A/n: *bonks head on steering wheel* hey guys, guess who's trying to get over their fear of driving!

Hazel was having a great time shopping with Nico and Ginny, the actual transactions being taken care of by Molly while the three of them explored the shops they visited. From the endless tinkering done with the telescopes in the supplies shop, to arranging a pile of clattered cauldrons in a potion's shop, this was probably the most stress free Hazel has been in a mission. For a moment she was a normal 15 year old with a normal amount of trauma and no weight of parentage or deadline above her.

"So Nicolo, I overheard from some of the adults that a camp tried contacting you with one of those square 'phones' that muggles use, the guy seemed pretty worried about you three."

And-the moment ended.

Hazel nervously chuckled while Nico subtly wiped the sweat off his palms. Smiling softly as the new 'Nicolo' would do, he turned to face the curious face of Ginny. Nico was a loner, ambassador of Pluto was a businessman, but Nicolo Levesque was a sweet old fashioned older brother who took care of Hazel and their affairs. 'He could have been an actor if life was different,' Hazel thought to herself.

"That must be Chiron, our camp director, he always worries about us when we don't call often, he's practically our second dad." Hazel nodded along, letting him do the talking while feigning interest in a dispensary jar of newt's eyes.

"Hmm, makes sense, I admit I've never been to a camp before," cheerfully, she picks up a jar of bat's wool, tucking it into the shopping cart besides the two pewter cauldrons. "I would have liked to go to one, but my parents are awfully protective of the only daughter in the family."

Nico saw Hazel nod at the corner of his eyes, smile charming and polite but not quite reaching her eyes.
"Though, that does beg the question, how are your parents feeling about this? They probably aren't into having their kids apply to a European school in the middle of nowhere, you're American aren't you?"

"Well," Hazel started off, noting the stiff way Nico held his shoulders, "our parents-aren't exactly around anymore." The dawning mortification on Ginny's face was instant, and Hazel was fast to mollify her, "it's nothing new at all, we're used to it, it's why we go to camp, it's a place for kid's with complicated living situations," she recited, the half truth flowing like mist out of her mouth.

Ginny's eyes glazed the slightest hint of white before turning to their normal brown color.

Ginny's eyes followed Nico's figure, who pretended to be interested by a cupboard of intricate vials and stoppers, "I wouldn't know how I would cope if something happened to my parents, probably be taken care of by my brothers too, but I'm not sure I could hold up like you do." The sincere smile she sent Hazel's way made her stomach churn, but she just smiled back. Subtly petting the newly named 'Cat the Shadow' hidden by the great silhouette of the shelves they were standing under.

"Well dears, we're about done here," Molly called out, herding them towards the counter to pay, "let's see, we've done uniforms, potions, parchment and quills for all of you, ah, I suppose you two don't have wands yet?" Molly gazed kindly at the two of them, Hazel and Nico both stiffening at so much-maternity that wasn't from a Jackson towards them. "Ah, I guess that sort of answers the question then, hop to it you three, we're off to Ollivanders-"

Then they were off to the pavement, Nico holding on to Hazel, who was holding on to Ginny, who was holding on to Molly who lead the train with a shaking head, but she laughed anyways all the way to the wand shop. The sound of bustling and giggles filling the air, making it light and comfortable. She almost missed the regal looking woman and her son passing by them and glaring at them because, honestly? Who even cares when she's having that much fun?

Well, she says almost but she got a mouthful of red hair in a moment, and she tried not to think about the spluttering noise behind her and the wet sensation she felt on her own before turning to look back at Mrs. Weasley, surprised to see the usually maternal woman looking a tad murderous. Her maroon overcoat stained with a greenish-brown color that also dripped from an ice cream cup that was still held by the same boy.

The red head women lightly pushed Ginny to the direction of Ollivander's, and Ginny took both of their hands to continue on their way.

"Uhm, are you okay there, Ginny?" Nico dared to ask, Hazel was confused herself but didn't dare look back, the unadulterated bloodlust permeating behind her made her sweat drop, and instead focused her eyes on Ginny. The red head girl didn't seem to hear them, only leading them to a secluded alleyway where no one seemed to be around. There, her posture finally slumped.

"It's whatever, some family feud that's been going on for a bit-" Ginny huffed, her voice no longer sounding kind, and more like it was hanging on to neutral civility at best. Hazel couldn't help but notice how her knuckles were turning white from gripping on to itself.

"It's a stupid thing too, my parents don't even know why it started but they've just been feeding their side of the fire for who knows how long!" Ginny harshly punched the wall she was leaning on, and Hazel cringed at her poor form, but the girl didn't even wince at the cracked sound coming from her knuckles. Leaning her head to the red brick, Hazel met Nico's eyes and saw a solemn recognition in them. "There were so many people on both sides hurt in the crossfire, but the Malfoy's won't leave us alone and-"

"And your family are as short in fuse as they are in money-," a snide voice called out, the blonde boy from earlier now closed to the secluded alley than Hazel realized, feeling the way his shoes clacked against the cobblestone with her powers. "A real shame too, I've been told that before you all reduced yourselves to blood traitors that you were a powerful family with deep ties to magic, guess even the mighty fall as low as you are now."

The words he said were different, but the way he said it was familiar, and judging by the way Nico's face hardened, it was familiar to him too. The vitriol, the sneers, the people who thought themselves above the common people. The want to rub their privilege onto this who were on the verge of breaking, and Ginny right now was broken, and couldn't build herself quick enough, and the Malfoy boy knew it.

Disgusting.

So when she saw the pale face appearing from the dim alleyway, it was like a target as she subtly flicked her wrist, and a small stone shot out to hit him right at his nose.

"AGH!" The nose was bleeding red, and his eyes watered from the sudden attack to the sensitive structure, obscuring his vision of the crying but upright Weasley and her two companions. He would ultimately live, even if he was acting like it was a bullet that shot at him and not a pebble.

"My father will hear about this, Weasley!" He shouted, before clutching his nose, leaving a trail of blood as he shouted for his mother.

Hazel only felt a moment of victory before a hand clutched her shoulder violently. "How did you do that-" Ginny hissed at her, her body more caged and suspicious than even before. "You just did wandless magic with that rock, how did you-" a rush of fabric later, and a woman with similar red hair appeared through the alleyway, too elated to notice the tension as Ginny scrambled away from Hazel and Nicolo and towards her mother.

"Ginevra dear, I know I told you that you shouldn't throw stones at people just because they get on your nerves, having said that, do you want ice cream?" Her mischievous smile faded as she saw how shaken up Ginny was, and before she could start asking questions Ginny was already tugging her to the direction to Ollivanders.
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Ginny didn't know what to think of how her new- friends? Acquaintances? Learned to perform a wandless spell with such accuracy when they 'supposedly' had never learnt of magic before, and had never even known they were wizards. We're they actually spies of Voldemort like the adults at the table said? We're they trying to lure her into a false sense of security again? The grandson of that monster was with her brother!

She fumbled from her steps, a small hand steadied her, and she met the golden brown eyes of Hazel. 'Later' the girl mouthed at her, with her brother nodding solemnly. Once she got her footing again, she looked up to find they already at their destination, the wand shop seeming to have been frozen from the first and only time she had stepped foot in it.

That was fine, that was okay, it meant they thought she was still stupid enough to fall for whatever excuse they had for her. She couldn't go all in on her feelings alone again like some first-year, she needed to see if she could learn more.

So with a faux understanding smile, she waved them in front of her and to the tall dusty building of Ollivanders. Instead of going straight away, Hazel worriedly bit her lip, seeming to scan the store for something Ginevra couldn't see. Not making any more to step forward until Nicolo offered his hand for her to hold, and together the two siblings(?) stepped into the building, the face of both their panic slipping out for only a second before steeling itself again.

And maybe, just maybe, Ginny Weasley believed that they were still good people, and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

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"Hazel, relax-" Nico's hand immediately went to pat his sister's back comfortingly as her panic overcame her again. The eccentric man who took their...'measurements' busy rambling about wands and cores or something so Nico payed no mind to him, right now his sister needed comfort, and he can afford quiet reassurance for her at least.

However his sister thought otherwise. "Seriously?" Hazel hissed at him, lacking any venom, "I just jeopardized the mission AND Ginny is scared of us, ugh why didn't I think about just throwing the damn thing?!" He grabbed her hand before she could try to hit herself on the head and she shrugged him off with a huff. Nico's chest felt tight at that, he was only trying to make her understand that things like these happen on long term missions, that going to covert operations means making mistakes, that they were new to this world and don't know how much of a big deal of those ridiculous twigs they call-

"WANDS!" The voice of an old wizard crowed from the ladder he had climbed, almost causing it to topple before stabilizing itself like magic. Mr. Ollivanders slowly slid down the ladder, holding two ornate boxes, both decorated with golden skulls and flowers. The old man huffed as he carried them to the table.

"In all my years, I've never had to pull these boxes from their corner before-" he looked faraway, as if looking at another time. "An old partner of mine made it with me, said it would be attracted to powerful forces dealing with the balance of light and dark." Despite Nico giving him his darkest look, Ollivanders only had eyes for the boxes, fumbling around his desk for gloves just to keep it in his sights.

"Oh, at last, to finally have these beautiful wands find a holder, don't you worry precious things, you won't be collecting dust any longer!" He swiveled to Nico, holding out the wand like a precious artifact, and Nico admits it was a beautifully crafted wand. A light ashy color, an elegant handle carved with feather details and a glittering black band at the middle. It felt warm in his hand, like dipping it into warm water, or holding hands with Will on a summer day.

"Hmm, good reactions so far, now give it a swish," Ollivanders instructed, demonstrating a delicate flick with his own wand that Nico copied. Immediately, a light symphony played from nowhere as soft whisps of white light swirled from the tip of the wand. The dark haired boy startled so badly that it ended just as fast as it begun.

"Wonderful! Just wonderful, now May the young lady go next?" He held the next wand out, and Hazel marveled as she grasped it, giving a soft flick and causing a shower of gold sparks to come out from where the wand ended the action. It lasted a few seconds longer than Nico, but by the end the old shopkeeper was giving a standing ovation at the show.

"Wonderful, I've always waited for these extraordinary wands to claim a holder. For the gentleman, your wand is made of a Beech wood, they tend to be attracted to those who are wise beyond their age. While the lady here has a wand crafted with Cypress wood, they seem to have a liking to those who are noble and self sacrificing. In these times I'm afraid however that I might be meeting someone who will die a heroic death should they possess a Cypress wand-"

Alarm bells rang in Nico's head, and this time his glare was enough to make the old man shiver and step away from his sister.
'Now now young man, simply stating what must be said these days, do be careful. That will be 11 galleons in total."

The transaction finished stiffly, with Ollivander resting one last hand on both of their shoulders with a serious enough look that Nico resisted the urge to shrug him off and run with his sister.

"These wands we're not made by my own shops standards, and their cores are most unusual-" gesturing to Nico's wand and then Hazel's with his hand, "-a horn from a summer fae and a gilded finger of a war criminal respectively, I need you two demigods to be careful on your quest." As if he didn't just metaphorically punch Nico's gut, the man patted them on the back and shooed them off. "And do tell Chiron to visit and stay for tea, it's been too long since I've had talked with that horse!"

Nico felt Hazel tug him out the shop, and soon they were face to face with a beaming Mrs. Weasley and a distant Ginny enjoying scoops of red ice cream. "Hello dears, care for a cone?"

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Will entered the dingy dusty shop alone, the shopkeeper practically shooing Ron, Hermione, and Harry away. He used the time to look around the shop, curious to the rows upon rows of small narrow boxes he assumes carried the wands. He saw a heap of wands on a table, and not being able to resist the curiosity enough, tried waving the one on top, expecting at most for a whisp of pathetic smoke to rise.

But nooo, demigod luck was shit because the wand recoiled like a gun and Will ended up clenching his nose as a chuckling shopkeeper deftly snatched the wand away from him. "Ah, I don't believe the blackthorn is for you, young man, hold out your wand arm, quickly now-" the man tutted, swiftly working on returning the pile of wands back to their boxes. Will held up both his hands, hoping that being ambidextrous wouldn't effect the wand finding process.

Suddenly, a tape measure whizzed to take the measurements for both his hands, then hit his arms till he put them sideways for it to measure, then his general height, his bust, his shoulders, his waist, and other such places that made absolutely no sense, how in hell was foot size important for a wand-

"Hmm, yes, yes, try this on for size, young man-" he said, as he handed Will a wand with a wizened appearance, Will barely even getting a good grasp on it before it was taken back. "Oh, nonono, that just won't do, no-"he muttered as he shooed away the tape measure.

"Ah, yes, I have quite a good feeling about this-" Mr. Ollivander almost singsonged as he held out a box, opening it to Will to reveal an intricate wand, made of a yellowish brown wood of some kind and carved into a shape that was reminiscent of a conductor's baton. With delicate but familiar care, Solace picked up the wand and waited on Ollivander to give some instruction of some sort.

"Well? What are you waiting for boy, give it a swish!"
Ah, well, if the expert insisted, Will angled his head further away from his wand, and gave it a dramatic 'swish'. Unready for the greenish mist that slowly emerged from the wand, coiling around like a snake in the air before gracefully slithering back to the wand it came from.

"Ahaha! Excellent young man! I've haven't seen such grace and care from a first conjuring in a while!" The old shopkeeper was surprisingly very deft at hopping for joy, and rang him up while explaining what his wand was made out of, which Will tried to ACTUALLY listen to because it sounded important.

"Ah, yes, 12 inches, stiff, and a wonderful specimen of laurel wood, it was nearly flying off the box from being unused for so long-" at his strange pause, Will looked up, only to meet the eyes of Mr. Ollivander as he held his wand towards him with great delicate care. "Strangely, instead of a Phoenix feather core, I worked with a Phoenix ash core for this wand, the very end of their life cycle before life can start again for them. Perhaps that says something about you, William Solace. Will you be the end of something bigger than life, or will you be the one to bring it to a new stage.? 4 galleons please."

Will could only stare dumbfounded and handed the money before walking out the store, feeling dazed at the interaction until he heard the sound of his name being called. Hazel and Nico rushing to him with Ginny walking calmly behind them enjoying an ice cream cone. Will noted how she seemed to keep her distance.

Nico seemed to rethink before going in for a hug in public, instead skidding a halt in front of him and giving him a small smile in greeting. "There's a band playing around the corner and they're taking a short break before continuing, c'mon let's go!" He said hurriedly, grabbing his hand and hauling him to the corner where the sound of music and a voice with a showman quality to it called out to the audience.

"C'mon fellas, just one volunteer from the audience for a song, the last song for the day, the closing act!" A man strumming a bass shouted out to the mic, clapping along to a basic soul beat while waiting for a brave soul to step up to the stands. Will couldn't remember when he was able to sing something more close to home, being so used to leading the campfire sing alongs for so long he wasn't even sure he could get into the right rhythm of it. But looking at the excited faces of Nico and Hazel, and feeling the familiar rhythm of the genre, he decided he might as well find something to distract himself from the shitty couple of days.

"Over here!" He shouted, raising his hands as he marched up to the front, the band giving a cheer before settling further into their instruments, the bassist giving him a smirk before asking in a low voice what song he was doing.

"Uhm-Downtown, by Petula Clark?" The bassist seemed to pause, as if scanning the song in his head before exploding in a grin. "Hey Bishop!" The drummer perked up from his perch, his hands not straying from the steady beat he had set up, going even faster as if in anticipation. "We're playing the muggle song that you had for your birthday! Keep up!" With that announcement, the drummer laughed, and changed his beat to an explosive swell before stopping point blank. A stage hand rushing over with a microphone stand and placing it right in front of Will.

The stage felt so much different then when he last performed at 6. The eyes felt so much more invasive, the setting sun causing almost a spotlight on him, blinding him, making him feel smaller. His breath stuck to his throat, but then his eyes found Nico's in the crowd's, his eyes understanding. As if all the ugly feelings that was visible under the spotlight didn't even phase him. And suddenly breathing in for the first note was easier.

So he held the microphone closer to his mouth, and breathed out the first note.

"When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you could always go-" he breath caught in his mouth, but he swallowed down the nervousness and sighed out, "-downtown."

Someone in the audience dog-whistled before giving out a pained and frightened screech, and Will opened his eyes to see Nico giving him a smug smile back at him.

"When you've got worries all the noise and the hurry seems to help I know~Downtown.
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?"

He let his hips sway, letting all the stress of the past few days melt away as he sang the next lines,
"Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?

So go downtown
Things will be great when you're
Downtown
No finer place for sure
Downtown
Everything's waiting for you-"
" (downtown, downtown)~"

Will almost stumbled when two women seemed to appear from thin air next to him, both with a microphone and an instrument as they sang the chorus with him, and he slipped before catching up to the next line.

"Don't hang around and let your problems surround you
There are movie shows
Downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go to
Where they never close
Downtown
Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova
You'll be dancing with 'em too before the night is over
Happy again
The light's so much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares~"

Nico and Hazel had started swinging together with the beat, mischievous smiles that was usually the Stoll brothers gracing their faces as they positioned themselves together in a form fit for a certainly outdated dance, but if anything it looked perfect for the two siblings.

"So go downtown
Where all the lights are bright
Downtown
Waiting for you tonight
Downtown"

They looked free and happy, like the music was drawing something back from their time even if it was decades off. It caused something warm to bleed into his chest, and the next lines were sung softly.

"You're gonna be alright now~"

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Somewhere in an old dingy shop, a shopkeeper gently brushed the box of a wand fluttering to be let out, giving soothing noises in an attempt to calm it.
"I know how hard it is, little wand, to have been abandoned by such a promising choice of yours. But no matter, she will return once the time is right. My partner did not intend for you to go unused and I made you as so. Give it a little time, and you will be rightfully in her hands again."

The rattling of the box calmed, and he returned it to the little tuck in corner. Ready to be pulled out for when the time is right. In the meantime-

He hummed as he picked up a crystal ball, just because he was old doesn't mean he should have to miss the new episode for Wands and Wonders.