Harry and Malfoy enact their plan.

Chapter Rating: Mature

Content Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Suicide (implied)

Word Count: 3959

Just so you all know, this is one of my personal favorite chapters...

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

Harry was the first to wake up in his dorm Sunday morning. Two thoughts swirled in his mind: school would begin the next day, and Malfoy's plan would go down that afternoon. Hopefully, it would work, and di Angelo would be expelled. It was early in the morning, just after sunrise. Despite this, Harry got dressed in the light of the dawn, listening to the birds chirping and the deep breathing of his roommates. Before going into the common room, he grabbed some parchment, ink, and a quill from his school bag.

The common room looked the same as the day before. Odd, when so much had happened. Who would've thought that in twenty-four hours he'd know who Nico was, what he was planning, and have a plan to expose him? With Malfoy?

It's funny how nothing happens for a week, and, suddenly, everything falls into place.

Harry knew he had to tell the Order what was going on, whether Hermione thought it was smart or not. Besides, he wanted to know what happened to Hagrid. Harry was smart enough to know that he couldn't just write anything, but he had to say something. He sat back in the squishy armchair he often sat in in the common room and thought about Ron and Hermione's cryptic letters from over summer. Now he realized how hard it must've been for them to write him at all. How could he tell Sirius about everything without letting anyone else know what he was talking about?

Finally, he dipped his quill into the ink bottle and began to write:

Dear Snuffles,

Hope you're ok. The first week back here's been terrible, I'm really glad it's the weekend. We've got a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She's about as nice as your mum.

There are also three new exchange students at Hogwarts this year.: Two seventh years named Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, and a Slytherin boy named Nico di Angelo. Percy's in Gryffindor with me. He seems nice enough, he even made the Quidditch team with Ron! Annabeth seems nice too. She's Percy's girlfriend, but since she's a Ravenclaw, I don't know her very well. Nico's in my Potions and Care of Magical Creatures class and reminds me of Draco Malfoy.

I'm writing to you because on Friday night, I was coming back from detention with Umbridge and Nico was there. We were talking, and we ended up getting into a fight. I'm not going to bore you with the specifics, but there were a few bruises, and that was about it. It reminded me of the other fight I had in the spring of my third year. We didn't get in trouble this time, though, don't worry.

We're all missing our biggest friend, we hope he'll be back soon.

Please write back quickly.

Best,

- Harry

Harry read the letter over and over again. He didn't see how an eavesdropper would understand he was talking about dark magic. He wanted to include the stuff about wandless magic, Lares, and Nico's dad, but he didn't see how he could tell Sirius that in code. He hoped Sirius would pick up the hint about Hagrid; he figured that drawing attention to the fact that Hagrid wasn't at Hogwarts wouldn't be the smartest thing to do.

The letter had taken a while to write. By the time it was finished, the sun had moved much higher in the sky, and Harry could hear people getting up in the dorms above him. Harry sealed the parchment carefully and climbed through the portrait hole, heading to the Owlery.

"I would not go that way if I were you," Nearly Headless Nick warned, drifting through a wall in front of Harry as he walked down the passage. "Peeves is planning an amusing joke on the next person to pass the bust of Paracelsus halfway down the corridor."

"Does it involve the Paracelsus falling on top of the person's head?" Harry asked.

"Funnily enough, it does," Nearly Headless Nick replied in a bored tone. "Subtlety has never been Peeves' strong point. I'm off to try and find the Bloody Baron... he might be able to put a stop to it... see you, Harry..." Nick began to leave when Harry remembered di Angelo and Hermione's guess as to why he'd been up so late Friday night.

"Hey, Nick! Has Nico di Angelo been talking to the ghosts at all?"

If Nick could get pale, he did at the mention of di Angelo's name. "That's ridiculous. Why would you even ask such a thing?" The way he said that made Harry worried.

"I was just curious. His cousin Percy said di Angelo was interested in ghosts." At Harry's words, Nick got shifty.

"Interested? That's not the right word for it, but, well, I must be going. Give the prince--I mean Nico--my best," Nick managed, then disappeared through another wall.

Prince? What did he mean prince? Prince of what?

After a small run-in with Mrs. Norris, Harry entered the Owlery and looked for Hedwig. "There you are. Get down here, I've got a letter for you." With a low hoot, Hedwig flew from the rafters to meet Harry and landed on his shoulder. He spoke so quietly that someone standing a foot from him wouldn't hear. "Right, I know this says 'Snuffles' on the outside, but it's for Sirius ok?" Hedwig blinked once, and Harry assumed that meant that she understood. "Safe flight, then."

Harry stared out the window, as a winged horse-thing swooped out of the forest. It circled like it was searching for something, then dived back down. Harry was so busy watching the horse-thing that when the Owlery door opened, Harry jumped in shock. He turned, seeing that it was Cho Chang, a package held in her grasp.

"Hi," Harry greeted her automatically.

"Oh... hi," Cho said breathlessly. "I didn't think anyone would be up here this early... I only remembered five minutes ago, it's my mum's birthday." She held up the package, him realizing it was a present for her mum.

"Right," he replied. His mind had turned to mush. He wanted to say something funny and interesting, but all he could think about was that stupid horse-thing. "Nice day." He gestured to the windows, his face starting to get hot from embarrassment. The weather. He was talking about the weather...

"Yeah," she agreed, looking for an owl to send her package with. "Good Quidditch conditions. I haven't been out all week, have you?"

"No."

She found one of the school's barn owls and coaxed it down, affixing the package to it. "Has Gryffindor found a new Keeper yet?"

"Yeah, it's my friend Ron Weasley, d'you know him?"

"The Tornado-hater?" Cho asked. "Is he any good?"

"Yeah, I think so. I didn't see his tryout, though. I was in detention." Harry debated mentioning Percy but decided not to in case Angelina wanted to use him as a secret weapon or something.

Cho looked up from her owl, the package hanging off its leg. "That Umbridge woman's foul," she whispered. "Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how-- how-- how he died. Everyone heard about it, it was all over the school. You were really brave standing up to her like that."

Harry was so happy he had to force himself not to give a huge smile. He might've started to float a few inches above the floor. Who cared about those stupid horse-things, Cho thought he had been really brave. For a second he considered accidentally-on-purpose showing her his cut hand as he helped her tie her package onto the owl's leg... but as soon as he thought that, the Owlery door opened again. It was Filch, so purple and out of breath it was obvious he'd run to the Owlery. "I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order of Dungbombs!"

Harry crossed his arms and stared at the caretaker in disbelief. "Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?" Cho was looking between Harry and Filch, frowning. The barn owl on her arm seemed annoyed that it was no longer getting attention, but she ignored it.

"I have my sources," Filch hissed. "Now hand over whatever it is you're sending."

Good thing I was quick with Hedwig.

"I can't, it's gone."

"Gone?" Filch demanded furiously.

"Gone," Harry replied calmly.

Filch opened his mouth, but he was too angry to say a thing. He focused on the pocket of Harry's robes instead. "How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?"

"Because--" Harry started to say, but Cho cut him off.

"I saw him send it."

Filch turned to her angrily. "You saw him--?"

"That's right, I saw him," she said fiercely. There was a small silence where Cho and Filch were glaring at each other, then finally Filch lost their staring contest and looked away.

"If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb..." he muttered as he left the Owlery. Harry and Cho looked at each other.

"Thanks," Harry gave a small smile.

"No problem," Cho replied and directed her energy back to the owl on her shoulder. "You weren't ordering Dungbombs, were you?"

"No," he promised her.

"I wonder why he thought you were, then?" She carried the owl to the window as she spoke, and let it out into the morning. With an unspoken agreement, both of them walked together. Once, their hands brushed, sending electricity down Harry's spine. Finally, she turned to him. "I'm going this way. Well, I'll... I'll see you around, Harry."

"Yeah..." Harry muttered dreamily. "See you."

Annabeth was reading (in Ancient Greek of course) when Cho Chang came into the common room, smiling and humming.

"You're in a good mood." Annabeth smiled. She knew the signs of a crush like the back of her hand. First, she had gone through it herself with Percy, then she'd watched it happen to Jason and Piper, then Frank and Hazel. Cho had it bad.

"Yeah," Cho replied happily, causing Annabeth to laugh. "What are you reading?" Cho leaned over Annabeth's shoulder. "Is that... Greek?"

"Yep," Annabeth closed the book in case Cho knew modern Greek. Reading in Ancient Greek was like putting a sign around your neck that said you're a demigod.

"I didn't know you could read Greek," Cho mused. "Are you Greek?"

"No," Annabeth half-lied. "But Percy and Nico are. Percy taught me when we first met." Well, it had actually been the other way around, but Percy and Nico looked so Greek that there was no hiding the fact that they were somehow related to that country. With Annabeth's blond hair and grey eyes, she looked more Swedish or Swiss, or something else in that general area. "Want to head to the Great Hall? I'm starving."

Cho agreed, and the two headed off to go grab breakfast. When they arrived, Percy saw her entering and got up to meet her, kissing her 'hello' on the cheek. "Hey, wise girl. Haven't seen you all weekend."

"Getting to know my new housemates," Annabeth told him. "Sorry I don't have all the time in the world for you, seaweed brain." Annabeth flashed a flirty smile at Percy.

"Looks like I have some competition here," Percy noted.

"I'll leave you two alone." Cho smiled good-naturedly and walked over to the Ravenclaw table.

Once Cho had left, Percy kissed Annabeth properly. "I never see you except for in Charms class. How are we supposed to hang out if we never have any free time together?"

"We'll figure it out," Annabeth promised him, leaning in for another kiss. "We'll make it work." She smiled and brushed a stray hair off of Percy's forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too," Percy replied. After a bit more kissing, Percy spoke again. "I'm worried about the quest, it's been a week, and we've got basically nothing done."

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed. "But it's only been a week. Some quests take longer than others, Percy."

"I know, but if we don't do anything, nothing's gonna happen. You've got to have some kind of plan," Percy prompted.

Annabeth nodded. "You know me." A small smile creeped back onto her lips. "I'm going to talk to Dumbledore. I've got a meeting with him this afternoon. I don't think he told us all he knew. If I can convince him to talk to me... well, this quest will go a lot faster if we know more. I'm sure he knows something about Riddle, he's just not saying it."

"Good plan. What if it doesn't work?"

"Then I'll improvise."

"And if you can't?"

"Shut up, seaweed brain."

Percy smiled and drew her in for another kiss. "Only if you make me."

That afternoon, Annabeth went to the headmaster's office. She uttered "Fizzing Whizbee," to the gargoyle and it moved aside, revealing the staircase to Dumbledore's study. She climbed up the stairs to Dumbledore, sitting behind his desk, writing something on a piece of parchment. "Professor, sir?"

Dumbledore looked up from his work. "Yes, Miss Chase? I take it this is an update on the quest?"

Annabeth nodded. "Percy and I were talking, and we think that we don't know enough to complete it. Nico does too, though he'd never admit it. I was hoping that, now that we have some time, we could talk some more about the horcruxes, since the more my friends and I know the better." Annabeth said each word slowly so she could calculate Dumbledore's reaction, but he didn't give anything away.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed, and Annabeth felt the feeling of victory swell in her stomach. "What kind of information are you seeking, Miss Chase?"

"I need to know more about Tom Riddle. I was thinking: the horcruxes must be important to him, because they keep him alive. And that made me think of Daedalus, and how he was afraid to die. If Riddle also fears death, he would do what Daedalus did: put his lifeline in sentimental places, places only he knew, places he would remember, to keep them safe. I need to learn about the person Riddle so I could calculate the places he'd choose. Besides, I need to know my enemy to form plans that take his next move into account."

All the times she'd practiced her speech paid off. Dumbledore's eyes lit up. "I see no reason not to teach you. I will send you an owl when I have the time to start our lessons. You may tell your companions about this, but no one else. I think Professor Umbridge would not approve of what we're planning to do."

Annabeth turned to leave, but stopped, a thought popping into her head. "Were you Riddle's teacher? Did he go to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I was, in the sense that I am yours. And yes, he was, indeed, a student here at Hogwarts."

"Then," Annabeth continued, her brain moving a hundred miles an hour, "What did you think? When you first saw him, I mean. Did you know who he'd become?"

"I knew there was an element of darkness to him, but I hoped he could overcome it. Unfortunately, I was wrong," Dumbledore went back to his writing. Annabeth's audience with the headmaster had ended.

Nico was eating a late breakfast with Blaise and Hestia when Percy came up to him, holding a long, thin package. "You'll never guess what just came in the mail, cuz," Percy was giddy with excitement.

"Is that your broom?" Blaise asked, conflicted between wanting to hate a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and wanting to be kind to Nico's cousin.

"Like I said, just came in the mail. Couldn't find Annabeth anywhere, but I don't want to wait to open it." Percy directed his words at Nico, who gave a small nod.

"Open it."

He tore the brown paper off fervently until the tip of the handle was revealed. He pulled quickly, and the entire broom was at last in full view. It was amazing, an orange-brown handle swirling up to a mesh of twigs fastened at the end with bronze. The golden letters 'Cleansweep 11' shone on the broomstick. After Percy had made the team on Friday, the two figured it would look suspicious if Percy didn't have a broom. So, they used some of their quest money to buy a Cleansweep. The currency was so weird that neither Percy nor Nico knew if the broom was cheap or not, but they were going with not.

"This is sweet!" Percy said, touching the handle. "Want to go outside and give this thing a ride?"

Nico nodded enthusiastically. "I'll catch up with you guys later," he told Blaise and Hestia, before heading off to the Quidditch pitch with Percy.

"I'm glad you found friends in Slytherin," Percy said as they walked. "They nice?"

"Yeah, they're cool. Still trying to figure out if Hestia's a demigod though."

"You think?"

"With a name like that? It's possible. Hey, can I ride it first, Percy?"

"Sure, just let me show you what to do when we get out to the pitch." Nico was excited. The pegasi never liked him much, because he always smelled like death. He wanted to know what it was like to fly the way the other demigods did. Percy showed him how to steer and fly, and he got the hang of it pretty quickly. Percy laid the broom on the ground, instructing Nico to shout, "Up!" He followed Percy's instructions, laughing like a giddy child when the broom shot up into his hand. "Go on!"

Nico kicked off the ground, rising higher and higher until Percy looked the size of an ant. "Yeah, Nico!" Percy shouted as he soared through the sky, the wind zipping through his hair. It felt fantastic to be up on a broomstick. He never wanted to come down. He felt like a kid again, innocent and free. He zipped through the sky, staying close enough to see Percy, but only just. Percy motioned for Nico to land far too soon.

"That was incredible!" Nico cried, his eyes lighting up.

Percy smiled at him happily. "I'm glad. You remind me of this little kid I found at Westover Hall. Wonder where he's been all this time?"

Nico gave a small smile. "I dunno. Around here, somewhere." The son of Hades thought about Westover Hall and the bright-eyed little kid he'd been within its walls. So much had changed since then. He'd learned so much about himself... he wished for that innocence again. Being free from responsibility. Here he had a chance to do that, to accept Teddy Lupin's help, and he was resisting it. Nico thought about telling Percy, but he was interrupted when he saw two figures come into the arena: Ron Weasley and Harry Potter.

Harry noticed Nico a second after Nico noticed him. "What are you doing here, di Angelo?!" Harry spat.

"I must be doing something evil. Can't just be minding my own business and talking to my cousin."

Harry's hands clenched into fists. "I know exactly what you're up to, and I'm going to stop you."

Nico laughed coldly. "Remember the last time that happened, Potter? I'll bet you're still having nightmares."

"I'm not going to rest until I stop you, you filthy Death Eater! Soon the whole school's going to know you're using the dark arts!"

"And?" Nico goaded. "What are they going to do? You have no idea who you're dealing with, Potter."

"You just wait, di Angelo. You're going to regret the day you met me."