ATHENE {remus lupin}

FIFTY SEVEN

"He said he loves you!"

Fleur said to Athene excitedly as she prepared to patrol Diagon Alley with Kingsley. Athene was nervous about the mission, she had spent extremely limited time with the man and she knew that he didn't like her. 

"You heard him wrong," the witch said, flicking her wand to pack her bag.

"No! I! Didn't" Fleur exclaimed.

Athene gave her friend a harsh look, "I don't have time for this, Fleur. I have to patrol with Kinglsey. Kingsley. The man bloody hates me-"

"I bloody hate you right now!" The French witch said in frustration. "Why aren't you more excited?"

"Because it's not true. And I have to spend the day with a man who hates me, in a place where there have been countless death eater attacks in the last week. There are far more serious matters on my mind."

Fleur groaned and lay back onto the red sofa in the living room of the Burrow. Athene had changed since she had begun to live there again, in such a small amount of time her spirit had been lifted and she seemed to be happy. She was far more positive about the war, and she saw Celine and Tonks far more regularly. 

Fleur silently congratulated herself on her persistence.

"First of all, Kingsley doesn't hate you, you're an order member," she said, following Athene up the stairs, "and second of all, Remus told me he loves you. Loves!"

Athene turned around and ran her hand through her hair as she sighed, "Fleur! Drop. It."

"But he said it," she whinged. 

"No he didn't, and even if he did, I don't care."

"Bullshit."

"I don't, there are far more important things happening!"

"Such as..." Fleur half joked, Athene gave her a withering glare.

"But don't you love him?" The French witch asked her friend.

"I- no. Of course not."

Fleur raised her eyebrows in disbelief. 

"There's a war happening, Fleur. And there is no r-"

"Room for love in war," Fleur finished, with her head in her hands. "I hate you."

There was a knock at the door and Athene smirked.

"Bye, Weasley," she said with a kiss on her friend's head.

The first couple of hours in Diagon Alley were deadly silent, there hadn't been any trouble and the job could have really been done by one person. The witch had almost hoped for a problem, as she would then have something to talk to Kingsley about. The two had exchanged less than ten words with each other, they simply patrolled the street with their wands drawn in silence.

They had stopped in front of a newspaper headline, which read 'Harry Potter: Still wanted for death of Dumbledore'. Kingsley shook his head and Athene sighed.

"Fucking ridiculous."

"What?" The man asked her in shock.

"That people believe this," she said, gesturing to the headline.

"I don't think people do," he replied calmly. "I think people are scared."

"Aren't we all," she huffed.

The man looked at her curiously, "are you?"

"Of course I am, every bloody day."

"I didn't have you down as the type to get scared."