Another Year Gone

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara was back home, well her new home since she moved to New Zealand. Her parents were busy trying to find jobs around here since they were now disinterested in continuing with the muggle company in Italy. It would've been a hard choice had they resumed their travelling back and forth. So, they were currently out today, meetings, and the like. Sara had invited Geo over to her house and unfortunately for her her cousin Athena was here too because her parents wanted the two girls to bond or something. The Rey-Martinez twins were always troublesome to the Italian brunette. Not all families had that connection and personally Sara had enough on her plate as it was without having to worry about Athena's constant bickering and criticism. She didn't mind Antonio as much, he was more reserved. Hopefully Geo would understand, though nobody knew that Sara and Athena were related. She was grateful all of her siblings were home and she'd ask Leo or Alessio to keep an eye on their cousin while she spent the day with one of her closest friends. Sara trusted the Hufflepuff. Besides all of that, the Slytherin was really excited to see her again. They didn't spend much time together at school and next year she wanted to change that.​

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo had spent the holidays up until now at Hogwarts, and knew that she would shortly be returning for the remainder. That being said, she was very grateful to have been invited over to see Sara and her family, and she would always appreciate how the Slytherin had welcomed her too that first day they'd met almost two years ago. It seemed a lifetime away now, but she was glad that the pair had remained friends during their time at the school, and she was even more excited they'd be able to have some time together away from the stress of studying.

Dressed in her casual clothes, those that she would save for special occasions when she didn't need to wear her Hufflepuff robes, running gear or pyjamas after a long day studying, she approached the door of her friends house and gave a solid knock against the wood. She hoped they would get a chance to do normal muggle things, which she could understand to come may have seemed baffling, but as a child who'd grown up in an Orphanage before being whisked off to a magical school, Geo wanted to refresh herself with some sense of normality. She had a bright smile on her face as she noticed someone approaching, and she put out her hands ready for her host to be gifted with a little something she'd brought with her for their hospitality.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara was in the living room, trying to tell Athena to stay here while she went to get the door as her friend had probably just arrived. Hopefully, it was her. Sara really didn't feel like spending the day worrying about what her younger so-called cousin would do or say when she met Geo. She gave up, not wanting to leave Geo outside for much longer. She opened the door, grinning as soon as she saw the hufflepuff. "Geo!" Sara exclaimed, pulling her in for a hug, then releasing her to look at her properly. "Come in, come in! How are you?" Sara asked her as they went inside and she closed the door behind her. "Um, would you like to put those things down first?" she nodded towards the object that Geo was holding.​

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

As the door opened Geo was pleased to see her Slytherin friend, glad that she wasn't going to have to deal with any awkward small talk with her parents or older siblings. She gave Sara and hug back, and quickly thrust the package in her hands towards her "This is for you actually" She said, giving her the present. She past her friend, and glanced into the next room, and it took all of the girls effort to keep the smile on her face as she realised who else was here. She hadn't known Sara and Athena were friends, nor that they even knew each other. All Geo knew was that she'd been very disrespectful to Sophie, and while she was a guest in this house and didn't want to show herself up, she hoped Sara could explain what on earth this girl was doing here with them. She glanced to her friend in silence, hoping for an explanation, before turning to look back at the blonde. This was awkward.

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena rolled her eyes at Sara, she couldn't really tell her what to do - Athena was as much of a guest in this house as her friend was, whoever this friend of hers would be. It had to be someone from Hogwarts because who else would it be? Maybe Athena could befriend this friend of her cousin's. She rolled her eyes again at her, and stuck out her tongue. Athena had the right to speak to whoever she wanted, that certainly wasn't Sara's decision. She wanted to answer the door just to annoy the older brunette but didn't as she noticed her other cousin Leo approach the two girls. Athena liked Leo, he was nice to her. And he didn't boss her around. He let her do what she wanted, or at least, what Athena found to be fun. She was bored, there was nothing to do here and she'd rather be at home or with her own friends. Where was Jasmine when she needed her?

Athena scoffed as she heard two voices, one of them very familiar and the other...also familiar. Athena put on her best smile as they walked in the room and as soon as she made eye contact with the familiar face her smile vanished. But because Sara was there, Athena shrugged and smirked at the older girl - did her cousin seriously have to be friends with this brat? She didn't need more people to be against her, Athena always got the upper hand in situations. Now Sara had backup if she needed it. By the expression on the girl's face though it didn't seem as if she knew Athena would be here. Oh. Didn't she know Sara was related to her? Well, this was going to be interesting. "Hi!" Athena said mockingly, as subtly as she could so that her older cousin wouldn't suspect much. "I'm Athena, and you are?"

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara smiled again at Geo as they talked while walking inside the house, Sara momentarily forgetting that she had relatives in the house. It was easy to when she was with her friends. Her eyes widened a little as Geo told her that what she'd asked about was actually for her and her family. "You didn't have to. Thank you," she hugged Geo again and took the gift before placing it in a safe place. Then she followed Geo into the living room and she was about to say something else when she realised Geo was staring at someone. Oh, her. Sara quickly gestured towards Athena, "Geo, Athena. Athena, Geo. Can we go now?" she said a little nervously, watching as Athena introduced herself a second time. Geo looked shocked, and Sara couldn't understand why. She didn't know Athena from school did she? Because if the hufflepuff did, then they had a problem. Especially if the younger blonde said something rude about Sara or even worse, one of Geo's other friends. Sara sent a warning look towards Athena as a sign for her to stop talking and leave both girls alone.​

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo barely even registered that Leo was there too, she was too focused on the fact that one of the only student's she disliked was currently in the living room of her friends house. "Geo!" She announced, with just as much enthusiasm as the Slytherin had given to her. Maybe if they could keep up the act that they didn't know one another around Sara, the Hufflepuff could at least get through this trip without doing anything she'd regret. She wanted to walk straight up to the girl and ask her what she was doing, and tell her that if she were to do anything to show up Sara in the way she had Sophie she was going to have more than her grades to worry about next year. Instead Geo continued to force a smile in direction, but she wanted to know why she was here. "So, how you know each other?" She said casually looking between the two students, with a small glance in the direction of Sara's older brother. She'd only met him a couple of times but he seemed laid back enough. Would someone explain to her already what was going on? Surely they weren't actually friends. She was still keen to spend time with her friend, as soon as she knew what exactly Athena was up to.

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena raised an eyebrow when the older girl introduced herself, not that Athena really cared much, but she nodded her head anyway. This surely was getting better by the minute and at least the other blonde didn't rat her out to her cousin. It was still weird for the Slytherin to call her that. Before Sara had a chance to answer - Athena didn't miss how distressed she seemed at this little meeting, she replied. "Oh you didn't know?" She feigned surprise and showed it in her expression, forgetting that Leo was there too, in the same room. "We're cousins," Athena shrugged and folded her arms as if it wasn't a big deal. She glanced at Sara. "I'm surprised Sara didn't say anything. I thought she'd be more open about her family to her friends."

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Okay, Sara was definitely not appreciating this. And why was her brother not doing anything? Maybe Alessio would be better at this than Leo, he was so oblivious sometimes. Or even her sister. Sara sighed, glancing hopelessly between her cousin and her friend. Why was Athena being so careless about this? Oh wait - she didn't care. She was kind of making it a big deal that Sara handn't mentioned her family members who went to Hogwarts. "I'm sorry Geo," she felt the need to apologise. Athena really made her frustrated sometimes. "I didn't know I had cousins in New Zealand until last year," she pointed out. It wasn't something to be so proud about, considering this cousin of hers wasn't being mindful at all.
​

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo looked between them both but was startled to hear that they were actually related. It was even harder for the Hufflepuff to hate Athena now. She didn't want to upset Sara, especially since she'd invited her over, but she hated how arrogant the younger girl was, seemingly enjoying putting them both through the hassle of her presence. "Don't apologise." she said truthfully. She was sure that if Sara had known that the students had known each other, and their history, she would have mentioned it. How was her friend to know that they were enemies? Geo bit her tongue, not wanting to make matter any worse by starting an argument with Sara's cousin there and then, the moment she'd walked through the door. She paused for a moment, wondering how best to handle the situation. Her blood was already boiling just at the sight of her, remembering how she'd treated the Ravenclaw. Without knowing how Sara and her siblings felt towards the girl, she didn't want to risk their friendship. Both Athena and her brother were a nightmare, and one that she didn't want to have to sleep through for any longer than she had to. In a bid to perform reverse psychology on the girl she knew didn't like her either, she piped up eventually, her blue eyes staring straight at the blonde as she said so "Athena, it's no problem at all. Now that you're here I'm sure we can do something together" To emphasise her point, she closed the gap between them, giving the younger girl a hug. To an outsider it would look as though the Hufflepuff really didn't mind her company, and she just hoped that the Slytherin would be the one to leave them alone.