A/N: Hello. A lot has happened since I last updated, including my spring break being extended and the possibility that I will be doing the rest of the semester online. I don't know if this will make me write more or less, but hopefully it will be the former and I will be able to put out more updates. Thank you for reading and/or reviewing this story despite how infrequently I update.

Until next time, be careful and stay as safe as possible. Bye.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything from Rick Riordan. Please don't sue.

Adrian's light brown eyes stare into mine, getting narrower the longer I go without answering.

"Um, nowhere?" I say dumbly.

Adrian huffs. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, just know that if you're caught being out past curfew you'll lose us house points. That effects all Hufflepuffs so be careful."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I didn't get caught." I pull another chair close to the fire and plop down into it.

He scoffs, but smiles slightly. "Yeah, I guess it is."

So, what are you working on so late?" I reach out, grabbing one of his books before he can stop me.

The cover is a rough, black leather and the pages are starting to turn yellow with age. Flipping through it, I can see that some pages have signals and drawings for rituals scribbled all over them and most of the writing is in something close to Latin.I really wish I took the class Annabeth organized last month so that the Greek demi-gods could understand the Romans easier.

"Nothing." He snatches the book back out of my hands. "An extra credit project."

I hum, not believing him.

"Okay, fine. I'm trying to create a new spell," He relents. "It's something really hard to do and only a few wizards have ever accomplished it so I wanted to keep it a secret before I figure everything out, happy?"

"I'm always happy. What's the spell supposed to do?" I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and and my head in my hands.

"Depends," he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. "are you going to tell me where you were tonight?"

"Fine, don't tell me," I pout. "I'll figure it out myself." I grab another one of his books, this one with a soft brown cover, and open it to a random page.

"Hey! Give that back." Adrian tries to take it, but this time I hold it out of his reach.

"Uh huh," I mumble as I turn the page. "Interesting."

Adrian gives up trying to get his book and slumps back into his chair.

"I think I understand. I only have one question." I flip the book around so he can see the gibberish. "What does any of this say?"

Adrian throws one of his crumpled papers at my head. I tilt my head to the side so that it misses by a hair.

"Okay, okay," I hold my hands up in surrender. "I can see that I'm not welcome here anymore." Returning the book, I stand up and stretch. "Let me know if you need any help reading that chicken scratch."

"Good Night Will," he shoos me away.

"Night Adrian. Don't forget to get some sleep. You're almost as bad as Nico."

His face scrunches up in disgust at the idea, but doesn't comment as I walk up the stairs to the dorms.

Surprisingly, I find enough energy to change out of the uniform I've been wearing all day and into a pair of fuzzy blue pajama pants and an old yellow shirt. I crawl into bed, careful not to awaken the other sleeping boys. It doesn't take long for my fatigue to take over and put me to sleep.

A nice, long, uninterrupted, sleep cycle is always welcome, preferred even, so, of course, that's not what I get. No, I end up closing my eyes only to be dragged directly into a dream. Worse still, I haven't been able to figure out how to control my dreams like the Hypnos campers and Nico have. I'm stuck following wherever it takes me until the end or at least until I wake up.

It's darker than most of my dreams. The ground is more barren than not and the few patches of grass are a dead brown. Not far away is someone standing in a blue pool of water under a tree bearing ripe fruit, Tantalus. Other eternal punishments are inflicted across the too hot field.

I've heard Nico talk about the Underworld before, but I've never had the misfortune to see it for myself. The river of fire warms the air, making my lungs burn and my skin feel like it's drying out. I'm glad that I can't seem to hear anything in this dream, saving my ears from having to listen to the screams of the tortured. Not knowing what else to do, I follow the first path I find. It leads me to a punishment at the edge of the field.

A man with bleach white skin and no nose is chained to a large rock. His mouth is open in a scream that I can't hear and his form flickers ever few seconds. Eventually, he seems to split in half. One part looking like a Hogwarts student with dark, tousled, hair, and the other part being the one nose less thing chained up. Both pant in beat, their faces screwed up in agony. As soon as they separated, the two forms snap back into one and the process starts over again. In front of the prisoner is a small metal plaque as if he's in a zoo.

Eternal Soul Separation.

There's something written under that, maybe a name, but it's blurred out. I try to focus on it, only to give myself a headache, and trust me, headaches hurt a lot more when you're dreaming. I give up.

I'm wondering if there's a way I can wake myself up so I can try to get some actual sleep when I realize the glow around the boiled egg look alike has dimmed and the younger boy figure hasn't appeared as quickly as he has been. I look around at the other punishment to see if something has happen to them too, but no, Sisyphus is still pushing his boulder up the hill only for it to tumble back down and the eagle hasn't stopped tearing apart Prometheus' liver, making me cringe at the sight. The only thing different is a skeleton guard leading a short figure in a black hood past all the punishments.

They finally come to a stop in front of the one I'm at. The prisoner sneers. The guard's jaw bone moves up and down, mimicking speech, as he gestures to the cloaked figure. Baldly doesn't look impressed, going as far as spiting at their feet. The guard reaches for the sword at his waist, taking a step forward before the cloaked man/woman holds out an arm to block their advance. The guard doesn't look happy, his bony hands are clenched into fist and I'm sure I would be able to hear his teeth grinding together if my dream had sound, but he resets back to a natural defensive stance. The figure makes a sort movement with their hand, dismissing the guard. The skeleton looks ready to argue, but snaps his jaw shut and retreats out of hearing range.

The chalky bald guy squints his eyes at the figure, turning his head slightly to try and see under the hood, but the figure has his head bowed so that the fabric shrouds his face. The prisoner's mouth opens as he yells at the hood, showing off his rotten black teeth. The figure's head snaps up. What ever the pale man sees has him blinking a few times as if he might be hallucinating. I take a step closer to see the face under the hood. A vibration runs through the ground and through my body. I catch a glimpse of a black curl of hair against pale skin poking out from under the fabric, then my eyes fly open back in the dormitory.

Nico.

"Hey, Will. You need to get up or you're going to be late for class." A boy is leaning over me. I think he said his name was Ernie. His hand moves from where he shook me awake.

"I'm up. I'm up." I wave him away. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I take a moment to let my eyes adjust to the bright lights of the dorm.

"Well hurry up. You don't want to miss breakfast." Ernie straightens his tie and waves as he exits the room, leaving me alone.

As soon as the door closes, I fall back on my bed with is groan. I could just sleep and skip classes today, but I can't. I'm probably already in trouble for missing class yesterday. I roll over onto my stomach, letting the mattress muffle my grumbling.