After an eventful first couple of days, the rest of the term passed by rather smoothly. Harry and I were soon kept out at Quidditch practice almost every night, despite the fact that all our teachers – especially Snape – piled so much homework on us I was beginning to think I had a constant migraine.

We'd also taken to spending any extra time we had in the library, pouring over every book about the more obscure areas of magic. Since many of these books belonged in the restricted section of the library, it usually involved Harry and I taking out his father's Invisibility Cloak and sneaking down there at night.

It was while we were down there one night my first major problem of the year arose. Now you might think tattoos that bled appearing on your forearm would class as major, but honestly, I could deal with that because I knew, eventually, I'd get my answers, and whatever that answer was, it would have to be logical.

This major problem wasn't.

"You know, I'm starting to think we're not going to find the answers here," Harry grumbled under his breath as we crept into the library, keeping as close together as we could. "We've been searching this place for weeks!"

"Do you have a better idea?" I snapped sourly.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Dumbledore." I shot him a warning look as we slipped into the Restricted Section, tugging the cloak off my shoulder and shoving it at him. "Alright!" he breathed as he appeared next to me. "Calm down!"

"Watch it, Potter," I scowled, taking my wand out of my back pocket and waving it threateningly in his direction. He held his hands out in surrender, but his expression was relaxed and a little amused. Clenching my fists, I lifted my wand up to the bookcases. "Lumos!"

We sat around one of the small tables for hours, occasionally irritating each other with snap comments or random facts we'd never heard before. Neither of us were in good moods, largely due to lack of sleep. I figured it didn't help matters much that we hadn't found a single word about what was happening to the two of us.

"That's it," Harry snapped as the clock finally reached three am.

I glanced up lazily from the book I'd been reading, rubbing sleep from the corner of my eyes. "What's it?" I yawned widely.

"I give up," he announced.

"Charming," I glowered, pushing the book I'd been reading away.

"We've been here for hours, Arty!" he breathed, a little wide eyed. "And that's just tonight! Face it, there is nothing here for us to find!"

"So what do you suggest, Harry? Live with it? Continue our lives blindly? Because honestly, I don't like being down here anymore than you do, but I can't keep this up!"

"Then we'll go to Dumbledore!" he exclaimed.

"And if he doesn't know?" I snarled. "He can't know everything!"

"He knows more than we do!" he argued.

"Fine!" I as good as yelled, jumping to my feet and snatching my wand off the table. "You want to go to Dumbledore? Go! If he knows anything useful, let me know. Other than that, don't bother."

Without waiting for an answer, I shoved the gate to the Restricted Section back open and stalked outside, not even caring that Harry had the Invisibility Cloak. All I could think was that I wanted to get as much space as humanly possible between me and him.

But just as I reached the library door, something hissed loudly. I cursed furiously as Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, flew past, streaking out of the door so fast her paws barely touched the floor. Setting my jaw, I ignored her and continued forward, half hoping Filch caught me just so that I could have someone to argue with.

"Are you insane?" Harry's hiss came, and before I could turn, his hand latched around my wrist and dragged me backward.

"Hey!" I complained loudly, stumbling as he shoved his way through a secret passage behind a tapestry, hauling me after him. Staggering through a cold, stone tunnel, I scowled and tried to yank my hand back. Harry just tightened his hold. "Would you let go?" He came to an abrupt halt right in front of me, causing me to fall straight into him. Letting out a frustrated yell, I smacked my palm into his shoulder as hard as I could. "You're impossible, you know that?"

"I was aware," he conceded coolly.

I took several deep breaths, glowering at him as he met my gaze unwaveringly, his green eyes shining strangely in the dark, damp light. "So what now?" I asked through my teeth. "We stand here all night until one of us backs down?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Depends. You ready to admit I'm right without losing your temper?"

I let out a shock, irritable laugh. "Tell me you're kidding."

"Not in the slightest."

"You arrogant, self-centred-"

Harry cut me off before I could finish insulting him. By kissing me.

I'll admit right now that people had frequently assumed that either I was crushing on Harry, or he was crushing on me. Or both. It was something both of us had quickly learnt to ignore, along with the many comments about how cute a couple we made. But Harry was actually kissing me, in the middle of some dingy, damp stone corridor at three o'clock in the morning.

The tapestry at the end of the corridor suddenly opened again, and Harry jumped back, snatched my hand up and raced through the corridor. My breath caught in my throat as I staggered after him, ignoring Filch's angry shouts. By the sounds of it, he was trying to follow us, but couldn't quite keep up. It didn't surprise me. I'd seen him run before.

Harry's hand never left mine as we raced through the open corridors, making so much noise I wasn't at all shocked when we ran headfirst into not one, but two teachers.

"Ah," Snape smirked, folding his arms over his chest and eyeing the hand Harry still had linked through mine. "Well, well, well, look who we have here." Beside him, Lupin sighed heavily. "Causing trouble again, are we?"

"Us?" I scoffed, snatching my hand back from Harry. "It's like you don't know us at all, Professor." Snape's eyes flashed.

"I think the two of you should get back to the common room," Lupin insisted sternly. "Now."

Harry and I started forward, but Snape threw his arm out in front of us, glowering furiously. "Neither of you are going anywhere until you tell me what you're doing out of bed at this time in the morning."

I felt myself go rigid in panic, and Harry's face suddenly set. "Same as you, I guess," he shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"Don't get smart with me, Potter," Snape spat. "Now, unless you want to go to the Headmaster-"

"It was my fault, Professor," I blurted, knowing full well that the Headmaster was the exact person Harry wanted to see most. The thought of it still made my stomach clench.

Lupin frowned slightly. "Your fault, Artemis?"

"I was starting to feel ill again," I lied quickly. "Harry was just making sure I went to the hospital wing."

"And Madam Pomfrey could verify this?" Snape sneered.

"No," I snapped, my fists clenching at my sides.

"Why ever not?" he snarled back sarcastically, scowling at me so intensely Harry actually shifted in front of me.

Pulling a face, I pushed Harry out of the way again. "Harry started lecturing me again," I shrugged. "Hermione and Ron have being doing it all night, Harry continued, and I got stubborn so I was going back to the common room."

"Is that so?" he scowled, glancing at Harry.

The boy locked his jaw, obviously not at all happy with being kept away from the Headmaster, again. Thankfully, his hatred for Snape seemed a lot stronger. "Yes, Professor," he sighed. "It is."

Snape knew we were lying. The problem was, he had no way to prove it. Just looking at his expression, demented with anger as he flicked his gaze between the two of us, almost made me laugh in triumph. "Get out of my sight," he spat in defeat, shoving his way between Harry and me and stalking down the corridor.

"He's in a good mood," I commented dryly.

Lupin shook his head. "The two of you should get to bed before he decides to give you detention anyway." He stepped to the side, waving toward the common room without looking at either of us. Pursing my lips, I started forward, Harry right behind me.

"Oh, and Harry? Artemis?" Lupin winced. We hesitated, glancing back. His eyes wouldn't stop flicking back and forth over the two of us. "It would be . . . unwise for the two of you to be wandering around at night this year."

Harry and I exchanged a meaningful look. "Any reason, Professor?"

Lupin shuffled, frowning. "It isn't safe for any student to be alone this year. Get back to the common room. Don't stop on the way. And don't creep around the castle at night again. Understand?"

We nodded. "Yes, Professor," I added. He scanned my expression as though he didn't believe me anyway, but let Harry and I turned around the walk away.

Neither of us said a word until we were back inside the common room, and Harry had thrown himself into the armchair by the fire with a scowl. His eyes were fixed on the flames, his fingertips drumming the arms of the chair anxiously. I hesitated by the sofa, unsure whether or not I should say something. After all, my best friend had just kissed me.

"We don't need to keep looking for answers," I told him quietly. "Not right now."

He didn't answer immediately, shifting on the spot anxiously. "So what next?"

I wasn't sure whether he was talking about the tattoos or the kiss. It made my stomach twisted sickeningly. "We carry on as normal," I shrugged, my voice catching in my throat. "If things get too bad . . . we go to Dumbledore," I finished with a heavy sigh.

Harry glanced up at me. "You sure?"

"No choice," I dismissed. "Right now, I'm going to bed." He nodded at me, grimacing as I spun around and took to the bottom of the stairs.

"Arty?"

"Yeah?" I gulped, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

He shuffled, eyes flicking toward me then back again. "About earlier, in the passage-"

"Forget it," I interrupted. "Just . . . forget it, please." His eyebrows pulled together, but he nodded all the same and I turned back around, taking the stairs and praying silently that I could get some sleep tonight.

I should have realised that that wasn't ever going to happen.

Fortunately though, things calmed down considerably. Harry and I never spoke a word about what had happened in the library, and I quickly managed to keep Hermione quiet about searching for answers. I couldn't actually get her to stop though, which I didn't mind, and if ever I got frustrated with it all, it was always her that came with me to the library to search for something.

On the other hand, the Quidditch season was rapidly approaching, and before I could even blink, we were stood in the changing rooms receiving a pep talk from Wood before our first match.

The Slytherins had pulled out of the match, since Malfoy was still cradling his injury from Buckbeak. Harry hadn't stopped snapping irritable comments about it since Wood had told him, and I had a funny yet oddly disturbing feeling that it didn't help when Cedric Diggory made a point of coming to the Gryffindor table that morning to meet me.

"It's pretty poor conditions out there," Wood was saying at the entrance, peering out at the stadium.

"We live in Britain," I commented dryly. "I'm sure we're used to it." Fred and George snorted their agreement.

"Visibility won't be good," Wood continued, ignoring me and glaring at Harry's glasses.

Rolling my eyes, I snapped my fingers in front of Harry's face and held my hand out. "Glasses," I instructed. Harry blinked, but lifted his hands and took his glasses off, setting them on my palm. Snatching my wand from my bag beside my school robes, I tapped the glasses sharply. "Impervius!"

Harry squinted, taking the glasses back and putting them back on. "Nothing's different," he said.

"Of course it isn't," I sighed heavily. "Not yet. They'll repel the rain when you get out there though. Might actually be able to see the Snitch." I'd barely finished speaking when Wood pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "Wood!" I complained loudly, squirming as the rest of the team laughed loudly.

"You're amazing, Arty!" he beamed.

I pulled a face. "Yeah, well, don't we have a Quidditch match to win?" The team cheered again and, thankfully, Wood let me go to snatch up his broomstick and lead the team out into the elements.

I could barely hear the crowds cheers over the sound of the rain and the storm, but I could see them. In the distance, I could see Ron, Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Neville and a few others waving a large Gryffindor flag, wrapped up tightly in an attempt to shield themselves from the weather.

Wood shook hands with Diggory, and I found myself shifting strangely when the Hufflepuff captain flashed a smile in my direction. "Keep your head in it, Artemis!" Wood snapped as he past me. I scowled, mounting my broom and taking a deep breath.

The whistle blew, barely audible, and the teams kicked off from the ground. Immediately, I swerved a Hufflepuff chaser and snatched the Quaffle out of the air. "Artemis Williams kicks things off to a brilliant start for the Gryffindor team in the first match of the season!" Lee Jordan's voice came over microphone. "Probably a good thing Slytherin pulled out, what with her being in trouble for attacking a few again-"

"Jordan!" McGonagall snapped.

My lips twitched as I rolled to the left to avoid another Hufflepuff Chaser before launching the Quaffle straight at Katie Bell. She caught it with a grin and a wink, swerved the other two Chasers and launched it straight through the centre goal.

"BELL SCORES!" Lee Jordan shouted over the sudden roar from the Gryffindor crowd. "TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!"

After that, the weather didn't really allow for a slow paced game. Wood kept screaming at Harry to find the Snitch, but there didn't seem to be any sign of it. Katie, Angelina and I, on the other hand, had never had a better match. Fred and George kept the Bludgers moving at the Hufflepuff team, who's Beaters seemed to have a difficult time keeping up. When the Chasers weren't swerving to avoid the Bludgers, they came face to face with one of the Gryffindors and only managed to slip through the net once, and even then Wood deflected the Quaffle right back at me.

Catching it, I had to dip to keep it from slipping from my grasp. Unfortunately, that meant I was flying right at two of the Hufflepuff Chasers. I'd barely caught sight of them when Angelina and Katie divided, confusing them enough for me to angle straight up and put on a burst of speed, flying straight over their heads, looping around the last Chaser and sending the Quaffle straight through the right hand goal.

"A STRAIGHT RUN FOR WILLIAMS!" Jordan was yelling, now so excited I could barely make out one word from the next. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT WOOD HAS THESE PLAYERS DOING, BUT I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY THEY'RE FLATTENING THE OPPOSITION! GRYFFINDOR LEAD HUNDRED POINTS TO NONE!"

I couldn't shift the wide smile off my face as I turned the broom around, already shooting back toward the main group to re-join the game. I hadn't even been flying for a minute, however, when a dark shadow suddenly past overhead.

Screams of horror suddenly filled the stadium, and my blood ran cold. My broom seemed to freeze under my fingers, and my breath caught in my throat. On instinct, I dived and rolled to get a look at what was going on. The moment my eyes fixed on the mass of Dementors swarming the stadium, a small whimper slipped my lips.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Wood was ordering loudly. "LAND NOW! EVERYONE! MOVE!"

I didn't hesitate, reaching for the wand I always kept in my back pocket. Unfortunately, my Quidditch robes didn't have a back pocket. Cursing, I kept close to the Gryffindor squad, eyeing the faces in the group. Wood, Fred, George, Angelina, Katie . . .

The second my feet touched the floor, I bolted toward Wood. "Where's Harry?" I yelled at him over the noise, and he frowned, scanning the Gryffindor team. Slowly, I saw his face pale.

"He was right behind me," he muttered. "I'm sure he was . . ."

Just then, ear splitting screams sounded from every direction. I whipped around and my heart twisted. "Tell me that's not . . ." My words failed me, my stomach dropping through the ground as I watched an unconscious figure slumping against their broomstick, surrounded by Dementors. Seconds later, it slipped sideways and plummeted straight for the ground.

"HARRY!" I screamed, already bolting forward, my hand reaching for a wand that still wasn't there . . . until it latched around something that felt strangely like the exact wand I'd left in the changing rooms.

His figure was almost ten feet from the ground when I raised my wand, ignoring the burning in my left forearm. "MOBLICORPUS!" I yelled, and his body jerked to a halt, barely any higher than my kneecaps. Another whimper slipped from my lips as I raced forward, lowering him to the ground.

Teachers were bolting on to the pitch in the distance, heading straight for us, but I barely noticed. Taking a ragged breath, I crashed to my knees beside Harry's unconscious body, drenched from the rain and shivering in fear. A lump formed in my throat as I placed a hand to his pale face. Even my numb fingers could tell he was too cold, too lifeless . . .

"ARTEMIS!" Lupin's call came, and I felt him stagger to a halt as he lowered himself to the ground beside me, throwing his arms around me and pulling me away from Harry's unmoving form.

"Professor, he-" I cut off, aware my eyes were burning with hot, painful tears.

"He's just unconscious, Arty," Lupin muttered. "He'll be okay. Headmaster?"

I glanced up at Dumbledore, unable to stop several tears streaking down my cheeks. Dumbledore met my gaze unwaveringly, something like worry flashing across his face. "Get her to her feet, Remus," he instructed, and Lupin nodded, tightening his hold on me and pulling me up. I stumbled slightly when my feet planted on the floor, my head oddly light.

I refused to move until I'd seen Dumbledore conjure Harry on to a stretcher and march him off the pitch. Lupin kept us close behind, never once releasing any amount of grip on me, even when Hermione and Ron rushed toward us, with wide, fearful eyes. But I was glad. Every step I took seemed more painful than the last, until I realised I ached all over. The tears were streaming freely down my cheeks, and if I wasn't mistaken, my left forearm was bleeding uncontrollably again. One look ahead to see Harry lay on the stretcher confirmed this; his already scarlet robes were dripping in red blood.

A small whimper slipped my lips, and a sharp tug in my stomach made me stagger for a moment. Lupin immediately doubled his grip, hauling me to my feet with a concerned look. Doing some very quick, very panicked thinking, I took a shaky breath and met his gaze with watery eyes. "I'm fine, Professor," I said in a weak voice. "But Harry, he-"

Again, Lupin's grip tightened, and his gaze grew stern. "Listen to me, Artemis," he said sharply. "He'll be okay. He's just unconscious."

"But he looks like he's not breathing, I-"

"Artemis-"

"Please, Professor," I pleaded weakly, clutching his arm tightly. "I'm fine, just please make sure he's okay."

He hesitated, glancing between me and Harry. Without asking, I pulled myself away from him and staggered back into Ron and Hermione, both of whom instantly caught me and held on tightly.

"He's fine," Lupin insisted with a heavy sigh, but he still nodded dutifully and hurried forward a few paces to reach level with Harry and Professor Dumbledore.

The second he was out of earshot, I clutched Hermione's arm with a ragged gasp. "Hermione, my arm," I rushed with a wince.

I watched her face pale with a light feeling rushing through my head. "Oh my," she breathed wide-eyed, dropping her gaze to my forearm. Gulping hard, she fumbled for her wand in her pocket. "I can cover it up but . . . oh god, Arty what about Harry?"

"Sorted," I dismissed, stumbling a few more times. Ron wrapped an arm around my waist with a frown, his ears reddening in embarrassment. I managed a feeble smile. "You'd better not be getting any ideas, Weasley."

He flushed, muttering something under his breath. "Focus, Arty!" Hermione hissed. "What if-"

"Just clean and wrap this please," I mumbled, staggering again. "I think . . . blood loss . . ." She shot Ron a startled look, but hurriedly cleaned my sleeve and wrapped my arm.

We continued to stagger through the castle behind Lupin, Dumbledore and Harry until we reached the hospital wing. Harry was taken to the furthest bed and curtained off, while Hermione, Ron and I were perched on the edge of the next bed, much to Madam Pomfrey's dislike.

"He will be okay, won't he?" Hermione gulped in a whisper.

I shivered uncontrollably for a second, fixing my gaze on the curtain separating me from Harry. "He'd better be," I scowled. "Or I'll kill him myself."