Tranquility

Five

"I will not say: do not weep;
for not all tears are evil."
- J.R.R. Tolkien The Return of the King

Every sound, every bump in the night, sent a shiver down Athene's spine. The blue orb had disappeared hours ago, leaving a vacant store and a terrified young woman. Windows were locked, doors were reinforced with bookshelves, and several charms had been placed wherever charms could be placed.

Athene was curled up in the soft confines of her bed, but sleeping proved to be an impossible task. A book, one on the dragons of Romania, was placed precariously to the right side of the bed - the side that Charlie would usually occupy. The note that he had written mere hours ago was clutched in her grip.

"I wish you were here, Charlie," she murmured. There was no one in the room to hear her words, but it felt good to say it out loud. The silence was suffocating. It had settled down on the room like a curtain, much as it had when Athene's last customer had meandered through the doors. 

A sudden tapping on the window shattered the tentative calm and, though she hated to admit it, Athene wished for the silence to return. It was an incessant noise; whatever was out there wanted to get in. Athene stretched out her legs, groaning at the pain stemming from her lack of movement.

If someone wanted to get in, she reasoned, they would have used magic and activated the charms. These thoughts coaxed her forward, one foot in front of the other, until her nearly trembling form was placed in front of the window.

Perched outside the pane of glass was an elegant looking bird. Its feathers were grey, with the exception of a black streak starting from the tip of its beak to the end of its tail feathers. It was beautiful and it was an owl that Athene had dealt with before. Enya had her own owl, a petty barn owl who always wanted extra tips, but there had been occasions where she had to use the family owl, the owl that sat on her windowsill.

Athene had never been more unsure in her life. It was a battle of wills inside her head; her heart begged her to open the window, but her head knew better than to trust a bird sent from a family who wanted to kill her. Had Athene had the qualities of a Ravenclaw, she would have kept that window locked and charmed to the nth degree.

But she wasn't, and she was far too trusting. 

The bird floated gracefully into the room, a scroll of parchment tucked unceremoniously in its claws. Athene eyed the bird with contempt and waited for the catch. It squawked once before dropping the letter on her bedspread and flying right back out the window she had been so hesitant to open.

The parchment seemed innocent enough. There were no charms on it, Athene checked before she touched it. The words written in messy, black scrawl, however, were anything but innocent.

I'm sorry. Get out, now.

Athene's entire body seemed to tingle with anger and hatred. She knew who it was from and she was appalled. Enya knew that Athene was smarter than to fall for something as stupid as a trick. As soon as Athene left the building, she would either be stolen into the night or, well, something of a much more immediate end. It would be best if she just stayed put, just as the patronus had instructed her to.

She bundled herself deeper into her covers, completely ignoring the second piece of parchment sitting on her nightstand. Athene tried to focus on anything but the warning, though, despite her best attempts, her mind made the note its focal point. What if there was some truth to these words?

Enya had been her oldest friend, her truest confidant. Truest, the word almost made Athene laugh. If there were to be a situation of life and death, would Enya warn her? Athene didn't have the heart to think of what the dark influence on Enya would force her to do. 

But, even without the warning from Enya, something seemed off. Athene couldn't place it, couldn't quite seem to put her finger on it. Not until a plume of smoke wafted up past her window. 

The smell followed soon after, choking and grasping, making any attempt to take its next victim. It wasn't long before black and grey tufts of smoke started slipping into Athene's bedroom. The temperature had increased significantly, but all Athene felt was the ice in her heart. Any hope of a peaceful night had been dashed. 

Athene threw herself from the bed, wand clutched tightly in her hand, and pulled open the door with as much strength as she could muster. The flames were distorted by magic, creating unnatural hues of red, orange, and white. They would be angry, if the flames licking up the sides of her bookshop had any feelings at all. She could practically hear her books crying out for help and she was about to stumble down the stairs when two arms wrapped around her waist.

"Don't even think about it." The voice from behind hardly made a difference to the girl as she tried to claw her way out of their grasp. "Calm down, it's me, Tonks."

"Let me go, Nymphadora," Athene shouted, but no matter how hard she wriggled, the older girl would not release her. "Please, I have to do something."

Tonks' face fell. They both knew that there wasn't anything to be done to calm an enchanted flame, but only one of them had come to terms with it. Athene clenched her eyes shut, slowing her protests just long enough for Tonks to apparate them away from the danger.

The cool night air offered no relief from the burning in Athene's soul. They had only apparated to the street outside of Epeolatry where a crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle. There had to be at least twenty people standing around in their nightgowns and ten, or so, more dressed in daywear.

Athene couldn't bring herself to be embarrassed by the fact that she was still dressed in her periwinkle pajamas. She hardly cared that those twenty people crowded outside were steadily glancing between her and her shop. They were waiting for a breakdown and Athene was about to give it to them. 

When Tonks released her, Athene was gathered up into another pair of arms. These were far more familiar than her housemate's embrace and Athene buried her head into the chest of the man holding her. She couldn't bear to watch the flames eat away at her life.

"Athene," Charlie said, more a whisper than anything else. "Thank Merlin."

She only cried harder. Her insides were aflame in the same red flames only a little ways from her. Charlie tried to move her, but she refused, stubbornly demanding that she stay until the bitter end. It pained him to see her like this. Her tear stained face was something out of a nightmare and her glassy eyes could hardly pull themselves away from the building crumbling before them.

When dawn broke, the remnants of the building were still smoldering, but the crowd had dispersed. Those who remained either worked for the Ministry or lived nearby. Several passed Athene sympathetic glances, but none stopped to speak to her. Athene knew that this had been no accident, but her mind was too tired to pull away the implications from such a conclusion.

"Charlie?" Athene mumbled.

"Mhmm?"

"Can we go?"

"Of course." Charlie perked up immediately. He gathered the young woman into his arms and ignored her weak protests of actually walking herself. Athene rested her head on Charlie's shoulders. She had no more energy left in her body to resist.

Her heart broke for the millionth time when she saw what was left of Epeolatry. It was a skeleton of the beautiful store that had stood there only twelve hours before. The strong concrete reinforcements stood strong, but everything else had fallen out of place or disintegrated in the heat. Her bookshelves, her books, her newspapers were undistinguishable piles of ash, left to blow freely in the wind.

She buried her head in Charlie's chest, relishing in the way that his heart beat and his lungs made his chest expand. With a sigh, she muttered a nearly silent thank you, before allowing sleep to take over her exhausted mind.