☽☽☽
"HAVE YOU PACKED EVERYTHING?" Athena called to Remus, staring at her own bag that was at the point of overflowing. The problem was that they didn't know how long they were going to be spending in Pairs. It could be two days or two months and there was no real way to estimate this.
However after casting a quick spell the proportions of Athena's suitcase changed subtlety meaning that the clothes all fell together neatly. The undetectable extension charm had saved her many times and she stared at her work proudly before zipping the contents up and lugging the case down the stairs.
"I think I've got everything" Remus replied in a very unconvincing tone. Athena rolled her eyes noticing that he was leaning over the muggle crossword having no hope of finishing it as his muggle knowledge wasn't brilliant.
Remus had been finished getting ready for ages now, maybe about an hour. Athena wasn't sure how he'd packed everything so fast and she was more than sure that he'd probably left something behind.
She ruffled his hair playfully causing him to laugh to himself as Athena went about locking the doors and closing the blinds which was a routine her parents would always go through before leaving on holiday.
Athena hadn't been on many vacations. When she was a lot younger they used to go more often however after Aurora joined Hogwarts the trips went down to a bare minimum. She'd never been to Paris that's for sure and despite it being a mission rather than a holiday she was extremely excited.
"Are you ready to go?" Athena asked, "honestly.. like completely ready"
"I'm completely ready" Remus replied, taking another sip of his coffee,
"You don't look ready" Athena mused,
"What do you mean I don't look ready?" He frowned, his own eyes skating over the clothes that he was wearing at an attempt to figure out her words.
"I'm just making sure"
"Rena if I've left something it takes two seconds to come back, it's not as though we're taking a plane"
"I know that" Athena rolled her eyes, "but I'm turning the grate off after we leave"
Athena and Remus would be travelling to Paris via floo powder. This wasn't always the main method of transport especially when going across borders but it also wasn't impossible, just a less pleasant experience.
The other main option was apparition and Athena definitely wasn't keen on letting either Remus or herself apperate over seas. Therefore they'd decided on floo powder.
The six of them would be staying in the Potters apartment. Athena hadn't known that James' parents owned property in France however it did come in very handy for the order at this time.
Athena wasn't sure when or how the others were getting there but she did have the location of James' apartment written down on a small piece of paper that she was carrying around tight in her hand as though it were of the upmost importance.
"Right we better go then" Athena sighed. Remus nodded in agreement as he got to his feet still mulling over the crossword which had two incorrect answers filled in.
Athena was about to correct his error but she thought it best not. She paced into the living room where the large impressive fire place was standing waiting, after taking a deep breath she stepped into it and took a handful of floo powder like she always did. However Athena was already aware that this wasn't going to be as simple as usual.
"47 park avenue" Athena called as the fire swirled around her. She saw Remus shooting her one last encouraging smile before she plummeted down into nothing. Her eyes were slammed shut as she spun uncontrollably only being able to cling onto the top of her bag.
It felt like an amplified version of the usual experience. Her head was spinning and she thought it might never stop as flashes of light and sound hit her senses.
Finally her feet hit the floor and she toppled forwards simply praying that she'd got the right place.
"Awful isn't it" a voice called from above her. She squinted up out of her now timid eyes to see James beaming at her with his hand outstretched.
"Right place then" she murmured, taking his hand and pulling herself up to shaking legs.
"This is the humble Parisian abode of myself" he nodded proudly,
"Well it's your parents" Athena pointed out.
"Fuck sake" a loud curse came from behind the two of them. Athena turned to see Remus stumbling out of the fire place clutching his head. He hit his shin against a large coffee table and fell dramatically onto one of the leather sofas face down.
"I think we should just leave him there" Athena whispered, "for a bit at least"
James nodded in silent agreement before he ushered Athena over to the next room.
The apartment was pretty much open plan, the living room was connected by a large open space in the wall, no door. After walking out of that room Athena found herself in the dining room and kitchen area. The first thing she noted with his apartment was how clean it was. There were expensive looking sculptures and vases dotted artistically around and large paintings hung on the wall every so often.
All of the walls were white and every surface was shining. The kitchen was tiled and was the only part of the house that didn't look like an art museum. The cupboards were a light wood and the tiles were black and white.
The main three rooms of the house were connected and you could walk between them in a circle that never ended. The final large room was the entrance with a few big mirrors and a door that Athena presumed was the way in when not using floo powder.
"It's very nice" Athena told James who nodded in agreement,
"There's three rooms which is perfect" he continued, "only one main bathroom and one en-suite but I'm sure we'll live"
"Probably" Athena nodded.
"Since you two are here last you get the smallest room" James continued, "but it's actually really nice, it's one of the ones with a balcony and you can see a small portion of the Eiffel Tower"
"You can see the Eiffel Tower?" Athena gasped,
"A portion" he nodded. Athena peeked into the living room to see Remus still lying face down on the sofa. She laughed at his dramatics before following James.
"Marlene and Dorcas are out being tourists but they're pretending to be local, apparently Dorcas thinks she can pull it off"
"Well the French are known for being fashionable" Athena shrugged.
"Athena you're here!" A wave of red hair and the smell of fresh flowers hit the girl as she felt Lily throw her arms round her neck.
"Hi Lil" Athena smiled into her shoulder, "it's lovely here isn't it?"
"Oh it's beautiful" Lily gushed, "I love the French aesthetic, all the buildings are like this cream colour in this street and.. well come see for yourself"
Athena nodded as she followed Lily into what she presumed was the master bedroom.
There were two glass double doors shielded by a thin curtain and some blinds that were pulled up. Outside there was a small terrace balcony connected to another that Athena noted must be linked to her room.
She immediately could see what Lily was describing. All the buildings looked symmetrical and very pleasing on the eye. There was a small table and some chairs made out of black iron sitting on the terrace and Athena imagined sitting here in the morning drinking coffee. This may be a mission but it felt very much like a holiday.
"You can see a bit of the tower from your room, did James mention?" Lily asked, taking Athena's hand and dragging her into the room directly opposite.
It was definitely smaller with a bed close to the floor and large white wardrobes however Athena wasn't fussed how big it was.
Her windows were displayed the same way and the translucent curtains allowed the perfect amount of light to seep into the room. Lily pushed open the doors and the were greeted by the same fresh March air as they peered out.
"Look" Lily pointed. Athena followed her fingertip to a place between two connecting streets. It wasn't easy to spot at first but after you placed your gaze into the right area she noticed it.
All she could see was a slither of the top part but she smiled nonetheless.
"We haven't been over to look at it properly yet" Lily explained, "I assume we'll do that later, Marls and Dorcas have probably already seen it"
"How long have you been here?" Athena asked in interest as they closed the doors and walked back into the main section of the apartment,
"Couple of hours" Lily shrugged, "I was too excited to wait, Marls and Dee got here about an hour ago but we barely saw them"
"Sounds about right" Athena laughed, "Remus will you stop being dramatic"
Remus was still lying with his forehead pressed into one of the pale lilac cushions adorning the sofa.
"I hate floo powder" he replied simply, pulling his long frame into a standing position and instead pressing his forehead against the crown of Athena's head.
"Oh you poor thing" Athena drawled sarcastically.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a large grand piano painted a shocking white standing in the corner of the room.
"You've got a piano!" Athena gasped, moving so fast that Remus stumbled forward a few paces.
"Yeah mum plays" James called, "always tried to get me to learn but I never got the hang of it"
"I think I can play a song or two" Athena mused as she sat down and ran her fingers over the slightly dusted keys.
She stared at the collection of black and white for a moment, searching her mind for some form of memory. Athena could recall sitting next to her sister playing duets and even performing to her parents who clapped their hands and cheered. However now as she looked down she couldn't remember a thing, which key was which? What did the songs go like?
"Go on then Rena" James smirked as he fell back into one of the cushioned sofas. Athena turned anxiously to Remus and shook her head,
"I can't remember, why can't I remember?"
Remus' face dawned in sudden realisation as he dashed over and sat down next to her on the stool.
"It's ok" he murmured, "here I'll play"
Athena watched as he placed his own hands onto the keys, long fingers stretched out as he began to play. Somewhere in Athena's mind she could recall Remus having a slight talent for this yet the memory seemed murky almost like a dream.
The music filled the room and it took Athena a moment to realise that he was playing the melody to 'love of my life'. Athena smiled and rested her head against his shoulder, watching as his touch danced over the keys with a knowledge of how to play.
Athena wished that she could remember, she wanted to be the one playing the notes. The music was so beautiful, so angelic. The sound so calming to hear. Remus didn't even need the notes in front of him and Athena wondered whether she'd ever be able to play which such fluidity again.
The distant sound of an opening door could be heard and Athena snapped back to reality.
"Bonjour bitches!" The voice of Dorcas echoed throughout the house. Athena laughed happily, getting to her feet and dashing through to the entry room.
"You're here!" Marlene beamed, hugging her friend tightly. Athena returned the hug and looked to Dorcas who was dressed like someone out of a fashion magazine. Short dress, knee high boots, sunglasses despite it being March, a thin scarf that definitely wasn't keeping her warm and a long fur lined jacket to top the whole thing off.
"It's fashion darling" Dorcas sang as she too hugged Athena,
"You look amazing as per usual" Athena mused, "where've you been"
"To see the tower" Marlene explained, "it's bigger than I thought it would be"
"It's huge" Dorcas confirmed, "there's a nice bakery down there" she pointed randomly out the window and Athena had no idea where she was referring to.
"There's also a nice restaurant over there" Marlene added also pointing randomly.
"You lot need to remember that we're here on business" Lily rolled her eyes.
"Yes but we don't even have a plan yet" Dorcas pointed out, "so until then we might as well just have a good time"
"Or we could come up with a plan" Lily muttered under her breath so that only Athena could hear.
"I want to go see the tower" James whined sounding almost like a child,
"Patience is a virtue" Lily mused,
"Ooh we'll go back" Marlene beamed,
"You've just been" Remus frowned, he'd stopped playing the piano now and had strode over to join their random congregation in the entrance room.
"It'll be fun" Dorcas shrugged, "we can pretend we're experts since we've already been"
"Experts of looking at a tower" Athena snorted, "I'm so jealous"
"Oh shut up Rena" Marlene laughed. A few minutes later they'd managed to find some jackets buried at the bottom of their luggage and they found themselves walking through the streets of Paris with a new found sense of excitement.
"I've always wanted to come here" Remus told Athena. They were walking hand in hand behind the other four. Dorcas was pointing out where to go yet Lily still had her map open discreetly behind her.
"Me too" Athena nodded, "hey if we ever get married we should come here for our honey moon"
Remus stiffened slightly at the word marriage and Athena frowned feeling a small pang in her heart.
"That would be nice" he replied simply. Athena decided to brush over the small glitch as they moved onto another street that seemed to parallel the tower. It came into view after they rounded a corner and Athena saw what Marlene meant about it being bigger than she had imagined.
Of course she knew that it was big but this was something else. It was almost unnerving to stare up at, especially knowing that people were up there, then again Athena had never been good with heights.
The path directly opposite the tower where they were was lined with trees on either side. Marlene pulled out what looked like a muggle disposable camera and Dorcas dashed ahead, posing dramatically to the rhythm of the camera clicks.
"Group photo" Dorcas called,
"Someone has to take the photo Dee" Lily explained as she moved over,
"I can work with that" Dorcas shrugged, pointing her wand at the camera so it hovered out of Marlene hands.
"Dorcas there's muggles around" Athena pointed out but the girl just shrugged and beckoned them forwards,
"They don't notice a thing" Athena wasn't sure what she meant but they all crowded together and smiled as the click of the camera went off.
"I wish Sirius was here" James sighed, "he would love this"
"That's why we're taking pictures" Marlene smiled, "so we can show him what it was like"
"Rub it in his face more like" Remus shrugged.
They moved closer to the tower to the point that Athena had to crane her neck to see the whole thing. She had no desire of actually going up the tower (unlike James, Marlene and Dorcas who couldn't think of anything better).
"You can go right to the top" James explained in excitement,
"Sounds riveting" Lily replied in a bored tone.
"It's like looking after kids" Remus laughed to Athena who agreed,
"Would have been worse of Sirius was here, he's the biggest child of them all"
Remus agreed with a chuckle as they watched the three more exited friends rush off to go pay for a 'once in a lifetime experience'.
"I guess it doesn't hurt to have one day just having fun" Lily sighed, "but we need to start to think about the mission, Dumbledore said it was important"
"We will Lily don't worry" Athena nodded with a smile. She turned back to the other three and watched Marlene wave her hands over her head before she ducked into an elevator.
She smiled, resting against Remus again already looking forward for the awaiting days of Paris. Even if they weren't here purely to have fun.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 2778
Published - 7th March 2021
This book is so long
I keep thinking I'm nearly
done and then I remember there's
still two more acts and a sequel
:0
I love long
books so I hope
that it's a good thing