On Monday, Professor Lupin was back in his classroom. He assured the class that they did not have to complete the werewolf essay (to the disappointment of Hermione, who'd already finished it). Instead, he brought out a glass box containing a little one-legged creature that looked as though it were made of wisps of smoke. The creature held a lantern in one hand.

Nico started. "I've seen those before!" he exclaimed, forgetting to raise his hand.

"Indeed?" Professor Lupin said, sounding interested. "Do you know what this is called?"

"Er…no," Nico admitted. "Just that we'd see them sometimes in the marshes outside Venice, and Mother always forbade my sister and me from going anywhere near the 'strange lights'."

"Well, she gave you good advice," Professor Lupin replied. "Hinkypunks attempt to lure travelers into bogs. You should never follow their directions. Now everyone, turn to page 103."

At dinner that night, Harry approached Nico. Confused, Nico looked up from his food. "What do you want?"

"Lupin offered me lessons in fighting dementors," Harry explained, looking mildly disgruntled. "He said I should extend the offer to you too."

"Oh." Nico hesitated, wondering whether Lupin could really teach him anything that would address the fading issue. Then he decided it was probably better safe than sorry. "Sure, thanks."

Harry nodded curtly. "He said it'll probably have to wait until after the holidays, but…well, he'll probably tell us when he's ready." With that, Harry walked away.

A few Thursdays later, Nico got an unexpected Iris-Message in the middle of Transfiguration. He hurriedly swiped through the message, excused himself and ducked into Myrtle's bathroom. Once inside, he turned on a sink and returned the IM. "Will? What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, what's wrong? I'm just messaging you to wish you a happy Thanksgiving!"

"A happy…what?"

"Thanksgiving? Turkey day?" Suddenly, a look of realization came over Will's face. "Oh wait…they don't have that in Britain, do they?"

"Uh…no. Normal school day here. I was in class when you messaged. Still supposed to be there."

"Oops," Will said sheepishly. "Hang on…didn't you ever celebrate that in the US, though?"

Nico thought about it. "Oh right, there was that one time at Westover Hall when we had a long weekend for Thanksgiving…Bianca and I had nowhere to go, so we just stayed at school and didn't really do anything."

Will shook his head. "You poor, Thanksgiving-less Italians. You do celebrate Christmas, right?"

"Yeah. I'm planning to stay at school, but my plans always seem to change at the last minute, so we'll see."

"Gotcha. I'll be sure to find an owl and send you something."

"Uh…thanks. Talk to you later." Nico swiped through the image. "Myrtle, do you have any idea how I would buy Christmas presents at Hogwarts?"

Myrtle drifted out of her stall. "Go to Hogsmeade?" she suggested with a shrug.

"That might be difficult."

"I don't really know," Myrtle said apologetically. "I was Muggle-born, I never knew all that much about wizarding culture."

"Guess I'll figure it out," Nico sighed.

As it turned out, there was to be another Hogsmeade visit the day before students went home for the holidays. Nico seriously considered taking the risk and going to Hogsmeade, but decided against it. Judging by the recent Quidditch match, he still wasn't safe to go near dementors. Instead, he gave Hermione a few Galleons and a general idea of what he thought Will and Hazel would like (how he was going to buy Hermione a present, he had no idea).

The morning of the Hogsmeade visit, Nico played with Vescia in his dormitory while Hermione, Neville and Ron went down to the village. For their first stop, both Ron and Neville insisted on going to Honeydukes. Hermione tagged along, figuring that she could buy some Tooth-Flossing Stringmints for her parents' Christmas gifts.

Once she had bought the Stringmints, Hermione searched the shop for her friends. She thought she heard Ron's voice coming from a corner, so she headed toward it. Suddenly, Neville appeared in her path. "Hi, Hermione!" he said, sounding oddly cheery. "So, Nico asked you to do some Christmas shopping for him too, right?"

"Uh…yes," Hermione confirmed, giving him an odd look. "So, are you ready to go?"

"Nah, Ron and I will probably be a while. Why don't you go get some other shopping in while Ron and I are looking?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No!" Neville objected, a little too quickly.

Hermione gave him a suspicious look. "You know what, I probably don't want to know. Come find me when you're done with whatever you're doing."

Neville heaved a sigh of relief and returned to Ron and Harry, making sure to block Harry from Hermione's view.

After several hours, Nico decided to go out to the grounds to visit Felpato. When he reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he found Luna hand-feeding some meat to a thestral. She perked up when she saw him. "Nico! Have you met Melinoe?"

Nico stopped and stared at her. "What?"

"Melinoe," Luna repeated, gesturing to the thestral. "I named her for the Greek goddess of ghosts."

"Uh…that goddess is…not a very nice one, you know. Personally, I wouldn't name anything after her."

"Oh. Have you met the goddess Melinoe, then?"

"Well…" Nico debated whether to answer honestly, then shrugged. "Yes. She tricked me into thinking she was my mother, then accused me of abandoning her."

Luna frowned. "That wasn't very nice of her. No wonder you don't want to name a thestral after her." She paused in thought. "Melinoe, you are now Hecate. Is that better, Nico?"

"I guess." Nico pulled a sausage out of his pocket and fed it to the thestral.

"Are you visiting your sister for Christmas again?"

"Probably not, but my Christmas plans have a way of changing at the last minute."

"Hmm." Luna looked thoughtful, then suddenly nervous. "Well…would you like to change your plans at the last minute and stay with my father and me? I've told him all about you. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

Nico shook his head. "No thanks. Bad things tend to happen to me around Christmas. I don't want you to get caught up in it."

"I'm willing to take the risk," Luna argued. "How bad could it really be?"

"Well…last year I discovered that Leo was my cousin (or was he my second cousin?) and ended up dragging him into our family issues, which eventually led to his death. The year before that, I got kidnapped by my stepmother. The year before that, my vice principal tried to kidnap my sister and me, we got dragged into the family issues, and my sister was killed. And the year before that—well, sort of—Grandfather got unexpectedly sent to America and couldn't spend Christmas with us. Never got to spend Christmas with him ever again, for that matter."

"And so now you won't even try to enjoy your Christmas?" Luna asked quietly, looking dejected.

"Of course I'll try, just not with you."

"If you didn't want to come, you could have just said so," Luna murmured, sounding hurt. She rapidly walked back to the castle.

Nico stared after her, wondering what he'd said wrong. He wanted to protect her, why would she be upset about that?

Neville and Ron never returned for Hermione, so she finished her shopping and headed back to the castle. At dinner that night, she noticed Neville and Ron shooting repeated worried looks at an oddly silent Harry. She briefly wondered if Harry had somehow snuck down to Hogsmeade, but dismissed the notion. Surely he would be looking happier if he had.

Nico seemed to be in a bad mood as well. He pushed his food around his plate, then eventually sighed and looked up at Hermione. "So…did you get the gifts for Will and Hazel?"

"Oh! Yes." Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out a set of color-changing art supplies and a singing teacup. "The colored pencils are for Hazel and the teacup is for Will. And here's the change."

"Great. Thanks." Nico stuffed the gifts into his own bag, then swallowed and glanced at the Ravenclaw table. "Have you talked to Luna today?"

"No, why?"

"We were talking earlier, then she got upset and left. I can't figure out why."

"Oh." Hermione also glanced at the Ravenclaw table. "Did you mention Will?"

"Of course not." Nico frowned, suddenly anxious. "You think she has a problem with…with people like me?"

"No!" Hermione exclaimed hurriedly. "No, I don't think she has a problem with people like you. Though, I think she might be upset to learn about you specifically…"

"So you do think she'd have a problem with it," Nico said flatly and rather tonelessly.

"That's not what I said!" Hermione objected.

"That's exactly what you just said!" Nico retorted.

"No, I just mean…" Hermione trailed off, hesitating. Should she explain herself? She didn't think it was her place to reveal Luna's crush, and besides, Nico would probably manage to find the world's most tactless way to let Luna down. "Oh, forget it. You say you didn't mention Will anyway, so obviously that's not the problem."

"But you think it could become one." Nico stood up. "I'm going to bed. Happy Christmas."

Nico laid on his bed, staring at his canopy. So far, he hadn't had any unexpected changes to his Christmas plans, but the holidays certainly weren't off to a good start. Why did people have to be so complicated? Why couldn't he just be normal?

The door opened and Harry walked in. Nico idly listened to the sounds of Harry rummaging in his bedside cabinet, then Harry climbed into bed and pulled his hangings shut. A few minutes later, he re-emerged, holding a photo album. For some reason, he glared at Nico. "Did you know?"

"Did I know what?" Nico replied, disinterested.

"Did you know my parents died because my dad's best friend sold them out to Voldemort?!"

Nico sat up and stared at Harry. "Why would you think I knew that?"

"First Flamel, then Quirrell, then Riddle…you seem to know everything before I do," Harry grumbled.

"All I know about your parents is that You-Know-Who killed them…hang on." Nico suddenly remembered his vision from after the Quidditch match. "Were their names James and Lily?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed, giving Nico a suspicious look.

"Was their traitorous friend Sirius Black?"

"So you did know!" Harry cried accusingly.

"No, I didn't, I only just figured that out," Nico said crossly. "Do you know anyone named Wormtail?"

Harry looked both surprised and baffled by this line of questioning. "As in, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?"

"As in…Padfoot?" Nico repeated in surprise. That sounded somewhat like an English translation of 'Felpato'. Which was entirely irrelevant right now. "Never mind. I don't know any of those other names. I think Wormtail has something to do with Black blowing up all those people, I just don't know what."

"What gives you that idea?"

Nico laid back down and rolled over so that his back was to Harry. "Doesn't matter. I don't know anything else about your parents. Good night."

In the morning, all the other Gryffindors except Harry and Ron had left for the holidays. Nico sent off the gifts for Hazel and Will, then pondered the issue of Hermione's gift. No doubt she would like a book. Getting one, however, would be difficult.

A few days later, it was a house elf named Dobby who provided the solution. He suggested Nico look through the library for a book Hermione would like, then owl order a copy for her. Nico spent about five minutes staring at swirling letters, then called for Dobby and asked for some non-dyslexic help. Once the book had finally been selected, Nico gave Dobby a sock in thanks. He didn't quite understand why Dobby only wanted one, but Hazel had made him pack far too many anyway.

With Hermione's gift taken care of, Nico found himself pondering the Luna problem. Looking back on it now, he realized Hermione was right—he hadn't so much as alluded to Will, so obviously Luna had been upset by something else. And even if she disliked people like him in general, maybe he could get her to the point where she'd make an exception for him. After all, she'd seen him shadow-travel and she hadn't even been fazed. He decided that for once, he wasn't going to accept rejection so easily.

Nico figured that the easiest place to start would be by getting Luna a Christmas gift too. Thinking of all the bizarre jewelry he'd seen her wear, he decided to try to make her a bracelet out of thestral hair. He hoped she wasn't too keen on high-quality craftsmanship—he was horrible at weaving. Still, he ended up with a roughly wrist-sized loop, so he decided that was good enough and sent it off, along with a note wishing her a happy Christmas.

Christmas morning finally came, and Nico still hadn't suffered any unexpected changes to his plans. However, he woke up to something…odd. There seemed to be a heavy aura of death around him. Had he been transported to a graveyard?

Nico opened his eyes and saw something far worse than a graveyard. Skulls had been artfully hung all over his bed and his sleeping area. A quick examination confirmed his suspicions—medieval monk skulls. "Father!" he complained aloud, holding up a skull. "You want me to fit in with modern teenagers? Not! Helping!"

The skulls winked out of existence. Moments later, a rare Mythomagic deck appeared out of thin air and fell onto a pile of wrapped presents. "Uh…thanks," Nico said, deciding not to point out that he hadn't played Mythomagic in years.

"Why are you shouting at your father?" Ron mumbled sleepily.

"Gift-giving is decidedly not his specialty," Nico grumbled.

Ron suddenly sat upright. "Gifts!" He threw his pillow at Harry. "Oi! Wake up! Presents!"

A hand reached out from Harry's bed hangings and grabbed his glasses. Nico returned his attention to his own pile of gifts, which was rather larger than he'd expected. Hermione had sent him a small pouch of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Neville had sent him a set of Gobstones. Will had sent him a tin of Christmas cookies and a toy skull that kept spouting off rhyming couplets (Nico quickly placed a silencing charm on that). Hazel had sent him a hand-knitted black sweater and a cat toy for Vescia. Reyna had sent him three new canteens of unicorn draught and a box of hot chocolate. Jason had sent him a rainbow-colored skull-shaped pin, along with a note explaining the rainbow symbolism and promising that he didn't expect Nico to start wearing it right away (symbolism or not, Nico thought the pin was far too colorful for his tastes). Coach Hedge had sent a baseball bat, several bottles of Gatorade and a photo of baby Chuck. And at the bottom of the pile was a short note in unfamiliar handwriting that didn't seem to belong to any of the gifts.

Nico picked up the note and spent several minutes deciphering it. It said "Go to the statue of the one-eyed witch in the third-floor corridor. Tap the statue with your wand and say 'Dissendium'." There was nothing else. No name, no signature, nothing at all to indicate who had sent the note. Nico figured it was probably some sort of trap. Although…if it was a trap, whoever had sent it probably wouldn't leave him alone until he dealt with them. So, he made up his mind to investigate.

A crash startled Nico into looking up—Vescia had chased her new toy straight into Harry's trunk. The trunk tipped over and something fell out. It looked like a glowing glass spinning top, which whirled and made a high-pitched whistling noise. Vescia stared at the top, her fur standing on end.

"What is that?" Nico demanded, curious in spite of himself.

"Pocket Sneakoscope," Harry replied. "Supposed to light up if there's someone untrustworthy around…" He tried to pick up the Sneakoscope, but Vescia growled and snapped at him. "Will you get your cat already?!"

Nico picked up Vescia and her toy. "So, uh…why's it lighting up, then?"

"I don't know." Harry narrowed his eyes at Nico. "Do you?"

"No, I don't, that's why I asked." Nico looked around the room. "How did the presents get in here, anyway?"

Ron shrugged. "The house elves bring them."

"Hmm. Well, I've got an anonymous note that's probably trying to lure me into a trap, so maybe that's it." Nico turned around and returned to his bed to get dressed.

"Paranoid much?" Ron muttered. "Seriously Harry, can I have a go on that broom?"

"Course you can," Harry promised. "I still don't believe it…a Firebolt…"

Nico ignored them, double checking that he had his ring and wand. Prepared for traps, he left the dormitory.

Once Nico found the statue from the note, he put his wand in his left hand and kept his right hand ready to summon his sword. Cautiously, he followed the note's instructions. A hole opened in the back of the statue, but nothing jumped out at him. He warily looked into the hole. It appeared to be the top of a slide. Keeping his ring poised to transform, Nico climbed into the hole and let himself slide down the chute.

At the bottom, he found himself in a narrow, earthy passageway. He looked around for potential attackers, but the passage was completely empty. Increasingly curious now, Nico decided to follow the passage and see where it went.

The passage twisted and turned for what felt like forever. Eventually, the passage rose and Nico came to the foot of a set of worn stone steps. He climbed and climbed until finally he reached a trap door. He opened it and found himself in a dusty cellar that was full of wooden crates and boxes. Upon inspection, Nico discovered that the boxes were full of candy. In fact…some of these looked like the Honeydukes sweets that Hermione and Neville had previously brought back from Hogsmeade.

Could this be the cellar of Honeydukes? Nico was fairly certain he'd walked far enough to reach Hogsmeade. Spotting a wooden staircase, he climbed it and opened the door at the top. The room beyond was clearly a candy shop, though it was presently dark and empty. Presumably, the place was closed for Christmas.

So, the mysterious note-writer had given him a dementor-free route to Hogsmeade. Nico still had no idea who had sent it or why, but he was starting to think maybe this wasn't a trap after all. He resolved to come back later when businesses were open so that he could buy gifts for all the people he hadn't thought to shop for.

When Nico went to the Great Hall for Christmas dinner, the house tables had been moved to the side of the room and a single table for twelve had been set up in the middle. "Happy Christmas!" Dumbledore called cheerfully. "As there are so few of us, it seemed foolish to use the house tables…sit down, sit down!"

Nico reluctantly sat, mildly annoyed that he was expected to share Christmas dinner with a handful of teachers and classmates to whom he rarely spoke. Then again, two years ago he'd had Christmas with his father and stepmother, and that was an experience he had no intention of ever repeating. It was a wonder he'd made it through the holiday without a repeat of the dandelion incident.

A loud bang startled Nico out of his thoughts. Snape was now holding a ridiculous-looking hat that seemed to have come out of nowhere. His lips thinned and he shoved the hat toward Dumbledore, who happily donned it. "Dig in!" Dumbledore advised.

Nico began helping himself to roast beef. In the center of the table, he noticed a pile of silver…things. "What are those?" he quietly asked Professor McGonagall.

"Those are Christmas crackers," Professor McGonagall answered, sounding surprised. "You've never seen them before?"

"We don't have those in Italy," Nico replied. "So, do you…eat them?"

Professor McGonagall laughed, then quickly stopped and covered her mouth. "Sorry. But…goodness, no. Here, let me show you." She picked up a cracker. "Now, take one end and pull."

Nico obeyed. There was another loud bang, and the cracker exploded to reveal a sleek top hat and several white mice. Two of the mice bit Nico before running away. "Ow," he complained.

"Sorry," Professor McGonagall replied, clearly fighting amusement. "They don't usually contain animals. Would you like to try another?"

"I think I'll pass." Nico reached for the potatoes instead.

At that moment, the door opened to admit a woman in a glittering green dress and very large spectacles. Dumbledore stood up to greet her, and Nico's stomach gave an odd lurch. The woman (apparently the Divination teacher, Professor Trelawney) had come to join them, but when Dumbledore conjured a chair for her, she suddenly uttered a soft shriek. "I dare not, Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!"

"We'll risk it, Sybill," Professor McGonagall said impatiently. "Do sit down, the turkey's getting stone cold."

"Um…" Nico mumbled uncomfortably. He knew that Professor Trelawney was right, but if nobody believed the Divination teacher, why would they believe him? He had just made up his mind to leave when Professor Trelawney sat down. Too late now.

"Tripe, Sybill?" Professor McGonagall offered.

Professor Trelawney ignored her, choosing instead to comment on Professor Lupin's absence (apparently the man was ill again). Nico dug into his food, uninterested in conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron feeding some of his dinner to a very ill-looking Scabbers.

Eventually, Professor McGonagall tried to draw Nico into conversation again. "So, I take it you've never celebrated Christmas in Britain before?"

Nico shook his head. "Celebrated it in Italy, but I haven't really done much for Christmas these past few years in America. It was always a big family celebration in Italy, and, well…ever since my mother died, I haven't had any contact with my Italian relatives."

"That's the non-violent side of your family?" Professor McGonagall queried.

"Yeah. Comparatively. There was one Christmas when Mamma tried to stab Uncle Flavio with a salad knife…"

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. "It's a wonder you survived long enough to attend Hogwarts."

Nico shrugged. "After that year, they always made sure to send us children up to bed before bringing out the wine."

"And a good thing too, from the sound of it." Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Stabbings at Christmas…"

As the meal went on, Professor McGonagall continued asking Nico questions about Christmas in Italy. Nico answered, surprised to realize just how many stories he had. He hadn't thought about his extended mortal family in a long time.

By the end of the meal, Nico had become so absorbed in distant memories that he forgot there were thirteen people at the table. He and Harry stood up to leave at roughly the same time, and Professor Trelawney shrieked. "My dears! Which of you left his seat first? Which?!"

Harry and Nico shared a glance. "Uh, I think I did," Nico answered, grimacing.

Professor McGonagall glared at Professor Trelawney. "I doubt it will make much difference, unless a mad axe-man is waiting outside the doors to slaughter the first into the entrance hall."

Everyone but Nico and Professor Trelawney laughed. "Knowing my luck, there probably is," Nico muttered. He cautiously looked around the door before exiting the Great Hall. Thankfully, the entrance hall was free of mad axe-men.

Nico walked upstairs, cursing himself for forgetting about the Thirteen Diners rule. And yet…oddly, he didn't feel as strong a sense of foreboding as he would have expected. In fact, he had the strangest feeling that there had been thirteen people at the table before Professor Trelawney arrived.

A/N: Sadly, that's all I've got for now. I intend to at least finish Prisoner of Azkaban, but life has gotten very busy and I have no ETA for it. And before you all try to murder me, remember that I can't finish PoA if I'm dead.