Chapter Eight: On the AstronomyTower
Professor Sinistra was a tall witch that looked as if she was a recent Hogwarts Alumni. Unfortunately, although very knowledgable in her field, she wasn't much of a teacher, and even worse, decided that the students hadn't heard quite enough about how great it was to pass their O.W.L. tests so she gave another speech about that. Thankfully, they were outside, and the view was amazing on the tower. The sky had cleared, and Artemis could literally see millions of stars in the night sky. She started looking for various constellations and stars. However, as beautiful as the night was, that didn't keep Artemis from freezing. It was so much warmer in California! She huddled close between Sirius and Lily in the back of the group of students.
"Oh, Artemis, I completely forgot to introduce you, this is my friend Takehiko Byrne from the Ravenclaw house," Lily introduced a short Asian girl to Artemis.
Artemis and Takehiko reached across Lily to shake hands. "Nice to meet you," Artemis whispered.
"Likewise," Takehiko said with a grin. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?"
"Oh, it's great," Artemis truthfully answered. "A little chilly here though."
"Need an arm?" Sirius asked from next to her.
Artemis stuck her tongue out at him. "As if! I'm tough, I can handle it."
"Yeah right," Remus joked from beside Sirius. "Everyone knows that Californians- both wizards and muggles- are soft and laid-back." He grinned gently, giving her a wink.
"It'll be a miracle if she finishes anything!" James said from behind Artemis, poking her in the back of her neck.
"Ow! Cut that out!" she cried.
The group tried holding back laughter, as Professor Sinistra finished her speech, which turned out to be rather short, and she turned them loose to start mapping out the constellations Palvo and Vulpecula. Immediately, Artemis spotted them in the sky without even trying. She took a seat on the ground by a wall, and started mapping it out on her parchment, drawing her cloak closer for warmth. She made a mental note to bring warmer clothes up in the future.
Remus looked over at Artemis, as she calmly and efficiently labeled the constellations and their stars, with little reference to her book. He glanced up at the moon. It was getting full, he thought to himself, sighing. Of course, this was no surprise, as he closely monitored the moon's actions. But still, he was feeling doubly stressed with the start of a new term coming on, and the moon's almost spherical shape was no comfort.
"Moon gazing, Remus?" Artemis said from behind him on the ground by the wall.
"Huh?" he said, turning around, his cloak twirling around his slender frame. "Oh, yes. I suppose you could say I take a personal interest in it," he said with a slight smile. Remus came over and sat down next to Artemis, looking over her star chart. His eyes traveled down to see her bare legs sticking out from underneath her cloak, only covered by the grey socks that the Hogwarts girls wore. He whistled appreciatively before saying, "You certainly have it nailed, don't you?" Remus looked down at his chart.
Artemis shrugged, not being able to help but be a bit proud. Astrology was her best subject, after all. "Well, yes, I suppose so," she answered, in turn looking over at Remus'. "You're not half-bad either."
"Well, thank you. Glad to have your approval," he joked, poking her with his finger.
"Oh, you wanna play rough, huh?" Artemis said, getting competitive. She jabbed him back in the shoulder. "Well, two can play at that game, Mr. Lupin!"
"Now, Ms. Xenoi, don't make me have to kick your ass," Remus replied, poking her back, and at the time time accidentally upsetting her ink bottle, spilling the contents onto her lap.
With a sharp intake of breath, Artemis quickly uprighted it, trying to keep the contents from getting everywhere. "Oh dear," she said, pulling out the kerchief Remus had given her earlier in the day.
Remus was lost. Embarrassed beyond belief at making a mess all over the American girl's robes and skirt, he sat there blushing so red that it was a blessing it was so dark out so that no one could see. All he could find himself saying was, "Sorry," and, "Just give me a sec, there's a spell to clean this," or, "I can't believe I was so clumsy, I'll make it up to you."
Artemis was searching her mind for the spell to clean things. She was alright at those little spells, but of course now she would have to forget them. Reparo? No, that was for fixing broken things… Meanwhile, the ink was running itself into her uniform, and she was starting to feel rather stupid sitting there with it all over herself. Thankfully, no one had noticed yet, buying her time. Also, she noted, it had missed her map, which was one small blessing for the night. "Ah yes, now I remember!" she said, snapping her fingers. "Cleanis robes," she said with an expert flick of her wand, instantly cleaning the ink off of them. Smiling at Remus, she said, "There, no harm done! Rather silly of us to loose our heads over a little spill like that anyways. We are, after all, a wizard and witch." She stood up and offered a hand to the still sitting Remus Lupin as Professor Sinistra dismissed them to go to their dormitories.
Remus sighed, then took her hand, letting her help pull him up. "Yes, it was, wasn't it?" he said, laughing. He was relieved Artemis hadn't freaked out like most girls would. She was a most sensible witch indeed. They walked back to the forms for a final time that night with their fellow Gryffindors, yawning as the day's activities began to take their toll on them.
-
Lily and Takehiko had been spying on Remus and Artemis as the night had progressed on the tower. "They are too cute together!" Takehiko said, a very uncharacteristic statement coming from the normally cool-headed Ravenclaw. "Does she really adore reading just as much as Remus?"
Lily nodded as she marked a star out. "Incredibly. Just last night she was asking me if Hogsmeade had a good book store to visit when the next weekend is."
"When is the next Hogsmeade weekend anyways?" Takehiko asked eagerly as Ruby and Brava showed up.
"Any of you care to make a wager on how soon those two hook up?" Ruby said, glancing over at Remus and Artemis.
Brava giggled. "Is he checking out her legs?" she asked, astounded.
"Remus, you dog!" Lily said, covering her mouth to contain her giggling.
-
Sirius, James, and Peter were giving their dear friend a bit more privacy. "Is Remus trying to flirt with her?" James asked, his ears aching to hear what the two were saying.
"He certainly didn't wait long, did he?" Peter said, openly looking at them.
"Don't look at them!" Sirius snapped. "Anyways, Prongs, the probability of Remus actually knowing that he's flirting with a girl is so small, it's probably incalculable."
James nodded, casting Artemis and Remus a quick glance just as Remus spilled the ink all over Artemis. The three boys had to stuff fingers in their mouths and turn away to keep from laughing at their friend, who was currently floundering about, trying to get rid the ink.
"Oh dear, he certainly isn't tactful, is he?" James said. "He should try and take a few lessons from me," he said, grinning broadly.
Sirius and Peter exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. "Says the one who's constantly turned down by the one girl he's trying to get," Peter said.
"Honestly, James," Sirius sighed, flipping a strand of perfect black hair out of his eye. "You shouldn't be one to brag. I will try and talk to Mr. Moony about it later tonight though," he said as Professor Sinistra dismissed them.
If possible, please review this chapter apart from the next one. I'm still trying to decide how much actual classroom interaction I want to have going on. Hogwarts seems to me to be a pretty no nonsense school, where there's not many classrooms where teachers let you run loose during lesson time (unlike my school.) Hence, it would lead to more little stuff during class- ie, note passing, making eyes, etc.