Young and Old, Back and Bold

Chapter 6

Nico's first day of classes was as boring as ever. Having grown up with magic, it wasn't anything different. He saw desks turned into pigs, saw potions being brewed. The only thing that seemed weird to him were the memories that kept appearing, the thoughts and names that made him feel insane.

Will... The name itself made his heart ache.

It was during Snape's class when Nico heard the word for the first time, when the term planted itself in his head. And of course, it was Dominic who made Nico rethink everything.

"I swear, if his age was right he'd be Voldemort reincarnated," Dominic whispered to another Hufflepuff. "The amount of evil is just right."

Reincarnated... Why did it sound so familiar? Nico grabbed Dominic's arm and pulled him to attention. "What's that mean?"

"Huh?" Dominic looked over from his potion. "You're a pureblood. How don't you know who Voldie is?"

"Not him." Nico let his partner do all the work, not even bothering to try and read the instructions. "That word. Reincarnation."

"Purebloods really are oblivious." Dominic glanced at his potion once before fully facing Nico. "So, reincarnation. It's like...you die, but you get reborn as someone else."

"Is it real?" Nico asked. "Can they remember their past lives?"

"It's a myth," Dominic replied simply. "Some people believe, some people don't. Like God. Some people say they remember, like they have nightmares and stuff." He shrugged. "I don't believe it."

Nico thought back to all the nightmares he had, all the names that had been produced from nowhere. "Oh..."

"Why?" Dominic asked. "You look like you're about to throw up."

Nico looked down at his hands, which had grown even paler during the days at Hogwarts. "It sounded familiar. A lot of things are like that. Things sound familiar but I've never heard them before. And my nightmares..."

"Oh. You're one of them." Dominic turned back towards his potion and stirred it.

Nico felt as if he had been slapped in the face. "I...I..."

"So, what are the nightmares about?" Dominic asked. "Who do you think you were?"

Nico froze. "You actually want to know? You're not going to make fun of me?"

"Just because I don't believe in anything doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Dominic shrugged. "Look at me, brewing a potion. I still don't officially believe in magic."

Nico snorted. "That's tough."

"I know." Dominic glared at the instructions before leaning back in his seat. "I screwed it up. No hope now. So, what are you dreaming about?"

"Well...I have these dreams. Voices like I've heard them before. They keep calling me 'son of Hades'. And then they say other names, like Bianca." Nico's voice broke at the name though he wasn't sure why. "And then when I saw you I thought 'he looks like Will'. I've never met a Will before. But I feel like I love a Will."

"You're gay?" Dominic asked. "I didn't see that coming."

Nico's face turned red. "That's all you got from that?"

"Sorry." Dominic waved the thought away. "Ignore that. So... That's odd. Isn't Hades a Greek god?"

Nico nodded. "Of the dead."

"Do you believe in him?" Dominic asked. "I mean, I don't, but I think you could have guessed that."

Nico shrugged. "I have no reason to."

"Except for the voices."

"Except for the voices." Nico agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nico watched Ron from the side of the hallway, able to feel the intense gaze his dark eyes sent out. Ever since he was little, he was always a dark person. Even when he was happy, he seemed to be the personification of shadows.

Even the shadows themselves were attracted to him.

"Nico?" Ron noticed the smaller boy and walked over to him, Harry in tow. "Why do you look like you're planning my death?"

Nico waved him away. "I'm waiting for Dominic. He's trying to convince the poor girl to go out with him."

"Sorry?"

"Nothing, nothing." Nico gestured to the doorway behind him. "Go eat lunch or something. You're blocking the way for everyone else."

"Are you sure-"

Are you really okay, son of Hades?

"I'm okay." Nico cut him off as the voice rang loud and clear. "I'm okay... I'm okay. Go in and eat."

Are you okay, son of Hades?

Nico watched as Harry and Ron disappeared through the archway, watched from the shadows as who he thought to be like a brother walked away without another word. Did he really not care? Did he really not see that something was wrong?

Are you okay, son of Hades?

"No, no I'm not..." Nico sunk to the floor with his fists balled together. "No, I'm not..."

Bianca, Will, Hades. How many loved ones had he forgotten? Who had he truly been in his past life?

Was there a way to get those memories back?

"Hey, Weasley." Dominic plopped down beside him. "What happened?"

Nico pointed to his head. "Voices."

"Annoying?"

"Yep."

Dominic ran a hand through his short hair. "That sucks... Allyson said hi to me. She knew my name."

"Of course she knew your name," Nico replied. "She's a Ravenclaw. She's smart."

"Yeah, well, she said it nicely." Dominic looked over at the dark haired boy. "Are we going to go eat?"

"Maybe." Nico moved a hand to his head. "I'm just... I'm trying to remember." His voice broke, causing him to cringe. "I..I want to know where I came from."

"Maybe Dumbledore can help." Dominic offered. "Maybe there's a spell to find past memories."

Nico looked over at him. "Do you think he'd do it for me?"

Dominic shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Nico grinned. "Let's ask."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Percy!" Annabeth ran up to the teenage boy with a sense of urgency. "Chiron wants to see us. I think it's another quest."

Percy looked over from his constant gaze on the Hades cabin. It had been years since Nico disappeared, years of fruitless searches. "Did he say what it was about?"

She shook her head. "But we need you there. The other cabin leaders are already in their seats. You're the only one left."

Percy got up, stretching his legs while doing so. "Do you think he's dead, Annabeth? Do you think he's really dead?"

Annabeth looked down at the grass at their feet. "Percy... If he wasn't, he'd be here. If he wasn't, Hades would tell us so. But he hasn't."

"I'm not giving up on him," Percy assured her. "If we don't see his body, he's not dead."

"...okay, Percy. Let's get to the meeting."

"Yeah...yeah, okay."