Petrichor •George Weasley•

I

There she was.

Loose strands of hair fluttering around her face, fingers absentmindedly twirling a strand around and around as she gazed at the book leaning against her legs. Her dungaree strap had slipped off one shoulder, freckles peeking out from under the strap of her top.

George couldn't see her face from this angle, if he could, then he would know she wasn't really reading at all, her eyes were softly shut, she was basking in the warmth from the sun, a brief blink of it, but nonetheless a welcome one.

In her mind, she was back in time, a month to be exact, on a beach in Sweden, in the Bohuslän Archipelago to be specific.
Pansy was giving her some not so gentle encouragement, "Plant your bloody feet Thena! It's not rocket science."

She wobbled, "How am I supposed to plant my feet on a board in the middle of the ocean?! I'm going to die!"

"Yes you can Thena. Bend your knees a bit or you'll fold over like a wet newspaper. Watch me do it." Pansy demonstrated to the other girl, who was starting to pale.

Athena shook her head, "I can't do it. Nope. No. Never going to happen. I'll die."

Pansy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She looked over at the blonde boy who was watching the two girls over his sunglasses, left eyebrow arched. "Draco, a little help?"

He took a deep breath, and held it for a split second before letting out a chuckle, "Thena you're being ridiculous, you cannot die, it's a paddle-board. You're lucky we didn't take you surfing."

Athena shot him a glare before looking back down at her feet, which she could barely see from the wobbling she was doing, "I can barely stand on this thing, how am I supposed to move too!?"

Draco tried to hold in his laugh as he stood up, stretching his arms above his head and letting out a yawn, "Darling calm down, you're still 20 metres away from the water, I think we've had enough of this for one day."

Pansy let out a resigned giggle, "Fine. C'mon Thena let's go get a coffee, you look like you need it."

The blonde girl shook her head, "I don't think I can move, I'm stuck here."

The other two looked at each other, then back at Athena, before both stepping forward to pull her off the board. Pansy patted her on the back, "Don't worry, we will get you in the water and on the board by the end of the week."

Draco scoffed, "And maybe you'll actually get that wetsuit wet for once."

Athena was shaken out of her daze, as she heard a clatter from behind her. She was leaning against the wall under her window, as looked up over her left shoulder, seeing the window beside hers was open.

"Weasley, are you spying on me again?" Athena called, waiting for a response.

A head of ginger hair appeared from the open window, George peeked down at her, "Bold of you to assume that anyone would want to spy on you."

She flipped a page in her book, looking away from him, "It wouldn't be the first time I've caught you watching me, you're becoming quite the peeping Tom."

George swung himself onto the window ledge, letting his legs dangle outside, "What're you reading?"

"A book."

He looked down at the girl, shaking his head, "I can see that."

She didn't reply, after a moment of silence, she heard the soft thud of George's feet landing on the grass beside her. Before she could look up, the book was snatched from her loose grip.

Shielding her eyes from the sun Athena looked up at the fiery haired boy, who was examining the cover of the book, "The Song of Achilles... very fitting." He remarked, his eyebrows shooting up for a brief moment before he held the book out to her.

Athena pursed her lips briefly, reaching out to take the novel back, "How so?"

He settled himself, rather clumsily, onto the grass beside her, leaning against the wall, "Achilles and Athena, sounds like some kind of Greek God power couple."

"Well, I don't think Achilles was ever interested in Athena like that, but they did work together in the war. Or so they say." Athena replied, setting the book down beside her.

"How do you know that he wasn't?" George replied, studying Athena's side profile, her nose with a small bump that fit her face perfectly, freckles spattered across skin, trailing across her shoulders and down her arms. The small scar in her eyebrow, barely noticeable unless you were looking close enough. Hazel eyes bright as she spoke about something she cares about, the slight crinkle at the corners of her eyes as she smiled.

"Everyone knows he was in love with Patroclus, his childhood friend turned lover. You should read the book, that's what it's about. I think you might like it." She replied, looking over at the Gryffindor.

He grinned, "Athena, are you trying to say something?"

She laughed, "No George, I'm not. It's an amazing book." She twisted to pick the book up again, and handed it back to him, "Here, take it. You can let me know what you think."

George gently took the book from her outstretched hand, "Thank you."

Athena leant her head back against the cool brick behind them, "Soon it will be too cold to sit out here like this."

"You've got another couple of weeks before that happens. Don't forget you have a wand for a reason, a heat charm will do the trick." George replied, running his fingers along the pages.

Athena sighed, "I don't like doing that, I want to feel nature as it is, unaltered by magic. It's powerful enough by itself."

He nodded, "I wish I could think like you. You always seem so calm, grounded or something."

She scoffed, "Really?"

"Really."

She took a breath, "I'm not like that all the time, only when I'm outside like this, it's peaceful."

"Peaceful when I'm not interrupting?" George offered, she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yep. I need to go back inside now anyway, my homework is not going to do itself." She replied, pushing herself onto her feet.

George watched as she pushed her dungaree strap back onto her shoulder, "Will you do mine too?"

"Not a chance Weasley." She chuckled, pushing herself up to sit on the windowsill, looking down at him again before swinging around and dropping into her room. "See you later." She called out to him.
George listened as her footsteps retreated and her door opened and closed. No doubt she was heading to the library.

He opened the book, shaking his head slightly as he muttered to himself "The Song of Achilles, this will be fun."