▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER FIVE ▬▬▬▬▬

IT WAS OCTOBER NOW AND Esmerelda's suspicions have only grown worse. After a whole month of him staring at her during class time and giving her small, uneasy smiles whenever she caught him, she was certain of it now. The new DADA professor was a creepy stalker.

As much as she wanted to just ditch his class, he was an unfortunately excellent teacher, better than all the other DADA professors she had so far. Which meant Esmerelda didn't really have much of a choice but to stay. Besides, he was also teaching them about dark creatures that—with her luck—she might encounter. So that was an even bigger reason why she couldn't skip.

She briefly wondered if he was a monster in disguise, wanting to eat her. But she had her doubts about that theory, because there were several moments—like that moment in the hallway outside of the Great Hall—where he was alone with her and he never once tried to attack her. In fact, he was oddly... nice to her. Monsters never bothered with niceties, especially towards demigods. He wasn't covered by the Mist either, so there was no true form he was trying to hide.

Which meant he was a regular human... who just so happened to be stalking her. Which also meant she couldn't kill him (well, unless he attacked her first, but that had yet to happen).

The only problem about all this... was that she was the only one who noticed how weird he was behaving towards her.

"Hey, Ernie, do you think Professor Lupin's a little... weird?" She asked the blonde quietly during the middle of their DADA lesson. Remus was all the way on the other side of the room, helping Neville understand how grindylows worked.

Ernie furrowed his brows. "Weird? No, not really. He seems perfectly fine to me. Why?"

"I think there might be something off about him..." She trailed off.

He gave her a funny look. "Really? I'm not seeing it."

Class ended before she could say anything else. As she started to file out of the classroom with the rest of the class, Remus called out to her.

"Ah, Esmerelda?" He said nervously.

She stopped and gave him a careful smile. "Yeah?"

"Good work today," he praised, smiling awkwardly. He even gave her a hesitant thumbs up. He reminded her of an awkward teenager who didn't know how to socialize with other people.

"Thanks, professor!" She said with a forcefully bright smile, then left.

Ernie glanced over at the door that was falling shut before muttering to her, "Okay yeah, that was a little weird."

Finally. Someone who agreed with her!

Relieved that the day was almost over, Esmerelda trudged over to the common room for the last obstacle of the day: tutoring session. The previous month had been a hard one with her additional lessons, but she miraculously survived it without too many issues. Cedric was pretty cool and chill despite how nerdy he seemed, and he was really good at dumbing things down for her.

However, now it seemed like the roles have switched.

Esmerelda peeked up from her thick The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts book by Arsenius Jigger to look over at Cedric. The poor boy looked constipated as he slashed his wand in an up and down movement while nothing was happening. He wasn't speaking, but mouthing the spell instead.

"Are you okay...?" She asked slowly. "You look constipated."

His cheeks flushed as he set his wand down. "Sorry, sorry. I was just, um... have you finished with your homework? I could check it for you."

Changing the subject, she noted, but wordlessly handed him her DADA homework for third years. He checked it over dutifully, nodding his head here and there.

"Everything seems good here... but you spelled 'hinkypunks' wrong. It's P-U-N-K-S, not P-I-N-K-S."

She shrugged and took the page back. "Close enough." Luckily for her she used a pencil like most sane Muggle-borns and was able to erase it easily. "Thanks, Ced."

"No problem," he grinned. "I think we're done here for today?"

"Yep. But, um, what exactly are you having trouble with?" She asked curiously.

"Non-verbal spells." He answered grimly. "Professor Lupin's having us duel each other, but he's encouraging us to try out non-verbal spells. I've been practicing the shield charm, but nothing really happens."

Ah, the shield charm... Esmerelda mused. She remembered when she used to have trouble non-verbally using that. She straightened up. She felt bad for having poor Cedric deal with her, so maybe she could help him out as a token of gratitude!

"I could help you with that," she said eagerly. He gave her a skeptical look and she sighed. "No seriously, non-verbal and wandless magic are my specialty!" She exclaimed, using her powers to make everything on their table levitate as proof.

Cedric nearly choked on his spit. He glanced at the levitating objects, then glanced over her hand. When he realized that she wasn't using a wand, his eyes went impossibly wide.

"You can—you can—!" He spluttered, looking as if he had just been given proof that aliens existed.

Beaming, she set everything back down. "See? I can help you!"

"But—but—" He stammered. "You're a third year, how are you—?! What?"

She waited patiently for him to calm down.

"You... can do non-verbal magic... and wandless magic..." He breathed out. The common room was pretty much empty, but he was certain that if more people were here they would be surrounding them right now with the same reaction as his. How long had she been able to do that?!

"Yeah," she said, as if that was a feat anyone could accomplish.

He proceeded to gawk at her. "Essie... how long have you been able to do this?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. I've always been."

'I've always been,' she had said. That could mean a number of things. Was she this good before she attended Hogwarts? Or after she received her letter? Cedric's head was running wild with theories. He had always known Esmerelda was a weird kid; he heard rumors that she liked to practice advanced magic which was why she would pass out a lot, but he really didn't think she'd be this good.

But this wasn't just 'good' though. This was pretty much 'Albus Dumbledore' level good.

Did she know how serious this even was? Judging from her nonchalant reaction, she didn't. Which meant she hadn't been raised in the wizarding world, because those who have would be amazed by their skill in an instant. Esmerelda treated her gift as if it was something normal...

Oh shit, he thought. This kid's practically a magic savant. How the bloody hell did she get kidnapped? Was that boy even stronger?! He hoped not, because that would just be terrifying.

"Oh," he said weakly.

"So you'll let me help you?" She asked hopefully.

Oh what the heck. It was clear she was already an expert in this field (which was a punch to the gut since she was literally a third year, but he'll learn to get used to it).

"Sure." He said, and she beamed which pretty much meant he made the right decision.

"You're starting off too big. The shield charm's too hard of a spell to do non-verbally if it's your first try," she explained. "You always need to start off small, so try weaker spells first. Like... the wand-lighting charm."

He stared at her doubtfully. "The wand-lighting charm...?"

"Trust me! I'm the expert, remember?"

He rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright..."

A part of him wondered if she was bullshiting him, but the other part of him was more curious than doubtful. He chanted 'lumos' over and over again in his head, picturing the bright light his wand would emit and suddenly several seconds later—

"Oh," he breathed out softly, staring at the light resting on the tip of his wand in amazement.

"See?" She said smugly. "You can do non-verbal magic. You just need to start off small."

All Cedric could really think of at this moment was that maybe she should be tutoring him instead.

You know what? He thought to himself. That's actually not a bad idea...

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Today was October 31st, Halloween and the day of their first Hogsmeade weekend. Esmerelda hadn't known that the students were allowed to visit the quaint little village until she received her permission form while staying with the Tonkses over the summer. She thanked Andromeda and Chiron for signing it because she had been hearing exciting things about the place.

It was a lot better than she expected. Hogsmeade reminded her of those picturesque villages you would see on postcards, but it was so much better than that since everything was so magical. Enchanted black candles floated around the trees, emitting deep purple and green flames to celebrate Halloween. Grinning jack-o'-lanterns were placed outside of stores and homes and random black cats roamed around.

The High Street was where most of the students frequented since that was where all the shops were located.

The first shop she was Honeydukes, the sweets shop everyone kept obsessing over. The second she stepped in, she could immediately see why. It was the greatest sweets shop she had ever seen. Every kind of sweets imaginable could be found in the store. Shelves were stocked with nougats, coconut ice, toffees, and even a whole section dedicated to chocolate. There were also large barrels of Every Flavor Beans and another full of Fizzing Whizzbees.

What caught her attention the most was a wall full of 'Special Effects' sweets which included Drooble's Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps ('breathe fire for your friends!'), Ice Mice ('hear your teeth chatter and squeak!'), peppermint creams shaped like toads ('hop realistically in the stomach!') , fragile sugar-spun quills and exploding bonbons.

Since she was pretty much able to buy whatever she wanted without any limits, she grabbed a cauldron and began stuffing it with as many sweets as possible (some of them she would send over to camp, of course, but most of it was solely for her, teehee). She ended up needed two cauldrons to hold everything, but it was all worth it.

I should make a quick Mist travel to the dorm to drop all of this off, then I'll come back so I can check out that bookshope Tomes and Scrolls... She planned out as she exited Honeydukes carrying two cauldron-full of sweets. She ducked into an alleyway and after making sure no one was nearby, she quickly pictured her dorm room in her mind and Mist traveled away.

Fortunately, her roommates were all at Hogsmeade so the room was empty when she arrived. She grinned to herself as she set her cauldrons at her bedside table. All her dedication to practicing how to Mist travel was surely worth all the scoldings Andromeda gave her.

Though I still get sick, she mentally grumbled, falling onto her bed and squeezing her eyes shut. Her stomach and head felt light but at least she hadn't thrown up...

Like every single time she attempted to Mist travel, she felt depleted of her energy. The quickest way to restore it was through food and luckily for her, she had two cauldrons full of sweets to choose from.

The first thing she grabbed was a box full of chocolate frogs. She gobbled a bunch up and gulped down some water to get rid of the sweetness stuck in her throat. Feeling better already, she started to put her things away until she caught sight of the chocolate frog card left at bottom of the box.

"Nico..." She mumbled under her breath. The cards reminded her of Mythomagic which in turn reminded her of the missing son of Hades. There was no word of him and the only people who knew of his true parentage was her, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. She didn't even know if Nico himself had figured it out yet.

She had never felt so worried before, she was pretty sure she hadn't felt this scared since Ethan and her siblings left camp. Nico's situation was different. She knew they were with the Titan Army, but Nico could literally be anywhere. And even worse, he was the son of Hades, one of the Big Three gods. His scent was stronger than most demigods.

He barely has any training and he's out in the world alone, she despaired.

Suddenly the door started to open. It had startled her so much that she accidentally tried to Mist travel herself out without having a certain destination in mind.

It was like she was sucked in a vacuum, only this time it was taking a lot longer for her to be spat out.

Shit, shit, shit!

"AHHHH—oomf!" She slammed down on something hard.

"Uuuuuuuuugh," something under her moaned. She could barely register the fact that she had landed on top of someone when the violent urge to throw up struck her. She scrambled off the body, ignoring their groans, and vomited.

She wiped her mouth and turned to face the unfortunate person she landed on. "I'm so sor—NICO?!"

The boy on the ground looked nothing like the boy she had befriended at camp. That Nico used to be bright-eyed and olive-skinned with somewhat neat hair and fitting clothes. But this Nico was a mess. His hair was wild and unkempt (and she wouldn't be surprised if she were to find a dead animal in it), his skin had gone deathly pale, their were dark bags under his dull eyes, and he was wearing a pair of dark jeans with an over-sized aviator's jacket that was probably for men's rather than kids.

But despite how different he looked, she knew right away that this was Nico.

"Nico! Oh my gods!" She gasped, scrambling for him. His eyes were shut and he had a bleeding wound on his forehead from when she dropped on him and he bumped his head on the ground. "Nico, hold on, you have to stay awake!"

His eyes opened to stare up at her, but his gaze was so far away. "Mamma," he murmured deliriously before closing his eyes again.

She bit her lip anxiously. "N-no, Nico, it's me... Essie."

That seemed to snap him out of it. He opened his eyes again and she could practically see his vision become clearer. "Essie...?" He breathed out in confusion. "What—how—how did you find me?"

He didn't seem angry, just confused. Esmerelda was too. "I didn't. I, just, um, I Mist traveled here? On accident? I didn't mean to land on you though..."

His jaw dropped. "You can do something like shadow traveling?"

She had never heard of the term before, but that didn't matter at the moment. "That's not important right now, Nico. Are you okay? You're head's still bleeding. And where have you been?! We were all so worried about you!"

He scowled. "Right. Did Percy tell you to come find me?"

"He didn't need to," she said sharply. "I tried to find you myself the second he told us that you ran away. Do you know how scared we were for you?"

"Like they care! They all thought I was annoying anyways!" He snapped. "And I'm not going back to camp."

Her face fell. "But Nico, it's only safe place for you. Your father—he's—"

"—The lord of the dead, Hades." He finished bitterly. "Yeah I know. I found out. And I'm not going back there, Essie. I don't belong there anyways..."

"Yes you do!" She said desperately.

"I don't!" He raised his voice, then winced and clutched the wound on his forehead. "I don't belong there and I never will! And I want nothing to do with Percy Jackson," he spat his name out hatefully.

Esmerelda was at a loss for words. She had never seen him look so hateful before, but she could see where the pain was coming from. In Nico's eyes, Percy had failed to save his sister, Bianca.

"...Alright," she relented. "I won't force you back to camp. Not like I could anyways. Can you at least tell me that you're staying somewhere you're sure is safe?"

He looked a little hesitant, which didn't make her feel so reassured, but after a while, he nodded. "Yeah. I am. Sort of..."

"Sort of?" She echoed.

"It's safe," he assured.

"Why do I get the feeling you won't tell me where this 'safe place' is?" She asked aloud.

He had the decency to look guilty. "Sorry."

She sighed. "It's fine, I guess... I won't push. But come on, let's go find something for that wound on your forehead."

He nodded in agreement and the both stood up uneasily on their feet. She was just glad that they were no longer arguing, though she was disappointed she couldn't get anymore details about Nico's whereabouts for the past several months.

"Where are we...?" She murmured, looking around in confusion. They were definitely nowhere near the UK since it was so dark out here now, meaning it was sometime around midnight. There were also a lot of tall modern buildings around, but what caught her attention were the signs... They definitely weren't written in English...

"Chengdu, China," Nico muttered beside her. "I sometimes end up shadow traveling here a lot by accident."

She took his word for it because soon he was leading the way to hopefully what would be a store that sold first aid supplies.

"So shadow traveling, huh? Is that... teleporting via shadows?" She guessed.

"Yep, and Mist traveling is something similar?" He asked, and she nodded.

"That's a cool sword," she commented, just having noticed the blade sheathed at his side. "Where'd you get it?"

Nico immediately backed away from her despite her not actually doing anything. "Don't touch it!"

She stared at him in surprise.

"S-sorry," he apologized. "Just... don't touch it, okay? The metal's not safe for you. At least, I think it is. I don't wanna risk it hurting you."

"...Why would the metal hurt me?" She asked in confusion.

"It's made out of Stygian Iron," he explained hesitantly. "It—it absorbs souls and essence. I don't want—don't want you die."

Esmerelda regarded the black sword critically. She could certainly feel some power from it, but it didn't seem necessarily... harmful. Not to her at least. She was curious if it could really affect her or not, but considering how scared he seemed, she decided against it.

They had some small talk while Nico led them somewhere. Apparently, this was Nico's fourteenth visit in Chengdu and sometimes he liked to visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding when nobody was around so he could pet the cute pandas. He even—shyly—offered her to join him before they had to eventually part ways. Obviously, Esmerelda eagerly accepted the offer.

After grabbing alcohol wipes and a large band aid to plaster over Nico's forehead, they sought out for the panda facility only to stop when Nico's stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl.

"When was the last time you ate?" She demanded.

He avoided her stare and mumbled, "Dunno, like, yesterday?"

Oh Nico, she thought, before grabbing his arm and forcefully dragging him to a food stand selling baozi. Using the Mist, she was able to get them several helpings of the popular bread buns.

"You need to eat everyday," she lectured to him.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled with a mouth full of baozi. He ate quietly, a longing ache in his chest. Even after all these months she was still as motherly to him as ever. He wondered if she was the only one at camp who missed him. It wouldn't surprise him as much if it turned out to be true. Esmerelda was the only one who seemed to care about him there.

After they were done eating, they finally reached the research facility, and Esmerelda only knew this because the sign had an English translation.

"Aren't you worried about the cameras?" She whispered to him as they hid behind a tree.

He shrugged. "Not really. I go there all the time and no one's caught me yet."

Well, he had a good point, but still...

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"I feel like a middle-aged man," Nico whined as they stepped into the building.

"That's because you are a middle-aged man, just like how I'm a middle aged woman." Esmerelda said brightly, looking down at her well-made disguise courtesy of the Mist. They now looked like middle-aged people who worked at the facility wearing the blue scrub uniforms that most of the caretakers had to wear.

He looked up at her grumpily. "Why did you make yourself so much taller than me?"

She grinned down at him. "Because I always have been taller than you. And besides, I just gave myself another six inches or so..."

"So unfair," he grumbled under his breath.

They found the pandas outside. Surprisingly, they were all still awake and were either playing in their wooden playground or chewing on bamboo shoots.

"Oh my gods they're so cute!" Esmerelda quietly squealed as she knelt in front of one of them. Tentatively, she reached a hand out and touched it's fur. She nearly squealed again. "And they're so soft and fluffy!"

"Yeah," Nico agreed, letting out a peaceful sigh as one of pandas ended up rolling onto his lap. He helped it sit upright. He glanced at her unsurely before speaking up, "Hey, are... people really looking for me?"

She looked up from the panda she was cuddling and nodded. "Yes. After you left, we told Chiron what happened—excluding who your father is, of course. It'll be dangerous for you if word spread about that. You can't let people know about it. Have... have you told anyone?"

"...No." He answered hesitantly, and she wondered if he was lying to her or not.

She decided not to press him. She hadn't seen him in months and he was pretty unpredictable now. She couldn't risk scaring him away with her questions.

Anyways, spending time with the clumsy pandas was kind of therapeutic for the both of them. She could feel herself relax and see the way Nico's shoulders loosened up as he pet one of the pandas that rolled to his side.

As another hour rolled by, Esmerelda suddenly remembered about Hogwarts. The clock on the wall read that it was already five o'clock in the morning and according to Nico, China was around seven hours ahead of Scotland meaning it was already... ten in Hogwarts. She had been gone for four hours and even missed the Halloween feast.

Whoops, she thought sheepishly. She glanced over at Nico and bit the inside of her cheek. She really didn't want to leave him. Maybe she could stay a little longer.

Unfortunately for her, Nico was looking sleepy.

"I... I should get back," he said regretfully, sparing her a single glance.

"Nico..." She said sadly, giving him a pleading look.

He scowled slightly, but it was softer than usual. "I'm not going back to camp, Essie. I have to... I have to do this."

She frowned. "Do what?"

He looked conflicted, but for a brief second he was about to tell her until he stopped himself. He shook his head. "I can't tell you."

Her face fell, but she nodded in understanding. "Alright, just—" She almost asked him to promise her and grimaced. Promises were probably a very sore topic for him right now. "Just tell me you'll stay safe?" She asked him again.

He hesitated, but nodded firmly.

They parted ways with the pandas and sneaked out of the building. Their Mist disguises dropped once they reached a secluded area. Before any of them could teleport away, Esmerelda pulled Nico into a tight hug. She had no idea whether this would be the last time they would see each other after all. He didn't hug her back, but the way his bony body seemed to melt into her arms told her all she needed to know.

She pulled away and gave him a serious, but gentle look. "You may not believe that you're accepted, but I accept you, aliright? Remember that."

Nico's eyes turned misty for a moment, and he nodded wordlessly.

She gave him a small smile as he gave her one last look before he stepped into the shadows and disappeared. She heaved a sigh once he was gone and Mist traveled back to her dorm room. Her roommates were all probably sleeping, and most likely reported her absence...

She winced. She really didn't want people thinking she was kidnapped again...

When she Mist traveled into her dorm, she was expecting to hear the light snores of her roommates. Instead, she was met with a dark room and four empty beds.

They're not here...? She frowned, looking around in concern. Even the common room was empty and the lights were off, which was weird, since there were usually the occasional studious upperclassman staying in for an all-nighter.

Now she was scared. The whole castle seemed to empty as she roamed the dark hallways, until she finally heard it. Someone was walking towards her. She whirled around just as the figure rounded around the corner.

"Esmerelda," Remus gasped, hurrying over to her. "Where did you go? Are you alright?"

"I—"

"—And where have you been?" He demanded. "We've all been looking for you!"

Why did it feel like she was being scolded by a parent or something? "Sorry, I was... um..." In China, but she couldn't exactly tell him that.

"Esmerelda!" Another voice gasped, and Professor Sprout was barreling towards them. She nearly shoved poor Remus aside so she could grab the girl by her shoulders. "Where have you been?! When your roommates reported you missing—we thought the worst had happened!"

She gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I was... well..." She tried to convey with her eyes that her whereabouts wasn't exactly something Remus needed to know.

Luckily for her, she understood what she was trying to say and turned to the aforementioned man. "Lupin, can you go tell Dumbledore that she's been found and she's well?"

He frowned. "But—"

"—I ought to get her to kitchens to grab a quick meal since she missed the feast." Professor Sprout interrupted, giving him a pointed look. He sighed in defeat and left.

Once he was out of earshot, Professor Sprout turned to give her a concerned look. "Alright, where were you?"

"I'm so sorry, it was an accident," she began. "During the Hogsmeade trip I decided to Mist travel to the dorms since so I could drop some things off—and Mist traveling basically means I can teleport, by the way—but the door opened and I wasn't expecting anyone so I kinda got startled and accidentally Mist traveled myself to China..."

Her eyes bugged out.

"You went to China?"

She nodded guiltily. "And, um... I didn't have enough energy to Mist travel back so I had to rest for a bit. I didn't mean to be out for so long." She decided not to say anything about Nico. That was another personal issue she didn't want anyone to know about.

Professor Sprout had no idea what 'Mist travel' was but she chalked it up as a demigod thing and decided she didn't want to know.

"Did something happen while I was gone, professor?" Esmerelda asked worriedly. "I've noticed some things..."

Professor Sprout sucked in a breath and nodded. "I'm afraid so. Sometime during the feast, the Gryffindor Tower was nearly broken into. The poor Fat Lady... she was attacked and now she's too terrified to return to her painting..."

"What? Who tried to break in?" She asked.

Professor Sprout grimaced. "Sirius Black."

— author's note —

I'm so dumb I thought Cedric was in his seventh year during The Goblet of Fire. I just looked it up and he was actually in his sixth year, meaning he's two years above Essie and the golden trio. If I ever mentioned him being three years ahead, then just ignore that. I was wrong whoops.

I'm having too much fun with making Essie have crazy misunderstandings about Remus. This is just too funny for me 😂 😂 😂

Cedric: You can do wandless and non-verbal magic?!?!?! *mindblown*

Essie:

I LOVE WRITING NICO AND ESSIE MOMENTS, THEY'RE ALWAYS SO SWEET AND PURE 🥰 🥰