AN: Ron may be a little OOC, but I feel his family is close enough that he would stick up for Nico when he felt he needed it. Thank you all for the reviews and I'm really glad you're enjoying it so far~

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Nico went to Myrtle's bathroom first, thankful to find the Golden Trio finishing up there for the night.

"What are we doing in a girl's bathroom?" Will asked. "Just because you're gay-"

"Ron." Nico knocked on the stall door before opening it. "Look who's here for you to meet."

"Who's he?" Ron asked, barely looking up from the potion. But Hermione stood up as soon as she saw him.

"Will?" she asked. "This is Will?"

Nico nodded. "Will, this is Hermione, one of my friends."

"Nice to meet you." Will dropped his questions about the bathroom as he shook Hermione's hand. "I'm glad to see Nico's actually making friends and not lying to me."

Nico groaned at Hermione's interested look. "Does he not make friends often?" she asked. "Like, before his wizard life?"

"That's not important." Nico cut in. "Will, the one with the glasses is Harry. The other is Ron."

"Nice to meet you," Harry shook Will's hand. "We've heard a lot about you."

Will grinned. "I would hope so." He turned to Ron. "You're his brother?"

"Yeah, so?" Ron didn't seem humored at all. "And you're the ex-boyfriend?"

Nico froze. "Ron..."

"No, it's okay." Will laughed nervously. "Um...yeah, I am."

"And you broke up with him." Ron continued. "You broke up with my little brother."

"We're the same age," Nico grumbled.

"If I hadn't, it would have been pedophilia." Will defended. "I didn't hurt him on purpose, you know. I love him."

"Will, what are you doing here?" Hermione broke in, getting a thankful look from both Harry and Nico. "Aren't you just a demigod, not a wizard?"

"Um, yeah. I'm actually here because Dumbledore's helping me out on my quest." Will explained. "Monsters can't get onto Hogwarts grounds."

"Oh, that's interesting." Hermione leaned forward. "So do all demigods attract monsters? Is it their blood?"

"We smell like food." Nico stepped out of the small stall. "Now, I'm too crowded. Let's go to your common room or something."

They all agreed. As they walked, Will and Hermione led as he explained more of the demigod world to her. Nico kept to the back with Harry and Ron, his hands in his pockets as he looked Ron over. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked. "I didn't do anything."

Harry couldn't drop his smile. "I think he was defending his brother."

"Was not!" Ron defended. He kept on it for the rest of the night, but Nico couldn't help but be happy about what had happened. Sure, Ron and Will weren't getting along yet, but his brother was truly acting like a brother.

After dropping them off in the Gryffindor common room, Nico went to his own to get Dominic. He found his old friend laying in bed, reading another book on Divination that he didn't need.

"Get up." Nico pulled his blanket off and dropped it to the floor. "I have someone for you to meet."

Dominic raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Just come on." Nico pulled him up. "Please? I want you to meet him."

Dominic's eyes widened. "You only talk like that about one person...why is Will here?"

"Long story." Nico pulled him out. "But he's here until I can shadow travel him to camp and I want you to meet him. I left him in the Gryffindor common room with the others."

"That's insane." Dominic stumbled after him. "Stop walking so fast."

"I'm excited." Nico defended. "He's here, Dom. He's here. You get to meet him. I want my best friend to meet my lover-...my, uh..." He stopped walking in the middle of the cold corridor. "Uh..."

"He was your lover at one point." Dominic led him along again. "Come on, I'll meet him. Maybe he'll stay to spend Christmas with you."

Nico would have loved that, but both he and Will knew it wouldn't be. Will was still on a quest. He still had work to do. He shouldn't even be wasting time meeting everyone, but that was something they could fit in.

When he got to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione was sitting by Will on the couch, spitting out multiple questions at a time. Will did his best to answer, but when Nico came in his face broke out in relief. "Neeks!"

"Hey," Nico gestured to Dominic. "This is Dominic. He's in Hufflepuff with me, you know."

Will got up and shook his hand though his face had grown serious. "Dominic, what's your last name?"

"Cook," Dominic answered. "And yes, Nico grilled me about my family. No gods."

Will grinned. "You knew exactly what I was thinking."

Nico looked between the two, noticing the similarities immediately. So did the Golden Trio.

"No wonder you became friends with him," Ron put out. "He's exactly like Will. That's the secret to getting you to make friends."

"I'm not friends with him because of that." Nico rejected. "Shut up."

"Apparently one of the gods made us friends," Dominic added. "Hecate, right?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah, Will...I have a lot to fill you in on. I didn't have any way to contact you so I couldn't tell you before. But now I can if you want to go talk."

Will nodded in agreement. "Yes, please. Then we can get going. It's getting late."

Hermione stood up. "But I have so many questions that Nico doesn't answer...can I send you letters?"

Will nodded. "Course. Just send them to camp. Nico should have the address."

Nico led him out of the room before anyone else could object. Before long, they were in Myrtle's bathroom sitting across from each other, the poor ghost girl not too far away, listening in.

"Did you like them?" Nico asked. "My friends, I mean."

Will reached out to hold Nico's hand. "Of course I did. I think they're good for you. Though Dominic...are you sure...he's..."

"I know." Nico sighed. "I thought he was, too. But he knows both his biological parents by name. And he's never mentioned being attacked by a monster before."

"I guess you're right," Will replied. "But keep an eye out for it, okay?"

Nico nodded. "I was already going to..." Silence. "Um...I'm sorry that Ron was a jerk to you."

"It's okay," Will assured. "I don't mind."

"You sure?" Nico asked. "I didn't want you to be uncomfortable or anything..."

"I was fine, Neeks." Will rubbed Nico's pale hand with his thumb. "We should be getting to camp soon...those kids need somewhere safe. They need to know they have a home. They're probably so upset right now..."

Nico nodded in agreement. "Okay, we can get going. But I need to update you on my quest, I'll be fast. I've had dreams about a man that I'm supposed to know. And apparently Hecate made me become friends with Dominic, apparently, he's supposed to help somehow. And something's happening here at Hogwarts. Kids are getting attacked by something. And the monster isn't Greek or Roman. It's something in this world."

Will frowned. "Damn...should we even be wandering around, then?"

Nico waved the question aside. "We're fine. But I'm worried about Harry. I have to protect him but I don't even know what I'm protecting him from."

"You'll be fine." Will patted Nico's shoulder. "You always figure it out. Just relax and think, okay?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah...I guess so." He stood up and stretched his arms. "Come on, we need to get going. As you said, those kids should be in camp."

Will also stood up. "Thank you for showing me your friends, Nico. And this place...I see why you love it."

Nico's heart fluttered in his chest as he looked into Will's eyes. "You're welcome."