CHAPTER SUMMARY

The demigods prepare for the final battle with Tom Riddle.

Chapter Rating: General Audiences

Content Warning: None

Word Count: 2198

Thanks again to Addie, who posted Thursday's chapter!

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

Credits at the end.

____________________ANNABETH____________________

The night of December 29th, nobody slept.

It was the calm before the storm; Annabeth knew that time better than anyone else in the room. How many battles had she fought by Percy's side? Or on her own, during those years he attended school and she lived at Camp Half-Blood year-round? That feeling, waiting for something to happen, for someone to die... it was far more traumatic than any battle could be.

It was like Alfred Hitchcock's definition of suspense. If four people are locked in a room and find out there's a bomb ten seconds before it goes off, sure, it's horrible not being able to do anything, but they never get the time to dread their demise. It never sinks in. When those same people are locked in the same room, but find out about the bomb thirty minutes before it goes off, they have time to search, just to find it five minutes to the slaughter. And they tear it apart, try to defuse it, but realize after just two minutes of work that there's no hope. Three minutes left now, for them to cry and kiss and scream as they realize they're about to die.

Then... kaboom!

Annabeth felt like the characters in Hitchcock's movies now, sitting and waiting to die. She sat in that godsforsaken room, waiting for Harry to reappear, waiting for Nico to send some kind of message from wherever he was, waiting for Chiron or Dumbledore to tell them someone had done something.

They didn't talk. They didn't move. Annabeth longed to curl up in Percy's lap, for no other reason than the comfort of touch, but it would feel too out of place. Not inappropriate, just... not right.

December 29th, 2:00 p.m. - Ron brought Lou Ellen into the Room of Requirement.

December 29th, 3:00 p.m. - The meeting ends. Harry's a horcrux. He has to die.

December 29th, 11:00 p.m. - Everyone starts to lose hope he's coming back.

December 30th, 12:00 a.m. - Two days left until the world ends. Forty-eight hours.

December 30th, 3:00 a.m. - No one has spoken or moved in four hours.

December 30th, 6:00 a.m. - Oh, look, there's the sunrise.

December 30th, 8:00 a.m. - Good gods, I'm acting like this is some spy thriller.

By noon, Percy's and her ADHD finally got the better of them, and they started pacing like mad. No one spoke or did anything that might prepare them... thirty-six hours to die was a lot of time to let the news sink in.

It was at three in the afternoon that something finally happened. There was a knock on the door, hesitant and soft. Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look--was it Harry?

Percy drew Riptide in case of a trick; Annabeth drew her drakon sword, and Ron's knuckles were white as he gripped the Sword of Gryffindor. Blaise, the biggest one of them, inched towards the door with trepidation.

If it's a bomb, I'd like ten seconds, please.

Standing in the doorway was the last person Annabeth expected. Pale skin, sunken brown eyes, midnight hair, small but mean stature. He wore a flowing black robe--the bottom of which trailed a foot behind him--and a loose, flowing hood to match. This cloak, though, wasn't like any other Annabeth had seen--while the bulk of it was solid, the ends curled in neverending, black smoke; even the material itself was wispy, as though it was nothing more than blackened air. There was a Stygian black sword belt around his waist, with a Stygian iron sword hanging from it, on his left side. In his right hand was a staff two-thirds his size, made from twisting elder, knobs of the stuff every few feet, carved to resemble elderberries. What was once Marvolo's ring was now an orb half the size of Annabeth's face, latched on top of the staff. It was dark and sinister, forming threstials, hellhounds, griffins, Kindly Ones, and even Cerebus in the pitch-black smoke. A skull ring, its silver hue casting a thin glow, was on the ring finger of his right hand, now grasping the center of the staff.

"Nico..." Blaise breathed, unable to believe his eyes.

"It's you!" Hestia cried, jumping to her feet. "You're all right!"

Nico's glare, so intense under that hood, broke into a warm and genuine smile. "Yeah, Hes, I'm fine. Missed you guys--hey!"

Hestia wrapped him in a bear hug; Blaise joined in after a quick shrug. Nico grunted and wriggled under their combined grip, but couldn't get off. After a second, he dissolved into shadows, the black smoke crawling just above the floor, and reappeared two feet to Hestia's left.

"Dude..." Percy said, coming out of his coma of shock. "That is so cool."

"Someone has to compete with your hurricanes," Nico retorted. "And yes, you can hug me, Perce, just keep it under three seconds, please."

Percy laughed and pulled Nico into a man-hug, complete with slapping on the back and goofy grins. "Don't you ever disappear like that again," Percy threatened, "Mom and Paul went out of their minds. I will kill you before you do that to them a second time."

"Got it," Nico said. "Annabeth?"

"Hi," she said. It came out colder than she intended, but she was too angry to care. "Is there a reason you chose now to show up again?"

"Yeah," Nico said, walking to the table. He definitely noticed her tone of voice, but seemed to understand where it came from. "Alabaster--friend of mine, son of Hecate, he's been helping me but I don't want to get into that--is working with the Hogwarts teachers to set up defenses. According to his tracking spell, Riddle should be in the Forbidden Forest by sunset."

"His forces are already in that forest," Lou intervened. "They attacked Will and I--"

"I know," Nico grimaced. "I had a dream. Riddle took him as bait for me--he wants me to become his second-in-command or something like that... but that's beside the point. We've got, at most, four hours before there's an all out war at Hogwarts. We have to evacuate the school, warn the teachers, and figure out who's willing to fight."

"Do you want either camp's help?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Nico said. "The real fight's coming tomorrow--Hecate versus Hades. They need to protect the camps--there'll be a million monsters running around, fighting each other. I won't risk weakening them. We don't need an army--once I kill Riddle, his Death Eaters won't be an issue."

"You're going to kill Lord Voldemort?" Hermione asked, astounded.

"I have to," Nico told her. "I know Hades, and I know Hecate. The one thing they both want right now is Riddle dead. Hades still thinks of me as his kid, and they both know I'm serving Hecate. I'm the closest thing those two have to a truce right now--if I take out the one enemy they've been fighting over since last June, I'll get enough clout for them to listen to me. And, hopefully, reason."

"That's not going to work," Annabeth said. "Look, Nico, I get that you think finishing this quest will solve everything, but the quest was a sham. The prophecy doesn't even mention Riddle! Why do you need 'clout' from this to talk to your father?"

"Ex-father," Nico corrected through gritted teeth. "And I'm killing him for Lady Hecate. That's a non-issue. And trust me, it's the ticket I need to get Hades to listen to me--I've got a plan for everything when he does. I'm not leaving anything down to chance."

Annabeth scoffed. "You going to tell us this brilliant plan, O wise Ghost King?"

"A life for a life."

"No," Percy vetoed, forcing Nico to look him in the eye. "You are not going down that path again."

"Voldemort's soul--"

"Is not enough to bring back Persephone, and you know it."

"--is a ticket, Percy. My true self... is not going to let me get out of this alive. I kill him--"

"No."

"I appease Hecate--"

"No."

"She lets me do what I want with my immortality--"

"Nico--"

"Stop!" Nico screamed, more violent than expected. "Percy! It's my life, which means it's my decision! Ignore your fatal flaw for one second. What's my life compared to the world?! I don't care anymore, do you get it?! I understand why the Fates took so much from me! I know how bad it hurts when you're on the other side of death, and I will never let anyone go through what I have. You have Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, your parents, all our friends... even Hades doesn't deserve to be alone. Let me give him this. Let me go."

The words hung in the air longer than Annabeth thought anything could. Percy and Nico glared at each other with so much anger, but under all that anger was such a love and fraternity that Annabeth had never seen in her boyfriend's eyes. He breathed something to Nico, so faint not even she could make it out... but it was easy to guess.

"Nico!"

A boy ran in, judging by Lou's reaction, this had to be Alabaster C. Torrington. He paid no mind to any of the wizards or demigods--only to Nico.

"Nico, Riddle's on the move. We've got two hours now; Dumbledore needs to talk to you about defenses."

Nico nodded, then turned to Lou and Ron. "You two go instead--you know this kind of magic better than I do." He then turned to Annabeth. "And you can direct them; I trust your tactics."

Annabeth gave a graven nod. "Understood. I'll draw up a plan and run it by you and Alabaster within the hour."

It's better than waiting to be blown up, anyway.

Annabeth, Lou, and Ron left to set up defenses. Percy, Blaise and Hestia left to join Professor McGonagall with the evacuation of underage students. Since demigods liked working in threes, that left she, Alabaster C. Torrington, and Nico di Angelo alone in the Room of Requirement.

As long as Hermione got alone time with the two leaders of the quest, she might as well drill them for long overdue answers.

"Harry's dead," she said.

She knew it to be true--he wouldn't have run away, that wasn't like him. He would've come back to offer himself up if he thought it was the noble thing to do. But he knew that Ron and she would do anything to keep him alive--even convince the others that there was some way around his death. Only Nico di Angelo, the ally with the least love for Harry, would do what had to be done without argument. It was the easiest way--Harry knew that.

"I'm sorry," Nico whispered.

And yet, it was so hard for Hermione to hear.

"If there was any other way..." Alabaster told her, but he, unlike Nico, didn't sound the least bit guilty or grievous.

"I know." Her voice cracked with the words. "Where's his-- his body?"

"I gave him last rites," Nico informed her. "The Athenian way, it's what Hades likes best. Which means I had to burn him."

"You couldn't wait to do something like that?!" she screamed, anger boiling in her stomach. "He was my friend! My best friend! And what about Ron? Or Cho Chang, his girlfriend? Or Sirius Black, his godfather? No! Nothing for us! Nothing for them! You just wanted to get rid of him as soon as you could, didn't you?!"

"I didn't want his soul to wander," Nico replied. His teeth were grit, and he had to make an effort to stay calm. "He deserved to be with his parents again. And with the Underworld ready to open its gates, I didn't want him to get stuck here."

"Oh, so you were doing it all in his best interest," Hermione shot back. "Go to hell!"

"Been there once," Nico replied in a dry voice, "not as fun as you'd think."

Hermione didn't remember leaving the Room of Requirement, nor entering the Gryffindor Common Room. She didn't remember curling up on her bed and grabbing Crookshanks and crying into her pillow. She didn't remember laying there for hours.

She only knew she did because of what happened next.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, soft and comforting like Harry's once was. She turned and saw Ron, already crying, looking down at her with broken but determined eyes. She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug with such force that Crookshanks mewed and bolted from the room.

"Riddle's half an hour away. We're heading into the forest," Ron told her. "I'm doing this for Harry. He would want you to, too."

Hermione giggled at the awkward end of his sentence, despite not finding it at all funny. Staring at him, knowing she might die, any reservations or doubts she'd once had about her feelings flew out the window. The arguing, the jealousy, it all seemed so petty now.

"I'll fight with you," she whispered, leaning in close. "Keep you from making daft mistakes. Like I always do."

Hermione thought she'd made her expectations of Ron's kiss impossibly high. Nope.

The final showdown comes tomorrow! What shall happen? Will Nico meet his end? Did Bellatrix torture Will to insanity? All this and more, on Thursday! (Maybe...)

This week's beta commentary:

STORY: But it was easy to guess

(This is 100% Giulia, so I'm formatting it as she formatted her comment)

PERCY: I love you bro

NICO: I love you too bro

PERCY: Bro *wipes tear*

NICO: No bromo

Credits:

Melody Rose - Author ()

Sara - Beta Reader (http://icomparemyselftoyou.tumblr.com)

Giulia - Beta Reader (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6748882/)

Please comment so I know what you think! See you next time!