**God, I am sooooo tired of fanfiction.net breaking down all the time! It
is sooooo annoying! Anyway, I think I can finish this chapter even before
I can start uploading my first chapter**
**Well, I have edited the other chapters a little, so they are changed**
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**Kree**
"I'm going to be leaving for Harry's tomorrow. I'll take it that he'll be getting worried now. What will be your plans, Remus?" Sirius asked as he sat at the breakfast table with Remus and Artemis.
"Well, actually," Remus started with hiding delight in his voice. "I got a job."
Sirius had a wide grin stretched out on his face, one, because Remus finally got a job, and two, he didn't have to work for Remus anymore. "Well, out with it. Where did you get a job?"
"You won't believe it." Remus raised a teacup to his mouth, than drank some. "Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts? That's wonderful!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Hogwarts? But ." Sirius stuttered. "They know you're a werewolf! The parents of the kids ."
Remus set down his teacup. "Dumbledore has notified all of them. He has told them that I am to go far into the woods during my transformation, a place where it is restricted for students to trespass. It would be their own faults if they wandered into trouble. Of course, some of my former students know me, and have reassured their parents that I am fine and not once during my year teaching have I gone anywhere near the students. not knowing the last scene with Peter Pettigrew. I do fear for the student's safety if something does happen like that, but ." Remus looked to Artemis. "I'm hoping that you'll keep me in line."
She just stared at him in disbelief, flabbergasted. "You mean . I'm going? To Hogwarts?"
"Of course. I can't leave you here in the cottage for an entire year all alone. And . I was hoping that you would come with me?" He asked.
"As if I wouldn't say no." She rolled her eyes. "I can't wait to go back there . It will be great to roam around the castle halls again ."
"And make more mischief." Sirius snickered. "I envy you, but I'm glad for you. That was the last time I've seen you so happy before Artemis came."
"But my picture has been in thousands. millions of newspapers. What if someone recognizes me?"
"Then we'll have to disguise you." Remus gave her grin.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"It was wonderful to see you again, Artemis." Sirius started. "It's nice to see Remus a bit more cheerful."
"It was great seeing you again too. What's better than coming back to Azkaban and seeing my two best friends again?" Artemis smiled. "Be careful, I don't suppose you're not "innocent" yet."
"Nope, but I always do. You take care too." Sirius kissed her on the cheek.
Remus was leaning on the front door post, arms crossed. He walked over to Sirius. "I'm glad you were able to stay for awhile, old friend. Have a safe journey."
"Good luck with your job and have a great year." Sirius then added "I do expect that you two will be engaged the next time I see you, right?" He elbowed Remus and Artemis blushed a little. He and Remus hugged warmly. "Good bye, and take care of her, Remus."
"I will." Remus replied.
"Oh, and also, Artemis, I think that you have to do most of the "taking care of" of Remus." He quickly whispered to her as she let out a chuckle and Remus glared at him. Sirius playfully saluted them, but broke down to just a smile. "Goodbye, see ya later."
"Bye!" They both exclaimed in unison as Sirius transformed back into a black dog and ran into the woods.
"I'm going to miss him, I mean, I still find it hard to say goodbye . but you know, it's easier since I actually know that I'll see him again." Artemis stared into the woods.
"It always is, Sirius is quite a guy." He squeezed her hand. "Come my, dear, we should be getting ready to leave ourselves."
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and perhaps a local Muggle town." He answered.
"A /Muggle/ town??" She questioned.
"Yeah. I think those dinky salons do a better job than ours anyway."
"A SALON?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis and Remus walked through Hogsmeade, Remus holding her hand, leading her. They made their way through the crowds, dodging every sudden change of movement from the crowd. He knew his way perfectly as Artemis looked around curiously. It had been years since she'd last been there. Some things have changed, but it was mostly like an old fairy tale that you've heard for the first time in a long time.
"Come on, this way." Remus led her.
"Hey, just because I don't have my glasses on I'm completely blind."
"Sorry."
"So, why am I without glasses now?" Artemis asked, remembering how he made her take off her glasses.
"So you'll less look like you."
"So I'll less look like me? So I won't look myself?"
"Yeah. Tell me Artemis, did you ever like wearing contacts."
"Hell no, I detested it. I always took a half hour to put one of them one. Exactly too. That was the fastest time I could have ever put them on. A WHOLE DAMN HOUR IN THE MIRROR! Haven't you ever noticed how I hardly ever wear them?" She scowled.
He nodded. "I thought so."
"We aren't ." Artemis began as they stopped in front of a building. "God no . we aren't getting... CONTACTS?"
"Of course we are. You'll be better disguised with them." He replied.
"No .. please no.. NO CONTACTS!"
"Honestly Artemis, you sound like some child who doesn't want to be dragged into a doctor's office. Come on, you'll be better disguised and sage this way, trust me."
Artemis groaned as she walked in with Remus.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She walked out with Remus about and hour and half later. Both were exhausted.
"Well," Remus began. "You beat your record."
"What do you mean?"
"You took 27 minutes on the first contact and 28 on the second."
"Oh shut up, Remus. How do I actually look without my glasses?" She asked uncomfortably.
"I can't say you look better or worse . but you still look absolutely beautiful."
"Where are we going next?" She changed the subject knowing that he always made her turn red and she hated that sometimes.
"Now we're going to the Muggle Town. I think we need to get your hair fixed." Remus started and she groaned again.
"It's hair /done/. And I can't believe I'm letting you do this to me."
"Honestly, Artemis. I thought girls liked dressing up and looking all pretty." He smirked.
"Easy for you to say. Men like pretty girls. All that crap is a NIGHTMARE." She shuddered. "Come on, let's just get it over with."
Remus laughed. "That's why I liked you, right?"
"Maybe ." She smirked. "And now why did I like you?"
"My charm, my personality ." Remus grinned at her. "We'll take the train, my dear. I've already got tickets."
"Then let's go." Artemis started to run off.
"Um, Ari?" He called out to her. "You're going the wrong way!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Now we have to talk about your new identity." Remus started as they sat on the train across from each other. "You'll be my cousin. You can keep "Lupin" as your last name. Any ideas for your first name?"
"Selene." She answered immediately.
"Selene?"
"Yup. Artemis is the goddess of the moon and so is Selene. Though Artemis is equivalent to Diana in mythology, I would prefer this name, though both sounds a bit retarded."
Remus chuckled a little and then continued. "You've attended Durmstrang, not Hogwarts. Since the headmaster who used to be there is not there anymore and Kakaroff is out of contact, you should be safe."
"Well, I do know how to speak Bulgarian." She shrugged.
"Your parents have both died. You don't have anywhere to go so you had to stay with me. I am going to Hogwarts so you are coming with me to be my assistant. Follow?"
She nodded. "So instead of being the ones annoying the teacher, we have to be the teachers getting annoyed."
Remus rolled his eyes. "There are only a few students like that. Most of them are quite /safe/, unlike us. Okay, and now for your last job before you came with me ."
"I've just been exploring the Amazons." She grinned.
"Okay. I wish that was a job . now that takes care of where you've been living. So now you are Selene Lupin."
"Selene Lupin." She smugly turned up her nose. "I definitely prefer Artemis."
"So do I, Artemis Lupin . I mean McConnell."
But she wasn't listening. She was staring at someone who was a couple seats in back of them. Remus tried to see who it was but she quickly turned back to face him. "Remus . that man is holding up and issue of the Daily Prophet. It has my picture in front. I just have my glasses off with different clothes. He could still recognize me!"
"Switch places with me quickly." He stood up so she could sit where he was sitting by the window and he took the end seat. "Keep you head facing the window and just enjoy the scenery. I'll block you so no one can recognize you."
Artemis nodded, and just stared outside but she didn't have to go through long boring minutes of staring. She saw that they were stopping at the station right now. So she stood up, trying to hide her face. Remus stood up as well and the two walked through the crowd and exited the train.
"So where are we now?" She asked.
"London. I have no doubt that we'll find some kind of salon. Let's hurry up just in case Muggles have paid attention and spot you." Remus urged and they hurried down the street until Remus stopped them in front of a building. "Here's one, come on let's go in."
Artemis remembered how she completely stalled going into the Eye Center, but now, it was all hurry, hurry, hurry. Maybe it had to do with trying to not be spotted, or maybe she actually did want to get her hair done? Naw .
They entered through the two glass doors. There was a lady at the counter with big bushy brown hair with the phone up to her ear held up by her shoulder. She was looking at her bright pink fingernails that decorated her hands. She wore lots of make up on her face and had bright red lips and with blobs and blobs of blush on her cheeks. She had dark lines of mascara around her eyes and it was hard to tell if her occupation was a hair dresser or a clown.
"Yeah . uh huh ." The lady talked into the fun. "Yup . no way .so . yeah .naw . anyway . yes . I gotta go now . customers. bye ." She violently hung up the phone and looked up at Remus and Artemis. "What can I do for you?"
"She'd like to get her hair . um changed ." Remus hesitated not knowing human terms.
"I'd like to get my hair cut and done." Artemis spoke up for herself.
"Well how would you like it done?" The lady asked, her eyes only focusing on her nails.
"Um, I was hoping I could get suggestions?" Artemis replied.
"Follow me." The lady walked out from behind the counter and led Artemis to another part of the room and they sat down across from each other over a little table. Meanwhile, Remus looked around a little and finally sat down in a chair and started flipping through some Muggle magazines. The lady pulled out a book. "How short do you want your hair to be?"
"A little past my shoulders." She replied as the lady stared at her long hair that went a little past her waist.
"Okay," the lady opened the book to a section with all these different women hairstyles. She pointed to a picture. "How about this one?"
Artemis looked at the picture with the hair put up in a bun with all these strands of hair sticking out of the bun and two strands by the side of her face. She shook her head. "No."
She pointed to another one. "This one?"
This one had the hair curled to the inside of her face. "Not that one either."
She flipped a page and pointed to one. "This?"
The hair was completely curly. She shook her head without showing her disgust.
The next was completely straight down. As much as Artemis would have loved to have that one, she knew that it would make any difference in what she looked like. "No."
They flipped through pages for a few minutes, and then finally one fit Artemis's likes and one that would make her look different. Exhausted from flipping page after page, the lady sent her to another women who led her to wash her hair.
About fifteen minutes later Remus was still looking at the magazine, looking up every now and then to see if Artemis was done yet. He looked at the pictures. "How could the pictures not move?" He thought to himself. "Were these Muggles not even /that/ advanced?"
He found the magazine quite pointless. He set it down and then looked up. He saw that Artemis was just standing up from her seat and she was done. Then someone stood in front of them and he could see her no longer. He stood up too, trying to catch a glimpse of her but finally, she walked over to him.
She was beautiful.
It was not an exaggeration. She had wavy hair. Not short, but wavy. It did not puff out at all and her hair was not wide. The auburn color of hair was perfect to match her hairstyle and her blue eyes that were no longer hidden by glass. She stood up tall and was incredibly thin with perfect skin. She smiled a little at Remus while he gazed at her.
"So . well . how do I look?" She asked.
"Gorgeous." He said, not once taking his eyes off her. "One out of a million reasons why I love you."
She weakly smiled, but was interrupted by the throat clearing of the counter lady. The counter lady held out her hand with her other ringing up the cash register and said "$23.89."
Remus pulled out a fifty dollar bill which surprised Artemis. The counter lady gave him the change and then they left the building.
"Where did you get the Muggle money?" Artemis asked him.
"Just in case money." He shrugged. "I only have two fifties and I would only use this money in emergencies."
"You could have asked me for money . I could have gone to a Muggle bank and-"
"Robbed it?" Remus sniggered.
"No." She playfully glared. "Gotten some money from my account."
"Ah, that's right . You are part Muggle . I guess you'll have to teach me some of that stuff later, especially the part about Muggles liking those stupid packets with pictures in them."
"Magazines?"
"Whatever they're called."
"Where are we going next?" She asked.
"Well, now, we are going to buy you some new robes. We'll go to Diagon Alley for this, I guess." He replied. "Before that, I need to get some gold from Gringotts."
"No, this time I'll use my money." She insisted.
"And have you pull money out of /you/ account? The goblins would call the Aurors on you in seconds! No, think of it as a gift. I'll pay." He argued.
"And what would be the occasion?"
"Well, I don't need an occasion. In fact, I still need to make up nineteen birthdays, eighteen Christmases, eighteen Valentine's Day, and some many more." He smirked. "Let's go, we still need to catch the train."
"And this time," she grinned. "I don't have to hide."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She looked inside Remus's vault: Vault 496. She stared at the small (compared to others) pile of money he had. Remus stepped inside and grabbed some money and put it in his pocket. The portion he took was almost a fourth of what he had altogether. He weakly smiled at Artemis and stepped out. He sat next to Artemis as the goblin started the controls.
"Remus," she started, looking a bit embarrassed. "You don't have to spend that much on me. After all, all I need is one robe, and it doesn't have to be that fancy ."
"You need robes, Ari, I mean Selene." He quickly corrected himself. "You also need other kinds of clothes including boots, and er, any other garment."
"But I mean, we don't need that much."
"You're the only one I'd do it for."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well, I like this one. and it is only 7 galleons ." Artemis said as she stared in the mirror. The robes were a royal red color, but still looked a bit cheap looking. "And I have the black one that's 6 galleons."
"What is with you and prices?" Remus laughed. "All this time, after buying boots, and . other clothes. you were only preoccupied with the price of it and then if you like it."
She shrugged and grinned. "I did the same thing when I was little, if I was asked about something to buy. I did it at Hogsmeade weekends and I guess it's a habit I've never gotten rid of. Plus, I don't want to waste all your money."
"Anything bought for you is /not/ a waste." He squeezed her hand. "Now how about dress robes?"
"Dress robes?" She eyed him. "Why ever would I need dress robes?"
"Um, for occasions?"
"And /why/ can't I just use my regular robes?"
"Because . er ."
"Why, I'm not pretty enough for you?" She joked.
"Dammit, you win." He groaned. "Okay, but at least buy /one/ more robe, okay?"
"Okay," she grinned at him. She began to walk through and aisle, but she looked back once. "I always did win in school." And quickly went down the aisle.
"Okay, now THAT'S not true!" Remus yelled across.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis came out wearing blue robes. She looked completely different than her picture in the newspaper or the girl she had been years ago. They had one bag of the things they had bought (new wizard technology had quickly developed to fit all your merchandise in ONE bag).
"Shall we go eat now? I would think that you're hungry." Remus suggested.
"Definitely . I haven't had a full regular meal since my last year in Hogwarts. You must be hungry too, I haven't seen you eat anything ever since I've been here with you."
"No, I'm not that hungry." Remus replied.
She eyed him carefully. "You /have/ been eating meals at least two times a day, right?"
"Of course."
She just stared at his thin and skinny figure. "Could have fooled me."
"There's a small restaurant over there, Commotion of Potion, sort of what the Muggles call a "deli" over there. They also have some pretty damn good soup. Do you want to go there?"
"Fine with me." She smiled.
He took her hand gently. They walked over to the Commotion of Potion and opened the entering doors. They stepped inside, and Artemis immediately recognized someone that made her go closer to Remus and held his hand tightly. Her breath grew short and choppy and she paled quickly. Remus saw her eyes full of fear and he put his arm around her.
"What's wrong, Ari?" He whispered to her.
"It's . He's .here ." She stuttered staring ahead. "Who?" Remus questioned, wondering who was making her so fearful.
"Severus ."
Remus swore quietly in his head to himself. "Artemis, just stay calm. Remember who you are, okay? Just play your part."
"I wasn't prepared to lie to /him/." She trembled.
"You're a perfect actress, remember? I remember that skit you performed in the dormitory once." He grinned at her. "You'll do fine. Come on." He nudged her. "We can't just ignore him, it would be too suspicious."
She nodded.
"Severus!" Remus called out to him. "What a coincidence to see you here!"
He turned his head around from his seat and saw Remus and Artemis. He gave Remus a fake smile but then he turned to Artemis and he held a blank face. He stood up, looking quite surprised and suspicious. "Remus, what a coincidence indeed." He didn't take his eyes off Artemis, even while talking to Remus. "And who is this? Your new wife?"
"My wife? No, not at all. She's my cousin."
"Your cousin?" Severus raised an eyebrow. "And does your cousin have a name?"
"Ask her, yourself."
"What's your name?" Severus asked, with a bit of a scowl from Remus's comment.
"Selene Lupin." She answered flatly, doing quite a good job with no hesitating.
"Selene Lupin." He repeated softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Severus Snape."
"Was that Severus /actually/ being polite." Remus joked.
"Well I don't remember you being too polite years back. Anyway, Remus, I've heard that you're the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, congratulations." Severus said cautiously.
"Thank you. I do hope that I will keep control of myself and Selene will be able to help me do that and teach." Remus replied.
"She will be helping you?"
"Yes."
Severus looked over to Artemis, and she slowly shifted away from him. His look at her had not changed .
"Selene," Severus began. "I have a funny feeling we have met before."
"I'm afraid that's impossible." She shook her head playing her part. "I just got back from the Amazons. I have been there for years."
"What school did you go to?"
"Durmstrang."
"Not Hogwarts? Unlike your cousin?"
"My mother insisted. She attended Durmstrang."
"I have the funniest feeling I've known you for a long time." Severus began to near her. "Everything about you seems so." He paused. "Familiar."
"Well, maybe we've met in a past life." She smiled broadly.
"Maybe ." Severus was not convinced. "Who are your parents?"
"Endymion Lupin and Rhiannon Daniel."
"Daniel? I haven't heard that wizarding family before." He questioned
"My mother's mother was a Muggle." She quickly answered.
"Only child?"
"Yes."
"Where are your parents now?"
She looked away, breathing heavily, trying to act her part. She looked down. "They're . they're dead ." She let a tear fall down too.
Snape looked slightly embarrassed. "Oh . I'm sorry ."
Remus cut in. "Her parents just died recently. She's been staying with me for awhile. She found out while she was in the Amazons . terrible shock." He shook his head.
"How did they die?"
"They had been suffering from a disease." He replied. "They didn't find out they had it, until the last moment . when the disease was destructive and unstoppable . they had no chance."
Artemis laid her head on Remus's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Selene. It was nice meeting you, Selene ." He started. ". And it was nice to see you, Remus. Congratulations, once again and I will see you when the term starts." Severus left in a hurry.
Artemis stood up straight again, wiped her tear and grinned. Remus grinned at her too. "Perfect performance, Ari, absolutely perfect performance."
**Will fanfiction.net ever start working? Who knows?"
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**Kree*
**Well, I have edited the other chapters a little, so they are changed**
**Enjoy!**
**Kree**
"I'm going to be leaving for Harry's tomorrow. I'll take it that he'll be getting worried now. What will be your plans, Remus?" Sirius asked as he sat at the breakfast table with Remus and Artemis.
"Well, actually," Remus started with hiding delight in his voice. "I got a job."
Sirius had a wide grin stretched out on his face, one, because Remus finally got a job, and two, he didn't have to work for Remus anymore. "Well, out with it. Where did you get a job?"
"You won't believe it." Remus raised a teacup to his mouth, than drank some. "Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts? That's wonderful!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Hogwarts? But ." Sirius stuttered. "They know you're a werewolf! The parents of the kids ."
Remus set down his teacup. "Dumbledore has notified all of them. He has told them that I am to go far into the woods during my transformation, a place where it is restricted for students to trespass. It would be their own faults if they wandered into trouble. Of course, some of my former students know me, and have reassured their parents that I am fine and not once during my year teaching have I gone anywhere near the students. not knowing the last scene with Peter Pettigrew. I do fear for the student's safety if something does happen like that, but ." Remus looked to Artemis. "I'm hoping that you'll keep me in line."
She just stared at him in disbelief, flabbergasted. "You mean . I'm going? To Hogwarts?"
"Of course. I can't leave you here in the cottage for an entire year all alone. And . I was hoping that you would come with me?" He asked.
"As if I wouldn't say no." She rolled her eyes. "I can't wait to go back there . It will be great to roam around the castle halls again ."
"And make more mischief." Sirius snickered. "I envy you, but I'm glad for you. That was the last time I've seen you so happy before Artemis came."
"But my picture has been in thousands. millions of newspapers. What if someone recognizes me?"
"Then we'll have to disguise you." Remus gave her grin.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"It was wonderful to see you again, Artemis." Sirius started. "It's nice to see Remus a bit more cheerful."
"It was great seeing you again too. What's better than coming back to Azkaban and seeing my two best friends again?" Artemis smiled. "Be careful, I don't suppose you're not "innocent" yet."
"Nope, but I always do. You take care too." Sirius kissed her on the cheek.
Remus was leaning on the front door post, arms crossed. He walked over to Sirius. "I'm glad you were able to stay for awhile, old friend. Have a safe journey."
"Good luck with your job and have a great year." Sirius then added "I do expect that you two will be engaged the next time I see you, right?" He elbowed Remus and Artemis blushed a little. He and Remus hugged warmly. "Good bye, and take care of her, Remus."
"I will." Remus replied.
"Oh, and also, Artemis, I think that you have to do most of the "taking care of" of Remus." He quickly whispered to her as she let out a chuckle and Remus glared at him. Sirius playfully saluted them, but broke down to just a smile. "Goodbye, see ya later."
"Bye!" They both exclaimed in unison as Sirius transformed back into a black dog and ran into the woods.
"I'm going to miss him, I mean, I still find it hard to say goodbye . but you know, it's easier since I actually know that I'll see him again." Artemis stared into the woods.
"It always is, Sirius is quite a guy." He squeezed her hand. "Come my, dear, we should be getting ready to leave ourselves."
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and perhaps a local Muggle town." He answered.
"A /Muggle/ town??" She questioned.
"Yeah. I think those dinky salons do a better job than ours anyway."
"A SALON?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis and Remus walked through Hogsmeade, Remus holding her hand, leading her. They made their way through the crowds, dodging every sudden change of movement from the crowd. He knew his way perfectly as Artemis looked around curiously. It had been years since she'd last been there. Some things have changed, but it was mostly like an old fairy tale that you've heard for the first time in a long time.
"Come on, this way." Remus led her.
"Hey, just because I don't have my glasses on I'm completely blind."
"Sorry."
"So, why am I without glasses now?" Artemis asked, remembering how he made her take off her glasses.
"So you'll less look like you."
"So I'll less look like me? So I won't look myself?"
"Yeah. Tell me Artemis, did you ever like wearing contacts."
"Hell no, I detested it. I always took a half hour to put one of them one. Exactly too. That was the fastest time I could have ever put them on. A WHOLE DAMN HOUR IN THE MIRROR! Haven't you ever noticed how I hardly ever wear them?" She scowled.
He nodded. "I thought so."
"We aren't ." Artemis began as they stopped in front of a building. "God no . we aren't getting... CONTACTS?"
"Of course we are. You'll be better disguised with them." He replied.
"No .. please no.. NO CONTACTS!"
"Honestly Artemis, you sound like some child who doesn't want to be dragged into a doctor's office. Come on, you'll be better disguised and sage this way, trust me."
Artemis groaned as she walked in with Remus.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She walked out with Remus about and hour and half later. Both were exhausted.
"Well," Remus began. "You beat your record."
"What do you mean?"
"You took 27 minutes on the first contact and 28 on the second."
"Oh shut up, Remus. How do I actually look without my glasses?" She asked uncomfortably.
"I can't say you look better or worse . but you still look absolutely beautiful."
"Where are we going next?" She changed the subject knowing that he always made her turn red and she hated that sometimes.
"Now we're going to the Muggle Town. I think we need to get your hair fixed." Remus started and she groaned again.
"It's hair /done/. And I can't believe I'm letting you do this to me."
"Honestly, Artemis. I thought girls liked dressing up and looking all pretty." He smirked.
"Easy for you to say. Men like pretty girls. All that crap is a NIGHTMARE." She shuddered. "Come on, let's just get it over with."
Remus laughed. "That's why I liked you, right?"
"Maybe ." She smirked. "And now why did I like you?"
"My charm, my personality ." Remus grinned at her. "We'll take the train, my dear. I've already got tickets."
"Then let's go." Artemis started to run off.
"Um, Ari?" He called out to her. "You're going the wrong way!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Now we have to talk about your new identity." Remus started as they sat on the train across from each other. "You'll be my cousin. You can keep "Lupin" as your last name. Any ideas for your first name?"
"Selene." She answered immediately.
"Selene?"
"Yup. Artemis is the goddess of the moon and so is Selene. Though Artemis is equivalent to Diana in mythology, I would prefer this name, though both sounds a bit retarded."
Remus chuckled a little and then continued. "You've attended Durmstrang, not Hogwarts. Since the headmaster who used to be there is not there anymore and Kakaroff is out of contact, you should be safe."
"Well, I do know how to speak Bulgarian." She shrugged.
"Your parents have both died. You don't have anywhere to go so you had to stay with me. I am going to Hogwarts so you are coming with me to be my assistant. Follow?"
She nodded. "So instead of being the ones annoying the teacher, we have to be the teachers getting annoyed."
Remus rolled his eyes. "There are only a few students like that. Most of them are quite /safe/, unlike us. Okay, and now for your last job before you came with me ."
"I've just been exploring the Amazons." She grinned.
"Okay. I wish that was a job . now that takes care of where you've been living. So now you are Selene Lupin."
"Selene Lupin." She smugly turned up her nose. "I definitely prefer Artemis."
"So do I, Artemis Lupin . I mean McConnell."
But she wasn't listening. She was staring at someone who was a couple seats in back of them. Remus tried to see who it was but she quickly turned back to face him. "Remus . that man is holding up and issue of the Daily Prophet. It has my picture in front. I just have my glasses off with different clothes. He could still recognize me!"
"Switch places with me quickly." He stood up so she could sit where he was sitting by the window and he took the end seat. "Keep you head facing the window and just enjoy the scenery. I'll block you so no one can recognize you."
Artemis nodded, and just stared outside but she didn't have to go through long boring minutes of staring. She saw that they were stopping at the station right now. So she stood up, trying to hide her face. Remus stood up as well and the two walked through the crowd and exited the train.
"So where are we now?" She asked.
"London. I have no doubt that we'll find some kind of salon. Let's hurry up just in case Muggles have paid attention and spot you." Remus urged and they hurried down the street until Remus stopped them in front of a building. "Here's one, come on let's go in."
Artemis remembered how she completely stalled going into the Eye Center, but now, it was all hurry, hurry, hurry. Maybe it had to do with trying to not be spotted, or maybe she actually did want to get her hair done? Naw .
They entered through the two glass doors. There was a lady at the counter with big bushy brown hair with the phone up to her ear held up by her shoulder. She was looking at her bright pink fingernails that decorated her hands. She wore lots of make up on her face and had bright red lips and with blobs and blobs of blush on her cheeks. She had dark lines of mascara around her eyes and it was hard to tell if her occupation was a hair dresser or a clown.
"Yeah . uh huh ." The lady talked into the fun. "Yup . no way .so . yeah .naw . anyway . yes . I gotta go now . customers. bye ." She violently hung up the phone and looked up at Remus and Artemis. "What can I do for you?"
"She'd like to get her hair . um changed ." Remus hesitated not knowing human terms.
"I'd like to get my hair cut and done." Artemis spoke up for herself.
"Well how would you like it done?" The lady asked, her eyes only focusing on her nails.
"Um, I was hoping I could get suggestions?" Artemis replied.
"Follow me." The lady walked out from behind the counter and led Artemis to another part of the room and they sat down across from each other over a little table. Meanwhile, Remus looked around a little and finally sat down in a chair and started flipping through some Muggle magazines. The lady pulled out a book. "How short do you want your hair to be?"
"A little past my shoulders." She replied as the lady stared at her long hair that went a little past her waist.
"Okay," the lady opened the book to a section with all these different women hairstyles. She pointed to a picture. "How about this one?"
Artemis looked at the picture with the hair put up in a bun with all these strands of hair sticking out of the bun and two strands by the side of her face. She shook her head. "No."
She pointed to another one. "This one?"
This one had the hair curled to the inside of her face. "Not that one either."
She flipped a page and pointed to one. "This?"
The hair was completely curly. She shook her head without showing her disgust.
The next was completely straight down. As much as Artemis would have loved to have that one, she knew that it would make any difference in what she looked like. "No."
They flipped through pages for a few minutes, and then finally one fit Artemis's likes and one that would make her look different. Exhausted from flipping page after page, the lady sent her to another women who led her to wash her hair.
About fifteen minutes later Remus was still looking at the magazine, looking up every now and then to see if Artemis was done yet. He looked at the pictures. "How could the pictures not move?" He thought to himself. "Were these Muggles not even /that/ advanced?"
He found the magazine quite pointless. He set it down and then looked up. He saw that Artemis was just standing up from her seat and she was done. Then someone stood in front of them and he could see her no longer. He stood up too, trying to catch a glimpse of her but finally, she walked over to him.
She was beautiful.
It was not an exaggeration. She had wavy hair. Not short, but wavy. It did not puff out at all and her hair was not wide. The auburn color of hair was perfect to match her hairstyle and her blue eyes that were no longer hidden by glass. She stood up tall and was incredibly thin with perfect skin. She smiled a little at Remus while he gazed at her.
"So . well . how do I look?" She asked.
"Gorgeous." He said, not once taking his eyes off her. "One out of a million reasons why I love you."
She weakly smiled, but was interrupted by the throat clearing of the counter lady. The counter lady held out her hand with her other ringing up the cash register and said "$23.89."
Remus pulled out a fifty dollar bill which surprised Artemis. The counter lady gave him the change and then they left the building.
"Where did you get the Muggle money?" Artemis asked him.
"Just in case money." He shrugged. "I only have two fifties and I would only use this money in emergencies."
"You could have asked me for money . I could have gone to a Muggle bank and-"
"Robbed it?" Remus sniggered.
"No." She playfully glared. "Gotten some money from my account."
"Ah, that's right . You are part Muggle . I guess you'll have to teach me some of that stuff later, especially the part about Muggles liking those stupid packets with pictures in them."
"Magazines?"
"Whatever they're called."
"Where are we going next?" She asked.
"Well, now, we are going to buy you some new robes. We'll go to Diagon Alley for this, I guess." He replied. "Before that, I need to get some gold from Gringotts."
"No, this time I'll use my money." She insisted.
"And have you pull money out of /you/ account? The goblins would call the Aurors on you in seconds! No, think of it as a gift. I'll pay." He argued.
"And what would be the occasion?"
"Well, I don't need an occasion. In fact, I still need to make up nineteen birthdays, eighteen Christmases, eighteen Valentine's Day, and some many more." He smirked. "Let's go, we still need to catch the train."
"And this time," she grinned. "I don't have to hide."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She looked inside Remus's vault: Vault 496. She stared at the small (compared to others) pile of money he had. Remus stepped inside and grabbed some money and put it in his pocket. The portion he took was almost a fourth of what he had altogether. He weakly smiled at Artemis and stepped out. He sat next to Artemis as the goblin started the controls.
"Remus," she started, looking a bit embarrassed. "You don't have to spend that much on me. After all, all I need is one robe, and it doesn't have to be that fancy ."
"You need robes, Ari, I mean Selene." He quickly corrected himself. "You also need other kinds of clothes including boots, and er, any other garment."
"But I mean, we don't need that much."
"You're the only one I'd do it for."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well, I like this one. and it is only 7 galleons ." Artemis said as she stared in the mirror. The robes were a royal red color, but still looked a bit cheap looking. "And I have the black one that's 6 galleons."
"What is with you and prices?" Remus laughed. "All this time, after buying boots, and . other clothes. you were only preoccupied with the price of it and then if you like it."
She shrugged and grinned. "I did the same thing when I was little, if I was asked about something to buy. I did it at Hogsmeade weekends and I guess it's a habit I've never gotten rid of. Plus, I don't want to waste all your money."
"Anything bought for you is /not/ a waste." He squeezed her hand. "Now how about dress robes?"
"Dress robes?" She eyed him. "Why ever would I need dress robes?"
"Um, for occasions?"
"And /why/ can't I just use my regular robes?"
"Because . er ."
"Why, I'm not pretty enough for you?" She joked.
"Dammit, you win." He groaned. "Okay, but at least buy /one/ more robe, okay?"
"Okay," she grinned at him. She began to walk through and aisle, but she looked back once. "I always did win in school." And quickly went down the aisle.
"Okay, now THAT'S not true!" Remus yelled across.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis came out wearing blue robes. She looked completely different than her picture in the newspaper or the girl she had been years ago. They had one bag of the things they had bought (new wizard technology had quickly developed to fit all your merchandise in ONE bag).
"Shall we go eat now? I would think that you're hungry." Remus suggested.
"Definitely . I haven't had a full regular meal since my last year in Hogwarts. You must be hungry too, I haven't seen you eat anything ever since I've been here with you."
"No, I'm not that hungry." Remus replied.
She eyed him carefully. "You /have/ been eating meals at least two times a day, right?"
"Of course."
She just stared at his thin and skinny figure. "Could have fooled me."
"There's a small restaurant over there, Commotion of Potion, sort of what the Muggles call a "deli" over there. They also have some pretty damn good soup. Do you want to go there?"
"Fine with me." She smiled.
He took her hand gently. They walked over to the Commotion of Potion and opened the entering doors. They stepped inside, and Artemis immediately recognized someone that made her go closer to Remus and held his hand tightly. Her breath grew short and choppy and she paled quickly. Remus saw her eyes full of fear and he put his arm around her.
"What's wrong, Ari?" He whispered to her.
"It's . He's .here ." She stuttered staring ahead. "Who?" Remus questioned, wondering who was making her so fearful.
"Severus ."
Remus swore quietly in his head to himself. "Artemis, just stay calm. Remember who you are, okay? Just play your part."
"I wasn't prepared to lie to /him/." She trembled.
"You're a perfect actress, remember? I remember that skit you performed in the dormitory once." He grinned at her. "You'll do fine. Come on." He nudged her. "We can't just ignore him, it would be too suspicious."
She nodded.
"Severus!" Remus called out to him. "What a coincidence to see you here!"
He turned his head around from his seat and saw Remus and Artemis. He gave Remus a fake smile but then he turned to Artemis and he held a blank face. He stood up, looking quite surprised and suspicious. "Remus, what a coincidence indeed." He didn't take his eyes off Artemis, even while talking to Remus. "And who is this? Your new wife?"
"My wife? No, not at all. She's my cousin."
"Your cousin?" Severus raised an eyebrow. "And does your cousin have a name?"
"Ask her, yourself."
"What's your name?" Severus asked, with a bit of a scowl from Remus's comment.
"Selene Lupin." She answered flatly, doing quite a good job with no hesitating.
"Selene Lupin." He repeated softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Severus Snape."
"Was that Severus /actually/ being polite." Remus joked.
"Well I don't remember you being too polite years back. Anyway, Remus, I've heard that you're the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, congratulations." Severus said cautiously.
"Thank you. I do hope that I will keep control of myself and Selene will be able to help me do that and teach." Remus replied.
"She will be helping you?"
"Yes."
Severus looked over to Artemis, and she slowly shifted away from him. His look at her had not changed .
"Selene," Severus began. "I have a funny feeling we have met before."
"I'm afraid that's impossible." She shook her head playing her part. "I just got back from the Amazons. I have been there for years."
"What school did you go to?"
"Durmstrang."
"Not Hogwarts? Unlike your cousin?"
"My mother insisted. She attended Durmstrang."
"I have the funniest feeling I've known you for a long time." Severus began to near her. "Everything about you seems so." He paused. "Familiar."
"Well, maybe we've met in a past life." She smiled broadly.
"Maybe ." Severus was not convinced. "Who are your parents?"
"Endymion Lupin and Rhiannon Daniel."
"Daniel? I haven't heard that wizarding family before." He questioned
"My mother's mother was a Muggle." She quickly answered.
"Only child?"
"Yes."
"Where are your parents now?"
She looked away, breathing heavily, trying to act her part. She looked down. "They're . they're dead ." She let a tear fall down too.
Snape looked slightly embarrassed. "Oh . I'm sorry ."
Remus cut in. "Her parents just died recently. She's been staying with me for awhile. She found out while she was in the Amazons . terrible shock." He shook his head.
"How did they die?"
"They had been suffering from a disease." He replied. "They didn't find out they had it, until the last moment . when the disease was destructive and unstoppable . they had no chance."
Artemis laid her head on Remus's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Selene. It was nice meeting you, Selene ." He started. ". And it was nice to see you, Remus. Congratulations, once again and I will see you when the term starts." Severus left in a hurry.
Artemis stood up straight again, wiped her tear and grinned. Remus grinned at her too. "Perfect performance, Ari, absolutely perfect performance."
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