The Family Name
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 7
"Want to look at the Shrieking Shack now?"
"Sure."
They walked on, discussing ghosts and their astronomy homework. They climbed a short slope and looked up to the top of the hill. It was an old, rundown building with boarded windows and a gloomy, overgrown garden. A fence encircled it.
"The most haunted dwelling in Britain," Artemis commented.
"All the entrances are sealed shut. Ron told me even his twin brothers couldn't get in when they tried."
Artemis leaned against the fence and stared at the house. "Hmm."
"You've been hanging around with Malfoy a lot this year," she blurted suddenly.
"We're giving civility a chance."
"Don't take this wrong, Artemis, OK?" She leaned back on the fence next to him and gazed at him seriously. "But why Malfoy? I know you're both Slytherins and all, but. . ."
"He's getting better, you know. I'm chipping away at his superiority complex and his prejudice against Muggle-borns. Eventually he'll be halfway decent." Artemis smiled.
Hermione's lips quirked. "Halfway decent, huh?" At Artemis's nod, she laughed. "Well, maybe so, but I won't hold my breath. You weren't here first year, to see some of the nasty stuff he did, mostly to Harry."
"Like what?" Artemis asked, more curious than he would have thought he'd be.
"Oh, well, he challenged him to a midnight duel, but instead of showing up for it, he told Filch Harry was out of bed. He stole Neville's Rememberall that his grandmother gave him and tried to throw it in the lake. He called me a Mudblood. He's insulted us repeatedly. . ."
"How did all this start? Did he and Potter just look at each other when they first met and decide they hated each other?"
"I think you'd have to ask Harry directly about that." Hermione's hands curled around the top of the fence thoughtfully. She leaned back on her heels, holding on to the fence for balance.
Artemis studied the house, then the girl beside him. "Since he doesn't treat me the way he does Potter, I'm going to keep Malfoy as a. . . friend." Artemis said this fairly casually, then realized it was the first time he'd actually called Malfoy a friend (not counting their actual decision to become so). It felt really weird. "Anyway, what else do you want to see?"
"I'm getting kind of cold. Want to get a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks?"
"Sure."
They passed the post office on the way, and stopped to gawk at all the owls. Then they entered the Three Broomsticks. It was crowded with other students. "There's Ron!" Hermione waved at Weasley, sitting with the other Third Year Gryffindors.
Artemis saw Malfoy, Pansy, Crabbe, and Millie at a table in the corner. Malfoy smirked at him when he caught his eye. "Maybe we should sit by ourselves."
They ended up sitting with Anthony Goldstein and Mandy Brocklehurst, Ravenclaws and therefore neutral. They all had Arithmancy together, and had a stimulating philosophical debate on the meaning of numbers (well, stimulating to them).
When they'd finished their drinks, they stood up to go back outside. Just before the door, Crabbe rushed up to them. "Malfoy wants to know how your date is going," Vince informed him gleefully.
"Does he? How is his date going? I notice he finally got Parkinson to let go of his arm."
"He threatened to hex her. Once she had her romantic notions thoroughly squashed, we've all been having a pretty good time."
"That's good. Now run along and tell him to mind his own business."
Crabbe grinned. "That's what I thought you'd say."
Eventually they had seen everything there was to see. Admittedly, Artemis had been very nervousthe whole time, but he had survived. They rode the carriage back to the castle in time for the feast. Somehow they'd ended up in a carriage with Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, but he didn't let that ruin his mood.
Back at the castle, Granger smiled at him. "I had a good time. I'm glad we did this."
"Yeah." Yeah? Where had his grammar deserted him?
She looked over to where Weasley was waiting for her at the top of the castle steps, then back to Artemis. She blushed, leaned over, and kissed the unsuspecting boy on the cheek, then ran up the stairs. Artemis was left staring after, eyes wide. After a moment, he snapped out of his shock and looked around frantically. To his enormous relief, no Slytherin Third Years were there to see. He'd never live it down.
"Fowl, you just salted your tea. Was your date that mind-blowing?"
Artemis cursed internally. He was still sorting through his reactions to the kiss. He had to pull himself together. "Are you sure you saw what you thought you saw?"
Blaise grinned cheekily. "I'm sure."
"Well. I'll have pumpkin juice then, shall I?"
Zabini's grin widened. "Avoiding the subject-I guess Granger's hotter than I thought."
There was only one response to that. "Hey Chevalier, your boyfriend just called some other girl hot."
The other girls at the table all turned scary glares on Blaise, Marie especially. "Blaise Zachabeus Zabini, I believe you have some explaining to do."
"Wait! No! I didn't mean-aw, crap."
All in all, decided Artemis, it had been a very successful day.
They were changing out of the good robes they'd worn to the feast, when Llewellyn Baddock, one of the Seventh Year Prefects, entered the room. "Orders just came through-all students to head to the Great Hall."
The boys looked at him in confusion. "Why?"
Llewellyn frowned. He seemed disgruntled. "We weren't given any explanations, just orders. Come along."
The prefects herded their charges through the corridors and into the Great Hall. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were already there, and the Hufflepuffs entered shortly after. Butler pushed his way through them and hurried to Artemis's side.
"What's going on?" Artemis asked him.
Butler looked serious. "Black was here. At least, Peeves and the Fat Lady say it was Black. He tried to get into Gryffindor Tower, but he didn't have the password. When she wouldn't let him in, he attacked her with a knife. Slashed the canvas to pieces. He may still be in the castle."
Prof. Dumbledore got everyone's attention by speaking. "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. For your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the Hall. I am leaving Mr. Butler here in charge. He will communicate any disturbances to me through the ghosts." Then he waved his wand to move the tables away and place hundreds of purple sleeping bags on the floor. "Sleep well."
Immediately everyone started talking as the Gryffindors began telling everyone what had happened. The Slytherins, who of course did not associate with Gryffindors, sidled up behind the Ravenclaws and eavesdropped, or consulted with Butler directly.
Percy Weasley shouldered his way through and asked Butler for orders in a voice full of self-importance. "You and the Head Girl will be my deputies. Give them about ten minutes to get all the chattering out of their systems and then make sure everyone goes to bed."
"Right!" Percy saluted and marched off.
"Less work for me," Butler smiled.
"I'm going to see what Potter knows," Artemis told his bodyguard. "I'll be right back."
Butler looked at Malfoy as Artemis drifted away. "Well?"
Draco grinned, then made his way through the crowd, following the other boy. The rest of the Third Year Slytherins surrounded Butler, asking questions.
Draco hid behind a small group of Second Year Gryffindor girls, not wanting the Fab Trio aware of his presence. He figured Fowl would learn more if he wasn't around. He watched Granger, earnestly talking to Fowl, with her two best friends on either side and slightly behind her.
"Prof. Dumbledore obviously thinks he could still be here. . . we're just lucky he picked the one night when nobody was in the tower. . ."
"Yes," Artemis mused slowly, "but he's not stupid. It doesn't seem very likely."
"I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run," Ron declared. "Didn't realize it was Halloween. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here."
Hermione shuddered and unconsciously moved closer to Artemis.
"Aren't wizards more likely to remember Halloween than any other holiday?"
"You're not helping me feel any less anxious," Ron sighed.
"That wasn't my goal."
A voice interrupted Draco's spying. "What are you doing?"
Ginny Weasley was blocking his view, head tilted to one side curiously.
"Listening to rumors," he admitted.
"How do you think Black got in?"
Draco blinked. "You're asking me?"
"I'm interested in a Slytherin perspective."
"You've changed a lot since last year," Draco muttered.
She ignored that. "He couldn't have Apparated onto Hogwarts grounds."
"He'd have been seen if he flew," Draco said, deciding to go along with the conversation. "The dementors are guarding all the entrances. A disguise wouldn't fool them."
"Although-he's fooled dementors before."
"True. Well. . . this is an old castle, and Black was a student here. Maybe there's a secret passage or something."
"Surely Dumbledore knows all those and would be guarding them, too."
"Maybe Black had inside help. But anyone else would have known the tower was deserted for tonight's feast. . ."
"Maybe his objective is not a person, after all," Fowl interjected, coming up beside them. He had finished his other conversation.
"Do you think he's still here?" Ginny asked.
"No. He wouldn't stay around once he was thwarted. He would retreat to safety to come up with a new plan," Artemis replied. "But how did he get in and out?"
"The lights are going out now!" Percy yelled. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
The boys returned to the Slytherin side of the room. Butler set up his post a few feet from Artemis, fully prepared to defend his charge if necessary. The candles all went out. The students clambered into their sleeping bags by the light of the ghosts and the stars shining on the enchanted ceiling. Everyone was still whispering.
"Do you suppose Black had help?" Draco asked very quietly.
"I think it's time to find out all we can about Professor Lupin."
Draco was lying on his stomach, head resting on his crossed arms. "With Butler on the staff he should be able to help. Plus, Lupin seems interested in us-ever since that stupid friendship essay."
"Yes." They both momentarily shuddered as they remembered Lupin's reaction. They would avoid actually talking to Lupin if at all possible.
A teacher came in to check up with Butler every so often. Around 3 AM, Dumbledore entered, and then Snape. They came to tell Butler the search was finished, and Black had not been found. "Have you any theory as to how he got in?" Snape asked Dumbledore.
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before-ah-the start of term?"
"I do, Severus." Dumbledore's voice seemed to hold a warning.
"It seems-almost impossible-that Black could have entered the school without inside help. . ."
"Oh?" Butler broke in. "Who do you suspect? Someone in this castle?"
Snape went silent. "I do not believe a single person here would have helped Black enter," Dumbledore replied with a note of finality. "I must go inform the dementors that our search was complete."
Percy was heading their way. Dumbledore quickly turned and left. Snape watched after him with an expression of deep resentment, then strode away as well. Percy reached them. Butler told him everything was fine and after awhile he went away.
Artemis and Draco opened their eyes. "One suspicion confirmed," Artemis whispered. "Dumbledore trusts Lupin. Snape does not. He also resents the fact that Dumbledore does."
"Second suspicion confirmed. Percy Weasley's a git." Artemis smirked at that. Draco looked around the Hall. "Notice that more Slytherins are awake than any other House. We're a paranoid lot."
"That's us. Anyway, you were right-Potter doesn't know about Black and his parents or he wouldn't have stayed in the Hall all night like a good boy."
"What, you were doubting me?"
Artemis hid his amusement in the dark. "Never, Malfoy."
Tuesdays after lunch, the Slytherins had a free period and the Gryffindors had DADA. When Artemis saw Potter getting up to leave the Hall, he approached him. "Potter, I wanted to show you something."
Harry followed him down the corridor to a nook holding a statue of Circe. "I checked this yearbook out of the library." Artemis held up the book. "It has your parents in it. How much do you know about them?"
"Next to nothing, really," Potter answered, his eyes on the book. "My dad played Quidditch. I have a few photos of them. I knew they both went to Hogwarts, but it never occurred to me to look for yearbooks. Can I see it?"
"Here, I marked the pages." Artemis watched Potter turn to the first one.
"The Notorious Marauders. . . Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Sirius Black. . ."
"The four of them were famous for being best friends and pranksters, according to what I've gathered looking through those." Artemis's voice was calmly neutral.
Potter's eyes had widened. "Sirius Black. . ."
"Pettigrew is one of the 13 people he killed."
"That's Prof. Lupin?"
"Mm hm."
His expression wavered between shock and sorrow, moved to anger, then plunged into determination. "Can I borrow this?"
"Don't lose it."
"I won't." He tucked the book under his arm and strode off in the direction of his classroom. Artemis counted to 63, then followed.
Lupin had started a series of lessons on grindey-lows. Potter managed to wait until after class to approach his professor. Artemis hadn't known if he would hold out that long or not.
Once Artemis had decided to spy on Lupin, he transformed some more of his stolen fairy gear into a video surveillance system. There were tiny cameras planted in Lupin's office, classroom, and private rooms. Artemis had them transmitting to his laptop. Currently he was sitting in a nearby empty classroom, watching and listening with a hint of a smirk. He'd stirred Potter up to provoke a reaction from Lupin. Sure enough, Potter now had the yearbook out and was walking up to their teacher at the front of the room. He'd sent his friends on.
"Professor, I need to talk to you," Potter said.
"Certainly, Harry."
"I found this old yearbook and there's a picture in it of you and my father."
"Yes-we were in the same year."
"I didn't know that. . ."
"So was your mother, Lily."
"Oh. . ."
Lupin took the book and looked at the photo. "Oh. . ." He gave Harry a shrewd look. "I suppose you were wondering about. . ."
"Sirius Black."
Lupin sighed. "He was friends with us. He and Peter Pettigrew, as you see there. We were all in Gryffindor together. He came from an old, pureblood family with a history of Dark Arts but he wasn't like that, he said. He wanted to make a break with them. In fact, he moved out of his parents' house in later years. But somehow, sometime, he went over to Voldemort. I don't know why. . . we never even suspected until it was too late, when he killed Peter." His eyes were sad and distant.
Potter's eyes, too, were sad. "Oh," he said in a small voice, staring down at the ground.
Lupin pulled himself out of the past and put his hand on Potter's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Harry. But don't worry, they'll catch Black."
Potter nodded and left for his next class.
Lupin sat down at his desk, leaned his elbows on it, and briefly ran his hands over his face. He sighed again. Finally he started grading papers, but his attention wasn't on them.
Potter hadn't provoked as much as Artemis had hoped he would, nor had Lupin reacted as much as he'd desired. 'Very well,' thought Artemis, 'there are three possibilities. 1) Lupin doesn't think Potter is a threat. 2) He's slightly concerned but isn't going to worry Black about Potter's new knowledge of their relationship. 3) He's going to send a message to Black later.' Now it was Artemis's turn to sigh. 'Or of course, he could not be in league with Black at all.'
He wondered if he'd be able to get away with putting a tracking charm on a DADA professor. Too bad this one wasn't as incompetent as Lockhart.
A/N: Thank you to my reviewers! I was told there was a strange punctuation problem with this chapter. It all is correct on my end, but the posted chapter is not. I have reposted it. Did it fix it or not?
