ATHENE {remus lupin}

FIVE

Two and a half years later ~ present day

It was 4am and Athene felt as if her legs would no longer carry her. Navigating muggle London had proved itself an extremely arduous task. She knew that she was in Finsbury because she had visited the area before. She walked and walked and found her legs taking her to the grave yard which was so familiar to her. It was going to be light soon and Athene willed herself to walk past the headstones. She knew that she was not strong enough. 

There it was, just in the corner, a small, simple grave. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at it in the dark. A 'lumos' wasn't needed. Athene had been here enough times to know that the words read 'Ashley Smith, a loving daughter.' She didn't let herself cry and she didn't let herself leave any flowers. She wasn't allowed to feel sad about it, what she had done stripped her of that privilege. 

She walked on, hoping to reach the borough of Islington where she knew that 12 Grimmauld Place was sooner rather than later. On her way, she passed ten posters of herself. Muggle ones. This made her laugh. When Sirius Black had escaped they put up muggle posters of him, to think that she was deemed as dangerous as a supposed mass murderer was hilarious. She was a twenty year old coward. 

Athene's arm was dripping with blood. Since receiving the mark at the end of her brothers fourth schooling year, Athene had tried everything to get it off and, the night that she left she went to the greatest extents. She felt that the mark meant she could be tracked, although she actually had no idea if it did possess that magic. Either way, the risk was too large. Since she had left Malfoy Manor, Athene had refused to use any magic whether it be wandless or non-verbal for fear of being tracked by the Dark lord or her father. Although realistically, a simple 'lumos' or healing spell for her arm would not instantly highlight where she was to her fellow death eaters, Athene was terrified of being found and of what the repercussions for her escape would be.

Of course, not using magic was only half of her problems. If she got to 12 Grimmauld Place before daylight there was absolutely no certainty that whoever was inside would provide her with any help at all. She was asking for a lot. She needed trust, a place to stay, inside information and, most importantly, someone to aid Draco. He was fifteen now and Athene knew that after this year he would receive the mark and undoubtedly be given a task of murder as she had been. The more she dwelled on it, the more she realised that her plan was borderline crazy. She had nothing to provide in return. Some knowledge of the Dark Lord's plans, of course, and her father's brief mention of a prophecy, but Athene felt that that was surely not enough to make the protectors of Harry Potter trust her.

It was almost 5am by the time she reached number 12 Grimmauld Place and the sun was threatening her from behind the grey clouds. Athene was thankful that the building had appeared to her, she knew that it was hid by a fidelius charm and that only people who knew of it could see it. She muttered a thanks to Dumbledore and smirked to herself as she did so.

As she stood on the edge of the street she pondered the reactions that awaited her. Of course, she knew it was a huge possibility that whoever was in there would murder her on sight. She had been one of the death eaters present when Cedric Diggory was murdered, and indeed most of the wizarding world suspected her for the murder of Ashley Smith. Ashley, she begun to think to herself. That one word alone could shatter her heart. Athene forced herself to push the girl out of her mind. "No need to dwell on meaningless mudbloods", her father had told her. 

Her arm was bleeding intensely. To any muggle passing, Athene Malfoy would have looked to be on the edge of death. There were tears in her eyes and her makeup less face was pale and bloodstained. Her hands were red and her under eyes black, she really did look every part the death eater.

She breathed. "Now or never," she muttered to herself. 

Taking a quick look around her to check for muggles or indeed death eaters, Athene raised her hand to the black door and knocked three times. She felt as if her heart was edging closer and closer to beating out of her chest with every second. 

The latch on the other side clicked and Athene breathed in sharply. The door opened and her mouth dropped open at who greeted her on the other side. 

Fucking Professor Lupin?

He too wore a similar expression on his face when Athene Malfoy, looking half dead, showed up on his friends' doorstep. 

Sirius had come to see who was calling at such an early time and came down the stairs looking disheveled. He took one look at Athene and hissed,

"you."