Percy, Annabeth, and Nico begin their hunt for Tom Riddle's horcruxes in the former home of Marvolo Gaunt.

Chapter Rating: Mature

Content Warning: Cursing, Violence (mild), Self-Harm

Word Count: 4509

I'd like to say I have a good reason for posting this so late at night... but I was playing Assassin's Creed: Syndicate and just forgot I had to post today. Oops.

It also looks like one of my original plays are going into pre-production. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll keep you updated if that goes anywhere. (That's also my excuse for being basically offline the last two weeks. I will respond to all your comments, I promise!)

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

Little Hangleton, nestled in the valley of two grassy hills, actually looked like a decent place to live. Paved roads, complete with little cars driving on the wrong side of the road, ran all through town. Stone townhouses lined the bustling streets; trees with golden, autumn leaves dotted their front lawns. It made Nico think of May Castellan's house in Connecticut, which had the same paradisiacal aura.

"This way," Annabeth directed, after letting Percy and Nico stare at the village. "I remember the road from Dumbledore, except it was still dirt in the memory."

So, they both followed Annabeth's confident stride, until they reached the old horse trail. Near the overgrown path, they found the ruined remains of the Gaunt's hovel. "There's no way the horcrux is here," Percy said. "There aren't any defenses."

"Let's take a look anyway," Annabeth replied. "It would be stupid not to be sure. I'm just warning you, it's going to be filthy."

Without Annabeth's warning, Nico would've gagged the second he entered. Inside, the entire place resembled a Cyclops's cave. The walls seemed as though they were painted with dirt and grime. Black ash piled at the fireplace, dust completely filled the sink, and the smell of rotting food wafted from the kitchen area. It wasn't every day Nico got to smell food as old as him.

Guess who gets to add another thing to his "I regret ever thinking this wasn't a terrible idea" list?

"Oh gross!" Percy yelled, and Nico turned to see him shaking a dead snake off his shoulder.

Annabeth gave him a sideways glance, rolling her eyes. "I told you about that snake, seaweed brain. It's your own fault for not listening to me."

"Yeah, yeah." Percy shrugged her off, still focused on wiping the snake off his shoulder. "Let's take a look around and get out of here, okay? I don't want rats climbing up my legs or anything."

"We'll split up," Annabeth decided. "I'll take this room. Percy, you go back outside and look around. Nico, check the smaller rooms. There are doors over there."

Nico followed her gaze to two doors, the same color as the walls. "I thought I was the leader here," he mumbled under his breath, but he moved towards the doors all the same. Without Annabeth's initiative, they wouldn't have any leads. He'd let her take control... for now, anyway.

Room number one turned out to be a bedroom, still filthy enough to match the rest of the hovel. Three rusted, iron bed frames sat to the left of the door, where the room extended. Pieces of all three had fallen to the floor, and piles of rust flakes collected around them. The bedding Nico assumed had once been there was long gone; most of the mattresses were also missing as well. The ones that remained were riddled with holes from termites and were crawling with other insects. Nico gagged and turned, but his eyes fell on something worse.

A pile of wizarding robes, dozens strong, laid under a single, filthy window. More flies buzzed around, darting in and out of the compost clothing pile. Nico coughed and covered his face with his hand to try and offset the smell. It didn't work.

After a nice game of "pick-your-poison", Nico started searching the beds. He used his sword to sweep some of the insects off, and then searched through the remaining mattress fluff for Marvolo's ring. Nothing. After looking through all three, he forced himself to crawl under the rotting bed frames and search the dusty ground. Not so much as a hint of a horcrux.

He wriggled back out and moved to the clothing pile. One hand still clasped to his mouth and nose, he kneeled beside the robes. With the help of the dying sunlight, Nico noticed a dark glimmer, like the ring's stone. Sure, he couldn't sense a horcrux, but that might be because he was too busy recoiling at how much insect feces he'd just crawled in. Nico poked his sword in the shimmer's general direction, but couldn't fish anything out.

With a deep breath, Nico plunged his hand into the clothing pile. A thousand tiny spider legs climbed up his lower arm, but he eventually found the... black button. What a climax.

Holy Hera, just kill me now.

"Any luck?" Annabeth asked as Nico walked to room number two.

Nico resisted the urge to glare at her for sending him in there. "If you call needing to amputate my arm luck, then yes."

Room number two was a bathroom. The floor was an actual dirt floor, loose enough that Nico felt himself sinking. A hole in the ground consisted of the toilet, and the smell of...

Nope. Not thinking about that. That's just the smell of the ground. That's all.

A small sink was the only thing that had any kind of plumbing. It looked pretty standard, just grime. A basin sat next to the door, with a single rag inside of it for bathing.

The basin looked the least horrible, so Nico checked that out first. It was empty, like he thought. The sink too looked devoid of horcruxes, so it was time to look at the -

I should check out the sink's plumbing first. Perfectly reasonable place to hide a ring. Not procrastinating or anything, promise.

With a little too much care, Nico used his sword to cut the weakest pipe, which, due to its rust, cut like butter. Some coppery water leaked out, but no ring.

Why do I always get stuck with the crappiest jobs?

After forcing a laugh at his own pun, Nico dragged his feet to the hole. After debating what to do, he squeezed his eyes shut, and plunged the tip of his sword into the sludge. Thank the gods, the tip hit the bottom before the sludge covered more than half of the sword. When the poking around didn't hit anything, Nico figured that was a pretty thorough search.

Now to clean the sword. Nico grabbed the rag from the basin, and held his sword over the hole, sludge dripping from its point. After folding the rag as thickly as he could, he swiped the dripping slosh back into the toilet. Thankfully, nothing got on him or his clothing, but his sword still smelled like actual shit.

Nico walked back into the main room, meeting Annabeth's hopeful gaze with a shake of the head. "Percy! Can you wash my sword off?!" Nico called out the door.

"I'm not a human plumbing service, di Angelo!" came the response. Annabeth cracked a smile, but not Nico. What was the point of having a super powerful son of the sea god as a friend if he didn't do you favors once in awhile?

"Screw you!" Nico called back.

"Nothing's here either," Annabeth interrupted, breaking up the little love fest. "At least, not that I can find. Can you sense anything, Nico?"

Nico focused for a second, then said, "No. I doubt the ring's here."

Percy strolled inside the house. "I'm with you there." His hands gleamed from water, and of course he wasn't above using his shower power onhimself. Nico shot him a look, but he snarkily winked back, so Nico pretended to gag.

"Would you guys stop flirting and focus?" Annabeth asked, impatient.

"Stop teasing, Annabeth," Percy smirked. "We all know I'm not his type."

"Would you let that go?" Nico cried, widening his eyes in mock exasperation. They all burst into laughter, doubling over and gasping for air. The last few weeks had been a stressful nightmare with the quest and all it entailed, and despite the pressure, it was nice to crack up and have a good laugh. Besides, it was two in the morning, and they hadn't slept in almost twenty-four hours. It was good to be back together, doing something that felt productive for once.

After they finished busting a gut, exhaustion quickly set in, and hung over them like fog. None of them were desperate enough to sleep in the hovel, so they went to look for a motel instead. They didn't have much other use for mortal money, anyway.

They walked back down the road to the city in the valley, discussing possible locations for the ring. The moment they stepped into their motel room in Little Hangleton, Annabeth collapsed into an armchair; it was anyone's guess whether she'd fallen asleep or fainted. Percy cracked a half-smile, then picked her up in gentle arms, placing her on the nearby bed.

Nico glanced at his feet, feeling a bit like an intruder on such a tender moment. He broke the silence first. "Get some sleep. I'll take first watch."

"First watch?" Percy asked.

"We're not protected by Hogwarts's defenses anymore. Monsters could attack. I just want to be as careful as possible. Besides, I'm not tired."

That was a complete lie, but Nico needed some time alone. With his companions both asleep, he could finally send an IM to Will and sort out that stupid fight. He had two months left to call Will his boyfriend, he wasn't going to let some ridiculous sense of vanity ruin that. Will would hate him by January; the least Nico could do was give him some kind of happiness until then.

Return the favor.

"I guess you're right," Percy decided, drawing Nico out of his thoughts. "But wake me up in a few hours. You need rest, too."

"I know," Nico assured him. "Now go to sleep before you pull an Annabeth."

"Hey!" Percy teased. "She's still my girlfriend."

"And I'm your cousin," Nico retorted. "Which means I get to make fun of her and there's nothing you can do about it."

By that point, Percy's eyes had already shut. There was only one bed, so he and Annabeth were sleeping together, his arm around her waist. Nico smiled, just a tiny quirk of his lips. Despite his history with Percy, it made him happy to see them together. He did care about Percy a lot, but just not in the way he used to. He was a good friend; maybe Nico could even consider him a brother of some kind.

But he doesn't know who you really are. How many secrets are you keeping from him, from all your so-called friends?

Nico ignored that little voice in his head. He stepped into the bathroom, and made a rainbow in the shower. "O Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Will Solace at Camp Half-Blood." he said, crossing his fingers.

Come on, Will. Please answer.

The image appeared. Will sat on a cot in the Big House infirmary, staring into space. Nico didn't dare make a sound, he just stood and watched his boyfriend for a little while, drinking in his image. It had only been a few days since they'd last spoken, but Nico's memory couldn't recall his handsome features; blond hair fell into sky blue eyes, and his smile rivaled the sun. A small smile of his own appeared on Nico's face, a soft one, full of love and of hope.

He hadn't smiled like that in a long time. Not since Bianca.

"Hey," he breathed. Will turned.

The wait was agony. Will's face wasn't mad, but it wasn't happy either. It was indifferent, a little tired, like he'd been up for days and couldn't comprehend how exhausted he was. He ran his fingers through his hair, staring at Nico with those bright blue eyes, raking his gaze across Nico's body. Wherever Will's gaze hit him, Nico felt a little warmer.

"Are you going to say anything?" Nico asked, his voice was full of desperation. "Will, please say something. I'm so, so, so sorry." Will still didn't respond. "Please, Will. I was such an idiot before, you were completely right to call me out, just please don't leave me. I'll do anything." By the end of his monologue, he felt close to tears.

"That's not exactly healthy," Will replied, voice and face both noncommittal.

"Always the doctor, thinking about my health," Nico said, eyes and voice shining with desperate hope.

"I miss you too," Will admitted. Nico's heart soared, did a somersault out of pure happiness, then went back to where it belonged, beating twice as fast as before. He breathed a sigh of relief and cracked a huge smile at the exact same time. He wanted to cry out in pure joy, but he wasn't going to act like that in front of Will; he was vulnerable enough as it was.

"Do you forgive me? For acting like, I dunno..."

"An asshole?" Will suggested.

Nico cracked another smile. "That sums it up, yeah."

" 'Course." Will said that like it was obvious, then gave Nico a sideways glance. "You didn't think I'd let something this stupid break us up, right? I'm not that petty."

"I know," Nico assured him. "I just got nervous."

"It's our first fight, Neeks, it happens. Just don't act like that anymore, 'kay?"

"'Kay," Nico replied happily, forgetting to reprimand Will for using that stupid nickname. They talked and talked, joking and laughing and teasing like nothing had happened. It only ended when the conch shell sounded on Will's end, announcing curfew.

"I gotta close up, Neeks. You should sleep too, you look awful."

"That's what horcrux hunting does to you. And don't call me Neeks."

Will laughed, then waved his hand through the mist, breaking the connection. Nico turned off the water, then checked the time: four AM.

Gods, I've been talking to Will for an hour and a half?!

After drying the bathroom a bit from the shower's water leakage, Nico found Percy and shook him awake.

"Mmmmm," Percy mumbled, adjusting his head against Annabeth's back.

"Wake up, Jackson," Nico said. "I've been up almost twenty-four hours, the least you can do is let me sleep."

Percy only seemed to catch a single word. "Sleep," he mumbled, arms still around Annabeth. Nico sighed and went back into the bathroom, grabbed a paper cup from under the sink, and filled it up with water.

"Percy," he sang. "Get up..."

Percy, sensing the water, opened one eye to stare at Nico. "You wouldn't."

"I would." Nico smiled darkly and began to ominously tip the water over Percy's head. Percy held up a hand and the water stopped in midair, hovering over his and Annabeth's faces. "You up?" Nico asked.

"I'm up," Percy grunted. Then, realizing the water wouldn't wet him anyway, let it splash over his head. "You cunning little jerk," he whined, then stretched. "Get some sleep, you bastard."

"Thanks." Nico gave a teasing smile, then laid next to Annabeth on the bed. The moment his eyes closed, he fell asleep.

Teddy met him in his dorm room, but didn't teach him a new skill. Instead, he discussed the quest with Nico, saying that it was more important. "Besides," Teddy continued, "Something's off. I can sense something, I just don't know what. Just... be careful, okay, Nico? Something's going to happen, I know it."

"I'll be alright," Nico promised. "I've got Percy and Annabeth to help me if something goes wrong."

"You know in battle there's only yourself," Teddy reminded him. "You can't count on others to keep you from getting your ass whupped; you never know what'll happen in the heat of a fight. Prepare yourself, that's all I'm saying."

"Ok," Nico agreed, lying down to sleep, for real this time. "I'll keep an eye out, Teddy. I promise."

Dreams found Nico in a second. He stood in a long hallway, light flickering from a crackling fire, shining through the crack of an open door. Nico had little time to notice that detail until he heard a timid voice speak.

"There is a little more in the bottle, My Lord, if you are still hungry."

Though the voice sounded like it came from a grown man, it possessed an element of fear. It reminded Nico of a servant talking to Kronos, or Gaea, or even his own father, Hades.

"Later." It was a high-pitched voice, raspy, cold, and cruel. "Move me closer to the fire, Wormtail."

Nico stepped towards the voices. He saw an old man in the hall for the first time, with his ear pressed against the door.

"Where is Nagini?"

"I-- I don't know, My Lord. She set out to explore the house, I think..."

"You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail. I will need feeding in the night. The journey has tired me greatly."

"My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?"

"A week, perhaps longer. The place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is over."

"The-- the Quidditch World Cup, My Lord? Forgive me, but--I do not understand--why should we wait until the World Cup is over?"

"Because, fool, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty, on the watch for signs of unusual activity, checking and double-checking identities. They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So we wait."

"Your Lordship is still determined, then?"

"Certainly I am determined, Wormtail."

There was a deafening pause. With the introduction of Quidditch, Nico knew who they were. Wizards, sure, but he'd recognize that cruel voice anywhere. He'd spoken with that voice, laughed with that laugh, killed with those hands. He was listening to the plottings of Tom Riddle and a terrified servant.

"It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord."

There was another pause, this one heavier as Nico waited for the next words. He had a million questions racing through his mind, all vital to the quest. Do what? When? Harry Potter? Why?

"Without Harry Potter?" Riddle asked. "I see..."

"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy!" Wormtail squeaked. "The boy is nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard--any wizard--the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you allowed me to leave you for a short while--you know that I can disguise myself most effectively--I could be back here in as little as two days with a suitable person--"

"I could use another wizard," Riddle whispered, "That is true..."

"My Lord, it makes sense. Laying hands on Harry Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected--"

"And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? I wonder... perhaps the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you, Wormtail? Could this suggestion of abandoning the plan be nothing more than an attempt to desert me?"

"My Lord! I-- I have no wish to leave you, none at all--"

"Do not lie to me!" Riddle hissed. "I can always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me..."

"No! My devotion to Your Lordship--"

"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go. How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?"

"But you seem so much stronger, My Lord--"