Athena Aurelia Black considered herself perfectly normal-thank you very much. Or at least, as normal as one could be with a mass-murderer for a father and a werewolf for an uncle. Whispers had followed her through every hallway, every classroom, for the last two years. But she'd long learned to walk through them with her head held high. As long as she had her friends, she'd live. Or so she thought. But when her infamous father breaks out of Azkaban and something ancient begins to stir inside her in the upcoming years-something dark, something powerful-Athena's carefully built world starts to break. And survival? That might no longer be enough. ____ Athena's eyelids lifted slowly. Darkness surrounded her. She pushed herself upright, blinking as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. There was no ceiling, no floor she could properly distinguish, no walls-nothing familiar. Just endless darkness. "Where... am I?" Her own voice sounded strangely distant. A cold silence followed. Then a voice emerged from somewhere in the darkness. "Somewhere between life and what comes after." Athena froze. A chill ran down her spine. "W... who are you?" There was a pause. Then the voice answered simply. "Death." Athena stared into the darkness. "...Oh." She swallowed. "That's... probably not good." ___ ᴏʀ ɪɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴀᴛʜᴇɴᴀ ᴀᴜʀᴇʟɪᴀ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ғᴀʟʟs ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇʀ ʙᴇsᴛ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏғ ᴀ ᴅᴏᴏᴍᴇᴅ ᴘʀᴏᴘʜᴇᴄʏ. ___ 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 (Edited chapters have a ⏤͟͟͞͞ before them)