Atalanta

A pop quiz? On the first day of school?

Are you kidding me? Slughorn is the worst.

I have no idea what I'm doing.

I know this, I know this, I know this.

Everyone's thoughts were mostly the same. Some were scrambling to remember things, others were cursing Professor Slughorn. Atalanta smiled, knowing that the only other person who would finish before her was Severus Snape, who was quite possibly the smartest Slytherin in their year. She hadn't even thought about Potions since their final the year before, but she had a trick up her sleeve that never failed to help her out.

Snape stood and turned his test in. Atalanta pretended to write a few more things down before she stood when she heard Snape swear under his breath. Atalanta sat and ducked her head, reaching her mind out to Snape. She'd never tried to read him before. She didn't want to delve too deeply into Severus Snape's mind, for she knew it would be an unpleasant place. She barely scratched the surface when she heard him grumbling in his head about forgetting one of the alternate names of Wolfsbane.

I was going too fast. He was thinking.

Atalanta checked her paper to make sure she had all of the names of Wolfsbane and pulled her mind from Snape's thoughts before she heard something she didn't want to know. She stood and, with a smile, handed in her test.

"How was your summer, Professor?" she asked.

"Very good, Miss Phileo. Thank you. I did appreciate those crystallized pineapples you sent over the summer. How did you know I liked them?"

Atalanta shrugged.

"A little birdy told me," she whispered. Slughorn smiled and looked at her test.

"You're doing very good in this class, Miss Phileo. Would you like to join me and a few other exceptional students for a dinner party? Your sister will be there, of course," the Professor said. Atalanta nodded.

"I'd love to join you guys for dinner."

"Good, good. Tomorrow at 7:00, my office."

"Of course, sir."

At the end of the class, Slughorn had graded all the tests.

"Oh my, oh my! This is disappointing. Only one of you got everything right. We will have a lot of review to do, I suppose. Until then, Congratulations, Miss Phileo, you do very well."

Atalanta smiled.

An A?? Are you kidding me? Ugh.

At least I got an O. I should have known that one!

I got a T. Merlin's beard.

Atalanta tried not to laugh. She almost felt bad for all the people who actually tried. Almost.

Then the bell tolled and the class ended. Next was charms with the Gryffindors. Atalanta knew the class would be her favorite this year. Not only did she love charms, but the only four people she tolerated outside of her sister were in that class. She smiled, thinking about all the havoc her and the boys would wreck on Professor Flitwick. Poor wizard.

But, of course, Professor Flitwick had split up the Slytherins and Gryffindors, probably intending to keep her away from the boys. Of course it wasn't because Slytherins and Gryffindors are so competitive that they almost blew up the Transfiguration room last year, definitely not. Everything that happened, in Atalanta's mind, was to bring her utter misery.

However, Professor Flitwick wasn't going to ruin this for her. No way, she was a witch and she was a Slytherin, which meant she could do anything. She scribbled something on a piece of paper, crumbled it into a ball and tossed it across the room towards the clump of boys in the back. It landed on Lily Evans' desk. She glared up at Atalanta who smiled innocently. She picked up the ball and walked it over to the garbage can.

Atalanta glowered. Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James were snickering. She narrowed her eyes at them. She pulled her wand from her hair and held it out to the trash can under her desk.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she whispered, swishing and flicking as she spoke. The ball of paper floated out of the can and up into the air. All eyes in the classroom were on the ball as it rose into the air. Flitwick turned around suddenly, but everyone was bent over their notebooks, pretending to write what he was writing. He grumbled to himself and turned back to the board.

Atalanta had hid the ball behind a Gryffindor's head. Thoughts drifted towards her from all over the room. She didn't want to hear any of them. The disgusted Slytherins and the mocking Gryffindors, most thoughts were the same. But she had to keep her focus.

Finally, the small paper ball made it to her target; Sirius Black. She grinned as she released the spell and the ball dropped at his desk. He was grinning. Sirius opened it and laughed, catching Flitwick's attention. He turned around, but again, the students were doing their work.

Remus looked at Atalanta, trying to hide a smile as she grinned proudly. He hated that she was sitting along. The other Slytherins avoided her like the plague. The Gryffindors did too, because she was a Slytherin. Remus didn't understand.

James Potter was only thinking about Lily Evans.

Peter Pettigrew was the only one actually taking notes.

Sirius scribbled something on the back of the note and tossed it towards her. Before it got to her, the ball burst into flames. Smiling smugly, sitting at the front of the class, was Alexis Flint. She turned back to Flitwick, pretending to write notes again.

Atalanta fumed. She glared daggers at the back of Alexis' head. She thought she was so perfect, so wonderful. She was the one who turned all the Slytherins against Atalanta in their first year, she was the one who ensured that the entire school stayed far away from her. Every thought made Atalanta continually angrier. She looked over towards her friends. They knew the look on her face.

Ata, Remus' eyes told her. Don't stoop to her level.

She looked away from him and turned her wand towards Alexis.

"Anteoculatia," she muttered, moving her hand as she was supposed to. The hex hit Alexis and she fell forwards over her desk.

Flitwick spun around, glaring. His glare fell when he saw the antlers rapidly growing from her forehead. Gryffindors and Slytherins alike jumped forward to see the spectacle, all except for two. One was Atalanta, grinning from her seat, a perfect view of Alexis' new feature. The other was Remus Lupin, who was shaking his head. For as much as he liked Atalanta, she was too much like Sirius for her own good.

"Who did this?" Flitwick asked, angrier than anyone in the room had ever seen him. "This is the very first day of classes and you're already sending each other to the hospital?"

Flitwick turned towards Sirius Black, who was howling with laughter.

"Black!" Sirius wiped away the tears on his face. "Was this you?"

Sirius shook his head, but his smile still didn't fade.

"No, Professor, but you have to admit, she did deserve it."

"Flint, stop screaming, please. Go to the Hospital Wing." Flitwick turned back to Sirius. "Detention, Black."

Sirius' mouth fell open as Alexis and her posse ran from the room. Atalanta stood on her feet immediately, smile gone instantly.

"Sir, it was me who cast the hex."

Flitwick looked up at her, eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"I was messing around and she messed me up. I was irritated with her so I cast the hex."

Flitwick sighed.

"Detention for you then, Miss Phileo. Black, you're loose."

Sirius gave a curt nod, not saying anything. He looked over at Atalanta, who had her fist curled around her quill. Her knuckles were white. He gave her a small smile, not liking that she had given herself a detention, but grateful that he didn't have to spend his second night back in Flitwick's office. Remus Lupin sat as his desk, head in his hands, shaking his hair back and forth.

He wasn't shocked that Atalanta had stood up for Sirius, it wasn't the first time she had. There were so many times that she stood in the crossfire, even if it wasn't her fault. Remus wondered, if he was ever caught doing something, would she stand up for him too?

Aletheia

Aletheia slammed her head against her desk. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had just started their shared Herbology class. Remus had slid into the seat beside her and whispered the news of her sister's detention in her ear.

Sirius was still laughing about Alexis Flint's antlers. 

"Miss Phileo!" Professor Sprout said over the whispering kids. "Are you alright? Whatever did you do that for?" 

Aletheia smiled at the Professor. 

"I'm alright, Professor. I just remembered I forgot something for my next class," Aletheia lied smoothly. Professor Sprout wiped the concern from her face and nodded. Aletheia struggled to concentrate the entire rest of class, thinking about her sister. 

"The first day, Remus," she mumbled angrily as they left the class an hour and a half later. "The first day and my sister already has detention." 

Remus sighed. 

"Yes, I know. She is quite the rebel, isn't she?" He looked at the ground, holding the books to her chest. 

"You still like her," Aletheia said, a hint of pity in her voice. "I thought you 'got over her' during the summer." 

Remus glared at his friend, but she had a partial smile on her face that made it impossible for him to be mad at her. 

"Of course I still like her. She's impossible not to like."

Aletheia let out a deep breath. 

"I understand that feeling." 

Remus put an arm around Aletheia's shoulders and hugged her. 

"And you obviously still like Sirius," he teased, and she turned her face away from him. 

"It's rather difficult to forget about liking someone when they're over everyday to hang out with your sister," she told him. Remus pulled his arm away from her and turned her to face him, a sad look in his eyes. 

"Could you try telling her you like him? She won't know that them hanging out hurts you until-"

"No, Remus," she snapped and continued walking forward. "I will not ruin my sister's friendship with him just because I have a silly little crush. Her happiness means more to me than my own." 

Remus caught her arm. 

"I know that, Al, and maybe that's a problem. You're allowed to think of yourself every now and again-"

"Not when it comes to my sister. She doesn't make friends like you or I. She needs Sirius more than I do." 

Had Aletheia been looking at Remus' face, she may have seen the pain behind his eyes. Because she was right. Atalanta did need Sirius, someone steady and firm that she could lean on and trust to always be by her side. Remus knew this, but he had always hoped that maybe, he could be like that for her, too. 

"I'm going to be late for Potions," Aletheia said and walked forward. "Good luck in Divination. Venus showed up last night so Trelawney is going to be crazier than usual today." 

Remus smiled at her as she walked away. Aletheia walked into the Potions room, uninterested in what her seat partner had to say. She flew threw the exam, just as her sister had (minus the slight cheating that Atalanta divulged in), and turned it in third of the class. She sat with her book open, eyes seeing the words, but not reading them. 

"Miss Phileo, may I see you at the front of the class, please?" Slughorn asked. Aletheia shut her book and shuffled up to the front. 

"Yes, Professor?" 

He lifted up her test to show her the 100% she had earned with a smile on his face. 

"Congratulations, Miss Phileo. Your sister aced this test as well." Aletheia scowled for a brief second. "I want to invite you to join a little party I have for some of my best students. You are one of those students. Would you like to be apart of it?" 

Aletheia smiled, pride swelling in her chest. She'd heard of the Slug Club from some of her older friends. She had always dreamed of being apart of the club. She nodded quickly. 

"I would like that very much, Sir," she said, trying to keep her excitement level. Slughorn grinned and clapped his hands together, distracting the rest of the kids in the class. 

"Great! Our first dinner will be this Saturday, if you would come by my office with your sister. We will eat at 7," he told her. 

"Yes, Sir. Thank you so much, Sir." 

"No, Miss Phileo, thank you." 

Aletheia went back to her seat, trying to stop beaming. She opened her book, yet she still could not read it. She twirled her lavender colored hair around her finger, trying to stop smiling. Her smile stuck throughout dinner, until she caught sight of her sister. 

"Ata!" She called, her eyebrows narrowed. She saw Atalanta swallow. 

"I'll be right there," she told her one Slytherin friend, who walked over to their table alone. Atalanta approached Aletheia, whose arms were crossed. Atalanta wasn't scared of anything...except her sister. Aletheia was a sweet girl, with a gentle heart, but when she was angry, there was no escaping her wrath. 

"Yes, Al?" 

"Remus tells me you got detention on the first day of school." 

"The little snitch!" 

"He was right to tell me." The fire in Aletheia's eyes faded and she took Atalanta's hands in hers. "I thought we talked about this, Ata. You can't be so irresponsible, otherwise-"

"Father might bring me home for good, I know, I know," Atalanta said, rolling her eyes. Aletheia squeezed her hands. 

"No, you obviously don't. If you understood, you'd know that it meant no more classes here, no more Hogsmeade trips, no more Quidditch, no more pranks or jokes or tricks, no more Marauders, no more James or Peter or Remus or Sirius until the summer. We'd be apart from them for most of the year, Ata, don't you see?" 

"What do you mean 'we'? I'd be the one stuck at home, not you." 

"You seem to be under the impression that I would come back here without you." 

Atalanta, suddenly overcome by emotions she didn't want to have, took her hands away from her sister and stood. 

"We'll talk about this more," Aletheia said, turning back to her food and her friends. Atalanta walked away, one hand on her churning stomach. Aletheia watched her sit beside her friend and no eat a single thing the entire night. 

_______

What? I actually wrote another chapter?? Finally??

Well, I had some inspiration from a new reader I guess, so that's a thing. Anywho, here's a one chapter with a little angst or whatever. To be frank, I have no idea where this story is going but I'll keep writing it until I run out of ideas. So thanks for starting this journey with me. 

Dedicated to @atalantaiscool because she's awesome and I love her name. 

Have a great day my lovelies.