Hi ! How are you ?

I know, it's been a while, but I was busy and now, you have a new, long chapter with such new element about Artemis gift and maybe more... Enjoy your reading !

Marie

Chapter 10 : Set fire to the rain

Artemis regained the smile two weeks after the attack of Sirius Black.

It was during the divination class.

Artemis never thought she'd have fun in this class. Since the beginning of the year, she has seen her vision in tea leaves, always similar. This had led her comrades to always ignore her royally. She always came out ankylosing, her back sore because of the beanbags too deep and her nostrils insensitive to the slightest smell because of the different incense in the room, she almost came to regret the smell of garlic of Quirrel's class.

Yet as she laid her belongings on her usual table, her gaze anchored towards the window, she heard Trewlaney's mysterious voice announce the end of the study of tea leaves to the relief of most of her students. Apart from Parvati and Lavender, no one was really excited about the subject and sometimes Artemis expected Hermione to insult Trewlaney as an old illuminated before leaving the room for good. Her best friend seemed to go crazy every time the teacher reminded her that she was far from good at her subject.

- "This morning, while I was preparing my tea leaves for this lesson, I had a vision. Today is not a day for teamancia, but pyromancia." Professor Trewlaney began, pulling out a marbled stone bowl, her mine was serious and almost solemn. "This is the most dangerous form of divination."

Lavender had a jolt, almost spreading over her table with an avid look. Hermione had a disdainful sniff, finding their roommate ridiculous. Since the death of her rabbit, the girl experimented with all types of divinations in the hope of finding the one that most corresponded to her aura of psychic, to no avail. She was at least as gifted as Hermione and only Artemis had a real gift in the class, even though she tried to ignore it.

- "The pyromancers are the most powerful sighted in the world of magic, among them the oracle of Delphi, one of the last Sybilles." The crazy old lady started. "It is said that this kind of psychics can go mad because of the visions shown to them by the flames and my own gift leads me to believe that one of you is endowed with this ability."

Artemis stiffened in her chair, before looking at the cover of her book with application. Hermione to her right frowned as Ron caught up one night playing gobstones with Seamus. Her first vision had been in the flames of Lugnasad, a powerful one, they had become a deep silver, before showing her the worst thing her mind had ever seen. Her own death, caused by a rat and which would necessarily benefit Voldemort. She shuddered.

- "The instructions are very clear, just light a fire in one of its bowls and focus on the flame, and empty your mind." She paused. "And then you'll see what you need to see."

- "Very precise as a guideline." Hermione mumbled.

Even before Artemis lit fire in her bowl, various accidents were to be reported. Neville broke his bowl, before being deprived of the exercise by a Trewlaney exaserated by his clumsiness and Seamus had his eyebrows burned by an explosion of which only he had the secret.

- "It's ridiculous." Ron ends up by saying looking at the glowing flames in his bowl. "It would be known if we could see the future in the fire. I mean, my mom would see that Fred and George are making a joke that will kill us all by preparing her stew. »

Ron then had a blissful smile that made Artemis giggle, of course he thought of Molly Weasley's good little dish.

- "It's better when you smile you know..." Ron eventually confessed to her focusing on his fire, his blue eyes shone more powerfully. "Hermione and I are worried about you."

- "That's right." The brunette confirmed at the next table. "You are at Hogwarts, you have nothing to fear, and if you are right and... He protects you, I wouldn't worry too much, he's a powerful wizard and even Dumbledore holds him in respect, I've done research and... »

- "Did you do any research?" Ron was astonished, making Artemis laugh. "But who does that?"

The girl lit her fire while her two best friends were once again arguing over the value of always learning about everything, especially their terrifying potion teacher. Artemis stared at the flames with a slight smile.

She danced softly and gleefully as if to lightly cheerful music. Its volutes of colors were cold,a bloody red, a pale orange and an almost white yellow, it was not dull, but the colors were not as bright as it should be. In the flames of the Tristallins Manor in Mysteria, the fire seemed to have been directly spewed from a dragon, bright, red and close to consuming the strongest wood. This time, it seemed more attractive, almost present only to dance in front of the grey prunes of Artemis.

She could hear nothing and felt nothing, merely staring at the gently moving flames. They were so beautiful,bringing a serene smile to her lips as she seemed to want to sing her, congratulate her. The colors suddenly changed as in Lugnasad, the flames took the shine of the silver, surrounded by a light green halo. It was as if the goddess Artemis was herself personifying in a flame, dancing to a mysterious melody of a hunt.

The vision was vivid.

It was a young girl, a child laughing, she was redheaded with transcendent green eyes, dancing in a daisy field. Her laughter was sweet, contagious, and brought a kind of joy to Artemis' heart. Her features reminded her of hers, if she had been more cheerful. She must have been barely eleven years old, and if Artemis was not sure to dream with her eyes open, she would think she had a vision of her mother.

- "Come on!" The girl cheeped in a melodious voice while at each step she seemed ready to fly like a dove. "Come on! Come on! »

And Artemis saw a little boy leaning against a tree. He was quite small and discreet with black ink hair, and a deging look. The only striking thing was his gray eyes, he seemed in full adoration in front of the girl who was dancing. And it was like touching a sweet moment of paradise and fullness, a memory or a gentle vision.

- "ARTEMIS!" Hermione's voice called.

Artemis came out of her dream.

Trewlaney and the rest of the class stared at her as the flames turned bright red again, not like the one she had fixed. In front of her, Ron was almost livid, stuttering meaningless syllables. There was a deafening silence, while Artemis always had a smile on the student's corner, her mind wandering to the redheaded girl dancing. Maybe it was a hallucination, because her mind kept thinking it could be her mother. She was the only person who looked so much like her and with green eyes.

- "Pyromancia." Trewlaney exhaled. "My child? What did you see? Death? A grim? »

- "I don't think she would smile like that if she had seen death." Hermione stinged with annoyance.

Artemis was divided between lying and telling the truth. If they knew that she had seen her dead mother in the flames, young and happy, they would take herself for a mad girl - it would not be new, but perhaps proved what was more disturbing – or a divine.

- "Oh no, I didn't see anything, I was just trying to see if I could change the color of the flames without a wand." She assured her with aplomb, a confident smile on her lips.

Trewlaney was not convinced that most of her comrades were, Dean congratulated her by telling her that magic without a wand was not easy and that it was impressive that she had managed to change the color of the fire. Artemis had to embroider a new lie by telling him that it was inspired by a first-year spell of transfiguration that aimed to change the color of an object. The class, not convinced to see anything in the fire, tried in turn to change the color of their flame without much success.

- "What did you see?" Hermione asked once the class was over. "If I hadn't called you, you could have stayed and watched this fire for centuries!"

- "Pyromancia." Ron's blown with shock. "So it's true? Do you really think the prophet horoscope is true? Because they said that... »

- "Ron, focus!" Hermione took back with authority. "Artemis, it's very important that you be honest with us, Trewlaney said, pyromancia is very dangerous."

- "Because I can burn my eyebrows?"

- "Artemis ! Madness!" Hermione corrected with a worried mine. "The last known pyromancer is Aveline Salamandre, who died of madness before passing it on to five of her eight children, the madness not the gift, according to my readings."

Artemis looked at Hermione, raising an eyebrow as Ron looked at them with a kind of fear, as if expecting some kind of explosion on her part. There was a thick tension between the two girls, as if they were about to argue. Artemis felt that her best friend wanted to undermine her brief moment of happiness, a sweet and beautiful vision of her dead mother. Even Quidditch didn't bring her as much joy - and yet she was playing Saturday against Serpentard and would have the opportunity to ridicule this asshole of Drago Malfoy-.

- "Listen Hermione, I've seen a few things, it's true, twice in flames." Artemis explained in a categorical tone. "But as you know, I avoid visions and I don't plan to do it again, so now here's what I saw: my mother, young. Younger than me, and it was great, because you know what... all I have of my mother is an album, I don't remember her voice or her face and I don't know anything about her so that... That was great. But now that I know the danger, I don't intend to do it again. So if you could rejoice for me instead of seeing the negative, please, I'd love it. »

Hermione nodded, and they killed the episode, even as Parvati and Lavender tried to find out more about what had happened during class. The two leeches were now convinced that their roommate was like them, endowed with the ability to see the future. Artemis vehemently denied, assuring that she had done nothing but magic without a wand, which strangely surprised her comrades less than a potential ability to see the future in the fire.

Fortunately, she was able to abandon them before she wanted to cast a spell on them when Fred and George came to remind her of Quidditch's last training session. And neither the rain nor the wind terrified her. It was a horrible moment to play, but she wouldn't say no to a way out of the two lionesses who refused to mess with it.

- "They repeated it to the whole castle." George confessed as they headed towards the field, followed by Mrs. Hooch. "If you decided to open a vision business, the whole school would come."

- "And the galleons would fall from the sky." Fred says. "You might even be offered the post of old Trewlaney."

- "You could only be better."

- "I didn't see anything." Artemis assured with confidence, looking up to heaven. "It's true, nothing. I think that it's the fumes of the kind of corrosive stuff they put on their nails that got to their heads. »

- "Your secret is safe with us."

Artemis rolled her eyes. Of course Fred and George wouldn't be gullible. They were at least as smart as Hermione and they knew the girl well enough to know when she was lying or not.

At training, the elements were unleashed, it was impossible to see further than a metre, the rain was falling dru, icy and the wind looked like thousands of daggers cutting. Despite the uniform and protections, it seemed that the cold and humidity wanted to seep into the pores of all the players and most of them were upset by Wood's delay. Their captain had not yet shown signs of life, while they were there for him.

- "He's abusing." Angelina muffled by rubbing her arms.

He arrived ten minutes late, angry, his cheeks red and his fists clenched, dragging his broom like a ball. Oliver was even more upset than the time he was told that all Quidditch games would be cancelled until new order last year.

- "I have bad news." He growled without preamble. "We're not going to play against slytherin, but against hufflepuff! Flint came to see me! »

- "And why?" All asked with one voice while Artemis cursed Malfoy - it was always his fault - .

- "Flint gave me as an excuse that their seeker is injured in the arm." Wood answered with a squeak of his teeth, no doubt he would probably have banged his broom against Malfoy's head if he had been present. "And Snape supports! It's just because they want to destabilize us and have a better chance of winning the cup and... »

A thunderbolt rang out in the distance, Artemis squinted at the blinding light of the lightning that followed. The weather was terrible and he wasn't going to calm down until Saturday. She hated the slytherins and tended to find them stupid -especially Flint -, but they had really honored the cunning of their house. Anyone would be at a disadvantage with such weather. If they were playing, it would be to finish fast, not to gain points lead.

- "Little ferret asshole." Fred cursed, clenching his fists. "I'm going to break his arm."

- "He's got shit!"

- "I know that, but we can't prove anything." Wood sighed as he pushed back his damp hair that fell before his eyes. "We've trained to face them and we're going to play against the hufflepuffs who have a completely different style. They have a new captain, a seeker, Cedric Diggory and... »

Angelina, Alicia and Katie began to giggle, while Artemis frowned at least as confused as the boys.

- "What?" Wood fulminated, shocked that they find anything fun to the situation.

- "He's the handsome attractive guy, isn't he?"

- "With athlete's shoulders, hazel eyes and dimples? Too bad he never says anything... Whatever..." Katie added triggering another giggle.

Artemis tried to see who he is, she could only see a tall boy in front of whom Susan Bones had fallen in a pamoison the other day. He's certainly not ugly, and it was true, it was even very handsome, but she did not understand such a state of agitation. For the moment, he's the enemy and Oliver seemed pretty adamant about the crisis situation they were going through. If they added any king of compliment about Cedric, he could very well go into cardiac arrest in the moment.

- "Stop! He's too stupid, not even damned to line up three words! Kenneth Towler told us that he was already lucky to have had OLWs" Fred said irritated by looking Angelina straight in the eye. "Hufflepuffs are easy to beat, Artemis has already ridiculed them by catching the snitch in five minutes, remember!"

- "He had all his OLWs with more than acceptable." Alicia corrected with an annoyed tone. "It's not because... »

- "Stop!" Oliver's yelled, eyes bulge, his voice succeeding in covering the thunder. " Merlin, stop! Diggory is not underestimated! He has built a strong team, we can't take things lightly! Flint did everything to destabilize us and now we have to review everything! We can't lose! »

- "Calm down Oliver." George said softly as he put his hand on his shoulder. "We take the game very seriously."

Artemis looked at the grey sky and smiled slightly.

- "In addition Diggory did not train by this time, we though." The girl explained with an amused tone. "I heard that he cancelled the training sessions during this last two weeks because one of the chasers almost ended up in the infirmary with bludger in his skull, because you couldn't see anything. He doesn't have the advantage of the field, plus it's a new team, he doesn't work instinctively like us. »

Oliver almost cried and took her in his arms, relieving that someone found the right words. The girls seemed to agree not to mention Cedric and the twins had a big smile saying that no one would get a bludger as long as they wielded a bat. So it was with new determination that they trained, reviewing their strategy to adapt it to the hufflepuff team.

The day before the match, the weather became even more terrible, and the excitement was palpable. The wind was howling, the rain was falling and it was so dark that the torches were lit even in days, and additional lanterns had been added. The bets were already starting to be taken and Artemis was delighted to see that they were starting big favorites.

Slytherin's players, on the other hand, were more execrable than usual, especially Malfoy and his superior look.

- "If only my arm was less painful." He sighed during the potion, watching the trees bend to the will of the wind from the dungeons.

Artemis had been content with a disdainful sniff as Snape again pestered after Neville and his inability to put the ingredients in good quantities. She had other cat to whip, especially as Wood caught her between classes to give her advice, improve their strategy, asking her to save time so they had a chance to score, the advantage of playing under this weather could allow them to get ahead in the scores.

- "Diggory turns very fast and is very good at feigning, Artemis. So please try to get around it. Or better yet, if you're a secret fan of acrobatic Quidditch... »

- "Oliver, I have class!" Artemis complained while carrying DADA books. "Please, we can't talk about it tonight in the common room."

"No! Tonight you sleep you're going to need all your... »

Artemis began to run to her class of Defence against the dark arts, her captain screaming behind her. With a skid control, she entered the room slamming the door in the face of Wood who continued to give her instructions. At least in class, she was safe.

- "I'm sorry Professor Lupin, I tried to..." She began with a sorry tone.

But it wasn't Lupin who was at the office, but Professor Snape, dark and menacing, it looked like her worst nightmare, as always. She was still wondering about the possibility of him scrambling to protect her, especially in the present moment. It seemed mad with rage as most of the hufflepuffs and gryffindor present kept a low profile, at least as confused as her.

- "This course has already begun Potter!" He yelled. "Unless you think you're so important that you don't bother to get there on time! Ten points less for gryffindor, it's unacceptable. »

Artemis remained in shock, eyes round, looking for her teacher to appear. This situation at least as confusing as that of the Great Hall a few weeks earlier.

- "Where is Professor Lupin?" She did ask, was he arrested because he's a mad killer who wanted her dead? Where was he killed? Snape?

- "He told me he wasn't feeling well enough to teach today." Rogue answered with a mocking grin. "I'm replacing him, sit Potter, unless you want detention !"

Artemis sat next to Ron under threat, taking her belongings out in a state of torpor. Professor Lupin? Sick? He always gave the impression of being, it's true, but she hadn't thought of anything serious, did it have anything to do with the potion that the professor gave her in Samain?

- "As I said before Miss Potter's interruption." Snape resumed with annoyance. "Professor Lupin has given no indication of the subjects he has had you study so far... »

- "We studied the boggarts, the Grindylows, ... "Hermione began by listing the lessons they had learned in a docile tone.

- "Shut up Granger." Snape interrupted him dryly. "I didn't ask you for anything! I was only highlighting Professor Lupin's lack of organization. »

- "He's the best defence teacher we've had so far!" Dean Thomas bravely threw.

An approving murmur spread throughout the room as Ron mumbled that he was also the only one who had not yet attempted to kill them. This was true, but Artemis preferred not to note it, thinking that Professor Snape's visceral hatred of Professor Lupin seemed to ripple dangerously around him. He was more threatening than ever, as if he didn't tolerate the idea of someone appreciating his rival.

- "You are content with little, he teaches you to defend yourself against dangers that a first year should be able to counter." His voice dripped with wickedness. "Today, we're going to study... »

He opened the manual in the last chapter of the book. Artemis who had flipped through she was hardly surprised to see the image of the werewolf but found it quite amusing because the full moon was the night before. It was almost suspicious that the professor wanted them to study the subject, because there was no indication to Artemis that Professor Lupin was offering them classes that did not correspond to their level. In reality, they were even always punctuated by small anecdotes that corresponded to a student at NEWTs.

- "Everyone, page 394, hurry !"

The class obeyed, in silence, the looks were sullen and tinged with bitterness. No one liked Snape. Neither the hufflepuffs, nor the gryffindor.

- "Who can tell me what distinguishes the werewolf from a real wolf?"

Artemis raised her hand, out of habit, more than out of will. She was the best student in this class and by far, it was more than boasting, she had always educated herself and regularly asked Jake questions on the subject, she knew the theory of most spells she would have up to the OLWs and knew how to defend herself against most common dangers. Otherwise, she would probably have died the previous two years.

- "Potter, it seems that you are able to open a book. Go ahead, we'll listen to you." He almost looked mocking.

- "Werewolves are naturally aggressive towards Muggles and wizards unlike a normal wolf who will try to avoid them. In addition, it has subtle physical differences, but which can save a life, its snout is smaller, as well as its pupils and tail is much less supplied. " She took a deep breath. "Obviously it only metamorphoses at the full moon, but there is also the fact that the term Werewolf does not only envelop wolves literally, but also subspecies of canids, such as the coyote for the southern United States and Mexico."

Hermione seemed almost impressed, like the rest of the class, there was no way he would find anything wrong. She had almost done better than her best friend, and she would almost deserve the DADA's "Miss-Know-It-all " term.

- "Five points less for gryffindor, so you didn't know that it came from a disease called lycanthropy, caused by the bite of a werewolf." He paused as the class gave him a black look. "There is no antidote, only temporary remedies, the wolfbane potion among others, even if it leaves the wolf very tired on the aftermath of full moon."

Artemis remained forbidden as he continued his class under the venomous gaze of the class. Of course there was an underlying message to this class, it was Snape, this man lived to be a thorn in the side of others - and for his protection presumably-. Lupin's potion, his absence and the lesson led only to a frightening observation, no matter what was obvious. Lupin's boggarts was a silver sphere, a moon. The full moon. A werewolf. Lupin is a werewolf. And Snape knew that and he wanted to get his class to sign it, a warning? Perhaps. But it was more than that, if she understood, Hermione too, and it was only to humiliate their teacher that he had done that.

She moved the rest of the class to scrape on her parchment, trying to think about all the implications of Lupin being a wolf. A wolf ! Dumbledore had hired a werewolf, it was... A good thing? Jake was campaigning for their right, recalling that they were wizards the rest of the time, talented for the most part and that he didn't deserve to be excluded for a disease we didn't understand and she was happy that Lupin had a chance. But Dumbledore, a man who never did anything without thinking before... What for? Why did he hire a wolf? Testing her ? That's why Snape was so suspicious.

- "Optimal for this rag!" Snape cried by returning one of her copies, the one on the Kappa. "It's a shame, it's no more than an acceptable one and I'm generous."

Artemis is holding back from snorted.

The class ended with an impressive amount of homework on werewolves. Students rushed out as Artemis took longer to pack her belongings, asking Ron and Hermione to keep her a place for lunch. Professor Snape is threateningly tossing her from the office. Students could be heard insulting the teacher from the hallway, but he did not mince words, almost proud of the effect of terror he was causing on his students.

- "You know, professor, for a werewolf, Professor Lupin is much more human than most people." She said to him with verve.

- "So you're not that stupid. I guess even Longbottom will have understood." He looked particularly delighted. "He's just a dog, and he might even try to kill you before the end of the year like your other teachers."

- "A dog?" She marveled before widening her eyes.

- "Get out Potter!"

And she went out repeating the word dog several times. Lupin knew her mother, Lupin was a wolf, a canid, a dog. If Artemis had not been so stunned by her own discovery, she would probably have jumped for joy. Her godfather was Lupin. Professor Lupin, the dog of prophecy, was him! She had nothing to fear! Now she just had to find a way to talk to him about it and thank him for what he had done! That was why he had left it to Jake, a werewolf could not have had her guard unlike a French count and additionally an auror.

Artemis kept a smile on her face until the next day, so that neither Ron and Hermione's escapades managed to distract her, not even Wood's strategic speech at twenty o'clock as she returned from her meal.

She woke up very early in the morning. So early that it was still dark, it was five o'clock in the morning and it was with resolution that she had decided to go into the common room, knowing that she would never go back to sleep because of the thunder and lightning that shook the castle right down to its foundations. Artemis had to admit that she was not reassured for the match, but never the noble sport was cancelled for a storm.

She would have preferred, especially after seeing Cedric Diggory up close.

Yesterday, while she was still on her little cloud, after learning that Lupin was her godfather, Wood had insisted on showing her opponent. Cedric was a tall boy with a good muscle mass, with the wind, he would deviate less, unlike Artemis who was small, thin and fragile. In normal times, she gained agility and speed, but despite her training, weather was playing against her.

She gazed at the fire in the chimney, trying to focus on a way not to deviate, and beat Cedric if a face-to-face one took place, the only solution would probably be acrobatic Quidditch, but she had promised Jake not to do it at school. He was sick enough to see her hanging upside down with only one leg to hold her when she was two metres off the ground. Yet it was one of the only solutions she had, and she was pleased that Wood was not aware of this talent, as he would probably require her to use it otherwise.

Hermione joins her after a while, a disapproving look as she sees how she stares at the flames. Both agreed that she should not use her Pyromancian abilities at all, at least not before Hermione scoured the school library and ordered three books on the subject. In any case, Artemis would hate to know what the future holds for her.

The players of the team appeared while Artemis ate her fruit salad without the slightest desire, Hermione outraged that they were forced to play in this conditions.

- "It's not a little rain that's going to stop us Granger!" Angelina laughed then at Hermione with an almost disdainful sniff.

- "It's not a little rain." Artemis coldly retorted, who hated the way her comrade addressed her friend. "It's a thunderstorm, we'll have a lot less grip, visibility and, above all, maneuver. She's right to worry and if you think you can play like it's sunny, know that I'd send you chocolate frogs to the infirmary. »

Angelina at least had the merit of being silent as Alicia whispered to her friend that this was not the time for a splash and to dig into the team. Since the chaser showed an interest in Fred, Artemis had a hard time not to feel in conflict with Angelina, because she too had feelings for the redhead - so obvious that she had realized it, which was an achievement - she wanted to protect Hermione from a broken heart and a sentence she did not deserve.

In the locker room, the atmosphere was tense as Oliver made his usual cheering speech. Fred and George were serious with this time, he should be focused all the time to protect them from the bludger and should imperatively be on the same wavelength, the girls, light as her, was clearly at a disadvantage compared to the two massive boys who served as pursuers in Poufsouffle. Only their experience in stormy weather could really be positive.

Artemis was breathtaking when she entered the field, the wind was so strong that she was afraid to fly without brooms, and she was happy to wear her magic lenses because without it, her glasses would have been soaked and she would have had no chance to see the snitch. And even without it, she was not sure she could see it. She barely distinguished the hufflepuff team at the other end of the field.

Diggory and Oliver shook hands, both tense and nervous, riding their brooms to play this match. Artemis' feet anchored in the ground because of the slush, she feared she would not be able to take off. The whistle barely reached her ears and began to fly when the girls took off.

The wind was violently deflecting her broom, she let go several swear words while she take a tumble from left to right. Her option was to put more weight in the back, but she would lose speed, on the other hand,she could better control her broom. Which she did. Fred and George watched her relieve to see her become comfortable, while she allowed herself a graceful curve, as if to reassure the gryffindor public about her ability to fly even when the wind was strong.

Artemis found that the best solution was to fly quickly around the stadium, it could not remain static, otherwise she might end up refrigerated. She was already icy and soaked to the bone, but with the tension in her muscles that required the flight in stormy weather, she managed to keep reflexes agile and flexible, avoiding two bludgers gracefully.

Her teammates were barely visible, and she feared she would not be able to see the little golden ball. She crisscrossed the terrain at all speeds, trying not to collide with the red and yellow shapes with indecisive outlines. She didn't even have a way to know where the game was because the howl of the wind prevented her from hearing Lee Jordan's comments and the crowd hidden under an ocean of umbrellas.

Artemis lost track of time after making an impressive dive thinking he could see the keen when it was actually Cedric Diggory's sleeve. They had failed to collide, the latter thinking that she had seen the golden snitch. She felt like she had been flying for hours, struggling to keep her broom straight, her muscles trembling under stress and the sky was getting darker and darker, making visibility so low that Artemis had missed a bludger three times if the twins' responsiveness was not at its maximum.

In fact, they all seemed to fight the rain, opponents as teammates, waiting until Cedric or she finds the snitch.

The whistle of Mrs. Hooch appeared as an oasis of hope, a surprisingly close flash zebraized the sky almost at the same time. It was terrifying and they weren't going to last long in his conditions. The team gathered, soaking to the bones and wading through the mud up to their ankles, their feet drowning in the slush.

- "Where is the score?" She asked the trembling limbs as she tried to stretch her ankyloser muscles, behind the twins rubbing each other to warm up.

- "Eighty points ahead, the girls are great, but we're all starting to get tired." Wood explained running out of breath. "It is imperative that you find the golden snitch before the night fall."

- "I'm doing my best." The girl assured. "I can't see anything with this weather, I've been doing field turn, I've been combing through it for hours, but nothing, nada."

- "Artemis, you are the best seeker that Hogwarts has ever known, I swear. I'm sure you're capable of more, and we believe in you." Wood placed his hand on his shoulder, in a fraternal and reassuring gesture. "You've got it in you, so you're going to go back to that field and kick Diggory's ass."

She had a slight laugh that warmed her up.

- "Yes ! Goal, kick Diggory's ass. »

She thought she heard Katie blowing a "fondle" at Alicia.

Animated by a new energy, Artemis cracked the storm's swirl, her only solution was the acrobatic Quidditch, dangerous in this weather, but she could not afford to lose. For Wood, who gave himself blood and sweat for them. Then, even numbed by the cold, soaked to her underwear, she avoided the bludger, spun at full speed and plunged in a barrel under Diggory who was spinning in the opposite direction, at least as unbalanced as she was, but who was not capable of using acrobatics like Artemis.

Artemis swerved to the right, hoping to return to midfield, her body leaning dangerously as if it were going to fall to increase its centrifugal force and limit the effects of the wind. And as a huge lightning bolt illuminated the land, she saw it. The dog of her visions, black, shaggy, wet. He stared at her sitting on an empty bleacher. Artemis had time to make up for it, rejecting a strand of red hair that blocked her sight only to find that he had disappeared.

- "Shit !" she yelled with fury. "This is not the moment, Artemis !"

And she refocused. Noticing that Diggory was speeding in her direction. Between them, a tiny golden dot.

The golden snitch.

Artemis was slower, smaller and thinner. Artemis was convinced that she was flying before she could walk. Then she stuck to her sleeve and charged, a warrior cry came out of her mouth to signal to Cedric that he had no chance in front of her. Around her, a disturbing silence had descended on the stadium, but as every time she did a few things for others - in this case for Wood who absolutely wanted this cup - she ignored it.

The cold invaded her, but Artemis was stronger than that, she reached out about to catch the golden snitch. Her bones seemed to be turning into ice, it was familiar and fear was rising in her chest. Around her, she saw shadows moving, but she continued to accelerate, refusing the idea of losing. She was going to kick Diggory's ass !

- "Not Artemis! Don't touch my daughter!" A belligerent voice yelled, determined and powerful.

Artemis looked around her, at least a hundred dementors, faces hidden by hoods converged towards her and Cedric. Artemis heard the cry of the last time, it reasoned in her head. Violent and powerful, but she was close from the snitch. One day, Jake had told her that the best way to deal with her fears was to face it, and she was going to face hers, for Wood who deserved this victory, but for her who couldn't be a wimp all her life.

- "Get out of the way!" A dark and familiar voice rumbled, Voldemort.

- "Not Artemis! Don't kill my daughter! Kill me at her place! »

Artemis felt the familiar damp gold moist between her fingers as her brain recorded what she heard.

- "She will defeat you and this damn rat, and I will prevent you from harming her! So stay away from my daughter! Artemis! »

The world swirled around her, her brain numbed by a whitish fog as she lost all her bearings. Her mother. It was her mother! She was going to die! Not! She screamed in turn, her scream reasoning in the darkness of the storm. Voldemort! She was supposed to help her! She had to push Voldemort away! He wasn't going to hurt her! She dropped her broom, then looking for her wand. Falling into the void, without worrying about it, she had to save her mother.

Artemis yelled again violently and powerfully as she felt fear, sadness and despair invading her. Her mother! Her mother! Her mother! She was falling. And behind her closed eyelids, she saw a woman with red hair and green eyes take full a spell of death, bright and deadly greens.

- "Merlin! Merlin! Merlin! Fortunately you were quick Severus and the mud cushioned her fall!" A panicked voice cried out.

- "Is she okay?" A desperate and sad tone.

- "Where's my niece?"

Artemis heard snippets of voices shouting, whispering and activating around her without understanding all that was said. Her mind wandered between pain, fear and above all that feeling of shame possessed of one person who could not save another. Her mother was dead. She wanted to cry, sobbing, howl, let the world hear her sadness. But all she knew was that she couldn't move or talk because every square inch of her body was painful.

- "It was the most terrifying thing of my life." A voice said snuffed by tears, almost hoarse.

Artemis' grey eyes opened abruptly. She was lying on one of the beds in the infirmary. The players of Gryffindor's team around her, smeared with mud from head to toe, Ron and Hermione were present and especially Jake sitting on an armchair holding her hand. All of them seemed to have gone through hell and came back from it. At least, if hell was a gigantic pool as they were all soaked.

- "Artemis!" Fred exclaimed, his complexion livid, a scar on his face and a bruise. "How do you feel?"

- "Artemis, you scared me so much." Jake immediately took over, jumping on the chair.

Her memory began to function by speeding up. The lightning, the grim, the golden snitch between her fingers and the dementors. Her mother... She felt sobbed.

- "What happened?" She does croak with difficulty upright.

- "You fell about 15 meters." Her uncle confessed to her, with a distressed, sad and worried face. "Fifteen metres... I thought you were dead! It's a good thing your potion teacher has a good reflex! Better than mine. »

The last sentence was uttered with underlying guilt and she shook her hand.

Snape had protected her, again.

Merlin.

- "What about the game?"

- "Artemis!" Jake and Hermione growled, disagreeing with her concern for a game.

- "We won." George told her with a lack of joy and conviction. "Oliver feels so guilty about your fall that he's drowning in the shower."

They all looked at each other and this time Ron stepped forward, a deep unease seemed to have taken the audience as he all sought to tell him another news. The team left under Fred's recommendation, but her best friends stayed. It was there that she noticed the pile of branches and twigs in the hands of her friend, who looked strangely like her Nimbus 2000 which could not be the case.

- "Snape was furious, so was Lupin." Hermione then explained in a trembling voice. "They almost seemed to agree, they yelled at Dumbledore. And while you were falling... Snape saved you and Lupin has... He brought his silver stuff out of his wand and the demetors... »

- "That was a patronus, Hermione." Jake explained. "One of the most powerful and purest forms of white magic, difficult to produce. I regret to put... »

- "It doesn't matter Uncle Jake." Artemis assured looking at him.

Her uncle looked exhausted and distressed, since his departure at The Leaky Cauldron, he seemed to have taken ten years, his hair becoming a little whiter, dark circles digging on his face, while his eyes were filled with tears and guilt. Artemis knew that his greatest fear was to lose her, and fear could reveal or freeze you. She knew that she tended to persevere in the face of her fears, as during the match, but Jake, who was not afraid of anything but losing her, could no longer move when she was in danger before her eyes. Leaving him helpless. And she understood.

- "And my broom."

- "You won't get on it again, until I'm sure the dementors won't intervene during the games, I'm sorry to tell you that you won't play Quidditch again!"

Artemis wanted to protest, but did not find the strength to do so. She merely nodded, she was not sure she herself would want to play again in such circumstances.

- "Actually... " Ron Re-said, showing her the twigs." Your broom did not survive. »

Artemis failed to collapse, crying. It was too much for her.

I hope you liked it. Can't wait to read your reviews

Marie