The Soulmate Principle: Black At Heart

by HCMONSTER93

Artemis Williams knows she's different, even for a witch. Growing up in a family that was never really hers, she's surrounded by people who will never understand her. But when Sirius Black escapes from the wizarding prison Azkaban, she finds a strange new bond with a friend she never really wanted and it sets off a chain of events that changes her life forever.

2. One: Twelve Years Later

Twelve Years Later . . .

I almost sighed wryly as I stepped into my recurring nightmare for the third time tonight. I'd already shaken myself awake twice, a little rattled but otherwise okay. Now though, I couldn't seem to drag myself back.

I was stood in a long, dark chamber, cold shivers running over my bare skin. Normally, it would have unsettled me to look down and see myself stood in a creepy chamber wearing my pyjama shorts and vest t-shirt. Even my feet were bare. I could almost feel the rough, damp, cold stone beneath them, sending unpleasant shudders through my body. But right now, I managed to ignore it all. I was too preoccupied with trying to block visions of what was to come.

As always, my stomach clenched as I caught sight of four figures moving toward me, one a lot taller and broader than the other three. This man was dressed in smart robes that had been ruined on the journey down here, his blonde hair ruffled and his handsome face contorted with fear. Beside him, three children moved with more confidence, each grasping their wands tightly. The first was tall and lanky, with flaming red hair and freckles over his nose. Like the man next to him, his robes were dirty and torn, but it didn't seem to bother him. The wand in his hand had been Sellotaped back together halfway down, and was currently aimed at the adult in an odd switch of power.

The other two children were barely paying attention. The second boy was shorter than the first by a few inches, with the same tatty robes and uniform. Bright green eyes were shielded behind rounded glasses, and jet black hair stuck up in all direction on the top of his head. A thin, red scar shaped like a lightning bolt sat on his forehead, barely visible beneath his fringe. He moved out in front, his own wand tip lit to light the way, hovering over the bones on the floor.

The girl behind him, however, was scowling at her feet, kicking small bones of eaten rats with the tip of her shoes. Mahogany hair curled around her face, most of it hurriedly shoved up into a ponytail and leaving stray strands around her ears. Electric blue eyes were sharp and alert, flicking over everything so quickly it was a miracle she could see anything. She was the shortest of the three by about an inch, twirling her own wand through her fingers expertly.

Running a hand through my own mahogany hair, I watched the memory of myself tramping through the dark chambers anxiously. "You made it out alive," I muttered at her, despite the fact she couldn't hear me. "You all did. Please, just let me sleep!"

She ignored me, nudging the black-haired boy, who happened to be one of my best friends, Harry Potter. "Look," she whispered, pointing straight ahead of them. Harry scowled, shining his wand in the direction she'd indicated. In front of them lay a huge snake skin. Leaving their best friend Ron Weasley in charge of the cowardly Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, they stepped closer to observe the skin.

"Oh god," I groaned, clamping my hands over my eyes. "Just . . . wake up, Arty. Wake up, stop torturing yourself!"

The booming explosion made me stumble back in misplaced surprise, spreading my fingers to see Harry and my memory lay flat out on the floor on the wrong side of a wall of rocks, shielding their heads with their arms.

"Arty?" Harry's groan came. "You okay?"

"Just about," I heard my memory grumble back. "Another year, Potter. I told you last year never again . . ."

He just snorted at her, grimacing and wincing as he pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off, holding his hand out to help her up. "Yeah, and look how that turned out." I watched her shoot him a dark look, ignoring his hand and jumping to her feet with exaggerated energy. Harry glowered, but said nothing to her and he turned back to the wall of rocks. Rather childishly, she pulled her tongue out behind his back, snatching her wand off the floor angrily.

I won't lie. I knew my friendship with Harry was somewhat strained. Despite the fact that we agreed on nearly everything and saw things almost exactly the same way, he irritated me. Being around him set me on edge and I could never quite explain it. It was as though something about him was . . . off . . . something was . . . wrong, almost.

But watching this now, I felt sick. I wanted to scream at him to run, which made no sense whatsoever. This had happened mere months ago, and I knew we both made it out. So why did this upset me so much?

I was forced to follow them through the chambers, my nerves beginning to get the better of me. My hands twisted together and my teeth sank into my bottom lip as we moved through the dark, still led forward by Harry's wand light. I kept glancing sideways at my memory, watching her grip on her wand grow tighter and her eyebrows pull further together.

Finally, they stopped outside a large, stone circular door, decorated by snakes with glowing green eyes. "Now what?" I heard myself ask irritably.

Harry shot her an impatient look, taking a deep breath and focusing his attention on the snakes. An odd rasping noise rumbled in his throat, and my memory shuddered beside him, clamping a hand over her mouth with a stunned gaze. To this day, I still don't know what freaked me out so much in that moment.

The door swung open and with a smirk in my direction, Harry stepped through, stepping into another chamber where puddles of water clapped loudly beneath his feet. Somewhat reluctantly, he turned and held out a hand to help my memory down. She ignored it with her head held high, jumping down gracefully and brushing the dirt off the bottom of her robes.

"Really?" Harry glowered. She pulled a face, giving him a small push down the stone path and further into the chamber. Moving beside them, my stomach clenched.

"This is it," I muttered, covering my face with my hands. "Oh god . . ."

At the far end of the chamber, a large statue stood towering over a tiny body, lay flat out across the floor, completely unmoving. I watched Harry and myself frown at the shape, shifting closer together cautiously, before a wave of flaming red hair came into view.

"Ginny!" the two of them yelled, immediately breaking into a run. My heart clenched at the sight of the eleven year old Ginny Weasley, and on instinct, I raced straight at them.

Harry had collapsed to his knees in front of her, and my memory had skidded around her figure, throwing herself on the floor and taking Ginny's shoulders gently. Ginny's eyes were closed and her face was pale and cold. My memory pulled her closer, rubbing her arms in a vain attempt to warm her up.

"She's too cold, Harry," she mumbled, her voice breaking.

"No, there has to be a way to help her," Harry persisted, frowning at Ginny's face. He glanced up at my memory, almost willing her to agree with him, but it wasn't her that answered him.

"No, Harry Potter, there isn't."

They spun at the sound of Tom Riddle's voice, and I felt myself sinking to the floor beside Ginny's lifeless body, shaking all over and trying again and again to wake myself up. My heart was hammering in my chest and my arms had wrapped themselves around my legs, pulling my knees up beneath my chin.

"It's alright," I muttered to myself, my eyes shut tightly. "You all survive. Tom Riddle was a memory, Harry destroyed him, and you, him and Ginny got out alive. Stop getting so worked up!"

But no matter what I told myself, I didn't open my eyes. Instead, I'd listened hesitantly to the sound of Riddle and Harry talking, and to my own memories desperate attempts at reviving Ginny. All too soon, the sound of something very heavy and very large grated at my ears, and a small whimper escaped my mouth.

I kept muttering to myself, trying to shift the nausea that was settling in my stomach. In the background, I could hear a bird flapping its wings – Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. I could hear the Basilisk slithering across the floor, Harry's footsteps, and curses being shouted from both Riddle and myself.

Then it came. The ear-splitting scream.

I didn't want to but my eyes flew open. Only then did I realise the scream was real and I was sat upright in my bed, staring wide-eyed into the darkness of my bedroom. My chest was heaving as I tried to catch my breath, my heart hammering and my hands clenched tightly around my sheets. On the padded bench in the bay window across the room, my Beagle pup, Chester, was yapping loudly, his fur stood on end and his tail between his legs.

Before I had time to collect myself, the door burst open and Luke came in, wand in hand, and his face slightly paled. "What happened?" he asked, a little dazed.

I stared at him, speechless. Luke and his wife Mia had adopted me just after my first birthday, and I'd been living with them ever since. Luke was tall and lean, with ruffled mouse brown hair and glistening hazel eyes that scanned over every inch of the room, searching for something or someone to curse. He was stood in baggy pyjama bottoms and a white polo shirt, his wand lit brightly and held out in front of him.

"Artemis?" he questioned, straightening out as he realised there was no danger. "Are you okay?"

I nodded slowly. "J-Just a dream, I-I'm fine."

He lowered his wand, and took a deep breath. "You sure? Arty, you look terrified."

I nodded again, untangling my legs from my sheets and stumbling to my feet. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'll just go and get a hot chocolate or something. I'll be fine."

Luke gave me a hesitant look, but he sighed and pocketed his wand again. "Alright then. Just shout if you need anything, okay?" I smiled as best as I could, allowing Luke to hug me briefly before he slumped back out of my room, closing the door behind him.

Taking a shaky breath, I sank on the side of my bed again, quivering all over. Chester bound across the room and leapt up onto my lap, whining in his throat and nudging my hand gently. Wrapping the small pup in a comforting hug, I shivered as the nightmare replayed through my head. How many times was I going to have that same nightmare? Watching one of my best friends die over and over again could not be healthy. And it didn't matter that my eyes were never open when it happened anymore. I still knew it was happening. I could still see it.

Trying to shake the nightmare from my mind, I pushed myself to my feet, snatched a loosely knit grey jumper off the end of the bed and pulled it on. Chester jumped into my arms again, snuggling closer as I slipped onto the padded bench by the window, staring out at the back garden with only vague interest. Within seconds, Chester was fast asleep, his nose twitching adorably every now and then. Outside, Snow, Mia's imaginatively named Husky was sniffing around the grass, apparently trying to determine whether any other dog had dared trespass on her territory.

I rolled my eyes wearily as I watched her. For some reason, Snow had been getting incredibly edgy recently. She'd bark in the middle of the night until one of us stumbled down the stairs, where she'd sat at the back door whining. The moment we let her out, she'd run to the end of the garden and bark at the top of her voice for at least ten minutes. We hadn't been very popular with the neighbours for a while. They seemed to think it bothered me that they scowled when I took her out for a walk.

Sighing heavily, I pushed myself up and looked back at the clock. It wasn't even midnight yet, and I doubted I'd be able to get back to sleep again. Without thinking about it, I placed Chester carefully down on the padded bench and jumped to my feet again, shifting toward my wardrobe to change. Yanking on a pair of faded blue jeans beneath my grey jumper, I slipped my feet into my favourite pair of red Converse and scooped my messy mahogany hair back into a ponytail.

I left Chester sleeping in my room, snatching my wand off my bedside table and shoving it into my back pocket. In the bedroom on the far side of the hallway, I could hear Luke and Mia sleeping soundly once again. I crept slowly down the stairs and grabbed Snow's lead from the coat hooks. All I had to do was whistle once and she scrambled to my feet, her tongue hanging out of her mouth and her tail swaying behind her. Smiling, I clipped the lead onto her collar and let myself out of the house.

Immediately, the cold air relaxed my still tense body and for a moment, I simply stood on the porch, breathing deeply. It wasn't until Snow began tugging on the lead that I realised I had to move. Straightening myself out and wrapping my jumper tighter around my body, I started down the road without a clue of where I was heading.

Snow seemed happy enough to trot alongside me while I calmed down though. She sniffed at a few hedges, barked at a few cats, all of which scrambled as far away from her as possible, right up until we walked into my cat. Nyx was only three years old and had been a present from my eldest cousin, Adam, for my eleventh birthday. She was completely black, with only a thin, pearly stripe of white travelling from the centre of her forehead down her nose like a beam of moonlight. When she saw us, she padded gratefully forwards and weaved between my legs, ignoring Snow completely.

It wasn't until we'd been walking for a while that I realised where I was heading. I came to an abrupt halt at the end of the street, staring straight ahead at a small park. Most of it was covered in green grass, apart from a small patch in the centre where a children's play area sat. At the moment, a figure was slumped into one of the swings, kicking the dirt beneath their feet moodily.

It might have worried me – at quarter to midnight – if I hadn't recognised him immediately. I glanced at Snow, who had seen the figure too and was already straining on her lead, her tail wagging furiously, and Nyx, who had leapt onto a nearby wall and curled up, as though realising I'd be here for a while.

I sighed heavily, rolling my eyes. "Here goes nothing," I mumbled down at Snow, who just whined in response and tugged on her lead again.

Pursing my lips, I crossed the road and pushed the gate to the park open, automatically unclipping Snow's lead. Immediately, she bolted toward the swings, barking once. The figure jumped, but calmed almost instantly and knelt down to pet Snow as she skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Sorry about that," I grimaced as Harry Potter glanced up at me. As always, my muscles tensed, like they were preparing to make me run away. The unsettled feeling he continuingly gave me seemed to have doubled in strength, and I shifted, subconsciously taking a step back.

"It's fine," he assured me carefully, eyeing my cautious stance. "How come you're up this late, anyway?"

I hesitated, staring at him with a large lump in my throat. For a split second, I wanted to come clean with him, a feeling I had never had around Harry before. Then I realised I couldn't exactly explain that the nightmare keeping me up every night was about his death. I was pretty sure that would just freak him out.

Instead, I shrugged a shoulder and tore my eyes away from his face. "Couldn't sleep. Snow keeps barking." As if on cue, the dog gave a proud, sharp bark, licking Harry's hand as her tail dragged across the floor. "What about you?"

He shuddered with an irritated expression. "My Uncle Vernon announced his sister's coming to stay tomorrow."

"And that's keeping you up?" I frowned with a sarcastic snort, slipping into the swing beside him and watching Snow plodded across the park, sniffing the grass every now and then. "Here was me thinking you'd faced Voldemort three times already."

Harry scoffed, laughing sourly. "Trust me, I'd go back down into the Chamber of Secrets any day."

I flinched before I could stop myself, and his dark laugh cut off abruptly. I could feel his eyes burning through the side of my head, but I shook myself and hurriedly changed the subject. "Will and Evie are coming over tomorrow," I told him. "I finally convinced them to go to the Muggle cinema with me. You're welcome to join us, if you want?"

Harry stared, still frowning. Will and Evie were two of my older cousins – Mia's older sister Suzie's kids – and attended Hogwarts in the year above me. While they were twins, Will had been Sorted into Ravenclaw, and Evie into Gryffindor. They got on well enough with Harry, Ron and Hermione, even if Will did think it was Harry's fault I was so often in danger.

"It's fine," he dismissed. "I won't be able to get away from them all for any period of time anyway."

"You sure?" I grimaced. "Adam's taking us, and he'll scare the hell of them if you need him to. I think he misses messing with the Slytherins at Hogwarts." Adam was my eldest cousin – Mia's older brother Dexter's eldest son – and had left Hogwarts just as Harry and I had finished our first year. His younger brother, Liam, was in the same year as Will and Evie, while his sister Sarah was in my year, and even shared a dormitory with me in the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry smirked slightly. "He did do that a lot. Remind me how he ended up Head Boy again?" I laughed, shrugging. "But I'd rather he didn't go near the Dursleys. If I manage to keep my head down for the rest of the week, I convinced Uncle Vernon to sign the letter for Hogsmeade."

I groaned out loud as I remembered the argument I had had with Luke and Mia about the same letter. "At least you convinced him to sign it. Luke and Mia are refusing point blank. The last time I argued with them about it, Mia actually started crying. Then Rosie woke up and raised the roof with her crying."

"She cried?" Harry blinked. "Why? What's wrong with Hogsmeade?"

"It isn't the place so much as the people," I sighed. Harry stared at me. "They're paranoid. They think I attract madmen, and apparently when I told them that was just you, it didn't cheer them up any."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Nice going, Arty. Any madman in particular?"

"Sirius Black."

Harry's eyes widened. "Sirius Black? As in, the guy that was on the Muggle news?"

I nodded, swinging carefully. "Yeah, Fudge had to warn the Muggle Prime Minister because they think he's so dangerous."

"What did he do?" he breathed, still wide eyed.

"Blew up thirteen Muggles with a single curse," I answered with a frown. "He's just broken out of Azkaban, and no one knows how. It's not supposed to be possible, but he did it. And he was in a high security cell and everything."

"And they don't know where he is? Where he's going?" he stared.

"Not that I've heard," I shrugged, shivering as the cold air hit my skin. "Which reminds me, I really need to be getting back. If Luke knew I was out this late at night, he might actually fix a padlock to my bedroom door. Snow!" The Husky barked once and raced toward us as I jumped to my feet. The problem came when she got a little too excited and skidded into my feet. With a yelp, I felt my feet slid backwards and without thinking, Harry leapt up and caught my hand.

Inexplicable pain suddenly exploded straight across my palm, and looking at the way Harry's face was contorted, the feeling was mutual. We snatched our hands apart and staggered back a few steps, but as I collapsed to my knees, the pain didn't subside. Shots of burning agony raced up my arm, bringing tears to my eyes. Snow was still barking by my side, but now she wasn't excited; her tail was between her legs and her ears were flat against her head.

"Artemis?" Harry started breathlessly, his hands clamped together and his face still tight with pain. "Artemis, look at me." He sounded panicked, but as he took a step closer, I gasped and pushed myself away. Snow barked at him angrily, lying flat at my side.

"W-What the hell?" I gulped, staring at my arm. My left forearm was bright red, almost sunburnt, and still tingling painfully. But that wasn't what worried me. What worried me most was the scar carved into my skin. It was almost like a tattoo, running from my wrist to the fold of my elbow, drawn in brilliant green ink that curled and twisted elegantly. The sight was scarily beautiful.

I tore my terrified gaze away from it, gawping up at Harry. He was stood in front of me, pale and worried, but his sleeve was rolled up around his elbow. An identical tattoo was drawn into his arm, only this time in electric blue.

"Artemis," he started carefully, taking a step closer.

"Don't!" I snapped, scrambling to my feet and snatching up Snow's lead. Harry went rigid. I opened my mouth to say something else, but my voice caught on my throat and I wheeled around, bolting straight toward the gate with Snow at my heels.