ATHENE {remus lupin}

EPILOGUE

1 year later

Athene Black sat in the cave by Shell Cottage with Dora Weasley in her arms. The young witch was only a few months old, but already had bright ginger hair and the same piercing eyes that Fleur did. Athene never thought she'd feel such love for an infant, but Dora had come along and proved her utterly wrong.

 The last year of her life had been somewhat peaceful, her and Remus would bicker like they did before the war, and they lived only ten minutes away from Fleur and Bill, just as Athene had wanted to. Her mother and Andromeda lived together too, not in Malfoy Manor, but in wizarding London, as Theo and Draco had moved into muggle London. Narcissa had wanted her son to continue living with her, but Draco had said he wanted to live with his "best friend," which had made Athene and Fleur giggle, because everyone knew that there was more to it than that.

Athene thought about the people that she'd lost every day, in every bright sky, or happy place that she found, all she saw was Celine and Tonks, and in Dora, she saw Fred, her friends truly were still with her. Ashley Smith and her had written to each other several times in the last year, but neither had ever resulted in a meeting, or a second chance. Remus had urged her to see the witch again, and Fleur had urged her not too. In the end, Athene decided that she had tried enough with Ashley, and that she wouldn't let herself fall back into the same pit of guilt.

Charlie and George ran the joke shop together, although the latter had apparently only just started coming in. Athene spent as much time with George as she could, although they had never had the same closeness which she and Fred had, the witch found herself leaning on George for support more than ever. Charlie had apparently hired a witch who Fleur knew to help him in the shop, and that seemed to have help him get over Ashley.

Molly had told the family that Dorcas, Fred's girlfriend when he died, had also been killed in battle, they were buried near each other, in the woods quite close to Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny lived in the Burrow, still. Athene thought that they would probably feel guilty if they left, and she was glad that Molly was still surrounded by so much family. Hermione and Ron stayed there too, sometimes. But the witch had been working on restoring her parent's memories, which was apparently proving to be extremely difficult, although, in a letter from Ron a week ago, he said they seemed to be close.

"Thinking deep thoughts again, Black?" Fleur asked with a grin as she watched her best friend clutching her child.

"Always, Weasley."

"You got a reply to your letter to that bitch- sorry- Ashley, this morning."

Athene groaned a little and handed Dora to her mother, before taking the letter from Fleur's hands. The French witch left the cave, bouncing Dora on her hip and kissing her head.

"Fleur, wait, actually, it doesn't matter-"

Dear Athene,

Thank you for your last letter, I'm moving next week. Moving to Germany with a muggle man I met at work. I'm not going to pass on my new address, although I know that you can find me should you wish to, but I think that it's time to permanently close this chapter of our lives. You and I will never be like we were before, and that's okay. We need not keep trying. You have your own life now, and I have mine. 

I do not plan on using magic again, and so I have enclosed my wand in this package, I'd like you to keep it safe for me as, when I have children of my own, I am sure that it may come in use if they hold magical blood. I am far more suited to the muggle world than I ever was the wizarding world, I love my work, and I love Christopher. Your work at the ministry sounds interesting, I'm sure Remus appreciates it. Thank you for inviting me to the memorial for the Battle, and I'm sorry that I didn't come, it didn't feel right for me to. Give my thoughts to Remus and my love to Charlie, I'm glad that he's found someone.