"Ready for school tomorrow?" asked Harry. Ron looked up, paling as he did so.
Hermione swung round and shot him a smile at the prospect of school.
Artemis froze. Tomorrow? she thought. Her stomach split.
"I-it's not tomorrow is it?"
"Yes…it is," said Harry slowly.
"But-but…I'm not ready to go to School!" she said, loudly.
"School, that's a good one," said a voice loudly.
"Hermes?" whispered Artemis. Her face shone as she ran towards him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked before flinging her arms around Hermes' neck
"Excuse me?" said Hermione.
"Guys, this is Hermes, he's gonna be a professor at Hogwarts." She grinned broadly.
"He hasn't spoken…" Ron whispered to Hermione.
"He's psychic, so as we don't get confused between English and Greek. "Anyway…Hermes, this is Hermione, Ron and Harry," she said gesturing to each of them in turn.
"Nice to meet all of you!" he said in a particularly local accent.
"You don't sound Greek," said Ron, accusingly, narrowing his eyes to glare at the man.
"I'm originally from around here," he said, shooting a glance at Artemis.
"Are you going to be our new defence teacher?" asked Hermione, interestedly.
"Yes, both against the dark arts and physical." He looked at Artemis again, but more warmly.
She sighed and looked out of the clearest window in the leaky cauldron.
Maybe tomorrow would be a long day.
Maybe not…
The first thing I remember about the day I first went to Hogwarts was a very bushy haired and lively Hermione.
It was quite frankly scary.
The second she woke me I think she may have regretted it.
I was tired, and so I blurted out the wrong spell. It rained frogs for a minute or two.
Ginny, Ron's sister walked into the room at the wrong time, resulting in a rather large one on her head.
I thought it was funny….
Hermes!!!! I screeched at him though my mind. He had wandered off, getting lost in the process. I felt like he was the younger child and I was the adult.
What? I'm bored…. He sent back, sounding like the children whose forms we had possessed on Mount Olympus.
We need to go to the station, come here now! I sighed before turning to Harry and telling him about Hermes's location.
"Don't be mad, he can be a bit immature at times." I turned around and faced Hermione, biting my lip, trying not to cry with embarrassment.
"It's okay, they get like that too," she said nodding towards the boys.
One more thing, Hermes is my brother, in effect anyway. Hence the embarrassment.
On the platform.
I never knew a train could be so…maroon. It's massive.
I know, said Hermes, it's big…
We followed behind Hermione, as Ron and Harry were being hugged to death by Mrs. Weasley.
"Wow…" I murmured.
"I thought so too the first time I saw it." Hermione stepped up beside me and looked at the train too.
"Let's go, now" said Ron, his face a brilliant shade of red, challenging that of the train.
Hermione turned to look at me, and we both giggled at Ron's maroon ears and his embarrassment.
Harry followed behind Ron, but I stopped laughing as he passed. I knew what he knew, I felt what he felt. It was horrible.
When we entered a compartment, I sat next to Harry before Ron or Hermione could.
His face looked pale, I knew mine did too.
"Has this happened before?" I whispered to him.
"What?" he snapped. I should think twice before talking to him when he's like this.
"It hurt, doesn't it?" I asked quietly. Ron and Hermione did not notice as I put up a small barrier to stop them from hearing us.
"It's not too bad yet…" he replied.
"Yet?"
"Wit a minute." I let the barrier down and smiled at Hermione.
"What classes are you guys taking this year?" she asked me.
"Me and Harry are doing basically the same subjects as each other. The only difference is that I'm taking Greek ad, and he's doing Greek beginners," I said flashing Harry a brief smile.
"Ad?" asked Ron. Beneath us the train rolled into motion, and I felt the pain slip up a notch.
"Advance. I'm Greek, so I think I know a fair bit." I bit my lip against the pain, before turning to look at Harry.
I mouthed to him is it always this bad? He shook his head.
"It's normally worse…" he whispered.
"What is?" asked Hermione. I looked up. She and Ron wore equal looks of concern. I saw why when I turned to look at Harry.
His hands gripped the seat, his knuckles were white. His eyes were wide, and his breathing was erratic and harsh.
I felt fear grip me as a shooting pain passed through a spot on my head. I clapped my hands to my head and gasped. The scene changed before me. I knew Harry had done the same beside me, he had doubled over. I was on my seat still, but I no longer felt it. A man stood whimpering beside a figure, tall and slim, a sense of power and foreboding emanating from him.
"The Goddess has escaped our clutches again, and I will not tolerate this, not at all Wormtail."
The voice seemed distorted and as the other, smaller man whimpered, my vision shook.
My stomach seared with pain, and I tried as hard as I could not to cry out, but a moan escaped my lips. I slipped to my knees, and my hands clutched my stomach.
The tall man turned around to look at me, and as my eyes met his the pain doubled.
Hades
I knew him.
"Seize the girl!" he cried. I backed away as two black cloaked figures neared me, only to be brought to a stop by a wall. I panicked, not knowing what to do.
I almost automatically raised my hand, producing a fierce red glow of the disarming charm. I felt a tear slip down my face.
Fear and panic rose in my chest as the black cloaked figures approached. I turned to see Harry beside me, but he had no wand, and he was powerless. He stared at me as though I was mad. I looked back up to see an edgy looking Hermione, and a rather pale Ron cowering behind her.
I looked from them to Harry, before turning to look at the formed spell in my hand. I let it go and it dissipated.
"What happened?" Hermione asked me. I looked at her, again.
"He's found me…He's gonna come back for me." I gulped heavily, trying as hard as I could to stop myself from crying.
"Artemis, tell us who, who is it, calm down, no one's gonna hurt you…" Hermione began babbling as she reached out to hug me. I began to sob onto her shoulder.
"Hades, he's coming for me…" I wailed.
"That man?" asked Harry. He looked very confused.
"Yes, that's Hades, Lord of the Underworld, and he's trying to find me, that's why I'm here," I said.
"That wasn't Hades, that was Voldemort," Harry said quickly.
"Noooooooo, it was Hades," I said as though was stating the blindingly obvious. "Hey, maybe they look the same?" I knew it was stupid, seeing as it was actually Hades.
"I spoke to him, I know him, I've fought him." Harry looked away from us as he spoke. Hermione took her arm from my shoulder, and walked over to him, hugging him and telling him everything would be alright.
"Wait, you were speaking to him in parceltongue? (S.p) wow…" I whispered.
Then I realised what it meant, leapt to my feet and backed away from him. "You must be related to Sally then…"I said, rather loudly, dashing the last of my tears away.
"No, I'm not related to Salazar, but that man is…he's why I have this," he said. He lifted up his fringe to reveal a lightening-bolt scar in the middle of his forehead.
"Rif said you would have that, he's normally right." I looked away, my fear subsiding.
But Hades? That's the worst part.
I looked up to see a puzzled look on all of their faces. I looked out of the window to see the sun beginning to get lower over the hills of the English country side.
"Rif is Godric Gryffindor, he's an old friend of mine." I sighed, thinking of all of my friends left behind. "I need to talk to someone, so can you hold on for a second?" I asked them. I knew I was being temperamental, but I needed to.
I summoned the water I needed for it and it flowed through my fingers and I drew a circle. It spread through the air, becoming a panel. Instead of leaving it as that, I summoned a trace of lightening for the edge and drew that in with it too. This required me to talk to Zeus.
"Zeus, are you there?" I asked in Greek. "Zeus?" I said again.
"Hera?" I called. I began to get worried, they always answered me.
"Artie?" I heard a voice call.
I looked back at the panel, to see Olympus in Ruins, smoke pouring from ruins. Hera pulled herself into view, a gash on her head and her face and hair black from smoke.
"He's here."
Hey there. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, and I need to know if there is anyone reading out there, so review. The end is a bit rushed as I have to go for dinner, but read it anyway...
I just finished FFX again, and I spent most of last night sobbing like a baby. Is there anyone else like that? I know we're not in the FFX section, but is there?
Will try to update soon,
Left-brain