quiet | h.potter

eleven

rendezvous and reconciliations 

Athena could feel it that morning , something was wrong. before she even reached the great hall or received mail, she knew what had happened. 

The death eaters had broken out of Askaban.

fear sunk into Athenas stomach , it had been three weeks since Christmas and she had still refused to speak to any of the trio that so desperately craved her attention. though they had begun to slow their efforts. At first they'd followed her most places she went , Harry bugged her constantly , wanting the girl to spare him even just a look, though she never complied , no matter the voice in her head telling her to do so. even in DA meetings she simply let the boy lead, preferring to work by herself or with her two Ravenclaw friends. The entire DA of course easily picked up on the tension in the room , though they spoke nothing of it, besides the two red headed twins who managed to bring it up as often as they could, thinking the bickering teens were rather funny.

Athena hadn't been getting any better , ever since Christmas morning she'd simply begun spiraling and it seemed there was no end. Most nights she was either crying , which only ended up making her angrier, or just sitting alone. she rarely saw her two best friends besides the occasional DA meeting or meet up for studying. Speaking of , her  schoolwork had been kicking her ass lately , as she never really paid attention in her classes. she really depended on her two  intelligent friends to help her catch up.

she spent her free periods in the headmasters office, along with the majority of her free time. he was the closest thing she had to family here, and one of the only people who knew her well enough to see her open up. Albus Dumbledore was also the only person who could hold the title of knowing all the girls secrets , the only other being able to come close the now dead Cedric Diggory. 

He had been able to read the young Slytherin like she was his favorite story. They were nearly perfect opposites yet they got along so well. she could still see his grey eyes, they clouded her mind, even close to a year after his death. It was not the first time the young girl had experienced grief , sadly. it plagued her past like a disease , and though she hadn't recognized it yet, she was starting to fear that it followed her , like a large shadow that she couldn't seem to get rid of , no matter how fast she ran, it always chased her. 

it always caught up 

it always came back when she least expected it to 

.,. 

that night Athena found herself , like she often did, wandering the halls trying to clear her mind. she ran her hand along the old crumbling walls , tracing the intricate details and calming her quick panicked breaths. the escape of the death eaters only made her worsening anxiety deeper and more prominent. 

tears from hours ago lay dried on her pale face and her hair was oily and tangled , but in the moonlight , Harry Potter thought she almost looked angelic. 

when she looked at him , he thought she might run, but she only kept walking , growing closer to the frozen boy. 

it was 3 am and they both knew that if they were caught there could be serious consequences , though both of the green eyed pair didn't really care. 

as she neared the tall boy , Athena Malkin felt her head tilt to the floor. in her dreary state , she couldn't pretend to hate the boy she really didn't mind that much. 

"hey"

he spoke , and even though he was whispering , Athena nearly jumped in shock. 

she thought for a minute , but in her tired dazed state she chose her most foolish option , and hesitantly responded to the boy. 

"hi Harry" 

her rough voice spoke, in the weeks she had been ignoring him, he had missed her voice. He had forgotten what her normal velvety voice sounded of , now only remembering her hoarse distorted voice, which was slightly concerning to the young potter. 

he watched as the girls eyes fluttered a bit before she nearly collapsed in his arms. in shock he quickly caught her and slumped to the ground to lift her head. her eyes were only slightly open as the two sat on the floor together, leaning against a wall. 

"Im- I'm sorry I haven't slept much the past couple weeks" 

she lightly apologized , too tired to let her embarrassment show 

"its okay 'Thena but why?" 

he quietly plead  , not noticing her wince at the nickname. 

after he asked he regretted it though , as the girl let a tear slip down her face. she was so upset  in the moment that she forgot who she was letting her sky high walls down in front of. as more tears splashed onto the floor of the castle harry felt himself stuck. 

the girl he knew to be so cold was breaking right before his eyes , something finally snapped in his head and he pulled the shorter girl into his shoulder. as her tears turned into sobs , he let no other words slip past his lips. though he desperately wanted to throw his ever-growing list of questions upon her , he knew it wasn't the time. 

so there they sat , the distant girl and the golden boy. the Gryffindor and the Slytherin. enemies , friends, leaders. 

but just then it didn't matter , in that moment alone they were two kids from troubled homes, together. 

...