Epeolatry - ✔️

Seventeen

"Continuing the life,
even in the most painful circumstances of life,
is a true victory of life."
- ReEd

And so life continued.

Athene only allowed herself a day to wallow in her self pity before she threw herself into her work. In the week following the 'incident', the girl had cleaned every inch of her store, rearranged some of the bookshelves, and ordered several new books. Keeping busy seemed to lighten the burden on her heart, so she put everything into it. And before she knew it, she hadn't seen or heard from Charlie for two weeks.

"I can't believe that he hasn't even tried," Athene mumbled into the pillow cradled in her arms, "I mean, I thought that this was important?"

"Do you want him to try?" Enya was perched at the top of Athene's bed. "You told him to go when he came here last time."

"I know," she groaned a guttural groan. This wasn't the first time that the two had had this conversation and it always ended the same way. Athene had sent him away, but with the way that Charlie had stayed away, she couldn't help but think that maybe he really didn't care about this relationship. "Maybe I should just move on."

This was new and Enya didn't quite know what to say. Of course, she hated seeing Athene this way, but there was a little part of her that knew something was off. She had seen the way that Charlie had looked at the girl sitting in front of her and that didn't just change when he went back to work. Or maybe it did; Enya didn't have much experience with long-distance relationships. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know!" The pillow in Athene's arms flew into the air. "That's why I'm asking you."

"I can't tell you what to do," Enya put a comforting hand on Athene's shoulder.

"That doesn't help." When Athene had come to the realization that she loved Charlie, that feeling had embedded itself into her very soul. That had been the first time that she had ever been sure about her feelings to someone and it hadn't changed when she saw that woman draped over Charlie. Love really is blind.

"Look," Enya grabbed Athene's face and forced her to look at her, "My advice to you would be to talk to him. Maybe there really was something that you missed."

Something that I missed? The scene that Athene had seen was pretty self explanatory, but, now, a seed of doubt was planted in her head. Maybe Charlie had been telling the truth when he had asked to explain. But she couldn't seek him out again. She had tried that and it had ended in such an explosive manner. Therefore, the only logical thing to do was to wait for him to come to her. The plan was perfect in Athene's mind. She shouldn't be the one that came groveling back because she hadn't done anything wrong. But, like with all great plans, things don't always go accordingly.

"Did you get those books about the Muggle Wars?" Bathsheba waddled over to the front desk with a smile on her face. Today, she was dressed in a sparkling blue robe with a matching hat and a pair of glasses.

Athene looked up from her registry and smiled at the older woman. She was most likely one of her last customers of the day. "They came in two days ago," Athene dropped her quill and led the older witch to the Muggle section, "You picked some good books."

Bathsheba's ability to choose books always blew her mind. She never discriminated between Muggle authors and Magical authors and she always knew what she wanted when she came in. The old witch was Athene's only patron who never looked at the catalog when ordering books.

The bookshelves containing Muggle histories were quite numerous despite their lack of use. Athene had had an obsession with Muggles after she had found out her father had lived the first 11 years of his life as one. So, naturally, when she opened her shop, she purchased as many Muggle books as her budget allowed. And that was also why she had no problem ordering more of their books.

"Thank you, darling," the old witch smiled a toothless smile, "I sense that you might be needed elsewhere." Confusion enveloped Athene's mind. There was no one else in the store. And then the bell rang, and catastrophe entered Athene's little bookshop.

Rita Skeeter waltzed through the tiny book store in style. She was alone, thankfully not being tailed by her trusty enchanted quill. Her hips swayed, and she, of course, acted like she owned the place. When she spotted Athene in the back of the bookshop, her face lit up in grin, though she couldn't quite hide the disgust in her eyes when she saw the Muggle books behind Athene.

"Rita," Athene attempted a smile, but it looked more like a grimace than anything else, "What are you doing here?"

The two walked away from the bookshelves and towards the little alcove in the back. "I need to enlist your help again, my most darling niece."

"Flattery will not work," Athene grumbled, "I would rather not attend any more events at Hogwarts."

Rita dared to laugh, "There's been an incident, and I have an interview. It will not be anywhere near Hogwarts." Rita glanced behind Athene and stared at something - or someone - with distaste. "It appears that you have a needy customer."

Athene spun on her heals, smiling gratefully at Bathsheba, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I did," the old witch's tone was clipped and unfriendly, and her eyes were trained on the woman behind Athene. Bathsheba, like much of the British Wizarding Community, had been subject to one of Rita's offending articles. Though it had been a while since the article had been published, Bathsheba made sure that Rita knew of her hatred. When Athene was finished wrapping up Bathsheba's purchase, the woman turned to look Athene in the eyes, "Don't spend too much time in the presence of evil."

The two blood relatives watched in silence as Bathsheba hobbled out of the shop, and Athene pulled out her wand to lock the door behind her. Rita's face was set in a scowl, and her eyes were glued on the door. "I've never liked that woman. She dabbles in matters that shouldn't be touched."

I doubt she likes you very much either. The words would never leave her mouth, but there was a sense of satisfaction that rushed through her at the thought. "What do you want, Rita? I want to get back to my life if you don't mind."

"Your life is so dull," Rita motioned to the shelves of books behind her. "But that's not for me to judge." Rita paused - most likely for dramatic effect, "This assignment I was talking about, it requires a bit of stealth. I need to interview someone in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by those who are familiar with them. Seeing that I am a bit invasive-" Understatement of the century "-I need someone familiar with them to come with me." Rita turned her beady eyes on Athene, "And that's where you come in."

"Who would I know that has any importance to your line of work?" Athene rolled her eyes, "You've already 'interviewed' all of my friends for your invasive articles."

"Not all of them," Rita smiled, "The Weasley's are quite an interesting family, and Arthur has come under fire in the Ministry. It's time that I expose the truth, and you're going to be right there with me."

Author's Note:
I guess Athene will be the one to go to the Weasley's first... How do you think this is going to go?

Question of the Chapter
Chocolate or Vanilla?