ATHENE {remus lupin}

TWENTY SEVEN

Draco Malfoy sat in the Slytherin common room, fanning a gold envelope in his hands. It was June. He had had this letter in his pocket since the end of April and still, he hadn't opened it. From the envelope and seal alone, he knew that it was from his sister. His sister who, until very recently, he had assumed to be dead. To know that she wasn't was a relief, or at least he thought it was.

Lucius had told him, over his Easter holidays, that Athene had broken into the manor. His mother was silent about the matter, whilst his father said that if he hears from her at all, Lucius must be informed immediately. His fingers ached to open the letter, but to do so was to betray his father, and by extension the Dark Lord himself. 

"You are a skilled occlumens, Draco." His mother had said to him before he left. Narcissa and Bellatrix had been training with him, teaching him to shut off his mind at the Dark Lord's orders. Draco wasn't sure why she had said this, perhaps she wanted Draco to keep things from his father. He could hide it from Lucius... the letter.

The common room was empty, it was midnight. Pansy had dragged herself away from him only half an hour before. Whenever he was alone with his thoughts he would retrieve the letter and stare at it, wondering what the contents were. He expected it to be Athene begging him to leave, just as she had. That would be selfish of her. Her leaving was selfish in Draco's opinion, now the wrath of Lucius fell on him.

In his holiday, Draco had been told that he would receive the dark mark before he returned to Hogwarts for his sixth year. The Dark Lord wanted him, for some reason. He would never admit it to Crabbe or Goyle, who were also expecting to be marked, but he was terrified. When he was having particularly bad nightmares about it, Athene's screams from the day that she received hers filled his head. And she was stronger than he was.

Just thinking about becoming a death eater stressed him out. He sighed and leant his head back across the sofa, still messing with the letter.

"Fuck it," he muttered to himself, as he begun to rip open the envelope. Seeing his sisters handwriting made tears threaten his eyes. She really was alive.

Dear Draco,

He scoffed to himself as he read the letter over, she thought he was weak. She thought he wasn't good enough to work for the Dark Lord. He'd fucking show her.

He picked up a quill and angrily wrote back.

Athene,

You are weak and a coward. I am not. We will see who comes out on top.

Draco.

He didn't care where she was. Despite how much he hated her at this moment, he knew that should he ever let his guard down and Lucius were to find out where she lived, he would go there and burn it to the ground. He didn't want her to die.

He told himself to burn the letter, but instead he tucked it back into the pocket of his robes, it was reassuring to have it there.

For Athene, the past couple of months had been nothing enjoyable. Her and Remus hadn't spoke any further than her lessons, Fred had begun to completely ignore her, and even Molly was being distant at risk of annoying her son. Tonks was her only escape.

"Two months ago," Tonks ranted, "you wrote to him two months ago and nothing? Fucking idiot."

"Maybe it never got to him..." Athene said softly.

The pink haired witch rolled her eyes, "come off it, Athene, we both know Remus would have got it there."

Athene nodded sadly, "I'm sure he just handed it straight to Lucius."