Harry and ron looked at their watches impatiently. It was already 1 o'clock in the morning and nico had still not yet arrived. However, as the minutes passed, the impatience turned to worry. Where was nico? He didnt seem like those who would be late for meetings…

An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach. He turned to Ron

"Ron, i think something has happened to nico." giving him an affirming nod, ron and harry raced to the dormitory and found nico on the floor.

He was paler than usual (which told a lot) and his knife was by his side. Ignoring the knife thinking that it had just fallen out of nico's pocket (which did not seem unlikely at the time), he and ron heaved nico onto the bed. They stared at each other in surprise as they carried him; he was nothing more than the weight of a feather! Nico squirmed uncomfortably at the contact and scrambled out of their arms. The last time somebody had carried him, it was Will when nico first agreed to be his boyfriend. Nico blushed at the thought and buried his head in his hands quickly. Harry looked at nico and asked

"Nico, what happened?" nico frowned slightly and followed up with a groan. He pulled the quilt over his hands carefully and glared at the boys. He rolled his eyes and shooed the duo away. "Go away harry, dont bother about me. I told you that already...im beyond hope. Just ignore me. The meeting that we planned for tonight? Postpone it to tomorrow." nico shut his eyes and hoped the boys would take the hint. He did not want to be bothered right now. Sighing, the duo walked over to their beds. Harry cast a last worried look at the motionless boy and shook his head resignedly.

As his head touched the pillow, he fell into the inviting realm of dreams.
_

The next day, Nico woke up early. He surveyed the entire room; harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean were still asleep. He then glanced at the clock and immediately understood; it was only five in the morning. As he knew that no one would be at the assembly area yet, he figured that now was an opportune time to leave for the underworld for a one-hour 'vacation'. He summoned the shadows to take him and he slowly faded from sight.
_

Harry reached for his glasses and looked for Nico. To his surprise, Nico had disappeared and left his bed as though he had not been there at all. Harry frowned. Where could he have gone to? Just then, he saw the shadows at the corner of the room thicken and he only had a split second to realise what was about to happen. Nico emerged from the shadows looking pale and wan while he stumbled to the corner of his bed. On his arms and face were multiple bruises and cuts and there was a deep gash at the back of his neck. Nico reached into his bag and took out a cube of food. He stuffed it into his mouth and his bruises and cuts started to fade. The gash at the back of his neck was beginning to close up and his skin regained it's normal pale shade of olive.

"Hey potter what you looking at?" Nico asked sharply as he trudged to the washroom to freshen up. He had asked in a weary tone, like what harry had expected from an exhausted boy. Harry shrugged and dressed quickly. He did not want to be late for lessons. He had a feeling the professors wont be too pleased to meet nico gain after the mayhem he had caused. Seeing harry dress, Nico followed suit, causing harry to feel rather self-conscious. He looked at nico with concern.

After getting dressed, harry led Nico to the canteen to begin their long day at Hogwarts.
_

Nico had gone to visit the underworld just to realise that there was a huge battle going on. He immediately knew that something was wrong and shadow-travelled to his father's palace. Hades was dressed in greek armour made of multiple godly metals. Nico was stunned. He had never seen his father dressed in anything other than his robes.

"Father," Nico acknowledged and kneeled before the lord.

"Rise son. We are father and son, no need for formalities." Nico nodded and rose. "Father, what has happened? Why is the underworld in chaos? Have the furies not been performing their duties dutifully?" Hades glared at nico sternly.

"How could they have performed their duties when you summoned one of them to the surface?" Nico turned red. He had completely forgotten about the battle. He hastily apologised and offered to assist in the chaotic battle. Hades nodded slightly, then commented,

"It was good work on your part though. My children are usually the ones releasing monsters on the surface. I'm glad you're not one of them." In the next instant, hades shadow-travelled the both of them to the scene of the battle. Nico barely had the time to form a shadow shield before a hydra lunged at him.

"You're not eating any child's meat soon." Nico muttered and gave a loud battle cry then proceeded to slash at the hydra. The hydra bared it's fangs and kicked Nico's shin. Nico used his reflexes and jumped up. Then, he summoned hellfire in one hand and ghost fire in the other. He inhaled both at once and felt his body strengthen immediately. Tendrils of shadows curled at his feet and his eyes lit up like a maniac. He swung his sword forcefully and cut cleanly through the hydra.

"One down, thousands to go" he turned to his right and sliced a hellhound while he raised his right leg to kick an empousai in the stomach. Then, he judo-flipped the empousai from behind him and swung her into the ground before him. Next, he manipulated the shadows to form multiple chains and strangled thirteen cyclops within ten metres radius

This continued for the next hour before nico remembered Hogwarts.

"! Dad, I need to return to the surface…uhhhh quest stuff yea. See ya soon!" Nico grinned weakly and shadow-travelled back into the dormitory.
_

Harry stared at Nico's wounds in wonder. How had he managed to heal them? Non-verbal magic again?

Nico stared at the plate in front of him. It was full of food! There was no way he could possibly finish all of it. Seeing a fire nearby, he scraped off nine-tenth of the food into the fire and muttered a prayer to his father. Then he glanced at his plate. There were a few bread crumbs and a cut slice of meat. Nico wrinkled his nose and resisted the urge to puke. Since his stay in the jar, his stomach could not sustain more than a few slices of fruit in one go. He looked at Ron, who sat opposite him with an odd look on his face. His plate had two ham and cheese sandwiches and a slice of pizza at the side. Nico turned green and a lump formed in his throat. Harry had been noticing all this and knew what was to come. Nico turned away from the source of nausea and left his seat, proclaiming that he was done eating. Ron raised a questioning eyebrow at harry and pointed to Nico's uneaten food. Harry shook his head and was about to demand that Nico finish that tiny amount of food when he saw the scene in front of him.

Nico was pinned against the wall with Draco leaning in towards him with a knife to his throat. Nico, on the other hand, did not seem fazed. He grabbed the hand which held the blade and twisted it. He pressed the hand against Draco's back such that Draco's face was now squished against the wall. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, who had arrived at his side. He saw the same looks of incredulity on their faces and was gold he wasn't the only one. Nico then released Draco with a sneer on his face. Draco, not one to be pushed over two times in two consecutive days, turned and punched Nico in the nose, which Nico swiftly dodged, causing Draco's fist to hit the wall instead. Nico planted his hands firmly on Draco's shoulders and ordered,

"Look into my eyes Draco, and then we'll see who's the coward." it was the same trick again. Draco peered into Nico's deep brown eyes and shrieked. Nico had deliberately relived the time he had spent in Tartarus such that the most horrendous scenes were reflected in his eyes. Draco saw the terrors, hardship and pain in Nico's eyes and tears sprung to his own. Nico, feeling that that was enough for the time, released him and his eyes softened a fraction.

"I had to go through all that alone. You don't have to." Nico murmured softly and turned away. Hermione's hands were limp and Ron's mouth was agape. Harry wondered what Draco had seen. He guessed it was the same frightening thing umbridge had seen. He recalled nico's words from the day before.

"My eyes are hardened from the souls of the innocent..." What did he mean by that. Just replaying the memory in his mind sent shivers down his spin.

Harry peered over Draco's shoulder and saw Nico's retreating figure.

"Wait!" Harry hollered. Nico stopped in his tracks. "What did Draco see? What made him break down like that?" Harry demanded. Nico's shoulders slumped.

"I showed him something not even a grown man can handle. I showed him his darkest fears, his precious secrets being revealed and something I had to go through on my own. People rarely survive what I survived and most who survive become insane." Nico looked at him glassily. "I only did it because that stupid idiot was seriously getting on my nerves and I just wanted him to shut the f*** up. I think you know not to tell anyone."

Harry pondered over this. He had no intention of telling anybody what he had seen nico do. However, he was really curious to know what Draco had seen. Harry nodded grimly and said,

"But only on one condition; you must let me see what he—" harry pointed in the direction of the now hysterical Draco. "—saw." Nico looked at him as though he was crazy. In his mind, he had a mental conversation with himself that went something like this:

"Should I tell him?"

"Yea! Reliving the burden is great for health!"

"NO! What are you thinking? You can't do that! Are you f***** up or what?!"

"Hey! We're the same damn person!"

"So yea or nay?"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

Nico shook his head and cleared his thoughts. "You sure 'bout this? Don't blame me later 'kay?" Harry nodded solemnly. Nico took a deep breath and put his hands on harry's head.

In Nico's eyes, he saw his parents cradling him in their arms with himself as an infant. His mother was whispering lovingly into his ear and his father was singing a soft lullaby to him. Then, another image flashed in his mind; he saw Lord Voldemort. That scene was just as you-know-who had cast the killing curse and lily potter sacrificed herself for the infant. The cry she let out was heart-wrenching and tears formed in harry's eyes. An image of Sirius Black then popped up in his mind; he was fussing over the child. He cooed at the young child and ruffled his hair affectionately. Molly and Arthur Weasley then appeared and they were dead. Harry felt tears stream down his face. He knew that the two were not dead but the gruesome sight was too much to handle. Nico noticed this and immediately withdrew his hands.

"What did you see Harry? Are you okay?" Nico asked as though it was something he always did. At this point, Hermione and Ron ran over.

"What did you do to him!? Why is he like that?" Hermione, the ever-protective best friend demanded. Ron looked on warily and whispered, "I wouldn't do that if I were you…you saw what he did to Draco and the professors!" Hermione paled but did not back down.

"He did what I asked him to do—see what Draco saw" harry, who had calmed down visibly, answered. He turned to nico.

"I…I saw my parents…" nico nodded wordlessly. He then put an awkward ice-cold arm on Harry's shoulder. Harry smiled. He knew that nico did not appreciate contact with others.

After a while, nico spoke up. "Your parents aren't around anymore right?" Hermione and Ron glared at him but harry nodded. "They sacrificed themselves for me." Harry quietly replied.

"You want to see them, don't you?" Harry looked at him sadly. "Just because I want to doesn't mean I can nico…you wouldn't understand. Nobody does…"

"I do. I lost my mum, my sister, and I have a distant father. I only have left a half-sister."

Harry didn't respond; he was busy wallowing in his tiny pit of self-pity and reliving the grief of losing his family.

"Harry." Harry looked at nico. "We're gonna see your parents tonight and do something else more important. I've changed the meeting place tonight. It will not be the astrology tower but the forbidden forest. Bring some food and a mentally prepared mind. Meet at midnight. Dont be late."

With that, nico shadow-travelled back to the dormitory.