Disclaimer: I can claim nothing from the HP Universe. Items written from book 5, OotP, are followed by page number from the American hardback version.

It's taken a bit of time but here are the next five chapters with thanks to those reading! Vivi

Chapter Twenty-One

Artemisia waited for the door to close before she went to the Hall of Prophecy. She closed its door behind her and turned right. She walked down one of the rows of shelves and stopped before a globe. She stared at it, her mind going to a rainy night during last fall.

She had been at home, resting after a week of non-stop work. Kay Standish had called her through the Floo Network, asking her to go to Hogwarts and gather a prophecy…

Artemisia entered Hogwarts with the stealth of a cat burglar. As she cut through the Great Hall, a noise made her pause.

"You! What are you doing sneaking about at this late at night?" The familiar voice made her smile. "I'm going to take ten points from your house for each hour past curfew it is."

"That might be a bit difficult, even for you, Severus." Artemisia turned around and looked at the man, she hadn't seen since leaving Hogwarts.

Severus Snape stared at the blonde in surprise. "Fiona Wyndham, what brings you back to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts?"

"Ministry business." She smiled. "What are you doing here? Besides, trying to deduct points from me?"

"I teach here now." He answered with a small smile. "I took over Slughorn's position."

"Potions?"

He nodded and his smile took on an amused quality as if he was in on a good joke. "I'm also Head of Slytherin."

"That's wonderful, Sev. When did you join the faculty?" Artemisia smiled at him, but found it hard to overlook the changes in him. The haunted look that she had occasionally seen when she had been his student was now in his eyes. Only it had a freshness that scared her.

"This is my first year." He answered before flinching like he was in pain.

"Are you okay?" She reached out and placed her hand over his, where it was clutching his left forearm. Her eyes widened and she snatched her hand back as though she had been burnt. "Oh, god!"

"Fiona, wait!"

Artemisia ran towards Dumbledore's office. Severus's footsteps echoed behind her. She turned into a hall, only to have his arm snake around her waist. He pinned her to the wall. His free hand covered her mouth.

"Fiona, I know what this seems like. Will you let me explain?"

She nodded and his hand fell away. "You better have a damned good excuse for doing something so damned foolish."

Severus hung his head for a moment. Her mind flashed to working with him as a partner in potions during her seventh year. "I don't have an excuse for why I have done this." He pulled back his robe's sleeve. She stared at the Dark Mark, unable to pull her eyes away. "I've done so many things because of this. I'm trying to repair what I've done."

"How?" She asked, meeting his eyes.

"I'm working for as a spy for Dumbledore."

"Oh, Sev." She looked at him in concern. "Please be careful."

"I will, Fiona." He gave her a small smile. "You better get going. Dumbledore will be expecting you."

Artemisia shook her head to clear it. She focused on the globe before her. She looked down at the label.

S.P.T. to A.P.W.R.D.

Dark Lord

And (?)

She looked about the room, making sure she was alone. She didn't reach for the globe. She knew better than to pick it up. That would cause instant madness since she wasn't the one the prophecy was about. Instead, Artemisia placed her wand upon it and waited for the words to spread in her mind.

'THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES… BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES… AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT… AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NIETHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES'

(A/N: The prophecy is found on pg. 841 in the American version of OotP.)

Tears pooled in her eyes. How could she help? Artemisia knew there just had to be a way.

Two months later, Artemisia finished another progress report for her main project. She had been more careful about when she was in the department after the run in she had with Rookwood, but the night before had past without her noticing it. She ran a hand over the crumbling archway. The buzzing sound of voices was one she had grown use to over the past year.

"You are one odd woman."

Artemisia looked up and smiled at the man in the doorway. "Michael, come down here."

He winded his way down into the bowl of the room and looked up at the pedestal she was standing on next to the arch. "Come down, princess."

"You aren't afraid of this structure, are you?"

"It makes me nervous." Michael replied, running a hand through his hair. "You're the only one who goes anywhere near it."

"Someone brought it here." She ran her hands across the stones.

"It's been here as long as I have and even before that."

"And you've been with the ministry for such a long time." She teased.

He ignored her and held out a sheaf of papers. "Here's the documentation on the arch that I promised you. Most of them date from the beginning of the department." She took them from him and started to flip through them. "Is this your latest report?"

Artemisia made a noncommittal noise and let him read it. "Well, what do you think, Michael?" She smiled at the man who had shown her the way to becoming an Unspeakable.

"It's…." He trailed off and frowned. "What is it?"

"Time."

He looked up at her in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Don't you understand?" She answered, excitedly. "That was what was keeping my project from working. A man made invention. Time!"

"Fi, I'd like to say I understand but I don't." He grinned at the blonde. "Luckily, we have you to explain it to us."

"Flatterer." She laughed, and then she remembered why she had ended up in the ministry the day before when she was supposed to be taking time off to recoup. "Michael, I'm still worried about that prophecy."

"Still?" He helped her down from the dais. "I told you. There's nothing we can do about it, except sit back and watch."

"I don't want to sit back and watch people I know get hurt by what some seer thinks is going to happen."

"Fiona, I want you to take some time off."

She looked up in surprise at the sudden change in their conversation. "Okay, I'll take a couple of day…"

"I'm suspending her for two months."

"Michael, that isn't funny." She put the papers in her hand into the project's file.

"Listen, Fiona. I don't want you to step a foot in here for two months. I'll reinstate you on December thirteenth. Not a day before."

Her eyes widened. He was serious. She could see it in his demeanour. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'll tell everyone you're exhausted. With the hours you put in, no one will question it."

"The real reason?"

"I think that there are spies in the ministry. Maybe, even in the department with us. You've made leaps, where others have barely made steps. I don't want you to draw attention to yourself. Not to mention that only you and Professor Dumbledore know the prophecy." Michael paused and looked at her for a moment before running a hand through his dark blonde hair. "You're in danger, Fiona."

"But…. How?"

"Everyone knows you've been working on this and that you are close to a breakthrough. We never thought one of us would turn. After all, the Unspeakables have always been separate from the outside world."

Artemisia moved to the closest bench and sat down. "Michael, no one but you knows just how close I am."

He sat down next to her, his blue eyes full of concern. "How close?"

"I passed through it last night. I didn't have time to write it out."

"Don't! If they learn that…." He trailed off.

"Well, I'll see you in December." Artemisia announced loudly causing him to look at her in surprised. She looked up at the door. "Hello, Augustus. Did you find what you were looking for?"

His face seemed to darken, and then he smiled at her. "Nothing as sinister as that, but yes, I was successful. What's this about December?"

Michael stood up. "I'm suspending Fiona for her own good. I'm sure her boyfriend would like to spend time with her when she isn't running towards exhaustion. What does he do again?"

"Sirius is an Auror." Artemisia answered instantly. When Rookwood left with a quick good-bye, she looked at Michael, questioningly. "What was that about? You don't think?"

"I'm not sure." He answered. "Either he is or he's jealous."

"Of what?"

"Your boyfriend." Artemisia made a face and he grinned. "Is it that hard to believe that you're beautiful?"

"Now, I know you're flattering me." She walked to the door with him. "Bye, Michael. I'll see you in two months."

"Don't look at me like that. They'll go by quickly. You'll see.

Artemisia let out a laugh as she left the department. She was still smiling in amusement when the lift stopped on the second level. She leaned against the back wall as a number of people get on with her. Her smile widened as she spotted three familiar faces.

"How's the new daddy doing?" She asked as she moved up beside them.

James grinned widely at the blonde. "I just got two weeks off to spend with Lily and Harry."

"He spent the past month working at night and any other odd hours he could to get it." Remus added with a laugh. "Nearly drove us crazy." She gave him a questioning look. "Well, we couldn't let him work alone."

Sirius wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "What are you doing leaving the ministry at eight in the morning?"

Artemisia hedged for a moment then chose to give them a version of the truth. "Michael suspended me for two months. He and the rest of the department think I'm heading towards exhaustion."

"Then I think you need to go home and take a nice long nap." Sirius smiled. "And I know just the person to make sure you do." The four spilt up outside the ministry. Sirius pulled Artemisia towards his motorcycle.

"Can't I just apparate?"

"No way." He pulled her close. "If your boss thinks you need rest, there isn't a chance that I'm letting you try that. You could end up splinching yourself."

"But that's not the real reason Michael suspended me. How could I be tired? I just spent three days resting and came back to the department yesterday." It was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Artemisia met Sirius's dark gaze. "There's no way that I could get you to forget I said that?"

"Not a chance."

The two were silent through the ride and as Sirius followed her into the kitchen. He watched her brew a cup of camomile and rosehips tea. She sat a cup in front of him. She added honey to hers then slid the jar towards him. He opened his mouth to say something but Artemisia was quick to speak first.

"Drink your tea before it gets cold." She took a sip from hers and let out a sigh. "You won't leave it alone, will you?" Sirius shook his head and added honey to his tea. It amused Artemisia to no end that Sirius had a habit of adding a large amount of sugar or honey to his tea. He waited patiently for her to continue. "For the past year, I've been working on a project that has sat in a room of the ministry for almost as long as there's been a Department of Mysteries. Most of the department named this project, unsolvable. They didn't understand it, so it just remained there with only a handful of attempts over the years."

"Then you came along." He remarked as she paused.

"Exactly. It's almost as if it's been waiting for me or someone like me to come along." She smiled largely. "I've made leaps and bounds where others with more experience have failed. I've come close to solving exactly what it is and how it works."

"That's why you were suspended? For doing your job?" Sirius looked at her in disbelief.

"No." Artemisia shook her head. "Michael is afraid that there is a spy in the department and doesn't want me drawing his or her attention." She bit her lip then continued. "There's more, but I'm not allowed to talk about it." Artemisia stood and took her cup to the sink. She turned to find Sirius right behind her. "Sirius, don't do that." She laughed.

He pulled her into his arms. His mouth covered hers for a deep consuming kiss before trailing over her neck. Sirius laid kisses across her collarbone before leaving another moist trail to a spot near her ear.

"I'm moving in here." He whispered before kissing her again.

"Okay." Artemisia gasped as his lips left hers, then what she was agreeing to forms in her mind. "Wait a minute. What?" She pushed him away.

Sirius grinned at her. "I like your first answer better. I think we'll go with that."

"You can't just move in here." She squeaked.

"Well, I asked you to marry me and you said you needed time before that."

"You didn't ask me to marry you."

"Yes, I did."

"No, you asked me to procreate with you. There's a difference."

"And what would that be?"

"One is a proposition. The other is a proposal."

"Oh, a proposal." He smiled at her. "With a ring and everything."

"Um, yeah." She blushed lightly. "Anyway, you can't move in here."

"Fifi."

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"That wounded puppy dog look. It's not going to work." This time, Artemisia added, silently.

Sirius stopped giving her his pleading look and instead gave the blonde a look she was sure she had never seen. It meant business. Artemisia looked down at the floor in hopes of strengthening her resolve. "Fiona." Her head popped up at the use of this instead of the usual nickname. "Either I move in here or you have an Auror on your tail every moment of every single day."

"You can't do that."

He raised an eyebrow. "Can't I?"

"Fine, move in." Artemisia glared at him before going to her room and slamming the door. Just as she got use to having freedom, someone had to come along and snatch from her. She stared out the window. She heard the door open and then Sirius put his hands on her shoulders.

"Fifi, I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Sirius."

"I don't want you to get hurt. I want to protect you and this is the only way I know how."

Artemisia turned to face him and her anger melted when she saw the concern in his eyes. "I love you, Sirius. If you think that this is the best thing to do, we'll do it."

"That's my girl."

Artemisia woke up the next morning with the realisation that someone was in the house. She jumped to her feet and picked up her wand from the nightstand. She crept down the stairs and followed the noise into the kitchen, then stood in the doorway staring in surprise. Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter stopped talking to stare at her.

"Just what do you think you were going to do with that?" Sirius questioned as he eyed her wand.

"What in heaven's name do you think you are doing just coming in here like this?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"I live here now, love, remember?"

"Unfortunately, yes." She looked at the rest of the group. "What about the rest of you?"

"They're here to help me move in. Shawny will be here as soon as she gets off work."

"Lily says she'll come over with Harry in a bit." James smiled at her.

Sirius grinned at Artemisia as he put an arm around her. "You're just as beautiful when you first wake up as you are at any other time."

"Sirius, you're already moving in." She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get dressed."

"Need any help?"

"I think I can manage on my own." She replied dryly.

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