"My brother... Ares, your father... he was a good man!"
Aunt Lowitz's sigh was heavy, almost like a gasp for air. She stared at the photo placed opposite her, furiously wiping at her reddening eyes.
Ares was in the photo too, but only as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. Holding him was a man with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a beaming smile.
There should have been another person in the photo, but that part had been torn away. All that remained was a slender hand, white as snow, resting on Ares's father's shoulder.
"Sigh... But that was also his undoing," Aunt Lowitz sighed heavily again.
She, Ares, and Chris—who had straightened up in her seat—all knew who the missing person in the photo was. Yet, none of the three people at the table mentioned a word about her.
The atmosphere grew heavy and stagnant.
Ares was the first to shake off the gloom. Although he didn't care much for birthdays, he didn't want his birthday dinner to feel like a memorial service.
"Can I start using my fork, Aunt Lowitz? Or do I have to wait until this delicious food turns as hard as rock?"
Ares deliberately put on a frivolous smile to lighten the mood.
"Eat up—Oh, but before that, we should have a toast. It's only proper."
Aunt Lowitz took a deep breath, blew her nose, and looked at Ares affectionately.
"Here's to a long and healthy life for you, Ares—and Chris, you should offer your congratulations too!"
"I hope you become a billionaire, Ares!"
Chris raised her Butterbeer, ignoring her mother's disapproving glare, and spoke in a joking tone.
"Haha, I definitely prefer your toast, Chris. And I wish you a wonderful time at university."
Ares beamed, revealing a gentle and open expression he rarely showed when navigating the wizarding world.
---
As long as one ignored Aunt Lowitz's perpetually stern, lecture-like tone, the overall atmosphere of the dinner was quite delightful.
The family ate and drank, chatting freely about the past and the future.
Of course, there was a small hiccup at the end.
Aunt Lowitz evidently confused the rare, aged whiskey Ares brought out for guests with the cheap, five-pound-per-liter swill she drank at home. This led directly to her passing out on the dining table surrounded by vomit before they even reached dessert.
"Just rest on the sofa, Chris. Let me clean up—Oh, don't touch that broom! That's for flying, not sweeping trash!"
The alcohol content in Butterbeer was lower than in a liqueur chocolate, but unfortunately, the underage Chris had the alcohol tolerance of a house-elf or a goblin. She tossed Ares's Nimbus 2000 aside, whimpering incoherently, and collapsed onto the sofa with a flushed face.
By the time Ares finished cleaning the dining room, carried the unconscious Aunt Lowitz up to the guest room on the second floor, and returned to the living room with two hot drinks, the TV was playing the closing credits of the popular show The Great Humberto.
"Oh, Ares... did I just see things? My mom... looked like she flew up the stairs by herself?"
Ares's cousin was draped over the armrest of the soft sofa. One of her shoes was on the coffee table, and the other was hanging from the chandelier. She blinked blearily at Ares.
"You were definitely seeing things, Chris."
Ares said with a laugh, handing a cup of sobering tea to Chris. He perched on the edge of the coffee table, taking small sips of his own "hot drink."
"Then—then you're really strong, Ares... I mean, my mom weighs at least 200 pounds..."
Chris muttered, taking two sips of the scalding green tea.
The bitterness exploding in her mouth made Chris grimace, but it also significantly sharpened her senses.
Teenagers are naturally curious. Chris struggled to sit up straight, her interest piqued by the bright red drink in Ares's cup.
"What's in your cup, Ares?"
"Mine?"
Ares lowered the cup from his lips. Under the bright lights, he studied the bubbling red liquid in the glass for a moment, then smiled nonchalantly.
"Just my homemade herbal medicine—the stuff in the pot in the kitchen when you came in."
"But wasn't that black?"
"Oh, that's because I added some 'ketchup,'" Ares smiled. "It neutralizes the overly bitter taste and helps shake off fatigue, making me feel refreshed."
"Seems like... like that herbal medicine isn't as useless as Mom says," Chris said, trying to widen her eyes to scrutinize Ares.
"At least, it really did make your dark circles disappear."
After saying this, she let out an inexplicable, melancholy sigh.
"I've relied on it to get through these past few years... But I think I won't need it much longer. I should be able to quit completely soon," Ares said.
He calmly finished the potion in his cup, sip by sip. As he did, the magical aura around him—imperceptible to anyone except those extremely sensitive to magic—gradually stabilized.
"Let's talk about you, Chris."
Setting his cup aside, Ares stood up and hopped lightly to retrieve the slipper from the chandelier, then picked up the other one from the coffee table.
"You're not very happy—Oh, don't try to hide it, Chris. Aside from a few ancient fossils, it's not easy for ordinary people to hide their thoughts from me."
"You're bluffing, Ares."
The girl was still tipsy, but she giggled.
Ares sat down next to his cousin and helped her put her shoes back on.
"You can deny it all you want, Chris. I can always ask Aunt Lowitz—and while I'm at it, maybe chat with her about that blonde boy from the next town over back home... What was his name again? Bob? I remember meeting his family the Christmas before last. His mother bragged to me that her son found a good job in London... Really now? 'Inspired by me' to go to university in London, hmm?"
"Karma is going to get you, Ares," Chris huffed, glaring at Ares's smiling face.
They locked eyes in a silent contest for a moment, but eventually, Chris admitted defeat.
"Fine. It's because of Dad," Chris muttered after a while, hugging a throw pillow to her chest and lowering her head to avoid Ares's gaze.
"Mm-hmm. I'm listening."
"He didn't really want to go to Greece... It's a foreign country, and he has to be away from Mom for so long... But he had to go."
Chris bit her lip, the tips of her ears turning red.
"Be—because... university costs a lot of money... I was going to give it up—but Mom and Dad said I didn't need to worry, that we could take out a loan... That's a heavy burden for us—"
"Ah."
Ares gently patted the top of Chris's head, smiling warmly.
"I understand."