Author's voice : I do not own Harry Potter or Criminal Minds. I do not make money with my fictions and the only thing I can hope in return for my work are reviews. As I am no native english speaker, I'd really like if you could tell me when I make a mistake and how to correct it to ease your reading.
Also, this story is opened to discussion. I'm not sure yet where the characters will go, what they'll do or how they'll end. You are welcome to express any opinion on this fic, good or bad, as long as it is respectful.
Thanks for your time and enjoy the dive in a world that is both magical and horrifying. Love, Snapepotter.
Criminal Minds : Wizarding edition
Chapter one : Of memories and meetings – September 2004
Jason Gideon's flat – Merlin's path – Wizard Fulham
The day she met Spencer Reid was a rainy one.
Confortably installed in one of Gideon's seat, she was sipping her favorite peppermint tea and reading while Jason looked up some bird in Newt Scamander's flying book. On the coffee table, next to him sat his own cup, still untouched, the fumes slipping away in a wreath, perfuming the whole room with the comforting scent of bergamot.
As she listened to the ploc the water made as it met the cold glass of the windows, Artémée reflected that she liked it here. Gideon's flat was always quiet and soothing, even if she was sometimes reluctant to come by. It wasn't that Gideon was disagreable. But he had been her father's best friend, before the man had succumbed to alcoholism, and she still wasn't comfortable with his memory. It seemed Gideon was aware of that, as he never spoke of Jeremiah. He seemed happy to just act like her favorite uncle instead and she supposed it had something to do with the fact that his only son, Stephen still wasn't on speaking terms with him.
Gideon's son was somewhat jerky and if she had met him several times over the years she didn't like him one bit. Sure, she could understand his anger at having been ignored by his father in favour of his work as a profiler, but absence didn't excuse everything. Stephen had grown to be a bully and a nasty young man and she wouldn't be surprised if one day, his own father had to profile and handcuff him, himself. Maybe that was why Gideon was always so sad. He knew so much of human nature that he couldn't possibly fool himself into thinking that his son was a good person and he felt it was his fault.
These last few weeks though, Jason had seemed happier and she had known he'd met someone. Not a woman per say, but someone innocent and interesting enough to have given him hope. A person he liked enough to trust and let them meet her, Artémée Wildbird, a seventeen years old empath with an anxiety disorder.
'His name is Spencer Reid', he had said, 'and I'd like you to meet him. I know you'll be looking for a roommate to live with you in your father's house after you've passed your NEWTs and he's perfect for the position. Plus, I think you'll like him.'
'Alright, I'll meet him', she had replied smiling softly knowing that she could trust his judgment.
This was why she was there today, in spite of the downpour that threatened to engulf London, having received her NEWTs results. Unsurprisingly, she had collected straight O's in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense against the Dark Arts and Care of magical creatures. Her A in potion had somewhat disappointed her, given how gifted she was at cooking but she was thrilled to see that she had exceeded expectations in Ancient runes. The subject was as dull as Bins' history of magic course and she was glad to be rid of it.
The only problem now, appart from finding a roommate, was choosing what to do with the rest of her life and what subject to study. For now, she had secured a position as Hermione Granger's third assistant in the Department for the Regulation and Control of magical creatures and had been accepted as a volunteer at St Mungo's who wanted to test new treatments on the patients having suffered from curses and magical catastrophes. They seemed to think that her empathy would come in handy and she was glad to be of help. It was a win-win situation and she wasn't going to let her chance slip away.
Just as she was about to set the cup she held down, the wards reported a presence and Gideon stood up and left the room wand in hand. He had known two wars and with his work, some reflexes were hard to lose. When he came back though, a young man dressed in brown muggle trousers, shirt and waistcoat was following him. He seemed awfully young for a doctor and as he met her gaze with his hazel one, she was struck by the anxiety and excitment he was feeling. She didn't offer her hand for him to shake and he nodded thankfully, smiling at her.
« Artémée », stated Gideon beside them. «This is Doctor Spencer Reid. »
« It is a pleasure to meet you Doctor », she replied, smiling and he blushed deeply saying in a nervous manner :
« You huh...you can call me Spencer. Or Reid. Or anything you want really, I just huh...It is very nice to meet you. »
« And you can call me Artémée », she said, amused, wondering if he would always be like this with her if they shared her father's house.
It turned out, he wouldn't. As time went by, the awkward first meetings blossomed into a beautiful, easy friendship. Artémée found life with Spencer fun, interesting and full of affection. As she introduced him to the magical life – for even if he was a damn good wizard, Spencer's mother had chosen to raise him the muggle way and he had missed out a lot of the silly things magical folks swore by – he opened her to the wonders of muggle life. Every sunday, when he wasn't on a case they brunched at the Holga's cup pub and enjoyed the matches that came with the Quidditch season. After that, they would wander inside Flourish and Blotts and Artémée was more often than not the one to be dragged away from the store, soothed by promises of Doctor Who marathons and timey-wimey stuff.
It was like having a big and little brother at the same time. Spencer was very protective of her, in the way he welcomed her home after a treatment had failed and a patient had died, or when she was feeling irritated by the injustice magical creatures were suffering at the hands of wizards. Sometimes when she cried or had a panic attack, he'd open her door and hug her through the night even if he disliked touches. At other times, she was the one to protect him, both from himself and from others. She'd jump in his defense when someone mocked him for his social awkwardness and comfort him after his colleagues had made a joke or he had dealt with a case that had hit too close to home.
In the following two years, they never met their respective coworkers, appart from Gideon. They did meet each other's family however, but not at home because it felt like they both needed the sanctuary the other provided. Inside 221B, Rowena's lair, they were in their own little world and they were fine with that.
