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THE FUNERAL HAD BEEN A QUIET CEREMONY. Most of the people who had known Heather and Samson were muggles. Athena found it enlightening, seeing a patchwork of people collected over their timeline. She'd never imagined that Heather and Samson could have had an interesting life mainly because magic made up most of what she knew.
However as she looked around the room of sad faces and teary eyes Athena realised that it didn't matter if they came from magic or not. At the end of the day the goal was to be remembered, to have people around who love and care for you. She believed Heather and Samson achieved that.
Aurora had given her sister a few more days off so she could accompany Remus to the funeral. Truthfully Athena believed that her sister was enjoying taking more lessons a little bit too much.
Remus was quiet. He didn't say anything about how he was feeling and seemed to concentrate on Elle getting through the funeral rather than himself. However he needn't have worried. Elle was incredibly strong. She gave a beautiful speech about her parents that caused most people in the room to cry.
It was the day after the funeral that Athena decided she had to go back to Hogwarts. She had wanted to stay with Remus longer because she thought he might have been relying on her presence in this time. However, Remus seemed to be moving independently. He barely said two words to Athena following the funeral. It wasn't as though he was angry with her it simply felt like he didn't need her.
Athena didn't want to pick up on his mood regarding the loss of his brother. She didn't want to feel bitter when in reality Remus was going through so much. Despite that, Athena missed the times when moods would be improved simply by being in each others arms. Athena remembered when Remus needed her.
Athena still relied on Remus even though she didn't want to. Even after those twelve years when she was without him. Remus was the harbour of her happiness and she couldn't deny that. Athena always knew it was a problem how much she leant on Remus in every bad situation but now more than ever she realised that those twelve years changed this for him.
He'd grown used to dealing with things by himself. Athena tried to convey how she was there for him but it seemed everything she was saying went in one ear and out of the other. She wanted him to know how much she cared, Athena supposed he already did know but that didn't stop her from worrying.
It wasn't his intention to be so bitter. Maybe he hadn't even realised he was doing it. Either way, Athena decided it was best to leave him to it. His life had been a bit of a mess recently he just needed some time to wrap his head around it.
Therefore by the third week, Athena was back in Hogwarts.
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Thing were exactly the same. Athena was glad to hear students tell her how they'd missed her. It allowed her to remember what this job was all about. It seemed Draco hadn't done anything to put peoples lives in danger and Harry seemed to be keeping under the radar.
Seeing Harry again had thrown everything into proportion. Athena hadn't forgotten about what Dumbledore had told her, she'd simply placed it aside when dealing with the loss of Heather and Samson. However as soon as she was back at Hogwarts, her mind was whirring again. All of her free time spent trying to figure out the answer to this problem.
"I know there's a way to save him" Athena muttered in a low voice to Snape who was walking alongside her.
Athena hated talking to Snape and she was annoyed at his reaction to learning that Harry was going to die. It seemed the only reason why he cared was because he was still in love with Lily which was utterly ridiculous.
"You heard Dumbledore—"
"I only believe things can't be changed when it's set in stone"
"Harry's fate will be set in stone as soon as you look into a crystal ball. I'm more than sure the end of the war will show you Potter's death"
"I don't believe you" Athena snapped angrily, "listen, I've been reading up on... anything I can find that might help Harry—"
"Athena listen" Snape muttered as they stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, "you need to stop this—"
"MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"
Snape and Athena looked to each other in shock at the shout. It sounded like it was coming from the door to their right which was indeed a bathroom. Forgetting whatever they had been talking about before, Athena and Snape ran to their right and burst into the bathroom.
There was water all over the floor. The ghost of Moaning Myrtle was screaming. Sinks had been smashed up, cubicles broken. Athena turned and saw Harry, white in the face looking horrified. She was about to ask what was going on when she saw trails of blood patterned in the water on the floor.
She froze.
Draco Malfoy was lying half conscious on the floor with large gashes all over him. Blood poured out around him staining his shirt and his white blonde hair. His hands twitched with a small amount of remaining life.
Pushing Harry roughly aside, Snap knelt over Malfoy, drew his wand, and traced it over the deep wounds covering the boy, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like song. The flow of blood seemed to ease; Snape wiped the residue from Malfoy's face and repeated his spell. Now the wounds seemed to be knitting.
Athena couldn't think of a word to say. The blood was creating patterns in the water and still Harry held his wand. He had done this. Never had Athena ever imagined that Harry would be capable of something like this. Sure he hated Draco but this... if Snape and Athena hadn't been outside who knows what would have happened.
Harry was still watching, evidently horrified by what he had done, barely aware that he too was soaked in blood and water. Moaning Myrtle was still sobbing and wailing overhead. When Snape had performed his counter-curse for the third time, he half-lifted Malfoy into a standing position.
"You need the hospital wing. There may be a certain amount of scarring, but if you take dittany immediately we might avoid even that ... come..."
He supported Malfoy across the bathroom, turning at the door to say in a voice of cold fury, "And you, Potter... You wait here for me."
Harry stood up slowly, shaking, and looked down at the wet floor. There were bloodstains floating like crimson flowers across its surface. Athena could not even find it in herself to tell Moaning Myrtle to be quiet, as she continued to wail and sob with increasingly evident enjoyment.
"Rena—" he looked up slowly.
"I don't know what to say to you Harry" Athena interrupted, "I told you to stay out of trouble... I can't defend you this time"
"I know" Harry muttered, "I didn't... I didn't know what the spell was going to do"
"Then you shouldn't have used it" Athena murmured under her breath.
Snape returned ten minutes later. He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
"Go," he said to Myrtle, and she swooped back into her toilet at once, leaving a ringing silence behind her.
"I didn't mean it to happen," said Harry at once. His voice echoed in the cold, watery space. "I didn't know what that spell did."
But Snape ignored this. "Apparently I underestimated you, Potter," he said quietly. "Who would have thought you knew such Dark Magic? Who taught you that spell?"
"I--read about it somewhere."
"Where?"
"It was--a library book," Harry said wildly. "I can't remember what it was call --"
"Liar," said Snape. The man glared at Harry and she could see with a glint of his eye that he was trying to find the answer using occlumency.
"Snape—" Athena began, feeling that this wasn't a method that should be used on students.
"Quiet!" He snapped. "Bring me your schoolbag and all of your schoolbooks. All of them. Bring them to me here. Now!"
Athena felt bewildered at this. Why did Snape want to see Harry's schoolbooks? However Harry had gone even paler now as though he knew exactly what Snape was getting at. He didn't argue as he strode out of the room, footsteps echoing off the water below.
"Why do you want his schoolbooks?" Athena asked softly as she turned in confusion to Snape. She had never seen him look so furious before. It's as though he took this as a personal attack.
"You are not needed here—"
"I'm not leaving" Athena interrupted, "I've never seen a spell like that in a school book. Only ones of dark magic. No one in this school would be teaching Harry dark magic"
"How do you think he came across that spell?" Snape asked accusingly.
"Like he said" Athena replied feebly, "in a library book"
"You don't seriously believe that" Snape hissed.
"I don't understand what his school books have to do with anything" Athena continued but Snape was not answering anymore. He was staring at the door of the bathroom waiting.
It took Harry twenty minutes to get back which seemed like a long time considering he just had to go to the dorm room however she supposed it was a large castle with a lot of people in it. Harry looked out of breath as he dropped his school bag onto the floor in front of Snape.
One by one, Snape extracted Harry's books and examined them. Finally, the only book left was the Potions book, which he looked at very carefully before speaking.
"This is your copy of Advanced Potion-Making, is it, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry, still breathing hard.
"You're quite sure of that, are you, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry, with a touch more defiance.
"This is the copy of Advanced Potion-Making that you purchased from Flourish and Blotts?"
"Yes," said Harry firmly.
"Then why," asked Snape, "does it have the name 'Roonil Wazlib' written inside the front cover?"
Harry's eyes widened. "That's my nickname," he said.
"Your nickname," repeated Snape.
"Yeah... that's what my friends call me," said Harry.
"I understand what a nickname is," said Snape. The cold, black eyes were boring once more into Harry's.
"Do you know what I think, Potter?" said Snape, very quietly. "I think that you are a liar and a cheat and that you deserve detention with me every Saturday until the end of term. What do you think, Potter?"
"Snape—" Athena sighed.
"Quiet!"
"I--I don't agree, sir," said Harry, still refusing to look into Snape's eyes.
"Well, we shall see how you feel after your detentions," said Snape. "Ten o'clock Saturday morning, Potter. My office."
"But sir," said Harry, looking up desperately. "Quidditch... the last match of the--"
"Ten o'clock," whispered Snape, with a smile that showed his yellow teeth. "Poor Gryffindor... fourth place this year, I fear..."
And he left the bathroom without another word, leaving Harry and Athena standing in silence.
"Rena—"
"I won't say you don't deserve that" Athena muttered, "Draco could have been severely injured"
"I know"
"I always try to defend you Harry but I think you ought to realise that you are responsible for your actions that this!" She pointed wildly to the blood over the floor, "could have easily gotten you expelled... maybe you should be grateful you're still in this castle"
"Rena—"
She didn't want to hear anything else he had to say. Athena turned and walked out of the bathroom without looking back leaving Harry standing alone in the broken room. She wanted to defend him, of course she did just like always but she couldn't. This time Harry had crossed a line she never believed he would overstep.
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A/n
Words - 2025
Published - 13th August 2021
going to a party
tonight 😎