To Find What is Lost

Chapter 15: Avoiding

Will POV:

Of course it had to go wrong.

Everything always went wrong for his boyfriend. Like everything. Sometimes the son of Apollo wished he could take the bad luck from Nico, or at least share it. It seemed so unfair that where almost anyone would succeed through sheer chance, Nico always got the rotten end.

Not that there was much he could do about it now, just give advice.

"So really everyone thinks you're horrible?"

"Well," Nico hesitated and Will thought he saw a small smile under the sour expression. "My friend Luna says that it would be impossible for the whole school to hate me because there's inexhaustably people who don't, or something like that." To Will's confused look he grinned slightly. "It sounded better when she said it."

Will smiled at him, "I'm happy that you've found some good friends over there, if I'm right in my suspicions then you're going to need them."

"And those suspicions are...?"

"That you, sir, are unlucky."

Nico laughed bitterly, "You can't argue with that logic."

"Okay, but really. Keep your friends close, you'll find they help you when no one else can."

The Ghost King was thoughtful for a while and then nodded, "I will, don't worry. If you manage as few friends as me, you learn to treasure them. But now how on earth am I going to get close to Hermione? If I so much as go near her everyone's gonna' be at our throats. Mine, mostly."

Will hated to hear the desperation in the voice of one he loved so dearly, but he bravely continued to hand out the only thing he could now;

"I don't know what the atmosphere's like at Hogwarts, but I would tell you to ignore the gossip and whispering, if you don't bend under it then eventually they'll get bored and give up. If you hide and feel bad, then you're doing exactly what they want."

Nico snorted, "Easier said than done."

Will nodded sympathetically, "I know, but I've got to go now, and so do you. Be strong, my grumpy ball of darkness, I love you."

And with that he waved his hand through the mist, severing their connection.

"I know, I'm coming Kayla."

And off he ran guiltily to help his sister treat their latest ward.

*** Nico POV:

"Wait! Why do I have to... go." he finished lamely, realising Will couldn't hear him.

"I love you too, sunshine."

He thought for a moment, before glancing at his watch and remembering that he still had classes on, and next was Potions. He doubted Snape would consider gossip a good enough excuse to tie your shoelaces, much less miss a lesson, so he ran off and arrived in the dungeons with a minute to spare.

Sure, the looks and the whispers were agonising, but Nico found it easy enough to block them out now that he was prepared, having received similar looks for most of his life.

The really difficult thing was knowing that they were there. Again. First home, then Westover Hall, then Camp Halfblood, then Camp Jupiter, and finally he had found his place on the Argo Two, and now Hogwarts thought he was a creep too.

It felt rather depressing.

Luckily he still had Draco and Pansy (Blaise had dug his own grave with Nico that morning). Or at least he had Pansy.

Draco was starting to worry him, at first he had thought the blonde was simply preoccupied by the tricky potion they were brewing, but throughout the day he was forced to come to the conclusion that Draco Malfoy was avoiding him.

And there was only one reason he could be doing that, unfortunately, Nico had no idea what that was.

Of course, Draco wasn't the only Slytherin working up some avoiding-skills that day, Nico himself was enthusiastically making any excuse of absence whenever he saw a particular Gryffindor girl.

No matter what Luna said, he still believed that anyone in their right mind would hate him in this situation. So when Hermione kept popping up wherever he was at that moment, he naturally assumed that she was looking for an opportunity to yell at him, or curse him, or both.