Proud to be

Chapter 2

Fred

"So you can produce a patronus? Why haven't we been told this?" I ask Athena, raising an eyebrow. She gave a sideways smile and brushed the comment off.

"I didn't think it was that important." she shrugged, grabbing her bags. I shook my head, stopping her. I grabbed her luggage from her along with my own and gave her a grin. "I could've gotten that." She stated, not wanting me to carry so much.

"I'm aware," I say smiling wider still.

"Then why did you-"

"Oh shut up! Don't argue, just go along with things, okay?" She looked at me oddly but nodded, anyway. She was independent, but the train ride had been daunting for her. I didn't mind helping her out.

"Thank you." She says after a while and I nod, kissing her head. I could see her pale skin turn a shade of red and I contained a smirk. I could tell how much she liked me, even if nobody else could.

She looked absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't help but stare. Her long, black hair fell in curls down to her waist. Her pale grey eyes sparkled in the dwindling daylight breaking through the windows. She tugged on the metal ring she had in her lip every so often with her teeth. It was a habit she had developed when she was nervous. Only I knew that, though. I paid enough attention to notice. She got it pierced years ago, after begging her godfather to let her go into the muggle village. She had been a large fan of all non-magical things. Music, styles, tradition. It might have been a rebellion against her pureblood ancestors, or maybe it was just fascination. Nobody really knew, not even herself. She was appreciative of all cultures, not just ours.

"We're here," she said, walking out behind George. She held a slight bounce in her step, causing her hair to bounce in time. She always got so excited to come back to school. She had a grand appreciation for learning.

As we piled off of the Hogwarts express, we had already known what to do, considering we've gone to this school for many years now. We followed the routine. All the small first years trailed behind Hagrid who towered over them. The older students made their way up to the castle and into the great hall. Each student went to their house table and sat in groups with their friends, mostly talking about their holidays. Athena, George, Lee and I always sat together. We possessed a friendship that nothing could tear apart. It was reassuring to know that no matter what, we always had each other.

I took my seat beside Athena and my brother sat across from me. Lee sat across from Athena, making pitiful attempts at flirting with her. She laughed at every one of his plans to ask her out, finding each one hilarious while I found them annoying. We had feelings for each other, Athena and I. We have for a long time. We didn't want to mess with our friendships, so we kept them quiet. It was just us that knew about it. We didn't like making our emotions public, anyway.

I saw Athena smile at Professor Lupin and give a small wave, in which he returned. "So, Lupin, he's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" I asked her and she nodded, her curls falling in her face, which everyone could tell annoyed her. She had told me that he had been hired that summer, but she never told me what for. She didn't talk about him or her family a lot. I don't believe she wanted to keep them a secret, it was just something she was used to doing. When making new friends, she didn't like talking about them in fear of judgement. Her story was unlike many others. The four of us payed no mind to Dumbledore while he gave his usual start of the year speech that started us into our feast. We mostly just made jokes and saw who could annoy each other the most. Like always, Athena won. It was endearing, but she had a unique way of getting under our skin when she wanted to.

"Ooh! Timetables!" Athena exclaimed, looking at the papers in front of her. I laughed at her childishness and listened to her as she read off her classes.

"Defence Against the Dark arts, Divination, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology and Double potions." She said, scrunching up her nose in resentment at her last classes.

"Oh, someone's gotta put up with Snapey for a whole two hours!" Lee teased and she glared at him. "But so do I so we can get through it together." He added with a wink, which she didn't even react to. It was common at this point. Lee knew they would never get together, and he did it for jokes now. They were much better as friends. They both knew that.

"At least I have DADA first with Remus," she shrugged, choosing the food she put on her plate carefully. "I hate Divination though. I had to take something to fill my time. I want to save astrology for next year."

"Oh you'll make it through it." I smiled at her.

After Dumbledore finished his speech and Athena and I finished eating, I stood up and got the password from one of the seventh years. I grabbed Athena's hand, leading her up to the Gryffindor common room. Repeating the password to the portrait of the fat lady, she swung forward and let us in. I dragged my best friend behind me and she laughed, telling me to slow down. I looked around and saw that we were the only two in here and I smiled. The first time I got to be alone with her since last year.

"How was your summer, after you left The Burrow, of course." I asked her, smiling. She'd spent the first two weeks of summer with George and I, later returning to her house. We had caused a good amount of trouble before she had to leave. Mum didn't want her to go, but she told her that she was afraid that Remus would've burned the house down if she had stayed away any longer. She thought of her as her own daughter. Personally, I think Athena just wanted Remus to have company. She loved Remus like a father and wanted him to be as happy as she could make him. I knew she felt like a burden on him, but she would never say it.

"It was okay, I didn't do much. I read a lot and annoyed Remus, like always. And yours, my love?" She asked with a huge smile on her face, which I knew wouldn't stay that way for long. She was fine until she was alone. She was very talented at putting on a strong face for others.

"It was good, would've been better with you there the whole time, but hey. I take what I can get." I shrugged and she blushed, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. I saw the familiar white line running down her forehead, to her defined cheekbone. It was a scar that she never talked about and we learned not to ask about. She always made an attempt to hide it, and George and I hadn't even noticed it until the end of our second year. She was very self conscious of it, and we never knew why, but I could imagine that we'd find out when she was ready to tell. It was noticeable with her hair out of the way. It had grown less angry looking the more the years went by.

"I'm sure it would've, you poor thing. You went a whole month and a half without the love of your life." She poked fun at him.

"I know, it was horrible." I smiled and leaned down, kissing her.

Nobody knew that we were together, if that's even what it was. Technically, we weren't really boyfriend and girlfriend. Just just really close friends. Really, really close friends. I never asked her officially, but it doesn't mean I didn't want to. I just don't really think she wants to be too serious. She was scared it wouldn't last. Respectively, I never asked her yet. She was never one for relationships. Boys often flirted with her. She caught everyone's eyes, from the greens to the reds and everyone in between.

"Remus would hate you if he saw us now." She said, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I know, but you're worth it. I could care less, really." I said, smiling. I didn't want Remus to be upset that we were together. He probably wouldn't like the idea, but he knew me and he knew I'd do whatever I could to make her happy.

"Well, I'm tired. I should go to sleep and get ready for my classes tomorrow..." She trailed off, the smile fading from her lips. "I wish we could just stay like this, forever."

"Me too, Athena. Well, goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." I say, kissing her again. She smiled and turned, walking away to the girls dormitories without another word. She was still closed off with me. After five years of friendship, you'd expect a person to open up. I knew her father was bothering her, but I didn't want to bring it up. She would probably deny it anyway. She'd rather deal with things by herself. I sighed and collapsed in a chair near the common room fire, waiting for the others to come back from the great hall.