The Unbreakable Bond
By: Deep Shadows and EckoStalker

The annoying brief stay at the infirmary ended later that morning. Few words were spoken, except for the brief comment made by a chuckling Professor Lupin about Alexis's unusual bout of sleepwalking early this morning. Professor Snape came in before Artimis and Alexis had left, scowling hatefully at them as he proceeded to Madame Pomfreys's office. They dismissed it as another check-up on Snape's bandaged hand.

Two weeks had passed relatively uneventful to the pair, with a few exceptions of course. There was that brief duel that occurred in the crowded courtyard resulting in a another short stop to the infirmary and earning them five more detentions; accompanied by Hagrid this time. "Nothing wrong with a bit of diversity every now and then!" Alexis stated at the first detention, refereeing to their almost regular punishments with the Potions master, Snape.

They had encountered the weasley twins after marking their twelfth detention on their goal calendar and were informed of a meeting that night. So after finishing cleaning up with Hagrid, they meet everyone else. They found out that they had a five-point margin that allowed the duo to take the lead in the challenge. Followed closely by the other Gryffindor team.

It was during one of their few and spaced out free nights that Artimis was intrigued by Alexis's ability to perform gymnastics- a muggle art. It had occurred while pulling yet another prank- this time on Mcgonagall- and Artimis insisted that Alexis teach her, for future use.

"Is my hand supposed to hit the ground first or do I just roll?" Artimis questioned, while performing a clumsy sommersault.

"Well, you can do it either way, personally think you should put your hands out; that is unless you want to risk breaking your neck." She answered back, a bit sarcastically. They had been practicing in a vacant classroom for about a half hour now, Artimis trying her best to mimic Alexis's smooth movements.

After a few more rolls, Alexis decided to move on to cartwheels. "Now, watch the position of my feet carefully" Alexis tipped before performing a graceful turnabout. "Okay, you try." she encouraged, taking a step to the side.

Artimis drew in a deep breath, raised her arms and forcefully pushed off. She felt her foot connect with something, and heard a solid thud as she came out of the amateur cartwheel. She glanced behind her to see Alexis sitting on the ground holding her jaw. She gasped slightly and gently pulled her up. Rubbing her aching chin, Alexis commented, "I think you need a bit more work on that one."

"Um... sorry?" Artimis replied sorrowfully. "I'll be more careful!" she says as she backs away from Alexis and tries again. This time her hand slips and her elbow ends resulting in all her body weight collapsing on her head. "Owwww!! Freaking Hippogriffs!" she yelled in pain.

"Artimis, Calm down! -" Alexis hissed, listening for any sign of teachers. "- Man why do you always get mad so fast?" Alexis questions. Getting up and shaking her head, Artimis replies, "Has a lot to do with my past and repressed anger."

"Well tell me about it." Alexis asks lightly, bouncing backwards into a near perfect backbend.

"I don't think I can, dragging up old memories is always very painful for Me." she says eyes downcast.

"Oh come on! I'll tell you what I know about mine." Alexis says a little to cheerfully as she springs up gracefully.

"Well... Um… could you go first so I can gather my thoughts...?" she requests in a low voice.

"Fine. Be that way," Alexis says, smiling slightly. She plops, cross-legged, onto the cold stone floor, Artimis calmly but hesitantly following suit.

Alexis suddenly became a bit more serious; she drew in a breath and began.

"Well, most of the more personal stuff is a bit fuzzy. But I'll try to remember. My mom is a muggle, of course. She is a police officer - much like that Department in the Ministry, except without the magic," She added quickly, seeing Artimis's confused expression.

"She's all toward supporting my wizarding side which rocks." Her voice lowers a bit.

"My father... well, I don't know much about him. There was a big commotion when he left us. I was about five years old. What I remember of him and what I heard was that he was a pretty powerful wizard, which my mom felt fine with. But I remember him having people over, and all of they were... I don't know...Weird. He went out a lot after dark, coming home, sometimes bringing books and magic stuff home." She paused, struggling to remember. Artimis sat waiting patiently, her hands wrenching in her lap.

"One night, they got into a huge fight. Dad was in this big black cape-thingy. He was telling mom about creepy stuff like his "Master" and something about it 'being an honor'. Mom went into hysterics. She was yelling back fearfully, but he got mad, knocking her around and such. I was getting freaked out. A few moments later, this big bearded guy burst in with a few other people. He reminded me vaguely of Dumbledore- " she said, scratching her chin."- Anyways, dad panicked and started throwing spells at them. He got them out the door for a moment - then turned and told my mom something; about me - for she looked towards me all frightened and stuff. Then, he disappeared. Just popped, and was gone.... that's all I really all I remember."

Alexis was staring at the ground, a mixture of emotion on her face. Artimis scooted closer to provide an air of comfort. She was vaguely suspicious of Alexis's family, but refrained from saying anything. Alexis looked up quickly, a little paler than usual, and changed the subject quickly, "So, your turn."

Artimis grew solemn, an air of coldness emitted from her. She breathed in deeply, raising her head and looking around "Well, I lived a pretty normal wizarding childhood till I was S...sev...seven." she stammered, obviously fighting back tears. She straightened her back and inhaled deeply. "When I was seven years old, I watched my mother and my older sister being beaten, raped and murdered. All at the hands of the Death eaters. -"

Alexis drew in a quick breath at that word, something clicking in her head. "- My sister was eleven, it was the summer before she was to come to Hogwarts, her name was Diana. Well, the only reason, my father, my brother and myself survived so long was because I scared them. Well I think that was it. I can't remember much. I just remember my mother's screams and flashes of lights. I remember one voice over all the death eaters. One I will never forget. Silky and full of pride, baiting on the others. I swore I would kill all the Death eaters that day. Pretty harsh for a seven year old, right?" She says almost regretfully. Her shoulder hunch over as she continues a tale she has never told anyone but those present that day.

" I remember one thing. I remember rushing from my dad, walking up to a Death eater and saying in calm voice that was going to watch him die, one day when I grew up. They left shortly after that, but i think it may have been because Dumbledore showed up. From that day on i swore i would be an Auror. My mother lived for a few minutes after they left, she told me one thing besides she loved me. She told me "Fear doesn't make you weak, it makes you cautious, never forget that, my Artimis" The rest of my childhood has been spent on learning all I could. My father sensing my "thirst for revenge" as he called it made me invest more time in caution and facades, so that's why I'm usually in control of my emotions." She says with Pride.

"Unless Snape is around right." Alexis stated smirking, trying to lighten the mood, but a frighten tone in her voice. Artimis got up and began to do some cartwheels, more gracefully each time. "Yeah, whatever."

"Be-" she stammers as Artimis hits a desk. "-careful." she finished uselessly, Artimis slowly looking up.

"Yo, Alexis, I'd appreciate it if no one knew about my mom. If anyone knew, I'd die." She says, lying on her back panting and nursing a bruised elbow. Alexis makes a motion to zip her lips then looks around carefully, adding in a low voice.

"Um...That's a mutual agreement, right?"

Artimis smiles slightly, stating, "I can keep my mouth shut!" Alexis smiles gratefully, then stands, rubbing her hands together. "I can feel in the mood for back flips. Care to join me?"

"I'd be delighted," she laughs.

Over the next few minutes, an unusual bond ha formed between them. They proceeded to practice such movements, but Artimis just didn't seem to get the picture. Alexis stated, "Okay, we'll try together. Follow my exact movements." Artimis nodded picking herself up off a grounded Alexis. They brush themselves off and position themselves. As they commenced doing the back flip, Alexis and Artimis simultaneously noticed a glint by the door. Losing concentration, Artimis landed on her ass, cursing loudly. Alexis noticed the glint, pulled her wand as she landed cat-like on her feet, glaring intently at the door. "Who's there!" She stammers, holding her wand shakily.

From the shadows a cold, familiar voice spoke, dripping with sarcasm. "Impressive, Miss. Whyte." Professor Snape gliding out of the shadows. Artimis stands up fearfully. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked. Please don't let him have been there the whole time. She thinks desperately.

"Since you so gracefully kicked Miss. Whyte in the chin." he hissed.

Artimis's face grew cold and she nearly fell. Alexis, paling out further, accidentally drops her wand, backing up a step in horror. She was side by side with a shaking Artimis. Both stared in shock at Professor Snape. What surprised them was that he wasn't enraged or yelling at them over any of this. He had a look of smugness and bit of surprise masking his features as he slowly stepped into the dimly lighted room.

Artimis, turning red, glared angrily at Snape with her hands tight in to fist, while Alexis -horrified and sweating- backed up another step and started trembling. "Oh, Professor, How is your hand?" Artimis asked sarcastically.

"Fine. Thank you for your concern." he glowered equally sarcastic. Artimis looked to Alexis. "What in Hades is the matter with you?" she asked a questioning look on her face.

Alexis remained deathly quiet, shaking her head at Artimis's question. Artimis generally confused, looks to Snape, who also has a very faint look of confusion on his face. Alexis was now positioned several feet behind Artimis, and was very reluctant to come any closer. For, unknown to Artimis, Alexis knew a bit more about Professor Snape's infamous past.

"Ladies, I suggest you go to your dorms and write down that we have a detention tomorrow!" Snape says, raising an eyebrow at Alexis. "Miss Callabella I will escort you." He states, looking her dead set in the eyes. She glared at him.

"Miss Whyte, Mr. Filch will escort you to Gryffindor Tower." he gestures toward a shape in the doorway. Artimis grabs her bags and as Alexis catches her eyes she sees anger there more severe than when they had been brawling. At that point knowing what her friend's reaction would be, she decided to keep such information to herself, also hoping to the high heavens that she would not find out by other means. She knew, by common sense, that Severus Snape was teamed up with Headmaster Dumbledore and had pretty much turned away from his old ways as a Death eater, but a slight hint of suspicion, well maybe not that slight, lingered at the back of her mind. Right now though, that suspicion decided to make itself prominent, and because of that, Alexis agreed unconsciously with herself that she wouldn't come closer to Professor Snape at the present time.

"Bye Alexis, Till detention." Artimis says, forcing a smile. Artimis wondered what had caused Alexis so much fear, they had been busted by Snape before, why should now invoke heart wrenching fear in her? Alexis waves slightly, her eyes never leaving Snape's face, and Artimis walked off behind Professor Snape, slightly shaking with controlled embarrassment and anger. Alexis grabs her stuff and follows Filch who proceeded to go on and on enjoyably and regretfully about the brutal old punishments present in his time.