Veracity - ✔️

Fifteen

"Unthinking respect for authority
is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

We have confirmed that ten high-security prisoners, in the early hours of yesterday evening, did escape.

The words tumbled around Athene's head. The article, written under the bold headline Mass Breakout from Azkaban, was an inflammatory piece explicitly written to cover the Ministry's arse. If they admitted that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had actually returned, that would be admitting that they were wrong. That was even rarer than the mass breakout that they were reporting.

The delivery owl had flown through Athene's kitchen window at precisely 8:42 that morning. It had taken Athene twenty minutes after that to finally glance over the headlines and another fifteen to read the article on the front page. By 9:26, Athene had written a quick note, pasted it to the front door of Epeolatry, and apparated to Grimmauld Place.

Athene's anger pounded through her at the speed of light. It curled its fist in her heart, and it squeezed. The Ministry was trying to play this off as Sirius Black's fault. The man that had shown show much care for the Order and his godson. The man that had smiled at her when she agreed to help Harry. The man that only wanted to live the rest of his days in peace with the living remnants of his childhood. He was a good man - there was no doubt about it - and the world deserved to know that. So Athene slammed through the front door with the force of a hurricane searched every room until she found who she was looking for.

Sirius Black was speaking with Remus Lupin in the kitchen. The discussion seemed pretty heated, and it didn't take a genius to guess what they were talking about. A copy of the Daily Prophet sat crumpled on the table. "Gentlemen," She stepped forward, back straight, and head high, "I'm sure you understand why I'm here." They stared at the pad of paper and quill she held up.

"Athene," Remus offered a tightlipped smile, "you're very brave to do what you're proposing."

"Dumbledore wanted the truth," Athene sat down and gestured for Sirius to join her, "so the truth is what I will be delivering."

The stack of articles stared at Athene like a trophy from the counter in Epeolatry. She had gotten everything from Sirius - Lily and Jame's deaths, the betrayal, and the false convictions - and she had condensed it all into 5,000 words. The one-page article could never justify the horrible things that this man had lived through, but at least it would give the public a look into the truth.

Athene took a deep breath, straightened the stack of articles, and unlocked Epeolatry's door. Only a few people were waiting to get inside; Bathsheba and Margarete being two of them. They milled about in between the bookshelves, but Athene could tell that they were all vaguely interested in her newest article. Veracity had become somewhat of an attraction in her store. People from all over would come to get a look at the thin pieces of parchment, and Athene had it on good authority that her words reached far and wide.

"Fascinating subject matter," Bathsheba was the first to approach the counter, "I knew Sirius when he was a child. I'm very glad that someone is going to fight for him." The older woman standing in front of the counter held no books in her hands, but the look in her eyes told Athene that she hadn't planned to purchase anything that day. She picked up a copy of the article and hobbled her way out of the bookshop. After Bathsheba was gone, there was a line that went out the door to get a copy of her article.

The reactions of each individual were mixed. Many people were outraged and demanded to know how and where she got her information. Other people were scared of what was to come. But everyone that picked up a paper had doubt written on their faces. Questioning the Minister was a bold move and many people wouldn't publicly support these ideas. But there were those who gave her a subtle nod and a small smile as they exited the shop. That was enough to tell her that her article was breaking through the lies that the Ministry was spinning.

It didn't take long for someone from the Ministry to make an appearance. There was a man dressed all in black that waited in line like everyone else. He was tall, taller than anyone else in line, and his black hair was slicked back. His eyes were a mellow brown that might have been soothing if it weren't for the distaste that floated in them. Once he got to the counter, he didn't pick up a paper as the people in front of him had; he opened his mouth to speak. "Athene Atkinson?"

"The one and only," Athene's fists were clenched tightly, and her heart pounded in her chest. Do not show them any fear.

"I need to speak with you privately." With a firm nod, Athene guided him to the storage room in the back of Epeolatry. They stood there in silence until he began to speak again. "The Minister has requested that you stop the distribution of your newsletter, Veracity. The Ministry will deal with the copies that have been released to the public."

"Come again?" Athene thought that maybe she misheard, but the same words that she thought she'd heard came out of his mouth again.

"You will stop writing, producing, and distributing your articles to the public."

"I will do no such thing," Athene puffed out her chest. There was no way that she was backing down.

"Excuse me?" The man stood taller at Athene's rejection, causing Athene to grip at the wand in her pocket. "The Minister will only ask once, Miss."

"I have a permit from the Ministry," Athene shook her shoulders in a bid to calm her nerves. "I am doing nothing wrong. I will not stop distributing the truth to those who deserve it the most. Censorship is a very dangerous tool, Mr," Athene trailed off.

"Pius Thicknesse."

"Mr. Thicknesse, then. I will not stop just because the Minister refuses to see the truth. Pointing fingers at innocent men will do nothing but cause mass havoc."

"That leads me to my next question." Athene had decided that she didn't much care for Pius Thicknesse. He was a slimy looking man with a warped sense of justice. "Where is Sirius Black?"

"I don't know," Athene stared him right in the eye, daring him to say otherwise. "He agreed to meet me for an interview, and he gave me all of the evidence that I needed to disprove the Ministry's claims. We met a Muggle park, and I have had no contact with him since." It had been Remus who had formulated the lie just in case of a situation like this. And, though it pained her to lie, Sirius' safety surpassed her need for comfort.

"If it is found that you are aiding and abetting these criminals-"

"Have you read my article, Mr. Thicknesse?" Athene looked at him with large eyes but did not wait for an answer, "Of course, not. If you had, you would see that I was not aiding and abetting criminals. I am fighting for an innocent man, and you are too daft to see otherwise. If you cannot think for yourself, then you are doomed to live the rest of your life as a puppet. Now, if that's all you had for me, you can run along and tell your puppet master that the truth will continue to be distributed from my shop, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Pius Thicknesse offered a nod of his head and turned on his heels. Athene watched as he left her store, and once he was finally gone, she released the breath that she had been holding. Her hands shook as she returned to the counter and greeted her next patron. It occurred to her, sometime after the Ministry official had left her shop, that the shy little Hufflepuff wasn't so shy anymore. From that moment on, Athene stood a bit taller and smiled a bit wider; defying the Ministry empowered her. And for better or worse, Athene would never be able to slip into the folds of a quiet life.

Author's Note:
That literally sucked to write. Not because it's a shitty chapter (if it is, disregard that) but because I dealt with a nasty case of writer's block. I think a rewrote the intro like twenty times. Please show this chapter some love if you liked it!