Zenith《Marauders Era》

Chapter I: Cigarettes and Flower Petals

"You've gotten ash on my notebook, Ata."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Al. Here, let me-"
"No, I've got it. Just be more careful."
"Sure thing, Sis."
Atalanta and Aletheia Phileo threw their stuff onto the seats in their compartment. Aletheia opened the window.
"Bye, Momma! Bye, Pappa!" She called, sticking her head out of the window.
"Bye, Love." Her mother, Natalia, kissed her forehead.
"Get that cigarette out of your mouth young lady and give your father a kiss goodbye," said George Phileo, scowling at his other daughter. Atalanta rolled her eyes and flicked the cigarette out of the train window. She stuck her head out and kissed both her parents on their heads.
"I love you," her father told her. She smiled and nodded. Both girls pulled their heads back into their compartment.
"We love you both so much! Don't forget to write!" Natalia yelled as the train whistle screamed, signaling their departure. "Stay safe!"
"Bye! Love you! I'll write every week!" Aletheia promised, waving with a wide grin on her face.
"I probably won't speak to you until Christmas!" Atalanta waved as well with a grin mocking Aletheia's. George stood tall, arms at his side, face almost expressionless. To Aletheia, she saw it as his attempts not to cry, but Atalanta saw disappointment etched into every line of his face. Natalia, on the other hand, had tears running down her dark, befreckled face. She waved her dainty, gloved hand in the air as the train started to pull away from the station.
"Bye my loves!" She continued calling after her daughters until they could no longer hear her.
When the train had fully left the station, Aletheia finally sat down in her seat, glaring at Atalanta as she stuck another cigarette in her mouth. She looked up to see her sister's distasteful scowl and crossed arms.
She shrugged her shoulders, holding the lighter in her hand.
"I thought we agreed. Only one every two days."
"But that last one didn't count! I didn't get to finish it," Atalanta argued. Aletheia raised her left eyebrow and crossed her legs. With a melodramatic sigh, Atalanta shut her lighter and slammed it down on the seat next to her.
"Fine!"
Aletheia smiled and touched Atalanta's knee.
"It's just-"
"I know, I know. You don't want me to 'slowly kill myself with such toxic instruments'. I heard you the first billion times."
"And yet you still don't listen." Aletheia retracted her hand, scowling again.
"It's something I like to call 'selective hearing'."
Before their bickering could continue, there was a light rapping at her door.
In the hall stood a squat boy with a mousy face and thin, brown hair.
"Oh, hello Peter!" Aletheia exclaimed, her scowl disappearing instantly. Atalanta stuck her unlit cigarette into her mouth and stared out the window.
"Hey, Theia."
"Where're the other boys?"
"I don't know. I can't find them. I came around to see if you had."
"Nope. Sorry, Pete, but we'll let you know as soon as we see them."
Peter Pettigrew smiled sadly and looked down.
"Come in and sit with us, Pete. We'll keep you company until the boys show up," Atalanta said, letting the cigarette dangled from between her teeth. Aletheia smiled encouragingly. Once Peter had taken his seat beside Atalanta, the two started playing a game of cards. Aletheia opened her journal and began flipping through pages of doodles, flattened and dried flowers, poems, and snippets of stories.
"Three chocolate frogs says you can't beat me," Atalanta said, her lips forming a smirk.
"You're on," replied Peter with an equally mischievous grin.
"Once we get to Hogwarts, there will be no more gambling," Aletheia said, not looking up from her journal.
"Whatever you say, Ms. Prefect."
Not five minutes later, after Atalanta let out a triumphant "booyah!", there was a tap on their window. Alethia scowled and pushed her glasses on to the top of her head. Peter handed Atalanta three chocolate frogs while Alethia stood and opened the copartment window. She stuck her head out and looked up.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing up there?" She yelled at the three head peaking over the sides of the train.
"Crazy cart lady trying to kill us!" The black haired boy yelled back.
"Very cold and windy!" Shouted the one with glasses.
"Please let us in," asked the boy with scars on his face. She backed out of the way of the window and sat back on her seat.
"What's that?" Asked Atalanta, shuffling the cards in her hands and now happily chewing on a chocolate frog.
"I found the boys."
There was a blur of motion from the window and a shout of pain as the first of the boys swung in through the window.
Sirius Black lifted his head and blew a mass of hair out of his face.
"Hey Al, Pete, Ata. What's u-"
A second blur of motion and James Potter was laying on top of Sirius, cackling.
"Getoff!" Sirius pushed James off of him. "You weigh like a million pounds."
Before he could move off of the floor, a third and final blur introduced Remus Lupin to the group. Sirius grumbled as Remus landed on top of him.
"Oh hey, girls. Peter." Using Sirius' head as a hand hold, he pushed himself up and plopped himself down next to Aletheia. Sirius finally stood up, glaring daggers at his two friends. He rubbed his head and squeezed himself between Atalanta and the wall. She grinned up at him.
"New tattoo," he said, pointing at the moon on her wrist, "I like it."
Her smile widened.
"Do you? I do too. Pappa didn't enjoy it too much, but Momma thought it was fine. Look, she even put some magic on it."
Sirius watched in awe as the moon started to change, shifting to the different phases then stopping back on full.
"That's so wicked. Did she do any others?"
"Well of course. Once she did this one, I made her do the other two." Atalanta shifted her jacket off her shoulders to show her small black cat, which was currently licking its paw. When the small, black silhouette saw Sirius staring, it dropped it's paw and cocked its head to the side. He lifted the jacket back on to her shoulders.
"And the other?"
Atalanta's grey eyes sparkled. She lifted her ankle, accidentally kneeing Peter in the side.
"Sorry, Pete," she said. He nodded and went back to his card game with James.
On Atalanta's ankle, the word 'truth' was written in black ink. It faded slowly. Before their eyes, as if an invisible pen was being used,the word began to rewrite itself.
"Your mother is a genius," Sirius mused. Atalanta's smile held fast.
"Yes, she is."
While this encounter was going on, Remus was catching up with Aletheia.
"I see you've got a new journey," he said, glancing up at Atalanta and Sirius. "And I see Ata's already got ash on it."
Aletheia sighed and nodded, but a smile played at her lips.
"Yes, she has. But I love her anyway."
"Did you write any new poems while we were away?"
"What a silly question, Remus. Yes I did."
"Can I hear some?"
Aletheia glanced down at the page she was on, the page full of lopsided hearts and a tear soaked poem and a blush creeped up her face. She pushed the pages against her chest. Remus laughed and tucked his hands behind his head. He put his feet up on Peter's lap, earning a glare from the boy.
"I see. You're being secretive. Is it about a certain someone?"
Aletheia's blush deepened.
"Ah, ah. I see. Do I know this person?"
Aletheia covered her face with the book. Remus laughed again.
"I see, I see. You don't want me to know. But mark my words, Aletheia Phileo, I will discover your secrets, if it's the last thing I do."