Athena Dumbledore (A Harry Potter Love Story)

Mourning

ATHENA POV:

I wake up in the hospital wing. Warm sunlight is pouring through the window so I can tell its probably afternoon. What the heck happened? I look to my right to see more familiar faces sitting in the beds around me. Ginny is on my right, awake but facing away from me.

"Ginny?" I ask groggily and she whirls around, squeezing me in a tight hug.

"Oh my gosh, Athena! You scared us to death!" She squeals and beams down at me. I remember how awkward it had been between us ever since I started dating Harry, and an glad to see she still cares about me.

"Whatsgoingon?" I hear Ron from the other side of Ginny.

"Athena's awake!" She gives a happy squeal.

"Athena's awake?" Asks both Hermione and Harry from somewhere. All the worried faces crowd around my hospital bed.

"What happened?" I ask and everyone looks down at their feet. Tears come to my eyes as I remember. "Sirius..." It's all my fault. I remember now. I feel the tears starting to spill.

"Athena-don't cry please!" Hermione begs.

"Yeah, it's not your fault!" Ginny adds but I shake my head.

"I s-should have warned h-him earlier!" I sob more. "And now he's DEAD!" I start shaking and Madame Pomphrey comes in.

"Give the poor girl some space," she says, shoving them out of the way. "She's emotionally unstable, just one of the side effects." She hands me a glass of clear liquid. "Drink this, dearie." I watch Harry and we meet eyes. He has a pained look on his face, he's probably thinking about Sirius. He's the last thing I see before I slip back into unconsciousness.

"Morning sunshine," Harry says mockingly when I wake up again.

"Hey Harry. What time is it?" He looks at his watch.

"About five in the morning." I gape at him.

"Why aren't you in bed? Aren't you tired?" He gives me a weak smile.

"I thought I should be the first one you see when you wake up." I blush. "And I also need to talk about what happened at the Ministry." My face falls. The last thing I want to do is talk about Sirius. It's too soon. "Do you remember what was happening before Dumbledore had to put the sleeping spell on you?" I think for a minute.

"Uncle Albus was fighting...fighting Voldemort." Harry nods.

"He was trying to take over me...but I fought him off. Then the Minister came then and the rest of them. I passed out a little before that so I heard most of this from Dumbledore...but they believe us now. They believe he's back." I sit and take it all in. Harry hands me the Daily Prophet and I look at the front cover. There are two pictures under the caption: He Who Must Not Be Named is back! There's one of Uncle Albus standing and taking in the scene with the glass shattered and the giant fountain looking broken. The second one actually makes me smile the tinniest little bit, despite the tension of it. Harry and I both lay on the ground unconscious, his glasses slightly askew and my hair spread out around me. Our fingers are touching slightly, my hand on top of his. Our chests are rising and falling in complete sync.

"Cute picture, huh?" He asks and I feel my face flush.

"Yeah. I'm going to keep it," I tell him and fold it up, putting it in my pocket. "I'm so glad you're okay, Harry," I say sincerely and I mean it. I really thought I had lost him for a second. He takes my hand and I see him studying me. He does this frequently, as if he's anticipating my next move. He slowly leans in and presses his lips to mine softly. I throw my arms around his neck and run my hands through his smooth hair as he continues to kiss me. This wasn't just a regular kiss. This was a 'the-world- could-end-any-day-now-and-I-love-you' kind of kiss. It was a kiss filled with so much longing and passion that it made my body quiver in excitement. We finally pull back after a while and smile widely at each other. Just then we both had complete understanding of each other and were at peace.

It was nice while it lasted.

Rumors swarmed the school faster then they ever had before. Harry and I were constantly confronted by people carrying the Daily Prophet. The girls thought it was so romantic, but the boys just liked to gag in our faces. I, of course, thought it was romantic like the rest of the girls, and put it in the scrapbook I was starting to make. It was mostly of Harry and I, before and after we started dating, but also some pictures of Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Weasleys. I haven't shown it to anyone yet, mostly because it isn't done, but I'm also debating if they'll find it creepy or not. I got most if the pictures from Collin Creevy. Yeah, he was a little bit of a stalker, but he was a cute, little kid.

"Have you guys seen Harry?" I ask Hermione and Ron. They're having an argument about which is more boring, Transfiguration or Charms.

"He's up in his dormitory, I think," Ron replies before getting back to arguing with Hermione. I sigh and shake my head. I know they like each other, but all they do is argue. I guess it's their way of communicating. I walk up to the boys dormitory and lightly knock. I hear Harry sniffle.

"Come in," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. I walk in and see him sitting on his bed, his back turned away from me. He's looking at some sort of photo album. As I walk closer, I see it's an album of him and his parents. I remember Hagrid giving it to him in our first year at Hogwarts. It all seemed like so long ago...

The woman actually does look a lot like me, with her red hair, freckles, and green eyes. Harry has her eyes, but the rest of him comes from his father.

"Do you think they knew Sirius wasn't a traitor?" He asks, not taking his eyes off of the photo.

"Yeah, I do." I have tears in my eyes now. The tears aren't for me, but for Harry. For the Potters. For Sirius. For all the people who have died because of HIM. Because of one cruel and foul man, all these people are dead. "Your parents would be proud you, Harry," I say, my voice breaking.

"They'd be proud of us," he whispers, kissing my cheek. It's in these cheesy moments that I realize how lucky I am. Sure, I've fought a basilisk, and the Dark Lord several times, and fought Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic. But it's alright because I have people who can help me get through all these things, and people who have been through it with me. People like Harry. He's my best friend and I couldn't go on with out him, and luckily I don't have to. I suddenly felt compelled to say three simple words that would probably change everything.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?" His eyes meet mine and I force the words out of my mouth.

"I love you," I say and his face flushes, but he takes my hand. I don't expect him to say it back, but my heart melts when he says:

"I love you too."