Christmas didn't actually turn out too badly after that. Mia had insisted that Harry stay with us rather than his Aunt and Uncle, and since he was speaking to me again now, he didn't argue too much. He ended up sharing a room with Adam, who officially moved in with his Aunt the moment he heard Luke was planning to come back for Rosie. Uncle Dexter, who had always been like a brother to Luke, had warned Mia's husband to steer clear of the house, and Mia's entire side of the family seemed to be united in their efforts to keep Luke away.

Christmas morning, and the five of us were awake at the crack of dawn. Adam and Harry looked a little worse for wear, but Mia seemed to be determined that Christmas was going to be special, for Rosie's sake more than anything else. So the rest of us dutifully slumped down the stairs about half past five in the morning, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of our eyes.

"How did we get so many presents?" Adam yawned, frowning at the overflowing tree. "I'm sure we didn't buy that much."

Mia shrugged. "Some are Harry's, obviously. A few owls arrived last night carrying some of them. And then Rosie has a lot, and you've got things from your Aunts, Uncles, cousins. There's all sorts down there, just start dishing them out."

I ended up collecting a small pile of my own presents when Rosie clambered onto my lap, insisting I help her unwrap and play with whatever everyone had bought her. As it turned out, even Harry had bought her something.

"What?" he shrugged at me as Rosie squealed in delight when he handed her a long parcel. "She's a little kid and since Mia's letting me stay here, it was the least I could do."

"God, you're so soft," I laughed with a roll of my eyes. He gave me a disapproving look, but grinned widely when Rosie shrieked and threw herself into his legs.

"Thank you!" she as good as screamed, and I glanced back to see a toy broomstick still half wrapped.

"You had to, didn't you?" I sighed with a small chuckle, and he just shrugged at me again as Rosie pulled me back to help her getting it out of its box. Luckily, the broomstick only hovered about a metre off the floor and it didn't go very fast, but she loved it.

"That was very generous of you, Harry," Mia smiled softly, watching Rosie fly around the garden on it a few hours later. "I've never seen her so happy!"

He laughed. "I know how she feels."

"She'll be on the Quidditch team next," Adam grinned.

While she was distracted, I managed to open the presents I'd received from the family, Hermione, Ron, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and Hagrid. Hermione had bought me a new perfume that smelt strongly of coconut, while Ron and Hagrid seemed to have emptied Honeydukes sweet shop. As usual, I received another hand-made jumper from the Weasleys along with a large box of fudge. On the other hand, Aunt Suzie had bought me a new pair of black combat boots to go with the expensive pair of skinny cream combat trousers and a gorgeous slim fitting white jumper Will and Evie had bought me, though I suspected Evie had picked them both out. Sarah had bought me an elegant looking enchanted compass, which was supposed to show the way to whatever you were looking for and Liam had filled a large box with Zonko's joke shop products with a note pleading with me to use half of them on Snape. Finally, Uncle Dexter and Aunt Mary had bought me a pair of silver earrings in the shape of thin, intricate wings that hung down the side of my neck.

"Christ!" Adam suddenly breathed from the other side of the room, and I looked up to see him stood beside Harry, the two of them staring wide eyed at something hovering at waist height.

It was a brand new broomstick, polished to within an inch of its life. The handle was a dark mahogany, and the tail end was still perfectly shaped. As it hovered, the broom actually shook in mid-air, like it couldn't wait to get out into the air. At the tip of its handle, the word 'Firebolt' was written in loopy, golden writing.

Even my jaw dropped, and I set the large package of sweets onto the floor and moved to get a better look. "That's a Firebolt," I said, completely unnecessarily. Harry nodded mutely, the wrapping still in his hands. "Who on Earth sent you that?"

"I don't know," he said slowly. "There was no note."

"Jesus, Harry, you were always a good Seeker in the first place," Adam snorted with a small laugh. "I can't believe I'm not going to see the Slytherins reactions to this!" I couldn't help smiling at that.

"They're going to be so devastated," I laughed. "Malfoy has no chance."

Harry spent the rest of Christmas using a broomstick care kit that Hermione had bought him for his birthday to polish the Firebolt obsessively, and when she wasn't busy flying her own in the garden, Rosie was sat watching him intently.

"I can't believe this," I mumbled, shaking my head at the pair of them from the kitchen doorway.

Mia chuckled at me. "Leave them to it. That boy has made Rosie's Christmas this year. We owe him big time."

"Never repeat that in front of him!" I pleaded, and her eyes shone as she laughed.

I almost hated the idea of going back to Hogwarts when the Christmas holidays came to an end. Going back meant I'd have to face Lupin and confront him about my parents, which was a conversation I'd avoided at all costs since Luke had walked out. At Mia's, everything was a lot simpler. But of course, the day came to head back and I felt any happiness and safety leave me entirely.

"You reckon Mia will be okay?" I murmured at Harry as he closed the compartment door behind us. We were back on the Hogwarts Express, heading straight toward the Uncle who'd as good as ignored me for twelve years. Out on the platform, Mia had Rosie in her arms, and the two of them were waving cheerfully at me as I hung out of the window. Beside her, Adam and Uncle Dexter were deep in conversation, while the youngest of Uncle Dexter's sons, Vincent, tugged on his sleeve of his robes with a scowl.

"They won't let Luke get to them," Harry said confidently, waving once at the group as the train started to move. "Honestly, I'm more concerned about where we're heading."

I sank into the seat by the window, scanning his face. "Black's still there, isn't he?"

Harry didn't answer, but his expression darkened a fraction. No one knew exactly where Sirius Black was, but reports in the Daily Prophet suggested he'd been seen moving near Hogwarts. Of course, everyone at Hogwarts knew he was already there, but Dumbledore was still somehow keeping that out of the news. Aunt Suzie had been pestering Uncle Dexter all Christmas to give her an interview from the Auror Department about what they were doing to track him down, where he and Aunt Mary worked. Fortunately, after spotting a few dark looks between Harry and me, Mia had cut the conversation short and forbidden any more talk of the man under her roof. None of the family knew that he was my father, or that it had been the entire reason Luke and I had ended up arguing. Still, if Black was still at Hogwarts . . .

"He wouldn't try anything with Dumbledore so on edge now," I insisted, more to reassure myself than Harry. "If Voldemort was scared of him, surely Black would be too?"

"Considering Voldemort was always scared of Dumbledore, we've done a good job of getting on his nerves the past few years," Harry replied blandly. I shuddered, pulling a face and curling my legs up beneath me. "I'm not going to spend every day worrying about it, Arty. Shouldn't we focus on Lupin first?"

I scowled. "Um."

"I thought you got on with him?" he blinked in confusion.

"You mean right up until I found out that he was my Uncle and he's been ignoring the fact I even existed for the past twelve years?" Harry's face straightened. "What am I supposed to say to him? Lupin, I know my dead mother happens to be your sister, and by the way, maybe it's time you explain why my father's a mass murderer and I have a strange tattoo on my arm that burns when I spend too much time away from the son of the people my father betrayed?"

There was a moment's silence. "Maybe you should be a little more delicate than that," he suggested calmly.

"I don't have the patience for being delicate anymore, Harry," I sighed, leaning back in my seat. "If the Minister knows Black is my father, how many others do? How long is it until he turns to Uncle Dexter and tells him to warn the Auror Department that Black might try getting to me? Or until the Daily Prophet get wind of it? Can you imagine what they'd do with a story on how Black has a daughter and was married to the woman who led the Auror Department? You don't think they'll find it a little strange she never noticed he was a Voldemort supporter?"

I could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't even started thinking about the repercussions of this news getting out, and apparently, knowing I couldn't stop thinking about it wasn't helping much.

"The Minister wouldn't let it get that far," he said uncertainly.

"Harry, he's using it as gossip!" I frowned. "He might not have much choice in the matter! I'd just rather not hear the rest of it like that again. After the feast, I'll head up to Lupin's office."

"You think he'll answer you?"

I snorted. "I wasn't really planning on giving him another option." Harry lifted an eyebrow cautiously, but nodded his support and let the conversation drop.

The rest of the journey passed much more enjoyably than the trip before Christmas. When the trolley came past our compartment, we bought an armful of chocolate and sweets each and I even let him talk through how to pull back in the race for the Quidditch Cup while I stuffed my face. Halfway there, Will, Evie, Sarah and Liam came to find us, and this time, Harry didn't argue when they settled themselves beside us and helped themselves to the food we'd bought. And just like before Christmas, the six of us easily slipped into casual conversation, laughing and joking amongst each other. Harry and Will even managed to convince Evie to help them ambush Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson as they passed.

"Brilliant, Eves!" Will beamed at her, hauling her off her feet with a bone crushing hug as Parkinson's shrieks echoed down the halls. The rest of us laughed loudly at the siblings, and I found myself peering cautiously past the compartment door to see the destruction they'd caused. But I'd barely shifted a few inches when a sharp pain shot down my spine and I gasped, straightening out with a frown.

"Arty?" Sarah called behind me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I said unconvincingly as I dropped into the seat by the door. The pain had left a tingling feeling down my back, but I shook it away and forced myself to re-join conversation, ignoring the looks from the others.

Nothing else eventful happened until the train had pulled into the station at Hogsmeade. The six of us had changed into our Hogwarts robes and dragged our luggage onto the platform when another shot of pain racked through my body. With no warning, I yelped, staggering in surprise and flinching when Will and Liam caught me before I hit the ground.

"What was that?" Liam blinked, hesitating as he and Will pulled me back to my feet. I shook my head silently, feeling my chest constrict in panic when the pain didn't vanish the way it had on the train. In front of me, Harry was watching cautiously, like he was ready to jump forward and push Will out of the way if I fell again.

"Nothing," I insisted quietly, hating the way everyone was staring at me like I was about to explode. Pursing my lips, I pulled my arms back and took a step forward. In the same second, a wave of nausea swept over me and my head spun as a blinding flash of pain shot across my ribs.

When I stumbled a second time, Harry caught me around the waist and pulled me upright, setting his expression. "Someone find a carriage," he instructed. "She needs the hospital wing."

I groaned. "Not again," I grumbled, but he ignored me. To the side, Sarah's eyes widened, but nodded and left her luggage with Liam, racing off to find a carriage. Allowing Will to take my other arm, Harry led the way after Sarah, with Evie and Will struggling behind us with all the luggage. Of course, we received a few strange glances at the two guys helped me into the carriage carefully, but I was past caring. There was only one problem on my mind.

"So much for talking to Lupin," I mumbled at Harry as he sat down beside me.

"Forget that for a minute," he said without hesitation. "Lupin isn't going anywhere." Frowning, he lifted his hand to press the back of it to my forehead. A cold shiver ran across my skin, relieving the pain for a split second. Then he pulled his hand back and I felt like I was burning up.

"Fever?" Liam asked in concern.

Harry nodded, and Evie leant closer with pursed lips. "I don't understand. She was fine over Christmas!"

"Let's just get her to the castle," Will insisted, pulling his sister back. "We'll worry about everything else later."

Unfortunately, the Dementors were still guarding the gates. As we passed, Harry shrank in his chair slightly, but I found the cold chill almost welcoming . . . in a sick I'm dying kind of way. Thinking that I actually found the Dementors' soul-sucking affects relaxing worried me to no end, but I took a deep breath and focused on the end.

Then things got bad. Really bad. A fever and a little back pain is one thing. Nothing to rush for, right? The fever and pain would still be there in ten minutes when we reached the hospital wing. What did push things further was the sudden burning pain that seemed to be soaking into my skin on my left forearm.

And the feeling was mutual. Beside me, Harry's teeth were grinding, and I swear I could see smoke rising from his shirt sleeve. Clamping a hand over it, he shot me a silencing look and shook his head mutely. Without thinking, I wrapped my hand in his long enough to squeeze it tightly before letting go. He kept quiet, but I felt his arm relax against mine a little and I risked letting out a deep breath as the carriage drew to a halt.

"Sarah, could you do me a favour?" I managed to ask through gritted teeth as Will lowered me down to the ground. She jumped from the carriage behind me gracefully, completely unaware that Harry was wavering unsteadily on his feet behind her. "Could you go and get Professor Lupin please?"

She blinked. "Lupin? The Defence teacher?"

I nodded sternly. "Tell him that I need him in the hospital wing, and that's it's urgent. Oh, and this," I added reluctantly, keeping my eyes on Harry's unsteady form. Not just me to think about these days, I told myself time and time again as I dipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out the white gold locket from Black. "Give him this. Don't look inside, okay? He'll know what it is."

"Artemis," Harry started with a frown.

I ignored him, letting my eyes bore into Sarah's. "Go, quickly." My cousins exchanged uncertain looks, but Sarah nodded slowly and set off at a run, weaving through the other students and bolting into the Entrance Hall without stopping to say hello to her friends.

"You might not get that back," Harry told me sharply.

"I was aware," I replied, balling my fists when my voice cracked.

"Hospital wing," Will ordered, mistaking my weakness for pain. I didn't argue, staggering along beside him, Harry, Evie and Liam as we moved toward the castle. A few students started to say hello, before noticing I was almost being dragged through the halls and rapidly losing colour in my face.

When we finally got to the hospital wing, Harry was leaning against walls to keep him on his feet and my strength had all but abandoned me. My head was spinning, my skin was shivering and my heart beat seemed too loud and too dull in my ears. My left forearm was on fire, and I could have sworn I could feel blood dripping from my fingertips, but I kept it away from my cousins and prayed no one noticed.

Inside the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey, Sarah and Lupin were already waiting. The moment the door open, Lupin spun and my throat tightened at the expression on his face. He didn't hesitate before striding forward and taking me out of Will's hold, steering me toward the nearest bed and pulling the dividing curtain out.

"Sarah, Evie, Will, Liam," he rhymed off wryly. "Thank you for bringing her, but I need you to head to the feast."

"What?" all four complained loudly.

"She's our cousin!" Will snapped.

"And she needs rest," Lupin frowned. "Now leave before I give the four of you detention for the rest of term."

I gulped hard, eyeing Lupin's face cautiously. "Guys, it's fine," I assured them, my voice oddly quiet. "You can come back after the feast, right?"

Lupin glowered, obviously ready to argue, but after a pleading look, Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Of course." The Defence teacher locked his jaw, keeping whatever opinion he held to himself.

"Could you tell Ron and Hermione we're here, too?" I asked Evie quietly, and she nodded with a frown.

"Course," she smiled tightly, clutching my hand tightly in hers for a minute. Casting Harry an odd look, she let go of me and turned for the door, followed reluctantly by the rest of my family. Madam Pomfrey watched them go nervously, and the moment the door had closed behind them, she cleared her throat loudly. Scowling, Lupin whipped around and took his wand from his back pocket, pointing it at the door and mumbling under his breath. The lock clicked loudly and Harry and I shared an anxious look.

"Where did you get this?" Lupin demanded, holding the locket in front of my face. Harry glowered, opening his mouth to argue, but I waved him away, gulping at the pain in Lupin's eyes.

"Remus, give the girl some room!" Madam Pomfrey insisted softly. "Look at her! She's not well."

"It'll pass," he dismissed, but his expression softened considerably. "But the two of you are bleeding. Where?"

Instantly, my throat closed up and my muscles tensed. Lupin eyed my stance thoughtfully for a moment, then turned to Harry. He was stood at the end of the bed, clutching the rail to keep himself upright. Neither of us moved or said a word, and I saw panic flash in Harry's eyes. Taking a deep breath, Lupin pulled the chair behind him closer to the bed and sat himself down.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, and I could see the truth written all over his face. "Either of you. But you sent Sarah for help, and I can't help you unless you let me."

I opened my mouth, but at the end of the bed, Harry flinched and I snapped it shut again, scowling in confusion. Forcing myself into action, I lifted my left forearm out, displaying a long, deep purple shirt stained red. Lupin hesitated, then took my hand gently in his and rolled my sleeve back.

"Oh my," Madam Pomfrey breathed, and Harry winced, his hands clenching tightly around the end of the bed. "Sit down, Potter," the matron ordered, suddenly business like. "If you think I'm letting you lose that much blood, you have another thing coming, young man!"

Lupin managed a weak smile in her direction, taking a bandage from the bedside table and beginning to clean and wrap my arm by hand. His hands shook as he worked, and as I watched, his eyebrows pulled closer and closer together.

"The locket," I croaked quietly, and his fingers slipped. "What it is?"

His eyes flicked up to meet mine briefly, then dropped back to his work. "It's been passed down through your family for hundreds of years. It's enchanted to take on its owner's DNA, almost like a Snitch in Quidditch. Wearing it gives it a measure of control of your pain levels. It was designed to aid you in situations exactly like this. It can't stop it, but it decreases the severity greatly."

I blinked, my heart pausing for a split second. My father, the mass murderer, sent me a locket to minimize my pain? The same man who'd given my godparents to Voldemort and abandoned me with a man who obviously cared nothing for me? I cleared my throat. "And why did I need it?"

Lupin shot me an amused, dark look. "Do you really need me to answer that?"

I gulped, risking a glance in Harry's direction. Madam Pomfrey had sat him on the side of the next bed, and his sleeve had been rolled up to his elbow while she worked. Meeting his gaze, I could tell he wasn't happy about speaking to Lupin but neither was I. Saying I was going to come clean with him was one thing, but it still felt wrong, and I knew Harry understood.

But we had to. We didn't have a choice any more.

"Sirius Black," I blurted with a flinch. Lupin froze. "Sirius Black sent me the locket."

"I know," he mumbled. "Keep that to yourself." I stared at him, but didn't say or do anything, allowing him to work in silence.

A few hours later – after my cousins, Ron and Hermione had visited and left – Harry was propped up against the pillows on my bed, Lupin was slouched in the armchair in front of us, and I was sat cross-legged as close to Harry as I dared. None of us had said a word since the others had left, but I found the silence strangely relaxing. Just knowing Lupin knew I wasn't entirely in the dark was relieving. Now I needed the rest of the truth.

With a deep breath, Lupin leant forward and rubbed his hands over his face, scanning both of our expressions before he started. "Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you more about your immediate family – our family – even if I wanted to."

"Why?" Harry frowned.

"Because Mia Williams has told you all anyone can," he replied with a small shrug. "No one knows why Black acted the way he did, or why Selena never noticed something was wrong, or what happened to her."

I hesitated. "Okay," I said, shuffling. "So what about-" Cutting off, I winced sharply through my teeth and balled my fists. Beside me, Harry took a deep, steadying breath.

Lupin smiled sadly. "The tattoos? Well, that's a long, complex story, but I'll try my best." Shifting forward, he made himself comfortable and drew himself upright before he started. "A few hundred years ago, our ancestors noticed there was something fundamentally different amongst our family, compared to other wizarding families. See, a long time ago, an ancestor named Lucinda decided to try and ensure her family only chose wizarding partners to keep her bloodline clean."

I gawped. "That's awful!"

"Yes, it is," Lupin nodded. "Not in the least because of what she did to her own children."

Harry shuddered, scanning his face cautiously. "Which was?"

"She cursed her eldest son and daughter," Lupin replied simply. Harry's eyes widened and I felt my jaw slacken.

"Her own children?" I breathed. "What did she do to them?"

He sighed heavily. "She stopped them from ever falling in love. She thought that if she removed the irrational concept of love, removing the possibility of her children falling in love with a Muggle, that she'd be able to ensure her children married suitable partners. But she underestimated her daughter, Juliette."

Harry snorted. "What, like Romeo and Juliette?" I lifted an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes wryly. "A really old Muggle story about a guy called Romeo and a girl called Juliette who fall in love but their families don't get on. Long story short, they both die."

"Oh. Lovely."

"It is a little ironic," Lupin conceded. "Juliette was smart enough to realise what her mother had done, and in an effort to reverse it, she used a powerful love potion, altered in ways no one ever really understood, and magic like that should never be tampered with, not even by the people using it."

"Who did she give it to?" I asked, almost unwilling to know the answer.

"She took it herself," he answered without meeting my gaze. "And a Muggle boy she'd once known when she was a young girl. But, while she thought she was getting around her mother, it turned out that the boy hadn't been a Muggle after all. He was a Squib, born into a pureblood family, but with no abilities of his own. It was probably easier for him to say and act like he was a Muggle. So of course, when they had a child, the child was as pure-blooded as it's parents."

"So she went through all of that for nothing?" I blinked. "Remind me, why is this story important again?"

Lupin pursed his lips. "Juliette isn't important, Artemis, the result of her actions is. When the two of them took that love potion, it altered the magic in their blood in ways we can't even comprehend. It created a connection between them that was much stronger than Juliette had ever intended, and it manifested in strange and frequently painful ways."

A stony silence fell over the three of us, and only the sound of Harry straightening on the spot disturbed the silence.

"Such as?" I finally plucked up the courage to ask.

Lupin grimaced. "Such as magical tattoos."