Nico comes up with a plan to deal with Harry's blackmail. Percy, Annabeth, and Nico return to Camp Half-Blood for Christmas break/holiday.

Chapter Rating: General Audiences

Content Warning: None

Word Count: 3389

I'm so sorry about my extended absence! Thank you for being so patient. But, I'm back, and to celebrate it, you're going to get a chapter every weekday this week. Monday through Friday, one chapter each day.

Figured I owed you guys a happy chapter. So... here you go. Cherish it; it's the last one for a while.

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

____________________NICO____________________

"You going to see Will?"

Blaise and Nico were alone in their dorm room, packing for the coming holiday. Nico should've been jumping for joy--a full two weeks without Harry Potter and his questions--but his heart hadn't gotten the memo. Christmas had arrived; his self-given deadline to break-up with Will had come, and he was still so in love. Whenever he thought about ending things, the images in his brain punched him in the gut. But, now more than ever, Nico couldn't give himself another fatal flaw. Not now that Harry Potter could use Will too.

"Um... Earth to Nico?" Blaise stared at him, perplexed; Nico had been standing silent by his bed, his blank stare fixed on his suitcase. "You seem distracted, is everything all right?"

"What? Yeah, of course. I'm just thinking. It's been awhile since I went home." Nico shrugged off Blaise's concerned gaze and continued to fold clothes into his suitcase.

"I know, but aren't you excited? You'll be able to talk to Will, see your dad, your sister, all your American friends... Jason? Leo? Piper? The ones you told me about." Blaise nudged Nico with his shoulder. "It's Christmas, Nico! Lighten up!"

Nico rolled his eyes as he scoffed. "Not my style, Zabini. You should get going; isn't the train leaving in, like, an hour?"

"Shit! You're right." Blaise threw the rest of his things together, then bolted out the door. "Happy Christmas, Nico," he called; his voice carrying from down the hallway.

"Tell Hestia bye for me!" Nico called back. He shook his head, then tried to focus on packing. It was slow work, and Nico wasn't in the mood to be alone with his thoughts. Not for the first time, he wished for Teddy's voice. He missed the stupid follower of Hecate; there was something about having a friend who knew all of you, who never left your side, who wouldn't judge what he saw.

"I'm glad you think of me as your friend."

Nico turned and saw Teddy--his entire body, like during dreams--standing before him. "H-- how... I... how did...?" His mind raced in shock and confusion; too off-put to form a coherent sentence.

"You won't let me come to you in your dreams anymore; I wanted to say goodbye in person," Teddy answered.

"But... but you weren't appearing to me anymore! I didn't--"

"I won't talk to you when you pass out, Nico. I won't train you when you've got more blood on the floor than in your veins." Teddy moved towards Nico's bed and sat beside where he stood. He looked up at the son of Hades, his eleven-year-old eyes shining with fear. "I thought you said you would save my parents for me. Why are you talking to Harry Potter? Why are you betraying us? Why are you helping Lord Voldemort?"

Nico sat beside him, put his head in his hands, and ran them down his face. He sighed, then looked back at the boy beside him. "I'm weak, that's why. Without you, I'm weak. But I haven't told him anything of value yet. Maybe together... maybe we can still salvage the situation."

"How?" Teddy sounded more hopeless than anything else. It gave Nico the strength to consider what he couldn't before; the one plan that might get him out of the mess he'd made.

"I'm weak," Nico repeated. "I'm weak and selfish, but I'm not stupid. The quest is only over when Riddle finds out what we're doing, when he tries to stop us and things get bloody. That can't happen unless the gods are exposed to Hecate's lands, which won't happen unless I talk to Harry. If I don't talk, nothing happens. We know I can't keep myself from talking... but maybe I can prevent myself from getting the chance."

Nico turned back to Teddy and met his eye once more. "One horcrux is already gone, we captured two others, and we know where the fourth is. That's over half. We have a way to destroy them, and a place to keep them. I'm not much help anymore; Percy and Annabeth have been on way more quests than me, and have gotten through worse without my help. They can finish this for me, they can save your parents for us. The best thing--the only thing--I can do now to help is... disappear."

Nico paused, trying to judge Teddy's reaction, but he had one of the best poker faces Nico had ever seen. They sat together in silence for a full minute, until he asked, "What would you do?"

"Go off the grid," Nico responded with ease. "I've done it before; I can do it again: I'll come back when the quest is over, or when Harry's not up my ass anymore. If Harry Potter can't find me, he can't ask any questions, which means I can't answer them."

"Why haven't you done this already, then?" Teddy challenged, voice growing more hostile. "It's pretty clear that you planned this all out ages ago. Why did you wait? Why did you put the quest in danger?"

"You're forgetting about my father," Nico told him, his own voice short. "Teddy, he sent me on this quest; he's not going to just let me stop in the middle."

"But if you told him about the blackmail--"

"He'd tell me to suck it up and deal with it, like my sister would if she were on this quest. No, the only way this is going to work is if I'm invisible to everyone--even the gods themselves. I haven't left yet because, until you showed up, I had no way of doing that."

"What can I do?" Teddy's tone shifted from hostile to hopeless. "I'm not even a demigod--I'm just a wizard. The only humans with less magic than me are actual muggles."

"Sure," Nico agreed, "but there's a reason Hecate even has followers--her magic gives her the power to do what she wants. That's the real reason why my father hates her so much; the mere fact that she can control her own lands is enough to challenge his identity as a major god. She's tried to assert herself as an Olympian before, but failed because the Olympians like her even less than Hades. She's always been more Titan than goddess, and they all know it."

"Fine," Teddy said. "But I'm not my patron."

"You're blessed by her," Nico reminded him. "You have her magic in your blood, one and the same. Sure, it's not as powerful as Hecate's or her children's, but it's enough to hide me from Olympus, both camps, and the Underworld. If we can find the right spell, that is."

Teddy contemplated the plan, then nodded. "I have an idea. When would we do it? Tonight?"

Nico shook his head. "I need to say goodbye to my friends, to Will. I won't be suspicious about it, but I can't let them think less of me when I leave. They have to know this isn't their fault." Nico looked down, pausing for a moment. "We'll do it midnight, on Monday, the 19th. It'll be least suspicious that way."

"Why wait two days? Why not just do it tonight? What's so special about the 19th?"

"It's..." Nico swallowed hard. "...the anniversary of my sister's death. Six years. It wouldn't be the first time I vanished on December 19th, but this time, I won't come back. No one would think anything was wrong until the Solstice since camp has a meeting then every year, like the gods do on Olympus. When I don't show up like usual, they'll realize. By then, there won't be a trail left. As long as you can do some sort of spell--"

"Fidelus Charm. I can be your Secret Keeper."

"I have no idea what that means, but okay."

Teddy laughed. "The Fidelus Charm is one of the hardest spells a wizard can perform. Basically, you put a secret into someone else, called the 'Secret Keeper.' I can be your Secret Keeper. The charm makes it so I can't tell a living soul without willing consent, so your father couldn't force it out of me, through torture or otherwise. And, as long as I tell no one, you're invisible."

Nico almost jumped for joy at such a plan. "You think you can pull this off? If it's so difficult--"

"I can at least try. We have the whole weekend for me to practice, right?"

Nico nodded. "In the meantime, I'll have to find a way to fight Riddle once and for all. He's such a powerful follower of Hecate, he's more a son of the goddess than just a blessed mortal. I'd like more tricks up my sleeve than just 'damn to Hades.' "

"That's smart," Teddy agreed. "Let me practice the spell, make sure I can do it. We can discuss alternate ways to fight and kill Lord Voldemort once you're safe from the gods' eyes."

Teddy stood, and nodded his head one last time. When Nico blinked, the young follower of Hecate was gone.

____________________ANNABETH____________________

Around four in the afternoon, Annabeth met Percy in the empty classroom by the Great Hall. It was out of the way; the perfect place for Nico to shadow-travel them home for the holidays.

"It'll be fun, us back at camp for two weeks." Percy gave Annabeth that goofy smile of his, the one she found so annoyingly adorable. "Might be able to find some alone time without Peeves throwing things every time I so much as hold your hand."

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, I guess it'll be a nice change. Are you going home for Christmas?"

"You know Mom would kill me if I didn't. Besides, she wants to see you." Percy paused, then chuckled. "She invited Nico over for Christmas dinner too, like usual, and Jason and Leo. Thalia mentioned to Jason that the Hunters might be in the area around Christmas, so she might show up at the apartment too. Plus, Hazel misses Nico like crazy, so she and Frank--and possibly Reyna--might come over. If Piper decides not to see her dad... well, we're going to need a bigger apartment."

Annabeth laughed too. "And if Calypso comes back from Costa Rica?"

"Oh gods, please don't tempt fate."

Annabeth laughed. "When do Sally and Paul want us in New York?"

"Christmas Eve, last time we spoke. We don't have enough room for everyone to sleep over for more than a night. I might head up there after the Solstice meeting, though. I want some time alone with them before everyone else comes."

Nico entered the classroom, out of his robes, and in his standard black jeans and aviator's jacket. "Remember to catch me when I pass out, Jackson."

"And deal with Will's wrath," Percy noted with another laugh. "Got it."

Nico took Annabeth's and Percy's hands, but hesitated for a half-second, looking around at the empty room like it held some importance. Annabeth saw--just for a second--Nico's eyes cloud over. In them, a dark, Riddle-like gleam formed--one that she'd noticed more and more in the past weeks. The next second, it was gone, and she pushed the image away.

He's not Riddle. He never was, and never will be.

After repeating those words to herself almost daily for over a month now, they were beginning to lose their potency.

She welcomed the sensation of shadow-travel; the high-speed tunneling and pitch-black atmosphere wasn't exactly conducive to a rigorous analysis of Nico di Angelo's inner psyche. Within moments, she, Percy, and Nico stood blinking in the crisp, December sun, ten feet from the camp's border. "It's around eleven in the morning," Annabeth announced, calculating the time conversion in her head. "Everyone's probably finishing up their last activities before lunch." She turned to face the boys when neither responded. That's when she remembered how much long-distance shadow-travel took out of Nico. Like back at King's Cross, he was on the ground, out cold. Percy crouched beside him, fixing his limbs so they laid flat on the grass, instead of at whatever weird angles they had been in when Nico fell before. "I'll grab help," Annabeth offered, then bolted towards the Big House.

Chiron stood on the porch, playing pinochle with Mr. D and a couple of satyrs and nymphs that Annabeth didn't recognize. "Annabeth." Chiron stood in greeting, a warm smile forming on his face. He trotted over to her, then embraced her like a father. "How goes the quest, child?"

"It's going," Annabeth replied, playing off her frustration as amusement. "But it's slow. I'll fill you in at Wednesday's meeting. Right now, we have a certain son of Hades passed out by the Golden Fleece."

"Ah, yes." Chiron turned back towards Mr. D. "Continue without me. I daresay I had hardly a chance of winning, even without the interruption." Mr. D nodded, eyes never leaving his hand of cards. Annabeth was glad he paid her no mind, since the last thing she wanted to deal with was the drunken god of wine calling her "that Annie girl" and threatening to turn her mad when she corrected him.

After eleven years, you would think he'd get tired of that stupid charade. Nope.

Chiron galloped towards Thalia's Tree, to carry Nico to the Big House. Annabeth walked in the other direction, to the infirmary. She glanced around at the empty beds until her meandering gaze landed on-- "Lou!"

Lou Ellen turned, her green eyes lighting up when she saw Annabeth. She smiled in greeting, allowing the bed she'd been making to finish itself up with magic. "Annabeth! Long time no see. How's the quest? My mother's realm? Everything going well?"

Annabeth nodded, refusing to let her smile falter. She liked Lou fine, but she wouldn't dare insult Hecate's realm or tell her how bad the quest was going. Lou was easygoing, but also the head counselor of Hecate, which meant that the goddess often spoke to her in dreams. If Lou mentioned to her mother that Annabeth had anything but good news... well, Hecate wasn't as forgiving as her eldest daughter.

"Hogwarts is amazing, and so is the rest of what I've seen of your mother's lands. It's another universe over there."

"I know. Mom brought me there just before the Battle of Manhattan. I got to live there that entire summer before I came here. Have you been to Diagon Alley yet?"

"No, but I'll make sure to add it to my list," Annabeth joked, then decided it best to change the subject. "You dyed your hair?"

Lou ran her fingers through her raven locks, the tips now a vibrant green to match her eyes. "About a week ago. Cecil robbed a convenience store for me." She laughed. "So, what brings you to the Big House?"

"Nico's out cold, but Chiron should be here any second with him."

"That'll make Will happy."

"Oh gods, don't let me be here when he finds out."

"When he finds out what?" Right on cue, the son of Apollo walked into the infirmary, a teasing smirk on his lips. "How bad did Death Boy hurt himself this time?"

"Just the usual," Annabeth assured him, praying to her mother that he would save his anger for Nico, not she. "Chiron's coming with him, but the last time he made this trip, he was out for twenty-four hours, so I wouldn't expect him to be... well... picture a rag doll..."

"Ah, I figured." Will rolled his eyes. Annabeth thanked the gods that Will wasn't as high-strung about shadow-travel as she remembered. Maybe it had just been the severity of Nico's condition that had set him off last year. "I'll take care of him, Annabeth. Got a few remedies that might speed up recovery. We should have him back by dinner." He walked to the nearest bed and started to set it up for Nico's arrival. "Lou, I can handle Neeks. You can go to lunch. You too, Annabeth, and tell Percy the same. I'll let you all know when Patient Zero's ready for human contact again."

Almost on cue, the clomp, clomp, clomp of Chiron's hooves on hardwood fell on Annabeth's ears. "Got it," she said. "I'll keep Percy and Jason out of your hair until you say so."

____________________PERCY____________________

"Percy!" Rachel Elizabeth Dare jogged towards him, wheeling a small suitcase behind her. She dropped her luggage at her feet, then pulled him into a friendly hug. "How are you? How's everything?"

"Good," Percy replied, releasing her to look her in the eye. "You just missed Annabeth and Nico; they're at the Big House."

"Nico passed out?"

"Wow, you must be psychic."

Rachel laughed. "I just got back from New Hampshire. Told my parents I couldn't get a flight until the twenty-second so that I could attend the Winter Solstice meeting. I was hoping you'd finished the quest by now, though."

Percy sighed. "It's going pretty slow. You couldn't help out by any chance, explain that prophecy a bit more?"

Rachel gave a rueful smile. "I wish I could, but you know the Spirit of Delphi doesn't work like that. Although..." She paused for a second, thinking. "Nico mentioned that Hades spoke of another prophecy, one from Hecate. I could try and dig that one up for you? It wouldn't be as accurate as the first; Hecate's predictions come from her limited, magical sight, rather than Apollo's divine visions. But it might be useful to know Hecate's take on the situation, alongside Delphi's."

"Rachel," Percy said, voice filled with gratitude. "That would be amazing."

"Hey, Purse!" Percy turned towards the sound of Jason's voice, and saw him, Leo, and Piper appeared from over the bend, sprinting towards him and Rachel.

"Hey! I'm not a handbag, Grace!"

Jason, being the fastest, reached him first, and threw his arms around the son of Poseidon. "It's been forever, man. I swear, I've never heard of a quest taking this long." He took a step back, then challenged Percy with a competitive glint in his eye. "Though, maybe that's just because the Romans trained me a bit better."

Percy scoffed. "You wish. If you'd like to take my place, though, I'm sure Riddle would be happy. Would buy him an extra year."

Piper cleared her throat. "Jason, for the hundredth time, I don't care if you want to flirt with Percy, just don't do it when I'm standing right here." She threw an exasperated look at Leo and Rachel, then gave Percy a hug of her own. "It's good to see you, Percy. Where's Annabeth and Nico?"

"Big House," Rachel answered for him.

"Annabeth'll meet us at lunch," Percy added. "Nico... whenever Will stops punishing him for the sheer amount of times he's almost killed himself during the quest so far." Piper released him, allowing Percy to give Leo a pointed stare. "What, no hug from the mechanic?"

"Organics," Leo scoffed. "I, unlike everyone else at this camp, am not in love with you. So, no, no hugs."

"Don't mind him," Piper teased. "He's just grumpy because Calypso won't be back for Christmas."

"Whatever. My girlfriend likes bamboo orchids and howler monkeys more than me. I don't care."

Percy chuckled, and shook his head. "Annabeth almost joined the Hunters a couple of years ago. At least Calypso isn't considering vowing to forswear all boys for eternity."

"Yeah," Leo argued. "But keyword there is almost, idiota."

Piper laughed. "Let Calypso have her flowers. She'll be back soon. It's not like she doesn't I.M. you a million times a day; when she comes back, you'll see how much she missed you."