Shadows

By MayaLopezEcho

Quick AN: Ahhhhhhh! Thanks for clicking the link, means a lot to me. Thought I'd just let you know, I wrote this with PoA in my hand, and tried to stay as close to canon as possible (with the twist of Nico). This first chapter is going to sound really similar to a few specific chapters of PoA, so I hope you guys don't mind. I do not own PJO or HP, so there's the disclaimer that we all know and… love?

At Diagon Alley

Harry had been happily sitting at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. He had just finished his essay on Medieval Witch Burnings, and, feeling rather proud of it, tucked it into his bag. He asked for an ice cream, paid this time, and started walking down the streets. After staring dreamily at the Firebolt for a few minutes, he decided it was time to start school shopping. He went to the Apothecary and Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. As his last stop, he stepped in to Flourish and Blotts. The shop was mostly empty, besides one creepy-looking boy.

"Hogwarts? Both of you? Come to get your new books?" The manager asked.

"I suppose," The boy shrugged. He spoke in the strangest accent- American, maybe.

"Yes." Harry said, clearly.

"Get out of my way," He cried, pulling on gloves and stepping towards the big cage of Monster Book of Monsters.

"Hang on, I already got one of those!" Harry exclaimed quickly.

"Oh, thank goodness!" A look of enormous look of relief spread on his face. He turned and glared at the other boy, who seemed to be amused by something.

"I don't suppose you already have one?" The manager asked hopefully. The boy shook his head. The manager pulled open the cage and quickly grabbed a copy. He threw it at the boy.

"10 galleons," The manager said. The book at gone perfectly still in the boy's hands. He opened

the book, flicking through the pages.

"It appears several of the pages are missing." The boy said, a smirk on his face. He was starting to remind Harry of a dark Draco Malfoy. "I don't believe I'll be able to study appropriately without certain pages. Perhaps I should try a different copy."

"Would you like to pick a book from that bloody cage?" The manager looked ready to scream. The boy raised both eyebrows and walked to the cage. He muttered something very quietly in what sounded like a different language. The books all froze as if terrified, and he pulled out one of the less ragged ones.

"Do you have 10 galleons?" The manager asked.

"Yes, but this doesn't happen to be the only book I'm purchasing." The boy said cockily.

"What's your name, boy?" the manager asked angrily.

"Is that relevant?" He replied.

"Fine. What books do you need?"

"Transfiguration and Standard Spells. Oh, and Unfogging the Future."

"How old are you?"

"13." The boy replied.

"Well that will be 30 galleons."

"Do you charge?"

"Excuse me?"

"Like, a credit card?"

"Like the muggle money?"

"Well, yes, but, I have a vault in Gringotts. "

"Oh, yes. What is your name?"

"Di Angelo." And with that, the boy strolled out the door. Harry got the rest of his books, and went back to the Leaky Cauldron. Deeply troubled after seeing a book with the Grim on it, and after seeing that Di Angelo boy, who claimed to be going to Hogwarts, Harry had to wait forever before he entered a peaceful sleep.

As the days went by, Harry started looking for his best friends, Ron and Hermione. It was almost time for Hogwarts to start, so he started seeing other Gryffindors around. He had met Seamus and Dean in Quality Qudditch Supplies and he had run into Neville Longbottom and his grandmother. Almost a week after his encounter with the diAngelo boy, he stumbled upon them at Florean Fortescue's.

"Finally!" Ron said, grinning, as Harry joined them. "We checked the Leaky Cauldron, Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkin's and-

"I got all of my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "How did you know I was staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Dad" Ron replied. Of course, Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, would know about how Harry had blown up his aunt.

"Did you really blow her up?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't mean to," Harry protested. "I just sort of lost con-"He was cut off by a quiet laugh. He glared at Ron, but realized that the laugh came from another table. All three of them looked over to see the di Angelo kid with a smirk on his face.

"What's your problem?" Harry snapped.

"Oh, me? I just wish I could do that. Your guardians seem very… lenient."

"You don't know my family," Harry muttered darkly, turning away and continuing his conversation with Ron. The di Angelo kid pulled his chair right by Harry.

"Yeah," he said, "I don't really know your cousin or uncle."

"Like I said, you'll have to meet them to understand," Harry said shifting away again.

"But I do know Petunia,"

"You're lying," Harry told the annoying boy.

"Tall, bony, horse-like teeth? If it were a lie, Mr. Potter, you would be convinced." Nico started to disappear in to the darkness, still smirking.

"Did you see that? He just apparated!" Hermione exclaimed, paying very little attention to the fact that the Di Angelo kid knew Harry's Aunt. Suddenly, a shadow appeared above them. They all glanced up, noticing Florean Fortescue with Ron and Hermione's ice creams. He was glaring at the spot where di Angelo had been with distaste.

"Do you know that kid?" Florean asked, anger painting his words so that they were harsh and sharp; in contrast with his ordinary disposition.

"I saw him in Flourish and Blotts. He said his name was di Angelo." Harry said with concern. Florean was normally a really nice guy. He had given Harry free ice creams and tips when he did his homework.

"Stay away from him. You don't want to get on his bad side."

"Why? He looks a little creepy, but Harry's probably twice as good with a wand," Ron said, his eyebrows up in disbelief, confidence in his friend lighting an angry fire in his eyes.

"Well, be wary. Oh, and enjoy your ice cream," Florean said, still frowning at Ron's comment.

"Thank you," Hermione called halfheartedly at Florean's retreating figure.

"Don't worry, Florean's probably a nutter," Ron muttered to Harry.

"Ron!" Hermione snapped, and the aforementioned boy shrugged off her reprimand, looking for Harry's answer.

"I don't know," Harry said. "That kid seems dangerous."

"I just hope he's not in Gryffindor!" Ron said, "What a nightmare that would be!"

"He'll be in Slytherin. He seemed just like Draco Malfoy." Harry told Ron in hushed tones.

"I just want to know how he knew your aunt, Harry," Hermione whispered.

"And how did he know my name?" Harry asked himself.

"Well, Harry, everyone knows your name! You're the Boy who Lived!"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Harry muttered, not fully convinced. The three made an odd group as they walked to the magical pet shop. Ron got rat tonic for his graying rat, Scabbers, and Hermione got a giant cat that had attacked Ron. Ron and Hermione were arguing about Crookshanks, Hermione's new cat. Finally, Hermione turned her back on Ron and faced Harry.

"Come on, Harry. Mr. Weasley will be looking for us," Hermione said, and they walked towards the Leaky Cauldron, discussing Nico. Ron walked in front of them, as if oblivious to any conversation.

Mr. Weasley looked troubled when Ron and Hermione walked in. He perked up a bit when he saw Harry, but he still wanted to tell the boy of the dangers ahead.

"Harry! Good to see you!" He said, putting on a false smile. Harry happened to notice the picture of Sirius Black on the cover of Mr. Weasley's paper.

"They still haven't caught him, then?" He asked.

"No," Mr. Weasley said gravely. "They've pulled all us off our normal ministry jobs to search for him, but there's been no luck."

"Do you get a reward if we catch him?" Ron asked, "It would be nice to have some more money." Harry jumped as a laugh that was getting familiar cut across the room.

"If you're talking about Sirius Black, you're kidding yourself," The di Angelo kid still seemed to be hanging around.

"Excuse me, young man, it is rather rude to eavesdrop," Mr. Weasley said, rather politely.

"It's also rather rude to talk about people behind their backs, as in the case of your child. As for Sirius Black, within this year, you will be trying to protect him. Just watch. Especially Mr. Potter," His face looked deadly serious.

"Please, Mister, you need to leave," Mr. Weasley continued. The boy shrugged and turned. He took out two ear buds and a sleek black IPod.

"Fine, Arty," With another smirk on his face, he disappeared into the darkness just as before.

"Harry, do you know that boy?" Mr. Weasley asked urgently.

"I met him in Flourish and Blotts last week. I don't know anything else about him," Just as Harry finished explaining to Mr. Weasley, the plump, overworked Molly Weasley came in with Fred, George, Ginny, and Percy not far behind.

"Harry. How nice to see you," Percy started, and the entire group began talking and laughing together. All discussion about the sly di Angelo kid disappeared.

Somewhere in the general Europe area

Nico still hadn't removed the headphones from his ears. The noise was making his head ring, but the mood that came with the music matched perfectly with his own. Bon Scott of AC/DC was screeching Dirty Deeds- it seemed to be exactly what Nico was doing. He was still kicking himself for shadow traveling just to give that creepy affect. Did he want to look like his dad? The dad that got him stuck here? Besides, now he was tired. He was sure there would be no shadow traveling until tomorrow.

He was glad that he had picked up the supplies that would be necessary, but he was still worried about the next day. If anyone else had been around he would've acted differently, but that was just his 'Son of Hades' act. Many had described this particular façade as laid back, cool, sly, mysterious, and difficult. It had already proved useful in this quest, or job, as Nico called it. It would be harder to convince this Harry James Potter if he had just come up and said Sirius was innocent. He didn't know why Hades had needed this job done. Most of the time, these jobs made more sense- capture a soul, figure out who was trying to cheat death, go kill someone. Prove someone innocent? Not on the list. Nico wasn't one to question a god, though, so he hadn't asked.

The cold finally got to him. His body wasn't ready to stay out there when he was so tired. His face formed a sad smile as he remembered the words he had spoken many years before. "With great power comes… Great need to take a nap." Those words had come from a different child, one who had not been Hades's puppet. It had been at least a year since he had slept in his own bed at camp. It didn't really matter to him- camp was just another place to sleep. Hades supplied him with money for food, and that was all Nico needed. He decided to break and enter that night- instead of getting a motel room. Wherever he was, the houses were terrible, with broken windows and doors. The slight dark feel of the town made Nico vaguely think of monsters, but he had his Stygian Iron sword strapped to his waist on a thin chain. He also had at least five knives hidden in his black leather jacket. He wasn't a fan of it, as it had replaced his aviator's jacket. The aviator's jacket was still in his closet at camp, and, even though Nico would never admit it, he would miss his favorite jacket.

Deciding to not let his mind wander any longer, lest he dwell on unfavorable memories, Nico glanced around. He checked for any empty houses, and then he finally realized why he had ended up on this particular street, He had been vaguely thinking of it, with the whole Sirius Black business, and he couldn't say he was surprised. He was glad that he knew where he was- it would help while measuring energy. Number 11, number 13. Of course, Number 12, Grimmauld Place wouldn't be seen by a mortal eye. Nico was tempted to pause, as he was wondering is Sirius Black stood behind the invisible walls. Maybe the wrongly convicted man had come back home. Even if the option was doubtful, it was still a possibility. With one quick look between numbers 11 and 13, Nico continued down the street, deciding to stay in a motel. If Sirius Black lived around here, it could be assumed that there might be more wizards in the surrounding houses. It would completely ruin all of Nico's chances on the job if he was caught breaking into a wizard's house. He sighed, and pulled out his phone.

He typed Motel six into the GPS app, and the map beeped, showing a Motel Six four blocks down.

Torn between walking and risking shadow travel, Nico must have stood there five minutes before deciding to walk. He needed his health for this job. However, when Nico started along his way, he remembered how tired he was. He laughed out loud, shocking a passerby. Sure, he could go two years fighting monsters left and right, nonstop, but as soon as he shadow traveled maybe a mile, he couldn't move. Nico pulled out a small bag of Ambrosia, and popped a small piece into his mouth. He felt just enough energy to shadow travel, but didn't want to risk it. Instead, he ran all the way to England's finest Motel Six… Or the English equivalent. The GPS wasn't very specific. Nico checked in at the main desk, using the mist to make the clerk think he was 20 years old, as most hotel clerks don't like having 13-year-old boys dressed in dark clothes hanging around.

"Your name, sir?" The clerk asked. Nico hesitated a fraction of a second before coolly answering.

"Sirius," Nico said, hoping that Sirius was a common English name. For a second, he thought he was, safe. Then he saw confusion flicker over the clerk's face. Nico decided that he would just stand there, silent. He saw almost no change in the clerk for a few seconds, and was tempted to look over the desk to see what the clerk was looking at. However, he watched the clerk's eyes grow wide, so he tried to keep a normal expression.

Sirius, the boy had said. That struck a chord somewhere in the clerk, Joey's mind. He knew that name from somewhere, the name Sirius was bad news. An uncommon name, too. He frowned, racking his brain. Black! Sirius Black was the one from the radio report he had just heard. It hadn't said what age the convict was, but looking at the boy, he could definitely be a criminal. Dregs of the radio program surfaced in his mind; words like murderer, twelve dead, armed, £10,000 reward. Joey looked at the boy in a new, fearful light as he stuttered out a request for a surname.

"Uh, uh, uh… Your l-l-l-last na-name?" The clerk stuttered. He obviously thought that Nico was Sirius Black. Nico flashed a quick smile, improvising.

"Sorry, my last name is Sirius. My name is Harry Sirius." Nico was just pulling names from his mental list of people mixed in with the job. Harry Potter, of course, and Sirius Black.

"O-O-Okay, Mr. Bla-Sirius."

"Hey, cool it, alright? Are you feeling okay?" Nico was cussing in his mind. This could have been so much easier if he had just said that his name was Harry from the beginning. Now, the guy was probably going to call the cops.

"Ca-cash or cr-cr-credit, Mr. Sirius?"

"Cash. Visiting England for a month, and I forget all my credit cards. I only brought my ATM card, thank goodness for that!" Nico was still trying to disguise his mess up by laughing and talking.

"Uh, it w-w-will be twen-twenty pounds for o-one night in r-ro-room 12."

"Uh, do you take American money?" Nico asked, noticing the 'Pounds'.

"No, but there is a bank around the corner," The clerk whispered, as if afraid of Nico.

"Oh, you know what? Here's a twenty pound note right here." Nico was somewhat surprised to see the Hades had included pounds, but his father always seemed to know the problems Nico would be facing.

"He-here's you-you're room key"

"Thanks," Nico said, leaving. He pretended not to notice the clerk reach for the phone. He decided that he may as well let events unfold. It would call more unwanted attention on Nico if he just left. Almost as soon as he got to the room, he felt the effects of the ambrosia leave him. He barely had enough time to get into the bed before he was engulfed in a wave of darkness.

Sleep.

Joey waited until the kid was in the elevator before reaching for the phone. There was a 10,000 £ reward for the capture of the kid. Screw a tip. He wanted the 10,000. He punched in the familiar numbers for police. He had dialed them countless times- this motel was robbed or vandalized almost every other day.

"Hello, police services, how may I help you?" the female voice came on. The motel was only a few blocks from the station, and the police had their calls forwarded directly to a live operator.

"Hi, Julie, it's Joey from the motel down the street."

"Oh, hey Joey. Are you okay down there?" Julia sounded worried.

"I'm fine- I don't know how long I'll be fine, though," Joey played up the drama. The Sirius kid hadn't done anything, yet. He may as well get Julia interested.

"What's up?"

"I think Sirius Black just came into the motel," Joey said coolly, as he heard Julia gasp.

"The Sirius Black?"

"Yep. He was all dark and creepy. I asked for his name, and he said Sirius. Then, I asked for his last name, and he got all quiet for a moment, then he told me that Sirius was his last name. He said that his name was Harry Sirius!" Joey laughed.

"Joey! Don't you know that he's armed and dangerous?"

"Hey, don't worry 'bout me. Why don't you just send someone to pick the criminal up? He should be asleep."

"Listen, Joey. Everyone left. I'm the only one here."

"What?" Joey felt his heartbeat speed up. Before, he had thought that it would be easy. A police force would come and he would get his 10,000 pounds and be done.

"Don't worry. I'll call up the division directors. Just- are you sure that it's Sirius Black?"

"Yeah. It's him."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"You gotta trust me here- I don't have enough time to explain. It's either Sirius Black or someone else that should be busted."

"Has he done anything suspicious?" Julia sounded guilty.

"Why? Don't you trust me?" Joey asked.

"Alright. I'll call division. Be careful."

"'Kay, Julia. Be quick."

The police didn't show up until almost 15 minutes later. Joey politely showed them the room 'Sirius Black' was staying in.

"So, what about that reward?" Joey asked the one of the six officers.

"You can worry about that after we've caught him."

"That'll be easy, right?" Joey asked.

"This is a wanted criminal. He escaped a maximum security prison. I don't know what to tell you besides that," The officer sounded a little annoyed.

"Alright, alright." With that, Joey ran back into the lobby. The officer chuckled, then looked back at the room Joey had pointed out.

"Sirius Black! We know you're in there! Come out with your hands up, or we will shoot!"

As he took in the bright flashlights coming from outside, Nico groaned. He had seen this coming, but it didn't make the situation any better. He thought about his options. Nico finally decided to come out, hands up, and let them realize their own mistakes. Annoyed, he rolled out of the simple, basic hotel bed. 20 minutes. He had only gotten 20 minutes of sleep. That just sucked. Hades was always saying that Children of Poseidon never got mistaken for mass-murderers. Children of Zeus never got suspended for having knifes. No, everybody just hated children of Hades.

Shrugging off the sleepy composure, Nico pulled on his leather jacket to hide his knifes. He finally took in the dark room. The simple closet, bathroom, bed design. He paid little attention to the details earlier, but the bluish light was highlighting every piece of the room. The carpet had a sort of swirly design, faintly reminding him of the careful patterns in the Apollo cabin. He peered at the carpet again, noticing big red roses hiding most of the swirls. The furniture was normal, basic, simple. The headboard of the bed seemed to be made of solid oak, with no detailing. There was a side table made of the same wood. This was one of the things he had been taught to notice. The table could easily be smashed into someone's head, if it were necessary. Nico hardly moved as the police screamed in his direction. He waited for the cops to yell one more time before coming out.

"Can I help you?" Nico asked, somewhat politely.

"Sirius Black, you are under arrest for murder, as well as many other things. You do not have-"

"Excuse me, there seems to be a mistake."

"Are you saying that you have not committed these crimes?"

"I am saying that I am not Sirius Black. My name is Harry John Sirius."

"Okay, Mr. Sirius," The officer sighed. "Let's discuss this."

"Do you have anything against me?" Nico glared at the officer.

"You killed 13 people."

"Do you have anything that marks me as Sirius Black?"

"No."

"Then there is no reason to arrest me."

"Well, sir, do you have any identification?" At this Nico groaned.

"Stolen," Nico muttered.

"Stolen," The officer repeated, "Sorry, son, you'll have to come with me."

"Come on," Another officer said, "You do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so, but I must warn you that if you fail to mention any fact which you rely on in your defense in court, your failure to take this opportunity to mention it may be treated in court as supporting any relevant evidence against you. If you do wish to say anything, what you say may be given in evidence."

"Oh yeah. I'm not Sirius Black. Think that'll hold up in court?" With that, Nico decided that he was done playing games.

"I'm sorry, we have nothing to say you aren't." The officer replied.

"I don't have time for this," Nico mumbled. Faintly wondering what the English laws were for assaulting an officer, Nico brought his knee into the officer's stomach. He grabbed the officer's gun, loaded it, and turned towards the other five officers.

"I told you that I wasn't Sirius Black." Nico started, "But you didn't believe me."

"Y-You attacked an officer. That's 2 years!"

"I know that," Nico smiled slyly. "Now, everybody, go into the hotel room." Each officer complied. Nico came in with them. He wiped the gun clean on his jacket, and handed it to the nearest cop. Nico rubbed his fingers together, then snapped. The mist swirled around the hotel room. It was somewhat scary as each eye glazed over, as each officer was put under the power of the gods.

"I wasn't in the room. There were no prints, nothing. You found nothing. It was a false alarm. That was it."

And there ya go. Chapter 1, roughly 8 pages on Microsoft Word. Sorry about the length, this was kinda just a for fun fic. But, this is the account I'm going to post just about everything on, so I hoped you liked it. Chapter 2 is going to be a lot shorter, if I post it. Review if you have anything to say, I don't mind flames as long as they're somewhat informative. There are a couple awkward parts in this section, so, I'm hoping for some advice. And I tried to write as true to character as I remember, but I know my versions are gonna be a bit different than yours-'specially with the new Heroes of Olympus release (which I still haven't read, sorry). Long author's note, so I'm gonna wrap it up. Feel free to PM me for reasonable reasons.

-EchoMayaLopez