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GRYFFINDOR PLAYED HUFFLEPUFF THE FOLLOWING WEEK. James was as nervous as ever, maybe even more so now that he'd lost to Slytherin. Hufflepuff had been the only team who had managed to prevail against Gryffindor last year which made everything worse.
There was the white prickles of frost still sitting on the wooden stands conveying how cold it was. Athena sat bundled in her warmest coat, a hat shoved on her head and her hand delved deep into her pockets.
She sat next to Peter who was running her through how Gryffindor should play. Athena wasn't really paying attention however she nodded every few moments to pretend that she cared.
Peter had been a lot more confident recently, not over confident just present. Usually he got lost in the group when they were all talking however that was no longer the case. Athena was happy for him, Peter was sweet and he deserved to be heard (even though Athena was ignoring him in this particular moment).
He'd always been very close with the marauders of course. That hadn't changed but Athena had seen him talking to Marlene and Dorcas a lot more recently. He hadn't been doing the same with Lily mainly because James was still wary of Lily inviting him to the Slughorn party.
Sirius and Lily were sat on the other side of Peter engaged in some argument about a prank that the marauders had pulled on Snape last week. To be fair it had been extremely funny, they'd transfigured his books into birds which had chased him through the halls.
Of course Lily didn't approve even if she wasn't on good terms with Snape anymore. Athena couldn't tell whether the two of them were still friends or not. Sometimes his name would be mentioned she'd do nothing and other times she'd look up and listen intently.
"And they're off!" Remus called throughout the pitch. Athena turned to look at him. He looked the same as usual but that was enough for Athena.
The players sped up into the air rapidly. Athena watched as they began passing the quaffle to one another, Dorcas ahead of the group flying like a bullet.
The girl passed to James who did an impressive spin before scoring a goal. It seemed his turn had distracted the keeper who stared at the empty hoop in disappointment.
Gryffindor cheered loudly, jumping to their feet and clapping. Athena would clap but then she'd have to take her hands out of her pockets which she didn't want to do.
"Get in James!" Sirius yelled heartily. He'd been getting back into the joy of quidditch recently. Since he got kicked off the team he'd been rather downhearted about the whole thing but deep down he was still obsessed with it.
The next round started with Hufflepuff. Athena didn't have any friends in Hufflepuff, they all seemed nice enough but the captain annoyed her. There was something about his smirk that made it seem as though he was in love with himself.
"James I love you but that was a foul" Remus called. James had grabbed hold of the captains broom in order to get the quaffle.
One of the chasers took the goal and unfortunately scored causing James to turn as red as his robes.
The game continued. Dorcas was playing the best, that much was obvious. James was normally the best player however the stress of the situation seemed to be getting to him. Dorcas on the other hand had remained cool, soaring and darting to avoid the opposing players.
Meanwhile, Marlene was sat above the game watching her girlfriend in pride. If Marlene caught the snitch now, it wouldn't be enough for Gryffindor to make up for their previous loss. Despite hearing about quidditch 24/7, Athena still didn't really understand this.
She watched as Dorcas fell into a dive to avoid getting intercepted. James was flying streamline after her as backup when all of a sudden a bludger collided with the front of his broom.
The impact caused James to slip. He panicked for a moment before grabbing his broom and hoisting himself back up. To Athena's amazement, the bludger hadn't damaged his broom at all (then again he did have the best that money could buy).
Athena looked over at Lily as it had happened, her hands were now gripping the stands despite how cold they were. Her skin was turning red but she didn't seem to care. Athena thought that she might be getting her five galleons after all.
Dorcas scored twice for the team much to Gryffindor's excitement. Every time she scored, the girl did a victory lap round the pitch causing everyone to cheer loudly.
James scored a penalty after one of the Hufflepuff beaters had hit his back furiously with the beaters bat.
After that Gryffindor were thirty points ahead. Peter kept rambling about how they had to be fifty points ahead to make a difference.
However by this point in the game, Athena had turned her attention to Remus as usual. She was sure that Lily wouldn't notice, after all she was too transfixed on James to care.
The sun was shining beautifully onto his face, lighting up his hair so much that it almost looked blonde. He always looked so effortlessly cool, something that made Athena love him even more.
She kept staring at him without noticing even when James scored another goal for Gryffindor. At some point Hufflepuff had nearly scored but had been blocked by James who had heroically thrown himself nearly off his broom in order to catch the quaffle.
What seemed like hours later, Gryffindor were fifty points ahead which meant that Marlene could catch the snitch now. Athena could tell that she was aware of this. Her eyes scanned the pitch like an eagles as she hovered around.
As Marlene did this, the Hufflepuff seeker practically stalked her. He stuck to her like glue as she sped around. Athena finally dragged her gaze away from Remus to watch the game properly.
Peter was bouncing in his seat in excitement waiting for Marlene to catch it. Everyone watched Marlene as the girl fell into a dive. The Hufflepuff seeker followed her but wasn't as fast or as daring.
He pulled up way too early as Marlene nearly hit the ground. She pulled up at the last possible moment creating an audible gasp with everyone in the pitch. In her hand sat the tiny golden ball which she held above her head in pride.
Everyone in the Gryffindor stands cheered as she waved the snitch above her head. Peter jumped up and James looked as though he was going to faint in happiness.
Needless to say, there was going to be a party in the common room that night.
☽☽☽
The party after that match had been good, there was no denying that. Athena still felt sick the following Monday despite swearing that has hadn't drank that much. The excitement faded back into the full realisation that she was still drowning in work.
The group had defence against the dark arts on Monday afternoon (except of course for Marlene and Peter who didn't take it). These lessons had been particularly weird considering that Professor Preston wasn't your average teacher.
So far they'd only been learning non verbal magic and perfecting defensive spells as this was usually what examiners focused on in exams. However as they walked into the classroom that Monday they could tell something was going to be different.
The room still looked like a forest but the desks had been moved aside creating a large grassy clearing in the centre. Preston was stood at the front of the room wearing a pink floral dress and looking more like a faery than ever.
"Hello class" she called in her angelic voice, "close the door behind you Potter, thank you"
Everyone congregated in a semi circle around her. Athena stayed close to Remus and Lily as she waited in anticipation.
"Today we're doing something different" Preston began, "we are going to be studying the patronus charm today, can anyone tell me what this charm is?"
Lily raised her hand immediately, "a patronus charm is most well known for helping protect against dementors"
"Two points to Gryffindor" Preston smiled, "yes they will protect you from dementors, can anyone tell me what a dementor is?"
"They guard Azkaban prison" Athena answered
"Two points to Ravenclaw" Preston nodded, "dementors are heartless creatures, they suck the happiness from around you and a dementors kiss can suck out your soul which is why it's good to know a patronus charm, who can tell me what form a patronus takes?"
"It takes a different form for different people" James replied, "usually the form of an animal"
"Two points to Gryffindor, yes that is correct the animal that you get is usually connected to you some how, allegedly it's the animal most similar to your soul"
This immediately excited Athena, she was intrigued to know what animal most connected with her soul.
"What's yours Professor?" Dorcas asked quickly and everyone turned in interest to the teacher.
"Expecto Patronum" she called out, a small silvery hummingbird flew out of the tip of her wand and hovered around the group lightly before fading into thin air. A lot of the class gasped in excitement and immediately seemed ready to try it themselves.
"To cast a patronus" Preston began, "you need to think of a memory, one that brings you great happiness... if the memory is not happy enough then the patronus won't work"
Everyone split off around the room in their own space. No one talked except to say the incantation as it seemed that everyone was so determined to see what animal theirs would become.
This was also the case for Athena. She stood in a corner trying to think up a memory that was deemed happy enough to create a patronus. However she wasn't sure what classed as her happiest memory.
As she pondered she could hear shouts of 'expecto patronum' all around the room. She turned her head to see a few wisps of silver but nothing that took the form or shape as an animal.
Apparently a corporeal patronus was very hard to conjure and therefore Professor Preston said that she wasn't expecting everyone to get it in the first lesson. Despite this it seemed no one was dishearten, everyone wanted to get it.
No one had called for a competition but it seemed everyone was thinking it. All of the students were hoping that they'd be able to cast it first, especially the Slytherins who were known for being ambitious.
Athena didn't necessarily want to be the first to cast it, she just wanted to do it this lesson. She was so intrigued about it that she thought having to wait another lesson would finish her off.
As well as that, after the failure she'd been experiencing over occlumency, Athena wanted to be able to do one thing first time. The girl hadn't tried yet, she'd been too deep in her thoughts to give it a go.
She looked around the room again to see that everyone was muttering the incantation but not much success was evident. Athena still hadn't decided what memory she would use but as she saw Remus from across the room a few came to mind.
He seemed to be struggling for a memory as well. Remus looked deep in thought as he tapped his wand against his fingers dreamily.
Athena turned back to her own space and thought of the memory of the two friends sitting on top of the hill watching the sunset.
"Expecto Patronum" she called out, her voice mingling with the other students in the room. Nothing happened which caused Athena to frown. She was at least hoping that some silver mist would appear, maybe her memory wasn't happy enough.
There was a few others she could try, something to do with her sister or maybe Archer although that had the implication of making her quite sad. Spending time with her friends and family always cheered her up but she couldn't focus on just one thing.
"I've done it!" Athena turned to see a large silver stag pacing round the room. She didn't have to ask who had conjured that one. Her eyes landed on James who was laughing to himself as he watched 'Prongs' fade into the air.
"Well done Mr Potter that was very impressive" Professor Preston clapped, "that was a good demonstration of what we're looking for"
Athena turned to her wand thinking so much that her head was beginning to hurt. There was only another half an hour of the lesson, why was time going so quickly?
"Expecto patronum" she tried again this time thinking of the time that her, Aurora and Archer had been playing in the garden. A small spark of silver popped in the air however this was nothing in comparison to what James had produced.
Athena felt as though she was losing her flair. She was always rather good at getting things before everyone else yet since beginning occlumency she had realised that she want that good after all.
A Hufflepuff student was next to conjure it, their large dog barked loudly as it ran around in circles chasing its tail. It was cute but only annoyed Athena more. She couldn't clear her mind even if she tried, how come this was so difficult?
Instead of trying the same memory multiple times, she kept working through them believing that the memory must be her issue. After all Professor Preston had said that of the memory wasn't happy enough then the patronus wouldn't work.
She tried Christmas time which was usually happy, the time her friends had come to her house in the summer and ran down the hill, the New Years party when she'd danced with Remus, the many parties that Gryffindor threw yet nothing worked.
Soon there were loads of animals filling the air. Athena saw parrots, cats, monkeys and even spiders in silvery forms. Out of her group, only James had done it. Lily's face was screwed up in concentration, Sirius seemed to have given up, Dorcas was only managing to conjure mist and Remus was muttering the incantation with no success.
At least she wasn't the only one who hadn't done it, this didn't make her feel much better though.
"Fifteen minutes left" Professor Preston called, "don't worry if you don't manage it in this lesson, we will keep trying"
Athena cursed quietly to herself as her mind raced though images of her past. Occlumency had helped her memory to become a lot more vivid even if that's not what it was supposed to achieve. However despite being able to see a clear image of her happiest memories, nothing was coming of it.
"Well dome Miss Evans!" Professor Preston called out causing many heads to turn in Lily's direction.
Athena's jaw dropped as she stared at the patronus walking gracefully around the girl. Even Lily seemed shocked.
It had taken the form of a doe, a female deer. James was staring at it aghast. Lily was blushing furiously and Sirius was smirking in a know it all manner.
The doe faded but everyone's eyes were still on the space where it had been.
Athena couldn't help but turn to look at Remus who had raised his eyebrows in surprise. After all they'd made a bet about whether or not Lily and James were going to get together and this pointed in the direction that they were.
Remus only shook his head with a slight smirk as he went back to trying the incantation. Athena did so too. She had to think of a memory soon or this would be passed over to next lesson.
She believed she'd tried everything, at least everything that was memorable to her. Without thinking, Athena found her hand wrap around her locket. As she did so she could feel the calming heart beat of Remus across the room.
The first image that came to mind was them when they were younger. It had been the first promise that they'd ever made. The beginning of their tradition that had lasted their entire friendship.
"Promise we'll be friends forever?"
"Promise"
Athena smiled to herself and immediately felt rather warm inside, this was it she could already tell. With her hand still holding the locket she waved her wand and muttered to herself.
"Expecto Patronum" to her delight a large silver shape burst out of the wand tip. Athena blinked in surprise a smile lighting up her face. It took a second for the patronus to take full form but when it did her heart stopped.
It was a wolf. A large, silver wolf. Her eyes were transfixed on it as the shape ran around the room.
"Well done Miss Sinistra" Preston called. Athena wished she hadn't because now she knew that everyone's eyes were on her.
She looked up and her gaze immediately clashed with Remus'. Athena stared at him, he looked shocked and had stopped what he was doing to look at the wolf still sat beside her. When it faded his gaze didn't waver.
It was then that Athena realised she was still holding on to her locket. She could feel that his heart was beating faster than usual but also noted that he'd realised she was holding onto it.
She let go of the locket, allowing it to fall back on top of her robes. Athena blinked for a second before looking away her senses frozen with embarrassment. She'd made it obvious, why has she been so stupid and why was her patronus a wolf?
Athena looked to James and Sirius who were the only others who actually knew what this meant. If Lily had known she probably would have jumped through the ceiling in happiness.
James and Sirius were both smirking at her. They knew exactly what had happened and she could tell that they weren't about to let it go lightly.
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A/n
Words - 3023
Published - 24th January 2021