As it turned out, the next morning wasn't any better. I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a train travelling at high speed, and from the looks I got from Hermione and the others, I obviously appeared to be on the verge of passing out.
"Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey," Sarah suggested carefully, watching me rummage through my trunk for my robes with a tight grimace.
"I'm fine," I dismissed, my stomach twisting in protest. "I just need something to eat and drink, that's all." Hermione sent Sarah a look that clearly said don't argue as I pulled my robes out of the trunk and slipped into the bathroom to shower before breakfast.
By the time I reached the Great Hall, however, I was starting to think Sarah might have been right. Everyone I passed asked me how I was feeling, and however many times I tried to ignore them, there was always someone else waiting to ask the exact same question. When I finally reached the Gryffindor table, I sank onto the bench beside Harry, my head in my hands.
"You look awful," he told me.
"Cheers," I groaned, pulling a slice of dry toast toward me and nibbling on it reluctantly. Without a word, Hermione snatched my goblet up and filled it with water, shoving it into my hands with a warning look. Smiling gratefully, I took a small sip as McGonagall neared, handing out third-year timetables.
"Williams," she called, her eyes on the pile of parchment in her hands as she took the top one off and held it out for me. The moment she glanced up, her eyes widened a fraction. "Williams, what on Earth is the matter?"
"Please don't, Professor," I mumbled, taking the parchment. "I'm fine, honestly."
She scoffed in disbelief, scowling at Harry. "Potter, I don't care what she says. If she gets any worse, you're to take her to the hospital wing."
"Yes Professor," Harry nodded, his lips twitching as I glowered at him.
"Try it," I warned under my breath as McGonagall disappeared. "I dare you." Harry lifted an eyebrow, smirking like I'd just issued him a challenge. Fortunately, Ron interrupted before either of us could say another word.
"Potions with Snape first thing on a Monday morning?" he moaned. "That's like some form of torture!"
"Positive thinking, Ron," Hermione sighed with a roll of her eyes as she plastered a piece of toast with marmalade. Just as Ron opened his mouth to snap back at her, Oliver Wood dropped into the chair beside him, his eyebrows pulled into a frown as he looked between Harry and me.
"You look awful, Williams," he scowled.
"So I'm told," I grumbled under my breath.
"You'd better get down to the hospital wing," he instructed me sharply. "Quidditch practice starts tonight."
Ignoring Harry's sigh of relief, I gawped at Wood, rolling my eyes irritably. "It's the first day back, Wood! Why on Earth would we need to start practice now?"
"We've had our names on that thing for the past two years, ever since Harry took the Seeker position," he glowered at me. "This is my last chance to win it, and I'm not letting anything get in the way. We've had some bad luck the past couple of years, and I'm determined this year will be different."
Harry shot me a pitiful look, as if warning me to go easy on him in the nicest possible way. Groaning under my breath, I drained the last of the water from my goblet. "You'd better ask McGonagall to write Snape a note then," I frowned. "He won't be happy I'm missing his first lesson for a health check."
Wood's face split into a grin and he jumped to his feet, almost racing up to the top table where McGonagall had settled to her breakfast. Beside me, Harry scoffed. "So you wouldn't go to the hospital wing if I asked you, but you'll go for Wood?"
"Do you, or do you not want to win the Cup this year?" I snapped at him. He arranged his expression into a fake look of innocence. Rolling my eyes, I shouldered my bag and started out of the Great Hall.
Madam Pomfrey wasn't the only one in the hospital wing when I pushed the doors open, and just as I thought my luck couldn't get any worse, I noticed it was Lupin she was stood having a conversation with in low, hushed whispers.
The doors closed loudly behind me, and both of them jumped and turned around.
"Williams," Madam Pomfrey blinked, scanning my bleak, pale expression. "What on Earth happened to you?"
I sighed heavily as she scurried forward, taking my shoulders carefully and steering me toward the end of the furthest bed. "Nothing," I assured her. "I'm fine. But Wood decided we have to start Quidditch practice tonight, so he made me come down."
"You're on the Quidditch team?" Lupin blurted with a frown.
"Somewhat reluctantly," I admitted, shifting slightly.
"Well I doubt you'll be up to flying tonight, Williams," Madam Pomfrey frowned, and I dropped my bag by the end of the bed dejectedly. "Probably just a touch of flu, but you can never be too careful. You haven't been in any trouble over the holidays, have you?"
My mouth suddenly went dry. "Depends on your definition of trouble," I grimaced.
"The regular kind," Lupin replied dryly, massaging his temples with an exasperated look.
There was a short pause as I debated what to tell them. If Madam Pomfrey decided on a check-over, I might have been in trouble. There was no way I could keep the tattoo from her if she rolled my sleeve up to check my pulse. "Nothing life threatening," I shrugged eventually.
I could tell neither Lupin nor Madam Pomfrey believed me. "Then it looks like you'll just have to ride it out," she grimaced at me. "I have some potion that might relieve some of the symptoms. But I don't want to hear about you messing around at Quidditch practice if you aren't up to it, alright? The last thing I need is to be mending your bones again. And the same goes for Potter!"
I managed a weak smile as I took the small goblet of potion from her hands. "I'll keep that in mind," I promised, draining the goblet in one gulp and handing it back to her. "Thanks, Madam Pomfrey."
"And don't forget you have detention tonight," Lupin reminded me with a frown. "Ten o'clock."
I blinked. "I thought you said eight?"
He raised an eyebrow with the smallest trace of a smile. "Wouldn't want to upset Mr Wood now, would we?"
"Erm, thanks Professor," I replied uncertainly, scooping my bag up and hurrying out of the hospital wing before he could change his mind.
With nothing better to do, I ended up returning to my Potions class, half of which I had now missed. Fortunately, since Harry had delivered a note explaining my absence – which Wood had gotten from Dumbledore, not McGonagall – he could do nothing but glower as I slipped into my usual seat beside Harry.
"Everything alright?" he quizzed the second I'd dumped my bag down beside my chair.
I nodded. "Just flu, according to Pomfrey. But Lupin was there too. Heard we were at Quidditch practice tonight and moved my detention back to ten so I could go."
Harry stared. "Really? Maybe he isn't that bad after all."
"I don't know," I frowned, flicking through my Potions book. "Don't you get the feeling there's something he's hiding?"
"Like what?"
"If I knew that Harry, I wouldn't have asked," I pointed out with a roll of my eyes.
Harry was interrupted before he could reply. "Williams!" Snape barked angrily from the front of the class. "Just because you've arrived late doesn't mean you can distract the rest of the class! Ten points from Gryffindor."
Sharing an exasperated look with Harry, I ended up helping him with his Potion, since it was pointless starting my own with the time we had left in lesson. We spent most of the time running through Quidditch tactics, which I forced myself to pay attention to. Wood was that determined to win the Cup this year, he'd even managed to get me interested.
After Potions, Harry, Ron and Hermione set out for the first Divination class, while I sloped off to the Arithmancy class on the second floor. It wasn't until I chosen a seat at the back of the class and started to pull my book out of my bag that I realised Hermione was sat right next to me, slightly out of breath and with a wry look about her.
"Hermione," I started, glancing around the room cautiously.
"Artemis," she replied with a tight smile.
"Aren't you supposed to be in Divination?" I frowned.
"Don't be silly," she dismissed easily. "You know I'm taking Arithmancy this year."
"Yeah, and Divination," I persisted. "How on Earth-" I was cut off as Professor Vector cleared her throat loudly, eyeing her new class with a stern, sharp expression. Suddenly, Hermione's attention was devoted entirely on the teacher.
It was the same in our Ancient Runes class. Despite the fact I knew she had another lesson somewhere else, having seen her timetable at breakfast that morning, she still arrived at class just in time to hear Professor Babbling start her lecture.
"Hey Harry!" I called as I hurried into the Great Hall for lunch. Harry and Ron barely glanced up as I dropped into the seat beside them, greedily reaching out for a handful of cheese and tomato sandwiches. "Was Hermione in your Divination class this morning?"
"Yeah," Ron frowned. "You saw her leave Potions with us."
"I know," I scoffed in disbelief. "But she was sat right next to me in Arithmancy the moment I turned around."
"How's that possible?" Harry blinked.
"Beats me," I shrugged. "But she didn't miss Ancient Runes either, and I can almost guarantee that Muggle Studies is on at the same time." Harry and Ron exchanged a mystified look, but before we could get into the discussion any more, Wood dropped down into the seat opposite me and suddenly started rhyming off schedules that Harry and I had to stick to. He didn't seem very impressed when I told him that I had detention with Lupin that night as well as Wednesday night, but cheered up a bit when I added that Lupin had already delayed one so he might agree to do the same on Wednesday.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts next," Hermione's voice came, and I almost jumped out of my skin as I turned and saw her sat right beside me. She was smiling from ear to ear, her bag bulging with books for various subjects. Without look at me, she piled her plate high with tuna sandwiches and pulled out her Arithmancy book, standing it up against her goblet. "Do you think Lupin's any good?"
I stared at her for a moment, then shook myself and picked up another sandwich. "Can't be any worse that Lockhart," I pointed out sourly.
"If he is, Dumbledore should really get his act together," Harry snorted. "Between Lockhart and Quirrell, he hasn't exactly had the best of luck, has he?"
"Come on then," Ron sighed heavily. "Better get moving before we're late."
The room was almost full when we arrived, so the four of us picked a spot at the back of the room and slid into our seats, fishing out our parchment, books, quills and ink as we waited for Lupin to arrive. Everyone was murmuring to themselves, some still pouring over the latest news on Sirius Black in the Daily Prophet.
Nobody realised Lupin had even entered until he called for everyone's attention. "Right, class!" he exclaimed, smiling widely and clapping his hands together as he strode into the room. Everyone fell silent, turning to watch him straighten his tatty, worn robes and place his battered briefcase onto the desk. "Please pack away your parchment and books, you'll only be needing is your wands today."
"A practical lesson, sir?" Seamus blurted with a flinch. A murmur of unease ran around the classroom.
Lupin raised an eyebrow, scanning the room in mild amusement. "Something wrong, Seamus?"
"We had a practical lesson with our last teacher once," he grimaced.
"Just once?" Lupin frowned.
"Trust me, Professor, once was enough with Lockhart," Harry scoffed.
Lupin smiled. "Well I can assure you, you'll all be perfectly fine."
"That's what Lockhart said, sir," Neville gulped, shuddering violently. I pursed my lips to stop myself smirking.
To my surprise, Lupin laughed. "Then I suppose you'll have to trust me, Neville. If you'll follow me." Slightly hesitantly, the class placed their books back into their bags and took out their wands, standing to follow Lupin out of the classroom.
The entire class marched along the corridors behind Lupin, muttering amongst themselves with questions about where we were going and what we were doing. As it turned out, we were heading toward the staff room, though for what, I wasn't entirely sure. Hesitating a moment, Lupin cast a cautious glance back at the class before he pushed the door open and let us all inside.
Snape, who was sat in an armchair by the fire with a book on his lap, locked his jaw at the sight of us all, and something like loathing flashed in his eyes as he met Lupin's gaze. I couldn't help biting my lip, nudging Harry and jerking my head between Snape and Lupin. He raised an eyebrow. "What do you reckon that's all about?" he muttered.
"Beats me," I shrugged. "But suddenly, I'm liking Lupin a lot more." Harry grinned at me.
"Leave the door open, Lupin, I'd rather not witness this," Snape said sourly. Lupin stepped away from the doorway, still holding it open, and Harry, Ron, Hermione and I had to jump out of the way as Snape strode angrily past us.
"So," Lupin smiled, letting the door close and stepping further into the room. "Who can tell me what a Boggart is?" Instantly, Hermione's hand shot up beside me and I had to shift to the side to avoid being hit by her elbow. Lupin smiled wryly. "Hermione?"
"It's a shape-shifter sir," she answered with a smug smile. "It will take the shape of whatever you fear the most." At that, I gave an involuntary shudder. Frowning in confusion, I straightened out and took a deep breath, trying to focus on what Lupin was saying.
"Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor," Lupin beamed at her. "Now, who can tell me what our advantage is? Harry?"
Harry started, shaking himself with a frown. "Err, there are too many of us for the Boggart to scare," he answered cautiously.
Lupin nodded, still smiling. "Ten more points for Harry," he acknowledged. "So, who's first?" Nobody seemed overly eager to step up first, which I figured was fair enough. Who would volunteer to see their greatest fear in a classroom?
"Oh, come on now," Lupin chuckled. "Neville? How about you?" Neville whimpered, quivering slightly as he took a step forward. Watching him shake, I suddenly wished I'd volunteered.
"Now then Neville," Lupin started kindly. "What scares you the most?" Neville mumbled something under his breath, and Lupin strained with a small frown. "Speak up please, Neville."
"Professor Snape," he said reluctantly. A few people sniggered. Lupin, however, tried to smile but ended up smirking. Harry and I exchanged a surprised glance.
"He is reasonably scary," Lupin acknowledged with a strange chuckle.
"He's definitely growing on me," I hissed at Harry, who snorted a little too loudly. Lupin cast us a questioning look, but we both straightened our expressions and smiled innocently at him.
"Now," Lupin continued. "I hear you live with your grandmother?" Neville's eyes widened, looking even more worried. "Concentrate on this." He leant closer and whispered something in Neville's ear, and if possible, Neville's eyes widened even more. Lupin straightened out after he'd finished, smiling oddly. "The incantation is Riddikulus! Ready?"
Slowly, Neville nodded and Lupin took a step back beside the rest of the class, taking out his wand and pointing it at a wardrobe that said at the furthest end of the room. With a flick of his wrist, sparks flew from Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob, causing the wardrobe door to creak open loudly.
The sight of Professor Snape stepping out of the wardrobe, his eyes narrowed and his greasy hair plastered to the side of his face, made Neville whimper loudly and take a shaky step backward. "Remember the incantation, Neville!" Lupin called, and without any more encouragement, Neville lifted his wand with a quivering arm.
"R-Riddikulus!" he stammered. A loud crack echoed around the room, and Snape was suddenly dressed in an awful fur coat, a tall pink hat complete with stuffed vulture, and carrying a red handbag. The class erupted into fits of laughter, and Ron had to hold onto my arm to keep himself upright.
"Seamus! Forward!" Lupin exclaimed, his shoulders shaking in amusement as he stared at the Boggart Snape.
This continued for a while. Seamus faced a mummy that spun on its feet rapidly unravelling itself. Next up was Parvati, who's severed hand crept creepily along the floor like a crab, until it was caught in a mousetrap.
"Good, Parvati! Ron!" Lupin encouraged. With a crack, the hand had turned into a large spider. Several people screamed. Ron looked ready to faint, but stepped forward with his wand raised.
"Riddikulus!" he yelled. Another crack and the spider's legs vanished. The class laughed loudly, but the body was rolling . . . heading straight for me.
There was yet another crack and the room was filled with a blinding, golden light, radiating from a figure a few feet in front of the wardrobe. It was on its hand and knees, clearly in agony. My eyes widened and my heart pounded as the figure clawed at their own chest, right above their heart. Suddenly, I felt my body shut down.
Another crack broke the air like a whip as my knees crashed to the ground. I saw Lupin stood a little in front of me, a glowing, silver orb hung in the air.
"Riddikulus!"
"Artemis!"
Terrified whispers spread like wildfire in the room as the orb burst like a balloon, making a rather rude, childish noise. Harry, Ron and Hermione knelt beside me, their expressions worried and pale. Gulping as a light-headed feeling swept over me, I took a deep breath and tried to stumble to my feet, but my legs were too weak and gave way beneath me. Harry caught me before I crashed to the ground again, stumbling under my weight when I failed to take any at all.
"I'm fine," I murmured quietly, despite the fact that Harry still had to hold me upright while I desperately tried to calm my heart rate down. I was well aware that I neither sounded nor looked fine. My stomach was clenched so tightly, I was actually scrunching my body up as I shook with an irrational fear.
What scared me the most was that I had no idea why I would be scared of a golden light, and how the mere sight of it made me so weak.
"Harry, take her outside," Lupin instructed, his face pale. I glanced across at Harry, but his face was set and he led me through the murmuring class without hesitating. As soon as the door was shut behind us, I pushed myself out of Harry's arms, stumbled slightly, and slide to the floor against the wall. I curled up tightly and hid my face from view.
"Hey, it's fine Arty," Harry said softly, draping an arm over my shoulder comfortingly. "It's fine."
"No it bloody isn't," I whimpered, reaching an arm out and punching him weakly. "What the hell was that? Why the hell am I scared of a bloody gold light?"
There was a long, uncomfortable pause. "I was kinda hoping you'd be able to tell me," he answered uncertainly.
I snorted. "Yeah right. Between this and the tattoo, I have no idea what's happening anymore."
"Point," Harry muttered. "Arty . . . maybe we should speak to Dumbledore about that."
I lifted my head out of my arms and glanced sideways at him. I wasn't entirely sure what he saw, but he flinched slightly, shifting on the spot. "I don't know, Harry. Don't you get the feeling that it's just . . . wrong?"
"Well, yeah," he admitted reluctantly. "But look at you, Arty. Our first day back, and you're a mess! No offence," he added hurriedly with a shaky smile.
"I just think we should figure this out ourselves, Harry," I murmured, trying not to show how upsetting I found the idea of turning to Dumbledore. I knew I should be out of my mind and demanding answers by now with everything that was happening, but I couldn't shift the feeling that this was personal, between me and Harry and it had nothing to do with anyone else.
Pursing his lips, Harry pushed himself back to his feet and opened the door to the staff room. I heard him mutter something at Lupin, and a mumbled reply. Without a word, Harry shut the door again and held out a hand to help me up.
"Told Lupin I was taking you to the hospital wing," he told me with a frown. "If you aren't going to Dumbledore, you're at least having the rest of the day on bed rest."
I snorted as I took the hand he offered me, letting him help me to my feet. "Oliver isn't going to be happy about that," I grimaced.
"Forget about Wood," Harry dismissed easily. "I'll sort it. Besides, it's the first day back and you're the best Chaser we have. Missing one practice can't hurt."
"Aww, you'll be making me blush next, Potter," I scoffed quietly, wincing as he helped me walk slowly down the corridor.
His lips twitched into a smirk. "You never blush, Williams. Sounds like a challenge."
I didn't like the glint in his eyes as he spoke.