☽☽☽
ATHENA CURLED THE FLAMES AROUND HER FINGERS she loved the way that they made her skin glow. There was a certain shimmer to her complexion, a playful smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.
The powers getting to your head
Athena heard the words of warning but she didn't necessarily agree. She was nothing like Dacre even if he was her father. She knew what she had to do, Athena had to see the end of the war. Apart from that her skills were rather trivial.
However despite her bitter emotions about the idea of Dacre being her father, she still wanted to see him. Athena had questions that Dumbledore couldn't answer. She supposed her parents would be able to answer if they hadn't been in hiding.
Remus was asleep next to her. Athena could hear his heavy breathing, the moon outside was threatening being full and she knew that he'd had a hard day. Athena looked over to see that most of him was concealed by the cover that he'd flung over himself. His curls (in desperate need of a cut) spilled over top.
Athena let the fire go out, watching the smoke coil in the air like ghosts. She stared into the darkness for a moment, missing the flickering golden light that the fire had provided. She'd collected the energy from a candle which she now blew out. The tea light had no scent so Athena's nostrils were simply filled with smoky fumes.
She lowered herself into the bed, wondering how Remus was so submerged considering that the August weather was deathly hot. She found his waist and wrapped her arm around it, burying her head into the crook of his back. He didn't wake up but Athena fell asleep soon after that, the image of the fire in the centre of her mind.
Her dreams were often alive with pictures of the war. Sometimes she wondered whether these clear images would come true but they also disappeared in the morning. Trying to remember them was as difficult as trying to catch smoke with your bare hands.
Tonight she didn't dream about the war. She saw Remus transforming, he yelled out but there was nothing she could do. Athena knew that she had to leave or she'd get hurt but she didn't want him to be alone, she never wanted him to be alone.
The wolf turned to her and Athena simply blinked. By now she'd figured out that she was dreaming, he couldn't really hurt her. She stared at this part of him, suppressed by the days and the moonless nights. The scars had vanished from him, he didn't look like Remus. It was simply a werewolf standing before her.
The wolf lunged at her and Athena only just ducked in time, feeling the heavy figure tumble over her head. His eyes were cold and unforgiving. He didn't know her, he didn't recognise her and for some reason this hurt despite it not really being Remus and also being a dream.
As she turned to see where the wolf had landed she saw the body of a man, not a wolf. Remus was back, covered in more scars than before with a line of blood trickling down his brow. Athena sighed in relief, he wasn't going to hurt her.
Remus looked up and Athena smiled, ready to run to him, ready to help him again. She'd promised to look after him and Athena wasn't going to break any more of these binding words. Like invisible contracts entwining her life.
However as Athena stared at him she noticed that his gaze hadn't changed. His eyes were still cold and unforgiving. It was as though he didn't know her. She was now a stranger. Athena looked at her hands but saw what she always did. She was still her, so why did Remus not know her? Why was he looking at her like that?
"Rena" he spoke. She frowned before realising the voice didn't come from his mouth. Athena opened her eyes and sat up with a gasping breath.
"Rena" the voice repeated. She turned to see Remus frowning at her. They were in their bed and the morning light was seeping in from the windows.
"Nightmare" Athena sighed, rubbing her face as she felt the sweat that had formed there, she decided she didn't appreciate the heat.
"Me too" Remus nodded. Athena wasn't surprised, Remus usually got bad dreams the night before transformation.
"What was yours about?" Athena asked, lying back onto the fresh side of the cushion as she stared at the rose tinted ceiling.
"I never came back" Remus replied, "after I transformed I stayed like that forever"
Athena smiled at him sympathetically as she reached for his hand. He looked tired, it seemed that he always looked tired these days.
"Yours?" He asked.
Athena opened her mouth to reply before she realised that there was no imprinted image in her minds eye.
"I can't remember" Athena muttered.
☽☽☽
They spent the day together, what else would they do? Order meetings were every Sunday however they weren't living in the boring times they had been the year previous. Voldemort was getting more ambitious, killing of muggle borns at least ever fortnight.
Many people were going into hiding now. Not just muggle borns but also order members like Athena's parents. No other order members had been targeted as of yet however this was mainly because the amount of protective enchantments placed around their houses.
Athena and Remus had some enchantments however their house was already in such a secluded location that she doubted anyone would be able to find them. The death eaters still didn't realise that Athena couldn't be killed which she found amusing, Remus on the other hand found this worrying. He didn't know what they would do once they'd figured this out.
Athena was practicing whenever she could. She wanted to know the extent of what she could do, she wanted to be prepared and when the time came she believed she would be.
However on this particular Wednesday, Remus and Athena didn't bother seeing how many different spells Athena could block without her wand and they instead they lay about the house like two people who didn't have any real worries.
This was far from the case however sometimes it was nice to pretend. They didn't get up until the afternoon, by then Athena physically couldn't stay in bed anymore because her stomach was screaming at her.
The two of them ventured downstairs and cooked some random selection of pancakes, eggs and bacon. The record player blasted out music to the kitchen as they moved around in sync with one another.
Athena wasn't a brilliant cook however she was definitely better than she once had been. By the time the food was done Athena thought she might collapse with hunger. She ate like it was her last meal and made Remus laugh on multiple occasions.
"When we get married" Athena mused, "what season would we marry in?"
"Whatever season you'd want to get married in" Remus chuckled, "anything's good with me"
"I think maybe spring... or summer like Lily and James" Athena replied,
"Do you think about this a lot?" Remus asked.
"Well I need something to look forward to" Athena smiled, "makes the war worth fighting, you know?"
"Yeah I suppose I do" he nodded.
Remus and Athena danced around in the kitchen while they cleaned up. A lot of the work was done with magic however they liked to pretended that they did some of it by hand. The Beatles album was nearly at full volume so it was a good job they didn't have neighbours close by.
They spun around laughing, singing at the top of their lungs (sometimes yelling the wrong words entirely).
After The Beatles they switched to Bowie which Remus much preferred, personally Athena's favourite was Queen but she was open to most music.
"I'd love to be able to play an instrument" Remus smiled lightly, "or at least be able to sing"
"You definitely can't sing" Athena joked, remembering their poor attempts at singing along to the record.
"What instrument would you play?" Remus asked,
"Probably piano" Athena shrugged, "it's delicate and almost ethereal, I always assume people who can play it have this air of intelligence"
"Good choice" Remus smirked.
"What about you, what instrument would you play?" Athena returned the question,
"Probably bass" Remus replied, "bass is underrated, I always listen for the bass line, it's cool but not obnoxious, you know?"
"Yeah" Athena laughed, still smiling, "yeah I know"
By this time it was nearly three, the couple didn't feel like going out. Remus wasn't feeling too good with the moon looming over them. He'd so far done a good job at remaining calm, Athena knew this wasn't easy for him. However after about fourteen years of this experience, he knew what he was doing.
There wasn't much to do in the house, Remus was exhausted and didn't feel like walking. Athena just wanted to take his mind off everything. They sat together in the living room playing wizards chess.
Remus was better at the game which is why Athena had agreed to play it. She knew it would be better to play something to his skill set. Athena didn't really understand chess that well. She knew the rules and would never get anything wrong but she never could comprehend how people could be so good at it.
Remus wasn't necessarily an expert at the game but he still managed to beat Athena every time. By the fifth game Athena had to call it quits, she could only take so much losing.
The sun went down later and came up earlier in the summer which was great for Remus because it meant that he spent less time as the wolf. Athena wished she could stop time however despite being powerful, not even the best witches and wizards could perform this ability.
Athena played the music to drown out the voices in her own mind, she laughed to force some kind of positive emotion. She had to stay strong for Remus, he did it enough for her even when he probably didn't feel like smiling.
They spent the rest of the afternoon in front of the TV. Legs curled together as they sat at opposite ends of the couch, Bowls of pasta on their laps. Pasta was Athena's favourite thing to cook (mainly because it was the easiest).
There wasn't much on the TV. After skipping through the channels many times, she eventually stumbled on Alice in Wonderland. It wasn't perfect for the two of them but she enjoyed it. The movie had always been her favourite as a child. She loved the nostalgia of the animation, the classical tunes that played at the beginning pushed her back to a time when everything was easier.
She found herself remembering her childhood which now seemed bitter. It was weird how happy memories could awaken some embedded sadness inside her. Athena saw her and Remus playing in the river out back of her old house. She saw herself reading books to Archer and it struck her hard to realise that she'd never been lied to about that. Archer had always been her brother.
"It's getting dark" Remus pointed out, placing his bowl down onto the already nearly full coffee table. Athena looked out to see the summer sunset streaked with pale pink and orange.
"How are you feeling?" Athena asked. Remus just grimaced which told her all she needed to know. He dragged his long frame into a standing position and moved Athena's bowl to the table as well.
She drew herself close to him, knowing that she wasn't going to sleep tonight for worrying. She always did this but it didn't bother her anymore. Sure the anxiety was bad but it was nothing like what Remus was going through.
"I do it every month Rena" he smiled encouragingly, "trust me, I'm used to it by now"
Athena nodded and blinked away some tears worrying that he was going to think she was being silly. Truthfully Remus would never think that.
He pulled her in for a kiss and yet again Athena wished that she could slow time down and spend forever in this moment. Their lips brushed one last time before they fell apart.
"Don't worry too much" Remus smiled, kissing her forehead in a moment of affection.
"You know I will" Athena smiled sadly, "I'll be here when you get back, I'll be right here waiting"
Remus nodded, inhaling a shaking breath before he moved off towards the kitchen.
Athena followed, determined to see him until the last moment where he'd disappear. She lifted the enchantments with a wave of her wand which would allow Remus to disapperate. She'd have to do this again when the sun came up which was just another reason for her to stay awake.
"I'll be back soon" Remus smiled, pushing out the back door. His features were illuminated by the golden light and Athena couldn't help but admire how beautiful he was. She was extremely lucky, Athena knew this.
He smirked at her one last time before her turned and vanished. Athena didn't like how the air felt without him, the warmth now turned to a chill and she felt stupid standing alone in her house.
With a sigh, she shut the door and promised herself that she wouldn't look at the moon if she could help it, doing this would just remind her the pain that he was feeling. Just like Remus, Athena hated thinking about the person she loved in pain.
She moved back towards the kitchen, summoning the empty bowls of pasta and lowering them into the sink. She could still hear the noise of the movie coming from the living room. It was over now, the music was playing over the final credits.
Athena lay her head in her hands, trying to tame her rapid heart rate. Despite the loud music coming from the room next door, she could still hear the sound that broke through it.
There was a pop, a very faint pop. However Athena had heard it. It was then she realised that she hadn't yet put the enchantments back up, the night sky was a cotton blue now with the faint specks of fading pink. Remus wouldn't come back, not with so little time to spare.
Her wand was clutched in her hand, shaking hands and baited breaths. Pulse quickened as she walked slowly to the living room with her wand stretched out in front of her.
She rounded the corner just as the music from the TV stopped, she missed it. The figure standing there turned on the girl immediately, eyes alight with emotion. They looked over her with a sickening smirk that made her stomach turn immediately. A laugh filled the room while Athena just stood staring not sure what she was supposed to say, what to do?
"Hello o'dear daughter of mine"
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 2522
Published- 16th March 2021
I'm working on so
many things atm :|
I need to just concentrate
on one thing but that's less fun :)