A Piece of Mind

Chapter [13]

"It appears we need to discuss."

Artemis was livid. All this emotion and conflict over a few little lies from a bully. But anger doesn't solve problems. On occasion it can help fuel a good plan, but rarely does it create one.

So, to the outside world, Artemis was indifferent. He had dealt with enough businessmen and women to know that one's reaction to an attack mattered, and until he figured out the best way to handle this situation, he would choose to appear completely unconcerned and unbothered to the student body of Hogwarts.

At least until he was away from prying eyes.

"Why did you want to meet here?" Hermione asked, nervously, looking around the dirty and abandoned girls' bathroom on the third floor. The answer to that should have been obvious; no portraits or students were there to overhear their conversation.

"I need you to tell me what happened by the lake the other day. Every detail, every word you can remember," Artemis asked instead of answering her.

"Why?" Hermione said, glaring at him and crossing her arms. Ah. Now he was the antagonist.

"If we are to squash the lies our dear Draco is spreading, I need to know every word that he or his friends could use against you. Or me."

"W - we?" She stuttered. She seemed to be in somewhat of a shock, though whether that was due to the recent events or this conversation remained to be seen.

"Yes, we. I apologize for my hastiness but I'm sure you have better things to be doing and I have an essay to finish before tomorrow for Professor McGonagall. Now please, focus." As he had intended, hearing the familiar name jolted Hermione enough to get her brain working again.

"Right, sorry. So yesterday, Sunday, I was sitting by the lake reading and Draco came up to me..." After a full report of the story, Artemis nodded. He had been a very good listener and had not said a word since she started. He closed his eyes and stood very still, thinking. Hermione stood off to the side, awkwardly.

Not wanting to disturb him but not wanting to stand anymore, she sat down. The tiles were cracked and full of dust and grime, they were warm from sitting in the sun for so long, and the air smelled faintly of the lake; thinking of Moaning Myrtle, Hermione remembered why with a grimace.

Artemis thought, waiting for a solution to come to his mind, as it always did, and when he had a plan (and two backups) he opened his eyes suddenly, making Hermoine jump and scamper to her feet beside him. He was taller by a few inches, but his rigid posture made him seem even taller.

"Thank you for your assistance, Miss Granger. I'm sorry for what has happened as I am aware I am partly to blame for your troubles. Unfortunately, there is not much to do at the moment except wait until this blows over," Artemis said, his face pinched, decidedly not asking her directly about the real cause of the issue. That could wait, especially as he wasn't sure his reaction to her response would be... polite.

"Oh, er, that's okay!" she squeaked, wincing at how odd her voice sounded as she picked up her bag and rushed out of the abandoned bathroom.

Artemis sighed. He really was making an effort to fit in at this school, but ordinary manners were difficult to imitate. He would have to work on that before someone - or three someone's - looked into his odd behavior.

As he made his way back to his common room, already with a plan to defend against Draco until he could go on the offensive, Artemis was stopped by an owl flying haphazardly through the dark corridor, crashing into portraits who groaned in sleepy annoyance.

The owl dropped the letter next to Artemis and he attempted to catch it, but his hand-eye coordination had evidently not improved since he acquired magic. Stooping to pick up the crème colored parchment, he opened it and skimmed through the slanting cursive quickly, his dark eyebrows narrowing in the dim candlelight.