𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 ; 𝒹.𝒽

thirteen

Althena slowly walked into her old cottage that she still owned. Things were dusty and untouched, as she abandoned it a few years back.

Painful memories were rooted into the walls of the home, and she avoided it at all costs. When Sirius got out of Azkaban and she rejoined the Order, she was offered a place at 12 Grimmauld Place, and she took up the offer in a heartbeat.

Maybe it was to be closer to Sirius, or maybe it was out of her own loneliness. After his death, Althena knew she couldn't stay at Grimmauld Place, something about it felt wrong. Romare and Margot were quick to offer her a room, not caring when she said she had a cottage she could go back to.

But now, it was the only place she wanted to be. She did a few cleaning spells before lighting a cigarette, taking a long drag of it before opening her letter.

The letter started off with a bombshell. Althena felt her heart drop as she read the first paragraph, she could practically hear her sister's voice:

I'll get the difficult part over with. I know about you and Sirius. I won't lie to you and say I was okay when I found out. Because I wasn't. I was angry. I cried and screamed. I felt betrayed and cheated, yet my love for you two never faltered once. I just wanted to understand, I wanted to understand why. Why would the two people I love the most do such a thing?

I answered this question to myself. Settling on the fact that you have genuine feelings for him, the look you have on your face when you look at him is hard to mistake for anything else but love. As for Sirius, well, I don't know. I wish I knew. One day I'll confront him about it and try to make sense of it all. I love you, and I love Sirius deeply. I also know you both love me. I hold no anger towards you or Sirius anymore. I want you to know that.

Maybe I still should be angry. Maybe I should bring it up. Maybe I should leave Sirius. But I tend to love unconditionally at the worst of times. That is what makes Sirius so dangerous to me, is that there is little he could do that would make me stop loving him.

The rest of the letter was filled with Diana reflecting on her memories with Althena, and a piece of life advice Althena knew she wouldn't want to hear from anyone else but her sister.

Althena, I want you to find your own happiness. Don't wait around for the train that isn't coming.

When she finished reading the letter, she had tears falling down onto the old parchment. She finished off her cigarette and laid down on her couch, staring up at the ceiling with millions of thoughts racing through her head.

Later that night, Aurora and George were tidying up their space for their friends to arrive. Harry was safely transported via broom on Polyjuice Potion once again, this time they were luckily not ambushed.

Aurora sat down on the couch next to Harry, "I'm guessing seeing Zoya and Fred back together cannot be easy on you..." She trailed off, glancing over to the two who were messing around in the kitchen.

"What?" Harry asked, "That? Oh, no, that's long over."

Aurora narrowed her eyes, "What? You're over her? Just like that?" She asked. He shrugged and looked to Ginny, who was in the hallway with George looking at various photographs on the wall. She quickly picked up on this, "Oh."

"Yeah..."

"Well, good for you, then." She said, patting his shoulder.

Darren and Gwenna arrived shortly after, followed by a few of Fred and George's friends from school. Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, and Alicia Spinnet were brightly welcomed by the twins and everyone else, as they were also friends during school.