☽☽☽
ATHENA'S FIRST WEEK HAD GONE RATHER QUICKLY. Harry had come to her office on the Thursday and she'd gone through all the photos that she could find. He'd gasped the first time that he saw his father and Athena knew that there was no denying the resemblance between them.
She'd been close to tears watching Harry go through the photos as this had been what she'd wanted for years. His eyes seemed to light up with each photo that he saw.
"You look exactly the same" he told Rena as he flicked through them,
"I'll take that as a compliment" Athena smiled in return. Looking at the photo it was quite clear to see that she did look the same.
"Who's that?" Harry asked. Athena leaned over the desk to get a better look and her heart dropped. The photo was of Lily and James dramatically doing some form of waltz at a seventh year Gryffindor party. Beside them stood Athena with her arms wrapped around Remus.
"Oh that's Remus" Athena smiled lightly, trying not to show the hurt in her eyes as she sat back down into her chair.
"Was he one of your friends too?"
"Yeah he was" Athena nodded, "one of your dads best mates"
"Is he still... sorry I shouldn't ask that, my aunt never lets me ask too many questions"
"Oh don't worry Harry" Athena frowned, "you can never ask too many questions, not to me anyway... Remus is still alive but I haven't seen him in years. I'm sure he's doing well somewhere"
☽☽☽
At the end of the week, Athena found herself walking down to Snape's room for something to do. She was bored again as most of her lessons took place at night which meant that she didn't have much to do in the days. Her schedule was rather clear especially because she shared the subject with Aurora.
The dungeons were colder than the rest of the castle which reflected them rather well. The Slytherin dormitories were down here somewhere, Athena remembered once she had snuck in with the marauders for a brilliant prank. She missed those days.
She found the potions classroom and knocked loudly on the door. There was no answer which usually meant that Snape was mulling to himself and wanted to be left alone. However Athena didn't really care.
She pushed open the door and stepped inside. The man was sat behind his desk dressed all in black as usual pouring over some students work with a sickening expression.
"Just like his father" Snape spat as Athena closed the classroom doors behind her,
"He looks a lot like him yes but I think his personality is more like Lily" Athena continued as she walked over to his desk and perched lightly on the side of it.
"No he is arrogant and stuck up... he knows he's famous and it's gone straight to his head"
"Oh don't be ridiculous Severus" Athena rolled her eyes, "you're only saying that because he looks like James, what could he have possibly done to make you dislike him already?"
"He wasn't paying attention in my class" Snape grumbled,
"Well potions is a particularly boring subject" Athena shrugged causing the Professor to glare at her angrily, "I'm sure he was paying attention Sev I just think you don't want to admit that he's actually a lovely boy and there's nothing to hate about him"
"You're naive"
"Not anymore" Athena cut across him, "I'm going to tell you this once and I hope I'll only have to say it once but given your ignorance and dry personality I doubt that—"
"Go on" Snape drawled,
"If you continue to disfavour Harry because of the relationship you had with his father I won't hesitate to—"
"To do what?" He raised his eyebrows,
"To turn you into a fly and step on you" Athena smiled sweetly, "better yet, a bat... that suits you"
Snape glared at her but he seemed to realise that her words were mostly empty. Of course Athena would not let any mistreatment over Harry slide. However she wasn't capable of killing Snape even if it was tempting at times.
"I will continue to treat Potter as I see fit"
"Don't you dare be unfair to him!" Athena snapped, "he's had a very unfair life so far... stuck with those terrible people and I'm sure Hogwarts will become his escape so you better not ruin it for him"
"It's not as though you'd go to Dumbledore" Snape jeered, "we both know he prefers me more than you"
"I think Dumbledore prefers a lot of people to me considering how many times I've smashed up his office but no I won't go to Dumbledore"
"Who will you go to then?"
"McGonagall" Athena replied smugly and Snape's eyes snapped up to hers to see if she was telling the truth. Even as teachers, McGonagall could be rather terrifying. Athena loved her, in her eyes she was a legend but McGonagall would not tolerate any unfairness towards her own students"
"Maybe if Potter becomes more competent this wouldn't be a problem"
"Oh shut up Sev—"
"Maybe if he was more like Malfoy"
Athena grew cold at the name. She'd had one lesson with the boy so far and he'd talked through the entire thing until Athena took ten points from him and told him that running his mouth would simply earn him more detentions than he could could. Draco had replied that his father would hear about this and Athena had scoffed loudly which was evidently not the reaction that Malfoy had hoped for.
"Do you ever get bored of favouring the Slytherins?" Athena asked dryly,
"You have your favourites too Rena" Snape pointed out,
"I choose them based on their personality not based on what house they're in"
"Of course" Snape muttered, "the Weasley boy is almost just as bad—"
"You say that about every Weasley—"
"Incorrect" Snape interrupted, "I do not feel the same bout them all... the twins I hate more and the Percy boy I hate less"
"Hating someone less doesn't make it better" Athena rolled her eyes, "you shouldn't hate your students at all"
"The twins are insufferable"
"I must remember to congratulate them for making your lessons a misery" Athena laughed.
"I have to give Lupin extra lessons so she can catch up" Snape drawled and Athena froze, "I had a lesson with her yesterday and she asked me if I knew her uncle"
"She's met him then?"
"It seems so" Snape stated, "does that bother you?"
"No of course not" Athena shook her head, "no he's old news now Sev I don't care"
"She's a lot like him—"
"I don't care" Athena interrupted again, "really, I don't"
"If you say so" Snape shrugged, "anyway, she's coming for the extra lesson in a moment... if you really don't care you could stay"
"I don't care for the record but I actually should be getting going, I promised to make a phone call"
"Ah... the lover" Snape grimaced as though he'd said something disgusting.
"Careful Sev, jealousy isn't a good look on you" Athena sighed in sarcasm before she hopped off the desk and strode out of the room.
She made it out of the front gates easily and worked her way down out of the castle into the surprisingly warm air. Her feet carried her in a fast pace down the street of Hogsmede as the words Severus had spoken to her lingered in her mind.
If Elle had met her uncle it meant that he was still around. He hadn't run away to some foreign country or anything, not that Athena had expected him to really. However this was confirmation that he was still living. It felt weird to imagine him having a life without her even though she was doing the exact same.
However she really shouldn't care. She'd moved on so why did hearing his name feel like a fatal stab to the heart? Athena should be passed this by now. She hurried to the bottom of Hogsmede where she turned on her heel and apperated.
She found herself in a quiet village in Scotland that she went to whenever she could. There was a muggle phone here and she'd use it to call Ben. She really needed to hear his voice right now, maybe it would remind her that she had moved on, that Remus was just a memory now.
Picking up the phone, she pressed the digits into the box and held the receiver up to her ear. For a moment she heard only ringing, this went on for a little while before she heard the sound of someone picking the phone up.
"Hello?"
Athena almost sighed out loud in relief to hear him,
"Ben it's me" Athena replied quickly,
"Hi love, how's your week been?"
"It's been ok" Athena replied, "bit boring really I haven't had that many lessons"
"Shame" said Ben, "so... go on, what's he like?"
"Just like his parents, he's so kind but it's obvious he's been mistreated, he apologies way too much"
"Poor kid" Ben added, "did you tell him you were his godmother?"
"Yes and he was so happy! I couldn't believe it, I thought he'd be angry at me for leaving him for so long"
"Well it wasn't your fault, you didn't have a choice"
"Yes I know but I didn't bring off the entire manipulative boss thing... I guess he'll know everything when he's older"
"Fair enough, anything else exciting happen?"
"Well not exactly"
"What is it Rena? Somethings bothering you I can tell"
"It's nothing, I wasn't going to mention it—"
"Love you can tell me anything"
"Remember when I told you about... the ex"
"Yeah" Ben replied, trying to sound as normal as possible,
"His niece has just started the school" Athena explained, "I just wasn't expecting her to that's all... it's weird... having a reminder"
"I understand" Ben replied, "do you have to teach her?"
"No my sister does" Athena sighed, "so I guess it won't be a problem"
"It'll be fine Rena, I swear"
Athena smiled at this and nodded before she realised he couldn't see her,
"Yeah you're right, I'm just being stupid about nothing, I know that I am"
"You're the opposite of stupid" Ben laughed, "you're the smartest person I've ever met"
"You're too sweet... so how's your week been there?"
"Went to a few publishers today and one of them looks promising"
"That's amazing!" Athena grinned, "it's about time someone realised how talented you are"
"You're too sweet" Ben replied, "anyway they said they'd look into it further and maybe they'll publish it!"
"Oh my god Ben that's incredible! You might be famous!"
"I'm not sure about that" Ben chuckled, "but it's a start, it's what I've been working towards"
"Enough to quit your day job?"
"Hey, that Starbucks would crumble without me there"
"Of course, you are the backbone of a coffee shop you work part time at"
"Exactly" Ben replied, "Rena I miss you"
"I miss you too, but we're used to this now... it happens every year"
"I know but... well this summer was just brilliant wasn't it? Bloody brilliant"
"Yeah it was" Athena smiled, "and Christmas will be too... it isn't that far away"
"It feels far away... four months, I could be a published author by then"
"You could be" Athena agreed, "but you'll still be Ben to me"
"I love you"
"I love you too, the time will fly by ok? I'll call every week"
"Yeah I know" Ben sighed, "I know, it always gets faster after the first week... I've just been so used to you being there... the sheets still smell like you"
"Stop smelling your sheets Ben, your neighbours already think you're weird" Athena joked and Ben laughed loudly through the other side of the phone,
"Oh shit Rena I have to go, there's another call coming through for me"
"Ok" Athena smiled rather sadly, "bye love"
"Bye! I love you lots"
The line ended before she could say it back and she stood rather sadly in the telephone box. She still felt alone sometimes, it was a feeling that she was used to but one she hated above any other. She placed the phone back in its place and left realising that the weather seemed a bit more cold now.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 2068
Published - 10th April 2021
(I'm not going to make Snape
a good person don't worry)