︰୨୧・꒱ ────sixth year: merry christmas
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summary ::
christmas time!
but before.. something weird happened involving athena, dolohov, nott, and another unknown person. and james breaks some 'bad' news to athena.
notes ::
two chapters in a day!! so happy :)
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"and i forget everything, whoa„
15th november 1977,
finally. athena and james finally had time to theirselves. athena could go ahead with her plan.
"i missed you so much," athena said, leaving kisses all over his face. "we finally get time.. just us. no sirius, no remus—"
"tina, i think you mentioning my friends is kind of ruining the moment," he laughed, pulling her on his lap. he stared at her, the tension building up. "kiss me."
she internally groaned. why wasn't he feeling put off?
athena kissed him, slipping her tongue in sloppily and pulling on his lip with her teeth. she was trying to disgust him and was surprised to hear him let out a moan. gosh. he was not supposed to be enjoying this.
"tina, fuck," he groaned as she went harsher and pulled on his lip harder. she brought her hand to his hair and pulled on it uncomfortably. "you're not doing it right," he whispered, flipping them over.
"not doing what right? are you saying i can't kiss?" athena asked, looking upset.
"no, love."
james kissed her again, him biting down on her lip and he put his hand in her hair, gently pulling. athena let out a soft moan and immediately knew this wasn't working.
she brought her hand to in between his legs and pushed down. he winced uncomfortably and she pretended to be upset; he gave her a reassuring face.
athena smiled and bucked her hips up harshly, another wince. he sighed and laid next to her.
"maybe another time," he said, rolling over to face her. "i'm not really feeling it right now — probably too much stress, hm?"
athena rolled over to face him and nodded. "that's okay."
he kissed her head, "you understand why i don't want to, right?"
"i understand. we've always got tomorrow."
james looked panicked. "yeah. if we find time, yeah."
"i love you, jamie," she whispered, stroking his hair.
"mhm, me too, tina," he responded.
athena had to admit that hurt a bit, but it meant it was working. he didn't even want to say he loved her.
"you love me, right?" she asked.
"of course."
"why didn't you say it?"
"i'm sorry."
she sighed, a confused look on her face and rolled over to the other side, to which her face changed and she smiled.
"don't be upset with me, please," he said, playing with her hair. "get some rest. we both need it."
***
29th november 1977,
athena's plan was working but james is too much of a gentleman to say anything. but she could tell he was frustrated with her and hated to be around her.
she was walking to see him, hopefully he'll break things off today. she kept her fingers crossed behind her back as she walked through the corridors.
the silence was eerie and it made her mind wander. what if she didn't want him to leave her? what if he was the one and she was just letting him go?
no, no. it's the right thing to do. better than leading him on when she doesn't feel the same way as she used to.
she heard footsteps and turned around. she only caught the bottom of someone's robe as they turned a corner. weird. why would they enter the corridor and then leave the same way they came straight after?
she didn't give it much thought and kept walking. she heard shuffling but didn't turn around. nothing there.
"quick!" someone shouted.
before she could turn around to see who it was, she felt hands on her waist. she let out a scream and a hand was immediately slapped over her mouth. her muffled screams weren't loud enough for anyone to hear. the person dragged her down the corridor, the opposite way as to where she was walking.
athena started to wave her arms around, trying to hit something, but then someone else grabbed her arms and held her hands behind her back.
"would you quit it?" one of them hushed.
she had her suspicions that it might be regulus, but that wasn't his voice. it was much harsher and huskier than his. his voice was gentle and stern.
"get — off!" she tried to scream through the hand. "can't — breathe!"
"mate, go lighter on the mouth. you're not supposed to be gagging the lass," the other voice said.
athena's face went pale and her stomach churned. that voice..
"where do you think you're going sweetheart? i'm not finished with you."
"that's good. you won't remember shit tomorrow."
"tell me why i shouldn't."
nott.
she wanted to scream his name, but she couldn't. his friend's hand was over her mouth. he tightened his grip on her waist, while his friend loosened his grip on her mouth. they were so much bigger than her, she knew she didn't stand a chance against them. so, she did the stupidest thing she could've done; something that she never thought she would do in a situation like this.
she just gave up.
come on, what's the most they can do? she thought to herself. a lot..
it didn't take them long to reach an empty abandoned room on that same floor. they chucked athena in and shut the door before she could run back out. this was her chance to see who it was.
"nott!" she gasped. she was right. "and — dolohov."
"you're smart, aren't you?" nott mocked, walking closer to her, grinning. "dolohov, get the —"
he mouthed something to his mate and soon after that, dolohov went to the back of the dark room. while he was searching, athena stared nott in the eyes.
"what do you want?" she asked. "i'll give you whatever you need, you don't need to lock me in here."
"we're just trying to find something out, angel."
athena's stomach churned. the way he spoke to her made her want to spit in his face.
before she could ask anymore questions, dolohov came back and pushed her onto a chair, covering her eyes with a blindfold.
"what the fuck—?"
nott covered her mouth with some cloth. "stay quiet and this will be easy."
she was holding back tears. she had no idea what was going on but she was fucking terrified.
"please," she let out, her voice muffled. "leave me alone."
nott grabbed both her arms in front of her and she felt a thin piece of wood skimming her right arm. dolohov' wand.
dolohov let out a low laugh, before poking his wand into her stomach, making her gasp.
"dolohov, fucking quit it," a third voice said. athena's head turned. the voice was far too distant to recognise. "just check, for fuck's sake."
but it was a familiar voice. for sure.
dolohov cursed under his breath and held his wand up to her neck, so she couldn't move. a muffled sob escaped her mouth. what were they doing?
nott must've got a wand out because he muttered a spell that she didn't recognise.
"ostendo," he said. she felt a cold feeling through her left arm and gasped. "nothing."
the third person sighed loudly with relief. "that's good. let her go."
dolohov undid the blindfold and cloth around her mouth and pushed her out of the chair. she turned her head to get a glimpse of the third person but they were standing in the darkness and she couldn't make out a face.
what she did see made her knees weak, and her legs failed as nott and dolohov carried her out.
their arm had a dark mark on it.
she looked up at nott but she knew she couldn't make it known that she spotted the mark.
"who was that?" she whispered, still struggling with her words.
"doesn't matter."
"was it snape?"
athena assumed this because of the mark. she always suspected something was off with him.
"no."
"who? mulciber? yaxley? selwyn —?"
"shut the fuck up. i ain't telling you, angel."
"don't call me that," she muttered. they entered the corridor and he pushed her against the wall. déjà vu, much?
"listen. you don't tell anyone what you saw," he said to her. she wasn't planning on that. "you saw how easy that was, right? imagine we do it at any time and we can do whatever the fuck we want to. so you either keep your mouth shut or you can find out just how easy that is. 'kay?"
she nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. "trust me, i wasn't planning on saying shit."
"no. don't you start actin' hard now when you was just sobbing in there. now go, get lost."
in james's dorm, athena mostly kept to herself. she was thinking about what had happened, while james was putting music on. the whole thing made no sense.
james finally put something on and sat next to her.
"tina, i think i need to talk to you about something," he said. athena looked over at him, tilting her head.
"yeah?"
"i don't think we should keep seeing each other," he said, clearing his throat. "it's just that we missed the chance the first time and now it feels forced and i don't want to lead you on or anything."
this was the part where athena had to combine her lying and acting skills.
she sat up and took his hands, "but why? we're made for each other, aren't we?"
he sighed. "i'm sorry, love. i just don't want to hurt you. it's for the better, i promise."
"do you love somebody else?"
"listen, tina," he said softly. "i love you. but i felt so trapped when we first got back together. so .. i slept with someone else."
athena gasped. she knew this, of course. she didn't care. but she had to pretend she didn't know; she had to pretend she was devastated.
"james, how could you?" she whispered. "i thought it was just us .. just me and you."
james kissed her head, nodding. "i know. i messed up. i don't know why i did it but that's why i'm breaking up with you. i don't want you to be with someone like me."
she hugged him and smiled into his chest, pretending to cry. "maybe i should go before ..."
"i understand," he said.
athena stood up and left the dorm. when the door shut, she covered her mouth and smiled.
how awful was it that she had just been broken up with and she was happy?
well. in technicality, not that bad. it was much better than leading him on.
her genius plan worked!
she couldn't help but grin all the way back to her dorm. the fact that none of this hurt james made her so relieved, she almost forgot about what happened earlier.
***
15th december 1977,
athena said goodbye to marlene, remus, sirius and peter before stepping off the train, heaving her bag. once she got off, she dropped her bag and leaned down to double check she had all her stuff. as she finished her check up, she felt someone stand over her.
the person cleared their throat. when athena looked up, she was surprised to see regulus.
"your parents are waiting," he said. "they asked me to tell you where they are."
"why you?" she asked, standing back up and collecting her bags again. "they know who you are."
"they thought i was my brother until i turned around," he said. "and i told them i still would. they seem like nice people."
"oh really?" athena swung one of her bags over her shoulder and started walking, regulus walking by her. "they're not nice people — they're mudbloods."
regulus sighed. "i'm trying to be reasonable. i bet it's not easy having a daughter like you."
athena started laughing. "you're hilarious, black. really, you should be a comedian."
the two teenagers reached the last magic station and athena knew she had to go onto the muggle station.
"well.. they're through the wall and on your left," he said. "i'll see you after christmas."
"oh, i just can't wait," athena said. when regulus raised his eyebrows at her, she laughed. "joking. thanks, black."
"for?"
"showing me the way, dipshit."
he sighed and nodded, smiling. when athena ran through the wall, he bit his lip, still smiling and turned around.
why is this still happening? he thought. why can't she just—
"regulus."
his father's cold voice interrupted his thoughts.
"who was that girl?" orion asked. regulus's hands started to sweat. "don't tell me it was the same girl as last summer."
"father. of course not," regulus said. "it was nora parkinson. please. don't start a scene."
walburga walked over to the black men, cursing under her breath. "your brother stayed at school. we still can't seem to reach him."
"you disowned him, mother," regulus muttered. "of course you can't reach him."
walburga lifted her eyebrow, "regulus. you aren't to talk to your mother like that. we did no wrong — he was the blood traitor."
"but you —"
orion grabbed his son's wrist and stared into his eyes. "listen. you say one more word to your mother and you shall turn out the same way. and you know i do not want to do that. you are the perfect heir of the black family. do not lose that chance. understand?"
regulus swallowed, "yes, father."
he let go of his wrist. "go. now."
when athena got home, she switched on a bowie record and laid back on her bed.
home sweet home.
as soon as the lyrics started, she grabbed her hairbrush and stood up, locking her bedroom door and kicking a box to the side to dance.
"still don't know what i was waiting for," she sang, holding the brush up to her mouth. "and my time was running wild! a million dead end streets and every time i thought i'd got it made it seemed the taste was not so sweet."
she chucked her hairbrush/microphone across the room and grabbed her pillow. she brought it up to her face and pretended to be stroking it's "face."
"so i turned myself to face me but i've never caught a glimpse! how the others must see the faker. i'm much too fast to take that test." she laid the pillow on her desk and leaned down. "ch-ch-ch-changes! turn and face the strange! ch-ch-ch-changes. don't want to be a richer man!"
someone knocked on her door and she jumped. she dropped the pillow back on her bed and switched off the music before opening the door.
athena was clearly out of breath as she stood there in front of her mum.
"what were you doing?" her mum laughed.
"nothing," she mumbled, embarrassed.
"tina!" her mum said, looking around the room. "were you singing?"
athena started laughing, too, "it was bowie.."
her mum rolled her eyes playfully and kissed athena's head. "dinner's ready. clean up and come down."
"coming," athena said and shut the door.
she quickly put her stuff back and unpacked some of her bag before coming down to dinner. she sat at her usual seat at the dinner table and grabbed a plate, serving herself.
"tina," her dad said, smiling.
"mhm?" she said, placing her full plate down and cutting some of her food.
"me and your mum have some things to tell you," her dad said. athena nodded and he went on. "we're joining the order of the phoenix to help dumbledore.."
"oh!" she said. "that's amazing."
"i'm so excited," her mum smiled. "the potters are also joining."
her parents knew that her and james had broken up so when her mum said that, her dad dropped his fork.
"anne! you can't bring them up," he said. "she's still getting over him."
"dad, it's fine," athena smiled. "we've both moved on."
"oh.. anyone new?"
"no, not yet."
her mum went silent and ate some more of her food. "regulus black's not as bad as we thought."
"merlin! mum?" athena's mouth dropped open. "are you suggesting i should get with him?"
"no, no!" she said, panicking. "i'm trying to change the subject, tina!"
"mum!" athena laughed. "he hates me. i hate him. he's a pureblood obsessed with blood supremacy. please."
her dad snorted. when both jenkins women glared at him, he apologised.
"no, i'm sorry. it's just funny," he said, taking a drink. "your mother really can't take a hint."
athena took more of her food and rested her head in her hands. "merlin. i hate you both."
"we hate you, too," her mum said jokingly. "and for saying that, you're cleaning the dishes after dinner."
athena groaned as her parents laughed to each other. she missed them so much. the days counting down until it was time to go back to school felt so soon.
25th december 1977,
athena woke up far too early on christmas morning and her parents were still asleep so she walked to the owlery in her house, looking for any letters addressed to her.
she saw six and felt immediately overwhelmed. six letters just for her? she smiled widely as she took them back to her room. she lit a candlelight and opened the first letter, labelled 'ath.'
ath,
merry christmas my aj!
i love you so much and i miss you loads. james has been asking about you. write back. can't wait to see you soon.
love,
sirius x
she smiled and opened the next one.
athena,
hi! how are you? are you having a good christmas break? i hope you're enjoying yourself and i hope you have a great christmas — write soon.
love you loads,
peter xx
—
tina,
i know we haven't talked in a while and i'm sorry about that but i hope you're well and having a good break.
merry christmas, my tina.
i just wanted to tell you that me and lily have made it official. not to rub it in your face or anything, i just don't want us to be completely cut out of each other's lives.
write back. tell me how you've been.
yours dearly,
jamie.
that one hurt a little. she didn't know why he told her about him and lily. it wasn't helpful. she knew that she was basically the one who ended things but it didn't mean she wanted to know about him being with other people.
she sighed and opened the next one.
athena,
hi love.
hope you have an amazing christmas. i miss you a lot.
love,
remus x
—
thena,
hi, thena! how are you? how's mum and dad? how is it being back home? anyone from your town that you haven't seen in a while?
i miss you so much! it's been good here but gosh, i wish you could've come.
promise to see me first thing when we get to king's cross?
and merry christmas! i love you so much, thena. write back if you can. if you can't, it's okay. i'll see you very soon!
lots and lots and lots of love,
pandora.
and pandora left a few lipstick stained kisses on the letter and envelope. athena took out a box from under her bed; all of pandora's letter and tucked her new letter into it.
what she loved most about panda's letters was that she made them all unique. one had lipstick kisses, one had glitter, one had stickers, one had smiley faces and more.
athena looked at the last letter and didn't know who it was. she wasn't close with anyone else enough for them to send her letters, or even to know what her address was.
it was possible that it was marlene, but the handwriting was far too neat to be marlene's. it wasn't possible to be dorcas or mary, they didn't know her address. or were close enough with her. xeno may know her address but again, it wasn't his handwriting.
she decided not to wonder about it anymore and ripped it open.
athena jenkins,
how are you? christmas being good?
i know it seems weird that i'm writing to you but i just feel awful for how i act towards you. so i'm sorry.
have a good christmas.
yours,
regulus a. black.
she knew this had to be a joke. how did he know he'd address? why was he apologising?
she kept kept the letter in her drawer and wrote back to everyone. all of the letters were similar and short, except the last one.
regulus black,
why are you apologising? i know you're awful but you're not the type to be apologising.
if this is some kind of joke then it's not funny. and how did you get my address? or my owl? it looks fucking creepy.
merry christmas to you, too.
funny joke.
love,
athena.
she sent the letters and went downstairs, where she found her parents already down there.
"merry christmas!" they both cheered at the same time.
athena laughed and hugged them both.
"merry christmas, guys."
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song at start ::
mamma mia by abba !!
song athena was singing ::
changes by david bowie<3
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