The Wilderness Years

Chapter 6: Masks

Once the match ended, the campsite turned into a wild and raucous party, bursting with music, dancing, and revelry. Nowhere was that more the case than in the Irish supporters' section of the campsite, where several overlapping fiddle tunes could be heard in the air, and almost every single witch, wizard, and leprechaun was on their feet dancing along underneath the green and gold flags that waved victoriously over the tents.

Artemis and her friends had been quick to join the celebrations, and had stayed out drinking and mingling and enjoying the festivities until Artemis' voice was nearly gone and her feet were aching from all the dances Chiara had tried to teach her.

By the time she and Chiara returned to their tent, midnight had come and gone, and the party was only just showing signs of winding down. They were the first back to the tent; Penny, Tonks, and Andre were apparently determined to stay out until sunrise.

"I'm surprised you didn't want to stay out longer," said Artemis, pulling a jumper over the top of her pyjamas and climbing into her sleeping bag. "You've got more reason to celebrate than the rest of us."

"It's been a long day," Chiara replied. There was a note to her voice that made Artemis look at her sceptically. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"So, you wanting to leave had nothing to do with Jae dancing with those Veela just now?"

Chiara gave Artemis a weary look, and Artemis raised her eyebrows. Chiara sighed.

"He can dance with whoever he likes," she said, lying back onto her pillow so that her white-blonde hair fanned around her head. "I have no right to be bothered by it."

"But you are."

"Yes."

Artemis nodded. She lay down too, and shuffled onto her side so that she was facing Chiara.

"Chiara, what happened between you two? I mean, you obviously miss him, so why-"

"It was a trust thing."

"Yeah, you said that before, but that's not an actual explanation," said Artemis. "You know, if you're still this upset, you should probably talk about it with us. We're your best friends, that's what we're here for." Chiara said nothing, but her face softened. "Was it all the dodgy stuff he sells, or did he do something bad?"

"No." Chiara shook her head. "No, he didn't. He would never." She looked at Artemis from the corner of her eye. "Jae's a very good person, he's just better at pretending not to be sometimes."

"So why couldn't you trust him anymore?"

"It wasn't Jae that couldn't be trusted. It was me."

"Wait, what?" Artemis' nose wrinkled. "What do you mean, you couldn't be trusted?"

"I never told him about me. That I'm a" - even though the tent was empty aside from the two of them, Chiara still paused and lowered her voice before saying the word - "werewolf."

"But you were together for... what? Two years? More?"

"Two and half, by the end."

"How did you manage to keep it a secret from him for so long?"

"It actually wasn't that difficult," Chiara said, with a sharp little laugh. "I'm used to keeping it a secret, after all. It's not like we were living together, and I already couldn't see him some nights because of my shifts at St Mungos. We did night shifts from the start of our training, so I just... made up some more. He never noticed that they always coincided with the full moon. I thought I was being quite clever at the time, but looking back, it was really stupid. He was bound to find me out eventually."