Author's Note ** This is where my intention of a fluffy story took off into completely different direction. But I think you'll find the conclusion (we're about halfway there) pretty satisfying if you stick with me. Don't forget about the prophecy! And whatever happened to Lina?
Chapter 21 ~ May, 1996
Sirius' intent was to stir up enough innuendo that they would be forced to talk about everything. He realized later this might have been what the Sorting Hat meant when it told him he had the ambition of a Slytherin, but not necessarily the cunning. The next few days were back to the awkward tip-toeing around each other. He suggested Remus see if his pillow smelt of vanilla, but Artemis had already asked Kreacher to help her change all the bed linens. He tried teasing Artemis at meals so Remus would step in and defend her, but Artemis started preparing the food ahead of time and charming it all to stay hot so she didn't have to be there for meals.
At last he'd had enough. "You have to talk to him, this is ridiculous," Sirius whispered at her, after cornering her in the hallway.
"I don't want to talk to him. He doesn't know anything happened!"
"He knows something happened because you're avoiding him! Quite frankly you're both being idiotic. You two love each other, so how is what happened such a terrible thing? And may I remind you that this is my house and right now you are making my life quite uncomfortable.
"Ugh, fine. But first I've got to run out and meet up with my Ministry Contact. I should be back in a few hours." Artemis said shrugging on a jacket and tucking her wand in the pocket.
Sirius nodded at her. "Molly's bringing dinner tonight for the Order meeting, so everyone should be here about six o'clock. You figure out how to be a grown-up and tell him tonight or I will tomorrow," he finished with a glare. Artemis made a face at him as she stomped out the front door.
Artemis apparated to a side street near the park where she and Ben had met before. In hindsight, she supposed she should have expected something to be wrong. Ben wasn't alone. Hephzibah Godfrey, their immediate supervisor, was there too with another man Artemis didn't know.
"What's up?" asked Artemis. "Is there something big in the works? My contacts have indicated they're anticipating You-Know-Who will attempt another break-in at the Ministry. Apparently there's a prophecy in the Department of Mysteries that he's interested in."
"That's not why we're here, Scamander," Godfrey said sharply. "We've just come into some information that you apparently failed to provide when your brother went missing. Does a werewolf, a murder, a suicide and a cover up ring any bells?"
Artemis was utterly speechless. She swallowed hard and glanced over at Ben. He was watching her closely, hopefully, clearly wanting her to deny it. But her expression and silence confirmed what he'd feared. Ben's face flashed from stunned to saddened to angry, and he moved a step away from her.
"Right," Godfrey spoke briskly. "Thompson here will obliviate your classified cases, then you will turn in your wand and return to the United States with me to stand trial. You were useful enough when you worked with your brother, but I should have suspected something. You only applied when his work started to become erratic. You must have been covering for him after he was infected, correct?"
Artemis could only nod dumbly, hardly hearing as Godfrey continued to berate her. "Honestly, Scamander. I don't really know why you came back to work for MCUSA. Surely you didn't expect to jump right in with so much controversy surrounding you two?" Artemis was now vaguely aware that the three of them had her somewhat surrounded, and the man called Thomson was drawing his wand.
Were they going to do this here in a public park?! Artemis looked wildly around, but for some reason the park was completely empty. Her heart was racing as she went hot and then cold. The magic fairly thrummed around her. Her ears felt clogged, and she barely registered Thompson's "Obliviate," before she darted to the side, pushing Ben out of the way and disapparating as she felt the spell hit.
Artemis appeared suddenly in the toilet stall of a tube station. She didn't remember ever being here, but who knew what was now missing from her memories? She felt shaky and feverish, as she leaned her forehead against the cold tile wall. She took several deep breaths.
"You alright, love?" asked an older, heavyset woman who had just exited another stall and went to the sink, her face creased in concern and compassion.
"Umm…yeah, thanks," croaked Artemis, her mouth dry, "I just feel a little sick."
The woman finished washing her hands, and then dug around in her purse. "Have a sweetie, dear," she offered, holding out a round striped peppermint candy. Artemis meekly accepted it, trying to smile.
"Can you tell me what station this is?" she asked hesitantly, "I got a little mixed up."
"You're an American, aren't you? Well, this is Paddington. You know, like the bear from the story? Where are you trying to go?"
"Ummm…King's Cross I think? I need to get to Islington High Street." Was that right? It sounded right. At least if she took No-Maj transportation from here they couldn't track her.
"Well, that's easy enough dear, you can take either the pink or the yellow line from here to King's Cross. Are you feeling any better?"
Artemis nodded experimentally. "Yeah, I am, thanks so much." The woman smiled and patted her arm, as she left the bathroom. Artemis splashed her face with water and dug around in her pockets, heaving a sigh of relief as she found some Muggle money in an inner pocket. She ducked back into the stall and changed her hair to a bright blue, and altered the star tattoos to flowers. Then she bought a ticket for King's Cross station and gratefully slid into an empty seat as she tried to find the gaps in her memory, not totally sure she'd be able to. As the subway car rocked back and forth speeding down the track, Artemis thought back to leaving school and tried to trace the years since then. She remembered teaching at Ilvermorny, and then interviewing with MCUSA, she remembered their first few jobs together, and then things got fuzzy. It felt like static on a No-Maj television set. She remembered in vivid detail the fight where Apollo was bit and the night that Ingrid had died, and then there was more static, just flashes here and there until she arrived in Dumbledore's office. Thompson, you're very good at obliviating.
Artemis studied the map at King's Cross station. There it was, Angel Station. She'd seen the sign near the karaoke bar, only a few minutes' walk from Sirius' house. She bought another ticket and ducked into the bathroom, this time changing her hair to strawberry blonde, her jacket from black to brown, and fading the tattoos away completely, leaving the white lines and puckered skin of her scars visible. She took her last train, leaning her head back on the seat and closing her eyes against the pounding headache she now had.
She breathed in the fresh air to try and clear her headache and fuzzy thoughts as she walked from the station to Twelve Grimmauld Place, but only succeeded in partially hyperventilating and making herself dizzy. She stumbled up the steps and through the door, promptly fainting as she entered the house.
Artemis was vaguely aware that she was lying on the drawing room sofa and people were arguing somewhere nearby. As she tried to sit up, her stomach rebelled and she threw up all over the floor.
"There, there dear," came a soft voice. Molly Weasley pressed a cold cloth to her forehead. "You just lie back and rest. I'm sure it was all quite a shock." Artemis tried to ask what was happening, but she felt herself slip back into sleep or another faint, or whatever this dark hole was.
"What do you mean she has to turn herself in! She didn't do anything wrong!" Sirius was outraged, pacing up and down the dining room, his voice raised to the old wizard seated at the table.
"Failing to report a case of lycanthropy is a criminal offense in America," Dumbledore said in his firm, calm voice. "Beyond that she also helped cover up the death of a young woman by a werewolf attack."
"It was an accidental death, not murder," interjected Remus.
"And hopefully that fact will ensure things go in her favor, but in the meantime we must not pervert the course of justice." Dumbledore said.
"Justice?! What is this?!" yelled Sirius, gesturing to himself and the house. "You're helping to hide a convicted felon! How is this any bloody different!"
"You are innocent, Mr. Black. Miss Scamander has admitted she did both of the things of which she is accused. Furthermore, I will not antagonize those in power who may be of some use and influence for us. They are demanding that we produce Miss Scamander, and so we shall. Tomorrow morning she will accompany Ms. Tonks to my office where MCUSA Aurors will be waiting to escort her back." And with that, their old Headmaster was gone.
"Are we all just pawns on a bloody chessboard to him?" muttered Sirius.
Remus nodded, grimly. "Yes, frankly. Sacrifices will have to be made if we hope to defeat Voldemort."
"How can you be so calm?" asked Sirius, sinking down into a chair.
Remus huffed a dark laugh and held out his hands, which were trembling badly. "I was afraid if I said anymore I would tear him to pieces. I'm going to check on her."
As Remus left the dining room, Arthur Weasley, who had sat silently through the exchange pressed a glass of firewhiskey into Sirius' hand. "Don't lose hope, Black. Truth will out. Come, Molly."
Molly patted Sirius on the shoulder. "She's resting now. Try to get her to eat a little when she wakes up. She still looks a bit peaky."
Sirius nodded absently as they left, then made his own way up to Artemis' room. He stood in the doorway as Remus sat by her bedside, brushing her hair back from her face and holding her hand. "How are we going to tell her, Pads? She felt safe here, and now we're forcing her out, turning her over to MCUSA."
"What's it going to take for you to admit that you love her?" Sirius sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Remus froze for the span of a few heartbeats. "This is hardly the appropriate time for this discussion, Sirius. Besides, my feelings are rather inconsequential in light of Dumbledore's decision…in addition to the fact that she's been avoiding me this past week. Whatever happened that night we were drunk has caused her to pull away. And that's probably for the best," he added softly to himself. "She deserves a better bet than I am."
When Artemis came to again she was in her own bed, the room dark. She peered at the bedside clock to find it was only around nine in the evening. As the events of the day became clear again she started to panic. They couldn't find her here! What if they followed her and Sirius was sent back to prison!? Remus could be arrested for aiding a criminal! Her head was pounding and she was having trouble breathing as she slid out of the bed, made her way to the wardrobe and starting trying to pack her things. She would have to leave right away.
The door opened and Sirius was outlined by the light in the hallway. "What are you doing, Kitten? You're crashing around in here like a hippogriff…Moony, she's awake!" he yelled back down the hall.
Remus appeared behind him. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice low and calm.
"I have to leave!" she gasped. "People from MCUSA were trying to arrest me. If they find out I'm here, you'll both be in trouble!"
Sirius grasped her by the arms and hauled her over to the chair. "Kitten, slow down. You need to listen to some things first."
Artemis stared up at him, trembling. Remus was taken aback. She was terrified, but absolutely trusting in whatever they were going to tell her. It never occurred to her that they would be complicit in any of this, that they would be the ones to send her off to an unknown judgement handed down from an impersonal power for a gain of political influence. He felt a little sick thinking back on their first argument, when he'd accused her of indifference, certain she would never get involved in what the rest of world considered an internal British problem. Now she would become a casualty of this conflict as much as any of them had been.
Once Sirius had managed to choke out the words, that Dumbledore was turning her over to MCUSA and she would be leaving in the morning, Artemis took a deep breath and visibly locked away her fear. She simply nodded and resumed packing. Sirius began to help, and after a few choice comments about her sleepwear had her laughing, bless him.
She refused to go back to sleep, insisting on spending the last night in the kitchen. They started with tea and chocolate and ice cream. Then Artemis went into a baking frenzy, promising to at least stock up the pantry with what she could. Both men were averse to leaving her alone, so Sirius sketched as Remus watched her work, pretending to read. They ended the night with a huge breakfast that none of them felt like eating, while Sirius shared as many funny Marauder stories as he could think of, most at Remus' expense. Remus smiled tolerantly and kept interjecting with, "What actually happened was this…"
Finally, just after their last breakfast together, Artemis stood in the hallway, suitcase at her feet. "Tell everyone I said 'bye' will you?" she asked Sirius. Tonks stood uncomfortably near the door, clearly not happy about her assignment.
Sirius nodded and stepped forward to embrace her tightly. "Don't give up hope," he whispered. "You need to come back to us." He pulled away and tried to smile at her. "I'm not sure I can manage Kreacher without you."
Artemis smiled at him, as a few tears escaped. "Thank you, Padfoot. You are a darling man and a dear friend." He hugged her again briefly and then stepped back. She turned to Remus, her heart aching as she drew a shaky breath.
He stepped toward her tentatively, and wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed into his embrace, feeling the steady thump of his heartbeat beneath her cheek. "I love you," she whispered. "And I would have stayed with you forever."
Remus froze as a sense of déjà vu swept over him. Those exact words – her voice sleepy and muffled as he held her against his chest in that dream he'd been trying so hard to forget. At least he'd thought it was a dream. "Artemis…I…" he began, frowning in confusion.
She closed her eyes as Remus pulled away and cupped her face in his hand, brushing a tear with his thumb. She couldn't meet his eyes and risk seeing only sadness and pity there. Allowing herself only a moment more of his touch, she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. Artemis grabbed up her suitcase and turned to the front door. "Good-bye," she said softly, following Tonks outside and apparating away a moment later.
Sirius sighed. "If you were looking for the opportune moment, mate, that was it."
Remus simply shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It wouldn't have changed anything."
Sirius frowned. "I think it would have mattered to her."