☽☽☽
ATHENA WAS WALKING BACK FROM one of her day lessons when she heard the soft sound of crying. Halting immediately, she tried to figure out where it was coming from.
She backtracked into the following corridor and walked a few paces before she discovered the source of the crying. Hermione Granger was sat with her knees pulled up to her chin, her arms wrapped around herself.
"Hermione?" Athena gasped in concern, "what's wrong?"
She lowered herself onto the windowsill beside Hermione who wiped some of the tears away from her reddened face.
"Ron hates me" she sniffed, "and Harry's taking his side and everything's going wrong, I have so many lessons even though I dropped divination and I can't even find time to help prove Buckbeak's innocence even though I have the key to time sat around my neck—"
"Hey" Athena sighed, "calm down ok, one thing at a time... why do you think Ron hates you?"
"It's because of his rat" Hermione muttered.
Athena's eyes widened in surprise and she was glad that Hermione didn't see. The rat had been on her mind a lot. Sometimes she forgot that he technically belonged to Ron, it was a weird and disgusting thought.
"Ron's rat?" Athena questioned, "what's happened to his rat"
"It's dead, at least he thinks it is" Hermione huffed.
Yet again, Athena was caught in shock. She didn't believe it. It wouldn't be that easy unless Sirius had broken into the castle again. However Athena had only been to visit him that morning, he would have mentioned if he had been successful in killing Peter.
"That's a shame" lied Athena, "why would that make him hate you?"
"Because he thinks Crookshanks killed him" Hermione shrugged, "I tried to tell him that's what cats do! And even if it was Crookshanks who killed Scabbers, that's not my fault... I have worse things to be worrying about yet this is what's on my mind"
"Ron'll just be upset... I wouldn't think too much of it"
"It's been like this since Harry got that firebolt. I only suggested to McGonagall that it might have been dangerous because I was concerned about Harry's safety, I know I was wrong but surely it's better to be sure?"
"Of course it was" Athena nodded, "you were just looking out for Harry"
"I know" Hermione sniffed as she wiped tears from her face, "Ron can just be... well he can just be so cruel, of course I didn't want Scabbers to die!"
I did Athena thought to herself but knew this would be very strange thing to say so instead placed her arm around Hermione comfortingly.
"I can talk to Harry and Ron if you want—"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as in the next moment the two of them came walking round the corner. They stopped and stared at the scene in confusion, paused comically.
Hermione jumped up in surprise and before Athena could say anything, she turned and hurried away.
"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked stupidly,
"What do you think?" Athena frowned. Ron looked taken aback and looked to Harry for help however Harry didn't say anything at all.
"She's upset because you're blaming her for your rat dying"
"I didn't blame her" Ron sighed in exasperation, "I blamed her monstrous cat! The thing is an abomination"
"That's not Hermione's fault, that's what cats do Ron... she's obviously upset about it for a reason"
"She just didn't seem very sympathetic about my rat dying" Ron shrugged.
"Are you sure he's dead?" Athena murmured, trying not to sound hopeful.
"Yes!" Ron exclaimed,
Athena knew that Ron can't have seen him dead. Upon death, animagi would transform back into their human forms and Ron would definitely not be acting so calm if his pet had turned into a man in front of his eyes.
"What happened?" Athena asked,
"My sheets were covered in blood and cat hair" Ron replied, folding his arm sternly.
Athena frowned again. Would Peter be stupid enough to fake his death twice? She wouldn't put it past him. It was obvious that it was his response to his problems.
"Well I'm sorry about your rat Ron" Athena sighed as she gathered herself to her feet, "but if you could try not to hurt Hermione's feelings, that would be grand. She has a lot going on at the moment"
"We all have a lot going on" Harry pointed out,
"Yeah what's she got going on?" Ron asked.
"She takes a lot more lessons than either of you" Athena pointed at them, "she also has a tendency to over work herself"
"That's not our fault" said Ron stubbornly.
"I didn't say that it was" Athena replied, "I'm just saying she could do without all this anger from you on top of everything else, especially during exam season"
"We'll apologise to her" Harry jumped in before Ron could say anything else, "sorry Rena"
"You don't have to apologise to me" said Athena, "just make sure you apologise to Hermione, she mentioned that she's still trying to get Buckbeak off trial, how's that going?"
"We've just been to see Hagrid" Harry began, "he was annoyed about... well Hermione being upset too, said she's been trying to help him all she can and we um... haven't"
"Hmm" Athena murmured, "I see Hagrid must have noticed too"
"Yeah" Ron shrugged, "we were going to apologise to her anyway... we didn't realise how stressed out she was about everything"
"I presume you don't know much about Buckbeak's trial then?"
"Hagrid says it's hopeless" replied Harry, "because Lucius Malfoy is determined to see Buckbeak... executed"
"The follow up trial is in a few weeks" Ron continued, "so if we gather enough evidence that suggests that Buckbeak deserves to be let off, it should be alright"
"Well best of luck to you" Athena smiled, "I'll help you out if I find any spare time"
"Thanks Rena" Harry grinned,
"Yeah thanks Rena" Ron nodded sheepishly, "we better go find Hermione"
"Yeah you better" Athena laughed lightly, "I'll see you two later"
Athena waited until she rounded the corridor before she put on a burst of speed. With this news about Peter, she had to get to Sirius straight away. He'd want to know what was going on. Any news of the rat was news whether it made it easier to catch him or harder.
In Athena's opinion, this would make things more difficult. It meant that they didn't have a location on Peter anymore. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that the rat was dead. Peter had evidently caught on to the fact that Sirius was after him. Anyone would be scared however Peter would be especially scared considering that he was guilty.
She strode out over the grounds which were empty since most students were either sitting exams or studying for them. This was the case towards the end of each school year. Athena remembered that her own exams had been a stressful time. Always worrying that she wasn't doing enough work. It turned out alright in the end however.
Athena spotted Buckbeak stood outside of Hagrid's hut. Standing happily in the rustling wind with his light grey feathers swaying. She knew there wasn't much hope for him however she wished that there was. The bird didn't do anything wrong, it was all Draco's fault. Yet again, the Malfoy name was causing her anger.
Levitating a stick to hit the knot in the tree, Athena hurried inside the passage just as she had done a few hours ago. No noise could be heard until she was at the bottom of the wooden steps when she started to hear light conversation coming from inside.
She pushed open the door and heard a loud yell come from inside.
Turning she saw that Sirius and Theodore were staring at her in fright. They both relaxed when they realised it was her, sat around a chess board with the pieces now scattered over the floor.
"What the hell Rena?" Sirius sighed, "way to scare the shit out of us"
"Sorry" Athena laughed, "I'll knock next time"
"What are you doing back?" Theodore asked as he started to set up the chess board again.
"I have news" Athena replied, settling herself into the sofa, "about Peter"
"You've found him?" Asked Theo,
"You've killed him?" Asked Sirius.
"Neither" Athena frowned, "but Ron thinks he's dead which means we don't know where he is"
"Ron thinks he's dead?" Asked Sirius, "how do you know he isn't?"
"He would have turned back to a man which would be noticeable and... Peter is notorious for faking his death, he's obviously realised that you're after him and tried to do a runner"
"Brilliant" Sirius muttered, "well that sets us back quite a bit"
"Yeah I know" Athena sighed, "I knew that Peter wouldn't be killed off as easily as by a cat"
"A cat?" Sirius frowned, "what cat?"
"Hermione's cat... Crookshanks... why?"
"Big weird looking ginger thing?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah" Athena nodded slowly,
"I know of it" Sirius nodded, "the cat retrieved the passwords for me... into Gryffindor tower... we've been corresponding"
"Hang on" Athena stifled a laugh, "you're corresponding with a cat—"
"It's an intelligent cat!" Sirius exclaimed.
"You have gone mad" Athena laughed loudly, "you've been having conversations with a cat"
Theo even snorted now as Sirius stood completely exasperated in the centre of the room.
"Well sorry for actually making an effort to find Peter" Siri's rolled his eyes, "the cat knows things Rena, he pays attention... maybe he did kill Peter!"
"I doubt it" Athena shook her head, "Peter isn't dead, I just know it"
"Right" Sirius shrugged, "but I stand by what I said... he's one smart cat... figured out what Peter was right away"
"So you've been talking to a cat?" Asked Theodore, "how does that work?"
"Well I'm a dog" Sirius explained, "when I talk to him so I use um... dog language"
"Has it ever occurred to you that the reason why Crookshanks wants to kill Peter is because he's a rat, he might not have a clue what you're saying"
"He got the passwords for me!" Sirius continued, "come on, that can't be a coincidence"
"Could be" Theodore muttered,
"It's not" Sirius shook his head, "it's not, the cat knows Rena, it knows"
"Whatever you say" Athena smirked, "but I'm letting you know now, I am not letting this go... ever"
"Alright, alright" Sirius laughed, "when the cat brings Peter to me... you'll be eating your words"
"Sure I will" Athena rolled her eyes, "sometimes I think you forget that you're not really a dog"
"That's exactly what I said" laughed Theodore.
"You can't deny, I do make a pretty good dog" Sirius grinned.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 1800
Published- 16th May 2021
I'm so attached to
my characters like
I got so upset before
thinking about Athena lmao