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IT WAS RAINING WHEN ATHENA APPERATED to the small Scottish town. She cast off the rain with a simple spell as she walked over to the telephone box. Her Friday had been filled with boredom and lacklustre lessons that hadn't allowed her to share her passion or love of the subject. Instead she'd been repeating words from a book, feeling like a copy and pasted version of her sister. Something she'd never hoped to be.
Ducking inside of the telephone box, Athena leant against the glass wall and let out a large sigh that steamed up the pane in front of her. She stared at the crackling condensation and wondered why she wasn't exited to pick up the phone. Usually this was the best part of her week. Hearing Ben talk to her was like taking her hair down after a long day, like closing your eyes when the light gets too bright.
He anchored her back to reality, often lifted her spirits and reminded her that she wasn't alone anymore. However now as Athena stared at the receiver she didn't feel the prick in her fingertips or the spark in her heart. Yet she couldn't turn back, she felt a certain pressure to talk to him. He didn't just help her, it worked both ways.
Picking up the phone, Athena moved her fingers over the numbers as she always did. Punching in the correct order, the order that had been imprinted into her brain. The number she couldn't forget. The receiver rang, the sound echoed throughout the girls mind as she stood waiting.
Athena expected the familiar click, the one she was used to hearing. She'd then hear the bustle of background noise or the static of bad connection. However what she hadn't been expecting was the dull faded noise of a failed call.
Taking the phone slowly from her face, she stared at it as though expecting to see something wrong with it. Her first indication was to look for an answer that wasn't the most obvious. However there was no smoke rising from the machine, no shattered glass or burnt out wires.
Athena placed the phone back where it fell perfectly into place. Everything was working exactly how it always did but as the rain hammered against the glass box around her she got the strangely gutting feeling that he hadn't picked up the phone.
Ben always picked up the phone, he was well renowned for it. Never had they not talked on a Friday, since their first call it had become routine. They knew not to make plans around this time, they knew to be there yet now as Athena stood alone in the rain she realised that for the first time ever, he hadn't been there to pick up.
Trying to quell her worries, she walked back out into the rain and didn't even bother to cast a spell of protection. Maybe he was in trouble, lying somewhere unable to reach his phone. Maybe he was tired or ill, slept through the dull and repetitive ring. Maybe he'd had plans he just couldn't cancel, like a job opportunity or a family emergency. Maybe he just didn't want to talk to her.
Athena really hoped that her last guess wasn't correct as she turned on her heel and vanished again. She hadn't even been looking forward to speaking to him, she felt stupid about that now. She wondered whether the universe had heard her cry and taken it the wrong way. Now she'd spend the night lying awake wondering where he was, wondering if it had simply slipped his mind.
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On Saturday, Athena's mind was distracted due to the upcoming quidditch game. It was highly anticipated after Gryffindor's early success against Slytherin. This did nothing but stress Harry out even more. He seemed to think that he had something to prove, he thought that if he messed up this time any joy that he'd previously shared would be wiped clean.
Of course this wasn't made better by Snape's random decision to referee the game. Athena had tried to convince her godson that Snape wouldn't do anything unfair however she could barely convince herself. Just because Snape wasn't refereeing for the purpose of rigging the game didn't mean that he wouldn't try it.
Athena got down to the stands early. The weather was completely dismal. Light showers had spread over the grounds and Athena's shoes were coated in a thick layer of mud before she got down to the teachers box. Everyone was parading under umbrellas however she'd cast a simple repelling spell over herself so that the rain bounced straight off her.
As she climbed the wooden stairs, she saw that Professor Sprout was seated next to Professor Quirrell who was anxiously rubbing his hands together. Thinking of Snape's words, Athena took the other seat beside him and smiled at the man kindly.
Snape's opinions on Quirrell hadn't quite rubbed off on her however they had lodged in her mind. Over the past week she'd been watching him a bit closer, wondering what peculiar behaviour had led to Snape's accusations.
So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. From what Athena could see, he was simply an anxious man with a stutter and a skittish attitude. He didn't seem the person to be branded with a dark mark or to curse an eleven years olds broom.
As he looked up at her, she caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were blue and cold, not matching his demeanour. In the last years of the war, Athena had picked up a very useful skill of legellimeny. This meant that she could voluntarily look into someone's mind. She didn't often use it, there wasn't much need to. Athena would never read the mind of a student, this went against everything she argued about.
However as she looked at Quirrell, her interest seemed to get the better of her. She caught a brief glimpse inside before she was sternly cut off. It was as though Quirrell had noticed which although wasn't unheard of, was unusual. Usually she went unnoticed however his mind was a blank slate in this moment.
The small snippet that she had felt in her own mind felt strange, not what she had expected. Athena couldn't describe what it had sounded like but as she pondered it she linked it to the familiarity of overlapping voices. She wondered what this meant as Quirrell turned back to the match without a word.
She connected the swift cut off to his nerves as she slowly turned back to the pitch too. Snape was standing in his usual black robes, a silver whistle poised between his fingertips as he glared at the Gryffindors who had just walked out onto the pitch.
Athena spotted Harry walking at the back with his broom perched on his shoulder. She looked at Quirrell's wand poised in his hand. Even if Snape was right (which Athena still doubted) the man could do nothing with Dumbledore observing the match. The headmaster was sat at the top of the teachers stands beside Flitwick and Sprout. Athena had ignored him upon her entrance, something she'd simply grown used to doing.
Snape blew the whistle and the players all flew into the air. Athena's eyes followed Harry as he circled the stands, causing cheers from everyone he passed. The Hufflepuff players in yellow darted around with just as much skill and speed. The Hufflepuff seeker was named Cedric Diggory. His father had been a good quidditch player too only a few years above Athena in school.
Cedric was fast and knew the game well however despite Harry being newer to the sport, he seemed the more experienced of the two. It was as though Harry had played for years, he darted and span with so much skill that Athena wouldn't be surprised to see him in a real league game.
Lee Jordan called our names rapidly as the quaffle was passed between players. Johnston, Spinnet, Lupin, Spinnet. It was a constant fire like sounding bullets. Angelina Johnston scored first causing the red side of the stands to jump to their feet in cheers. Athena clapped louder than any other teacher as the quaffle was passed to a Hufflepuff chaser.
The game was rather flat toned. The Gryffindors were making a very clear attempt to play a fair game. They were never out of line and Athena knew exactly why this was. Glances were passed to Snape who strode under the game like a predator assessing his prey. Athena knew that if the Gryffindors even showed a small sign of crossing the boundaries, the shriek of the whistle would erupt and Hufflepuff would gain a penalty.
Hufflepuff didn't have to be so careful. It was clear that Snape favoured any house over the lions and any player over Potter. The yellow team didn't always play a fair game. Athena yelled loudly as one of the beaters flew like a bulldozer into Elle Lupin's side nearly causing her to fall off the side of her broom. She saved herself with a quick sloth-grip roll yet Gryffindor were not awarded a penalty.
However Hufflepuff were awarded a penalty soon after this. It seemed in the anger of Elle's near fall, George Weasley had sent a very hearty bludger towards Snape himself. Even Lee had let out a wince as the brown ball sped towards the referee. The ball missed and crashed through the mud before soaring back into the air however it was evident who the target had been.
George was red in the face with anger and didn't seem to care that he'd just awarded the opposing team a penalty. Athena didn't see much reason for him to care, after all it was clear that Gryffindor would still be in the lead.
The Hufflepuff captain took the shot and scored ten points for the badgers. The cries from the yellow side of the stand were less excited than that of the red. Probably because they'd lost hope a while ago. Athena was sure that the game would be wrapped up soon, all that was needed was Harry to catch the snitch.
Athena's assumptions had of course been correct, not even five minutes later there were gasps and cheers from the stands. Harry had fallen into a perfect dive, angled down with his hand stretched out before him. Cedric was chasing anxiously behind but was too late.
Harry pulled up so late that Athena's heart almost stopped. However when he flew into the air, everyone saw the small, trapped golden ball fluttering between his fingers. She stood up in an explosion of applause shared by the rest of the stands. Even the Hufflepuffs cheered as they (unlike many Slytherins) weren't sore losers.
Snape ,although reluctant, called out the victory for Gryffindor and Athena clapped her hands above her head. It seemed hopeful that they may win the quidditch cup this year. She moved out of the stands and onto the rain trodden grass when she heard the blast of the whistle again.
Turning in confusion, she saw people running to the students stands. Athena's jaw dropped in surprise as she saw a scrabble of students fighting in disarray. Ron Weasley was knelt over Malfoy hitting him as Hermione yelled angrily from the sidelines. However this wasn't what had shocked Rena, instead her eyes landed on Neville... trying to take on Crabbe and Goyle at the same time.
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A/n
Words - 1921
Published - 26th April 2021
Again sorry for the slow
updates I have exams :)
I've decided to completely
rewrite cinnamon dreams
instead of editing it but I'm
doing it in my notes app so
I'll just change all the chapters all
at once when I'm done
to avoid confusion
It's already looking sm better tho