Lives Collide, Harm(fully)(lessly)

Chapter 6

Before long, Nico found himself in his old spot in the library, the spot he had basically lived in first year as he was trying to find out who he was. Now, two years later, he sat there surronded by books of a different kind.

"Find anything?" Dominic asked as he entered, taking his seat beside Nico.

Nico shook his head. "Not yet. Have you done your potions homework yet?"

Dominic shook his head. "Nope. Have you?"

"Nope."

Dominic picked up one of the books and flipped through it. "How does a book on purebloods not have your family?"

"It's not that they don't have it, it's just not anything new." Nico laid his head on the table. "It's like the di Angelo's just faded from everyone's thoughts. Nobody cares about them anymore. No one went looking for momma or me or Bianca. We just disappeared and everyone accepted it."

"Do you ever wonder why?" Dominic asked. "I mean, you said it yourself. No one went looking. This was during Voldemort's rise to power, wasn't it? What if they just assumed he killed you?"

Nico picked his head up. "That would mean we were against him. But we were a pureblood family. I don't think we were. I...I just have this feeling, like we supported him. I don't know."

"Trust your instincts." Dominic started to do his homework, scowling all the way. "Come on, do what you need to do first. You don't want to fall behind in your classes."

Nico shoved the books aside with a sigh. "You're such a mother."

"I really don't think so, but okay." Dominic elbowed him lightly. "Don't worry, we'll find out more about your family."

"How can you be so sure?" Nico asked.

"I'm trusting my instincts."

That weekend, Nico have arrived to camp in his muggle attire. His wand was stuffed in his pocket, just incase, but he kept all signs of the wizarding world a secret. He didn't need any more children of Athena to go blabbering to Chiron.

Visiting camp always gave him a tangle web of emotions these days. There was the reminder that there was two babies incoming, one really soon. It should have been a happy thought, but all Nico could think about was what would happen to that baby if its parents died in an upcoming war. A war he started.

When he got to the sword arena, the younger children of Athena were already there. Nico had taught them since the beginning, have seen them grow in their strengths and somehow found it in himself to be proud of them.

"Nico, I've been practicing all week." the younger of the three ran up to him, the sun reflecting off her gray eyes. "Can I duel you today? Please?"

"We'll see." he looked at the other two. "How about you two? Have you been practicing?"

The oldest of the bunch, the one that had been in the infirmary not long before from a broken wrist, was eyeing him just as Annabeth sometimes did. "No."

Nico frowned. "Well, why not? I leave you guys with homework each week. Annie here did it."

Annie bounced from beside him. "I fought with Percy, and I almost beat him!"

Nico gave her a rare smile before turning back to the two boys. "You going to answer me, Ian?"

"I was busy. I'm the son of Athena, you know, not Ares. The last thing I'm going to work on is sword fighting. Besides, I'm better off at a bow. Unlike you with your sword and wand, we're only good at one weapon."

Nico's eyes darkened as he clenched his jaw, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "What did you say?"

Ian didn't lower his gaze. "We aren't idiots. None of us are. And we saw how you were dressed the first time you trained us. And we saw your wand. And you're always gone during the school year."