Disclaimer- Most of the characters in this story are owned by J.K. Rowling. Also I consider this story a space out of time meaning it doesn't fit in with the actual timeline of the Harry Potter series so don't even try to fit it in to the timeline. If you are bothered by this don't even consider reading on. ~Ciara Doyle Please Review!
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I groaned as I shoved the last of my clothes into the trunk at the end of my bed. I hated packing for the summer because you never knew just what you would need for three months. Moving over to my dresser I searched through my drawers looking for my black sweatshirt.
"Stupid piece of clothing but I need you!" I wailed at my mirror. My reflection gazed back at my with an annoyed expression on her face. My skin was white pale, my mother was always saying how I should go out in the sun more but I prefered to stay indoors. My hair stood out against my skin being a long mass of black brown strands I pushed it away from my eyes, which stared at me, green and gold like a cats I hated when people called me Kitten because of them. I snarled my frustration at my mirror just as the door to my room opened.
My mother Marguerite stood in the middle of my room tsking as she surveyed the mess on the floor. I'd taken out all my clothes from the drawers and my closet trying to find certain outfits. Most of my clothing was black so searching for certain things was hard but it was the only way I could think of.
"Darling look at this mess! I'll send up some of the house elfs to clean this up at once," she said turning. Plucking up a blob of black she raised an eyebrow.
"My sweatshirt, I was looking of that." My mother looked down at me. Which isn't hard considering I'm like five foot two but my mother had a way of looking very intimidating wearing her conservative suits even when she stayed in the house.
"Your sister is already done dear." My younger sister Camille was the perfect one in the family, perfect grades, dressing like Mom and always ready on time unlike me.
"Artemis Delphine really why do you have to make such a production of getting packed?" she said angerly, as much as I love and respect my mother sometimes I really hated her. I hated when she used my full name. Yes Artemis Delphine is only my first name. Way to single me out in a family full of french names huh? I heard a sound from the door turning to find Camille leaning on the doorframe of my room.
"God you're not even dressed yet Arty," she snickered at me, I was wearing an old black men's t-shirt that reached my knees. I glared at her I hated being called Arty and she knew it. I pictured doing some of the curses I'd found in the library the other day at school on her. There had been one that took all the hemoglobin out of your body, it was a killing curse but maybe I didn't hate her that much.
My thoughts must have shown on my face because my mother yelled at me again, could I go through one day without getting yelled at?
"Artemis you're not even dressed yet? We have to leave in forty minutes! Go, go, get in the shower I'll have Snowball pack the rest of your things for you," she shooed me into my bathroom shutting the door behind me.
A ten minutes later I heard a small knock on the door. Opening it only a crack I looked down at the house elf before me. Snowball was my favorite houseelf and the only person in the house I trusted.
"Miss asked for Snowball?" she asked in her squeaky voice. I nodded at her and let her into the bathroom, I wrapped a robe around me considering I'd just gotten out of the shower.
"Snow please pack my clothes and make sure that I have enough outfits for any occasion."
"Yes miss but Miss Camille wants to speak with you after your shower."
"Okay, please ask Miss Camille to see me when I'm finished dressing." With that I closed the door and sighed. I hated the summer because every summer my family, the Dresdens, went to England to visit my father's best friend from school. I hated the Malfoys with a passion, they were too cold and formal. Lucius Malfoy was creepy in an 'I'm so much better than you so I'll look down my pointy nose at you' way and his wife never liked me even when I was little. They loved my sister of course, that itself is another reason why I can't stand them. The worst thing of all was their son Draco....I had made excuses since I was eleven not to go with my family just so I didn't have to see that arrogant jerk.
I rolled my eyes thinking of how much worse the guy might have gotten in six years. God I hope he didn't still slick back his hair like he did when we were eleven, it was disgusting. I pulled on my clothes knowing how much it would bug my mother that I was going to wear black jeans and a black button blouse. I didn't like wearing dresses or skirts but hey I was willing to compromise if my parents were willing to buy me a car. They weren't going to so I was not wearing a skirt. Fixing my make-up I checked my reflection again, my hair had finally been tamed into smooth waves that went to my shoulders. I didn't like wearing alot of make-up I only wore eyeliner around my eyes and clear lipgloss. My eyes were more green today then gold so I was happier then I had been earlier that morning. I left the bathroom feeling clean and content, at least I was before I saw Camille laying on my bed. She looked up at me with a frown creasing her pretty face and tears filling her eyes. I might not like my sister but she is my little sister. I moved over to the bed concerned.
"Camille?" she broke down into sobs. I sat down and she moved her head into my lap. Stroking her hair lightly I asked,
"Camille what's wrong?" Patting her back she gazed up at me.
"I know I've been mean to you Artemis but you know I love you right?" she hiccuped.
"Yes I know, now tell me what bothering you..." I said softly glancing at the clock, we had twenty minutes until we had to leave. Rubbing her tears away she answered.
"No one likes me anymore... you don't even really like me... and then Julie told me that she didn't want to be friends anymore and Marcus said he didn't love me anymore or even liked me to begin with, he just wanted to-to you know..." she cried burying her face in my lap again.
"I'm sure thats not true, you know I love you Camille even if we have grown apart," biting her lip she shook her head.
"Artemis can we star-start over please?" she begged. "We can be close again right?" I nodded, it seemed to calm her down some.
"Now what set you off like this now?" She pulled out a print out and held it up for me to see. It showed Camille kissing another boy in the middle of the girl's bathroom at school.
"Who is that and why did you kiss him if you already have a boyfriend?" I ask confused.
"I didn't kiss him it's photoshopped and it was sent to everyone at school. People think I cheated on Marcus and so does he. He won't answer my calls or e-mails and Artemis I think...I think I might have loved him..." I was angry, really angry. Whoever sent this picture and tortured my little sister was going to get hell for this.
I crumbled up the picture and hugged my sister. We hadn't hugged like this in years, we'd split up when I started Salem Witches Institute and she was still in the elementary school. She'd been jealous of me I knew it because she stopped being able to hang around with me. She'd hated that she couldn't follow me into Salem for a few more years and so her quest to be the perfect daughter had begun. No matter how arrogant or tough she was on the outside she was still just a little girl and she needed her big sister right now, so how could I refuse? I rocked her until her sobs stopped and she calmed down.
"Thank you sis," she murmured sitting up and wiping her eyes again. I studied her to make sure she'd be alright.
"I love you, you know that," I told her seriously. She blushed and hugged me again. It felt good to have my sister back. She looked down at her clothes and back at me.
"Can I borrow some clothes you think?" I bit my lip before I said anything. I nodded heading toward my closet. Everything had been put away or packed. Digging in I found some of the boxes in the back of my closet filled with old clothes that didn't fit me anymore. I handed it to her.
Following her to her room she unpacked her trunks and changed almost all the clothes with mine. Her consevative dresses and skirts she threw in the trash but she kept her formal gowns. Camille opened a drawer in her desk and took out a match, striking it she looked to me before she dropped it into the barrel of clothes.
"I hated dressing that way anyway but I liked what you wore. I was too afraid to say anything to you because you hated me so much." she looked like she was about to cry. Leaning over I gather her to my side while I put out the fire with a wave of my hand. Camille stiffened next to me.
"How did you do that?" she asked bewildered. I smiled down at her, she was only five feet tall but then again she was only fourteen.
"Practice, sis, come on we have to go meet mom and dad downstairs." we left the trunks in our rooms knowing they'd be brought down. Camille was practically a smaller version of me. She wore black jeans with a dark blue t-shirt over a blue and black striped long sleeve shirt. The only diffrence was her hair was light brown while mine was dark. We smiled at each other as my mother gaped at her.
"Wha-what happened to you?" mom screamed at her. Camille stared back calmly.
"I decided I hated who I was and decided to be the person I wanted to be." Our mother simply shook her head as if trying to knock the image of Camille dressed like me out of her head.
"What have you done to your sister?" she yelled at me, I raised an eyebrow. Camille stepped in front of me and said to her,
"We're going to be late." My mother stopped her rant and bit her lip. She didn't want to keep the Malfoys waiting.
"We'll discuss this later." That was the end of the conversation as far as my mother was concerned. It was the last thing I heard before disapparating.