☽☽☽
"HE'S AFTER ME" Athena sighed, "I mean, I knew it was coming. He thinks I've seen the end of the war and he needs that to... to know how to win, how to end this. Of course I haven't seen anything yet but when he gets his hands on me... well he won't because I'm not going back to Hogwarts, I can't, you see that right?"
"Rena I am more than happy you're not going back" Remus laughed lightly, "do you think I would want you to go back even if Voldemort wasn't after you? We both know it's a matter of time before the school is run by Snape and even if Dumbledore instructed him to look out over it... well I doubt it'll be cheery"
"I'd rather stay with you" Athena agreed. They were sat in the living room now. She had her head rested on his shoulder as they watched the sunset out the window. Summer had started but the world felt anything but warm.
"I wanted to talk to you" Remus sat up straighter, "about what happened in the hospital wing, I feel we haven't a chance to talk about it... really talk about it"
"I don't think there's anything left to say" Athena shrugged, "I love you... I forgive you and what happened doesn't bother me. That's all that matters"
"I still feel we need to address it" Remus sighed, "I feel... I want to know how you felt when I left"
"Why? So you can beat yourself up about it?" Asked Athena lightly, "I felt bad but all you're going to do is blame yourself. I don't want that"
"Just talk about it... please?"
Athena let out a large sigh but shrugged as she too sat up straighter.
"Reading that letter was the worst moment in my life. I was already broken but I thought I still had you. The worst part was the tone. You acted as though I would understand, as though I would agree? That was stupid because of course I didn't. I couldn't find you to tell you how wrong you'd gotten everything"
"Of course I thought I'd moved on. You weren't here and nothing was going to change that. For a while everything seemed awful. I couldn't remember what it was like to be happy. Aurora tried to help but she could only do so much. She'd never had her heart broken before"
"I never stopped loving you. I couldn't Remus because at that point I'd loved you since the day I was born. I'd never not known you and now I was forced to live without you. It felt like breaking out of an addiction when sobriety felt so, so terrible. I don't think you realised how much I depended on you... especially at the end of the first war. Lily and James dead, Marlene and Dorcas gone, Sirius arrested, Kennedy missing. I think it was a terrible thing for you to do. I don't understand how you could have left me knowing that's all I'd been through. It drove me mad Remus but I still loved you"
"Even when I met Ben and convinced myself he was my new start, I loved you. Maybe that's unfair to say but he cheated on me so I don't really care. In your letter you wrote that if we'd stayed together we'd be playing pretend in a life that was never supposed to be ours. You were wrong Remus. That's exactly how I felt but because you left. We were never playing pretend because this life is ours. We're meant to be together"
"Ben never even scratched the surface of what I had with you I just convinced myself that he did. Sure I loved him but even then I loved you more. Even when you were not there had you been... I feel Ben wouldn't have stood a chance"
"And then all of a sudden you were back, at Hogwarts. I was furious. Wondering how you could simply walk back in. At first I knew I could never forgive you. I was very stubborn about that but the truth is... as pathetic as this may seem. I didn't need to forgive you. I was never actually angry with you"
"Of course I wanted to be. I forced myself into a fury and I turned myself against you but I had so much love... it hurt and I couldn't stop it from knocking that anger back and convincing me that you didn't mean it, that you didn't deserve to be hated"
"The moment I saw you again all that love came rushing back. It made me feel sick not because I disliked it but because there was so much of it. As though I was genuinely overflowing in my own emotions"
"It was Christmas when I didn't hate you at all. I remember sitting next to you on Christmas Day. It felt like we were strangers but I knew in reality that my best friend was sitting next to me. You make me feel pathetic Remus but in the best way possible. I lose rationality when I think of you. Which is why I could have never stopped from leaving with you"
"There was no way I would have turned away from you knowing you still loved me. Yet again Remus I didn't need to forgive you. I told you I had and maybe you thought that was a lie because it was. I didn't forgive you then, I'd already forgiven you years ago. Without even meaning to"
"It's hard to hate the people you love, really hate them. Remus we argue but that just makes us human. My sister told me she'd be more concerned if we didn't argue. Your problem is you don't believe I could ever love you as much as you love me because you find it difficult to love yourself. My problem is that I found it hard to believe that you loved me as much as I love you because I believed you were fine all those years away from me"
"But the thing is, neither of those statements are correct. We both love each other incredible amounts. How many people do you know who have loved each other for thirty seven years? Of course it wasn't always the same love but we always had love for one another even if at some points that took a different form"
"I realise now that you weren't ok away from me even if it was your choice to live that way. In your own messed up mind you left for me, not because of me. It just took me a long time to see that. You were wrong to leave Remus but I understand why you did it. I wish you hadn't left but that doesn't change anything"
"The thing is... I'm crazy about you, genuinely mad. I love you so much it hurts like it actually hurts. My heart burns when I think of you and the air stops reaching my lungs when I see you. It's like I can't cope knowing you're in this world and not throwing every bit of love that I can possibly manage"
"I love you Remus Lupin, so much that I can't even believe it. Sometimes it doesn't make sense how much I love you and a lot of the time I find myself questioning whether there was ever a time I didn't love you. You make up a part of me, I'm devoted to you and I know you're devoted to me"
"Even if you were to leave today I know that we would still end up together. I know that we were made for each other and I don't want to spend another moment hiding from the fact that I adore you. I don't tell you enough Remus but you are incredible, you saved me in every way someone can be saved, you've made my life better and I don't want you playing pretence that I haven't forgiven you Remus"
"I don't know what to say" Remus looked deeply into her eyes as Athena's words trailed off, "I mean... that was beautiful and I agree with everything you said. I love you beyond words and I... don't have any words that can compare to what you just said"
"I do" Athena said suddenly as though an epiphany had hit her, "Remus Lupin... will you marry me?"
"What?" Remus looked up in surprise.
"Marry me" Athena repeated, "it's a wonder we haven't married already. Remus I love you without a ring, without a statement and without your name but there's nothing I want more than to be known as your wife. So many years I've dreamed of us having a wedding and so many years I've believed we were too late but we're not. Of course we're not. We have all the time in the world as long as we're together so marry me?"
"Rena" he laughed suddenly and Athena feared what he might say.
"What is it?" Athena asked worriedly, "do you not think it's a good idea?"
"Yes I love the idea but" Remus paused as he reached for something in his pocket, "you kind of stepped on my moment"
From inside his jacket, Remus pulled out a small black velvet box which he held between his fingertips.
"You're kidding?" Athena scoffed in amazement.
"No... I had a speech planned in my mind. I was going to say words as great as yours but now you took them all out my mouth. I couldn't have put it better Rena but I do not want to be on this earth any longer without marrying you"
He opened the box revealing a shining golden band sat in the middle of it. There was no stone which Athena immediately loved. Instead there were small carvings. The moon phases dancing around the metal. All except for the full moon.
"To represent the time we spend together when I can appreciate the love I have for you" Remus murmured, "you say I saved you Rena but it's the other way around. You made my life bearable, I left because inside I feel I was so scared of you stopping loving me. I couldn't bare that but now I know that would have never happened. You complete me Rena, you're everything to me and although I already suspect I know the answer... will you marry me?"
"Yes" Athena said immediately, "yes, a thousand times yes"
She watched as he slid the golden ring onto her finger, watched as it shone in the light and it felt as though all of her dreams had come true at once.
"I don't want to wait ages... I want to marry you as soon as I can" Remus sighed as he rested his forehead against hers.
"I don't want to wait either" Athena smiled as she kissed him, "you'll never know how happy you've made me"
"I think I have a faint idea" Remus laughed, "I've never loved someone as much as I've loved you"
"Well I hope not" Athena smirked, "I love you Remus Lupin"
"I love you Athena Sinistra"
"Athena Lupin has a ring to it, don't you think?" Athena asked with a laugh.
"I think we'll definitely get used to it" he replied.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 1894
Published- 16th August 2021
I felt like this
act has been deprived
of relationship
content so I hope
this fills all your
Athena/ Remus needs
I love them so much omg
also the last act is coming next