Young and Old, Back and Bold

Chapter 7

"Flying lessons are Thursday." Ron grabbed his brother by the arm to tell him the information. "What are you going to do?"

Nico scowled at the mention of his fear of heights. "Not do it."

Hermione popped up next to the unlikely duo. "You're scared of heights? Well, you shouldn't be scared of the lesson. It's perfectly safe-"

"Yeah, I don't care." Nico jabbed himself in the chest. "Me. Heights. It doesn't mix."

Hermione turned red. "It's part of your grade."

"I'll fail, then." Nico shrugged. "That doesn't bother me much. It's not like I need to learn it."

Ron went wide-eyed. "He doesn't even like Quidditch, Hermione."

"Who would ever like that game?" Nico asked. "It's idiotic." Before Ron could have a stroke, he turned to Hermione. "I'm going to breakfast. Bye."

Leaving a flustered Ron behind, Nico entered the Great Hall. His eyes landed on his own table, where Dominic sat with his eyes fixated on the Ravenclaw girl.

Do you remember, son of Hades? Do you remember?

Nico walked over to the table, tried to feel at home in a place where he'd be staying for months. Did he remember? Remember what, exactly?

Dominic looked up, waved him over.

Do you remember, son of Hades? Do you remember your love?

Will... Nico sat by Dominic, felt comfortable with that blond hair. His love was Will, and he was going to remember. "Have you asked Dumbledore?"

Dominic shook his head. "I will, I will. I got distracted."

"By the Ravenclaw?"

"Yep."

Nico sighed. "You're too obsessed."

"So?" Dominic gestured to himself. "Do I look like I have any self-respect?"

"Not really." Nico looked into his plate, tried to think of anything relating to Will. Will...Will...the sun...

"Are you thinking about Will again?" Dominic asked. "If he's from a past life...there's no possible way to meet up with him."

"I know." Nico snapped. "I know, you don't have to remind me."

"I do if you're going to focus on him." Dominic retorted. "You can't waste your life thinking about him."

"Watch me." Nico stabbed at his eggs. "It's not like there's anything here to focus on. Ron left me for stupid Harry Potter."

Dominic looked like he had been slapped. "Right... Well, you could talk to Ron. Maybe he's being unreasonable."

"Unreasonable? I'm not even his actual brother." Nico reasoned. "I'm an orphan, a kid they were basically forced to take it. I'm not going to force anything else on him. If he wants to hang out with Harry, then he hangs out with Harry."

Dominic rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."

"Excuse me?"

"You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself," Dominic replied. "You're in a castle. In a magic school, learning magic. Your teachers don't hate you, not even Snape. The ghosts listen to everything you say. You're not bad looking."

Nico felt his face heat up. "I'm not bad looking?"

Dominic shook his head. "So go find a boyfriend, go mingle. Get your head out of this hole you're in."

"I can't get a boyfriend," Nico replied miserably. "I can't cheat on Will. He's amazing." He froze, tried to remember those words that had left his mouth. "Why did I say that?"

"Did you remember anything else?" Dominic asked.

Nico shook his head. "I just...spoke. I don't know what happened."

"We can go to Dumbledore after classes if you want." Dominic gestured to the teacher's table. "He looks nice enough."

"I guess." Nico stood up. "Let's get going to our classes. My grades are already down and we haven't even been here a week."

Dominic grabbed his remaining piece of toast before also rising to his feet. "Fine, let's go. We've got Potions."

Nico huffed in annoyance at the thought of the class. "I hate Snape. He's so...frustrating. It's not my fault I can't read his stupid cursive. And just because he likes me doesn't mean I'm going to try."

"I'll read it for you like usual." Dominic followed Nico as they started for their class. "And I'll work on getting you a boyfriend. Will's probably dead and gone."

"I know..." Nico looked down at his feet. "It still feels wrong, though."

"It isn't going to feel better if you don't do anything about it," Dominic replied. "You've got to work to make it right. And thinking about him every second of the day isn't going to help."

"Yeah..." Nico ran a hand through his unkempt hair. He could see others staring at him, could hear their whispers. They thought he didn't belong in Hufflepuff. And in those moments, he agreed.

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Dumbledore smiled at the two Hufflepuffs that had come to his office. Having previously talked to the Sorting Hat, he knew exactly why they were there.

"Why not?" Dominic asked, standing from his seat. "Why won't you help him?"

"I'm afraid I can't." Dumbledore eyed Nico, who sat with his head bowed. "The Sorting Hat was sure to let me know that Nico can't know his memories. Not from me."

Dominic crossed his arms. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"I would suggest living in the present," Dumbledore replied. Nico looked up then, those dark eyes staring into Dumbledore's. "You would be surprised how you can waste away in the past."

Nico stood up, his cloak falling about him. In the castle light, he looked like a stereotypical vampire. "Fine."

Dominic turned to his friend. "You're giving up that easily?"

Nico kept his gaze on Dumbledore. "I know he's not going to help me. I can read him."

"You act like you're older than twelve." Dominic walked towards the door. "Fine, let's go. But I don't know how else we're going to help you."

"We'll figure it out." Nico turned to leave, his fists clenched at his sides. A couple shadows moved about the floor, circling around his feet. He recognized his own wandless magic as soon as it came, having seen it countless times at home when he got too emotional. This time, however, he didn't have Ron or Mrs. Weasley to help calm him down. "I need to get out of here."

He exited the office with Dominic, able to feel the darkness rolling off of him. "I...I need to go... I'll meet up with you later."

Dominic looked back at Nico in confusion. "Why? Are you okay?"

Nico nodded once, going to lean back against the wall. As he did, however, he kept falling. The wall never came, but the shadows did. They surrounded him, covered his vision. Before he knew it, Hogwarts was gone.