Percy, Annabeth, and Nico retrieve the second horcrux, then return to Hogwarts.

Chapter Rating: General Audiences

Content Warning: Cursing

Word Count: 2497

I would say "hey look a chapter that's not posted at 11:59PM" but I'm also a day late.

Joking aside, I've decided that I'm going to post Monday's, not Sunday's, since my boss keeps giving me late-night Sunday shifts. Monday is my only guaranteed day off each week, so I think this'll work much better. (So technically that means I CAN brag ha!)

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

Nico opened his eyes back in his dorm at Westover Hall, staring into space, trying to process what just happened. He'd outsmarted Harry Potter. He'd saved a life. They had the first horcrux.

"Are you awake?" Teddy asked. Nico's eyes followed the voice, and saw Teddy perched on a desk chair by Nico's bedside.

"Yeah," Nico groaned, sitting up. "I need to thank you; you saved Percy's life."

Teddy dismissed Nico's words with a wave of the hand. "You did that. I just helped out a little."

"No, Teddy, your instructions are the reason we have the horcrux."

Teddy smiled. "All I'm doing is unlocking your potential, your power. It's you, not me."

Nico didn't believe that, but he knew Teddy wouldn't back down. "Maybe. You have to teach me how to do that whole 'damn to Hades' thing. That was incredible."

Teddy shook his head. "It's a hard move to learn. You need to work your way up to that."

"I did it just now," Nico protested. "You said that you wanted to make me strong enough to succeed in my quest and get some of my old life back. How are you going to do that if you won't show me advanced moves? I can take it, Teddy, I swear."

Teddy sat in thought for an agonizingly slow few seconds. "We'll have to start slow, work our way up to actually using it in combat."

Nico pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! I owe you one, Teddy!"

Teddy smiled again. "Yeah, you do. Now take this--" he gave Nico a small vial with a clear liquid inside. "--it's a potion for a dreamless sleep. You earned it, after that battle today."

Nico looked at it, then downed it in a gulp. "Thanks. I'll see you soon." He laid back down on his bed, and his eyes closed. He fell asleep before Teddy had even sat back down.

He woke after the best sleep of his life with light dancing on his eyelids. All Nico could think about was how much he wanted to fall asleep again; he let out a small groan.

"Come on, Nico--you need to wake up."

Percy sounded... scared? From his tone, Nico gathered he had to be close to death. He certainly felt like it; now that the potion's effects were wearing off, Nico noticed his pain for the first time. His head pounded, his arms and legs felt broken, and every inch of skin burned like he was swimming in lava. Still exhausted, he groaned again, a little louder this time. " 'Mm up," Nico breathed, slurring his words.

He could hear Percy's relieved sigh. "Can you open your eyes? Are you all right?"

Nico kept his eyes closed, but smiled a little bit. "Sound like Will."

"I know. How do you feel?" Percy asked again.

"Tired. Hot. Hurt all over." Every breath stabbed at his rib cage.

Percy couldn't meet Nico's eye. "I didn't want to try any more nectar. I'm so sorry."

Nico furrowed his brow in confusion. "For what?"

"You saved my life, and Annabeth and I couldn't even protect you from Riddle's monsters. You got hurt Nico, bad. You've been out cold for three days now."

"Three days?!" Nico cried, but the effort hurt him, another stabbing pain made him grimace. He moved his hand to his stomach, and muttered "Oww."

"Yeah, don't do that," Percy instructed. "You cracked your ribs, it must've been from the di Inferi. They must've known you're the son of Hades; they wouldn't leave you alone."

"Di Inferi?" Nico managed. For the first time, he inspected the room beyond Percy's face. It was small, but somewhat ornate, with stained glass windows and a high ceiling. He saw wooden benches all around him, arranged in boxes and rows. "And where are we?"

"The church," Percy explained. "We crashed here, 'cause we were so beat up. Annabeth told the homeless orphans story, and he let us stay until you got well enough for us to move you. Wish it had been Piper doing the talking, she might've been able to get us more than wooden benches to sleep on."

So that's what this hard surface is.

"What did you mean di Inferi?" He knew of the di Inferi, they were Latin deities of the Underworld, outside of Pluto's control. He'd never met one, and he didn't want to.

"You didn't think Riddle would leave his horcrux undefended, did you?" Percy questioned. "There were dozens of them, and all sorts of curses surrounding the grave. We must've been fighting for hours, I don't know how we got out alive."

"And I was just lying there helpless?" Nico felt ashamed. His friends had been in danger, and he'd been out cold like some stupid damsel in distress.

"Hey!" Percy protested. "I'd be dead if it weren't for you! You weren't helpless, you got us the ring."

"Where's Annabeth?" Nico asked.

Percy pointed towards the door. "Trying to destroy the horcrux."

"She won't be able to," Nico said. "It's nearly impossible for a human to destroy a soul."

"Would you be able to do it?" Percy asked in a hopeful tone.

Nico shook his head. "Only my father, and I'm not calling him up every time we get a new horcrux. There are a few mortal ways to destroy one, like with certain poisons, curses, and blades. Our best bet is Dumbledore or Snape, they must know something about where to get that."

Percy shook his head at the ground, laughing in self-pity. "Figures we'd have even more to find."

"Yeah," Nico agreed. "But, if this were easy, the Kindly Ones could've taken care of it."

"Fair enough." Percy glanced back at Nico with a quizzical look. "What are we going to do about your ribs?"

Nico felt his stomach, and grimaced again. They were definitely cracked, if not broken. "Call Will, I guess. Do we know anyone else with medical knowledge?"

"No," Percy said. "But I hate calling him. The last time you guys talked was that boggart attack, and now this--" Percy gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "--he's going to think that you can't take care of yourself."

"Even more than he already does," Nico agreed. "Just send the Iris message. According to Grover, the other horcrux is in a vault in a wizarding bank called Gringotts. There's no way to get inside unless I shadow travel us there, and I can't do that with a broken rib. Dealing with Will teasing me will be less painful... a little less painful, anyway."

"I don't understand how you guys are even friends," Percy joked. "You fight all the time."

Nico suppressed a smile. "We manage."

Percy sent the Iris message, though it was early morning on Long Island, Will was awake. When they finished explaining what happened, Will let out a long sigh. "Really, Neeks? Again? Why is it always you who almost dies all the time?"

"Don't call me Neeks," Nico threatened, making Will smirk. "Just tell us how to fix me, William."

"All right, I'll be nice. All you have to say is, 'please Will, O wise healer, I swear I'll never almost die before breakfast ever again', and we'll call it a day."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Please Will, O arrogant healer, I swear I'll never talk to you again if you don't tell us how to fix me right now."

"That would be a tragedy," Will deadpanned. Then, he got to work teaching Percy the healing spell, which he finally managed after a good fifteen minutes. The pain in his body melted away, he breathed normally, and sat up. Then, Percy supported his weight as he finally put two feet on the ground, and stood.

"Thanks, Will," Nico said.

"Just try not to die, okay, Neeks?" Will asked, voice full of exasperation.

Nico gave a teasing smile. "You know me."

"Unfortunately, I do." Will waved his hands through the mist, and his image vanished.

Within the hour, Nico was at full strength, but Percy refused to shadow travel with him until sunset. "You need time to rest," Percy had argued. "And I don't want to end up in Russia because you were too impatient to wait a little longer."

Percy and Annabeth rotated napping and guarding the horcrux, but, after three days of sleeping, Nico felt restless. He killed time training, electing to hone his sword fighting skills rather than his magical ones. He didn't want to waste energy with Teddy's promise to learn 'damn to Hades'. Besides, he had to be careful with his powers in the real world; using them too much dragged his soul to the Underworld.

At long last, the sun dipped below the valley. All three demigods dressed in their armor, and gathered their things. With one final sweep of the church, Nico guided Percy and Annabeth to Gringotts through the shadows.

The vault was pitch black until Percy uncapped Riptide, so its bronze light could illuminate the cavern. They stood in a huge cave, packed to the brim with treasures. From floor to ceiling, Nico noticed gold coins, jewelry, armor, furs... even a skull wearing a crown.

"Whoa," Percy gasped.

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed.

"Find the cup," Nico instructed. "We need to get in and out, before someone notices us. Anyone would think we're robbers."

Annabeth described the cup to Percy and Nico one last time, then they moved towards the piles, hugging Riptide's circle of light. Nico's eyes fell on a jeweled golden cup near the edge of a nearby pile. He reached out to grab and inspect it, but the moment his fingers made contact, the entire thing burned white hot. Nico yelled in pain as he held his blistered fingers, then again in shock when the cup exploded into thirty exact replicas of itself.

"What happened?" Percy called, coming around the corner.

"It burned me!" Nico grimaced, holding up his injured hand.

"It has to be the Germino and Flagrante curses!" Annabeth yelled, her voice coming from Nico's right. "I read about them back at Hogwarts! Everything you touch will burn and multiply; if we keep touching all this stuff we're going to get crushed by all the gold!"

"Well, then, how are we supposed to find the cup?!" Percy called back.

Annabeth turned the corner, sprinting to meet the other two. "Just stand still, and don't move. Don't touch anything. If you see something, point it out to me and I'll make sure it's the right one. We can't pick up every cup we see, or we'll end up dying."

"But, we can't see everything from where we're standing," Percy pointed out.

"Then-- then just walk around, but be careful! And call me over if you see anything!"

It was hard, slow work, but Nico finally found his way around the cavern, squinting in the dim light. He noticed a long shelf, with rows of treasure on top. They looked the right size, but he couldn't make it out.

"Percy!" Nico called. Percy inched towards Nico, the light growing until Nico could see the shelf clearly. "It's here! I can see it! Annabeth!"

Annabeth scampered to where Nico and Percy stood, creating a wide berth between her and all the gold. Her grey eyes followed Nico's pointed finger, then her face brightened. "That's it!"

"How are we supposed to get up there without touching anything?" Percy asked.

"Use your sword," Annabeth suggested. "I think the spells are only activated by human contact."

Percy nudged a stack of gold coins with Riptide. Nothing happened. He reached up, trying to hook one of the handles around Riptide's blade tip, but the shelf was too high.

Percy grunted in frustration, and lowered his sword. "What do we do now?" he asked.

With the precision only found in an architect child of Athena, Annabeth threw her drakon bone sword straight at the shelf above. It hit at a perfect angle, the impact causing the cup to fall to Earth, the blade tumbling after. Nico reached up and caught them both, grunting in pain at the boiling metal. More fake cups littered the floor, but Annabeth took the cup by the tip of her sword, holding it aloft.

"That, seaweed brain. We do that."

"Ow... thanks, Annabeth," Nico said. Now both of his hands were injured. "Let's get going before we're caught.

Percy and Annabeth grabbed Nico's shoulders, since both his hands were throbbing. Nico ran towards the nearest wall, then shadow traveled back to the entrance hall of Hogwarts. From the noise coming from the Great Hall, Nico assumed it was dinnertime.

"I'm starving," Percy said. "Let's get something to eat."

"Let's go quick," Nico agreed. "Then I'll get my hands checked by Madam Pomfrey."

"I'd better put the horcruxes in my trunk," Annabeth replied. "I'll meet you there." Then, she headed towards the staircase to the Ravenclaw common room. Percy and Nico walked into the Great Hall, just as Hedwig delivered a letter to her master.

Harry read the message over and over again, anger boiling in his stomach. "What do you mean, you lost him?!" Harry muttered under his breath, so only Ron and Hermione could hear. "He's just a student, Tonks! You're an Auror, in the bloody Order of--"

"Harry, stop before someone hears you!" Hermione warned, her voice a whisper.

"I can't take this!" Harry whispered violently. "Every time we think we have di Angelo, he somehow gets off scot-free! It's--"

"Awful, mate, I know, but Hermione's right," Ron said.

At that moment, Jackson and di Angelo strolled into the Great Hall, greeting friends with grins and waves. It made Harry's blood boil and his hair stand on end. Who comes back from a dangerous mission for their master and jokes like nothing happened?! Why wouldn't di Angelo act suspiciously, like he had on the train, so everyone could see he was hiding something?! Why wouldn't he show his true colors?! He could tell Ron and Hermione felt the same way, but no one else seemed to even realize anything had happened. Harry even glanced at Umbridge; she was reading a piece of parchment and frowning, then glancing at Jackson and di Angelo. Harry hated himself for half-hoping she would get them expelled, for rooting for Umbridge... but di Angelo was the bigger threat.

"We have potions with him tomorrow, Harry. We'll get him then," Ron assured him.

Harry watched as Jackson sat beside the twins, who greeted him cheerfully. He listened as Jackson made up some bullshit story about going home for the weekend and visiting his mom in New York with the others, explaining various scratches and bruises to a skateboarding accident. Fred and George ate up every word, only asking what skateboarding was. Back at the Slytherin table, di Angelo chatted with his Slytherin friends, no doubt telling them the exact same lie.

"You're right," Harry whispered back to Ron. "We'll get him tomorrow."