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IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT WHEN ATHENA GOT the news. Athena had been spending the night with Remus. The week has ended early, or at least for her it had because she couldn't stand being in the same castle with Umbridge with one more second.
Therefore she'd decided to go home just so she could force Remus to listen to her problems.
When the patronus of a cat had landed on the bed in a silvery glow, Athena has been asleep, her head rested against Remus' chest. His slow breathing had sent her to sleep. For the first time in two weeks, Athena hadn't had to struggle with frustration before she drifted off into the other world.
However this was all ruined as the voice of Minerva McGonagall echoed against the bedroom walls. Athena shot up so fast she felt as though she could have gotten whiplash. Remus let out a startled groan, looking up through bleary eyes.
"Arthur Weasley has been attacked on duty, sent to St Mungo's. The Weasley's, Potter and Lupin have been sent to Grimmauld place, thought you better be informed"
Athena and Remus sat in silence for a moment, deep breaths were all that could be heard. The silvery light disappeared, leaving them in darkness as the reality of what had happened sunk in.
"I need to go to Grimmauld place" Athena decided immediately, pulling herself out of bed.
"That's a good idea" Remus nodded, following after her.
"Oh my god" she said suddenly, wiping her hands over her face, "he's been attacked, what if he doesn't make it?"
"Don't say that" Remus murmured as he placed a kiss on top of his head.
"Are you coming with?" She asked, pulling a hoodie over her head.
"Best not" Remus smiled, "don't want to overcrowd them, make sure Elle's ok though"
"Of course I will" Athena sighed, "I'll be back as soon as I can... and I'll send any information straight away"
"It'll be ok Rena" he told her gently. Athena sent one last hopeful smile to him before she turned on her heel and apparated to Grimmauld place.
She arrived with a pop in the kitchen of Grimmauld place kitchen. The first thing she heard was the shattering of china onto the floor. Turning, she saw Theodore standing looking at his smashed mug of tea on the floor.
"I wasn't expecting you" Theodore muttered, "a word of warning would be nice"
"Sorry Theo" Athena sighed, "have they arrived yet?"
"No" came Sirius' voice as he hurried into the kitchen, "I thought you might show up, you always seem to know everything"
"Minerva called ahead" Athena explained, "Remus was going to come but he didn't want to overcrowd anyone, who knows what the Weasley's are going through"
"What's going—"
There was a loud crash from the hallway, Mrs Black started screaming as Sirius and Athena dashed up the stairs and into the corridor.
The kids had taken a port key and were now splayed all over the floor. The twins were the first to jump up, looking around wildly as though expecting to see Mr Weasley standing on the stairs. George pulled Elle to her feet, the girl looked like she might be sick and Athena noticed she looked at her desperately.
Harry however looked the worst. There was sweat over his shirt, his skin pale as paper and his scar standing so prominent in scarlet. His hair was often messy but not this much.
'What's going on?' Sirius said, stretching out a hand to help Ginny up. 'Fineas Nigellus said Arthur's been badly injured--'
'Ask Harry,' said Fred.
'Yeah, I want to hear this for myself,' said George.
The twins and Ginny were staring at Harry.
Athena now turned to him in confusion. Maybe there was a deeper reason for Harry's dishevelled appearance.
'It was--' Harry began; 'I had a--a kind of--vision ... I... woke up and I was in the department of mysteries, I knew I wasn't there but it felt so real... like I could feel the air around me... I saw your dad— Mr Weasley and then I saw the snake, um... moving towards him... it bit him— I woke up and told Ron and then— well you saw the rest"
Everyone stared at Harry in amazement. Athena tried to figure out what this meant. It sounded like a vision that a seer would have. It sounded more like the condition that Elle and Theo shared. Looking now to Theo, she could tell he was thinking the same.
However Athena knew it was neither of these things. Surely this was rooted in the connection that Harry and Voldemort shared, the one that Dumbledore was neglecting to tell Harry about. Of course the boy didn't know this making it no surprise that his face was the image of confusion.
'Is Mum here?' said Fred suddenly, turning to Sirius.
'She probably doesn't even know what's happened yet,' said Sirius. 'The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore's letting Molly know now.'
'We've got to go to St. Mungos,' said Ginny urgently, She looked around at her brothers; they were of course still in their pyjamas. 'Sirius, can you lend us cloaks or anything?'
'Hang on, you can't go tearing off to St. Mungo's!' said Sirius.
'Course we can go to St. Mungo's if we want,' said Fred, with a mulish expression. 'He's our dad!'
'And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?'
'What does that matter?' said George hotly.
'It matters because we don't want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having visions of things that are happening hundreds of miles away!' said Sirius angrily. 'Have you any idea what the Ministry would make off that information?'
Fred and George looked as though they could not care less what the Ministry made of anything. Ron was still ashen-faced and silent.
Ginny said, 'Somebody else could have told us ... we could have heard it somewhere other than Harry.'
'Like who?' said Sirius impatiently. 'Listen, your dad's been hurt while on duty for the Order and the circumstances are fishy enough without his children knowing about it seconds after it happened, you could seriously damage the Order's--'
'We don't care about the dumb Order!' shouted Fred.
'It's our dad dying we're talking about!' yelled George.
"I know this is hard" Athena began, "feeling this useless ok but there is honestly nothing you can do. Your father probably won't be allowed visitors for the time being and your mother will see that he's ok... I'm sure as soon as she gets word of what's happening you'll be the first to know"
'Your father knew what he was getting into and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order!' said Sirius, equally angry as the twins. 'This is how it is--this is why you're not in the Order--you don't understand--there are things worth dying for!'
'Easy for you to say, stuck here!' bellowed Fred. 'I don't see you risking your neck!'
The little colour remaining in Sirius's face drained from it. He looked for a moment as though he would quite like to hit Fred and Athena stood warily, ready to intervene if she had to. However when he spoke his tone was completely calm.
'I know it's hard, but we've all got to act as though we don't know anything yet. We've got to stay put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?'
Fred and George still looked mutinous. Ginny, however, took a few steps over to the nearest chair and sank into it. Harry looked at Ron, who made a funny movement somewhere between a nod and a shrug, and they sat down too. The twins glared at Sirius for another minute, then took seats either side of Ginny.
'That's right,' said Sirius encouragingly, 'come on, lets all ... let's all have a drink while we're waiting. Accio Butterbeer!'
He raised his wand as he spoke and half a dozen bottles came flying towards them out of the pantry, skidded along the table, scattering the debris of Theodore's meal (which he wasn't very impressed about) and stopped neatly in front of the nine of them. They all drank, and for a while the only sounds were those of the crackling of the kitchen fire and the soft thud of their bottles on the table.
Everyone sat in silence. Athena knew the voices in everyone's heads were loud, it's as though she could hear them thinking. Elle Lupin wasn't drinking the butterbeer at all. Athena was confused by how upset she looked. Of course this was a frightening experience however out of everyone there, Athena had expected her to be the least affected.
Suddenly the girl looked up, staring directly at her brother who was looking blankly at his unfinished meal that was now at the other end of the table.
"Theo can I talk to you for a second" she asked very suddenly in a shaking voice.
The sound broke the silence of everyone in the room who turned to each other in confusion.
"Um" Theo frowned, obviously surprised by this, "yeah course"
"What's going on?" George asked in a demanding voice. Fred and George were now staring at Elle expectantly.
"It's nothing—"
"It's obviously something" Fred pointed out, "is it about dad?"
"Um" Elle looked anxiously at the two of them.
"What is it Elle?" George asked again. Everyone was staring at her now and Elle looked like she very much regretted her decision of asking to talk to Theodore.
"I had a dream... about this" she admitted, "about Mr Weasley being attacked"
"When?" George snapped.
"Last week" Elle muttered, "I went to Dumbledore about it but—"
"You knew this was going to happen!" Fred called out in shock, "you knew and you didn't say anything"
"I did say something" Elle argued, "I told Dumbledore"
"Fat load of good that did" George replied angrily, "if I'd known I would have done something, you could have prevented dad from being attacked!"
"Actually she couldn't have" Athena interrupted, "you can't disrupt fate, once a vision has taken place nothing anyone does changes that... if you'd gone to stop it something would have gotten in your way, your dad would have still been attacked"
"But you didn't tell us!" Fred shouted.
"Dumbledore told me not to... he said you'd do something rash without understanding the workings of fate"
"Fuck fate, dad could die!" George called, Ginny let out a frightened squeak at this.
"Your dad is not going to die" Athena assured them, "he's in the best place and Elle did the right thing in not telling you. It's a burden seeing the future but it's easier when you realise that nothing can be changed... everything that happens, happens... if you'd gone to the ministry to save your dad they would have gotten wind of what he was doing—"
"If this is about the order again I couldn't care less" George muttered and Fred nodded in agreement.
"Whether you understand it or not... it's important" Athena muttered coldly.
"You still could have told us" George said angrily. Elle opened her mouth to reply but promptly shut it again, curling her hands together as she stared at the table looking as though she might cry.
Silence fell again and this time no one interrupted it. However it was painful to sit through.
Suddenly a burst of fire in midair illuminated the dirty plates in front of them and, as they gave cries of shock, a scroll of parchment fell with a thud on to the table, accompanied by a single golden phoenix tail feather.
'Fawkes!' said Sirius at once, snatching up the parchment. 'That's not Dumbledore's writing-- it must be a message from your mother--here--'
He thrust the letter into George's hand, who ripped it open and read aloud: 'Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum.'
George looked around the table.
'Still alive ...' he said slowly. 'But that makes it sound ...'
He did not need to finish the sentence. It sounded to Athena , too, as though Mr. Weasley was hovering somewhere between life and death. Still exceptionally pale, Ron stared at the back of his mother's letter as though it might speak words of comfort to him. Fred pulled the parchment out of George's hands and read it for himself.
"We could have stopped this" Fred muttered bitterly, looking at Elle who stared in fury at the table, blinking rapidly.
"Oh give it a rest!" Theo spoke suddenly with more anger than Athena had ever heard the usually emotionless man posses, "you couldn't have stopped it, didn't you listen to with Athena said? No one can change fate, who do you think you are... Merlin or some crap?".
"She knew out dad was going to be attacked!" George raged again.
"Let's just be happy he's alive" Athena interrupted, "now please stop shouting, what good is that doing anyone?"
If Athena had ever sat through a longer night than this one, she could not remember it. Sirius suggested once, without any real conviction, that they all go to bed, but the Weasleys' looks of disgust were answer enough. They mostly sat in silence around the table, watching the candle wick sinking lower and lower into liquid wax, occasionally raising a bottle to their lips, speaking only to check the time, to wonder aloud what was happening, and to reassure each other that if there was bad news, they would know straightaway, for Mrs. Weasley must long since have arrived at St. Mungo's.
Fred fell into a doze, his head lolling sideways on to his shoulder. Ginny was curled like a cat on her chair, but her eyes were open; Athena could see them reflecting the firelight. Ron was sitting with his head in his hands, whether awake or asleep it was impossible to tell. Elle didn't move a muscle but at some point, a single tear traced down her face. She didn't bother to blink it away.
At ten past five in the morning by Ron's watch, the kitchen door swung open and Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen. She was extremely pale, but when they all turned to look at her, Fred, Ron and Harry half rising from their chairs, she gave a wan smile.
'He's going to be all right,' she said, her voice weak with tiredness. 'He's sleeping. We can all go and see him later. Bill's sitting with him now; he's going to take the morning off work.'
Fred fell back into his chair with his hands over his face. George and Ginny got up, walked swiftly over to their mother and hugged her. Ron gave a very shaky laugh and downed the rest of his Butterbeer in one.
'Breakfast!' said Sirius loudly and joyfully, jumping to his feet. 'Where's that accursed house-elf? Kreacher! KREACHER!'
But Kreacher did not answer the summons.
'Oh, forget it, then,' muttered Sirius, counting the people in front of him. 'So, it's breakfast for--let's see--ten ... bacon and eggs, I think, and some tea, and toast--'
Harry hurried over to the stove to help. However, he had barely taken plates from the dresser when Mrs Weasley lifted them out of his hands and pulled him into a hug.
'I don't know what would have happened if it hadn't been for you, Harry' she said in a muffled voice. 'They might not have found Arthur for hours, and then it would have been too late, but thanks to you he's alive and Dumbledore's been able to think up a good cover story for Arthur being where he was, you've no idea what trouble he would have been in otherwise, look at poor Sturgis ...'
'Oh, Sirius, I'm so grateful ... they think he'll be there a little while and it would be wonderful to be nearer ... of course, that might mean we're here for Christmas.'
'The more the merrier!' said Sirius with such obvious sincerity that Mrs. Weasley beamed at him, threw on an apron and began to help with breakfast.
"I better go and tell Remus" Athena jumped up, "don't bother making breakfast for me... I'll see you all soon... wish Arthur the best from me and Remus"
"We will do" Fred smiled and Athena was glad to see their air of happiness had returned. This didn't continue to Elle who still hadn't moved.
"Make sure she's ok" Athena whispered to Theodore so only he could hear, nudging her head towards Elle. He nodded simply before Athena walked briskly to the fire, dropped the powder into it and called out her destination.
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A/n
Words - 2836
Published - 20th July 2021