Even the flounder and the cod think we're rather odd, but we care not.

DAY THREE

It was another long day spent at the beach. To his dismay, however, Kendall was still as fair as ever, if not rosier. He sneered at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, as if there was real offence to take at that. The boy checked the clock and was surprised to discover that he had spent an hour in the bathroom. Well, there was the bath, and then there was the very long time taken to study himself in the mirror. He scowled again at his reflection before reaching for his clothes.

The evening air was breezy. In fact, the wind had really picked up in its speed. Kendall walked eagerly, led by a scantily-clad and supposedly Hawaiian girl, as she guided them to a site on the beach that was set up for the Hawaiian Luau. She bent deliberately lower as she showed the boy his seat, and he smirked in response to the offer. The light that shone for them all came from fire lit from the candle stakes that were littered all around the area.

There was a comfortable number of diners, since the event was pre-arranged and certainly more expensive than the typical ones due to the quality of the food. Fresh seafood was to be served, but Kendall eyed the Hula girls, despite the fact that he was looking forward to the quality lobsters earlier. The boy grinned and settled into his seat, admiring the theme of the dinner before turning to look for an appraising look on Athena's face, if there was any to be found. The same woman returned to place two massive coconut shells on the table for the couple. Kendall sipped at the drink through a straw before deciding that it was hardly his cup of tea.

Soon, tanned, buffed, and big-sized men streamed out to the space that was clearly identified as the entertainment ground. Seemingly dressed in mere straws and leaves, they began to yell out unrecognisable words soon after one had blown at a mammoth seashell horn. Kendall's excitement clearly died down as the men began to do a dance that was unmistakeably authentic and traditional Hawaiian. A salad containing salmon was served, and he turned to it instead for amusement, picking out the fish and leaving the vegetables, as is his typical habit.

When crayfish soup was served along with jellyfish bruschetta, the performers consisted of male, female, and children, as the dance seemed to unfold what looked to explain the indigenous way of life in ancient Hawaii. Well, ancient enough for that all to still be rampant anyway. The first of main courses was served, with lobster and the end of the increasingly boring performance then making way for the next: crab and a pageant of Hula girls, who strolled to centre-stage in their straw skirts and coconut shells that provided them with some sense of modesty. This, of course, was the highlight of the Luau, for the boy.

"Ain't that something?" He turned to Athena and grinned. "What a treat," he returned his attention to the girls before turning back. "Correct me if I'm wrong ... although you know I'm just being polite, of course ..." He smirked. "I'm biased, you see. Seeing that you are mine, after all." He shrugged and displayed a smug grin on his face. "But you'll look far, far more attractive in that than all of them." He smirked again. "Now that's an idea, isn't it?" He winked, then leaned close to Athena's ear.

"Let's have fun, tonight." As much as Kendall was enjoying his holiday, the lack of intimacy had begun to frustrate him. The girl was barely interested, which left the boy in somewhat of a rut in his ego, something of which couldn't even be used to begin to describe the lack of satisfaction in another area. Still, he played the patient card. He liked his challenges. However, there was certainly a limit to everything. He was inching towards desperation. It was time to actively pursue what he believed was rightfully what he deserved anyway.

The third day of the holiday dawned elegantly over the lush horizon, draping a warm, golden light through the windows of the villa-cum-mansion that Athena and Kendall had taken up residence in the day before. She woke, again, earlier than he had, her rousing caused by the smell of food that was wafting through the home, drifting around every corner and filling each room with the pungent scent of sweet bread and sour fruit seeping into the pastry of the pie it had been baked into. She disentangled herself from Kendall, his reluctant sleepy state making him cling for a few moments before releasing her and tossing himself over onto his left side. Athena couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at him, vaguely amused, before rising herself, her own fatigue making her movements slightly laboured but once she was on her feet, her toes looping into the soft carpet, she could recover her bearings and figure out where she went next.

The smell that seeped into the room beneath the door dictated her next moves, though. The scent of cooking fruit and rising bread upsetting what she was realising to be the very delicate equilibrium of her stomach; and so she bolted for the bathroom where anything that had yet to be digested was deposited into the sink. Athena had been intelligent enough (or, rather, quick enough) to throw up some silencing charms and so once her stomach was empty, she drew herself a bath and allowed herself to languish there for a while, weaving her wand through the air to dampen the smells in order to keep her stomach settled. She rose half an hour later, dressing swiftly before peeking out through the crack in the door to softly inhale the scent beyond which had, thankfully, miraculously disappeared. Athena made sure to cast a quick cleansing spell of the whole room before leaving and when she did leave, passed a sleeping Kendall and headed to the kitchen where she dined on a small bowl of raw fruit that seemed to sit comfortably in her stomach – for however long it was designed to stay there; and it didn’t stay long.

Athena’s nausea did not disperse throughout the day and she continued to feel sickly despite looking the picture of health. She’d taken a potion that Ira had given her a prescription for: a morning sickness potion that worked marginally but definitely not enough for what Athena wanted. She’d owled him once the feeling of health subsided, complaining that it did not last as long as she wished. He’d responded promptly, telling her she’d just have to deal with it until she got home – something that did not sit well with the pregnant woman. She had no choice but to deal with it, though, and slowly warmed to Ira’s reasoning. He’d promised to see her the first Monday she returned and apologised for being able to do nothing, plying her with the promise to book out the full morning with her to do scans and all that other medical, pre-natal guff that needed doing.

The young couple spent the day on the beach, Athena’s time spent mostly in the water, allowing the water to fold over her body and soothe her. When she removed herself from the water she collapsed onto one of the sun beds and opened one of the books she’d brought with her. It was mostly lazy day with Kendall being a little easier to deal with than usual. She had tanned slightly; her pale skin pinking with what she felt sure was burn. The early evening was spent tending to these pink patches, applying to her own skin the same goop that she’d slapped over Kendall’s rosy appearance. This left them both smelling a cross between Aloe Vera and coconut which really did nothing for Athena’s gag-reflex but she managed to cope. It was, however, the dinner that really did it for her.

Athena’s eyes widened at the sight of the scantily-clad dressed young women and cast a look down at her own attire. It was a pale blue-green dress that was strapless and longer in the back than it was in the front. It did not do much for her figure, this she had realised earlier, but it fit kindly to her rapidly changing body which was becoming, little bit little, plumper. Along with the change in appearance came the altering temperament that was giving her more grief than the lack of steadiness in her stomach. At the sight of them she immediately felt defensive, a reaction that sprung from a sudden, consuming feeling of inadequacy. Athena tried to mix it in with an irrational flash of irritation and anger but failed miserably, resulting in the further depression of her previously buoyant mood.

Sitting up a little straighter, Athena cast her eyes about the scene before her. Her opinion was one that had yet to be formed but from the twist and turn in her stomach, she got the impression that her son had already formed his. He didn’t seem to be in the mood for the insanity of what was before his mother. Both had found that they held a certain amount of distaste for the baking sun and the itchy sand that seemed to be everywhere. Athena peered hesitantly at the drink that had been placed before her and she placed her lips around the straw, pretending to take a drink before quickly sitting back, flicking her eyes to a lantern that was being laid siege to by moths. She kept her gaze fixed on that for a few moments, determined not to look at the hula girls but mostly because the erratic movement of the creatures seemed to make the little wriggling nightmare within her a little happier.

The food was not something Athena wanted to indulge in and found herself failing to keep the nausea at bay. She cast a look at Kendall and bit her lip a little. She couldn’t help but once again feel more than a little bit inadequate and though she tried to quash that feeling, she was sure it was a mix of the nausea too. Athena exhaled hesitantly and reached for the glass of water that had been placed on their table after someone had rightly realised that she wasn’t going to enjoy the coconut. Athena sipped at it and returned it to the table top not a moment later as Kendall leaned over to talk to her. She was unable to wipe the look of incredulity off of her face when he spoke and instead brushed it off, reaching for a piece of cucumber that was in the salad before the bowl was scooped up and whisked away.

“Is this not fun?” She questioned idly, casting a glance out at the dancers. “I think it’s rather interesting, providing you’re into this sort of thing.” And Athena wasn’t about to pretend she was. “I’m actually not feeling too great currently,” She confessed, looking down at her hands. “Do you think we could go back?”

The hula girls continued to sway to the music, getting livelier by the minute, what with the encouraging clapping done by some of the diners, mostly men. While Kendall had almost begun to join them earlier, the tone in Athena's voice unsettled him. He let his hands fall, one of which went for hers. The synchronised but gentle beating of drums entered the scene, as the hula girls were joined by the buff men that had performed that strange dance earlier. As they beat against the drums that hung around their necks, the girls had their hips move along with the rhythm, more vigorously now. Kendall stole another look before quickly returning his attention to Athena, in what would at best be a look of mixed feelings displayed on his face. His eyes, however, studied her intently.

Then, without questions, he nodded. One look at the girl's plate was sufficient evidence to convince Kendall of the authenticity of her words. And, as usual, when it mattered, he was at a loss for words. He continued to nod, then released her hand to take her elbow gently, pushing it up a little as he stood up and encouraged her do so with his hand. Almost immediately, the couple were attended to by the same girl who was apparently assigned to take care of their dinner for the Luau. Her overwrought expression was sharply ignored by Kendall, who was increasingly alarmed by what he thought to be an inexplicable look on Athena's face that spelt trouble more than it did the typical resentment she liked to throw at him.


"We're done." His voice was firm, and he did not look back at the now confuddled waitress again. With a hand at Athena's waist, he led her away from the glow of the fires, as the sound of Hawaiian music began to fade away with distance, although it was still audible from where the couple had walked to. And then, with a scowl, he stopped. "What's wrong?" It almost sounded like a tantrum rising. "I was just enjoying the girls. At least they seemed happy to be there!" And with that, he bit his bottom lip. It might not have been the sharpest thing to say, but he was frustrated, caught between concern over what he did not know was troubling the girl, and slightly resentful to the fact that Athena didn't match his enthusiasm for the last couple of days. Really, though, he was once again annoyed by his worries about the girl.

"I ..." He began, but he couldn't apologise. Apologies and Kendall Rookwood didn't complement each other after all. "Look, okay, fine. Let's go then. Let's go back." With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair and watched Athena as he waited to follow after her if she walked.

Like his mother, the boy did not seem to enjoy functions in which he was forced to hang about for long periods of time. Athena liked food and was quite happy to sit and snack doing very little as she did so for long periods of time but she did not enjoy the disturbance of the luau. She rose from her seat at Kendall’s direction and made sure to tuck it in after herself. The boy continued to wriggle within her, his disenchantment with the luau folding into delight at the prospect of leaving. She bit her lip a little as she reached for Kendall and placed her hand on his forearm, hoping to settle him and herself both. Her touch did little to sway his mood, however, and she couldn’t help but feel slightly worried by his tone of voice as he spoke to the waitress. Regardless though, she allowed herself to be lead away from the dinner by him.

Athena seemed to relax a little once there was distance put between her and the luau. She did not escape the guilt at making Kendall leave and she was, bizarrely enough, effectively made to feel even worse by the way the boy rounded on her, grumbling his dismay at having to leave like a child. But of course, in part he still was a child – what did Athena expect, really? The girl lowered her eyes to the ground and wrung her hands together, weighing up her options as to whether it was worth telling him or not. She was well aware just how unobservant he was but even so, surely he’d seen something – inferred even the tiniest of things. But no, clearly he had not, and so Athena just stood there opposite him, staring blankly at his face as it screwed up, caught between acting like an incensed adult and a petulant child.

“Well I’m sorry,” Athena spat back, her anger rising to meet his. “Next time remind me to satisfy your whims. I’d hate to drag you away from your hedonism. Please, do carry on. I can remove myself.” Athena gestured back to the luau, the light of which seemed to spread for miles, even to where they were stood where it rubbed across their faces, bathing them in the flattering, golden glow. Athena crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at Kendall, her resolve of anger slowly crumbling into sadness and slight frustration. “Go back, Kendall,” Athena sighed. “It’s fine. I know the way.”

And with that said, Athena trudged up the short slope to throw herself back onto the more open, residential path where she stopped and knelt momentarily to remove the sandals from her aching feet. With those in her hands, she wrapped her arms back around her and began to walk back up towards the villa.

The breeze continued to ruffle his hair. Kendall started to heat up, despite the wind. "My whims?!" He glared at Athena. "I'm not a child!" And as he stared hard at the girl, the waves grew louder and louder, if only because of the fierce silence that had ensued between the couple. "You know what? I will." He shifted a foot, looked at Athena, before stomping it slightly. "At least they'll be happy to have me back with them!" And then he turned and stomped off.

*

The breeze that had picked up earlier in the evening had calmed itself. Night had fallen completely, and the temperature fell along with it. Fortunately for the boy that was still at the beach, the gentle breeze made the slight chill more comfortable than chilly. Kendall laughed, planted a kiss on the cheek of the female waitress that had served him and Athena earlier, and handed her a rather generous tip. She continued to have her arm firmly around his torso, as if pleased to have been chosen as company, what with the absence of the female companion that the boy had with him earlier. She wasn't chosen, however. Kendall had settled for her in his fit of anger. Yet, she did nothing to quell the thoughts that were solely on Athena. Lea, or so she said her name was, giggled and gazed at him, reaching up to dab at the bit of Corona that had dribbled accidentally from his lips when he laughed.

When Lea failed to remove her hand swiftly after that act, Kendall stopped and turned, finding the petite girl gazing hopefully at him. He frowned. She began to rise up on tip-toes, and then he realised what she wanted. Whether it was for him or for his galleonsmoney, he didn't care. With a hand, he removed her grasp of his torso, then shook his head. While he would have typically gladly taken up whatever she seemed to be edging towards for, in that moment, he was appalled. Lea looked at him now with a face that was surely meant to extract sympathy. Kendall looked away, bringing the last of his drink to his lips, then handing the bottle back to the girl. She was, after all, an assigned waitress. And that was all she was going to be. She had been hopeful, what with the flirting and the dancing and the music and the alcohol and the touches.

"Goodnight." Then, quickly turning, Kendall began to break into a run away from the girl. His slippers were abandoned as he let his feet dig into the sand with every step of the run. By the time he entered the villa, complete silence greeted him. Biting his lower lip, he made his way to the shower at the pool. There, stripping himself of the redundancy of clothes, he cleaned himself of the beach and the sand and the sun lotion from the earlier part of the day. As soon as he was done, and dry, Kendall made his way quietly up the stairs, and into the bedroom, only to find a sleeping Athena. A stream of moonlight penetrated the room, and Kendall stood at the doorway and watched the breathing motions of the girl he had realised he might actually love. Caught in the arms of Lea, he had wanted nothing more than to be back in the arms of Athena. However, now that he was back, he wasn't sure if he was welcomed.

With a sigh, Kendall began to stroll into the bedroom. His bare bum touched the bed first, before he brought his legs up too, slipping them under the covers. Then, with as much remorse as a Rookwood can muster, he edged towards the sleeping form of Athena, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and snuggled into the back of her. He sniffed at the smell of her hair, smirked, then drifted off into sleep.

*

DAY FOUR

He was woken up by what seemed to be incessant chirping of birds in the balcony. But the bed was empty. With a groan, Kendall flipped back to his side. He could remember how the night ended, still. The clarity of it all attacked in his mind as soon as he was conscious. He could only hope that Athena had simmered from his tantrums from the night before. Violently ruffling through his hair in frustration, he then sat up before heading to the bathroom. As soon as he was clothed, Kendall made his way down the steps, and into the dining area.

"Bacon! I smell bacon!" Sounding pretentiously overjoyed, the boy sped to a seat near Athena, as he attempted to resume familiarity with the girl. "Fruits?!" He looked at her choice of breakfast. "Why's it always fruits?!" He pushed the plate of bacon closer to the girl. "Here, real food." He grinned, then began to have a go at his scrambled eggs. Kendall chewed longer than usual, stealing glances at Athena as he did so. "Today's the highlight of why we're here for!" He began again, announcing. "But it's a surprise, of course. You'll love it." Unabashedly confident, he reached for a juice and drank it.

The villa was cold and unwelcoming when she finally stepped over the threshold after spending some time fumbling with the set of keys she’d put in her clutch. She was thoughtful enough to leave a spare key on the top of the door frame but it took her a few moments of thought, weighing up her options as to whether he was better off left outside for the night or inside with her. Athena relented in the end and slipped the key up onto the doorframe after opening the front door. It was once she passed through that she realised how quiet the place was without him, with only the sound of the ocean to accompany her. The lamps sprung into life as she moved through the house but no amount of light could make up for the lack of life within the structure. She felt the need to creep, almost, through the villa; as if even the slightest noise would disturb someone, though she knew that there was no one else in the house bar herself and slumbering elves.

Part of her had regretted leaving, her anxiety about his resulting actions making her wonder whether she should return to join him or not. But then, the trip back to the villa had taken her long enough – enough time for him to settle into the company of another or multiple women. Athena trod carefully into the softly lit front room which overlooked the pool and ocean beyond. She set her shoes down on the stone behind the sofa and then moved across the stone to the patio where, upon treading out, the smell of the sea filled her nostrils and lungs. She breathed in the soothing scent as if it were her lifeline, taking in deep gulps of the air in order to settle both her stomach and her temperament. With one in breath in her lungs, on the exhale she dropped herself down onto one of the deck chairs. Her eyes stared out morosely from their sockets as they grew moist with tears and finally, as a sob wrenched from her chest, Athena allowed her tears to overflow.

She realised quite quickly that there was no use crying about her problems, that she was better off going down and telling him exactly what was going on. She didn’t honestly blame him. He didn’t understand. He had yet to really put two and two together and she couldn’t really blame him for acting the way he did; he was Kendall – what did she honestly expect. But Athena had no real desire to go back down to the luau. All she really wanted to do was get something decent to eat and go to bed. Her stomach rumbled in agreement with the former and so after drying her eyes, Athena rose and re-entered the house where she dined on crackers with soft cheese spread over the top, eating slowly in order for her stomach to adjust and feel good about keeping the food down. After washing up, Athena then stripped down, slipped into her nightgown and crawled under the covers, curling up and releasing herself willingly into dreamland.

She did hear him come in, though – Kendall wasn’t exactly being all that quiet. She felt the bed shift a little under his weight and couldn’t help but feel relieved as he slung his arm around her and snuggled close. Athena lifted the covers in her fatigued state and drew them up close around their bodies, rolling over after a moment to bring herself in close to his chest, the sound of his heartbeat strong against his ribcage. It was then that she surrendered herself to sleep for the second time, her body curled around his, a certain amount of forgiveness radiating from her being. And yet, it’s somewhat ironic. Had she been any less hormonal she could have stayed angry and vengeful for hours; but really all she wanted, and certainly all their son wanted, was for everything to be okay – and it was, in whatever unstable fashion their kind of ‘okay’ actually was.

Day was born out of night. The temperature climbed as the sun did, light being thrown across the landscape, an explosion of colour and warmth from an infinite source. The salt of the sea wafted in on the gentle breeze that wrapped around the island, brushing against every surface and the faces of those still deep within slumber land. Once again the idyll was everything and more that her imagination could conjure and it was truly a pleasure to wake and set her gaze on the world. There was a certain amount of perfection about the scene. From the orange light that dipped in through the windows to the weary young woman slowly waking, to the man she quietly loved asleep, his body tucked around hers. It was a scene she knew was destined to be broken, though, but she hoped she could view it, at least for a moment.

Athena turned onto her opposing side to face Kendall. Her hand found his cheek and her thumb rubbed across his cheekbone as she took him in, drinking in his appearance as if she had never before opened her eyes and really looked at him. He was peaceful, like this. Peaceful in a way she could not readily describe with coherent language. His lips were plump and pressed gently together, opening intermittently to gulp in a breath when his long nose could not afford his lungs the oxygen they needed. He was burnt a little, she noticed; caught by the sun across his cheeks and nose. His eyes were masked by his pale eyelids, having been protected from the sun by the varying pairs of sunglasses he’d brought with him. His eyelashes were long for a man, and seemed to tickle his cheeks as he slept. His hair was a mop atop his head, dipping into his face while the rest spread over the pillows. She brushed small, stubborn locks of it off of his face and allowed her hand to smooth down over his cheek, feeling the slight roughness of his jaw where stubble had formed over the course of then night.

A smile grazed the young woman’s lips as she observed her lover. She understood the fact that they were not ‘in love’, per se. Not like the foolish Gryffindors that fell in and out of the mysterious power like no tomorrow and treated it as if it were a commodity in anything but short supply. It wasn’t desperately unrequited like the type of affection the poor Hufflepuffs experienced. It seemed to almost fit them like it would a pair of curious Ravenclaws who were daunted and confused by the prospect, desperately befuddled by the lack of factual reading there was on the subject. But yet, it seemed to have happened in a rather Slytherin way. It was craftily done with very little said between them on the subject. Yet, Athena seemed to recognise there was something there. There couldn’t not be. She’d observed Kendall under heavily lidded eyes when he’d come to her during her incarceration – he’d been afraid; afraid of Azkaban, afraid of Dementors. He would not have done that, she knew, if he did not hold so much as a scrap of affection for her.

Athena leaned forward and pressed a gentle flutter of a kiss on his forehead. She brought herself back again and observed him with careful eyes, her lips parting to whisper, “What have you done to me, Rookwood?” Her tone was jovial, quiet but full of mirth. She pressed a second kiss to his face, though this time just to the side of his lips, and then pulled away from him, slipping out from the bed and rising to meet the sunshine that seemed to immediately rise to greet her just as she had done to it. Athena turned after a moment and pulled the sheets back around Kendall, leaning over him for a moment, her fingers brushing against his cheek, before pulling away and making for the bathroom. Her stomach felt settled, encouragingly, as did her anxiety. She was not exactly bursting with optimism but it was there and it felt stronger than it had in a very long time.

After showering and taking the vitamins and such that Ira had encouraged her to start the day with, Athena, wrapped in a towel, wandered back into the bedroom where she stood in front of their wardrobe, peering in hoping that something would jump out at her. At first she picked a pair of shorts and teamed it with a blouse and pair of red shoes that she didn’t actually realise she owned. But after wandering around for a bit she became sticky and felt confined within both the blouse and the shorts. She returned to the bedroom twenty minutes after dressing, shooting an amused look in Kendall’s direction upon finding that the man was still wrapped up in the covers despite having rolled over onto his belly, his face now buried in the pillows.

After extracting her body from the clothes she’d squeezed into before, Athena dug out a dress that had been previously too big for her though she had been instructed to take some bigger clothes with her “just in case” as Ira had said. She slid the dress over her head and found that, much to her delight; it fit but was not overwhelmingly tight on her body and around her middle. It was lightweight and flattering, the only set back being that she’d either have to stick to the shade or apply goodness only knows how much sun cream; and knowing Kendall’s itinerary, it would probably be the latter. Then again, from the look of him, she wouldn’t have to worry about going anywhere for a while yet.

The House Elves were quick to supply a wide range of food at her request, neither of them entirely sure what it was Athena wanted; and to be frank, she wasn’t dead set on a meal either. Athena took breakfast on the patio where the table had been enlarged and a miniature banquet had been set out for herself and Kendall. An umbrella had been put up over her chair so that she remained out of the sunshine and the Elves hovered impatiently as she looked over the array of foods that the table was laden with. Her stomach turned at the smell of some of it but in the end took fruit from the bowls that had been set in the middle of the table. It was safe, she thought, to eat that rather than the sausage or eggs that had been set out for them. The smell, admittedly, was beginning to get to her but she could cope with it by sitting as far away from the food as possible, allowing the smell of the sea to block out the rest of it.

Kendall joined her around quarter past the hour, fresh from the shower. Athena heard his exclamation before she saw him and was unable to stifle a laugh at his boyishness. She turned a little in her seat so she was half facing him and the sea which she had been watching despite her mind being miles away. In her hand she held a half eaten peach, the other hand had been left to rest over her stomach where, using a small amount of magic, she could feel the near-constant wriggling of her son within her. It was mostly magic, Ira had informed her, rumbling and churning within her; some of it hers, most of it rapidly becoming his. He, Ira had explained, was experiencing the rapid growth of a magical core which often proved fatal within some magical children or resulted in the birth of Squibs if the production of magic was at a rate which made obsolete. Ira had eased Athena’s immediate worry with the reassurance that her awareness of him was all the more positive and that his feed on her magic was stabilising his own.

“Good Morning,” She responded, her smile widening her lips and lifting the sides upwards. “Sleep well?”

Athena looked down at her plate when Kendall exclaimed his dismay at her choice of food. Granted, it was a diet sparse in terms of protein but she had her reasons – the main one being that as soon as meat so much as touched her nose, her stomach reacted in kind with acid climbing her throat. She couldn’t help but feel vaguely amused at Kendall. He was big on meat, as were most Pureblood men. It was something left over from the medieval period when meat was considered incredibly important to a rich man’s diet. Rare was it for them to indulge in anything even remotely healthy for them. She was blighted with similar traits, including her father’s insatiable sweet tooth. Thankfully the fruit was quelling much of that appetite. She didn’t think the sweetness of a dessert would last so much as half an hour in her stomach.

“It’s healthy!” She retorted, moving her hand so the peach was close to his face. “It won’t kill you, Kendall,” She told him, her smile widening as she shook the peach in front of his face. “It’s a friendly peach. Friendly, friendly peach. Have a bite!”

Now, make no mistake: bacon was not Athena’s favourite thing in the world. Later on she would come to develop an intense craving for the meat that would leave their son – who would eventually be named Augustus – to hate the stuff with a passion similar to his mother’s hatred for all things Muggle-related that would last into his late teens where, upon graduating from Hogwarts, he would come to love the taste of bacon and onions together. Kendall, however, loved the stuff and when he forced it towards Athena, she was half tempted to indulge him and shovel a few forkfuls into her mouth. The breeze hit the top of it just right though, lifting the smell up to her nose, its aroma pungent and undiluted by the smell of the sea. Her stomach turned.

Athena bolted from her chair, moving as quickly as her legs could carry her as she abandoned her peach and her hands found her mouth. She thundered into the kitchen just as time, the delicacy of the situation long gone as she reached the sink, the contents of her stomach emptying into the steel basin. Her eyes speckled with tears as she grew distraught with herself, knowing that she had no choice but to resign herself to another day of nausea. She couldn’t bear it, she concluded, and realised exactly what the books had told her: this was going to last a while. Athena’s hand groped for the knob to turn the water on and twisted it, lifting her head away as the jets of water swept a mixture of fruit and stomach acid down the drain.

Her legs seemed to fail her then, her muscles releasing themselves from their tense stance which sent her to the floor. Her hands found the kitchen unit so as to brace her fall but she still landed with a bump of her bum against the tile. Her lolling head found a place to rest against the wood of the cabinet and her arms came around her middle as she listened to the sound of the flowing water. Athena’s eyes flickered shut and exhaled heavily, her throat newly red raw. She didn’t think she could lie to Kendall now. Not that she had done before – she just hadn’t exactly told him the truth. Such a reaction to food was not characteristic of her and she knew well enough that she couldn’t cite food poisoning. No, he’d have to know; though, granted, she wasn’t entirely sure whether she was prepared for his reaction. Then again, any reaction was a positive reaction as long as it wasn’t outright rejection. Athena didn’t have a Plan B. There was only Plan A: and that was him.

To his relief, Athena was in far better spirits than one would have typically anticipated of her. He had undoubtedly been worried about the prospect of facing her wrath; or worse, her cold shoulder. He knew her after all, and fairly well at that. It was difficult to proclaim how much he truly knew her. She was, after all, Athena Goyle. Her oddly jovial mood caught him by surprise. And in that moment, he doubted the usual confidence he would have thrown around whenever people talked about the girl, effecting a sort of smugness to the familiarity he thought himself privileged to possess. Kendall cocked his head to a side and watched as she spoke to him with what was hardly any sort of bitterness. He grinned, pleasure barely hidden at the state of things.

The boy shook his head and looked away in disgust at the offer of fruit, enjoying the taste of egg, butter, milk, and pepper on his tongue before going for the bacon again. But before Kendall could make another remark about the marvels of meat over fruits, the girl had bolted. His head shot to the left as his eyes followed after the swift figure of Athena. Alarmed, he had his mouth opened, as the remnants of scrambled egg in his mouth were allowed one last sight of the world in the boy's state of shock. Then, he began to chew again, despite quickly placing the knife and fork down at the side of the plate.

Kendall ignored the fact that he had knocked a House Elf over in his rush to get from his seat to the kitchen. To begin with, he never really had much regard for the creatures. By the time he got to the kitchen, Athena was bent at the sink, watching the contents of it being washed down. With hesitation now, he approached the girl apprehensively, watching her for a move. Then it came. In seconds, Kendall was crouched behind Athena, supporting her back even as he felt her weight lean against the door of the wooden cabinet instead. One look at the girl's face was enough to add further alarm to his very confuddled state of mind. The critical lack of colour was something he never saw before; or at least, never got a chance to see before.

"Thena?" It was shaky now. With a voice filled with the sort of emotions in chaos inside of him, Kendall reached both hands and held the girl by her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "Sh-shall we get a Healer?" He swallowed. Certainly, he had never had to deal with any sort of situations like this before. What made it worse was undoubtedly the fact that the person was Athena. He couldn't deal with her in this state. Yet, he couldn't turn and leave either. "The one who tends to us is top-notch. Father never uses anyone else." Kendall was speaking really quickly now, as if a delay would prove fatal. "I'll owl him." He made to get up and leave.

Kendall’s presence was far more reassuring in those moments than it had ever been before. The blood had drained from her face, leaving her cheeks pale but still pink from the sun. Her breath escaped her lips in short, heavy pants, her chest heaving despite the irregularity of her breathing. Her eyes lifted to meet Kendall’s gaze and she smiled weakly at him. Her hands curled around the handles of the cabinet and she heaved herself to her feet. Her hands shakily rose and found the cabinet where she removed a glass from the shelf and filled it with water. She took deep gulps from the glass, filling it twice over in order to clear her mouth. She then dropped the glass into the basin and turned to look at Kendall.

Athena crossed the room, strength having returned in her legs, and grasped Kendall’s hand, tugging at it to prevent him from leaving. She brought herself close to him but could not bear to look up for fear of his reaction. She squeezed his hand and glanced up at him through her lashes momentarily before dropping her gaze once more to the tailed floor. Athena bit her lip, hesitant to press on as the words formed behind her lips. She knew what had to be said. He would not take well, she knew, to being told by a Healer the fact at hand rather than Athena. She knew that there was no use worrying about something that had yet to be tried and tested. She had not told him but she’d been worrying over his reaction long enough. It was time, she figured, time he knew.

“I’ve been to see a Healer, Kendall.” Athena told him slowly. “And...I’m n-not dying. I’m...it’s actually the opposite, I guess, in some ways.” Athena sighed heavily. “Do you remember that day...at Elijah’s house? When we...” Athena trailed off, suddenly embarrassed. “I’m...I’m pregnant, Kendall.”

Kendall watched Athena take in the gulps of water, and uncharacteristically felt a pang of guilt (or was it stupidity?), that he hadn't thought of doing that first before she had to help herself at it. He remembered the trip to Azkaban, as if her time there was to be blamed for the condition of her current state. DIspleasure was the least of his response to the thought. He was furious, fuming at the state that Azkaban had reduced the girl to. It was almost as if he was reliving the day, etched in the earliest of his memories, of his father being helped into the Rookwood library by his brothers. Grandfather had a smile on his face that almost made the event seem like one of his proudest moments. Yet, when four year old Kendall was presented to his father, the boy was appalled, as one would upon a first introduction to the man one was to call father, only to face a man shrivelled in both appearance and spirit. Augustus had regained a body, frame, and spirit, that he could be proud of now. Still, the impact of that first meeting never could leave the nightmares in the boy's head.

Kendall didn't speak, as much as he was on the keen path to raging against the people who were responsible for landing the girl in Azkaban. Instead, he watched and listened, supporting Athena's weight as her body involuntarily demanded for it. He frowned in confusion, midway. And then, he released her hands and began to back off. His head began a slow shake, as his expression was unsurprisingly one of incredulity. Kendall continued to take extremely slow steps back and away from the girl. Words, however, were not provided. Then, a rather hard knock in the head, as Kendall found himself backed up against the large refrigerator door. His head stopped shaking, but he still had his eyes firmly fixed on Athena, as if imploring her, even as he didn't know how to face the truth. He parted his lips, but still, couldn't say anything. Kendall blinked, before reaching both hands to bury his face into them. Quickly, though, he rubbed his palms against his cheeks.

It was barely funny, but unwaveringly clichéd, that memories of his life began to flash past him, in his mind. Well, mostly, they were all about the mischiefs of his teenage life. The freedom, the carelessness, the cruelty, the girls. Even as Kendall had begun to ease into the idea of a possible engagement with Athena, he really took his time. Progress was painfully slow, and it was as it should be, to him. Unfortunately, though, it would seem that time was running out; not even, it had run out. She was pregnant. What did this mean, for him?

A sudden gnaw at his insides reminded him of the words conveyed to him during one of the dinners with most of the other Rookwood males. The topic of Athena's capture and sentence had been the highlight during that week. It concerned the family, after all. What with Augustus and his discussion with Raghnall about finally ascertaining a suitable woman for the youngest Rookwood boy. Kendall had seemed nonchalant about the matter. It was, to him, a dare made by Athena that he couldn't back away from because of simple pride issues. He certainly didn't take any of it as seriously as the two older Rookwoods. Initially, Augustus had been amused by it, almost admiring the promise displayed by the girl. Raghnall simply nodded along, uncertain about his verdict on the matter. It was only after a couple of days that Thaddeus brought fresh news of the matter. With a smug look on his face, he had announced what was the supposed truth about the girl. She was illegitimate. The pain on Augustus' face, embarrassed by his son in front of his father, was sheer pleasure for the oldest son of Raghnall.

Raghanll was quick to call off whatever plans of engagement that Athena Goyle was to have with Kendall. The boy had gone silent throughout the entire dinner. Yet, a stir of anger began to develop as Athena was discussed at the dinner table, as if she now was a filthy disease. He said nothing, when told that the intention to unite the two families was to be firmly dissolved. Raghnall talked down on the reputation of the Goyles, speaking of it like a taint in the Pureblood Elite community. News of Athena's assumed death brought relief to the oldest Rookwood man. Little did he know that the boy was to see the girl alive soon after, let alone imagine that the two was to be spotted in Hawaii on holiday on Rookwood expense.

It was truly odd how the universe could play with people like pawns. Even Kendall Rookwood wasn't spared. He had come out of his resistance to take to the idea of an eventual union with Athena, despite the sure rejection from the family. Yet, this was to be another bombshell. She was pregnant. He replayed the fact over and over in his head. And it was his. Was it? Kendall continued to eye Athena. It had to be. Even he ached at the thought of the girl sleeping with another man apart from him. He wasn't sure he could, however, deal with the fact that there was a child in the girl that belonged to him too. He could almost curse his reckless attitude to contraceptives. Yet, did he really want to not have the baby, now that he knew that it existed? Kendall sank to the floor, too. He needed to sit, and think. With his arms propped against his knees, the boy continued to eye the girl. He began to shake his head once more.

"H-" He shut his eyes before opening them again. "H-How long have you known this?" He swallowed. "W-" He bit his lower lip. "What're you going to about it?" As if it was just her consequence to deal with. "It's too fast ... It's ..." He shook his head. "I'm not ..."

"No."

"No, I mean ..."

"He's mine?" A new note of uncertain curiosity now entered his voice.

History, it seemed, had a rather uncomfortable way of repeating itself; and this was a situation similar to that her mother had found herself in not seventeen years before, one that Athena had been adamant she not replicate.

That year, summer had not come and the crops had wilted and died under the torrents of rain and the unrelenting wind that laid siege to Britain, determined to bring the country to its knees. Its people remained defiant, remaining brave in the face of adversity. It was almost as soon as their official summer drew to a close and what was to be autumn began to open that the snow began to fall. It blanked the country in a vision of white and reduced everything it touched to a frozen replica of its former self. It was through this seemingly never ending winter that a young woman trudged, her body braced against the violent winds and lashings of snow that had declared her its enemy. There was only one destination she had in mind and one she would endeavour to reach no matter the cost to her: the home of the man she had come to love, the one whose child was swollen heavy within her.

Gregory Goyle was the second son of Odysseus Goyle, a young man who held much promise for both the family and the Wizarding World. After the Second Wizarding War he disentangled himself from the Death Eaters and retreated to central Europe where he lingered until his early twenties when he was expected home at the request of his father who had managed to find his son an eligible Pureblood woman he could make an honest wife out of. His time in Europe had changed Gregory Goyle. He was no longer the bumbling, horrendously unintelligent oaf that he had been during his Hogwarts years. He spent much of his time near places of education, even at one point sitting many of his N.E.W.T’s so as to gain the qualifications he’d missed out on due to his rather primitive mindset at Hogwarts.

When he returned he was immediately betrothed to a woman named Apolline Stanbury – a French woman with a not-really-French-name. Gregory Goyle did not hold the same affection for her that he did another young witch who he had been fervently in love with since his fourth or fifth year though he did not care to remember which. Her name was Cassandra Holloway. She was a Pureblood, much to his delight, and a Ravenclaw. She was a highly intelligent witch with a biting wit that even left Draco Malfoy lost for words though neither of them would ever admit to it either way. They’d been acquainted since they were children and she had been disdainful of him for as long as they had known each other. It was only when they crossed paths again in the Ministry one sweltering June morning, Gregory on the way to a job interview, she doing some work for the Department of Law and Enforcement that they realised how each other had changed. It was over a series of lunches and dinners that they became rather affectionate with each other, allowing Gregory to forget Apolline and once again feel the burn of love and desire he’d thought he’d squashed and forgotten about. It was addictive, he realised early on – the feelings and her in her entirety.

It was unknown when exactly Cassandra became his mistress but they fell into it as if it was the most natural thing in the world, as if they were only ever so supposed to be together. They spent many years courting in secret, Gregory finding every excuse possible to not marry Apolline. It was in the spring of 2008 that Odysseus found out about Cassandra, however, and his wife, Penelope, was quick to end the relationship, telling Cassandra firmly that she was better off staying away from their son. This did not stop them, though, and despite being warned time and time again, Gregory had no intention of leaving the woman he’d been in love with since he’d been a swarthy teenager. They remained together until June when Odysseus declared that Gregory and Apolline would be marrying in the August of that year. By then, though, the damage was already done – Cassandra had fallen pregnant.

She found herself in the closing weeks of December, increasingly desperate. It was the desperation to find a future for herself and her child that took her to the manor the Goyle family shared. It was that desperation that made her legs weak and forced her to beg on her hands and knees – a grown woman – for him to keep her, to love her or at the very least, look after their child. He refused. It was a conversation that more or less sealed the fate of Cassandra Holloway, a conversation that left her beaten and broken fated for the agony of life or the release of death. As it was, the universe was sympathetic. The woman that had come between the lovers was lingering in the hallway during their exchange, listening attentively to Cassandra’s desires for the child within her. That same woman was the one that would take the child from the doorstep on that bitter February morning, the child only a few weeks old, and explain calmly to Gregory Goyle that this was his daughter and it was his job to do right by her, to stand by her and to love and protect her as her mother had asked of him.

Her mother’s fate was one that could have been prevented. She was a woman ravaged by love and destroyed by heartbreak and that was a woman her daughter was determined not to be. It was probably why she was stronger, harsher and more defiant. She was not exempt from her mother’s tendencies. Foolishly, like her mother she’d not produced a second plan that would save herself and her child. She, like her mother had, decided to rely on the man she had grown to love.

Athena’s eyes widened as Kendall backed away from her and reflexively she too backed away, her bum hitting the cabinet, the force of which making her wobbly legs buckle and send her spiralling back to the floor. Athena felt her eyes begin to water as she looked at him desperately, suddenly looking more like her mother than she had ever done before. She drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, seizing herself tightly as if it were the only way she could keep herself together. She lowered her head and rested her forehead against her knees, her breath coming out in short quick gasps as she fought to keep her emotions under control, an attempt that was largely in vain.

Lifting her gaze, Athena looked at Kendall through her wet eyelashes. She reached up to dab at her eyes but only succeeded in spreading the rapidly appearing tears across her cheeks. She didn’t know how she was supposed to explain anything to him. She knew so little herself, she only understood what Apolline had told her with an incredibly bitterness Athena didn’t think anyone could replicate. The child was around seven weeks old, this Athena knew for sure, and slowly but surely she was becoming ever more womanly in shape as her body twisted and morphed into a figure that could take on such a glorious task of housing life as it invents itself.

“I...not...not long.” She managed to whisper, staring at the tiles between them as if they were totally unbridgeable, as if her words had spread oceans between them. “My cousin. He’s a Healer. He specialises in maternity. He...I wrote to him. I knew something was not right, you know? Something had changed. He showed me, confirmed everything I was already sure I knew. He explained what was sort of, I don’t know, happening to be I suppose. I...” Athena stopped short and stared at Kendall, bug eyed. “What am I...” Athena’s eyes seemed to water again on reflex but the tone of Kendall’s voice cut her deeper than the words. He was panicking but there was an edge to it that made her heart speed up, an edge that made her worry he didn’t want anything to do with her anymore.

Athena pressed forward onto her hands and knees and crept hesitantly forward, crossing the room so that she was sat before Kendall. Her fingers reached out hesitantly for his hand and curled around his larger hand, her grip loose but prepped for if she would need to apply pressure to make him stay. She brought his hand towards her chest and she dropped her head a little to press a kiss into his palm. Athena smiled a little despite herself and inhaled, sniffling more than she was breathing.

“I like the assumption,” She murmured with a slight laugh that died before it could really grow in her chest. “He’s yours, Kendall. He, yes. Your son. He’s tiny; right now -- the size of a grape. He’s cheeky though; cheeky like his dad. I only noticed something was wrong because my magic changed, Kendall. It wasn’t the Itch. Azkaban cured me of that. Malnourishment. Kind of stops it from surviving, you know? It changed. It was different. It wasn’t stronger or weaker but something about it changed. It was kind of playful, almost. But some of it...it didn’t feel like it was mine. It felt as if something was moving parallel with it. He’s so strong, Kendall. He’s ours.” Athena bit her lip. “I mean, if you want him to be. I can quite easily disappear. It’s sort of convenient when the whole world thinks you’re dead.”