicated relationship with his father, and the shocking revelation that Roman demigods exist too, Nico di Angelo was perfectly content to just enjoy a normal year at Hogwarts School of Wit...
