☽☽☽
"AND THEN I GOT THESE FROM MY OLDEST SISTER" Dorcas continued as she held up a pair of knee high boots decorated in pink flowers,
"They're incredible" Lily gasped as she ran her touch over the heel, "god I'd break my ankles wearing something like that".
They were back at Hogwarts now, it was early January and the group had been reunited the week previous. The rest of the Christmas holidays had been ok, Athena had received more presents from her parents and sister including new jumpers, new books, new pencils and her favourite being a new pair of muted leather boots that reminded her of the ones Remus always wore.
"You'd look great in—" Dorcas paused as she rushed over to her dresser that had shoes collected around it, "these!"
She held up a gorgeous pair of white 60's era boots that were some of the girls favourite,
"I'm not so sure about that" Lily laughed as she turned them over in her grasp.
"If James saw you wearing them, he'd go crazy" Marlene laughed, "like his head would actually explode"
Lily laughed but everyone could tell that the mention of James made her stiffen up slightly.
Athena knew that Lily didn't particularly see eye to eye with the boy and what made it worse was how many times people went on and on about them being a good couple.
Sure it wouldn't take a genius to see that they would actually go well together if James didn't act like a child half the time but in Lily's eyes it was a match made in hell.
"I say you wear them" Mary smiled, "next Gryffindor party"
"I'm not so sure" Lily laughed, "I think I'll stick to my own...boring shoes"
"I never said they were boring" Dorcas sighed with laughter, "I just said they could be a bit more spicy"
"Rena where are you going?" Marlene asked as the girl gathered herself to her feet,
"Hogsmede" she replied as she looked gingerly down at the new watch her sister had gifted her,
"Give us five minutes and we'll be ready" Marlene replied gaining a perplexed look from Dorcas who would definitely take more than five minutes to get ready.
"I promised I'd meet Aurora" the girl explained. Usually she would spend Hogsmede trips with her friends however ever once in a while Athena and Aurora would go down together for some 'sister bonding time'.
"You just saw her" Lily frowned.
"Yeah but we didn't really get an opportunity to catch up" Athena explained as she pulled on her oversized denim jacket, "we have a few cousins so we were mostly around them"
"Fair enough" Marlene shrugged, "have fun then"
"Thanks" Athena smiled to the girls as she left their Gryffindor dorm. It was rather early on Saturday morning and Athena had only come up her by request so that the girls could show what they'd gotten for Christmas.
When she'd originally entered the common room, downstairs had been nearly empty however now the four marauders were sitting around some parchment in a quite huddle.
Athena frowned as she crept over trying to figure out what they were looking at.
"Mischief managed' Sirius murmured quickly as he noticed Rena walking over,
"What you looking at?" Athena asked as she peeked over James' shoulder to see a now blank piece of parchment.
"It's just joke parchment from Zonko's" Remus explained as he picked it up and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Athena wasn't entirely sure whether to believe him or not however she wasn't very interested in what they were doing anyway so she decided to leave it.
"What you doing up here?" Sirius asked, "are we going to Hogsmede?"
"I was coming to look at the girls presents" Athena explained, "and no sorry, I'm meeting Rory"
"Ah yeah you mentioned that" Sirius smiled, "well have fun"
"Thanks" Athena half smiled as she turned away and walked over to the exit. As she turned around she noticed that Remus had now pulled the parchment back out of his pocket and was now muttering something to it.
The girl just shrugged before leaving the common room and pacing through the corridors down to the entrance hall.
Aurora was already standing there in her thick blazer coat and shiny new boots.
One thing about Aurora was that she always looked very put together. Her hair was styled in neat waves that didn't quite make it to her shoulders, her lips had been dabbed with rouge and she had minimalistic rings lacing her fingers accentuating her pale blue painted nails.
"Rory!" Athena smiled as she made her way over. Rory and Rena were the nicknames the girls had been up for themselves when they were younger. Everyone still called Athena Rena however it seemed Aurora believed she had grown out of the name, only her sister called her Rory now.
"Rena" she smiled in reply, "you ready to go?"
The sister nodded as the two of them linked arms and walked out of the castle. Rena was slightly taller than her sister despite being two years younger. They looked quite similar but Athena had longer and lighter hair that was considered messy in comparison to Rory's.
"I thought we could just go to the three broomsticks" Rory smiled, "you like it there don't you?
"Yeah I go with my friends all the time" Athena replied.
"And Sirius Black?" Rory asked with a knowing smile,
"Yes, he's one of my friends" Athena replied,
"I've heard he's more than that" Aurora replied, "I always thought you'd end up with Remus... I remember all those times when we were younger you were obsessed with him"
"Yes when I was younger" Athena laughed, "anyway he has a girlfriend"
"Yes Mary McDonald" Aurora nodded,
"How do you know all this?" Athena laughed as they continued down the cold path.
"I'm head girl, I know everything" Rory smirked, "I have ears in the walls"
"Yeah course you do" Athena laughed, "I'm guessing you hear gossip from the prefects"
"I will never divulge my biggest secret" Aurora joked.
Aurora had her birthday during the Christmas holidays which now made her eighteen. It seemed weird to Rena that her sister would not only be considered an adult in the wizarding world but also in the muggle world.
Maybe it just seemed odd because it felt like only yesterday that they were 8 and 10 running around the garden and playing in the river.
"What's that on your wrist?" Rory asked as they both looked down at the leather bangle the girl was sporting.
"Oh it's a friendship bracelet" Athena explained, "it was my secret Santa gift to Remus... he has the other one... look it says promise"
"Cute" Aurora smiled in response, "I remember you always used to do that pinky promise thing... do you still do it?"
"Yeah sometimes" Athena shrugged as her jacket sleeve fell back over the bracelet, "I guess it doesn't feel the same anymore you know... since I broke one"
"The not lying one?" Aurora asked receiving a nod from her sister.
Aurora didn't like talking about it, neither did Rena to be fair but she was open about it to her sister. Rory however was not, she never had been. Something told Athena that Aurora still blamed herself for what happened.
"I wouldn't worry about it" Aurora continued losing the flash of guilt in her eyes, "everyone's told a lie at some point"
"Not one like this" Athena mumbled as they entered the pub.
"Hi Rosemerta" Aurora smiled as the two girls made their way over to the bar,
"Morning Aurora" the blonde bar maid replied, "what can I get you?"
"One butter beer and one oak matured mead"
"Look at you trying to be all sophisticated with your oak matured mead" Athena mumbled as Rosemerta moved away to go get the drinks,
"I don't need to try" Aurora replied with a smirk as she took the drinks from the blonde and handed her a galleon and two sickles.
They walked over to the same booth that Sirius and Athena had shared on their first date,
"So how are lessons going?" Asked Aurora as she took a sip of her mead.
"Alright" Athena shrugged,
"Remember OWL's are important" Rory continued in her usual 'older sister' manner, "if you don't get the right grades then your future can go down the drain"
"Well I'll not be getting all O's like you" Rena laughed, "so don't expect that"
"I didn't get all O's" Rory huffed, "I got an E in divination"
"Divinations shit anyway... though I did see something in the crystal ball a couple of months ago"
"Probably a trick of the light" Rory shrugged, "I saw something in there once that turned out to be the examiner looking in... it's best to just make something up"
"Fair enough" Athena smiled, "how are NEWT's"
"Insanely difficult even for me" Aurora raised her eyebrows, "you wouldn't expect it since there's less subjects but there's so much more to do"
"Which subjects did you take again?" Asked Athena.
"Astronomy, arithmacy, transfigurations, potions, defence against the dark arts and history of magic"
"Jesus that's a lot" Athena sighed "how come you haven't keeled over yet"
"Nearly have" Aurora replied, "but it'll all be worth it in the end"
"When you become the astronomy teacher?" Athena smirked,
"Exactly" Athena replied, "I could take over already... I'm probably better than Professor Calypso anyway"
"Course you are Rory" Athena laughed, "but I'm sure you'd make a great teacher"
"I think you would too" Aurora brought up like she did every time they talked properly.
Aurora loved pressing her dreams onto Rena, she'd always done this since she was small. It was as though she wanted Rena to be a younger version of herself which (you could tell just by looking at them) was never going to happen.
Athena couldn't see herself being a teacher, in fact she couldn't see herself doing anything after school. Hogwarts was her life, her friends were her life. A world after school seemed one very far away even though it wasn't.
"I'm not sure"
This was the response that Athena gave every time Aurora proposed her plans of the sisters teaching at Hogwarts together. It wouldn't be a horrendous future, in fact it would be quite nice but it was not one that Athena pictured for herself, at least not yet.
"What do you think about the new defence against the dark arts teacher anyway?" Auror asked, changing the subject.
"I like him" Rena smiled in response, "his lessons are fun"
"Yeah I guess he's alright" Aurora shrugged, "probably more OWL level than NEWT, though I wouldn't get too attached everyone knows he'll be gone by the end of the year"
"I hope he breaks tradition" Athena added with a sigh.
Every year since either sister attended the school, defence against the dark arts teachers would never last more than a year. Everyone said that the job was cursed but in that case Athena wondered why people still took the position.
"Listen Rory" Athena said suddenly as she looked up into her sisters dark and confused eyes, "I don't think I can lie anymore"
"You have to" she replied stubbornly, "you've managed for this long Rena, what difference does it make?"
"What difference does it make?" Athena scoffed, "the difference is that I'm with Sirius now and... well I don't like keeping things from him and Remus... he's my best friend and we promised we would never lie"
"I wouldn't worry to much about lying to Remus" Aurora replied quickly as she finished her drink,
"What's that supposed to mean?" Athena asked with a frown,
"Nothing" she replied simply, "nothing just ignore me"
"Don't you think lying about this is just—"
"Is just the right thing to do" Aurora cut her off, "look this is for your own good, nothing would be the same if you told people the truth... it's better this way"
"Yes yes I know" Athena sighed in response before downing the rest of her butter beer, "you're right as usual"
"I'm glad we agree" Aurora replied, "now come on I need to go to the post office before we go back up".
☽☽☽
"He's still in there"
"GET OUT, GET OUT HURRY"
"NO HES STILL IN THERE"
"ARCHER"
"HENRY, HENRY YOU HAVE TO PUT IT OUT"
"I CAN'T GODAMN IT, ITS MAGIC FIRE"
"YOU STUPID GIRL"
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST DO WHAT YOU WERE TOLD FOR ONCE"
"This is all your fault"
"I'll never forgive you"
"HES STILL IN THERE"
Athena woke up with a start, feeling as though her skin was on fire. She was laced in a thin coat of sweat making her skin shine as she stumbled out of bed.
She looked more unkempt than ever with her hair sticking up from her head and her oversized t shirt practically falling off her.
She remembered what her sister had told her about keeping secrets secret but with this recurring dream now replaying in her mind she wanted someone to talk to, someone to rely on.
Usually she would turn to Rory but now it seemed more than ever that she didn't want to hear about it, she'd rather just forget what happened.
To be fair Athena also wanted to forget what happened but she couldn't, it was imprinted in her memory like a burn that was never going to leave her.
She stood in the centre of the common room feeling rather stupid as she listened to the soft snores of the girls around her. Athena couldn't go back to sleep she just couldn't, the full moon was shining through the curtain casting light onto the hard wood floor.
She decided that she wanted to talk to Sirius, even if not about this. She didn't want to be alone right now.
Athena gathered her hair into a bun and pulled a jumper over herself as she shoved her boots onto her feet.
It was late enough now that no one would be patrolling the corridors, expect probably Mrs Norris who never seemed to sleep. It was also not too late meaning she had hope that Sirius would still be awake.
Remus had gone home yesterday to see his mother which although Athena found odd considering he'd just been home for Christmas, she didn't question it as he was allowed to see her as much as he needed to.
Athena crept through the rather chilly halls as she pulled her jumper closer around her. Maybe she'd just sleep in the Gryffindor common room, she didn't feel much like walking back through the hallways at night.
As she approached the portrait hole she noticed to her dismay that it was beginning to open. She ducked behind the nearest wall as she peered around it.
Immediately she spotted Sirius, James and Peter sneaking out casting odd looks around the corridors.
"Quickly Prongs" Sirius whispered,
"Have you checked the map?" James asked,
"Course I have" Sirius replied, "there's no one in our path"
James nodded before pulling something silky and silvery out of his pocket, it spread out like a cloak before he threw it over the three boys.
They were immediately rendered invisible and Athena let out a soft gasp, she hadn't been aware that James owned an invisibility cloak.
Athena could still see a portion of their feet as they took a sharp left and disappeared from view. She frowned in confusion wondering where on earth they could be going.
She could tell from their hurried whispers and glancing expressions that they were doing something that they weren't supposed to be doing.
She had one mind about following them but with them being invisible she had no way to tell which way they had gone.
Athena could cast a mildly acceptable disillusionment charm but it wouldn't keep her out of sight for long.
The girl pondered her options for a moment before coming to the conclusion that tonight was not the right night to be following the marauders into the unknown.
She turned her head and let out a gasp as she saw the lamplight eyes of Mrs Norris staring at her.
The girl jumped up immediately and hurried back the way she had come. Her boots made a rather loud noise against the stone as she paced through the corridors but she didn't care.
Athena didn't stop running until she was in the comfort of the Ravenclaw common room. She let out a sigh of relief as she pressed her back against the door.
She guessed she would just have to follow the boys another night.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 2793
Published - 31st December 2020