☽☽☽
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS ALWAYS WENT AROUND quickly however this time, Athena wasn't exactly complaining. She felt as though the two weeks had been filled with talks of publishers, book covers and Carol.
She supposed the excitement would wear off by the summer which she was glad of. Athena didn't want to sound bitter or selfish yet she would rather talk about things that included her.
Never had she felt so secluded from everything going on in his life. Athena always made many attempts to keep her life separate from his. Their relationship was simply that, it didn't disrupt anything that went on in their normal life which was why Ben didn't necessarily need to know about the wizarding world.
This had never bothered Athena before, it left more time for them to spend with each other where they could just be themselves rather than a product of the lives they had lived.
Maybe Athena was changing her mind, maybe all the talk of books and publishers had made her realise their differences, made her realise how much of his life she was missing out on. She was away so much, it had never mattered before, they had dealt with it but now... well she wondered whether it was slowly taking a toll on them.
Athena tried to push this to the back of her mind for the two weeks. However she'd done this so much with so many little things that the back of her mind was seemingly out of storage.
Anyway, after her two weeks of isolation and expectations, she was heading back to Hogwarts. It wasn't as though she hadn't enjoyed herself, sometimes a break was exactly what she needed and this wasn't the opposite of the case this year.
Athena just felt as though she'd blinked and missed the parts of the two weeks that she usually enjoyed. She felt as though they'd been on fast forward whereas their conversations about his book had been on slow motion.
She was happy for him, she really was. Yet she didn't see a place for her in this new life he was building up. She wondered if she was factored in at all. Why should she be? After all, she barely even saw him anymore.
Trusting that the summer would improve this condition, Athena had worked her way though Easter as she always would. Athena didn't voice her concerns to Ben, usually she'd always talk to him. It was one of the better things about them, she wasn't afraid to tell him how she felt.
Athena hadn't wanted to put a damper on how Ben was feeling. She could see that he was on cloud nine, almost reaching the top of the world and Athena vowed not to be the one to pull him down.
They'd spent time together yet it felt as though she'd been alone for at least half of the time. She was beginning to question whether she was needed at all. Athena knew she was being stupid but she couldn't help but feel... lost in a way.
She was for once glad to see the silhouette of the school come into view as she rounded the corner in Hogsmede. The spiralling turrets that touched the clouds, the way the sun hit against the dark stone. Athena felt a warmth in her heart which could only be correlated to her returning home.
Athena often dreaded going back, not because she disliked it but because it was always the same. The same days, the same lessons. There was nothing more she could learn about the subject she taught, every aspect had been covered and nothing surprised her.
However this year so far had been completely different. She felt now that Harry was here, the world was changing. Athena hoped it was for the better yet the nagging voice in her mind seemed to speak otherwise.
Entering the school, she followed the familiar path that she knew well with bag in hand. To many, this school was a maze however Athena could close her eyes and still manage to find her way around. It came with the perks of working there for so long.
She hurried up the staircases, aching to put her bag down in her room and fall back into her office chair a mug of tea in hand. She was flustered from the early May sun, her cheeks a dull red and her hair a wispy mess.
As Athena turned into the corridor leading her up to the astronomy tower, she saw two familiar faces walking towards her from the other direction. Harry and Hermione walked in perfect unison, the steps correlating with one another. Hermione had a bundle of books in her arms, Harry was the first to spot Rena and gave her a sheepish smile as the two hurried over.
"Rena! You're back" Harry beamed, "did you have a good Easter?"
"Yes it was good thank you, what about you two, have you had a good time?"
"An eventful time" Hermione huffed, causing Athena to frown.
"Ignore her, she's just talking about work" Harry shrugged, "Easter was good! I got loads of work done"
"Sure you did" Hermione muttered,
"Where's Ron? It's weird seeing just two of you"
"Ron's in the hospital wing" Hermione replied casually, "we were on our way to visit him now"
"The hospital wing?" Athena gasped out, "what on Earth happened"
"Nasty bite" Harry nodded slowly, "he's fine, should be out tomorrow"
"Right" Athena murmured while sounding unconvinced, "and what bit him?"
"A dog" Hermione jumped in before Harry could open his mouth, "a dog bit him"
"Yeah a dog"
"A dog?" Athena looked between them, "you wouldn't be talking about one with more than one head would you?"
"Of course not!" Harry shook his head, "we aren't that stupid"
"Well some of us aren't" Hermione added, "if that dog had bitten Ron there'd only be half of him left"
"Fair point but I'm still not convinced you lot haven't been up to something"
"We haven't!" Harry exclaimed.
"Right" Athena frowned, "well I'll come see Ron for myself, being bitten by a dog mustn't have been nice"
"No he reacted rather badly to it" nodded Hermione as the three of them turned and set off towards the hospital wing.
None of them said a word until they entered the ward, Madame Pomfrey was standing over a different bed belonging to a non ginger. Ron on the other side was nursing his arm in a sling. His hand was heavily bandaged and Athena could immediately tell that this wasn't a normal injury.
"Rena" Ron grinned lazily, it was obvious that being in the hospital wing suited him well. The boy seemed relaxed and Athena could tell that his joyous mood simmered as Hermione dropped the stack of books onto his bedside table.
"What happened?" Athena asked as she stared over Ron's injured arm,
"We told you" Harry pointed out as he sat in one of the chairs by the bed,
"Must have been a viscous dog" Athena pondered, "are you sure it wasn't—"
"It wasn't!" Harry sighed, "I swear"
Athena nodded slowly however she still knew that something was missing from their story. She supposed that this might be a key part of it.
"There's not many dogs at Hogwarts you know" Athena continued, "the only other one that I know of is Fang"
"It wasn't Fang" Ron shook his head, "stray dog"
"Right" Athena murmured,
"Could have been a werewolf" Harry mocked sarcastically before letting out a very loud exaggerated howl. Athena stiffened slightly as Madame Pomfrey came bustling over.
"Can you please keep it down, some patients are trying to sleep" the woman sighed in exasperation, "oh Athena, I didn't know you were back"
"Just got back" Athena smiled, "and the first thing I heard was that Ron went and got himself bitten by a dog"
"Yes nasty bite" the matron confirmed, "he had a terrible reaction to it, poor dears arm was turning green"
"And a dog did this? Is he going to be ok, you can catch things off stray dogs you know"
"Not under my care you can't" Pomfrey said very professionally, "the wound is nearly healed, he'll be out in a couple of days"
With that, Poppy turned to see to another student.
"I know you're lying to me" Athena spoke clearly, causing Harry, Ron and Hermione to look at her in surprise.
"We're not" Hermione replied a little too quickly,
"I'm a Ravenclaw for a reason" Athena sighed, "is this something to do with... well you know, the stone"
"No it's not" Harry replied,
"Oh good, have you moved on from that now?"
"No I'm still sure that Snape is trying to steal it" Harry said.
"Oh Harry" Athena groaned, "how many times?"
""Not enough it seems" Hermione laughed, "though I do agree with him"
"Not you too" Athena rolled her eyes, "I thought you had common sense"
"I do" Hermione folded her arms, "Snape is hiding something"
"Snape is simply a greasy creep, don't repeat that, there's nothing else going on"
"I don't believe that" Harry shrugged,
"Of course you don't" Athena muttered, "anyway, if this injury was nothing to do with the stone then how on earth did it happen?"
"Dog, big thing... only one head" Ron replied,
"You do know I don't believe that right?"
"It's the truth" stated both Harry and Hermione.
Athena opened her mouth to say something else before realising that this was fruitless. She was never going to get through to them no matter how hard she tried. Athena was sure she would find out eventually, part of her didn't even want to know the answer.
"I'll find out" Athena smiled simply,
"If you see the dog around, tell him my hand really hurts" Ron just smiled simply,
"Yeah I'll keep that in mind" said Athena in obvious sarcasm as she got to her feet, "I'd appreciate it if the three of you stopped getting into trouble"
"We don't get into trouble very often" Harry mused,
"You tried to fight Malfoy twice, were found fighting a troll, found a three headed dog, conspired against your potions teacher and now one of you has been bitten by a dog!"
"You missed my broom being jinxed" Harry pointed out,
"You are just like James" Athena shook her head in amazement, "I'm going for a much needed rest now, I'll see you lot later. Stay out of trouble!"
"Yes Rena!" They all called after her as the woman swept out of the room.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 1766
Published - 29th April 2021
Had two exams today but
they went alright
also going for my first
proper night out tomorrow 😎