Athena Dumbledore (A Harry Potter Love Story)

The Burrow Burns

ATHENA POV:

I can't find Harry. He was in from of me a second ago! The only sound heard is my heavy breathing and my body brushing against the long grass that covers the whole area. I stop for a moment and all I hear is silence. A deafening silence. One that makes you want to scream your head off just to break it. I take in a deep breath and clutch my wand tighter. I had to find Harry, then I could apparate out of here. I can't leave without him. I won't. I can't take the silence any more.

"HARRY!" I call, a little hesitant at first. There's no reply, he must be too far. I wade through the tall grass, stopping when I find myself on something wet. What is this? There's a trail of water that leads into a shallow marsh, but still no Harry. I trudge violently through the water and back into a piece of dry land in the middle. I hear footsteps. I raise my wand and twirl around several times, checking the perimeter. A low growl is heard as Fenrir Greyback appears out of the shadows, grinning evilly at me. I raise my wand threateningly just as Harry bolts into the marsh.

"Stupefy!" He yells and Fenrir dodges the spell. Pretty soon we're fighting Death Eaters head-on. I spot the guy who thinks he's my brother. Alexander, I think. His similar turquoise eyes gleam with something I can't identify. Pain? Regret? It's hard to tell. He gives me an almost apologetic look before firing the same spell Harry used on Draco in the bathroom.

"Septemsempra!" There's a stinging sensation on my wand arm and I drop it, clutching the spot where the stinging is coming from. I pull it back to find it wet with scarlet blood. "Accio!" Alexander yells and I go flying towards him. He seems hesitant, but proceeds to dragging me away by my bad arm. I scream, cry and kick, but I'm drowned out by the sounds of the fight. My arm stings like someone continues to cut it over and over. I feel tears staining my cheeks, but wipe them off, struggling not to cry. I'm a Gryffindor, I have to snap out of this!

"Let go of me!" I say when he squeezes hard on my arm. I'm desperately pulling my arm away and staying so he can't drag me, but he's resisting.

"No can do, sis," he replies, not looking at me.

"I'm not your sister!"

"Your Uncles never tell you the truth, eh?"

"What do you mean?" Now we've stopped in the middle of the marsh.

"You're supposed to be older than me, but you're not. Figure the rest out." Then he proceeds to dragging me again. The sounds of the battle have faded and in the distance I can hear people calling my name. The blood is starting to seep through Alexander's fingers where he holds my arm, and the pain is starting to numb. Where is he taking me? And what does he mean I'm supposed to be older than him? My vision is too foggy to decode any of what he's saying. The rest of my body is starting to numb and my resisting isn't working anymore.

"ATHENA?!" It's Tonks. Alexander doesn't notice-or he pretends he doesn't. I take the opportunity.

"TONKS!" I yell and Alexander slaps me hard across the face. "TONKS! HELP!" I cry as he strikes me hard in the face again. My whole body feels numb, and the only thing I can feel are my burning cheeks where Alexander slapped me.

"ATHENA WHERE ARE YOU?!" It's either Lupin or Mr. Weasley. They're getting close. Alexander makes a weak attempt to cover my mouth and drag me away again, but I restrain, scratching myself on the tall grass as I do. His hand strikes my face yet again, but harder. I cry out louder.

"ATHENA!" The voice is really close now and this one belongs to Harry.

"Don't say a word," Alexander hisses and I hesitate. What's the worst thing he could do?

"OVER HERE-OUCH!" He twists my arm back and slaps me harder across the face. It makes a giant slapping noise. Tears sting the back of my eyes as he holds tight on my bleeding arm. I start to feel dizzy. Tonks appears in the clearing first, firing a quick spell at Alexander, which hits me. Ouch.

"Sorry!" Tonks says quickly while firing another spell that misses. Lupin suddenly appears and lands a quick punch right in Alexander's nose. He releases me-well, throws me-into the mud and I land on my good arm, thank goodness. Fred and George help me up and have to carry me away from the fight. I'm really too out of it to tell them apart so I'm just going to say George carried me while Fred was firing spells around. Harry was following closely behind. The temperature suddenly heats up and I can hear Mrs. Weasley's loud sobs and the twins sniffling. I look up and immediately feel a new wave of dizziness come over me. The burrow stands there, burning down before my eyes. The orange flames lick the wood turning it black, all the way up to the attic. I can just picture Ginny's room with all her Chudley Cannons posters-burned to ashes. The fire glows and lights up the night sky, sending smoke swirling up until they blend into the night sky. The stars are barely visible now.

"George! Set her down over here!" Tonks's voice snaps me from my nightmare. He sets me down on the grass gently and I feel myself fading in and out of consciousness. Mrs. Weasley and Tonks kneel over me, pulling out their wands. I feel Harry holding my left hand as they work on the wound. The wound starts to feel itchy and I have to try really hard to refrain from scratching it. "Now this might hurt a little-brace yourself," Tonks says and I squeeze Harry's hand right. Mrs. Weasley looks apologetic as she swipes her wand over me. A searing pain washes over me and I arc my back, fighting the urge to scream. All that comes out is a little whimper. Then I smile, knowing its all over. How come I'm always the one to get hurt? My smile immediately faded when I see the Burrow slowly burning down. This place was almost like my home and now I'm going to lose it. Harry squeezes my hand again, and this time, I just let the tears spill out. Harry puts an arm around my waist and I turn to study him. He's not crying, but looks like he's about to. I just silently pull him into a hug and he responds almost immediately by hugging me back. I look at his watch just in time to see it turn to twelve 'o clock. I sigh.

"Happy Christmas, Harry." He makes a sort of weird noise that's between a laugh and a scoff.

"Yeah," he says sarcastically. "Happy Christmas."