Chapter 6
Remus POV
I could feel Sirius physically relax as Sabine left the room.I couldn't blame him, I was still reeling in shock as I stood to make tea.
"How?" He asked, gobsmacked.
"When?" I replied distractedly.
"How did she get in here? Only a black descendent or someone they give permission to can get in." The animagus explained.
"Maybe in her vision it told her another way to get in?" I suggest, heating the kettle.
"You actually believe that?!" Sirius cried, jumping to his feet. I scowled and cast mufflato before replying.
"I don't know what to believe Sirius, this whole situation is a insanity!"
Sirius didn't look happy with that. "Why are we trusting her! We should just Obliviate her and get it over with!"
Now it was my turn to gobsmacked, "And what? Leave her homeless and confused?".
"That's not our problem Remus! We have to think about Harry! About ourselves!" He countered, voice raising.
"And what about Athena? You’re gonna chuck her on the street too?" I argued angrily.
"Their kids Sirius, Sabine barely looks of age!"
"Looks can be deceiving, you should know that better than anyone." Sirius snapped back, not even trying to keep his voice down now.
I pressed my lips into a line, blocking out bad memories. That's a fight for another day. "Yes, I do know that. If it was based on looks, we never would have become friends, become-" I cut myself short.
Padfoot jerked a little and looked at me. Stupid stupid stupid! I chided myself, looking away. Sirius swallowed and I thought I saw him blush.
We sat for awhile, unsure on what to say. "I thought you liked them." I finally asked, glancing over at him.
The black haired man next to me sighed ruefully, running a hand through his matted hair. How I wish I could brush it-nope, not the time.
"I do like them, but I can't- I can't risk it. Harry can't go back with those people, I can't-" his voice catched. Guilt ate at me. how could I let this happen?
"You.Are.Not.Going.Back." I reassured, putting a hesitate hand on his arm.
"But-"
"I swear to you Sirius, I will never let you go back." I stated, grip tightening on his arm. He stared off into space for awhile, eyes glassy. Never again I thought firmly
"How did this happen?" Padfoot asked emptily, voice unusually dull. I looked back up at him again, confused.
"How did everything go so wrong."
We sat there for a very long while (as Harry would say), pondering that question.
"I'm sorry I lied to you!" We both chorused, before smiling.
"It's been awhile since we've done that." I murmured."
"Great minds think alike!" He spouted, cracking his first real smile since breakfast.
"So we let them stay?" I asked cautiously.
"Yes... you'll throw me out if I refuse." He replied, making me chuckle.
"But if she even try's-"
"We'll make her regret ever stepping foot in our lives." I said simply.
I met his eyes, it was decided.
Harry's POV
After Remus all but pushed us into the other room, I couldn't help but sigh.
"She's always doing this." Athena huffed, looking down.
I glanced at her, confused. "Doing what?"
"Doing this! Sending me out so she can do boring adult things!"
I tried to look understanding. Dudley often got like this if he was left unentertained for to long. No, Athena is nothing like Dudley I reassured myself. For starters, she was very pretty, what with her dark straight hair (not unlike her sisters), and sparkly green eyes.
Secondly, she didn't throw fits like Dudley did, not even when Sabine made her finish her "squirmy type eggs". All she'd done is grumble a bit and frown.
But the biggest difference, at least to him, was that Athena genuinely seemed to want to play with him. Nobody had ever wanted to do that before.
Dudley's gang made sure of it, but not her.
"Well, no point crying over spilled newt eyes!" She declared, startling me a little. I'd maybe forget she was there.
"Isn't it milk? The expression is no point crying over spilled milk, right?" I asked timidity before I could stop myself. Screwing my eyes shut,waiting for her to start yelling, but she didn't.
"Your probably right, I'm always saying and writing things messed up." She acknowledged, taping her chin thoughtfully. I sighed in relief as the moment passed.
"Let's go color!" She cried excitedly, grabbing his had and running across the hall.
I tried not to flinch in her grip, but she noticed. Pausing, she stared at me for a second, then nodded I silent understanding. She let go of my hand and then offered it to me encouragingly.
I hesitated, what if it was a trap? What was that thing uncle Sirius said? ‘Never be afraid to care for someone Harry, even if you end up being wrong, at least you'll have tried.’ Granted, uncle Sirius always looked sad when he said this, but it seemed like good advice.
Quelling may fears, I took her hand, a bright warm airy sort of feeling filling me as she smiled. We crossed into what must be her room, and I couldn't help but stare.
It was clear this room hadn't been made for a child. The bed was huge, with rich black covers and an engraved head board. The design was all of these fancy squiggles around the capital letter B. Weird
There were places where efforts to spruce the room up. Dozens of crooked drawings of flowers, dragons, and other magic creatures were pinned to the walls. An old bouquet of dried flowers sat in the corner, looking extra pretty in the window's sunshine.
"You know, for as long as I can remember, I've always though this room as being sort of like a dragon's lair, ya know?" Athena suddenly asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. She was holding up a hand full of crayons and a stack of blank paper happily.
Beckoning me over, she sat on the floor and began to color. I sat, taking the paper she handed me and staring at it. I'd never colored before so I didn't know what to do.
Athena seemed to notice this because she quickly scooted next to me and handed me a red crayon. "Having trouble thinking of something to draw?" She asked friendly.
I nodded, cheeks burning in embarrassment, waiting for her to start laughing like Dudley would have. But she didn't, instead getting up to grab a big book from next to her bed. It was so large she trembled under its weight as she plopped it down.
"We found this when biney was cleaning up in here, back when I was a baby." She said matter-a-factly, heaving the cover open.
Inside was picture after picture of magical creatures. Some he'd heard of, like the scary vampire on page 234 or the werewolf on page 394. But others he couldn't have ever imagined. Some had fangs and feathers, others had fur and wings. One looked to be half eagle half horse!
"When ever I can't think up something to draw, I look in here, go on, give it a try!" She prompted with a smile. I looked through, deciding on a griffin and began to color.
We sat like that for a long time, and for once in my life, everything felt perfectly normal.