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the-al-chemist · 2 years

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Artemis Hexley and the Circle of Khanna

Chapter 13: Lonely Hearts

A/N: The prospect of a school dance lifts the spirits of most of the students at Hogwarts, but Artemis really isn’t in the mood to party. Characters mentioned include Ellie Hopper @thatravenpuffwitch, Lizzie Jameson @lifeofkaze, David Willows @that-scouse-wizard and Katriona Cassiopeia @kc-and-co. Warnings: mentions of death, grief, antagonism, mild misogyny, alcohol, underage drinking, drinking to excess, and bad decisions.

January seemed to last an eternity. The weather was still bitterly cold, with icy breezes blowing sleet and hail across the grounds and the frozen lake, while a mist still hung over the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest, due to the lingering presence of the dementor patrol.

Inside the castle, the Christmas decorations had long been removed, leaving the walls bare. Despite this, the castle was filled with noise and movement, the day-to-day hustle and bustle of people finding their way to lessons, the library, Quidditch practice. Younger students were playing games in the courtyard, and older students were kissing in quiet corners, and teachers were docking house points and handing out detentions. Hogwarts was returning to a sort of normality.

Artemis hated it.

As she had predicted it would, the more her life took on its usual rhythm, the more profoundly she felt Rowan’s absence. What she hadn’t predicted, however, were the number of times she had almost forgotten about it, and had turned to tell her best friend something or to hear what Rowan had to say, and found nothing but an empty space beside her. Sometimes, when she was in the library, sitting in the Hufflepuff common room or walking through the corridors, she caught brief glimpses of Rowan’s face among the groups of students, but when she looked closer, she found that it wasn’t Rowan at all, but someone else entirely - someone who had her height, or her long black hair, or who wore glasses that caught little fragments of light.

Worse of all were the mornings. Despite her overwhelming tiredness, Artemis had been struggling to sleep, and always awoke while the light was still dim in the dormitory. Alanza was still sleeping in Rowan’s bed, and in her barely awake state, Artemis found herself wondering whether it truly was Alanza there at all, and not Rowan, returned to her rightful place. But of course, it was not Rowan. It was Alanza, and Artemis was growing to resent Alanza more and more with each passing day, for the simple fact that she was there and Rowan was not.

It seemed as if - aside from Merula, who hated Alanza even more than Artemis - she was the only one to feel this way about Alanza. All of Artemis’ professors were delighted by Alanza’s work in class, the girls all wanted to be her friend, and most of the boys appeared to want to be more than just that. Penny and Tonks had warmed to her, welcoming her into the dormitory and including her in their conversations, and even Fergus liked her, purring happily whenever Alanza stroked him and spoke to him in Portuguese.

Artemis found herself longing for the brief periods of respite she had from being Alanza’s unwilling babysitter, thanks to Charlie having agreed to help make Alanza feel welcome so that she wouldn’t have to. While Charlie and Alanza were studying Herbology and Astronomy in the library, Artemis was able to be free of the Alanza-shaped shackles around her ankles. But with Penny busy helping catch Tonks up on the Potions syllabus and Chiara assisting Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing, Artemis was usually left alone. It wasn’t that she minded being alone, if anything, she wanted to be alone, but as soon as she was by herself, she found that it was harder to distract herself from the mass of emotions that were creeping ever closer to her, threatening to consume her entirely.

By the final week of January, it seemed to Artemis that she was the only one still actively missing Rowan. Everyone else appeared to have moved on, to be wrapped up in other things, be those things their schoolwork or the Apparition lessons that the sixth years had started taking that term (though Artemis had neglected to attend), or Quidditch, which Artemis no longer cared about, having - much to Skye Parkin’s chagrin - quit the Hufflepuff team and given her position as Seeker to Ellie Hopper. There was also Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, as Artemis was reminded one evening over dinner, when Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly to make an announcement.

“I do so hate to disturb you all while you are eating,” he told them, a small but playful smile on his face. “However, I do think that you will forgive my intrusion into your well-earned leisure time. It is my understanding that a not insignificant number of you are excited about the upcoming event that is Valentine’s Day, and while this is not an occasion that the school has traditionally acknowledged, certain individuals have pushed the idea that this year we might break with tradition.”

Dumbledore paused, his eyes twinkling in the candlelight as whispers echoed around the Great Hall.

“Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate the love we have for those around us. It has been a dark and difficult winter, and in dark and difficult times it is important not to harden our hearts against love, which is - in my not-so-humble opinion - the only thing that can lighten and ease the burdens we face in life. With that in mind, the school will be holding its very first Valentine’s Day Ball here in the Great Hall.”

The whispers in the Great Hall grew louder, and after Dumbledore had returned to his seat, talk at every table turned to the subject of the Valentine’s Day Ball. Penny clapped her hands together with delight, and she, Tonks, and Alanza began to chat away, sharing stories of the Celestial Ball that had taken place two years previously, and planning the inevitable shopping trip to Hogsmeade, and discussing the sort of dress robes they would like to wear.

“What are you going to wear, Artemis?”

“I dunno,” Artemis shrugged. She didn’t really care about dresses at the best of times, and picking out clothes for a party seemed frivolous given everything that had happened since the last time she had attended a ball. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to go to the ball at all.

The discussion continued all the way back to the dormitory, though Artemis contributed very little. When Alanza slipped away to the bathroom, however, Tonks and Penny quietened down and shared worried looks.

“You will come to the ball, won’t you, Artemis?” asked Penny, a question to which Artemis made no response. “Oh, please come with us! It won’t be right without you there, it’s hard enough that…”

Penny’s eyes welled with tears as her voice tailed off, and Artemis stared at her hands in her lap.

“Penny’s right, Artemis,” Tonks said quietly. “It’s going to be rubbish without Rowan.”

“That’s why I don’t want to go.”

“Artemis…”

“It’s stupid. A party now, it’s just stupid,” Artemis snapped. “Why would I care about going out and dancing and bloody Valentine’s Day now? So what, we go to this ball and we pretend like we’re all having fun and that everything’s all okay?”

“No, we-”

“No, because everything is not okay.”

Artemis balled up her fists and screwed up her face, eyes tightly closed. A hand reached out and touched hers, and she opened her eyes to see Penny in front of her, holding her hand, her face pink and saddened.

“I know how you feel, Artemis,” she whispered, and she smiled sadly when Artemis shook her head. “No, I do. I remember after my cousin Scarlett died, it felt awful carrying on as usual, like nothing had happened. But you just kind of have to, because not doing it doesn’t help either.”

“Personally,” said Tonks, walking across the dormitory to join them. “I could just do with a break from feeling crap all the time. Couldn’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Artemis muttered. “It just feels wrong, talking about parties and dresses and dates, when-”

“Whoa, hang on. No one said anything about dates.”

“Oh, no,” Penny’s eyes widened. “I definitely don’t want to take a date. Just imagine if I cry later in the evening.”

“It’s you, Pen. You’ll definitely cry at some point in the evening.”

“Exactly, I’ll be so embarrassed if my date sees me.”

“Depends who you go with. You wouldn’t feel embarrassed if Artemis or I saw you cry, would you?”

Penny seemed to consider this for a moment. “No, I suppose I wouldn’t.”

“Well, that settles it then,” Tonks shrugged. “We can all take each other for our dates. Artemis, what do you say? Will you be mine and Penny’s date?”

“Oh, please say yes. We would love for you to come to the ball with us.”

“We will be really offended if you say no.”

Artemis shook her head, but out loud she said, “Fine. I’ll go with you to the ball. But you can’t make me dance.”

“That sounds like a challenge,” Tonks winked, and Penny giggled. Artemis almost laughed, too, but her laughter was accompanied by a strange sort of sadness, one that she did not want to escape from somewhere deeper and more hidden inside her, and she stopped herself.

Alanza returned from the bathroom just as Penny and Tonks were backing away from Artemis.

“Are you okay?” She asked, her dark brown eyes filled with genuine concern. “What is wrong?”

Penny opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis got there first.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “We were just talking about dates for the ball, that’s all.”

“Are people taking dates?”

“Well, we aren’t,” Penny told her, smiling kindly. “But a lot of people will, I expect. It is Valentine’s Day, after all. I know Badeea had plans to do pottery making with one of the final year boys from the Art Club, so I expect that they will be going to the dance together instead, and I overheard Murphy telling David that he’s going to be asking Katriona from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, so it wouldn’t be peculiar at all if you were to ask someone.” Penny’s eyes lit up as she asked Alanza, “Are you going to ask someone?”

“I am thinking that I might do this, yes.”

“Who?”

“Your friend, Charlie.”

Artemis blinked twice, Penny’s eyes widened and mouth opened to form a perfect ‘O’ shape, and Tonks sprayed the water she was drinking across her bed.

“You what, mate?”

“I like Charlie. He is very nice to me,” Alanza said, with a little giggle. “And he is nice looking, too isn’t he?”

The other girls didn’t reply, just frowned at each other in confusion.

“Wait,” Tonks held up her hands. “We are talking about the same person here, aren’t we? Charlie Weasley?”

“Yes, the same person. You do not think that he is good looking?”

“I genuinely can’t say that I’ve ever considered it,” muttered Tonks, looking at Alanza as if she was mad, which she very well might have been. “I mean, I guess if you’re into gingers, he’s… But he’s not Bill, is he?” She grimaced and looked nervously at Penny as she added, “Sorry, Pen. Didn’t think.”

“Who is Bill?” Alanza asked.

“Oh, well,” Penny blushed a little. “He’s Charlie’s brother, but he and I did used to go out for a while. Not anymore, but it’s okay. He’s in Egypt at the moment.”

“And he is handsome, too?”

“Yes, very,” said Penny, nodding definitely. “I suppose that Charlie isn’t bad looking, but… Well, he’s not exactly a very physical being, is he?”

“That’s one way of putting it. I’m not even sure that he likes girls, he’s always seemed more interested in dragons,” Tonks sniggered. “And, I dunno, he just…”

“He just looks like Charlie,” Artemis said, with a shrug. Penny and Tonks nodded.

“Yeah, that’s it exactly.”

“I suppose he is your friend, so to you it is different,” replied Alanza, peeling back the covers on Rowan’s bed and getting into it. “But to me, he is very good looking.”

With that, she turned over to go to sleep, leaving the three Hufflepuff girls still slightly confused. They stared at her in silence, before Tonks yawned widely and smirked.

“Well, whatever hovers your broomstick, I guess.”

The morning of the Valentine’s Day ball arrived quicker than expected, and it seemed like the whole school was excited. Everyone except Artemis, who was only attending for the sake of Tonks and Penny, and Merula Snyde.

“You’re actually going to this thing tonight?” Merula asked her in Care of Magical Creatures that afternoon, having accompanied Artemis to the feed store, Charlie being too busy keeping Alanza company to help her.

“Yeah. Are you not?”

“Of course not. Valentine’s Day is tacky at the best of times, let alone now. I can’t believe that you’re going.”

“Me neither, but there you are,” Artemis muttered, stepping up onto her usual brick in order to be able to reach low enough into the barrels of food. Seeing the look on Merula’s face, she sighed. “What, Merula?”

“I just think it’s a bit messed up, you going to some party when your best friend got killed two months ago,” said Merula. “If I were you, I’d-”

“Well, you’re not me, are you? So shut up and leave me alone.”

Artemis pushed past Merula to leave the feed store. Although Merula said nothing, she did not leave Artemis alone, instead, she followed her out to the paddocks, where Barnaby, Liz and Ismelda were tending to one unicorn, and Charlie and Alanza to another. Only one unicorn remained without a group of students.

“Right,” Artemis frowned. “Well, I guess we are working together this lesson.”

“So it would seem,” Merula cast a dark look at Alanza. “I don’t get what the big deal is with that Alves girl. I really don’t like her.”

“Yeah, well. I can’t say I’m her biggest fan either.”

“I’m not surprised. First she takes Khanna’s place, now she’s taking yours as well.”

Merula raised her eyebrows and walked over to the last unicorn, and Artemis swallowed, casting a glance at her friend and his new work partner before joining her.

Professor Kettleburn must have known that his students wanted time to get ready for the ball that evening, because he ended his lesson early so that they could do so. He wasn’t the only one; when Artemis and Alanza returned to the castle, the corridors were full of students having already left their last lessons. In fact, the only teacher who insisted on keeping their class until the bell rang was Professor Snape, which meant that Artemis and Alanza were left alone in the dormitory until Penny and Tonks finished Potions.

“I am so looking forward to tonight,” Alanza said, hanging up her long green dress robes on the canopy rail of Rowan’s bed. “It is very exciting, going to a real ball. Like a real fairytale. It is a shame that you and Penny and Tonks are not taking dates.”

“Why’s that a shame?”

“It is Valentine’s Day! It is a night all about love, and it is supposed to be very romantic.”

“I think you’ve picked the wrong person to take as your date if it’s romance you’re after,” Artemis muttered. “I’m going to have a shower.”

“Oh,” for a moment, Alanza looked a little sad, but she soon smiled once more. “But, Artemis, you had a shower this morning, remember?”

“I want another one.”

With that, Artemis turned from Alanza and opened the door to leave, and as she did, Fergus strode through it into the dormitory, winding his body around her legs before jumping up onto Rowan’s bed and rubbing his cheek against Alanza’s side.

Artemis scowled at him. “Traitor.”

She left Alanza and Fergus in the dormitory without another word, and inside the bathroom, scrubbed herself almost raw. She hoped that Penny and Tonks would be back by the time she finished so that she would not have to listen to Alanza talk about how exciting it was to be going to a ball, or watch her put her pretty dress robes on Rowan’s bed.When she returned, she was in luck; both Penny and Tonks were back from their lesson, Penny holding a small parcel in her arms.

“Here, Artemis,” she said, smiling as she handed it to her. “Andre said to give this to you. He also said to apologise if they don’t fit exactly right, but you never turned up for him to measure you properly, so he had to do the best he could working from the measurements he had from our last ball.”

The parcel contained the dress robes Artemis had picked out - or, rather, the others had picked out for her - when the four of them had gone shopping in Hogsmeade the weekend previously. The dress robes were less formal than the ones she had worn to the Celestial Ball in her fourth year, with a shorter hem and two plain straps that held up the black floral material that brushed over her, hiding how boyish her frame had become in the last couple of months, what with her not playing Quidditch and struggling to finish her meals.

Putting the dress on, it was clear that Andre had been working from her old measurements. Artemis didn’t think that she had grown much in the past two years, but looking at the dress in the mirror, it was obvious that she had. Although the dress fit her around, it was a good inch or so two short in the skirt, which was supposed to come down to just above her knees, but instead only reached halfway down her thighs. Once she put on her high shoes, the ones she had worn to the Celestial Ball, the dress appeared to look even shorter. That, combined with the very thin straps that did not provide any coverage for her shoulders at all, made her feel as if she was showing a lot more of herself than she felt strictly comfortable with.

“I think it looks just lovely, Artemis,” said Penny, watching the way that she was fidgeting and pulling at the material.

“I dunno. Maybe I should just wear the dress from the Celestial Ball instead. It’ll only be a little short.”

“Oh, but it really isn’t that bad, and Andre went to the effort of adjusting it for you.”

Artemis sighed. Penny was right. She was just going to have to make do with having a lot of her skin visible. At least if she wore her hair down, that would cover her neck and shoulders a little.

“Yeah, you look great,” Tonks grinned, herself wearing a black and purple dress that came all the way down over her legs and covered her upper arms too. She conjured four glasses and produced a bottle of pink wine from under her bed. “Here. Have some of this and stop writhing around like that. You look like you’ve got lice or something.”

She handed Artemis a glass of the pink wine, and Artemis took a sip of it. She wasn’t entirely sure that she liked the taste, but she drank it anyway as Penny brushed her hair and pinned it back from her face. Penny’s hair had been intricately braided into a single long plait, and her dress robes were made up of two pieces, a red skirt that was shorter at the front than it was at the back, and a white cropped top. A small section of her midriff was visible between the two pieces of fabric when she moved her arms, and that made Artemis feel slightly better. At least her belly was not on show.

As for Alanza, though her dress was just as strappy as Artemis’ own, the skirt covered her legs, and she had a thin matching scarf that she could use to cover herself up even further. But despite having the option to keep her shoulders covered, she let the scarf drape loosely around the back of her, and she had pulled her hair up to allow even more of her skin to be seen. She did not appear to be self conscious about her appearance at all, even when she moved her leg and revealed a slit up one side of the skirt that went up higher than her knee.

Artemis finished her wine, still unable to tell whether or not she had enjoyed it. Still, when Alanza left to meet Charlie and Chiara arrived - wearing a set of magenta knee-length dress robes - to finish getting ready and declined the glass Tonks poured out for her, she allowed Tonks to give her half of it, and drank that as well. By the time they left the dormitory, she felt a lot less uncomfortable about her too-short dress, a newfound confidence that she soon lost upon walking up the stairs to the entrance hall from the basement.

“You know, it’s not true what they say,” said a voice from behind her that she immediately recognised as Diego Caplan’s. She turned and scowled at him, and he winked. “Personally, I think leaving something to the imagination is overrated.”

“Get lost, Diego,” Tonks told him, and she quickly linked arms with Artemis and marched her up and away from him.

“Just ignore him, Artemis,” whispered Penny. “He’s just in a mood because Alanza is taking Charlie as her date. He told David who told Lizzie who told me that he was actually planning on asking her out for himself.”

The Great Hall had been decorated for the occasion with floating lights and crêpe paper hearts in varying shades of red and pink. The tables had been pushed to the walls to make room for a dance floor, and on the daïs, a band was playing.

“No way!” Tonks exclaimed, her jaw dropping and the pinkish-blonde colour of her hair growing instantly more vibrant. “It’s the Weird Sisters!”

“Who?”

“Honestly, Artemis, you need to stop listening to just Muggle music,” Tonks shook her head, still staring at the Weird Sisters as Tulip joined the group. “They’re a rock band, and they’re good. They used to go to Hogwarts, but they graduated a couple of years ago, and they’re getting more and more famous. I never would have thought they’d come back here just for some Valentine’s Day party.”

“Shall we go and dance?” Penny asked, and Tulip grinned.

“Let’s have some of this first, shall we?” she said, pulling out a hip flask from her robes. “Berry Ocky Rot.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be very expensive?”

“I don’t know, I took it out of my dad’s cellar at home. Been saving it for a special occasion.”

The girls passed the flask between them and sipped the liquid inside, which was sweeter than the pink wine, and stronger tasting, too, before venturing onto the dance floor. Tonks was right, the Weird Sisters were good, very good. The combination of the floating lights and the Berry Ocky Rot and the music made Artemis feel much better about the evening, and as she danced she found herself paying less and less attention to the flimsy straps and short hem of her dress robes. This was the closest thing to fun she’d had in ages, since the summer party they had held in the Weasleys’ garden, or maybe even since the Celestial Ball. It was definitely the best time she’d had since Rowan…

Artemis felt the need to stop dancing. She looked around the room and started to walk over to the first person who made eye contact with her: Jae Kim, who had been watching the girls dance from where he was sitting on a table at the side of the Great Hall.

“What were you watching us dancing for?” she asked, leaning against the table next to him.

“I wasn’t,” he replied, and when Artemis narrowed her eyes at him, he laughed. “I was just wondering where the rest of your dress was, that’s all.”

“Sod off, Jae,” Artemis followed the line of Jae’s gaze, which was still on her friends. “Which one are you looking at? Penny?”

“No.”

“Tonks? Tulip?”

“I’m not looking at any of them.”

“Chiara?”

“Nice legs, by the way,” Jae smirked as Artemis stopped interrogating him to pull at the hem of her dress once more. He looked over his shoulders before reaching into his pocket and handing Artemis his own hip flask. “Here. You look like you could do with some.”

“What is it?” Artemis asked him, already raising the flask to her lips. As the contents touched her tongue, she had to make an effort not to spit them back out again.

“Moonshine. Made it myself.”

“It’s disgusting,” said Artemis, but she took another sip anyway. Jae pulled the flask away from her as she tried to take a third. “Hey, I wasn’t finished.”

“You will be properly finished if you have too much of it. It’s bloody strong.”

“Explains why it tastes so foul.”

“Exactly. The aim isn’t for it to taste good,” Jae grinned. He pocketed the hip flask and flashed the inside of his jacket at her. Inside, it was lined with two dozen or so vials. “If you see anyone who might like some, tell them it’s a Sickle a vial. Talking of which…”

A final year student was walking towards them, a silver Sickle in his hand. Artemis took that as her cue to leave Jae alone. She felt a little better about the evening again. Surely, it couldn’t be that bad for her to have one night where she wasn’t thinking about Rowan, wasn’t missing her quite so much, where she didn’t have to concentrate so hard on pushing away the tidal wave of emotions that kept swelling and threatening to break through the dam she had built in her mind. It couldn’t be so bad that she wanted to forget everything that had happened, just for a few hours.

And so, when her girlfriends beckoned her back onto the dance floor and shared a few more sips of Tulip’s dad’s Berry Ocky Rot, Artemis did not hesitate to join them. As the night went on, the music grew louder, and Artemis danced with more of her friends and various acquaintances, a sort of haze settling over her. She was getting warm, and the world around her was foggy and strangely bright, like she was in a dream, a good dream, not one where she was back in the forest and Rowan was…

Artemis shook her head, the world spinning as she did so. Though her vision was not as clear as usual, she could tell that the people around her were not the people she had started dancing with. Her friends were not there. She should go and find them, she thought, but when she moved to do so, she bumped straight into someone. She frowned at that someone. It was Barnaby Lee.

“Sorry,” he said, and he tilted his head at her. “You look lost.”

“I know where I am,” Artemis replied. “I just don’t know where other people are.”

“Oh.”

“I think they danced away,” she explained.“Do you want to dance with me?”

Barnaby didn’t look like he really wanted to dance with her, but he nodded his head, and the two of them began to dance together. As they did, Artemis placed her hands on his shoulders, and he put his on her waist, his arms stiffening so that he was almost holding her at a distance. Why was he doing that? Artemis didn’t want to be held at a distance. She was not fragile or dangerous, was she? She did not want to be, and she did not want to be lost or alone, either.

So, to prove to herself that she did not have to be any of those things, she raised herself up onto her tiptoes, and kissed him. She had expected him to kiss her back, but instead, he pushed her away from him, and stared at her with a look of confusion in his eyes.

“What?”

“Why are doing that?” he asked her.

“I wanted to kiss you.”

“But we don’t go out any more. We broke up, remember?” he seemed to really think she had forgotten, so she nodded her head to let him know that she hadn’t. “I said that I loved you, and you didn’t say it back.”

“I know, but-”

“Have you changed your mind?”

“No, but maybe I could if I tried,” Artemis told him, and she went up onto her tiptoes again. This time, Barnaby pushed her away before her lips could meet his, a hurt look in his eyes.

“I don’t want you to try,” he said matter-of-factly, and he walked away from her, leaving her alone.

Artemis looked around again, a prickling sensation at the back of her eyes and a feeling of helplessness growing in her heart. She couldn’t see any of her friends at all, and the heat and her dizziness growing, and making her feel nauseated. She didn’t want to be there anymore.

She turned and walked away from the dance floor, across the Great Hall and out of it into the courtyard outside, which was full of snow. She pushed the snow off one of the cloistered arches and sat in it, elbows resting on her bare knees, head pressed into her hands. Everything was still bright and hazy, but at least it was calmer outside.

“Are you okay?” a timid sort of voice asked her, and she looked up. As her eyes focused on the face in front of her, she realised that it was Ben. “Artemis. I didn’t realise it was you. Are you… You’re cold.”

Artemis hadn’t realised that she was shaking, though she did not feel cold. Ben took his coat off and placed it over her shoulders.

“Did you come from the party?” he asked, and Artemis nodded her head. “Was it a good party?”

Artemis shrugged in response, and Ben frowned.

“I’m surprised you went,” he told her. Artemis scowled at him.

“Why? Why can’t I go to a party and have fun and just forget for a bit?”

“No, you can, I-”

“But I can’t,” Artemis said, and she swung one of her legs out to kick at the powdery snow. “I can’t do anything because it’s wrong. Everything I do is all wrong.”

“Maybe I should just take you back to your common room,” Ben tried to lift Artemis from where she was sitting, but she shook her head and wriggled away from him, struggling to keep her footing in her high shoes and the snow underfoot. “Artemis, I think you need to go to bed.”

“You don’t know what I need.”

Artemis gave Ben back his coat and zigzagged her way back across the courtyard and into the castle. In the Great Hall, the music had softened to a slower, sweeter melody, and though the world was still hazy, she could now see her friends. Tonks and Tulip were on the stage with the Weird Sisters, Penny was chatting in a corner with Skye and Lizzie whilst Murphy whispered something into the ear of the red-haired girl sitting on his lap. Jae was talking to Chiara, Andre was complimenting a girl on her dress robes, and Charlie was dancing with Alanza, not seeming to mind that she was a couple of inches taller than him in her high-heeled shoes.

It was strange, Artemis thought vaguely. She didn’t think that she had ever walked into a room so full of people she cared about and yet felt so very entirely alone. It was an odd sensation, and one she hated even more than the taste of Jae’s homemade moonshine.

She really did feel lost, more alone than ever, and particularly vulnerable, standing in the middle of the Great Hall with her dress too small for her and all her friends so close by and yet so far away.

Her eyes scanned the crowd of blurry and familiar faces, until her eyes locked with one of them. Diego Caplan. He smiled and took a step towards her, and though she usually couldn’t stand him, she found herself walking towards him.

“Anything I can do to help, Hexley?”

“Shut up, I don’t like you.”

Artemis glared at him, before pulling him into a kiss that he eagerly returned. And for the next few minutes, she might have still felt lost, but at least she did not feel lonely.

#artemis hexley #hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #hphm #charlie weasley #penny haywood #nymphadora tonks #alanza alves #diego caplan #barnaby lee #jae kim #chiara lobosca #tulip kasaru #andre egwu #merula snyde #ben copper

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bleachanimefan1 · 1 year

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In Noctem Part 12

Out for a Stroll in the Moonlight,

The school year resumed as the students returned back to Hogwarts. Penny had stayed over the holidays talking with Fae about Ben, Chiara, and the others. Penny admitted that she was already getting engaged to Ben. Fae congratulated her, although she was a little surprised by the news. Ben had never shown any type of interest in Penny while they were in Hogwarts, considering he was always nervous or shy and stuck with Fae most of them time. Guess love can change over the years. Penny told Fae that she was going to stay a little longer at Hogwarts to gather some potion ingredients for her shop.

Fae was walking in the hallway, heading towards the dungeons until she spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Mr. Potter, I would like a word with you. Along with you two as well. I cannot keep covering for you. I know that you three are up to something." She spoke as she stopped them. The three flinched realizing that they were caught and neither said a word to her. Fae turned to Harry, who stared silently back at her. "Can you tell me why you were in the forbidden section of the library on Christmas?"

Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione who were shaking or nodding their heads if he should say something. Harry turned back to Fae.

"In the forbidden corridor, we know what Fluffy's guarding. The sorcerers stone. It can give the user eternal life. We think that Snape is trying to steal it." He told her. Fae's eyes widened a little before she narrowed them in confusion. How could they've known about the stone? It was supposed to be top secret.

"What makes you think that?" She asked Harry.

"He tried to kill me in the Quidditch match, and we think that it was he who let the troll in on Halloween." Harry told her.

"You must know what we are talking about having looked for the cursed vaults." Hermione pointed out. Ron nodded his head in agreement. Fae let out a tired sigh "That is a completely different thing." then looked at them.

"How is it different? You sneaked out after curfew did you not?" Ron asked. Fae looked down at the floor, feeling her chest growing tighter with regret. Rowan...

She missed them so much. If only she hadn't been so obsessed with the vaults, then maybe they would still be alive today. They were dead because of her. She is not letting these three take this path, not again.Fae frowned at him then Harry and Hermione and shook her head.

"I cannot believe that this is coming out of my mouth. But this needs to stop. You children are meddling in things that you cannot comprehend. This is getting dangerous. The stone is well guarded. What you need to be doing is focus on your studies and having fun. Do not go anywhere near the forbidden corridor anymore. Not unless you want to get yourselves killed or worse someone else." Harry, Ron and Hermione's eyes widened at what Fae had said. Fae saw their mouths dropped slightly and she turned walking away from them as she left. "Have a good evening, you three."

As the three watched her leave, Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry, maybe she's right." Harry shook his head.

"Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin." Ron retorted. "You can't trust any of them."

"No, the stone's is in danger of being stolen. I know it and Snape's going to get it somehow. If we only knew how to get past Fluffy." Harry spoke.

"Are we still going to Hagrid's tonight?" Ron asked him. Harry nodded.

"Yeah."

Later on, that night, Fae was in the potion's classroom with Severus. Severus was sorting through the ingredients as he used his wand to make them fly up on the shelf. He stopped and glanced over at Fae seeing her muttering quietly under her breath as she helped him. "You seem to be awfully tense. Something on you mind, Miss Craft?"

"Those three kids are driving me crazy." Fae huffed. Snape stared at her for a moment, placing his hands together in front of him.

"Let me guess, Mr. Potter and his friends. Judging by your silence, I am right."

"They know about the stone." Snape's eyes widened a little and Fae continued.

"The stone is heavily guarded. It would be impossible for someone to get it. Which also brings me to the question, how did they come to find out about it?" Snape asked. Fae shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know how they found out about it." Before Snape could say anything else, the door to the classroom opened, revealing McGonagall as she walked in, seeing the two.

"Professor McGonagall?" Fae questioned.

"Please, just call me Minerva. You are not a student anymore." McGonagall replied. Fae smirked.

"Okay, Minnie." She joked. Snape rolled his eyes while McGonagall's eyes widened a little at the nickname Fae gave her. She looked like she wanted to pounce Fae with a hug but stopped herself.

"What brings you here?" Snape asked her.

"Severus, I need to borrow Miss Craft for a bit if you don't mind." Then she turned to Fae. "I need you to look after Mr. Potter and his friends, along with Mr. Malfoy for their detention tonight."

"What did they do?" Fae asked.

"They snuck out of the castle after hours to Hagrid. Apparently, he's been keeping a pet dragon in secret. The children's detention will be served there. You are going into the Forbidden Forest to help him." Minerva explained. "Do be careful. The woods are dangerous at night."

"I've been there loads of times. More than you can ever count. I've got this." Fae smiled.

"Exactly how many times have you been in there?" Snape asked. Fae ignored his question, looking at Minerva. "By the way have you seen Penny?"

"Last I've heard, she was seen in the forest looking for ingredients." Minerva told her. By herself?! She's completely accident prone! Fae had lost count by how many times she had found Penny in dangerous situations.

"There's someone watching her, right?" Fae asked nervously.

"Miss Haywood is a full-grown witch. She is capable of fending for herself." McGonagall tried to assure her, but it didn't help. Fae walked past her as she was about to leave the classroom, leaving Snape and Minerva alone.

"I need to go. Have a good night you two."

Fae stormed out of the castle as she reached the grounds. She saw a lantern lit nearby Hagrid's hut and walked down the stone pathway seeing Filch, Harry, Ron and Hermione along with Draco. Hagrid was sitting down as he was arming his cross bow. His dog, Fang was lying on the ground beside him. As Fae approached closer, she saw that the half giant was upset, seeing his eyes were red from crying.

"Hagrid, are you okay?" Fae asked in concern.

"Oh, good God, man. You're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?" Filch muttered.

"Dragon?" Fae questioned.

"Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony." Hagrid sniffed.

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Fae asked him to try to cheer Hagrid up.

"At least he'll be with his own kind." Hermione pointed out.

"But what if he doesn't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby after all." Hagrid replied.

"Oh, for God's sake, pull yourself together, man. You're going into the forest after all. Got to have your wits about you." Filch snapped. Malfoy's eyes widen a little fearfully.

"That forest? I thought that was a joke!" He exclaimed.

"Why are you scared?" Fae taunted, smiling. Draco glared at her.

"Why can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are werewolves!" He insisted.

"Actually, there's a lot more than werewolves in there." Fae remarked, only making Draco even more terrified. Filch smirked walking away from the group. "Nighty night."

"Right. Let's go." Hagrid spoke as he stood up, placing his crossbow on his back. He led the group into the Forbidden Forest as they trudged deeper and deeper into the dark woods.

"Why are we going in there for starters?" Fae asked. Then Hagrid suddenly stopped and bent down to the ground. As he stood up, something silver dripped from his fingers as the moonlight illuminated from it.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Harry asked.

"What we're here for. See that? That's unicorn blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago. This one been hurt bad by something." The was a path of silver blood stains leading further into the woods.

"So, someone's been killing unicorns? Who would do such a thing?" Fae asked.

"I don't know. But tis a shame to do so to an innocent creature. The last unicorn I've found had its blood drained out. If anyone drinks it's blood, they will live a cursed life." Hagrid explained. "Ron, Hermione, Fae, you'll come with me. Harry, you'll go with Malfoy."

"Okay. Then I get Fang!" Malfoy shouted.

"Fine. Just so you know, he's a bloody coward." Hagrid replied.

"Hagrid, have you seen Penny by any chance? McGonagall told me that she was out her gathering some ingredients." Fae spoke. Hagrid nodded.

"Aye, I did earlier. I'm sure she's fine."

The group split up going separate ways. Harry and Draco stumbled across what had been attacking the unicorns. Harry couldn't see their face as dark hooded figure stood up as it noticed them and slowly begin to inch closer towards the two boys. Malfoy screamed and ran away with Fang, leaving Harry. Harry felt his scar burning as it got closer. Suddenly an arrow flew by striking the ground. The hooded person flew away and Harry saw a centaur known as Firenze had saved him. To Harry's surprise, he found out that it was Voldemort who had been slaying the unicorns and drinking their blood to sustain his life. Then Harry saw Hagrid, Fae, along with Ron and Hermione and Draco as they came running over to Harry.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hagrid asked. Harry nodded. The half giant turned towards Firenze giving him a slow nod and thanked him. Fae's eyes widened as she saw Firenze.

"Firenze," She stepped up to him. "Nice to see you again." Firenze bowed his head slightly to her.

"Fae Craft, it is good to see you." Then he left leaving the group alone. As Fae and Hagrid were leaving the forest to head back to the castle with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ron. Fae blinked as she saw something. Her vision began to grow clouded as she saw something sprinting fast in the woods. Then she saw Penny let out a scream as she was being attacked when she was hit with a crucio curse. Fae stopped in her tracks. Hagrid stopped as well as he noticed Fae's pale face.

"Fae, is there something wrong?" He asked worried. She quickly grabbed Hagrid's arm.

"Hagrid, get them out of here. Warn the professors. Get help." She whispered, urgently. "He's here." Hagrid's eyes widened. Harry, Ron and Hermione and Draco stopped not too far from them wondering what was going on. Hagrid nodded and walked over to the four.

"Come on you four. Best be getting to bed." He replied, as he led them away. Harry looked back when he noticed that Fae was gone from her spot. Fae quickly apparated and immediately ran heading towards the spot where she saw Penny in her vision in the forest. Please don't let her be too late!

"Penny!" Fae cried out as she came out of the thicket and brush. She came to a screeching halt as she saw Penny lying on the forest ground not moving. Fae took in a shallow breath and slowly walked over to her. She slowly bent down and placed her finger to Penny's neck. She felt her heart ease up a little feeling a faint pulse. It was there but barely. She needed to get the both of them out of there. Now. Just as Fae was about to pick her up, she saw something slinking in the shadows of the trees as they stepped out.

Salazar.

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