/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟜.𝟢

"for last year's words belong to last year's language / and next year's words await another voice / and to make an end is to make a beginning." ~ T.S. Eliot

~october 1971~

"Have you read this one yet?"

Artemis looked up from the piles of homework covering her and Lily's table in the library to see Remus standing over her, a large book in his outstretched hand. She reached out and took it, scanning the cover carefully. "The Secret Garden. I think my mum likes this one." She added it to her stack and then rifled around in her bag, coming up with a slightly smaller, ragged looking book. "Here, you should read this one."

"The Little Prince," Remus mused, his mouth twitching into a smile. "My dad has this one on his shelf."

"Oh, have you already read it?" Artemis reached to take the book back, but Remus held it out of reach.

"No, I kept meaning to but never got around to it. Mind if I borrow it?"

"That's why I gave it to you," Artemis laughed. "Here, come study with us." She cleared away a section of the table and patted the seat next to her for Remus to sit.

He shook his head slowly, still preoccupied by the book in his hands. Artemis noticed that his posture was slouched and he had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping. "No time," he murmured, raising his gaze to meet Artemis's and shaking his hair out of his eyes. "I promised James and Sirius I would distract Professor Slughorn while they free all the potions testing frogs."

Neither Artemis nor Lily reacted to the boys' scheme. In the almost-two months they'd been at Hogwarts, they'd grown used to the insanity of the first year Gryffindor boys. "Need help?" Artemis asked. Lily cleared her throat loudly and shot her a pointed look. "Ah, never mind." Artemis sank down in her chair and propped her sneakers on the edge of the one in front of her. She'd promised to help Lily study for their upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts exam all afternoon, but she was quickly regretting it.

"That's alright," Remus said with a shrug. "Shouldn't take long for them to get caught anyways. See you later?"

"See you." Artemis turned back to the table as Remus left the library, The Little Prince under his arm.

"He's so weird," Lily said, opening her notebook to a fresh page and beginning to jot down notes on Imps.

Artemis shrugged and started reading over the notes she took in class. "All the boys are, but I like Remus."

"That's just because you're both book nerds," Lily said with a short laugh. "-And I never said I didn't like him; he's really nice. I like him better than James, anyways..." Her expression turned into a scowl at the mere thought of James Potter. Lily's hatred for the boy ran deep after all the times he'd bullied Severus so far and then tried to ask Lily out. The boys stood at the bottom of the steps to the girls dormitory every morning for that sole purpose, and Artemis especially hated that the other boys seemed to think it was the funniest thing in the world.

On the other hand, James was always friendly with Artemis and the other girls. "Oh, come on," she said, knowing full well what she was getting herself into. "He's not that bad."

Lily looked up, her large green eyes widening in dismay. "He's awful, Art! Have you seen the way he treats Sev? Or Peter, even. He and Sirius treat him like a servant- it's honestly disgusting."

"Well maybe if Peter didn't worship the ground they walk on-"

"Artemis!" Lily cried, aghast. She let out a huff of a sigh and glared down at her books.  Artemis tilted her seat back slightly and balanced a foot on the chair in front of her, staring across the library at a group of fourth year Hufflepuff boys. "I don't understand any of this..." Lily muttered under her breath. "Art, are you even paying attention?"