Days Go By

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena glanced around at her cousin's home, an impressed look on her face. It was nothing in comparison to Zhefarovich Manor or even her home, but it was nice and large. And certainly Hades. Her cousin had invited her to his home in the past, but Athena had always been busy and unable to take her cousin's offer. It wasn't like she had been doing anything important. The opposite was true actually. It was only recently that Athena realized just how long it had been since she'd spent any time with her cousin. They were the same age and had grown up spending time with each other in the Manor, and they'd received their tattoos at almost the same time.

Ascending the steps, the blonde shifted the box in her hand so that it was leaning on her hip, and she reached her manicured hand to ring the bell. Inside the home, she could hear the buzzing sound. With a smirk, she pushed the button some more in quick succession. She knew it would annoy her cousin, which was exactly why she was doing it. Hopefully, Mylie would have a better sense of humor about it, if she was home. Athena did not know his cousin's girlfriend very well, but if she could deal with Hades, she had to be some sort of saint. Taking her hand off the buzzer, Athena grabbed the box with both hands again and waited for the door to open.

 

[Hades Styx II]

It felt weird to be living in New Zealand, even now. His home was cold, but not as cold as he would have liked it. Hades Styx the Second was alone in the house with the newest addition. Mylie, his love, was out of the house right now and over at her parents' house. He refused to go there for a good reason. Her dad was overprotective, even though Hades knocked his daughter up. Hades Styx the Third was born on October 31st, 2037. And today, he was finally going to show off his baby to his more distant family. Mainly, Athena. He wanted her to see what he made so he invited her over. Mylie was okay with it, which was good that she had no qualms with his family members. Hades fastened his lip ring in, and heard the cry of his proudest son. However, not long after that, he heard the doorbell. He quickly gave his child a bottle before hurrying down the stairs and to the front door. He realized it would have been quicker to just turn into a bat and soar down, but it was too late for that.

Opening the front door, Hades welcomed the appeared of his cousin. "Come in, come in, Athena." He was a little out of breath, and heard no sounds of crying from above. Good. His son was going to be a year old soon, and he didn't know how to really handle that. Then again, he was just glad that the pregnant Mylie phase was over. "Mylie is over at her parents' house and I have the day off today from the Ministry." He rolled his eyes as he said that. He hated the Ministry, but it was a job. He'd love to be in the same business as his father. Hades had a lot of crime under his belt, but it slowed down a lot since he met Etoile and settled down. Then again, he did get rid of someone for Kalif once upon a time. Staged it as a muggle crime, but that was only tales he heard from Hades himself.​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena shifted the box once more before giving her cousin an awkward hug and stepping into the home. The Zhefarovich woman glanced around, admiring her cousin's space. It was silent in the home and the woman couldn't help but wonder if she'd come for nothing. Perhaps the baby wasn't even home. Soon enough, all was explained and Athena found herself nodding her head. She chuckled a bit as Hades spoke of having the day off from the Ministry. "How very adult of you..." she stated softly, the smirk on her face and mischievous glance in her eye showing that she was joking with her cousin. "Really though, cousin, I would never have expected you to go so...so..." she trailed off, not able to think of the right word but knowing that he'd get it.

Turning her attention to the box, Athena held it out to the man. "A gift" she announced, "for the baby." The box shook slightly and Athena tapped it to get the movement to stop. The woman had thought long and hard on this gift and she'd even spent her own money on it. Athena had taken to working in her brother's shop whenever she needed extra cash. It was a replica of a baby Hungarian horntail dragon that was enchanted to fly and breathe smoke.

Out of Character:

Over a month? I'm so sorry. Harass me next time.

 

[Hades Styx II]

Hades tensed up, naturally, when Athena gave him a hug. It was awkward, but it was still something that he was not really used to when it came down to family. He closed the door behind him, and observed that Athena was looking around the place. He used to keep it cold in here, but since the birth of the baby, he had to make it a little warmer, which was normal to anyone else. Athena noted on how adult he was, before he smirked, even more when she said that she would have never expected him to go so, and she couldn't finish. He allowed a couple words to escape his thoughts, to finish hers, "Noble, good, boring?" Hades allowed that to sink in, before he said, "I do have extracurricular activities that some might find unsettling at my work, but I only wanted to be an Obliviator to best my father in memory erasing skills."

The dark wizard reached out and held the box that Athena gave to him. It was a gift for his son. He gave a subtle smirk, seeing as smiling was never his forte. He thought about opening it, but decided against it. Not until they were in the baby's room. "I assume you are dying to see my son." He motioned with his free hand for Athena to follow him. He walked further into the house, and up the stairs. It definitely did not take him long to enter the baby's room and set the gift down on the diaper changing table. He approached the crib and noticed that Hades Styx III was sleeping soundly. His skin was pale and his hair was as dark as his. "We don't know if he inherited Mylie's special gift, and likely won't for a long time."​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena smirked at her cousin. "Sure. Let's go with those words" she stated. Those weren't exactly the words that she had been thinking of, but they suited well. As Hades continued speaking, she nodded her head. It was good to know that he hadn't gone totally soft. The woman and her cousin were well aware of the truths and rumors that circulated about their family. There were some very 'good' family members as well, but they both knew what they thought of those members. Athena herself couldn't understand how anyone who carried the same surname as her could associate with muggleborns, let alone muggles. She herself didn't associate with those family members much. It was true that she had befriended a non-pureblood friend, but her friend had been different. She was a Slytherin through and through, for one. "Have you?" she asked, wondering if her cousin felt as if he had bested his father's skills already.

The blonde followed her cousin deeper into the home, still surprised to hear no noise. Perhaps her young cousin was asleep. Entering his nursery, Athena realized that he was. She quietly made her way to his crib, gripping the edge of it as she looked down at the boy. Already, he closely resembled his father, his dark hair contrasting nicely with his pale skin. Athena glanced up, confusion in her silver eyes lasting for a brief moment. "Oh" she replied as she recalled that Mylie was a metamorphagus. "That would be a useful ability to have. He'd be the first in the family, no?" Athena mused as she took a step back from the crib. "He looks just like you." She didn't want to disturb the sleeping boy. "Open the gift" she urged her cousin with a grin.

 

[Hades Styx II]

If anyone really knew Hades, they would know that the words that he said were definitely not true about him. He was anything but boring. He could work hard when he desired, and that might be why he was placed in Hufflepuff. He was driven, determined, but he wasn't sly and cunning. He was rather blunt and upfront about his plans. She asked if he had surpassed his father with the memory skills yet, and that made him think. Had he yet? He was unsure. Hades looked down before he shrugged, "I haven't erased someone's memory yet, but with muggles as stupid as they are, I don't imagine it will take too long." He knew that his father really screwed with Jaken's memory, and made him lose too much, but it worked out in the end. He, on the other hand, wanted to be perfect through and through. That would be a good accomplishment for him. Plus, he was already with someone that he appreciated right now too. His dad did not have that when he was his son's age.

"He definitely would be the first. We have the parselmouth gene somewhere inside out genetic code, but never a metamorphmagus. I hope that he still looks like me, gift or not," Hades had to add the last part, since with that gene, could make someone look like anyone they wanted. Hades gave one small pet to his son's head, before hearing the urge that Athena was giving him. He looked toward his cousin and gave her one curt nod. He walked over to the gift, and opened it. A chuckled his lips. The little dragon took flight immediately, and soared overhead, breathing smoke as it did so. "Thanks, Athena. I hope that little Hades enjoys it. We named it after me and my father. Suppose a tradition has started."​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena wandered around the baby's room as she listened to her cousin. "That would be great" she agreed with a curt nod. Athena knew that the family prided itself on its purity, so having such traits in the bloodline could be taken either way. The few parselmouths in the family were thought of rather highly. She wasn't sure what the older people in the family would think of a metamorphmagi in the family. She thought it sounded interesting.

It was still crazy to her that Hades was a parent. Next, it would be Kaia. Athena was certain of that. Kaia and her boyfriend had been together since school days just like Hades and his now-wife. It was only Athena who had been prevented from dating anyone. It wasn't like she was dating anyone at the moment either. Turning to her cousin quickly, Athena smirked. "Did I tell you that my father almost killed a man in our house the other night?" It might have been slight exaggeration with anyone else's family, but for their family it was in the realm of possibility.

 

[Hades Styx II]

Hades figured that no matter what, they would still have a grand pureblood with them. That was the main thing for Hades. It was not something that one could have every day. He just hoped that his cousin's future children would be pure as well. "He will be loved, no matter the case." Hades continued to stroke the dark head of hair on the child's head. He was growing, and he was already showing some authority and power just by his temper tantrums alone. Hades was just one of those that wanted to be able to settle down, but not have to worry about what was going to happen to his family.

He stopped stroking his son's hair when Athena mentioned that her father almost killed a man on their house the other night. Hades could not imagine Athena bringing home a man in her father's house. Everyone knew that Axel was a trained killer. He was basically the Zhefarovich family assassin. Right next to his own dad. "Um, well, was he robbing the place or trying to steal his daughter's purity, so to speak?" Hades smirked before he folded his arms across his chest, dodging the flying dragon while doing so.​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena made a face at her cousin. “Ugh, not you too!” she grumbled, wondering when her purity, as everyone in her family liked to put it, had become something to be shielded so carefully and spoken of so openly. It was downright embarrassing and made Athena quite grumpy. Athena almost wished that the dragon’s tail would have smacked the smug look from her cousin’s face, but she knew that it wasn’t him she was mad at. She was just annoyed about how…involved her family suddenly was when it came to her and guys. Her father and brother had always been overly involved and protective of her, and while she had liked it in the past, now it was just annoying and suffocating.

“I don’t know what you’ve been told but we were just eating” she added in a very defensive tone. “That’s all. Now, I’ve got everyone assuming that Drakon was trying to steal away some precious thing that I’m supposed to protect” she rolled her eyes, her aggravation returning to her as she recalled the events of the following days after that night. “We’re barely even friends” Athena added as if that should convince anyone who thought they were thinking of sleeping together.

 

[Hades Styx II]

Hades only laughed when Athena made a face at him, and said not him too. He was just laughing at her face, and knowing that he had no filter. But, this was his cousin, so he was pretty much open to just about any sort of comment. "Nah, I don't care what you do. Or don't do. Just don't be stupid about it." He knew that she would not lower herself to a mudblood. He trusted that she was going to hold herself in seriously, and not be like some people were. "I wasn't told anything. But you have a good judge of character. After all, you and I are close. That alone proves that you are smart to choose your crowd." Hades shrugged his shoulders, while looking at the flying dragon. He hoped that it would not try to blow smoke around him. He would not tolerate that. Although, it would be fun to turn into a bat and chase it around. Hades smirked while he brought his eyes to Athena, "That's what they all say. Never mind that. Let's leave the son and I'll make us some lunch while we catch up."​

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Fin​

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