On Monday morning, the Daily Prophet sent students into a veritable frenzy of chatter. Supposedly, Sirius Black had used some unidentified dark magic to break into the Shrieking Shack, and it was suspected that he'd been hiding there.

"Oops. I guess they did notice I broke in," Nico mumbled sheepishly to Hermione.

Hermione hesitated, then decided not to tell Nico that she'd sent an anonymous note to Professor Lupin about the fact that the Shack was no longer secure. "Apparently." She took a closer look at the article. "It says the wards were completely disintegrated, and it would take incredibly advanced and powerful magic to do that."

"Well, my sword definitely qualifies," Nico agreed, unconcerned.

"And now they're looking for Black in the wrong place," Hermione said worriedly.

Nico scowled. "Considering what they plan to do if they catch him, I'd just as soon not help them find him."

"He's a murderer, and you'd just let him get away with it?" Hermione demanded incredulously.

"If the Ministry catches him and lets the dementors Kiss him, he'll never face proper judgment for it. So no, I wouldn't let him get away with it. Wouldn't kill him in cold blood either, but…well, if I actually catch him, I'll figure something out."

Hermione shook her head. "Your moral code can be very odd sometimes."

Nico shrugged. "That's because I know a bit more about death than the average mortal."

Hermione had a feeling there was more to it than that, but decided to drop the subject.

As the week wore on, Hermione noticed that Neville had made up with Harry and Ron, and the three of them seemed to be spending more time in the library than usual. "You know, it really wasn't fair of us to drag Neville into our argument about Scabbers," Hermione mused.

"I didn't drag him in," Nico said flatly. "He was there."

"But it's not his fault that he didn't see anything," Hermione argued. "Until Ron kicked up a fuss, seeing Scabbers wouldn't have been anything worth remembering."

"I never said there was anything wrong with him not seeing anything. If he would accept that I did, then I'd be perfectly willing to talk to him again."

"He couldn't agree with either you or Ron without alienating a friend," Hermione pointed out. "You put him in an impossible position."

"Was I supposed to let Ron blame you for something your cat didn't do?"

"No, you…oh, forget it," Hermione sighed. Making up her mind, she packed up her bag and walked over toward Harry, Ron and Neville's table, intending to speak to Neville.

However, she didn't seem to be welcome. "Do you mind?" Neville said, somewhat irritably. "We're busy."

"With what?" Hermione asked, frowning. The three boys had several books on magical creatures and a book on magical law, none of which were third year course materials.

"We're trying to save an animal's life, so we really don't need your help," Ron said waspishly.

"Fine." Hermione turned around and marched out of the library, trying not to let her hurt show.

Exams were approaching, and the Easter holidays passed in a blur of studying. Neville had taken to spending all his spare time with Harry and Ron, and none of the three wanted anything to do with Nico and Hermione. Worse, sometimes Hermione could swear the boys were looking at her and Nico with outright suspicion.

After the holidays, people began making a fuss over the upcoming Quidditch final. It was all down to Gryffindor and Slytherin now, and inter-house tensions were reaching a fever pitch. Slytherins frequently attempted to sabotage the Gryffindor team, and the Gryffindors responded by enthusiastically making sure that team members were safely escorted everywhere outside Gryffindor Tower.

One day, on the way to Care of Magical Creatures, Nico and Hermione overheard Malfoy talking to Harry. "Hey, Potty! Nice broom you've got; it's a pity they don't let you fly headless hippogriffs!"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy," Harry snapped.

"I'd pay good gold to see that," Malfoy continued. "Of course, if we just wait a few more weeks, I'm sure we could behead one for you…"

Harry, Ron and Neville all looked like they wanted to attack Malfoy for that, but the rest of the Gryffindors had them thoroughly surrounded. Hermione, on the other hand, had no such restraints. She surged forward and slapped Malfoy across the face, hard. "Why don't you fly a headless hippogriff yourself, you slimy coward?" she hissed.

"H-Hermione?" Ron stammered, gawking.

Hermione whirled on him. "What, did you forget I'm part of Gryffindor too? Or do you think I like the idea of killing animals? I am sick of everyone acting like I'm such a terrible person because my cat has the instincts of a cat!" She rounded on Malfoy again, drawing her wand. "Keep treating animal deaths like some kind of joke, and it won't be Nico you need to worry about!"

Neville managed to extricate himself from the crowd and reached out to gently lower her wand arm. "Hermione, he's not worth it, okay? Harry will beat him on Saturday."

"Get off," Hermione snapped, pulling away from him.

"And for what it's worth, I don't think your cat makes you a terrible person," Neville added.

"Oh really?" Hermione said skeptically, glowering at him.

Before Neville could respond, Hagrid emerged from his hut and led them all over to the flobberworms. Hermione sighed and put her wand away, still seething. Nico eyed Malfoy's still-intact nose, then spoke quietly to Hermione. "Would you like me to teach you how to hit him properly?"

"Maybe." Hermione glanced at Harry. "If we lose on Saturday, definitely. Someone needs to wipe that smirk off his face."

That night in the common room, Vescia climbed onto Hermione's lap to beg for attention. Hermione petted the kitten for a while, then suddenly had a new idea. "Vescia, riesci a trovare Scabbers?"

Vescia cocked her head.

"O vedi Scabbers?"

"I think you mean 'hai visto Scabbers'," Nico offered, assuming that Hermione was trying to ask if Vescia had seen the rat.

Vescia climbed onto Hermione's shoulder and nuzzled her cheek. "Mrow."

"Is that a yes or a no?" Hermione asked uncertainly.

"Probably neither," Nico replied. "She's not that intelligent. I could order her to look for him, but she'd be no better at it than a living cat."

"Is that why she thought you were hiding in the wall last November?"

"Maybe?" Nico shrugged. "I'm surprised you got her to even try looking for me, actually." Vescia leaped onto his lap and curled up, purring happily.

"Well, she does seem to respond better to Italian than English," Hermione noted.

"That's because Bianca and I barely understood English when we animated her," Nico explained. "She and her littermates basically got imprinted with Bianca's and my eight- and six-year-old selves' idea of what kittens should be like."

"So why does she react to soul containers?" Hermione asked curiously.

"The first thing we did after animating the kittens was order them to attack the boy that killed them. In all the years since, we never actually rescinded that order. And I'm guessing Tom hadn't split his soul yet at the time, so any piece of his soul is fair game to Vescia."

"I thought she just sensed him, like you do."

"I'm not sure exactly how she recognizes him," Nico admitted. "But if she came across a soul container from some other dark wizard, I doubt she'd react to it. She's not some all-purpose evil detector."

"Well, I suppose that explains why she didn't find anything strange about Scabbers," Hermione mused.

At the Quidditch pitch on Saturday, most of the school had gone all out in showing their support for either the Gryffindor or Slytherin team. Hermione got into the spirit and wore red, though Nico had predictably worn black as usual. They were fully prepared to go up to the top of the stands again, but thankfully, Ginny called out to them and invited them over to Leo's bench. "I hear you joined the beat-up-Malfoy club, Hermione," Ginny commented, ignoring Ron glowering at them.

"I guess I've been a bit stressed, and Malfoy made me finally snap," Hermione admitted.

"Well, I think you showed excellent Gryffindor spirit, even if some people still hate cats." Ginny shot a pointed look at her brother.

Hermione sighed, also looking at Ron. "You know what? I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what really happened to your rat, but you lost him, and I'm sorry."

"Just can't ever admit you're wrong, can you?" Ron said acidly.

"Just can't ever believe a word I say, can you?" Nico retorted. "It wasn't Crookshanks."

Neville arrived just in time to hear this last bit. "Can't you all just get along for one day?" he grumbled.

"Apparently not," Nico said stiffly.

Neville squeezed in between Ginny and Hermione, putting further space between the three quarrelling students. "Fine. Can we agree not to discuss pets today and just cheer for Gryffindor?"

"Yay Gryffindor," Nico said flatly.

Ginny snorted. "You really are a shining bundle of enthusiasm, aren't you."

Nico was saved from answering when the players walked out onto the field. Lee introduced the players with increasingly biased commentary, and the match began. The third years finally managed to forget their arguing as they got caught up in watching what rapidly became the dirtiest game any of them had ever seen.

After the match, Nico and Hermione headed straight back to the castle, not joining the cheering crowd that mobbed the Gryffindor team. Halfway to the common room, Neville caught up to them. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you—did you see anything at the Shrieking Shack?"

"What do you mean?" Nico asked, giving Neville a suspicious look.

"According to Ron, the two of you were poking around the Shack on the day that Black broke into it…"

"Let me guess, he and Harry are convinced I helped Black break in?" Nico cut him off.

"Did you?" Neville asked, looking Nico directly in the eyes.

"No! Why would you even think that?!"

"There's something going on with you, Nico!" Neville exclaimed, sounding slightly frustrated. "I don't know what it is, but I can tell you're hiding something! Both of you!"

"All we've done for months is study and try to figure out what really happened to Scabbers!" Hermione responded, bewildered. "We'd be happy to include you if you want to join us!"

Neville shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about. What are you, Nico? Really?"

Nico's eyes widened and he lost what little color had been in his face. He took a few steps backwards, then abruptly ran away.

"I guess that settles it," Neville sighed. "I'm really not imagining things." He narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "And you don't seem surprised."

Hermione also sighed. "It's not my place to share his secrets. If he had his way, I doubt even I would have ever learned the truth about him. But I swear to you, Neville, Nico is a good person and neither of us is in league with Sirius Black."

"I hope that's true," Neville said quietly. "I miss you guys."

Hermione ventured up to the third year boys' dormitory and found Nico sitting on his bed, clutching Vescia. "What—how—what does he know?" Nico asked shakily.

"I don't think he really knows anything," Hermione replied, sitting next to Nico. "He's been our friend for nearly three years, it was inevitable that one day he'd start noticing you're not normal."

"What do I do?" Nico said anxiously. "What if he tells everyone?"

"I don't think he's planning to tell anyone. I think he just wants you to be honest with him."

"I can't," Nico muttered, clutching Vescia even tighter.

"Why not?" Hermione challenged. "He hasn't been scared off by your death-themed fashion sense, your morbid interests or your undead cat. What makes you so sure he'll turn on you if he finds out who your father is?"

"I…er…" Nico's eyes darted wildly around the room, looking for all the world like a cornered animal.

Hermione stood up. "At this point, I think you're more likely to drive him away by keeping secrets than by telling the truth. Just keep that in mind." With that, she left Nico to his thoughts.

A/N: To anyone wondering why I didn't use the Italian translation of Scabbers' name...Nico and Hermione aren't living in an Italian dub. There are no 'official' translations of anyone's name in this universe, and I don't see why they'd bother inventing one for Scabbers.