Partnering Up

[Athena Zhefarovich]

For the first time in a long time, Athena was actually happy to be back at school. She still was going to miss her family terribly, but she had something to look forward to this year. Over the summer, the teen had received an owl in the mail stating that she had been named one of the Slytherin prefects. Along with it came a shiny badge that the blonde had taken no time in showing to her father, sister, brother and whoever else in her family would look at it. Athena Zhefarovich was proud as could be with herself for earning an honor that her brother had held before her. Her father and sister had also been prefects, though not for Slytherin house. Only the briefest thought that she might have been named because she was related to the Head of House had entered her consciousness, but she quickly dismissed it knowing that Professor Styx (even during the holiday she couldn’t think of him differently)was often hardest on his own family members. No, Athena had earned this honor for being a model Slytherin. She was a proud pureblood after all. Sitting at the Slytherin table with her fellow housemates, Athena had looked around and noted that Zayne Baros had also been named prefect. It was a good choice. She didn’t know him exceptionally well but they had been in classes together for five years now and she knew he was a pureblood as well. Along with the shiny badge came some additional responsibilities and Athena left her common room, badge attached to her robes to perform one of them.

Not bothering to pay much attention to the name that was listed alongside her own, Athena could not recall who she was supposed to be patrolling with. She just knew that it wasn’t a Slytherin, which was a shame. The time would have gone by faster had she been partnered with someone from her own house. Certain things could not be helped, however, and the leggy blonde knew that she would simply have to deal with whoever it was that turned up to do the patrol with her. The Slytherin tried to recall all of the things that had been discussed during the initial prefect’s meeting but found it difficult because she hadn’t been paying all that much attention. She had allowed her mind to wander, choosing to glance to see who all were prefects. There were some surprising choices among the fifth years. That bird watcher boy was one of them as was the boy who was dubbed ‘the hugger’ from Gryffindor. Her cousins being named were not much of a surprise though she had no clue who the other Hufflepuff was. Athena tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and slowly made her way up the steps to the fifth floor corridor. Her silver eyes glanced up the corridor as she walked to the door of the Transfiguration classroom where she had been told to meet with her ‘partner.’ She didn’t recognize anyone in particular, but that meant little. Athena really only knew the people in her year and in her house. She hoped the other person had been paying more attention and would know that they were meant to partner together.

 

[Aphrodite Romanes]

Aphrodite Snow gently ran a few fingers through her golden blonde. She knew she needed to start getting ready soon. Tonight it was her duty to patrol the hallways with another Prefect. Even if she would much rather spend her time doing other things tonight, she knew she that as a Prefect this was her duty. So for now the other things could wait. ”I’ve got to go for a little bit. I’ll see you later, mmkay?” Aphrodite told her friends as she stood up from the Gryffindor table that sat in the middle of the room. It was dinner time so the hall was packed with students who were currently eating or chatting amongst one another. Aphrodite tried to eat a little herself, but only ended up being able to get a couple bites of potato down before she decided she wasn’t hungry anymore. Her appetite had been sucking the past couple of days so it didn’t really come as a surprise to her. Her friends muttered a meek goodbye as Aphrodite’s long legs carried her away from the table. On the way out of the Great Hall Aphrodite caught site of boyfriend. Sadly, she probably wouldn’t be able to say goodnight to him due to her Prefect duties. Unless he was also going to be patrolling or something. Aphrodite waved to him and then blew a kiss in his direction. Poor guy. Hopefully he didn’t mind her having to be away. If she could stay with him then she totally would. The Professor’s purposely must have made sure he wasn’t the Prefect she was paired up with. If he was she doubted either of them would get their job done successfully. Aphrodite was sure they all knew better than that. There was actually quite a bit of couples that had become Prefects together. At the latest meeting there were couples everywhere. Unless some of them weren’t couples. But they more than certainly looked like they were. Aphrodite passed by a flock of students and began to head up the stairs. She was supposed to meet the other Prefect on the Fifth Floor Corridor. Aphrodite was pretty sure that they were supposed to meet outside the Transfiguration Classroom or something. If not then she was in trouble.

Aphrodite finally managed to make it up to the Fifth Floor Corridor. She continued on until she noticed the girl standing in front of the Transfiguration Classroom. Athena Zhefarovich. That was the person she was supposed to be patrolling with today. Aphrodite barely knew the girl other than the fact that she was in Slytherin and that she had a million cousins attending here. Aphrodite didn’t have anything against her though. Not when she barely knew who she was. . ”You’re Athena, right? We’re supposed to be patrolling the hallways together or something of the sort.” Aphrodite asked softly as she cocked her head to the side and looked at the girl sweetly. She figured that they weren’t really going to interact. Or maybe they would. But there was no use in being mean or rude to someone she was going to spend the next couple of hours with. A part of Aphrodite hoped that the girl would just stay quiet and do what she was supposed to do instead of doing what most Slytherins tended to do with people like Aphrodite. Yes she was Part-Veela. But it wasn’t like she asked to be born like this. It got pretty old hearing people tell her that she was a Half-Breed. Aphrodite awaited patiently for the other girl to do or say something.
​

<i></i>

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena hated waiting for people. She found it awkward to just stand around with no real purpose, which was why she usually arrived to places just on time. Arriving too early meant that she just had too long to wait and wonder if the person wasn’t going to show up. Turning as she heard her name, Athena came face to face with another blonde. “Yes, I’m Athena” she said warily before she listened to the rest of what the girl said. The girl was just as tall as she was, perhaps a smidge taller but that was where the similarities ended. Athena’s silver eyes were in sharp contrast to the girl’s blue ones and Athena was less curvy than the girl. She recognized her from classes and even knew her name, but she wasn’t friendly with the Gryffindor girl, partly because she was a Gryffindor and partly because she was a part-veela. Athena didn’t normally make a habit of befriending such people. Still, she would have no choice but to interact with her for the next few hours as they were forced to patrol together. The Slytherin wondered if she had been assigned to work with Aphrodite to avoid her working with her boyfriend. There seemed to be a lot of couples among the prefects and she had the feeling that not much patrolling would be done if any of those pairings were put together.

“Should we get started then?” she asked in a bored manner, her arms crossing over her chest as she waited to hear the rest of what Aphrodite would say. The sooner they started the sooner that Athena would be able to get out of Aphrodite’s company. She didn’t want to remain in the girl’s company for any longer than was necessary. The Slytherin glanced at the girl’s face, her silver eyes taking in the other girl’s sweet expression. Then, Athena turned to glance down the hall to where there were actually students milling around. Perhaps there would be some action over there. “You’re a Snow, right?” she asked, jumping quickly to a new subject. She was sure she had heard the girl’s surname said in several of the classes they shared. Without waiting for a reply, she then quickly added, ”Are you related to Theodore?” She knew that Theodore was one of her brother’s friends, though why her brother befriended someone like him was beyond her. Sure, she thought he was good-looking, but weren’t all veelas? That was part of their thing, she thought to herself. It still didn’t make him, or Aphrodite, any less unpure in her opinion. Hoping that the girl could walk and talk at the same time, Athena took a step towards the group of students down the hall.

 

[Aphrodite Romanes]

"I guess so." Aphrodite stated softly as her lips curled up into another soft smile. It was easy for her to see that Athena wasn't very happy to see her. But Aphrodite was used to that kind of behavior from people like her. Pure Bloods, or those raised around them. Funny part was, Aphrodite came from a family full of them. However, she wound up with the short end of the stick. But because of this she knew on a first hand account what it was like to be raised in a family that was against others due to their blood. It never made much sense because of the Veela heritage in the family, but that did little to stop anyone. Aphrodite figured there was little she could do or say to change Athena's opinion either. Bot if she was raised up to hate like that. "Yeah. I'm a Snow." Aphrodite admitted. It wasn't a secret or anything, but people assumed her to be a certain way because of her family. Which was a little bit silly. Theodore and Alyssa left behind a legacy of good and bad opinions. Ones that Aphrodite and her siblings were still trying their best to face. When asked about Theodore, Aphrodite smirked softly. Not many people actually chose to talk about her brother these days. Especially not after the things he's done. Then again, Athena's family was pretty close with Theodore. Or so Aphrodite thought. "He's my older brother. Do you know him at all?" Aphrodite hadn't seen him in awhile. But she figured he was doing pretty well. Chances were that he was still as lazy and moody as ever. His poor wife probably had to put up with him much more than she probably wanted to. Theodore was what inspired Aphrodite to make sure that she never attempted to marry someone who liked to sleep as much as her brother did.

"Look, I know you're probably not that happy about getting paired up with me....of all people. But, if you could just avoid any bird or half-breed jokes...I'd really appreciate it." Aphrodite finally stated. She could tell that Athena wasn't happy about being paired with her. Why would someone want to be stuck with not only a half-breed, but probably one of the most vain human beings to exist? Aphrodite hated being harsh about herself, but it was true. She knew it was. Aphrodite tried to think of something to distract herself and Athena, before the blonde got any ideas on way to ruin Aphrodite's confidence. "So um...did your brother and Ariah ever get married? I heard a lot of the other students talking about them. Especially after that article that came out." In a way, she felt bad that poor Leviathan had to have an article written about him. It was doubtful that either of them had a kid yet, but still, even someone like him didn't deserve it. Aphrodite hoped that this would get Athena to step out of her shell a little bit and even possibly keep from insulting her. It was hard to tell how people were going to be around her.​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena’s silver eyes glanced around the hall as she listened to Aphrodite speak. It wasn’t until she asked if Athena knew Theodore that Athena actually looked at her once more. It was an odd question to ask. Obviously, you nitwit she thought to herself. Why else would she ask about him? “He is friends with my brother” she stated simply. In truth, she didn’t know Theodore all that well other than as her brother’s friend. When she was younger, she thought he was really cute, but that was when she thought he was a pureblood. After she’d found out he was part-veela, she’d understood why he was so attractive and that had easily lessened her slight ‘crush’ on him. As the conversation moved on, Athena narrowed her eyes at the word ‘look.’ Even when Aphrodite attempted to move on with the conversation, Athena remained in the defensive position she had been in with her arms under her chest. Still, she answered the girl’s question, if only to ensure that no more rumors about her brother and his wife would be passed. She had no idea either of them was so popular that they were still being talked about even though they had graduated a year ago. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought that Aphrodite was asking because she was interested in Leviathan. She knew the girl had a boyfriend though, a sixth year from Ravenclaw.

“Yes. They are quite happily married” she answered quickly, her eyes rolling slightly. Sometimes, they were so annoying with how in love they were. Athena knew that she’d jump at the chance to be that in love though. It was only jealousy that made her find couples sickening. Athena hadn’t really been interested in anyone at the school. Most of the students were halfbloods and the pureblooded guys were either dating someone or not her type at all. And, blood definitely did matter in her eyes. Why would she waste her time and energy with anyone else? The earlier comments had annoyed her though and she found herself coming back to it. “Believe it or not, I had no intention of making any jokes towards you.” she stated, her annoyance in her voice. I had no intention of talking to you at all, if I could help it she added silently in her head. Her silver eyes looked right into the girl’s clear blue ones. “I’d just like to get this patrol over with, if you don’t mind” she called over her shoulder as she began to walk away and towards the group of students that now seemed to be huddled together looking at something. No doubt it was something that they didn’t want the prefects or any professors to see. She figured Aphrodite would follow if she wanted to.