She awoke quite abruptly; sounds of rain somewhere in the distance irritating her already weary mind. Her was head throbbing from her dream. Her dream was almost abstract, a glowing orb, her brothers dismembered arm holding a wand to their father's throat, and her own breast hissing. This was the second week in a row that she'd had this dream. She thought almost amused about asking for Trelawney's expertise. But in her mind she was a fraud. She hated that class, the professor was a fraud, and the lessons were a joke. At least once a class she was predicting some immediate disaster. She only took the class because her father urged her to. Saying she had the gift, and needed to cultivate it. Like anyone would believe her predictions, the ones she got right she scarcely believed. Her dreams were only in retrospect very accurate.

She rubbed her temples hoping to ease her throbbing head. Putting her feet on the cold floor, she rolled her head. It was early still, she could hear the distinct snoring of her roommate. She looked at the calendar and took a deep breath and sighed deeply. "Only March 15th? Not much more of this place and I'm out of this hell. I don't fit in here." She said to nobody in particular.

Realizing she had the conclusion to do on her charms essay she threw on her faded maroon robe and quietly descended the stairs. As was common lately Draco was already in the common room. His eyes were heavily lidded, betraying his lack of sleep the previous night. They acknowledged each other but didn't speak. She wanted to help him, maybe ask him his troubles. To do so would make her, at least in her own mind openly associate with the family of a known Death Eater.

For six and a half long years she had slowly torn herself away from that image. Her family name and its past; it had tainted her from the very moment that she was sorted. It didn't at all help her case that she was alphabetically ahead of Neville Longbottom. The look of fear and disgust he gave her is still imprinted in her heart. In her mind she knew that it wasn't her fault; that it was her family that was the ones responsible for that crime. She was merely one and half at the time of that heinous crime.

The train ride to Hogwarts was the last happy memory that she could conceive of. She was in a compartment alone the words of her father ringing in her ears. "Don't worry about the looks you'll get. It's not your fault. People will judge you by your family and for that my darling daughter I am sorry." Being only eleven she didn't understand those words, until her sorting that was. Alone in the compartment dreading the looks she'd get she looked to her feet nearly crying when there was a knock at the door. Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger were the source of that sound. "Are these seats taken? Everywhere else is full."

"No…" She said flatly.

"Thank goodness, I was afraid that we'd never find seats." Neville said. They rode and talked for about an hour when Neville's toad hopped out the open door. Hermione went after it, and Neville followed her. So she was alone again, until a male student entered the compartment, seeing that she was clearly feeling down he sat down.

"Hello, my name is Cedric Diggory, what's yours?"

"Athena. Hello Cedric…"

"You look worried, don't listen to the rumors you'll hear and you'll be fine. I'm heading to my third year myself. I'm in Hufflepuff. I hope to get to know you this year. Now cheer up all will turn out okay in the end." Cedric went to leave the compartment and Athena attempted to make him stay but no words came out. Neville re-entered the compartment toad still missing. He sat down and rejoined the conversation. They talked until the train arrived at its destination. As the student's went to the castle all Athena could think was that maybe people would see her as herself. That joy was cut down when McGonagall called her name for the sorting. "Athena LeStrange."

To those that were affected by the war with Voldemort knew her name to be one stained with the blood of the innocent. So it was no surprise when the hat shouted "Slytherin" as her house. At that moment she cursed her brothers and her sister-in-law.

Lost in her own happy memories she barely wrote anything at all. She quickly wrote a conclusion and ran to get ready, stopping only long enough to check the time. "7:15 am." She had her first class in forty-five minutes, the class she dreaded. "Not enough time to eat." She said indifferently. So instead she lit up a cigarette. She knew that if Snape caught her smoking again he'd be forced to give her detention. But in all honestly she didn't care. She just walked to her class. Before entering the classroom she sprayed some perfume on to cover up the smoky smell.

She took her seat at the back of the class and willed herself invisible, so she could get at least one more hour of sleep. But as her lack of luck would have it the teacher called on her first. "LeStrange, can you look through the crystal and tell me what you see?"

"Sure." she said with all the enthusiasm the class gave her. She set her gaze upon the orb on her table and saw the distinct image of the dark mark on her skin.

"Anything LeStrange?" the teacher spoke put sternly.

"Nothing as usual professor..." Athena said lying flawlessly. If she were totally honest with the teacher and herself she'd have to also admit her father was right and that she was terrified of the truth. In third year with Lupin and his boggart, hers took the form of her killing an innocent muggle. For three years she had been lying to everyone. She told them that she was afraid of something other than her family being her destiny. She always varied the lie from person to person.

After the disturbing image in the orb she practically sleepwalked through her day, her thoughts on her dream and the tattoo on her skin in the crystal. Her thoughts were so focused on her own fear that she barely even ate during lunch. She finally was driven to eat and as she finished her lunch her attention was driven upwards to the familiar sound of the owls. Her owl Frost was coming straight to her, she thought it odd as her father had just written her yesterday. Frost dropped the letter directly in front of her, missing the half eaten food left on her plate. She opened the letter and instantly tensed. Almost instantly she gritted her teeth and quietly and venomously uttered the name on the letter.

"Bellatix..."