Let us compare mythologies – fifteenth century fire-eaters – a lesson in manners – Éire Óir Cladach – mornings with Myrtle – close encounters – B. L.

Harry marched down the corridor, still angry. Maybe he had overreacted, but he needed to be sure about Artemis. Spies had infiltrated Hogwarts before. All this was a little too neat for his liking. Artemis appears, and then there are Death Eater attacks close to home. Perhaps Lestrange's attack had been a message, as Hermione suggested. A message to Artemis? If he wasn't a Muggle, then he was a damn good actor.

He was fuming all the way back to the library. He found Hermione sitting in a secluded corner while Ron was off rummaging among the shelves. Hermione instantly saw that he was upset.

"Harry, what's wrong?" she said, putting aside her book. "You look like someone told you that you had double Potions all week."

"It's nothing," he replied gruffly. Hermione continued to stare at him.

"It's about Artemis, isn't it?" Harry looked up at her, surprised. "Well, you've been a bit unsure of him since he got here, and just now you said that you were going to the common room to fetch some ink, but you didn't bring any back. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

Harry relaxed a little, thankful he found a little understanding. "You're right, of course. It is about him. I just—I don't know what to think. We have no reason to suspect him of anything, but –"

"But you still don't trust him," finished Hermione. "No one blames you for being mistrustful, Harry, least of all me and Ron. Still, it shows something."

"What?"

"That you two are more alike than you realize."

"What!"

"Calm down, Harry, just listen. I'm not just talking about your physical appearance, although that's odd, too. I'm talking about your personalities, your characters."

"I don't believe this."

"Haven't you noticed it? From what you've told me about him and from what I've seen myself, at times you two could be the same person."

Absently he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to neaten it while he thought. "Okay, tell me what sort of similarities we have."

"The first thing is talent. He has a brilliant mind; you have brilliant flying skills and an amazing aptitude for offensive and defensive magic. You both have incredible potential."

"I'm not convinced."

"I'm not finished! You said that he admitted to being… involved with illegal activities, right?"

"He's a criminal, plain and simple. He just deals with art and bank accounts rather than corner stores and newsstands. Your point?"

"You both disregard the rules to achieve your goals. Although his goals seem to be accumulating wealth and you-"

"Try to rid the world of evil?"

"Stop interrupting!" she said, laughing. "You're both cautious of newcomers, and you wait to see if they will help or hinder you before dealing with them. You both have principles that you refuse to give up without a good cause. You're both rather stubborn, you're both proud, and," she sat back with a self-satisfied look on her face, "you both seem to know when to admit you're wrong, even if you don't want to."

Harry frowned. "I hate when you do that."

"Do what?"

"Make me feel thick and stupid for acting on impulse." He looked at her for moment, thinking. "Do you think we can trust him?"

"That's not for me to decide. You know what I think."

Ron came back and dropped a load of books on the table between them. "You'd think they would have more information on fifteenth century fire-eaters. This is all I could find. What about you?" he asked, looking at Harry.

He made a noise between a sigh and a growl. "I think I need more ink," he said, and left the library.

He returned to the common room to find it empty. At least, it appeared so. He glanced around and said to the empty air, "It's okay, Artemis. I won't…I won't hurt you, or anything."

"Glad to hear it." Artemis materialized sitting in the same chair he had been in before, looking calm and without a single rumple in his clothes. He knows how to maintain his composure, I'll give him that, thought Harry. He could see that although Artemis looked calm, his hands gripped the arm of the chair. Not tightly, but enough.

"I, uh, I wanted to-" He shifted awkwardly, and could feel his face growing hot. Artemis remained staring at him as cold as a glacier. "I wanted to apologize," Harry finally blurted. "I shouldn't have thought you were involved with the attack."

Artemis crossed his legs and tented his fingers together, the picture of final judgement. "While I have done nothing to earn your trust, I have also done nothing to earn your mistrust either. You wrongly connected me to an unfortunate incident concerning one of your enemies, simply because I was here, a scapegoat, if you will. If I were any other human being, I would be deeply offended, but since I am not every other human being I am willing to accept your apology on the grounds that you do not accuse me further of crimes I did not commit. Do we have an understanding?"

Harry mentally reeled against the flood of words. Artemis's tone was so measured and emotionless that he almost didn't believe that Artemis had forgiven him. But he managed to stumble out a 'sure' and turned to leave.

"Harry?" He looked back. Artemis had not moved, but his tone had softened slightly. Like how a stone can soften into gravel. "I do not delude myself into thinking we will ever feel like we can be friends, but I hope we can at least trust each other. I think we both have sufficient enemies at the moment; we don't need any more."

Harry didn't say anything, but nodded and left.

Harry didn't see Artemis again that night, but he was sure that Artemis had seen him. He wasn't overly worried; he still had the Marauder's Map to rely on. Artemis hadn't left the common room. He came down the next morning to find Artemis trying to convince Hermione into letting him go outside in order to bathe.

"Hermione, I have been here three days now. I have hiked over the Scottish countryside, I have followed you around wearing a very warm and uncomfortable cloak, and I have slept in the same clothes since Thursday. I need a bath. I need to have soap and water touch my skin long enough for me to feel like I am actually paying attention to my personal hygiene."

"I don't want to risk someone seeing you, Artemis. How would we explain it?"

"I could don the cloak once more so one of you can show me the way to suitable facilities. I assume there are private baths."

"Yes, but-"

"So glad you agree. Now, which of you would care to guide me?" He looked from Hermione, looking exasperated, to Harry, still on the stairs, to Ron, who looked faintly disgusted at the idea.

Harry sighed as he realized he was going to have to be the guide. Hermione was too much of a prude to risk being seen in a boys' bathroom, and Ron would most likely leave him with Moaning Myrtle. Or worse. "I'll do it," he said, letting his irritation show through. Artemis merely smiled. As he reached for the Invisibility Cloak, Harry said, "Don't bother. Nobody hangs around the hallways on a weekend, and we won't be going far."

Artemis followed him silently as they walked through the castle. Harry, still groggy with sleep, didn't notice the footsteps coming towards them until it was too late. As they turned a corner, Harry ran right into Neville.

"Oh, sorry, Harry. Didn't see you coming. What're you doing? Hey, who's this?"

Harry turned back to Artemis, who was looking at him with the same expectancy as Neville.

"Oh, this is Artemis. He's my…cousin," Harry said, not quite sure where he was going with this. "Distant cousin. Father's side. He's Irish. Came over for a holiday, a break from school, you know. Won't be staying long, so I'm showing him the castle." Yeah, that sounded decent.

"Wow, you look exactly alike," said Neville, peering at Artemis. "Which school do you go to?" he asked.

Harry's brain was too slow with an answer to that one, so Artemis spoke up. "Are you familiar with Irish schools of magic?" he asked.

"No, I'm not," Neville replied, looking apologetic.

"Then I'm from Éire Óir Cladach. It's Gaelic for 'Ireland's golden shore.'"

"Oh, wow. That's quite a mouthful, isn't it? Well, I'll see you later, eh, Harry?" He walked off.

"Yeah, later," muttered Harry, still dazed.

"Good work, Harry. You sounded almost believable," Artemis said sardonically.

Harry scowled at him. "Do you want a bath or not? Because I can get Peeves up here to give you one of his famous showers if you'd like."

Artemis extended a hand and said, "Lead on."

After a few minutes Harry said, "I didn't know you knew Gaelic."

"I don't. All I know how to say is that and 'When is the next bus,'" Artemis answered.

Harry snorted in spite of himself. "You actually can't do something? I find that hard to believe."

"Unfortunately, I am only human." They remained in silence for the rest of the trip, and thankfully didn't see anyone else. Eventually they stopped in front of a still-life fruit painting.

"Right," said Harry, tickling the pear, "this is the prefect's bathroom. Everything you need is in there. No one will hear you, and no one else can get in once you're inside. Don't worry about the robes; I'll have Dobby bring up more that you can wear. Got it?"

Artemis nodded and walked through the now-open door without a second glance.

"And make sure there aren't any unwanted guests in there with you," he called, remembering Myrtle's intrusion last year. He closed the door on Artemis's slightly bemused face, and started down to the kitchens to look for Dobby.

It was nearly an hour before Artemis emerged from the bathroom, looking scrubbed and wearing new robes. Harry looked up as he heard the door open; he was sitting in the corridor doing Charms homework, waiting for Artemis.

"Merlin, about time. I was beginning to think you had drowned in there," he complained. As he stood up he realized how stiff he was from slouching against the wall.

"Your concern is appreciated, Harry," Artemis said with a cold smile. "But you might have warned me about the ghost that apparently resides in there."

Harry grinned. "Oh, you met Myrtle, did you? What do you think of her? She actually died a few floors up in a girls' toilet. Would you like to see her again?"

"No, I would rather prefer to avoid another encounter, thank you. May we return to the common room? I feel very exposed down here."

"Fine. But I'll check things out first, so we don't have another incident like this morning with Neville."

"You don't have the map?"

"Er, no. I forgot it."

Artemis rolled his eyes, but said nothing. They started back to the common room, but now Harry would jog ahead and peer around corners to make sure the coast was clear. He felt like he was in a bad Muggle spy movie, and Artemis obviously disapproved. It was working well until they were separated by a particularly long stretch of corridor. Harry signalled that it was safe, and Artemis started towards him. Suddenly Harry heard voices, but couldn't see anyone coming. Confused, he looked back to see a previously unnoticed door open just as Artemis was passing.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. There was nothing Harry could do about it. Not again, he thought. Artemis also realised too late what was happening, and tried to dodge behind the door. An all-too-familiar blonde head had appeared, flanked by two large wall-like people. Artemis was too slow, and both he and Malfoy tumbled to the ground in a heap of curses.

"Watch it, Potter! Honestly, do you think you own the hallways?" He untangled himself and stood over Artemis, not yet noticing who exactly he was talking to. Crabbe and Goyle snickered obligingly. Malfoy apparently had little time to chat, for the trio walked off in the opposite direction. Harry could still hear him talking loudly about how much things have deteriorated since his father's day. Harry relaxed, letting himself breath again.

He walked over to Artemis, who was already upright with a very Malfoy-like look of disdain on his face. "And who was that charming character?" he asked, his voice dripping with contempt.

Harry half-smiled. "Anyone who doesn't like Draco Malfoy can't be all bad."

They made it back to the common room without meeting anyone else. It was a warm day outside so everybody was either on the grounds or at Hogsmeade. The common room remained empty for the rest of the afternoon, allowing Artemis to have a bit more freedom. Although it still required at least one of them to in the room with him at all times in case something unexpected happened. The sun was sinking towards the horizon before Harry began thinking about hiding Artemis again. He was playing a game of wizard chess against Ron, while Harry watched. Artemis was winning, of course, but the miniature figures that continuously yelled instructions seemed to throw him off a little. To be fair, Ron was putting up a good fight, but every time one of his pieces was taken, his scowl would deepen a little.

By the time the first people had returned to the common room, Artemis was already hidden under the cloak in an out-of-the-way corner. Harry was pretending to read while guarding Artemis, not so much to make sure he didn't escape, but to keep other people from stumbling over him.

He listened to gossip and news people had picked up from Hogsmeade. More Death Eater attacks, in greater numbers, more sightings. It was the same everyday. But one thing caught his attention; the largest number of Death Eaters yet had been seen outside Manchester. Most of the Aurors had been called to deal with it, as well as several other powerful wizards. Like Dumbledore. Of course, thought Harry, This will be right about the time that something goes wrong. As soon as he's needed, he disappears.

He jumped when an owl suddenly flew in the window beside him. He didn't recognise it, and it looked thin and scruffy. It landed next to him and presented a small scrap of parchment. Harry took it, expecting something from Sirius.

What he saw when he opened it made him stop dead. It wasn't from Sirius. It was a short note addressed to him. He read it several times, just to make sure he was seeing it correctly.

Dear Boy-Who-Lived,

I have him with me. I wonder how strong his mind is. His parents lasted almost a week, but I bet he won't last an hour. Come and find him if you can.

B. L.

Someone was missing, captured. But who? Harry looked frantically around the common room, trying to see if someone wasn't there. Nothing seemed wrong. Everyone was talking, laughing, joking. Maybe it didn't mean anything, maybe it was just a prank. But then he heard it. It made his blood freeze.

"Hey! Anyone seen Neville? He hasn't been around all day. Anyone see where he went?"

Harry was having trouble breathing. All his muscles seemed to have locked up. "No, no," was all he could say.

Will Artemis help? Will they even allow him to help? I apologize if the Gaelic isn't spot-on. Translators are hard to come by. I also apologize for the Malfoy scene. Weak, but necessary.

Bonus: 40 points to the person who can tell me which sentence was repeated word-for-word from the last chapter.

25 points to Linwen again for finding the cookies in the plate of biscuits Hermione had. Up to 75 points now.