The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

2.46 | Afloat

~ Note ~

TW: This chapter contains recounts of a suicide attempt.

I understand that this is a delicate topic, so feel free to skip the said part. I've added asterisks (*) where the scene begins and ends. Feel free to skip this chapter entirely if you so wish.

This is a part of Margaret's journey, but it is a story and so the topic might pass quicker than it does in real life.

Everyone's journey with mental health is different. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please reach out to a parent, a guardian, a friend and/or a professional ❤️

~

Endearments.

"Maggie! Mark! Time to go home, darlings!"

There was something about endearments with Australians. Or perhaps it was just their mother's family.

"Cum'on, then. Let's not keep your grandma waiting, shall we?" says Jack Armstrong, a tall man in his fifties. Despite the wrinkles on his forever smiling face and the fact that all the hair on his head was silver, it was obvious that he must have been quite handsome in his youth. "Maggie, leave Butterscotch. He'll be here when you come back, lovie."

"But we won't come back till the morning," says ten-year-old Maggie, pouting. "He'll be lonely, grappa..." Wound around her little shoulders and arms was a young albino python, its head resting on top of hers as it slithered ever so slowly over her. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that she was cuddling a six-foot long snake, nor did the snake look like it wasn't used to this.

"Nah, see?" says Grandpa Jack, "He looks so sleepy, just like you. He'll be all ready to play with you in the morning. That's it... Hold him up, just like that, away from the mouth-attagirl! Come now, let's go find your brother."

Holding her grandfather's big hand with her tiny one, Maggie began talking about all the things she had observed in the conservatory today. The man listened with interest, praising her when she spoke with passion about the creatures.

Grandpa Jack used to work with Steve Irwin back in the day, during which he met Grandma Julia who was an environmental studies student. Together, they opened a reptile conservatory in Brisbane where they rescued, treated and looked after different kinds of reptiles.

They only had one daughter, Athena, who had grown up going to the conservatory. Though her passions led her to study architecture, she was as involved in her parents' work as she could be.

Until she met a lecturer in her university.

Anthony Xenakis was in his late twenties, but he had deep dark eyes, as though they had lived a lifetime in another world...

He had several of his papers published on the history of World War 2. He said he went around the world, giving lectures on the topic and doing research for his educational works, but he was originally from Quebec, Canada. He even spoke several languages, including English, French, German and Japanese.

When Anthony and Athena met, she was barely twenty-one. Studious and shy, she never showed much interest in dating. After all, she barely had time as a senior in college.

So no one thought much about it when he insisted that she showed him around campus or when she started waiting for him after his lectures.

None of Athena's friends complained. They all thought he was quite charming.