Archive of Our Own ^beta

Nico di Angelo is not normally late.

Especially not to Potions when the Slytherin dorm is so close to the classroom.

Yet, somehow, Nico's found himself scrambling to get on his robes before rushing out the common room. It's not until he stumbles into the corridor that he realizes he's come out of the wrong common room. He looks around the corridor before letting out a huge sigh of relief. He must've fallen asleep beside Will Solace, his secret Hufflepuff boyfriend, last night and that's why his alarm didn't go off (well, it still would've but it does him no good when it's in the Slytherin dorms and he's sleeping in the Hufflepuff dorms). Will naturally gets up as the sun rises and is so sweet he probably let Nico sleep in, assuming he'd be able to wake up on his own. If he wasn't so in love with Will, he'd probably kill him for not waking him up on time.

Nico glances behind him at the portrait to get back inside the Hufflepuff common room before running his teeth over his bottom lip. He doesn't remember passing anyone and at this point mostly everyone should be in their classes by now so hopefully he got off scot-free. He lets another sigh escape his lips before he's darting across the corridor and down to Potions.

He manages to slip into the classroom undetected and slinks over to his desk, glaring at his lab partner the entire time. Will smiles softly as he watches Nico make his way over every few seconds. He makes sure to look away occasionally so no one else starts staring. With a grunt, Nico slouches down in his seat, dropping his bag by his feet. His glare on Will intensifies. Will's smile grows slightly, the tops of his ears turning a bright red.

"Good morning, Ghost King," he greets, adding on another layer of his sweet and loving charm Nico can never get enough of. It's almost enough to break Nico entirely. Almost.

"Yeah. For one of us," Nico retorts. "For the other, they just risked getting detention with Professor Dionysus because their boyfriend didn't wake them up in time," he seethes. Will ducks his head down.

"Well how was I supposed to know that you can't naturally wake yourself up on time?"

"Most people don't naturally wake up on time, Will!"

Will's about to argue when Professor Dionysus snaps his textbook shut and glares at them. They both immediately shut up and look away from each other. "Mister Shoelace. Mister DiCaprio." He raises an eyebrow at the two of them. "Are you done?" Will nods. Nico doesn't react. "Then get to work! The quicker you finish, the less time I have to deal with you. That goes for all of you twerps!" Professor Dionysus opens his textbook again and continues "reading" it, occasionally stopping to drink out of the goblet on his desk that everyone knows is filled with wine (or some other alcoholic beverage).

They watch him for a moment longer before turning to each other and shaking their heads. Will bites back a laugh as Nico smiles faintly. They stand from their seats before Will writes out the ingredients list for Nico to take. Ever since they were first paired together in fifth year (Nico's partner had previously been Annabeth but she later switched it to Percy when they started dating), Nico and Will have developed a system where Will keeps the open book filled with directions in front of him while Nico gets the ingredients and then chops/dices/slices/etc them up how the directions--or in this case, how Will--tells him. Will covers the rest of the directions--whether that be stirring or brewing or simmering. Normally, they're both fully aware of what they're brewing during class.

But Nico missed the brief lecture on the potion and Professor Dionysus is famous for not writing things down.

Which means only Will knows what's going on and he's already forgotten that Nico was late. Meaning he didn't get the brief lecture. Meaning he's in the dark because Will has the book.

Meaning Nico is completely helpless against the potion.

~~~

Right around the time everyone's finishing their potions, Professor Dionysus staggers to his feet. "Alright, since Headmaster Zeus says I can't dispose of you before class is officially done, why don't we go around saying what it is we smell in the potions? Hm? Would that make you all happy?" He collapses back into his chair and takes a long swig from his goblet. Nico's brow furrows as he glances down at their cauldron. If they all brewed the potion correctly, shouldn't it smell like the same thing? "Why don't we have Shoelace and DiCaprio go first since they couldn't keep their mouths shut earlier?" Professor Dionysus glares at them until one of them steps up to the cauldron.

Will glances to Nico, his ears and cheeks turning bright red, and raises an eyebrow. Nico shrugs and steps up for him. Will watches with baited breath as Nico leans over and takes a deep breath of the potion they just brewed.

"I smell. . ." Nico scrunches his face up for a moment before he's breathing in another deep breath. "Graveyard dirt," he declares. People mumble some things under their breath but for the most part no one is surprised.

Bianca di Angelo, Nico's older sister, passed away the summer going into fourth year (his fourth year) due to heatstroke (among other things). He's visited her grave as often as he can every chance he gets since then. Most days he's gone for hours on end, just sitting beside her gravestone and talking to her. He talks to her about Will a lot. Asks for advice when he doesn't know what to do for Will's birthday or their anniversary or something like that. He finds it easier to talk to her than his father or Hazel Levesque, his half-sister on his father's side. Something about the silence and the cold headstone calms him down.

"Oranges," he continues. A smile appears on his face as he's brought back to a distant memory.

Nico and Will sit side by side at the Hufflepuff table during breakfast--one of the rare occasions where Nico's actually up by breakfast time--exchanging jokes or bits of gossip they've heard from the others. Will's shoulder brushes against Nico's as he laughs for the umpteenth time that morning over something stupid Nico said. Nico takes a moment to stop and stare as Will leans his head back, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Will's so adorable when he laughs that sometimes Nico just can't help but wonder how he got so lucky in the love department.

They don't sit together very often. Especially since Nico doesn't always eat breakfast (no matter how many times Will scolds him about how important breakfast is and how he should eat it because it stimulates his brain in the morning and it's easier to work on a full stomach rather than an empty one and yada yada yada). But they always enjoy it when they do. It's like the rest of the world slips away and they're allowed to just be themselves. Nico and Will: the hopeless gays. Not forced to be Nico: the son of the owner of Gringotts Bank and Will: the son of the Head Healer at Hogwarts. Sometimes it's resulted in them getting into sticky situations but they've always gotten themselves unstuck. Even when it seems the only way to get unstuck is to come out.

Once Will's finally composed himself, he reaches over and grabs an orange from the fruit basket. Nico rolls his eyes as soon as Will starts reaching over. This is the third orange he's had since they sat down for breakfast. Nico knows Will loves oranges and he knows Will's opinion on their source of vitamins but three oranges in one sitting is obscene.

"Alright, Doctor Solace, you're going to make yourself sick if you eat another orange," Nico tells him, taking the few remaining bites of a piece of toast.

Will shoots him a dirty look as he digs his nails into the peel to break it. "I will not," he argues. Nico raises an eyebrow. Will rolls his eyes. "I will not make myself sick by eating too many oranges. That's not how fruit works." Nico raises his eyebrow even higher as he grabs the plate of sausage from another student. "It's not." Nico nods. "It's not, Nico," Will protests again. Nico raises his hands in mock surrender.

"Alright, alright. That's not how fruit works," he agrees. Will smiles. "But you might turn orange if you continue eating them. That's already your third today and it's still breakfast." Will raises an eyebrow as he plops a slice in his mouth.

"Jealous that I'm giving the oranges more attention than you?"

Nico scoffs. "As if." Will chuckles as he breaks more of the peel off, orange juice dripping down his fingers. "Here. I'll even prove it to you."

Nico grabs the orange out of Will's hands--earning several shouts of protest--in order to take Will's hands in his own. Will raises an eyebrow. Nico winks at him before kissing the orange juice directly off Will's fingers. Will's eyes widen and he squirms under the touch. Nico smirks before handing the orange back to Will when he's done.

"Huh. Maybe oranges aren't so bad after all." Nico winks again and licks his lips before turning back to his sausage. Will fumbles with the orange in his hands, his whole face beat red. He bites into another slice, juice dribbling down his chin. Nico raises an eyebrow before he's playfully rolling his eyes and scolding Will for being so messy. He leans in and kisses the juice off Will's face. "Honestly, Will, you'd think you were raised in a barn with the mess you're making."

"And hand sanitizer," Nico finishes, stepping away from the cauldron. What odd things for a potion to smell like.

Will's running around the Hospital Wing when Nico walks through the door. Head-healer Apollo is nowhere to be seen. Nico, brow furrowed, awkwardly stays by the door as he watches Will run from patient to patient, his hands shiny as he reapplies hand sanitizer after each patient. A ghost of a smile appears on Nico's face as he steps away from the door. When Will had asked for his help, he wasn't expecting it to just be the two of them. He was expecting Apollo to at least help out with some of the major cases.

"Neeks! You're here!" Will shouts once he's spotted Nico. Nico nods his head, his smile growing. Will finishes jotting symptoms down on his clipboard before applying more hand sanitizer, rubbing it into his hands as he makes his way over to Nico. Nico raises an eyebrow and gestures to his hands. "Huh, what?" Will hums. Nico gestures to the bottle of hand sanitizer Will's attached to the belt loop on his pants. "Oh. Well. You can never be too safe."

"Unless your hands start to bleed from the amount of alcohol you've just rubbed into them," Nico counters. Will shakes his head and waves Nico off. Nico shakes his head in turn. "Honestly, Will. You reek of the stuff." Will laughs. Nico takes a deep breath before coughing. "I think you're burning my nostril hairs." Will continues to laugh as he shoves Nico back. Nico starts smiling. "Why don't you cut back on the hand sanitizer?"

Will shakes his head. "I should continue to use it between every patient. That way my hands are always clean." Will goes to apply some more when Nico grabs his hands and holds them tightly in his. Will raises an eyebrow. "Neeks," he begins to scold. Nico leans up and kisses his cheek softly. Will's cheeks turn red.

"I think your hands are clean enough," Nico whispers. Will nods weakly. "Anyways, I've come to help." Will's face lights up. "Where do you need me?" Nico glances around the room. "And where's your father?" Will laughs awkwardly.

"He kinda. . . left." Nico's eyes widen. Will scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah. He wants me to practice on my own so I know what I'm doing before I get a job as a healer at St Mungo's." Nico nods slowly. Will lets out a breath. "However, I don't think my father was prepared for the Hospital Wing to be swamped with sick and injured kids." Will looks around at all the used cots before shaking his head. "So thanks." Nico raises an eyebrow. "For helping." Nico shrugs it off.

"It's what boyfriends are for," he mumbles. Will smiles before kissing his forehead and handing him a clipboard. Nico looks it over before getting to work, Will doing the same.

The room falls silent as they all stare at Nico. Confused by the smell, Nico takes a step back and lets Will step up to the cauldron. Everyone slowly shifts their attention to Will as he leans over and takes a sniff. Nico glances around the room while he waits for Will, growing uncomfortable with all the stares on him and Will.

"I smell hyacinths," Will starts.

Much like with the graveyard dirt scent, no one is surprised that Will smells hyacinths. His father is famous for all the hyacinths he keeps around the Hospital Wing and his office. Will has even brought a few into the Hufflepuff common room along with his dorm because his father has so much. Every spring, Will makes and sells flower crowns out of whatever hyacinths Apollo is willing to depart with. He uses the money to buy more hyacinth seeds (along with a few gifts for Nico).

"French fries--but like, fast food french fries. The really greasy kind."

"Where did you say we were getting lunch from?" Will asks as he fiddles with his hands.

Nico smiles but doesn't look up from what he's working on. "It's called McDonald's. It's a muggle fast food place that my stepmom adores," he says, finally glancing up to take in Will's adorably flustered expression. "You'll love it. They've got amazing fries." The corners of Nico's lips curl up in an almost-smile. "You don't have a problem with fast food, do you? Being a healer and everything?" Will shakes his head. Nico nods. "Okay. Then you should be fine. You like cheeseburgers?" Will nods. "Then you're all set." Will lets out a small sigh of relief. "Gods, Will, you act like you're not a half-blood. If either one of us should know more about the muggle world, it's you." Will scratches the back of his neck. Nico raises an eyebrow. "You don't go into the muggle part of town a lot, do you?" Will shakes his head.

"My father's always been tied to work," he explains. "And work is in the wizarding world." Nico nods along. "So we live pretty smack dab in the middle of everything magical." Nico starts laughing. Will shrugs. "Normally I don't care as much. But then you and Percy--who aren't even half-bloods or muggleborns--are always going on about the muggle world and. . ." Will glances to his hands. Nico's smile disappears. "Sometimes I feel cut off from who I am." Nico cups Will's cheek before kissing his nose.

"Well, consider Persephone your way into the muggle world." Will cracks a small smile. "She loves you anyway. For whatever reason." Will shoves his shoulder. Nico just laughs. "I'm just kidding. I love you too." Will kisses him softly.

Persephone and Hades come home from grabbing lunch a few minutes later. Persephone helps pass out the food before sending the boys on their way back to Nico's room. Will attempts to suggest they eat as a family but Nico quickly shuts that down and drags him back. They both collapse onto Nico's room in a fit of giggles. Nico pulls out his order from the bag Persephone handed them before handing the rest over to Will. Will raises an eyebrow at the two large containers of french fries sitting in Nico's lap before he attempts to grab a few. Nico smacks his hand and glares at him. Will quickly retreats his hand.

"My fries. Yours are in the bag."

Will glances into the bag to pull out his lunch. All that's in there is a cheeseburger. He starts frowning. "There aren't any fries in here, Neeks."

"Exactly," Nico agrees before taking a huge bite out of his burger. Will narrows his eyes at Nico as he starts eating his lunch. "You don't ask for fries, you don't get fries."

"I didn't even ask for a cheeseburger! Persephone ordered for me!" Nico shrugs. Will huffs before crumpling the bag and throwing it at Nico's face. It bounces off his face and lands in his lap. Nico sighs. Will starts laughing. "That's what you get."

Nico groans. "Fine! You want fries so bad? Take 'em!" he yells as he throws a handful of fries at Will's face. Will manages to close his eyes in time before getting as-salt-ed by fries. "Hope you're happy," Nico grumbles before taking another bite out of his burger. Will sticks his tongue out before eating one of the fries. His eyes go wide as he stares at the fry in his hand. "Told you they were amazing. That's why I get two containers." Will shoves Nico before eating the rest of his fries that Nico threw at him. Nico laughs and hands the other container over to Will. Will raises an eyebrow. Nico shrugs. "Don't look too much into it." Will smiles warmly and kisses Nico's cheek.

"Pomegranates," Will finalizes.

Nico and Will sit shoulder to shoulder in the library late at night. With NEWTS quickly approaching, they've been studying twice as hard. Or at least Will is. He can't say the same for Nico. Will's currently got his nose pressed up against the book he's reading from, oblivious to the fact that Nico's fallen asleep in his. Once Will's done reading the chapter, he finally looks up, smiling softly when his eyes land on Nico's sleeping form. He nudges Nico slightly before kissing him awake.

"Babe," Will whispers in his ear. Nico hums. "You need to wake up." Nico swats him away. Will only laughs before nudging him more. "Neeks, sweetie," he tries again. Nico starts to stir. "You have to wake up." Nico finally sits up and yawns. Will watches him with a warm smile on his face. "You fell asleep while studying again."

"Hmm? Yeah, well, maybe if someone didn't insist on studying until the ass-crack of dawn each night I wouldn't," he mumbles, his eyes barely open.

Will snorts and shakes his head. Nico yawns again before pulling something out of his pocket. Will watches with a raised eyebrow as Nico breaks into a pomegranate and starts eating the seeds, letting juice drip all over his fingers.

"Babe, the books!" Nico hums, still basically asleep, before pulling his hands away from the books in front of him. Will shakes his head lightly as he laughs. "Have you had that pomegranate in your pocket this entire time?" Nico nods absentmindedly. Will snorts. "Why?"

"Skipped dinner," he mumbles. Will presses his lips together and hums. Yeah, he did pull Nico away from dinner so they could study. Makes sense that Nico would've grabbed something and kept it in his pocket. "Want some?" Nico asks as he hands over half of the pomegranate. Will studies it for a while before accepting it. "I didn't poison it, you weirdo."

"I didn't say you did."

"Well you were looking at it funny."

Will's brow knits. "That's because I was debating whether or not I wanted a pomegranate right now. You know it's not a typical thing someone just pulls out of their pocket, Neeks." Nico shrugs. Will shakes his head before taking a bite, some of the juice dripping down his chin. Nico absently leans over and kisses it off. Will swallows thickly, his eyes wide. "Nico!" he whisper scolds. Nico shrugs.

"No one's here," he dismisses before collapsing onto Will's shoulder, some of the juice of his half staining his shirt. "We'll be fine." Nico takes another bite of his pomegranate. Will watches him with a warm smile on his face before taking a bite of his own.

He kisses the top of Nico's head. "I love you," he whispers. Nico hums before his whole body goes limp, his half of the pomegranate rolling onto the floor. Will laughs softly before wrapping his arm around Nico's slender frame. "And I know you love me too."

Nico's eyes widen and he looks to Will as Will steps away from the cauldron. Will refuses to glance in Nico's direction. Professor Dionysus nods but doesn't say anything; he probably wasn't paying attention anyway. He turns to Percy Jackson, a pureblooded Hufflepuff, and Annabeth Chase, a half-blood Ravenclaw, before asking them the same question. Percy responds with the beach, freshly baked cookies, and coconuts (the shampoo Annabeth prefers). Annabeth smells jasmine, old books, and the salty sea air (which Percy naturally smells of). Professor Dionysus then goes around and asks the rest of the class. Most of the students that are in a relationship say at least one thing that would remind them (and everyone else) of their partner. Nico's heart drops as he backs up against the desks behind them, his ribs tightening around his lungs.

He just told the whole class that what he loves most is Will Solace.

Will finally turns around to face him with a small smile. His expression quickly falls when he takes in Nico's appearance. Nico's grown paler than normal and he's barely breathing. Will takes Nico's hand in his and pulls him close, peppering discrete kisses all over Nico's face and hair. Nico finally snaps back into reality and stares at Will for a bit longer than Will probably would've liked. Nico starts to smile which causes Will to raise an eyebrow. Nico yanks on Will's tie which pulls him down into a kiss. The whole room stops and stares at them; a few people coo and make similar noises under their breath.

But Will Solace just told the whole class that what he loves most is him.