Disclaimer: See "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"
Disclaimer 2: I have to borrow Wellard from "Hornblower" again, he is so sweet~~~
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Spoilers from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
Any Percy fans out there? Just be warned that I'm scolding him in this chapter
Thank you for the reviews!
Jestana: Is my description of his expression when he saw Athena the same as what you think will be?
stoneygem: I think you know where I got the name from. *grins*
Rated PG-13 for content
Chapter 14: The McGonagall Temper in Action
"So that's why your brother left? Just because your mother won't let him to be an Auror?" asked Wellard as he and Athena walked down Wisdom Street the next afternoon. He decided to accompany her to Plymouth since it was too far away and it was his day-off.
"Yeah." said Athena flatly.
"There must be some good reason why your mother won't let him to be an Auror........" Wellard said and Athena looked at him. "Okay, so my Head of the House is Professor Sprout instead of your mother. But I know that she is not the kind of people who do certain things without a good reason."
Athena didn't respond.
"Here we are, 24 A. Want to go up by yourself?" asked Wellard.
"I think I will go up by myself. You wait here." Athena smiled at him before she walked up the stairs.
A few minutes later, she came down.
"Wow, that's fast." said Wellard.
"Well, the name "Richard Smith" is on the door but he is not in." said Athena and sighed.
"Come on, he will be back. Look, why don't we just sit there and wait?" said Wellard and pointed at a bench across the apartment.
"Sure."
***
An hour later.........
"What is taking him so long?" asked Athena in exasperation and looked at Wellard.
"Don't look at me as if it is my fault." said Wellard quickly.
Athena sighed again.
"Why don't we chat to kill time?" suggested Wellard.
So they chatted for the next two hours. Wellard asked about what happened to Hogwarts when he left 6 years ago, and he got his answer.
".......on my fifth year, there's........"
"Dolores Umbridge!" exclaimed Wellard. "I read it on the Daily Prophet."
"What are you getting so excited about?" Athena asked him and her mouth dropped open. "Oh no, don't tell me that you read the Daily Prophet and used to believe that Da, I mean, Dumbledore is old and losing his grip too!"
"Wait, who do you think I am? Hey, I was sorted into Hufflepuff for nothing you know. The rest of the Aurors who used to study in Hogwarts didn't believe the papers and they glad that they didn't in the end. I know where my loyalty lies right from the start," said Wellard and rolled his eyes. "Unlike that idiot Weasley."
"Which Weasley?" asked Athena in amusement, knowing what Wellard was going to say.
"Percy Weasley, that's who!" said Wellard in disgust. "You know what, that was a time when the Aurors were talking an article about Dumbledore being voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards and demoted from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot in the Atrium."
"We were laughing about the fact that Dumbledore said he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards when Weasley pops out from nowhere and said," Wellard cleared his throat and started to talk in Percy's voice: "What a pity, his end is near and that old fool doesn't even realise it."
Athena's mouth dropped open again. Suddenly she made a hiss like an angry cat. "How dare he talk about Dumbledore like that!"
"Chill, Athena, chill!" said Wellard quickly in his own voice. "Don't act like what Mr. Smith did."
"Terrence, for the third time of the day, he is not Mr. Smith! He is my brother!" snapped Athena.
"And for the third time of the day, I will not believe it unless I see it with my own eyes."
"Fine. Anyway, what did Mr. Smith (Athena tried hard to say that) do?"
"Well, he hissed like you did just now, took out his wand and pointed it at Weasley."
"And?"
"Mr. Edrington said," Wellard changed his voice to Edrington's cool low voice. "Richard, don't do the same thing to Weasley like what you did to a Gryffindor in our 7th year." He changed back his voice and continued. "Mr. Smith didn't seem to hear him. He said to Weasley," He changed his voice again to a very familiar voice that Athena knew so well. "Weasley, do you want to know what it feels like to have your voice gone forever?"
"Then what?" asked Athena breathlessly, as if Wellard was telling a very exciting story.
"Weasley said," Wellard's voice changed to Percy's again. "No, what are you planning to do? Hex me? Ooo, I'm scared." he said in a mocking tone.
"You should see Mr. Smith's face; he is so mad and looks like he IS going to hex Weasley. So every one of us tried to prevent him from doing so. But it was no use. Mr. Kennedy wanted to snatch his wand away but he is too short for him. Weasley seem to realize that Mr. Smith was going to hex him for real so he began to retreat. We almost had to watch helplessly as Mr. Smith opened his mouth to say the spell when Mr. Edrington said," Wellard's voice changed to Edrington's. "Fine, go ahead, and your face will appear on the Daily Prophet along with the headlines: 'Auror attacks Junior Assistant of Minister of Magic'."
"Then what happened?"
"He puts his wand down."
"That's it?" asked Athena.
"Yeah, boy, that was close."
"Why did he do that?"
"Well, for one thing certain, he didn't continue not because he is compassionate. He doesn't seem to have any compassion when it comes to dealing with dark wizards, law-breakers and anyone who provokes him."
"He can't be that bad." said Athena to herself.
Wellard heard that. "You are right. Overall, he is a great guy. He treats his friends like gems, he respects his superiors and pretty playful sometimes. Once, he ganged up with Mr. Kennedy and dye Mr. Bush's and Mr. Hornblower's hair pink while they were asleep."
"He didn't!" exclaimed Athena.
"He did."
"By the way, how did you change your voice? That's amazing."
Wellard smiled proudly. "Just one of the techniques an Auror must learn. Comes in handy when we are doing disguises."
As Wellard said that, Athena saw a familiar figure riding a dark blue motorbike towards No. 24 A. "Terrence, Terrence! Is that him?" she asked and pointed the man, who got off from his motorbike. He was wearing a black jacket, white shirt and dark blue jeans and was searching his jacket for something.
Wellard looked carefully. "Yeah, that's him all right."
"Come on, let's........." started Athena and stopped when she saw what "Richard" was doing.
"Richard" took out a packet of cigarettes and removed it from it. He took out a lighter, lit his cigarette and put it in his mouth.
Athena watched in shock as "Richard" took a long drag from his cigarette, and jogged up the apartment stairs. "Hm, Terrence?"
"What?"
"Does Mr. Smith smoke?"
"Sure he does. Athena? Athena? Are you okay?"
"Hm? Um, yeah, I am okay." said Athena quickly.
Wellard didn't look convinced.
"Really. Now let's go up."
"Let's?"
"I want you to do something........"
***
With the cigarette still in his mouth, "Richard" was unlocking his door with a Muggle key when Wellard came out from the staircase.
"Mr. Smith, you are finally here, I have been waiting for you a long time." said Wellard, panting as if he had ran up the stairs.
"Richard" removed his cigarette and held it by his hand. "What's the problem?" he asked seriously.
"Well, it is not very serious......."
"Want to come in?" asked "Richard" kindly.
"Um, no thanks. I am in a rush," said Wellard quickly. "I need to ask you, do you have a sister?"
"Richard" was silent for a while before he said, "I don't have a sister."
"Oh really?" asked a voice behind Wellard and Athena came out.
"Richard"'s jaws dropped. He let go of his cigarette and it dropped onto the floor. He quickly scrapped it with his boot. His face was unreadable. It looked like shock, amazement and oddly, horror.
"A-Athena?" He asked uncertainly.
"Hello, Achilles." said Athena coldly.
"Richard" just nodded back in response.
"Um, I think I better go." said Wellard.
"Richard" and Athena, who were too busily staring at each other, didn't respond.
"Bye." said Wellard quickly and walked down the stairs.
"Now, since there's no one else beside us here, I think you better own up." said Athena calmly after Wellard left.
"Fine," said "Richard", throwing his arms in the air. "I'm Achilles McGonagall aka Achilles Dumbledore." he said the last name with a whisper.
"Good." said Athena and smiled.
"Although I hated to admit it." added Achilles.
"What's wrong with the name 'Achilles McGonagall'?" demanded Athena.
"Let's talk inside." said Achilles and stepped aside to reveal his door.
"All right." said Athena and went in.
***
"Want any drinks?" asked Achilles when Athena entered in his neat living room.
"A glass of ice lemon tea will do." said Athena and looked around. "Not bad, looks like you can get along fine, living alone."
She was admiring a life-size marble statue of a woman with a helmet, armour, an owl on her shoulder, a spear and a shield in her two hands at the corner of the room when Achilles said from the kitchen: "Hey, I have living here for 19 years, of course I will get used with this place. And I don't live exactly alone most of the time. I shared this apartment with Philip Edrington before he got married and moved out 13 years ago."
"But Edrington said that he doesn't know you. Well, that is not his exact words but he doesn't seem to know the name "Achilles McGonagall"." said Athena, still trying to read the small inscription on a wooden board near the woman.
"Because I asked him to pretend that Achilles McGonagall doesn't exist. See, when I left home, I changed my name so that Mom, Dad and the Hogwarts Sisters couldn't find me and force me to quit my job and go home. That is also the reason why I decided to live here. Plymouth is miles away from the Ministry, my old home and Hogwarts. Of course, if anyone asks the Auror Headquarters about Achilles McGonagall, they will not find out anything, because he doesn't exist. Philip also promised me to keep quiet about my true identity. I always avoid the press when the Aurors are involved with something important so that my face will not appear on the newspaper. Looks like Philip didn't keep his promise, wait till I get him for it tomorrow......."
Athena could finally read the inscription and went silent. The board read:
Minerva Also known as Athena to the ancient Greeks. She is one of the most important goddesses in Rome. She is the Goddess of Wisdom, Warfare, and Art and Crafts. She is also a virgin goddess and the favourite child of Jupiter, king of the gods. She was born out of his head, fully grown and completely dressed in her armour. The owl has traditionally been considered wise because it was the bird of Minerva.
"Here's your drink." called Achilles, putting a tall glass on his glass table, sitting down on a sofa and opening a can of Butterbeer for himself.
Athena tore her eyes away from the board, went to Achilles, took her drink and sat down near him.
"Okay, I will come straight to the point. Achilles, why don't you come home? Mom has forgiven you."
Achilles snorted. "I don't need her forgiveness. Anyway, it should be the other way round and I have not forgiven her yet."
"What has she done?" asked Athena tiredly, even through she had already known the answer.
"She refused to let me be an Auror without a goddamn reason." snapped Achilles.
"I know. She refuses to tell me the reason why either." Athena mumbled.
Achilles finished his Butterbeer in one go. He took out a cigarette from his packet, lit it and put it in his mouth.
"I can't believe that you actually smoke." said Athena in disgust.
Achilles didn't respond.
"Achilles!"
Achilles took out his cigarette. "What?"
Athena stared at him sternly.
"Okay, okay......." said Achilles and extinguished his cigarette on an ashtray on a table beside the couch.
"Mom will be upset if she sees you smoking."
"Ha, as if she cares for my health." said Achilles as he sat back and rested his legs on the table.
"She does care!" insisted Athena.
"Yeah right. How long do you take to realise that you have a brother?"
"18 years." Athena mumbled.
"How did you find out?"
"I found your old stuff in the attic."
"How did Mom react when you first ask about me?"
"I...... show her your old photo and she told me that she.....um, she wanted to tear it and that you have been dead for 20 years." said Athena quietly, feeling that her voice was getting smaller and smaller.
Achilles jumped to his feet. "See? She doesn't bother about me at all! If she does, you would have known about me years ago!" he said loudly. "So to her, I have been dead for 20 years, huh? Well, she has been dead to me for 20 years too, you know!"
"Achilles, don't be like that!" exclaimed Athena in horror and stood up.
"I don't give a damn for her at all! She could get along fine without me!" Achilles continued when.........
SNAP
His sister slapped him across the face.
Achilles was still for a while before he put his hand to his cheek.
"You don't care because you heard nothing about her during these 19 years." said Athena as calmly as possible. "You may have known about Dad from the radio and the Daily Prophet but not Mom because she is not as famous as him. And she didn't exactly get along fine without you. She had suffered so much since you are gone."
"What could have possibly happened to her?" asked Achilles with a sneer.
"Quite a few. Let me tell you," Athena took a deep breath and started. "18 years ago, Mom nearly died from giving birth to me. All of us know that she is a witch but it is very difficult for a 53 year old woman to have a baby. She survived of course, but she is so weak after my birth that she lay in the school's hospital wing for weeks."
Achilles turned his head and stared at her.
"Mandy told me," said Athena. "Anyway, during my second year in Hogwarts, the Chamber of Secrets was opened once more. The Basilisk was out again, petrifying a cat and 4 students. Then Dad was suspended from the school for the time being. With him gone, the Muggle-borns won't stand a chance of living. Mom had to worry for me day and night, because my blood is not as pure as Draco Malfoy's. She had to watch over me for 24 hours, even though she is in danger herself since she is a Muggle-born. She didn't eat and sleep well for days so by the time Harry Potter finally killed the Basilisk and stopped Tom Riddle, the Slytherin heir, she nearly collapsed."
"The worse part happens during my fifth year. You-Know-Who is back, Hogwarts is under the Ministry's control, Dad was replaced by Dolores Umbridge and the Slytherins practically controlled us with their stupid Inquisitorial Squad excuse. Of course, Mom is having the best time of her life making Umbridge's life hell when Dad is gone. Umbridge hates part- humans and she tried to get rid of Hagrid in the middle of the night during our Astronomy test. She sent a few people to get him and when Mom tried to stop them, they shot no fewer than four Stunners at her, straight in the chest."
Achilles didn't say anything.
"Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal her, her condition was too serious. In the end she was transferred to St. Mungo's. You should see my face during the morning she had been brought away. I was so miserable. Dad had gone to who- knows-where and Mom was in the hospital. The Hogwarts Sisters were the only ones I had left in school. Although they wanted to quit Hogwarts, they prevented themselves from doing so because if they quit, there will be no one else for me to go to and their students will suffer under Umbridge and the Slytherins even more."
Achilles was still silent.
"Mom lay in the hospital for quite a while. The Hogwarts Sisters and I couldn't even visit her because of Umbridge. When she discharged, she even had to use a walking stick for a few weeks. Four Stunners straight in the chest....... It is a miracle that she didn't die."
Athena leaned forward and stared into her brother's eyes.
"You can be there with her throughout all these incidents. But you weren't. Just because of an argument you had with her years ago."
Athena held her brother's hand. "Achilles, come home and stay beside Mom so that you can be there with her when there's trouble."
Achilles looked as if he was thinking; Athena thought she had convinced him when he removed her hand forcefully. "I can't. Mom will force me to quit my job. Being an Auror is my dream."
"She won't."
"What makes you think so?"
"Is being an Auror more important than your family?" demanded Athena.
"Yes." said Achilles but he was not looking at Athena.
"So you won't come back for the sake of Mom?"
"She is fine now, isn't she? Beside, I still don't know what her problem with Aurors is."
"Forget about her reason, just come back!" begged Athena.
"I will not go back!" said Achilles firmly and turned his back to her.
Athena was still for a while before she said coldly, "Then to the hell with you."
She went out of the door and slammed it shut. When she did, she saw Wellard standing there at the corridor.
"Terrence? I thought you had gone back."
"I want to, but then I thought maybe you want me to accompany you on the way back. Athena, I, um, heard the argument. Are you okay?" asked Wellard with concern.
Athena blinked for a moment, sniffed a little and said weakly, "I-I'm o- okay........"
And her blue eyes began to fill with tears.
Wellard went slowly to her as she started to weep. "I can lend you my shoulder if you want to." he said softly and innocently.
"He has changed, Terrence, he has changed........." said Athena sadly and without a word, she rested her head onto Wellard's chest.
Automatically, Wellard put his arms around her and hugged her as she continued to cry. "It's okay, Athena, don't cry............"
***
When Athena left, Achilles stood there for a moment before he walked slowly to the statue of the goddess Minerva. He sighed and put his hand onto Minerva's free shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I can't go back."
Then he went to his bedroom and lay on his bed. He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his hand. "Damn you, Achilles, don't cry. You are doing the right thing."
At least he thought he was.
Disclaimer 2: I have to borrow Wellard from "Hornblower" again, he is so sweet~~~
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Spoilers from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
Any Percy fans out there? Just be warned that I'm scolding him in this chapter
Thank you for the reviews!
Jestana: Is my description of his expression when he saw Athena the same as what you think will be?
stoneygem: I think you know where I got the name from. *grins*
Rated PG-13 for content
Chapter 14: The McGonagall Temper in Action
"So that's why your brother left? Just because your mother won't let him to be an Auror?" asked Wellard as he and Athena walked down Wisdom Street the next afternoon. He decided to accompany her to Plymouth since it was too far away and it was his day-off.
"Yeah." said Athena flatly.
"There must be some good reason why your mother won't let him to be an Auror........" Wellard said and Athena looked at him. "Okay, so my Head of the House is Professor Sprout instead of your mother. But I know that she is not the kind of people who do certain things without a good reason."
Athena didn't respond.
"Here we are, 24 A. Want to go up by yourself?" asked Wellard.
"I think I will go up by myself. You wait here." Athena smiled at him before she walked up the stairs.
A few minutes later, she came down.
"Wow, that's fast." said Wellard.
"Well, the name "Richard Smith" is on the door but he is not in." said Athena and sighed.
"Come on, he will be back. Look, why don't we just sit there and wait?" said Wellard and pointed at a bench across the apartment.
"Sure."
***
An hour later.........
"What is taking him so long?" asked Athena in exasperation and looked at Wellard.
"Don't look at me as if it is my fault." said Wellard quickly.
Athena sighed again.
"Why don't we chat to kill time?" suggested Wellard.
So they chatted for the next two hours. Wellard asked about what happened to Hogwarts when he left 6 years ago, and he got his answer.
".......on my fifth year, there's........"
"Dolores Umbridge!" exclaimed Wellard. "I read it on the Daily Prophet."
"What are you getting so excited about?" Athena asked him and her mouth dropped open. "Oh no, don't tell me that you read the Daily Prophet and used to believe that Da, I mean, Dumbledore is old and losing his grip too!"
"Wait, who do you think I am? Hey, I was sorted into Hufflepuff for nothing you know. The rest of the Aurors who used to study in Hogwarts didn't believe the papers and they glad that they didn't in the end. I know where my loyalty lies right from the start," said Wellard and rolled his eyes. "Unlike that idiot Weasley."
"Which Weasley?" asked Athena in amusement, knowing what Wellard was going to say.
"Percy Weasley, that's who!" said Wellard in disgust. "You know what, that was a time when the Aurors were talking an article about Dumbledore being voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards and demoted from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot in the Atrium."
"We were laughing about the fact that Dumbledore said he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards when Weasley pops out from nowhere and said," Wellard cleared his throat and started to talk in Percy's voice: "What a pity, his end is near and that old fool doesn't even realise it."
Athena's mouth dropped open again. Suddenly she made a hiss like an angry cat. "How dare he talk about Dumbledore like that!"
"Chill, Athena, chill!" said Wellard quickly in his own voice. "Don't act like what Mr. Smith did."
"Terrence, for the third time of the day, he is not Mr. Smith! He is my brother!" snapped Athena.
"And for the third time of the day, I will not believe it unless I see it with my own eyes."
"Fine. Anyway, what did Mr. Smith (Athena tried hard to say that) do?"
"Well, he hissed like you did just now, took out his wand and pointed it at Weasley."
"And?"
"Mr. Edrington said," Wellard changed his voice to Edrington's cool low voice. "Richard, don't do the same thing to Weasley like what you did to a Gryffindor in our 7th year." He changed back his voice and continued. "Mr. Smith didn't seem to hear him. He said to Weasley," He changed his voice again to a very familiar voice that Athena knew so well. "Weasley, do you want to know what it feels like to have your voice gone forever?"
"Then what?" asked Athena breathlessly, as if Wellard was telling a very exciting story.
"Weasley said," Wellard's voice changed to Percy's again. "No, what are you planning to do? Hex me? Ooo, I'm scared." he said in a mocking tone.
"You should see Mr. Smith's face; he is so mad and looks like he IS going to hex Weasley. So every one of us tried to prevent him from doing so. But it was no use. Mr. Kennedy wanted to snatch his wand away but he is too short for him. Weasley seem to realize that Mr. Smith was going to hex him for real so he began to retreat. We almost had to watch helplessly as Mr. Smith opened his mouth to say the spell when Mr. Edrington said," Wellard's voice changed to Edrington's. "Fine, go ahead, and your face will appear on the Daily Prophet along with the headlines: 'Auror attacks Junior Assistant of Minister of Magic'."
"Then what happened?"
"He puts his wand down."
"That's it?" asked Athena.
"Yeah, boy, that was close."
"Why did he do that?"
"Well, for one thing certain, he didn't continue not because he is compassionate. He doesn't seem to have any compassion when it comes to dealing with dark wizards, law-breakers and anyone who provokes him."
"He can't be that bad." said Athena to herself.
Wellard heard that. "You are right. Overall, he is a great guy. He treats his friends like gems, he respects his superiors and pretty playful sometimes. Once, he ganged up with Mr. Kennedy and dye Mr. Bush's and Mr. Hornblower's hair pink while they were asleep."
"He didn't!" exclaimed Athena.
"He did."
"By the way, how did you change your voice? That's amazing."
Wellard smiled proudly. "Just one of the techniques an Auror must learn. Comes in handy when we are doing disguises."
As Wellard said that, Athena saw a familiar figure riding a dark blue motorbike towards No. 24 A. "Terrence, Terrence! Is that him?" she asked and pointed the man, who got off from his motorbike. He was wearing a black jacket, white shirt and dark blue jeans and was searching his jacket for something.
Wellard looked carefully. "Yeah, that's him all right."
"Come on, let's........." started Athena and stopped when she saw what "Richard" was doing.
"Richard" took out a packet of cigarettes and removed it from it. He took out a lighter, lit his cigarette and put it in his mouth.
Athena watched in shock as "Richard" took a long drag from his cigarette, and jogged up the apartment stairs. "Hm, Terrence?"
"What?"
"Does Mr. Smith smoke?"
"Sure he does. Athena? Athena? Are you okay?"
"Hm? Um, yeah, I am okay." said Athena quickly.
Wellard didn't look convinced.
"Really. Now let's go up."
"Let's?"
"I want you to do something........"
***
With the cigarette still in his mouth, "Richard" was unlocking his door with a Muggle key when Wellard came out from the staircase.
"Mr. Smith, you are finally here, I have been waiting for you a long time." said Wellard, panting as if he had ran up the stairs.
"Richard" removed his cigarette and held it by his hand. "What's the problem?" he asked seriously.
"Well, it is not very serious......."
"Want to come in?" asked "Richard" kindly.
"Um, no thanks. I am in a rush," said Wellard quickly. "I need to ask you, do you have a sister?"
"Richard" was silent for a while before he said, "I don't have a sister."
"Oh really?" asked a voice behind Wellard and Athena came out.
"Richard"'s jaws dropped. He let go of his cigarette and it dropped onto the floor. He quickly scrapped it with his boot. His face was unreadable. It looked like shock, amazement and oddly, horror.
"A-Athena?" He asked uncertainly.
"Hello, Achilles." said Athena coldly.
"Richard" just nodded back in response.
"Um, I think I better go." said Wellard.
"Richard" and Athena, who were too busily staring at each other, didn't respond.
"Bye." said Wellard quickly and walked down the stairs.
"Now, since there's no one else beside us here, I think you better own up." said Athena calmly after Wellard left.
"Fine," said "Richard", throwing his arms in the air. "I'm Achilles McGonagall aka Achilles Dumbledore." he said the last name with a whisper.
"Good." said Athena and smiled.
"Although I hated to admit it." added Achilles.
"What's wrong with the name 'Achilles McGonagall'?" demanded Athena.
"Let's talk inside." said Achilles and stepped aside to reveal his door.
"All right." said Athena and went in.
***
"Want any drinks?" asked Achilles when Athena entered in his neat living room.
"A glass of ice lemon tea will do." said Athena and looked around. "Not bad, looks like you can get along fine, living alone."
She was admiring a life-size marble statue of a woman with a helmet, armour, an owl on her shoulder, a spear and a shield in her two hands at the corner of the room when Achilles said from the kitchen: "Hey, I have living here for 19 years, of course I will get used with this place. And I don't live exactly alone most of the time. I shared this apartment with Philip Edrington before he got married and moved out 13 years ago."
"But Edrington said that he doesn't know you. Well, that is not his exact words but he doesn't seem to know the name "Achilles McGonagall"." said Athena, still trying to read the small inscription on a wooden board near the woman.
"Because I asked him to pretend that Achilles McGonagall doesn't exist. See, when I left home, I changed my name so that Mom, Dad and the Hogwarts Sisters couldn't find me and force me to quit my job and go home. That is also the reason why I decided to live here. Plymouth is miles away from the Ministry, my old home and Hogwarts. Of course, if anyone asks the Auror Headquarters about Achilles McGonagall, they will not find out anything, because he doesn't exist. Philip also promised me to keep quiet about my true identity. I always avoid the press when the Aurors are involved with something important so that my face will not appear on the newspaper. Looks like Philip didn't keep his promise, wait till I get him for it tomorrow......."
Athena could finally read the inscription and went silent. The board read:
Minerva Also known as Athena to the ancient Greeks. She is one of the most important goddesses in Rome. She is the Goddess of Wisdom, Warfare, and Art and Crafts. She is also a virgin goddess and the favourite child of Jupiter, king of the gods. She was born out of his head, fully grown and completely dressed in her armour. The owl has traditionally been considered wise because it was the bird of Minerva.
"Here's your drink." called Achilles, putting a tall glass on his glass table, sitting down on a sofa and opening a can of Butterbeer for himself.
Athena tore her eyes away from the board, went to Achilles, took her drink and sat down near him.
"Okay, I will come straight to the point. Achilles, why don't you come home? Mom has forgiven you."
Achilles snorted. "I don't need her forgiveness. Anyway, it should be the other way round and I have not forgiven her yet."
"What has she done?" asked Athena tiredly, even through she had already known the answer.
"She refused to let me be an Auror without a goddamn reason." snapped Achilles.
"I know. She refuses to tell me the reason why either." Athena mumbled.
Achilles finished his Butterbeer in one go. He took out a cigarette from his packet, lit it and put it in his mouth.
"I can't believe that you actually smoke." said Athena in disgust.
Achilles didn't respond.
"Achilles!"
Achilles took out his cigarette. "What?"
Athena stared at him sternly.
"Okay, okay......." said Achilles and extinguished his cigarette on an ashtray on a table beside the couch.
"Mom will be upset if she sees you smoking."
"Ha, as if she cares for my health." said Achilles as he sat back and rested his legs on the table.
"She does care!" insisted Athena.
"Yeah right. How long do you take to realise that you have a brother?"
"18 years." Athena mumbled.
"How did you find out?"
"I found your old stuff in the attic."
"How did Mom react when you first ask about me?"
"I...... show her your old photo and she told me that she.....um, she wanted to tear it and that you have been dead for 20 years." said Athena quietly, feeling that her voice was getting smaller and smaller.
Achilles jumped to his feet. "See? She doesn't bother about me at all! If she does, you would have known about me years ago!" he said loudly. "So to her, I have been dead for 20 years, huh? Well, she has been dead to me for 20 years too, you know!"
"Achilles, don't be like that!" exclaimed Athena in horror and stood up.
"I don't give a damn for her at all! She could get along fine without me!" Achilles continued when.........
SNAP
His sister slapped him across the face.
Achilles was still for a while before he put his hand to his cheek.
"You don't care because you heard nothing about her during these 19 years." said Athena as calmly as possible. "You may have known about Dad from the radio and the Daily Prophet but not Mom because she is not as famous as him. And she didn't exactly get along fine without you. She had suffered so much since you are gone."
"What could have possibly happened to her?" asked Achilles with a sneer.
"Quite a few. Let me tell you," Athena took a deep breath and started. "18 years ago, Mom nearly died from giving birth to me. All of us know that she is a witch but it is very difficult for a 53 year old woman to have a baby. She survived of course, but she is so weak after my birth that she lay in the school's hospital wing for weeks."
Achilles turned his head and stared at her.
"Mandy told me," said Athena. "Anyway, during my second year in Hogwarts, the Chamber of Secrets was opened once more. The Basilisk was out again, petrifying a cat and 4 students. Then Dad was suspended from the school for the time being. With him gone, the Muggle-borns won't stand a chance of living. Mom had to worry for me day and night, because my blood is not as pure as Draco Malfoy's. She had to watch over me for 24 hours, even though she is in danger herself since she is a Muggle-born. She didn't eat and sleep well for days so by the time Harry Potter finally killed the Basilisk and stopped Tom Riddle, the Slytherin heir, she nearly collapsed."
"The worse part happens during my fifth year. You-Know-Who is back, Hogwarts is under the Ministry's control, Dad was replaced by Dolores Umbridge and the Slytherins practically controlled us with their stupid Inquisitorial Squad excuse. Of course, Mom is having the best time of her life making Umbridge's life hell when Dad is gone. Umbridge hates part- humans and she tried to get rid of Hagrid in the middle of the night during our Astronomy test. She sent a few people to get him and when Mom tried to stop them, they shot no fewer than four Stunners at her, straight in the chest."
Achilles didn't say anything.
"Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal her, her condition was too serious. In the end she was transferred to St. Mungo's. You should see my face during the morning she had been brought away. I was so miserable. Dad had gone to who- knows-where and Mom was in the hospital. The Hogwarts Sisters were the only ones I had left in school. Although they wanted to quit Hogwarts, they prevented themselves from doing so because if they quit, there will be no one else for me to go to and their students will suffer under Umbridge and the Slytherins even more."
Achilles was still silent.
"Mom lay in the hospital for quite a while. The Hogwarts Sisters and I couldn't even visit her because of Umbridge. When she discharged, she even had to use a walking stick for a few weeks. Four Stunners straight in the chest....... It is a miracle that she didn't die."
Athena leaned forward and stared into her brother's eyes.
"You can be there with her throughout all these incidents. But you weren't. Just because of an argument you had with her years ago."
Athena held her brother's hand. "Achilles, come home and stay beside Mom so that you can be there with her when there's trouble."
Achilles looked as if he was thinking; Athena thought she had convinced him when he removed her hand forcefully. "I can't. Mom will force me to quit my job. Being an Auror is my dream."
"She won't."
"What makes you think so?"
"Is being an Auror more important than your family?" demanded Athena.
"Yes." said Achilles but he was not looking at Athena.
"So you won't come back for the sake of Mom?"
"She is fine now, isn't she? Beside, I still don't know what her problem with Aurors is."
"Forget about her reason, just come back!" begged Athena.
"I will not go back!" said Achilles firmly and turned his back to her.
Athena was still for a while before she said coldly, "Then to the hell with you."
She went out of the door and slammed it shut. When she did, she saw Wellard standing there at the corridor.
"Terrence? I thought you had gone back."
"I want to, but then I thought maybe you want me to accompany you on the way back. Athena, I, um, heard the argument. Are you okay?" asked Wellard with concern.
Athena blinked for a moment, sniffed a little and said weakly, "I-I'm o- okay........"
And her blue eyes began to fill with tears.
Wellard went slowly to her as she started to weep. "I can lend you my shoulder if you want to." he said softly and innocently.
"He has changed, Terrence, he has changed........." said Athena sadly and without a word, she rested her head onto Wellard's chest.
Automatically, Wellard put his arms around her and hugged her as she continued to cry. "It's okay, Athena, don't cry............"
***
When Athena left, Achilles stood there for a moment before he walked slowly to the statue of the goddess Minerva. He sighed and put his hand onto Minerva's free shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I can't go back."
Then he went to his bedroom and lay on his bed. He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his hand. "Damn you, Achilles, don't cry. You are doing the right thing."
At least he thought he was.
