FAVORITE CRIME | regulus black

1. third year

It was Athena's third year now, and as she stood at King's Cross Station with her sister, who was in 5th year, and her slowly aging parents, she felt nothing but familiarity.

Her parents truly knew nothing about Slytherin despite Lily's stories about them, so they couldn't quite have an opinion towards their youngest daughter being one. But that didn't mean they weren't wary when Athena came home for Christmas holding a green tie.

Athena supposed Regulus Black was right. Over the course of her first and second years, her and her sister had gradually grown apart—more so, Lily distancing herself from Athena, despite her being her own flesh and blood. It had started when Lily completely disregarded Athena right after the feast, brushing past her, shoving her shoulder impolitely and stalking off to her common room without a word.

That was the day Athena knew she was on her own.

The Slytherin prefects had taken the Slytherins to the common room, showing them around the dark and eerie place that glowed a gleaming green, and allowed for students to see the creatures beneath the Black Lake. But all Athena could think about were Regulus's words, and how there was a clear truth in them, as shown by her sister's ignorance.

After the quick tour and rundown of common room rules, Athena had gone up to the girls' dorm. She picked the bed farthest from the door and the rest of the girls, as if knowing her fate for the next few years. And the whole time, she could hear the girls' whispers about her, and one girl was even brave enough to come up to her and mutter "mudblood" in her ear.

Athena had never felt more alone—and honestly terrified—than she did in that moment.

The next day, Athena had struggled relentlessly. From the girls in her dorm shutting off her alarm and making her miss breakfast, to getting lost several times on the way to classes, to the constant gossiping of the other students.

But nothing was worse than the incessant remarks and snickering of Regulus Black and his friends.

And that brings things back to the present, as the family of five—truly now four—stood together, Mr. and Mrs. Evans turning to look at Lily and Athena.

"Behave, you two," Athena's mother said, and Athena could only nod in compliance while Lily, being the Gryffindor she was, threw her arms around their redheaded mother.

"Goodbye, mum. Goodbye, dad," she said through cascading tears. Athena just rolled her eyes and looked away, not really comfortable with such acts of affection.

"Goodbye, my sweet. Take care of your sister for me, will you?" Mr. Evans asked Lily, who slyly glanced at Athena, who stood watching all the students board the scarlet train.

"Yeah sure, of course," Lily lied, and she couldn't help but feel a wave of guilt wash over her, as she knew she hadn't even worried about Athena in the past years.

Athena, hearing their conversation, grimaced, and almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous Lily's words were. Lily hadn't talked to her in two years, let alone cared about her. But Athena just shook it off and turned back towards her family, offering them a small, ingenuine smile.

"Let's go, Lily," she said, trying her best to keep up the appearance of a good, healthy, sisterly relationship.

As if knowing Athena's thoughts, Lily replied, "Yes, come on, 'Thena." Lily grabbed her younger sister's hand, and both sisters pushed their trolleys towards the train.

It felt strange having Lily's hand in hers, and if Athena didn't know that it was all a pretense for their parents, she would have felt some sort of contentment. But watching her sister tap her foot impatiently, struggling to wait in the short line of people boarding the train, Athena knew she'd never feel like that anytime soon.