First Moon
Artimis closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. Mythal looked over drawing the Twins to look over as well with concern vibrant in their blue eyes. Artimis looked pale and shaky and like she was about to throw up all over the table. Snape caught her on her way out of the room as she rushed to get away from the sympathy and questioning looks. "Miss Knight, follow me."
Artimis followed him down the halls quickly, Lupin was talking to Colin, the second year with a camera always strapped over his shoulder waiting to catch Harry down the hall. Lupin looked up and gave her a small grin catching Colin's attention, out came his camera and FLASH. Snape flinched away from the light for a second, his eyes slit into a cruel glare. Colin flinched and lowered his camera. "Hello Art, you're a friend of Harry's aren't you! Can you get me an autograph."
"Uh, sure. Come by and remind me and I will see what I can do. My memory span is short lived… like a goldfish but worse…" Colin laughed and turned to Lupin.
"Well Colin, I think I have finished everything here." Colin nodded and spun on his feet and bounced away, his camera whacking against his back. "Miss Knight, Professor Snape, come in."
"I am not staying." Snape handed over two steaming potions into Lupin's hands. Lupin nodded his head said, 'Very well' then ushered Artimis into the room with a hand on her shoulder. "Bye Professor Snape, thank you." Artimis waved him with a small smile and let Lupin lead her inside.
Lupin sat with Artimis and handed her a small cup of tea. Artimis held the glass to her nose and breathed in the sweet scent. "As your probably wondering why Dumbledore is making you stay in my office. Well, surprisingly, I too am a Werewolf."
"What… really? How are you teaching, how are…" Artimis did her best surprised voice, it worked when her nerves were overload causing her words to stutter.
"The professor used persuasion to get me in. The details are not to be known. And yes I really am a werewolf." Lupin stood and groaned as his spine popped, he lifted the two potions and drank the steaming potion from the goblet. He gave Artimis' smaller dose into her hand as he winced from the potion. Artimis threw the potion back and shuddered at the bitter flavor that bit into her tongue like frostbite would to the head.
Lupin pulled off his shirt, Artimis adverted her eyes politely from the many scars lining his back. "You may go into my room if you want… I will come in later to give instructions on how to… lessen the pain." Artimis looked faint at the idea, she hated being in pain usually. She doesn't cry if she was in lots of pain unless someone was worrying over her like crazy. "Yay, pain. Best thing to finish a Friday with…"
Lupin chuckled as Artimis moved into his room and closed the door till not fully shut but only touching the frame. Artimis got to removing her school cloak and her two shirts, first the white blouse and then the black tank top. She hanged the cloak on the post on the four-poster bed and then hooked her red and gold tie around the top. Quickly she stripped of her jeans, black boots and folded them and neatly stacked them on the table due to her nerves. Usually she would throw things around or not bother with folding.
She was content to sit on the other side of the bed and stare at the wall in a state of natural meditation where Lupin had stacked a long snakeskin that had her thinking of a small Basilisk. She kept her back to the door as Lupin knocked and entered after a minute pause.
She heard him place his shirt and pants beside hers and listened to him sit behind her on the large double bed, her heartbeat quickened with nerves and embarrassment. "The first time is the hardest because the pain is fresh. What you need to do is try to copy a meditating form, I'm still new to meditating because I never used Wolfsbane much due to its cost, but you need to teach yourself a breathing pattern or something that calms you down during the Bane Transformations."
"And without Bane. Is it harder to do?"
"Yes, not only is your body changing but so is your mind so it is hard to concentrate on not feeling the pain." Lupin turned his head to look at Artimis, catching her eyes as she looked over her shoulder to look at the back of his head as he spoke. "You have a lot to go through. You're young, it will be harder."
The professor's eyes were drawn to the black and blue tattoo on her lower back. It was a wolf. "Funny isn't it. I become a somewhat mutant version of my favorite animals." Artimis laughed nervously as Lupin took in the tattoo.
"What is that design? When did you get it? It looks like it is only weeks old."
"Um, actually it's a quite old, I got it at least a year or two ago." Artimis turned her head to look down slightly, as if in hope of seeing her tattoo. "The design is Tribal, I modified the design of one I found on the muggle contraption called a 'computer' and added the heart on the face and lengthened the 'collar' part. The ink stays rather vibrant on me…"
"The blue shading brings it up."
"Yes, it's bluer than I wanted but I like the turn out. Specially the eyes, it has some white in it as well as the blue." Lupin nodded his head and turned his head to crack the clinks in the joints. Artimis stretched her hands and groaned as her spine popped. "I was thinking of getting another one, as my father says: once you get a 'Tattoo there is never One.'"
"Your father sounds like a tattoo fanatic."
"He was not as bad as some, he didn't have a full body or anything just an upper arm of random skulls, some random things here and there and a nice spider on his foot." Lupin heard the laughter in her voice. "My mother also had a few tattoos, she had cat paw prints on her foot." Lupin laughed at the thought of a family getting random things on their feet. "AND my Nan had a Gecko on her foot. She was the one to start the Animal foot Tattoo in the family."
Artimis laughed and turned her upper body slightly to match Lupin. As she thought about the 'nan' actually being her older sister, but she was going to be a Nan in her story, for being a pain in the ass all her life. Lupin didn't raise the matter again as he lifted his hand and cast a silencing spell around the room with his light brown wand. "I suggest sitting on the floor, less likely to tear my covers."
Artimis snorted and slunk to the ground lazily then dragged herself away from the bed slightly. Lupin sighed at her head peaking over the side of his bed then sat down on his side and looked at the window that was open wide to the grounds below at the opposite wall to the beds foot, the lake reflected the darkness in the sky, only the occasional star twinkled. The moon was not yet seen but there was a small light over the hills.
"Prepare yourself, the moon is almost up. Whatever you do, don't fight it." As he said this, the moon peeked over the hilled and met the shine in the two werewolves eyes. Artimis could feel her spine contract slightly, she felt dizzy with fear and nerves.
It was worse than anything she could prepare for, as the moon began to show its self-halfway, the transformation started. Ripping through her like thousands of needles, her spine seemed to lift and stretch her skin. Artimis thought, as best as she could during the circumstances, it felt like the spine was sharpening and sticking through her back. Her jaw twisted and popped, her CFS working badly with the joints that cracked and seemed to be bruised under the surface. A strangled groan escaped her as she tried to breath the pain down like she tried when getting the tattoo. She bent into an arch and clenched her jaw, tears burned her eyes.
After what felt like hours of body changing and hair growing from her skin as if many needles were poking out of her, the pain ebbed away into a dull throb in the back of her head in the form of a migraine that beat CFS into the ground with a steel fist and then kicked it away with a big plated boot only to be run over by a truck before it could hit the ground. Artimis felt content to just lie on the ground and let the twitches leave her system.
A large, bone coloured nose popped in front of her and gave her a nudge. Lupin looked down at her with concern in his ember eyes, Artimis gave his nose a lazy swipe with a white paw to tell him to let her rest a while. Lupin got the idea and stalked off to his office to leave her to her own devices without being embarrassed later. Artimis got use to her senses, she breathed in slowly and turned her head to stare at the door. She smelt Lupin's unique wolf scent, she breathed in deeply and took an attempt at standing. She struggled at first with the height difference and all but learnt it was like crawling, just without burnt knees and blistering hands.
Artimis got use to walking around the room to move her joints after the painful experience, after getting use to that she moved closer to the dark window where the moon shone through and stared at what she could see of her reflection. She was a pure white wolf, if she squinted she could see a light grey-brown colour closer to her skin that made her look like she was glowing.
Artimis flicked her ears forward and backward, getting use to movements. She wagged her tail, her spine twitched with the new feeling but everything came with instinct, even the wolfish grin she gave herself in the window. Artimis trotted out of the room and took a closer look at Lupin where he lay on the ground. He was a bone grey colour with sandy browns mixed in his undercoat like a Grey Wolf. He was larger than her, by almost a foot and a half.
Lupin stood up and looked at her giving her an idea of height compared to a human, his head went over the desk by about 3 inches and the desk had gone over Artimis' human hips by a good 2 inches (Such a midget). Lupin moved to her side and looked down at her with large ember eyes, his pupil seemed to almost take up his whole iris and seemed to slit slightly as his eyes focused and unfocussed. Artimis' eyes caught slight movements of his body, a weak scent, small sounds and different shapes of his eyes that were turned into subtle words in her mind. 'You are all right?'
Artimis struggled to work out the wolf way of communicating, Lupin waited patiently as she tested. 'Am I doing it right?' She found that it was like normal talking just in the form of movement and small whimpering like sounds.
'Yes, you have it right I think.' Lupin's eyes laughed at her as she gave him a satisfied sniff, feeling slightly… ok a lot of pride in herself. Her blue eyes slit as she plodded back into the bedroom and curled up on the ground, Lupin curled around her in a protective male wolfish manner. His scent told her that she was the first werewolf he has ever been in contact with when with a clear mind, and he was as curious as she was with the other wolf.
His paws were larger than her own by about an inch or two as they rested near her head, his tail flopped lazily over hers and his coarse fur rubbed against her softer and fresher fur. Artimis closed her eyes feeling safe, against all odds, she was safe with another werewolf.
Warmth
Waking up was a struggle, it was warm, it was soft, and she had a killer pain all through her body. Artimis frowned softly as Lupin rubbed a finger into her temple relieving her of some of the throb. "How do you feel?"
Artimis opened her eyes to look at Lupin, his eyes looked down at her with concern from her position against him… against him? Artimis nearly leapt out of her skin as she felt her professor's skin against her back. Getting her unease Lupin moved away and walked with no embarrassment (or just hiding it very well) over to the table to gather his clothes. Artimis rolled into a ball to fight off the pain in her spine as Lupin pulled on his pants and answered his door. In came Bubble with two warm LARGE mugs of coffee. "Bubble, you are a life saver!" Bubble beamed as she handed a mug to the confused professor then the other to Artimis as the girl sat up with her back to Lupin. Lupin sniffed the coffee and sighed in relief.
"Did you plan for this, Miss. Knight?"
"Might have, are you complaining?" Artimis' mouth twitched with good humor as she turned her head to glance up at the half dressed man.
"Not at all, wish I thought of this years ago… this is nice. What is it?"
"You have NEVER had coffee before? Good old wake up coffee!" Artimis made an 'I'm very disappointed in you' face at him and he laughed then walked away to his desk while pulling on his shirt to let Artimis some peace to herself. Taking a mouthful Artimis rushed in getting dressed, ignoring the twinges of pain in her joins and the popping of each spinal join. Bubble got to work massaging the pain in the girl's back as she sipped happily at the coffee, taking pleasure in the foam with chocolate powder topping and the taste of two marshmallows that floated within the liquid.
"This is beautiful, would I be able to have this every morning!?" Lupin called from the room next door, Bubble and Artimis both laughed that Lupin echoed with a deeper voice through the door. The sun was rising, Artimis stared out at the beautiful light as it reflected from the water, she tugged her cloak over her shoulders and turned away from the door just as Lupin knocked and entered with Dumbledore. "How is the Pup?"
"Pained, I think I might walk like I got off a horse wrong." Artimis stood with legs wide open and slightly bent, her hands on her knees and her head down as she struggled to stay standing. Lupin moved to help then paused watching her carefully if she fell. Artimis was thankful, if he touched her she was certain the pain would be tremendous. Dumbledore had a knowing twinkle in his eyes as he peered down at her over his glasses and crooked nose. "I see, how did she go?"
The headmaster turned his silver head to Lupin who stood straight with his hands behind his back as he stretched out his own spine. Artimis took to the end of his bed and laid flat with her arms spread, face first. "She did well. She learnt the wolf instincts and communication quite quickly, I'm glad she did it all so easily. It made it easier for me to help her, since I am inexperienced with other werewolves."
Dumbledore seemed to glow with pride, like a father (Or grandfather) seeing his child's first steps. "That is good. Now Miss Knight, today is Saturday, the first Hogsmeade trip is today."
"Don't I need a filled out form for that?"
"Yes but as head girl you MUST stay to ensure the school is safe unless a teacher gives you a request into the town."
"What about Mythal?" Artimis never forgot her friend even if she was forced from her mind by a memory spell.
"She has been given permission to go by both Molly and myself due to not having a proper guardian." Dumbledore bowed his head.
"What are you going to do about accommodation for the girls?" Lupin questioned with a slight crease of his brow. Dumbledore turned and gave a small smile.
"I am asking around for anyone to look after the girls over the holidays. McGonagall has voted herself and so has Mrs. Weasley. But I worry about this little predicament…" Lupin nodded as Artimis stood slowly with a pop in her knees. Bubble handed Artimis' mug back and then disappeared with a crack, Dumbledore looked like he just realized the two had drinks. "What is that?"
"It is coffee. Very strange indeed just like them Australians."
"Oh really, some strange concoction from Australia?"
"Oie, Australian right here! And coffee is not in just Australia you know, you British Tea Junkies!"
Memories of Scars and an Unexpected Appearance
Artimis felt Mythal steam on her face, the girl was going into a swearing fit from her position at the Gryffindor table next to Artimis and the twins who were looking nervously at their Slytherin prankster friend. "I don't believe it! You can't go, this is a load of…"
"Language…"
"Fuck you."
"Not in public." Artimis gave Mythal a sly look and a small grin, the coffee already affecting her ability to hold her tongue, Mythal went instantly into a giggling fit while the Twins broke out into full blown laughter. The slightly empty hall turned heads to the four, mostly from the teachers table who could hear all their words. Snape sniffed in dislike at Mythal's actions while Lupin and Dumbledore showed humor in Artimis' quick comment. "Is this the normal Australian way?"
"Mythal is the Australian manners and I am the entertainment." Artimis chuckled as she bit into a funny bun to test its flavor then giving the word to Mythal if it was nice or not. George from Artimis' left side elbowed Artimis roughly and pointed at Colin who stared at her in awe. "What is it Colin?"
"Can I take a photo of you?"
"Urm… why?"
"Um…" Colin went red then ran away leaving the four in a cloud of silence.
"I hear the crickets…" Mythal laughed loudly at Artimis' humorous comment while the Twins tried to work out what it meant, Artimis, feeling bad for their confusion, gave them a quick run over what the comment means. "In movies or cartoons when there is an awkward moment, like when Mythal looks into the mirror on Monday…urf… there is silence in the background and only the gust of wind and crickets calling. Sometimes a character will cough or a tumbleweed with blow across the ground." The Twins made 'oh' faces while Artimis rubbed her ribs where Mythal had poked her really hard.
"That huuuu-uuurt…." Artimis gave a small pout at Mythal.
"Aw, me sorry!" Mythal tried to rub it better only causing Artimis to wince. The foursome finished their meal with a few more jokes and left separately. The Twins went to find Harry, Mythal to find Malfoy and Artimis… wandered aimlessly, making sure everything was fine. She sighed in boredom and stared at the fountain in the middle of the entrance paved area to the castle. She stood under the roman style arch coverings around the grounds to get some shade. Artimis relaxed in the nook of one of the arch walls and stared at the water as it trickled to life as the January snow melted away, leaving mud in every crack much to Filtch's dismay.
Mrs. Norris walked past and gave Artimis an, 'I know your deepest secrets' expression causing Artimis to give a small grin and jump down to bend over. "Hullo Norris my Buddy. Prowling the halls for someone to nibble on and tattle to a teacher. Continue on, if I see good prey I will point 'em in your direction." With that Animal Freak Artimis walked away leaving the cat in stunned silence. Artimis shoved her hands into her pockets to ward off the cold against her clammy hands, last night caused her to be very shaky.
Lupin looked the same and instantly said so when they crashed into each other in the hall, 'Get rest, you look as bad as I feel' and left her to her own devices. Mythal was yet to question Artimis about the experience but she knew it will turn into a joke and LOTS of laughing. Mythal promised to come into the Head Prefect room to do her little list of questioning, Artimis was looking forward to it with a large and loud 'YAY!'
Tucked deeply under the thousands of folds of fabric, Artimis rubbed her fingers over the scars that lined her right hand. The small lines going horizontally over the back were caused by a white rabbit of DOOM that was owned by her cousins out at their farm. The only one she could actually feel slightly was the one about half a thumb away from her wrist that cut across at the same length. Her thoughts rested on her family, talking about them last night reminded her on how much she missed them. Her neat freak of a mother and banshee sister included, surprisingly. She missed her father's dumb dad jokes at the dinner table, her mother's perverted and fart ones right when Artimis took a drink, her sister's mean ones that cut into her confidence like a blade in butter that made her mother laugh and her father get angry and grumpy.
She missed the car talks she had with her father between home and her piano lessons, she missed the nights stuck in a small tent on a blown up mattress that was deflating under her father with a hiss who was snoring while they camped at the rifle range about half an hour from a small town in the red dirt. She even missed the family cat and her sisters giant of a dog, both sucking up to her for attention that animals adore and fussing like her mother given a very hard math equation when she ignores them while doing the washing for her mother.
Artimis groaned and dragged herself from the bed and grabbed her cloak from the frame of her bed, she threw it over her shoulders and tucking the warmth around her small frame. She ducked into the bath area and stared for a while, the water was warm, it was deep and the bath was massive… swim time. Artimis moved quickly in removing ties and fabric and bombed into the water, yelping when the warm water surrounded her. It seemed the room knew her intentions, that water was warm enough to keep her in a good temperature but not so much to hinder breathing while swimming, the bath also seemed to deepen and widen when she hit the perfect surface with a pointed toe.
Doing a stroke back and forth in the water she found herself going back into rhythm as she did in Thailand a few years back (never having swam since then again because pools were too crowded), her arms moved in strong arcs, still a bit off in proper style after not swimming in a while, only time between Thailand and now being the time in the river when she was bitten. But she still had speed, no lung space, and plenty of empty stomach.
All in all the negative piled up the positive but it didn't stop her from trying to go another few laps. Back and forth back and forth until her arms and legs hurt and her breathing was raspy, the bath seemed to cool to tell her to get out, which she followed happily. Grabbing a towel from the many within the cupboard set into the wall. Artimis rubbed herself dry and grabbed her clothes in her arms. With the towel tied around her she walked from her room, dropped the clothes on the ground in front of her in complete horror before rushing back in as Snape's eyes widened in surprise as a pile of her clothes hit his face and she screamed in shock. "What the hell?!" Artimis was close to tears in embarrassment and horror. Snape didn't answer so Artimis peeked out a damp head.
Snape was in the midst of peeling her clothes and pair of black underwear off his head to give her a cruel glare that held hell in its black pits. "Please refrain from throwing such… inadequate articles of clothing at me in the future. You have a job." He threw the last article of clothing over his shoulder into the corner when he realized what it was with a forced expression of emotionlessness.
"Couldn't this have waited?" Artimis grunted through her teeth, the sight of her underwear in his hand was enough to make her feel completely defensive and embarrassed.
Snape gave her a look that said, 'Shut up, I'm not done yet' and continued his short speech. "As I was saying, I need you to take some potions to Lupin." Snape sniffed as he looked around her room and the subtle Gryffindor colours, his eyes paused at the Guitar and Piano but continued on. "At least you don't go over the top with your colours, though there is a lot of red and… is that silver and green?" Snape's eyes caught sight of a beanbag that was dumped beside the bookcase.
"Uh… yes… why?"
"Those are Slytherin colours."
"Well Red and Green are two of my favorite colours, besides black. Silver goes well with Green so there we go." Snape raised an eyebrow in question before turned and walking to the door. "Get dressed, Mr. Creevey is searching for you." Snape couldn't help grin in pleasure at the painful groan that echoed from the room behind him as he closed the door.
"Cow-Dog Balls."
Artimis grabbed some lunch and doing a once rounder around the school grounds she started to snap a pair of young Slytherin students into place as they attempted to cast a spell at a random bird to try and change its colours or blow it up. Being an animal lover, Artimis ripped into them scaring them for life. Lupin caught onto it half way through and chuckled as the two charged past him while screaming, 'Yes Ma'am we won't do it again!' Artimis glared at him with a question in her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just funny seeing you full of such angry energy."
"Oh, suck on a rat." Artimis couldn't help but grin as Lupin made a 'yeck' sound and forced a shudder.
"I rather NOT find out what a rat tastes like."
"Rather nice actually, add a lil' bit of seasoning and it's full of flavor! Magnifique." She kissed her fingertips like a chef, the two chuckled at the stupid joke and walked down the hall, both keeping their eyes open for a student that was out of place and sneaking into a place that's forbidden. "How do you feel?"
"Like a zombie, my head is pounding like I have been run over and reversed on by a truck." Lupin laughed and agreed with her light comment.
"It does hurt at first, but you get used to it at times. After a while the experience might becomes fun, minus the pain." Artimis struggled not to giggle as her brain automatically changed his words around and turned her head to cough. Lupin didn't notice her stumble and continued on, "You just need to rest. You can get potions from Snape or Poppy, I'm certain both of them will comply... well Poppy will do it without poisoning us…" The two laughed causing a first year to start in shock.
"Afternoon Mr. Finn, don't forget homework due on Monday."
"Yes sir!" He sat back down and continued reading as the two walked past him and continued their conversation, "So your Tattoo."
"What about it?"
"What does it stand for? Does it have a meaning?" Artimis, surprised about the random question began to think over an answer.
"Well in Native American the wolf stands for Family Protection, Leadership and other things. And in Asian colour meanings Blue stands for Water, tranquility or Loyalty."
"I see, very thought out. Do you like things with meaning?"
"Yes, I like symbols. I love my name meaning as well."
"What is it?" Lupin looked fascinated with what she was saying, which was rare for her to find in anyone.
"Well, it means 'Follower of Artemis' who is the Goddess of Hunting."
"You're interested in muggle history?"
"And Magic, I have been reading some British Wizard History books. I like the one about the burning of witches, fascinating." Lupin nodded his head in agreement as the two ended up in the Head Prefect room. Percy was not around so the two sat on the couches and stared at the roof for a while as Bubble popped in and got them both coffee's.
"Ah… Professor Lupin! Just the man I wanted to see." Ah here comes Percy. Lupin turned his head and smiled at the red headed boy. "Mr. Weasley, I have been meaning to ask you something without a chance to speak."
"I will let you ladies gossip. I need to flop." Percy's expression soured but Lupin's seemed to brighten at the light humor.
"Yes, get some rest Miss Knight. Now Percy, about your essay…"
Questions
Mythal came into her room after dinner and instantly questioned Artimis before she could even close the door. "So how did it go? Did you cry? Your clothes are in good condition."
"It was fine, lots of tea and bitter potions included. I did have hysterical crying if that is what you were asking. They weren't ripped because I removed them."
"What, removed them? WITH Lupin in the same room, what did he do?"
"Well he stripped too, what you expect."
"True true… wait you were both NAKED together?"
"And furry for most of the night too, thank you for the sympathy Bitch-Witch." Mythal laughed at the old nickname and how it worked with current moments.
"That's right I am! And NOTHING happened?"
"You have the brain of a boy who just discovered what a penis can do." Mythal choked on her laughs and went red in the face as she sucked in gulps of air. Artimis continued as her friend suffered. "And no, nothing happened… Other than lots of cuddling." Artimis added the last comment in a calm voice and a straight face, Mythal seemed to pause to let those words go through her mind.
"W-what!?"
"You know, hugs?"
"I KNOW WHAT A CUDDLE IS!"
"I love you." Silence echoed in the room before the words sunk into Mythal's brain, Artimis watched the clogs work behind her friends Hazel green-blue eyes turn slowly.
"Love you too, now about this problem. What was it like?"
"I could smell the arm pits of my shirt from a mile away and your hideous stench even further." SLAP! Mythal hit Artimis on the arm causing her to jump and release a small sound of surprise.
"Bitch." Mythal said with a growl.
"Dog Humper." Artimis cut back with a fiery passion of competition.
"Whore."
"Cow-Dog"
"Slut."
"Cockroach covered, rat smelling, right ball of a horse…"
"What? How do you come up with these words?"
"Skill…?"
"You have no skill."
"I kno-w! Isn't it so GREAT!" Artimis' voice was cheerful, Mythal shook her head and sighed then looked up as Lupin knocked and entered.
"Evening Ladies. How is the essay going for you both?"
"It's… getting there." She answered just as Artimis said, "Crookshanks ate it… What? Fine I ate it… sorry…"
"Shut up…" Artimis stuck her tongue out at her friend and blew out a wet noise then turned to riffle through her black bag, her many pins catching the light. Mythal spoke with the professor as Artimis dumped her ruined art book on the bed, Mythal picked it up instantly as her and Lupin stopped talking. "Yeah, its stuffed. You need a new one. Too bad, I don't know where to get another one."
"Le SOB!" Lupin flicked through the grey and wrinkled pages with a raised brow. "This is an art book? Muggle made?"
"That's right. Use to be filled with good pictures, now it is fire fodder." Mythal took it with Artimis' request and went to have some fun burning the book in the fire with Percy reading a book on the couch. The two left in the room gave each other a knowing look, seeing the tiredness reflected in each other's eyes. Artimis stood and followed Lupin from the room and relaxed on the couch. "I hope you three are working on your essays for all your classes."
"Yeah, and piles of Homework from Snape. Yay." Mythal giggled at Artimis as the girl pumped her hand in fake glee and Percy looked up over old glasses to roll his eyes at her in annoyance.
"Sooo-ooo about the front door password. Are you both going to change it from light bulb or not?" Mythal leaned back as she tore pages from the ruined art book and threw them into the fireplace.
"I want to have it as Godric Gryffindor but Artimis won't let me." Answered Percy instantly, with a look at the Professor that said he was expecting the older man to approve.
"Of course not, that is SO predictable. Let Artimis come up with one, she is good at weird things." Mythal yelled from the fireplace. Lupin instantly agreed to her much to Percy's displeasure.
"Dante's Inferno…" All three turned to look at her with 'was this?' expressions.
"Dante's Inferno, about the levels of hell. I would explain more but the schematics will just FLY over your heads." Artimis turned her attention back to staring at the flames. Percy and Mythal gave each other a look then turned back to whatever they were doing, either burning books or reading them.
"Very well, I will change the password to Dante's Inferno. And I will change my room one while I'm at it. I think I will make it Fenrir."
They all returned to give her the same look causing Artimis to sigh in frustration. "A giant wolf who is the son of the god of lies, Loki." With silent 'ahs' of sort of understanding the two turned back to their books and Lupin left them to their own devices, Artimis sighed and groaned annoyingly gaining a glare from Percy. To escape his pompous comment before it escaped she walked away to her room to change her password to Aceso before looking at her bedside table, she literally hit herself in the head when she saw the potions on her bed. "I am SO dumb sometimes!"
Snape's job had evaporated from her mind the instantly she was distracted when she had left her room and found those boys tormenting an innocent little sparrow. She sighed and decided to do it when everyone was at Hogsmeade
Boggart's and Ghosts
Artimis knocked on the door quickly and waited, no answer caused her to go over a plan in her mind, 'Go in, put bag on desk, turn around and run away without crashing into anything.' Pushing the door open Artimis snuck through and headed to the professor's office, inside the many statues and masks looked at her from the cupboards behind glass and jars. Artimis placed the bag down on the desk and turned to leave.
"Ah, hello Miss Knight. What is it you need?"
"Oh sorry sir, Professor Snape wanted me to give you some potions." Nervous about being caught at his classroom door Artimis twisted her eye shaped ring around her finger. Lupin tilted his head and looked at her, his lips curled up his moustache slightly at the tips. "I see, want to join me for some tea?" Artimis gave him a tut and a small smile.
"Harry?" Said boy was heading up the stairs, in the direction of the owls. Harry turned his head and saw the two in the doorway. "What are you doing? Where are Hermione and Ron?"
"Hogsmeade." Harry answered bitterly, his eyes obviously said he wanted to be with them. His attitude suddenly sullied Artimis' mood, she wanted to go too.
"Ah, why don't you come in? I've just taken care of a grindylow for our next lesson. Miss. Knight may I have those potions from you now?" Artimis spun around with a, 'What?' and noticed the creature in the tank for the first time, after handing over the small bag of potions she moved over with Harry, she stared at its fingers with a fascinated expression. Lupin started to explain what they were before offering them both tea. Artimis instantly agreed to it 'as long as it has lots of sugar' and Harry answered awkwardly after some hesitation. The two began to talk for a while, and then Harry brought up Boggarts.
Artimis flicked to attention. She didn't have a go with the Boggart in that class and couldn't think of something other than Needles, Spiders, Drowning and anything that gives her thrills of fear. She needed something that gave her absolute fear, having trouble with it she had stood back to watch Mythal have a go. The Boggart instantly turned into a large black Werewolf, bigger then both Artimis and Lupin, the one that attacked them. Both Artimis and Lupin had flinched as Mythal pulled up her wand and called out the incarnation. The wolf's fur turned a vibrant pink with roller-skates and bows in his hair.
"I assumed that the Boggart that faced you would take the form of Voldemort." Harry stared in shock after hearing him say the name. Artimis took a quick sip at her drink to hide a snigger at Harry's comical eyes widening.
Harry mentioned the Dementors, Lupin hummed and rubbed a finger over his chin thoughtfully. "I see, well, well I'm impressed. That suggests that what you fear most is Fear itself. Very wise Harry." Harry was silent, as to hide some of his surprise he took a gulp at his tea. Artimis turned her head to rub her tongue after burning it then went back to blowing at the steam causing it to waft between the two in front of her. Harry was about to comment when Snape knocked and entered with two steaming goblets and dumped them on the desk. His eyes narrowed in the direction of Harry but he spoke directly to Lupin and Artimis. "I see Miss Knight is here, that saves me precious time searching for her. Take that directly."
Artimis gave it a look of reluctance, her blue eyes matching Snape's narrowed ones.
"Yes we will, thank you." Snape continued on before leaving the room with a last look at Harry and Artimis. Lupin explained the potion easily to Harry, that both he and Artimis caught something from the Kappa when they both worked at feeding it. "The potion helps, though sugar only ruins it." He shuddered in sync with Artimis as they both sniffed the smoking potion. Artimis hesitated and blew the smoke slightly, watching it puff and billow away to nothing. Harry looked ready to flick the potions away. He mentioned Snape's workings in Dark Arts, trying to stop them both from drinking. Just to spite the poor boy Artimis drank the rest down like a shot with a shudder, Lupin followed soon after and both placed the still steaming goblets on the desk. "Well Harry, I'd better get back to work. See you both at the feast. Miss Knight, if you would kindly escort him." Artimis tut with a grin. "What you mean? I need the escorting."
"Yes, that was what I was intending. Was hoping you wouldn't realize."
With a last laugh she walked quickly to the door and moved out with Harry beside her, her heart beating rapidly as she looked around the empty halls, her nerves attacking her. She stalked down the halls in dimming light talking to Harry about how he thought of Hogwarts, Artimis and Harry tilted their heads and eyed a ghost that wiggled through the wall with peaking terror. It was the Bloody Baron. The ghost turned his head slowly and moved into talking distance, Artimis' eyes instantly turned down to the darker silver blood stains on his transparent chest. He tilted his head in her direction, which she shyly returned with a quick greeting that was promptly returned in a deep baritone. Hesitating she asked, "You're the Bloody Baron right? Slytherin's… well Head Ghost?"
The said ghost nodded his head while Harry looked ready to kick her in the leg to shut her up. "And you can control Peeves quite well, am I right?" Again the ghost nodded, a curious gleam in his eyes that matched Harry's. "Well let me apologize, for any future tears I cast into your form when the poltergeist and I finally meet." The ghost's eyes blinked as his chest heaved with a light chuckle. "Have a good night Sir Baron. Send my greetings to the rest of the kin." Artimis walked down the hall eyeing both walls, roof AND floor in case of a sudden visitor. Harry looked at her and said, "How did you do that? Joke at him? Everyone else is too scared to even look at him in the eyes."
"Hide my fear behind the many coffee's I had today and say the first thing that comes to mind." Harry's mouth turned up into a smile as they met up with Hermione and Ron in the great hall. The two started to talk about Hogsmeade, catching the two others crestfallen expressions Hermione made Ron shut up with a nudge. Harry started to talk about how Lupin made him tea, Snape came in with Potions for both the Professor and Artimis. "You actually drank something from him?" Ron looked at Artimis with shock. "Are you BOTH mad?"
"I'm not mad, I'm insane. Why you ask? He couldn't poison us in the MIDDLE of school in FRONT of Harry, plus Lupin is a fellow teacher and I'm a student. What will he gain?"
"That's right, you two look too far into this." Even as she said this Hermione gave Artimis a questioning glace that said, 'Why were you in Lupin's office, sharing the same potion?' and Artimis returned it with a, 'You will found out soon, my little Padawan' look.
"Hey Artimis, are you going to come with us to the common room yet? You haven't been inside yet." Ron turned his head, mouth full of some sort of turkey as he spoke. Hermione glared while Artimis looked and did a fake dry gag.
Harry and Hermione laughed while Ron mumbled. "I need to escort you guys up this time round, Percy is feeling strict with me." Ron rolled his eyes and shoved something into his mouth again.
"What's going on?" Whispered Ginny, Artimis and Percy were at the front looking in horror at the Fat Lady's painting. Dumbledore appeared at their sides and rubbed a hand over the ribbed canvas. Lupin, McGonagall and Snape appeared on the top stairs and rushed down to stand beside them. Lupin and Snape moved Artimis and Percy aside to get a closer look as McGonagall tried to calm her students. "We need to find her, Professor McGonagall please go tell Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search all the paintings for the Fat Lady."
"You'll be lucky!" Peeves crackled from above Artimis, causing the girl to look like she wet herself with shock.
"What do you mean Peeves?" Dumbledore's calm voice caused Peeve's big grin to fade.
"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen, she's in a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor dodging through the trees, crying something dreadful."
"Did she say who did this?"
"Oh yes Professor head, he got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty Temper he's got, that Sirius Black."
Artimis herded the Gryffindor's, Slytherin's, Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's into purple sleeping bags, she watched Harry and his friends drag their own into the far corner. "Lights out in ten minutes. Everyone grab a bag and get in. And don't be shy if you don't know how to get in. Took me ages to work out you slept in it and not played in it when I was younger. But it was really fun pretending to be a vibrant pink striped caterpillar… wait… I didn't mean to say that out loud!" This made everyone not in Slytherin laugh including McGonagall and Lupin as the teachers both left the hall and locked the great doors. Mythal sat up and waved Artimis over. "So Black attacked the Fat Lady."
"Yes, left almost nothing of the canvas. I wonder where he got the knife from, you don't think it is a butter knife do you?"
Mythal chuckled and turned in the sleeping bag making it create a loud puff sound. Artimis stood and groaned when her knees cracked, Draco winced at the sound and gave her a look. "It's a Muggle known illness. Tell you about it one day." She clapped her hands at the same Slytherin's that were attacking the bird and snapped, "Get into bed now!" Causing them both to snap to attention and follow her order instantly, faces pale with shock. She sent Mythal and Draco a look that said, 'Ha mesa is evil' and then continued along the Slytherin lane to order them into bed and be silent for their ten minutes was over.
She turned and started down the Hufflepuff line, they got into action easier than the Slytherin's who were starting to whisper again. Turned to face Percy she noticed Harry talking and decided to distract Percy as the redhead turned to snap at him. "Percy, want to terrorize the Slytherin's? You have more of a skill at controlling them." Puffing up the egoist stomped off to push a pair into place. Artimis rushed over to Harry in time to hear Hermione say, "… You can't just Apparate here. And I will like to see a disguise that will fool those Dementors. There are guarding every entrance to the grounds. And they will see him if he flew in too. And Filch knows all the secret passages, they'll have them…"
"Lights out Hermione, warning before Percy gets over here." Artimis winked at the three and bent down to give them a warning. "If you are planning anything tell me, I know about your first two years. And I want to join in on the next fun, and just so I'm certain you're all safe." She raised her brows and laughed at their faces before standing and yelling out in sync with Percy, "Lights out everyone, bed time."
End of Chapter 3
