𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐭 {𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲}

| 𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐀 | 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘴

Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, reason, and strategic warfare. She also aided the heroes Perseus, Heracles, and Jason in their endeavours. Her symbols are owls and olive trees. Over time, she has become an international symbol of wisdom, the arts, and classical learning. 

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d r a c o

It was close to midnight when Lorcan and Susan finally returned. They gusted through the doors with grave expressions, bringing the chilly night air with them. Hannah leapt to her feet. "Well? Did you find anything?"

Susan stood before us. Her lips parted to say something, but the words could not seem to find their way out. "I'll go make some tea," she squeaked and hurried away. Our gazes shifted to Lorcan. He slapped a black file onto the table. "It's bad," he said.

I stared at it. What would it show me? That Angel was dead? Kidnapped and murdered by the escaped Barnabas? My hands were shaking as they moved to open it.

The first thing I saw was her picture, the one she had taken for her before starting her new job at the Ministry. She was smiling at the camera, a full smile that turned the corners of her eyes down. The same one she had given me a thousand times over, one I now realised I had not seen in months. My last memory of her was her steely expression, cut by a blade of anguish. I want you to leave.

I read what they had written next to the photograph. Details - everything they knew about her. Name, age, address, family, blood status, school, and even the house she was in. In 'Additional' at the bottom, they had described her role in the Second Wizarding War. Fought at the Viaduct Courtyard, provided healing aid to victims, saved husband Draco Malfoy from the Killing Curse (?)

I wanted to laugh. Angel Dawson was larger than a thousand galaxies. In her, there was neither beginning nor end, only a forever of in-between where strength and kindness lived undyingly. Yet, they had her neatly condensed onto a singular piece of parchment, a skeletal structure of information that suggested she was anything but heavenly.

"S.C. to L.M." Hannah was craning her neck to read. "What's that?"

Lorcan reached out to snatch the slip out of the paperclip, revealing a second folded piece of parchment under. Hannah's deft fingers beat mine to it. Her voice rang clear around the room, reverberating within me as she read its contents out loud.

It was a poem. Pretty words that spoke of an event to happen, and a baby born of love and sacrifice, to be condemned to death the second it leaves its mother's womb. None of the words meant anything to me. That was until-

"Serena Cheng to... Lucius... Malfoy," Hannah finished, lowering the parchment. Somewhere in the room, a clock ticked steadily. "It's Lucius Malfoy," she finally concluded. "That fucking sewer rat has taken Angel!"