a/n: Alright, so it was more than two weeks. Sorry. Now, simply b/c you have come to expect it, my excuses (though they don't really count for anything). One: this was a hard chap to write...there's a new character (who I have had for awhile, just hadn't thrown in yet. I hope you like her...yes its a her...this chap is basically her intro to the story) and it was hard to write about how she fits in w/o making it sound unbelieveably cheesy (and if it does, I'm sorry...I tried) Two:A huge snowstorm came in a couple of days ago and completely knocked out my power for about a day and a half. I was completely miserable and freezing cold, and had no acsess to my comp....leaving me ultimately more imserable. three: I've been lazy. anyways, now I'm back and re-inspired (again) b/c of the wonderful x-mas present rowling gave us (the book comes out on the 16th od July!!!! YAEH!!!) and the box of random harry potter stuff my mum gave me (its awesome).This chap is shorter than my other ones, but I have decided that shorter chaps are better b/c they're quicker to type, wherefore giving me more time to come up w/a new chap, and so on and so forth. Enough of incesent rambling: enjoi
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
A petite blonde sat on the couch in the living room of 12 Grimmuald Place. She stared at her ankle-high black boots, waiting for someone to arrive. Occasionally she smoothed out the wrinkles in her knee length skirt or pulled her Fitchburg Finches(an: team maybe subject to change as soon as I find my copy of Quidditch through the Ages)pro-quidditch jacket closer around her shoulders. She sat there for what seemed an eternity, quietly saying to herself: "It can't be..he's not...he'll be fine."
Remus Lupin entered the room, startled to find Athena Bryce, an old friend of his from school years back, siting on the couch. She immediately jumped up to look Remus over. He had changed some since she had last seen him; it had to have been at least two years. His hair was considerably more grey, and his face was marked with premature lines. Other than that, he seemed to be the same Remus John Lupin. Remus took the same opportunity to look her over. Her blonde hair fell into shocking blue eyes. She still maintained her lithe athlete's body. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the contagious smile that normally graced her face.
Finally, Athena spoke. "Remus, is it true? Is he really gone?"
That explains it, he thought to himself, She found out about Sirius, and had to know. Sadly he nodded, "Yeah, it is true. Who told you? Dumbledore?"
Athena took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and contain her emotions. "Mhmm. He showed up at my place a few days ago to tell me what had happened. I didn't believe him...I had to find out for myself..."
Remus looked up at her, surprised to hear the slight tremble in her voice, and even more surprised to see tears trailing unchecked down her face. Athena hadn't spoken to Sirius since the day that he had been accused of murdering Peter and twelve muggles. She had told Remus that what he had done was the ultimate betrayal, willing giving Voldemort the key to getting James and Lily, who had been her best friend. Upon learning of Sirius's innocence, Remus went and told her, though it took sometime to convince her. While he knew that she no longer loathed Sirius with the fierce passion that she used to, he had been sure that she would never be on the same terms with Sirius that she had been on before. She could never love him again. Those tears told him he was wrong.
"I...I n-never got t-t-to say...goodbye," she whispered, losing control of her emotion. "And...now, now he's...he's.." She couldn't say it. She couldn't say Sirius was dead.
Remus closed the gap between them in a few quick steps and wrapped his arms around her in comfort. "It's alright," he said quietly. "I didn't get to say goodbye either...and I was there."
"But I still...I still...I still loved him, Remus. I never stopped." She lost all control, then. She broke down, just as she had sixteen years ago, when James and Lily died, and cried hopelessly into his shirt.
Remus merely nodded, at a loss of what to say. He had clearly been wrong in assuming she did not love Sirius anymore, that much was clear. Sirius had proposed to Athena at Lily and James' wedding reception. They had planned on getting married quickly, both agreeing that since they had been dating since the middle of their sixth year, a short engagement was best. However, several weeks after the proposal, Athena was called away to do some overseas work for the Order. They saw each other as often as they could possibly manage, but couldn't really make any wedding arrangements. Eventually, after the birth of Harry, they stopped trying to plan a wedding, realizing that it was going to happen anytime soon. Besides, with Harry came the prophecy, and soon after that prophecy came the knowledge that Voldemort was after the Potters; and when you know that your best friends' and their son's lives are in danger, you have more important things to worry about than a wedding.
Then, disaster struck. In one night, Lily and James were murdered, and two days later Peter was presumed dead and Sirius was being shipped off to Azkaban. Not exactly an ideal situation. Athena, hurt and abandoned, had no choice but to believe that Sirius was capable of such atrocities and to, in time, carry on with her life. She had managed to do pretty well, if you asked her. She bought a house in a small wizarding village in the Rocky Mountains and got a job that allowed her to work with people. She had stayed in touch with Remus and others from the Order over the years, and was fully managing to try and forget that Sirius had ever been a part of her life. Then, in the summer of '94, Remus showed up with a wild tale about how Sirius was innocent and how Peter betrayed Lily and James and was still alive . Her world was turned upside down...again. She didn't trust her to speak to Sirius. She was afraid that seeing him again would wake old emotions, and she was afraid that he might break her heart for a second time. And now that Sirius was gone, that fear turned into regret. Regret that she never had the courage to see what still existed between them.
Athena stopped crying and pulled herself away from her old friend. "I ruined your shirt, Remus," she said, attempting to smile. "It's absolutely soaked with tears."
"Well, it's not the first time," he replied, taking the hint that she was trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe I should just dedicate one shirt for you to cry on, then I won't have this problem."
They both smiled, in a rather fake and pathetic attempt to be cheerful. The image of the other's hopelessly fake smiles was interesting enough to make each of them actually smile. "It's good to see you smile again, Athena," Remus said quietly.
The moment would have been rather romantic, had Remus and Athena not thought of each other as surrogate brother and sister and had Harry not been standing in the doorway, trying to figure out how interrupt the awkward scene.
"Hem hem," he said in a perfect impression of Umbridge that could (and would) make anyone scream with pure horror. Both adults spun around at the sudden interruption.
Athena, before she even realized that she was looking at her best friend's only child, immediately said, "You sound like Dolores. Don't you ever do that again!"
Remus laughed; Athena and Umbrigde had quite the history with each other. "Harry," he said, smiling broadly, "I don't believe you have been introduced to your mother's best friend. This is Athena Bryce."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
a/n: I hope you enjoied. and i apologize if it sounds really corny, b/c I think it kinda does. Please review, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can
oh, and btw, Happy Chrismahanakwanzaka!!!