Author's Note: This chapter deals with PTSD and a depressive episode.
"Don't get lost in your pain,
know that one day,
your pain will become your cure."
- Rumi
"Hold still, dear." Molly Weasley raised an enchanted cloth to Athene's back. The skin there was red and angry, pulling in different directions as though it had tried to run from the enchanted fire the week before. The two women sat in line with each other in Charlie's bedroom in the Burrow.
Athene cringed as the moist cloth brushed against her enflamed skin and Mrs. Weasley apologized. "It's not your fault," Athene said. She attempted a smile, but it couldn't reach her eyes. The two sat in silence while the older woman finished.
It was unnerving, the silence and the unfamiliarity. She had been there for a week, cycling through different emotions and visitors. Several people had filed in and out of my room over the days. First it was Charlie. He had brought her to his home and deposited her in his room. For the first three days of her stay, he had guarded her from any unwanted visitors; which was everyone.
But like all good things, he had to leave. Romania needed him, and Athene didn't have the heart to keep him from his dragons.
Mrs. Weasley had come in next with words of kindness and love. She had promised her a room at the Burrow for as long as Athene needed it.
Fred and George Weasley had weaseled their way into the room with a box full of trick candies. But even they were not enough to bring a smile to the girl's face. They had left their peace offering on Charlie's dresser, hopeful that she'd be in higher spirits and use them.
Nymphadora had also come, but she only stayed long enough to give her condolences. Other members of the Order had come, too, but Athene could not remember the faces.
She had hardly spoken a word to any of her visitors. The young girl lay immobilized on the four-poster bed, only moving to reveal her back to Mrs. Weasley when she came to tend to her wounds. It was a pitiful site to anyone who walked through the threshold, and it wasn't a fleeting phase.
The days began to merge together. Athene marked them only by the return of Charlie, but even that had become relatively unimportant.
Food was no longer appetizing and the thought of eating made her nauseous. No matter how hard Charlie or Mrs. Weasley begged, she couldn't bring herself to eat.
Sleep, too, was hard to find. Every time she closed her eyes, the figments of red and orange returned to Athene's mind. It was a haunting memory that chased her through life. She would wake in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and a scream on the tip of her tongue.
Sometimes, in her dreams, she saw Enya outside of Epeolatry with her wand in her hand as she watched the building burn. Others, it was just a faceless person standing over Athene's form in her old bedroom. They cackled as the fire started in the basement and encouraged the flames to take hold of the life that was hiding away behind Epeolatry's walls.
"Athene." Two hands gently shook the frail woman awake. She was thinner, now. Charlie's shirt, which had been baggy before, hung off her bony skeleton in an unflattering manner. Anyone who looked at her could tell that she was struggling. "This needs to stop."
The words felt boggled in the fogginess of Athene's mind, but she understood that it was Charlie standing in front of her with an exceptionally concerned look on his face. "What?"
"This is exactly what I mean. You can't just keep yourself locked up here."
Athene scrunched her eyes as she realization dawned on her. "What would you like me to do then?"
"I don't know," Charlie admitted. "Come out and eat something?"
"Every time that I look at food, I feel as though I am going to hurl." Just saying the word made her stomach turn most uncomfortably.
"Then at least come out of this bloody room. You've been hiding here for almost two weeks now and it's done nothing good for you."
"I can't just pretend that nothing happened," Athene rebutted, pushing herself into a sitting position.
"It was just a building, Athene. You were lucky to make it out with your life."
"Just a building?" Athene couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she might have expected it. Of course he wouldn't understand. "That building was my life. A part of my soul was in that building and I will never get that back."
"I can't keep watching you destroy yourself. I won't sit around any more and watch you sink into yourself." His voice was raised and he breathing was heavy.
Athene didn't even think, she just said: "Then leave."
The shouting spar was replaced with a sudden silence. Athene didn't dare look up to meet Charlie's eyes for fear of discovering his expression. She didn't mean what she said, but she was tired of people pushing her to deal with her grief in a systematic way.
Charlie said nothing, just stood there, staring. Seconds passed before he turned on his heel and slammed the door to his room, shattering the moment and what was left intact of Athene's heart. A sob broke through her chest followed by immense pain. She pulled her knees to her chest, holding them as close as she could as she heaved away her sorrows.
By the time the tears stopped, Athene was sure hours had passed. The sun was just beginning to set outside which cast brilliant shades of pink and yellow through the room. She still held herself in a little ball, but her grip had loosened and her head lay precariously on a pillow.
"Athene?" Someone, not Charlie, tentatively took a step into the room. "I, uh, I heard your fight with Charlie."
Athene glanced at the boy with raven hair and she took a moment to wipe the dry tears from her face. As much as her heart ached, she was, for once, glad for the company.
Harry sat himself at the corner of the bed. He didn't touch her, didn't offer his condolences. Just sat there as she sniffled. When Athene's sniffles had turned to hiccups he said, "He's right you know."
"What do you mean?"
"As much as you want to," Harry said, "you can't hide away as life continues forward. We are lucky to have such an opportunity before us, even if it isn't the one we had planned."
His words bounced around in her head. There was no pity in his voice, only a bitter understanding of her pain. It didn't change the fact that she was sad or that she had lost the peace of her former life.
Harry looked down to his hands which were clasped in his lap. He looked so put together for a young man who had lost so much. Athene suddenly felt self-conscious for crying over a building.
"You're really lucky to have someone like Charlie. He was so worried about you after the fire and I think that's why he's so eager to push you past your grief."
"When did you get so smart?" Athene laughed, but it sounded more like a muffled sob. Tears were beginning to drip from her eyes once again, but this time it wasn't because of what she had lost. Rather, it was because of what she had been blatantly ignoring.
Harry laughed, a genuine smile gracing his face when he turned to look at her. A weight had been lifted from the room, making Athene sit up straighter and attempt to smile. "We're just about to celebrate. I want you to come down with me so that all of my family can be with me on my birthday."
Athene nodded and took his outstretched hand. Her eyes, though rimmed with red and tinged with sadness, revealed a spark of the life that had once been there. Harry noticed and so did all of the people gathered around the Burrow's living room.