Will (POV)
After a week with my Mom I was glad I went back. Mom and Danny had been sort of nice, apparently distance does make the heart grow fonder.

Mom waves me goodbye and I got onto the plane, looking forward to seeing my friends again.

"WILL!" Kat shouts when she sees me on the platform, running up to me and attaching herself to me like a Koala.

"Hey Kat!" I greet, hugging her back.

"Where's Nico? You guys took a plane together right?" she asks, releasing me.

"I spent the last week with my Mom. I haven't even heard from Nico since I left." I say, feeling worried.

"He's a big boy." She tells me.

I think back to what I overheard the children of Aphrodite saying about him. He shouldn't have to deal with stuff like that.

"Speaking of the delinquent." She says, glaring at the wall where Nico had just appeared.

"Um Hi?" He greets, dragging his trunk behind him.

Kat pulls him into a hug before punching him in the arm. "ONE LETTER?! YOU ONLY REPLIED ONCE?"
He pales. "Like I said, wards."

"But what about the summer camp?" she asks.

"I kind of left…" he admits.

I turn to glare at him "WHY DID YOU LEAVE?!"

He blushes. "I didn't really know anyone."

My gaze softens. "What about Lou? Or Percy?"

"Lou goes to this camp?!" Kat exclaims. "SHE'S NOT EVEN AMERICAN!"

I shrug before turning back to Nico.

"Lou's alright, and Percy and I aren't close." Nico says, looking embarrassed.

"Percy Weasley?" Kat asks.

"No. Perseus Jackson." I explain.

"Yikes, I'd go by Percy too." She mutters.

"We should get on the train or we'll miss it." Nico says, clearly wanting to change the topic.

We board the train and manage to find an empty compartment, where Nico almost instantly passes out.

"What's up with you?" I whisper in his ear.

"Shadow travel." He mutters, falling asleep.

"What's up with him?" Kat asks.

"Jet lag." I lie.

She shrugs and pulls out a bag of M&M's. "You're never going to believe what I got yesterday." She says with a grin.

"Clearly not a healthy diet." I say, scrunching my nose at the M&M's.

"Haw haw." She says, taking a handful of them and shoving them in her mouth. "Someone sent me a Nimbus 2001!" she announcing, grinning.

"Are you kidding? WHO?!" I yell.

"No clue, it just said happy late birthday. Weird, my birthday is Halloween." Kat tells me.

"And you didn't tell us last year?" I exclaim.

She looks away. "It's not really my birthday. I can't remember when my birthday is, it's just the anniversary of the day they found me. Why would I want to celebrate that?"

I give her a sad look. "Sorry." I tell her.

Does Nico remember his own birthday?

Kat returns to her usual self, throwing all the yellow M&M's at me.

About an hour into the train ride our compartment door slides open. "Have any of you seen my friends?" Hermione asks.

We both shake our heads. Nico just rolls over in his sleep.

"Darn, this is the last compartment. I've searched the whole train for those dunderheads." She sighs.

"Uh, Hermione." Kat says, staring out the window. "I think I found the dunderheads."

We rush to the windows. I see a blue car flying next to the train. I make out red and black hair in the front.

"WHAT ARE THEY DOING?!" Hermione shrieks.

"Apparently they found their own way to school." Kat adds helpfully.

"I am going to kill them." She mutters. "I should go, Ron's brother Percy is also looking for them. He'll want to know about this." She sighs, before leaving.

"I love those idiots." Kat laughs. "They're trouble magnets."

"No kidding." I agree.

When there is about ten minutes before we arrive I wake Nico up, and we change into our robes.

We follow the crowd to the carriages.

"Thank gods, no boats." Nico mutters next to me.

I give him a small smile, before noticing the skeleton pegasi, pulling the carriages.
"Uh Nico. What are those?" I ask him.

"Threstals." He explains. "They were created in my uncles and father's few moments of not trying to kill each other."
"What are you two staring at?" Kat asks us.

"The Threstals." I answer, pointing to the horses.

"The what? There's nothing there." She tells us.

Huh?

"Threstals can only be seen by someone who has seen death." Nico explains, stroking the Threstals.

I think back to the war. There were a lot of people I couldn't save.

"Oh." Kat says awkwardly.

"It was my mother." Nico tells her, his attention not leaving the Threstals "I'm sure you were wondering who I saw die."

Kat give him an apologetic look, before turning to me.

"Archery accident at camp." I lie.

It's going to be hard lying to Kat all the time.

"Sorry." Kat says awkwardly.

We hop into the carriages In silence.

"You mentioned in your letter you regained some memories?" Kat asks quietly.

He nods. "My father allowed me to see what happened to my mother, since then they've been coming back in pieces."

"So?" I ask curiously.

"I grew up in a wizarding home." He answers vaguely.

We nod, knowing that we won't get much more from him

After another sorting and delicious feast we head to our new rooms.

"It's strange not having Tonks here." Kat says sadly.

"I heard she went into Auror traning." I tell her.

She smiles. "Of course she is, she's a badass."

Nico and I go up to our new room and get into our slightly bigger beds, attempting to ignore Justin's rambling about a Gilderoy Lockhart.