Chapter Seven: Transfiguration
Ciel Gallagher saw Remus, Sirius, and the new girl, Artemis walk into the Great Hall for lunch. As the three approached the tale, she called Artemis over. "Oi, Artemis! Come sit with me!" the red haired fifth year said. The brunette shyly weaved her way over to Ciel, leaving Sirius and Remus to find seats with Peter and James, who were already there. As usual, James was looking intently over in the direction of Lily, who was having an animated conversation with a Ravenclaw girl the next table over. Ciel didn't know who Lily was talking to since she was a year younger. It really didn't matter though.
Ciel was short, red-haired, green eyed, and had a spitball temper when provoked. She had made the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a Beater in her fifth year when her older cousin had graduated. She had her sights on playing professionally- maybe even for the Ballycastle Bats, her favorite team, or for Ireland's National Squad!
Artemis sat down with Ciel. "What's up?" the American girl asked, casually flipping her hair over her shoulder. She started ladling soup into her bowl.
"I was just checking on how you were doing," Ciel said, watching her carefully. Her grey eyes looked slightly red- possibly from crying, she thought. And all she had wanted to do was strike up a relationship with her… Hopefully she still isn't feeling overly emotional, Ciel thought. I'll just steer clear of anything that has to do with America.
"I'm fine, thank you," Artemis said with a smile. "Just had a spout of homesickness after Potions. I'll be fine though." She tore a hunk out of her roll of bread with her teeth.
"Potter says you do aerial gymnastics," Ciel said conversationally.
"Hm-hm…" Artemis said through a mouth of food. She was absolutely famished. Honestly didn't these English types know how to have a decent breakfast? She swallowed, and started, "Yeah, probably been doing it since I could ride a broom. Well, at least since my mother would let me on one." Moa was not a big fan of brooms. Mainly because, according to the stories her aunts (Moa's two elder sisters) told Artemis it was because a certain boy back when she attended W.C.A.M. kept trying to look up her skirt when she was flying. Moa was not thrilled.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Parents can get a bit protective," Ciel agreed.
"Why do you ask, anyways?" Artemis said, tilting her head to the right.
"No reason," Ciel answered loftily.
Artemis raised an eyebrow.
"What is that Beater trying to talk you into?" James asked, taking a seat by Artemis.
"Nothing, Chaser!" Ciel said, exasperated. She frowned. "Honestly, you'd think that just because Artemis has made new friends in just a day she'll hate you or something."
Artemis felt a warm little feeling inside of her. Ciel considers me her friend? Maybe Sirius and Remus were right… She heard her two friends beginning to argue over something that had to do with Quidditch.
"Anyways," she said, cutting in. "James, can you help me get to Transfiguration next period?
"Of course," the boy proudly replied, drawing himself up importantly. "I may have a certain place in my heart for a certain girl-"
"AKA, Lily Evans," put in Ciel.
James frowned. "Names need not be mentioned, youngin'."
"I'm off to Divination. Have fun with the psyco Artemis," Ciel said walking off.
Artemis checked her watch. "Isn't it a bit early? Class doesn't start for another twenty minutes at least."
"The divination tower is in probably the remotest corner of the castle possible. Most likely intentionally," James answered as Sirius, Remus, and Peter came over to sit across the table from him and Artemis.
Sirius pressed his fingers together, elbows resting on the table; his face the portrait of a very business-minded man. Remus rolled his eyes, giving the impression that in his opinion, the whole business was a load of Hippogriff shit. Peter just looked bemused, patiently waiting for Sirius to bring the matter forward.
James waited, staring calmly across the table at his best friend, chin cupped in his hand as he rested his elbow on the table. Artemis in turn folded her hands under her chin and gave Remus a smile, followed by a questioning look. He sighed.
Sirius cleared his throat. "It has come to our attention-"
"You attention, my dear Padfoot," Remus corrected. "I'd like to say that this isn't my idea."
Sirius gave him a scathing look, then continued. "Anyways, we all have nicknames: Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and James calls Lily "Evans", and I call her "Lils". Even though she hates it."
"So?" asked James impatiently, pushing his glasses up.
"So obviously Artemis needs one as well!" Sirius exclaimed, gesturing at her.
"Do I get a say in this process at all?" Artemis asked, already predicting the answer.
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous," James replied, getting all business. He turned to Sirius. "And, Padfoot, we can't just decide on one, and discuss it. It's to be spur of the moment. And… Moony? What are you doing? Reading the Transfiguration book?"
"Bloody hell, we haven't even had class yet!" Sirius cried, attempting to pull it out of his friend's grasp.
Remus hit Sirius' shoulder. "Some of us aren't experts already, you know." He shot very disapproving looks in James, Sirius, and Peter's directions.
James grinned sheepishly, Peter looked meek, and Sirius' mouth turned up into a toothy grin. "Don't worry, Moony, we still love you even if you have a problem with your transfiguration," Sirius said, throwing an arm around his friend.
"You'll have to excuse Mr. Moony," James explained in a loud whisper behind his hand to Artemis. "He gets a little pissy about these things sometimes."
"James Potter! Watch your language!"Lily reprimanded from five seats down his left.
"Of course, doll! Anything you say!" James called, and to Artemis' surprise, he sounded as if he meant it.
The rest of the lunch was spent in laughter, with the boys telling Artemis about some of Professor Minerva McGonagall's particularly dry comments to authority figures. It was apparent that they held the stern looking teacher in an iconic-like adoration. With about five minutes til class, the sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins headed over to the Transfiguration classroom.
"Oh, and by the way, Artemis," Remus whispered softly into her ear, stooping ever so slightly so she could hear, "As you may have already guessed, generally speaking, the Slytherins are not everyone's favorite group of people in the world. Just try and stay on their good side, particularly O'Deherty- he's a right nasty one when the mood takes him. You should be alright from most of their comments though, you're a pureblood, and they absolutely abhor, excuse the term, 'mudbloods.'"
"What about this Severus Snape fellow I heard about on the train?" she asked, slightly nervous.
"Snaps' fine," Remus said with a flick of his hand. "Tends to keep to himself though," then, dropping into an even lower whisper, he told her, "Honestly, I don't know what James has against him. Yes, he is a rather nasty pureblood if you get into deep conversation with him, but if you leave him to his books and dark arts… well, he's fine as a good veritasium potion, you know?"
Artemis nodded. As they entered the Transfiguration room, Lily came up from behind her, took her arm in hers, and steered her over to a desk. "Sit with me," Lily urgently said through her teeth. They sat in a corner up in front of the classroom. "Last year I had to sit with Belinda Frazer," Lily said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Dumb as a cricket, that one. But nasty as hell."
James and Remus took the desk behind the girls as Brava and Ruby took the one next to them. Peter and Sirius sat at one as far away from James as possible. Artemis turned around and asked, "Why are Sirius and Peter sitting so far away from us?"
"McGonagall has forbidden Sirius and I to sit close together," James explained. "We figured it best to get off on her good side this year by moving away by ourselves. Obviously, in hopes of the ban being removed."
"Well, I must say, Mr. Potter, I certainly do appreciate the gesture," said the witch from behind James. The spectacled boy turned around to face the professor. "However, since I seriously doubt that you and Mr. Black can sit within a five foot radius of one another without causing mayhem, the ban shall be removed; it would most likely require an act of Merlin to get you two to behave during class," Professor McGonagall explained, with a touch of fun in her voice. She gave a brief smile, then walked forward to the front of the class. "As you can all doubtlessly tell and already know, we have a new student, Artemis Xenoi from the States. Needless to say, you are to treat her with the common courtesy and respect that is expected for all Hogwarts students." She gave a stern glance over at the Slytherins. Artemis felt fidgety. Must Professor McGonagall further draw attention to her? She just wanted to fit in without any gliches. "Now, let's begin. First of all, let me give my congratulations to you all for passing your O.W.L.S. I know they weren't easy, but I'm sure that you found you were all properly prepared, and are now ready to begin your N.E.W.T. classes. Even though your tests aren't until the end of your second year, it's never to early to start studying…" Professor McGonagall launched herself into a speech that lasted the entire class time. The students first started to listen attentively, but their interests gradually wandered.
James Potter gazed longingly at the back of Lily Evans' head, memorizing each strand of her rich red hair and really noticing how much thicker and longer it had become over the summer. Although in a low pony-tail, it reached to almost her mid-back, gently waving; its tonal range going from a flaming red to a deep color as it got closer to her scalp. James doodled "JP LE" on a scrap of parchment, accented with pictures of him and Sirius playing pranks on greasy Severs "Snivellus" Snape.
Remus Lupin hung on for a bit longer then his classmates, but James' doodling caught his eye. Hoping to get his friend engaged in a game of tic-tac-toe, he looked over the drawings. To his disappointment, James was still completely wrapped up in thoughts of Lily, as his scrawlings proved. Remus then cast a disgusted eye over a scratching of a crudely rendered James and Sirius (he could only tell who was who by James' glasses) pointing their wands at Snape (drawn with a large nose), who had sprouted chicken wings. Glancing back to the front of the classroom, he saw that McGonagall was now writing what appeared to be course aims of some sort on the board. Looking back quickly at Sirius and Peter's table, the handsome teenager flashed his friend a devilish looking smile, then returned back to a note that he was writing. Smiling back casually, Remus looked back forward, and started looking at the back of Artemis' hair, which was still down. This morning had somewhat shaken Remus, and he hoped Artemis had calmed down. He was finding that even though he had only known her a bit more then a day, he was very concerned about her well-being.
Lily Evans was not unaware of James' wistful gazing at the back of her head, frowning, she pair rapt attention t Professor McGonagall's speech. She might say something important. Lily was not that great of a Transfiguration student. Well, alright, she was pretty bad. She had only really managed to scrape by with help from her friend in the Ravenclaw house, Takehiko Byrne who was nothing short of a genius. James Potter though, she thought to herself, he's incredible at Transfiguration. Ruefully, she wondered how someone who goofed off so much could be that good at anything. Well, he was also an ace at Quidditch too, come to think of it. And practically every other thing that he did. James Potter, Lily thought, was one of those damned people who didn't have to study at all, and would still be able to pass! She again felt his gaze on the back of her neck. Turning red, she busily copied what the Professor was writing on the board.
Sirius Black was currently engaged in writing a letter to Remus. So far, it read:
Dear Mr. Moony,
Mr. Padfoot sends his greetings and hopes to find the aforementioned Mr. Moony in good-health, although that special time unfortunately draws near once again. Mr. Padfoot also wonders if Mr. Moony intends to tell Ms. Artemis Diana Xenoi about his ailment? Mr. Moony, it is of upmost importance to Mr. Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs that you have some experience in concern to the female sex before Mr. moony graduates from our beloved Hogy, Worty, Hogwarts.
We request your presence in the dormitory at twelve o'clock tonight to go over some changes to the Map. Mr. Prongs has already discovered a new passageway! There is also need to conference about what further mischief to play this year
Best wishes, yours truly,
Mr. Padfoot
With that, Sirius magically sealed the letter and tucked it into the pocket of his robes. He leaned back to listen in on the rest of McGonagall's speech.
The aforementioned Ms. Artemis Diana Xenoi was currently fretting. Her mother's words were starting to ring clear in her head: first impressions are everything. Although her impression on the train had come off fairly well, Artemis still couldn't believe the break down she had had. What would everyone think? She really was trying to assimilate in, and she did like her new friends an awful lot. Artemis still found it hard to believe she had broken down. She found herself wondering what Remus thought of her. She was very concerned about his thoughts on the subject of her. He probably thinks I'm a silly "git", she thought, the English slang already weaving its way into her subconscious. Artemis shook her head to clear the thoughts, setting loose a ripple down her long hair which, unknownst to her, snapped Remus out of his gaze at her brown locks. Honestly know, it was ridiculous to wonder what a boy thought anyways. Besides, the last thing she needed was to act all girly. To distract herself, she pulled out her quill and started sketching a very good drawing of Professor McGonagall on her parchment.
Peter Pettigrew was thinking how he could impress Ms. Gwenaelle Flavius of the Hufflepuff House. Now that she was his partner, he could finally get to talk to her on a semi-frequent basis. The pretty blonde had captured Peter's heart back in their second year when she had helped him through a Herbology class when his usual partner, Remus, was in the infirmary. He wished, for the thousandth time, that he could be like his friends James and Sirius: handsome, witty, athletic, funny, smart, and popular. Peter knew that the only reason he was so in on the scoop of so many things was because he had them for friends. Even Remus, in his own quiet way, had helped Peter, and gained his envy. Remus was such a… gentleman, peter decided. Quiet, booky, self-sacrificing by always putting his friends before his personal needs, brave, very intelligent, a prefect, and, even though Remus thoroughly denied it, very good looking. Peter wished he could have at least one trait from one of his friends to help in his quest to get Gwen's attention. She was smart, pretty, and good-mannered. Peter knew she would need nothing short of a gentleman for a boyfriend, let alone a date for a Hogsmeade weekend. Well, he could do polite, his single mother had brought him up well. Thinking back to the train, he remembered James asking Artemis to help in his venture to get Lily's love, and the American agreeing. What if he asked Artemis? She would surely agree, Peter thought. After all, she was just as much his friend as James', and she appeared nice enough. His mind set, Peter looked over Sirius' shoulder at the note he had written.
At last, class ended, and as the students quickly filed out of the door as McGonagall called out last minute homework assignments, a loud bang! filled the hallway, followed by a cackle.
"Peeves," moaned Remus as Brava jumped and gave a squeak.
Lily growled, "Damn it, I've had enough of that poltergeist; he needs to stop this nonsense." Determined, she walked forward to where the poltergeist was swinging from a chandelier, cackling gleefully. As she stepped forward, the overpowering smell of a Dungbomb hit her full blast. Coughing, she held a hand over her mouth, stepped back, and started yelling: "Get out, Peeves! This is the last straw, you hear me!"
"Hehehe… Silly red! You can't stop me! You're just a little student!" he mocked her. "A nasty little redhaired girl!" He bounced around the walls.
Frowning, Lily thought, and then calmly said, "I think I'll call the Red Baron on you."
Peeves gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"
Lily gave him a stern glare.
"You're kidding, right?"
"I kid you not. You have three counts, Peeves. Three…"
Before she had reached two, Peeves had took off through a wall. Professor McGonagall walked out of the classroom. "What's the hold-up here? Off to lunch now, all of you! Go on!" she herded the sixth years out.
As Artemis walked beside Remus, talking about class, the pair heard the nasty snickering of two Slytherin girls behind them. Turning around, Remus gave an inward groan: Midori Blaze and Belinda Frazer. "Lookie there, Belinda," Midori cried. "Lupin's got himself a girl-friend: hot off the American assembly line. What was your name again, Yank? We must've heard it about a million times already, the professors and staff thinking you're so great coming over from America to bless our humble little school."
"I think it went something like Arthur or Andrew," cackled Belinda. "It's definitely not that girly- no figure at all! Straight hips, flat chest- must be a boy, but then again, no boy has a voice with that high of a pitch, except for maybe Pettigrew there," she jabbed a thumb in Peter's direction, who looked horror-stricken. Artemis' face blushed a bright red as her figure, well, lack-of, was taunted. So she was a late bloomer…
Remus, knowing he would get teased for months for doing so, put a protective arm around Artemis' shoulders. "Come on, Artemis," he said, not even glancing at the girls, whom Artemis was now staring at with a deep loathing. He steered her off for lunch, followed by the whistles and teasing of the two Slytherin girls. He looked down at her, and was somewhat shocked to see her looking, well… absolutely pissed off. Artemis was looking steadily ahead with a very intense gaze.
In her mind, Artemis was remembering some of the teasing that Ruth had given her for having an underdeveloped figure. That was friendly though, and generally people knew that Ruth was the only one allowed to mess with Artemis like that. Those girls didn't know that though, Artemis thought. Regardless, she had had it. She could hardly tolerate what bit she had seen of the overly voluptuous Scarlet when around Remus, and this, this was the last straw! However, she had vowed to her father to keep out of trouble, so she instead thought about how nice it felt to have Remus' arm around her for a second time that day. Smugly, she thought of the jealous look Scarlet would have on her face when she walked into the Great Hall like this. Smiling, she looked up at Remus. "You're a good friend, you know that?" she told him, reaching back to tug at his stubby pony-tail.
Raising an eyebrow bemusedly, Remus gave her that simple smile she had grown to love seeing. "Likeiwse."
"By the way," Artemis said as they rounded he corer to the Great Hall, "What did you and the boys do with the flour sacks?"
Blanching, Remus softly swore. "They're up in the Common Room. I think it'll be okay though. Just say that the various animals are watching them. Everyone knows owls make good baby-sitters."
This, Artemis agreed, was quite true.
"Charms is next," Lily said, smiling smugly. Artemis, Brava and Ruby were sitting at a far end of the table together. Finally, my good subject, Lily thought.
"Do you like Charms?" Artemis asked.
"I love it!" Lily cried gleefully. "And Professor Flitwick is very practical."
True to Lily's word, Flitwick did turn out to be very practical, along with very small and very enthusiastic about his subject. After taking roll, saying hello to Artemis with the usual, "Hope you're enjoying Hogwarts so far," and a brief congratulations about everyone passing their tests, they went straight into practicing some Charms they hadn'y used in awhile. It was the first time the Gryffindors had really done anything productive all day, and the whole house felt very good afterwards (with the slight help of some cheering charms as well). Dinner past uneventfully, and they filed up to the Astronomy Tower.
Finally, Artemis thought, echoing Lily's of a few hours ago, a class that I'm really good at! She climbed the steps next to Sirius, smelling the fresh air of the night and feeling a gently wind on her face as they reached the top. Loking up, Artemis saw familiar constellations and grinned broadly, reveling in it all. The night truly was her element, she thought.
Ugh, so sorry for the long-ass time between updating. I hit severe writers block. It was bad. Thank you for waiting though. If it happens again, feel free to nag at me a bit. Seriously, I would type like a sentence, and then die. Not happy. Sophie, could you please e-mail me some info about you (hair, eye, age, desired house, last-name, etc.)
The chapter was a bit short, and I apologize for that. But it just seemed a good place to end, and I really wanted to just get it out! My personal favorite part was going into the various students' heads during McGonagall's lecture. I had wanted to do some Slytherins as well, and maybe Ruby and Brava's. But I figured there's really not much, and Snape (the only one I really eriously considered) just needs to be his own mystery. Also, the story's not really about them, but about Artemis, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Gwen, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team (more is to come regarding them, trust me on this one.)
By and by, anyone who has a character that didn't get mentioned yet, don't worry- still working on it. I don't want your "cameo" to be just that. You will have a purpose, damnit! Until next chapter.