Young and Old, Back and Bold

Chapter 14

Nico Weasley... That name was something Nico had never fully accepted. He hadn't been born that way, hadn't been purposely named it. But as the days went by in Hogwarts, he accepted it more as himself.

Who was he? He still wasn't sure. One side of him remained Nico di Angelo, the boy he was forced to forget. The other side would always be Nico Weasley.

On one side he was a boy that loved Will, an unknown boy that possibly had eyes as blue as Dominic's. He knew someone named Percy, was possibly friends with him.

On the other side, he was brother to Ron, brother to Ginny, brother to Fred and George. His mother homeschooled him growing up, his father was obsessed with Muggles. He had grown up to be a wizard.

He learned to embrace Nico Weasley as he tried to bury Nico di Angelo. But the past never fully goes away. It sneaks up on you, creeps into your brain. It'll always be there, waiting, watching for an opportunity to make itself known when you're at your weakest.

He didn't feel weak anymore, however.

He talked to Ron more, talked to Harry. He met his brother's friends in that red house, he met more people in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. He felt at home deep in that world of magic.

Yet as the week went by, he had to go to that forest each night. He trained with those shadows, let all his anger and sadness out.

He could make shadows move. They listened.

Yet he wasn't scared. Magic had been a part of his life for forever, had been something he had always known. These shadows, the way they moved, it was some form of magic. Was it banned? He'd have to ask his parents.

His parents... They had raised him as their own, so theirs he'd be.

He belonged to someone.

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"Remember, don't make a scene," Annabeth warned as Professor McGonagall led them to the Great Hall. "We don't need everyone knowing our business."

"You'll find the students of Hogwarts are as curious as ever," McGonagall commented. "I wouldn't underestimate them."

"We'll try to keep everything of our world secret," Annabeth promised. "And we'll try to help Harry."

"And speaking of the students," Percy cut in. "Do you know Nico?"

McGonagall glanced over at Percy as they got to the doorway. They could see through it to the teacher's table, could hear the loud school as they ate. "He's in one of my classes, yes. A talented young wizard. Though he can get into some trouble with that brother of his."

Before Percy could ask who the fuck this brother was, McGonagall led them into the great hall.

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Nico looked over his brother's shoulder at the heaping amounts of food that had been piled onto the plate. "How can you stand to eat so much?"

Ron jumped slightly but didn't stop his onslaught of food. "Nico, we need to put a bell around your neck or something."

"No, thank you." Nico plucked a roll off Ron's plate and picked at it with his fingers. "Did you get the letter from mom this morning?" Mom. He had someone to call mom.

Ron shook his head as he continued eating. Sighing, Nico turned his attention to Harry. "She told me to check up on his grades."

Harry held back a chuckle. "They aren't that well."

"Hey!" Ron protested, spraying some food onto the table.

"I'm guessing Harry was right." Nico took a bite of the roll before heading back to his table. "Good luck when I tell her!"

Why had she asked him? He could barely imagine that she trusted him so.

He sat next to Dominic in a flurry of robes as Dumbledore stood from the head table, getting the attention of the student body as he started to explain that there would be transfer students joining them.

"We actually get to watch a sorting," Dominic whispered. "Wonder if we'll get any of them."

"Hufflepuffs don't get anyone important," Nico muttered, his eyes on McGonagall as she came into view and called the first name.

"Chase, Annabeth!"

The blonde teenager had to be in her last year of Hogwarts. She wore Muggle clothes with a baseball cap on her head. As she sat on the stool, her eyes met Nico's as the hat was placed on her head.

Those gray eyes made Nico want to throw up.

"You okay?" Dominic asked, his eyes also on that girl. Annabeth. "Is she turning you straight."

Nico scowled as he elbowed Dominic. "She's not turning me straight. What, you like her?"

"Yep."

"Over Allyson?"

"Nope."

"But you're still gonna stare."

"Most definitely."

"Ravenclaw!" the hat scared both of them out of their conversation as the Ravenclaw table started to roar for their exchange student. Nico forgot what school they were from nor cared.

Annabeth stared at him as she went to her seat, stared at him as if he had just come back from the dead.