1.2 ARTEMIS | James Sirius Potter

viii. 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖆𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝖎𝖓𝖛𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖎𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖞

eight
the cloak of invisibility

        At some point over the next fortnight, the weather changed drastically, the skies a darkened hue of plumb by half three, clouds so grey the sun hardly shone, a continuous downpour of rain that had the Quidditch pitch waterlogged every day—luckily Quidditch this year was cancelled—and Artemis changed, too.

Nearing the end of the month Artemis was used to sitting all by her lonesome for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast and dinner were the only two meals she attended the Great Hall for, so she could get any owl post at breakfast and to keep her father's mind at ease each evening. Every lunch since the night of the Goblet of Fire, she's had it down in the kitchens with the elves; Kreacher often kept her company, the mad little elf was slowly loosing his mind, mixing up stories and his previous owners until Artemis reminded him that she's not Narcissa, and Draco's been taking care of him for the last decade when Harry Potter took pity upon the mad elf, and decided it was best he lived out the rest of his life comfortably. Once or twice Artemis skipped lunch completely for the solitude of the Astronomy Tower, where she'd practice wandless magic endlessly, until a throbbing pain over took her skull and sweat soaked her robes. More often than not and despite Kreacher getting closer to insanity, he'd find her and ridicule her for skipping out lunch, refusing to leave her until she ate the food he'd given her.

Blair didn't speak to her anymore. Not even a second look. On the other hand, Tiberius tried relentlessly to catch Artemis's attention without Blair's knowledge, though it never worked because Blair often caught him and scolded him. Marlene and Fred occupied Artemis in class, sometimes even in the library, helping each other out with homework that usually resulted in James and Camden joining the group, too. It wasn't that they weren't being friends to her, Artemis was gifted in the art of shutting down the fortress and pushing people away until they got lost and couldn't find their way back. Lysander seemed to be the only person who Artemis felt like she could talk to, at least in a way that made her feel understood, yet they always seemed to end up bickering about coming clean to Blair.

By this point, however malicious it seemed, Artemis didn't care if Blair knew about it or not. She was tired of all the running and hiding.

There was an awkward time, not long after she'd argued with Blair, in the Slytherin common room. She was late to Defence after her and the rest of the champions had to have their wands weighed, she left her books behind in the dormitories and quickly ran down to the dungeons to retrieve it, bolting through the portrait hole on her way in, only to collide with Blair Zabini. The girls had toppled to the floor, Blair's belongings scattered everywhere, a string of crude curses flowing from each of the girls lips as they roughly pushed each other away and scampered to their feet.

        Blair had used her wand to repack her shoulder bag and clean up the mess of ink that spilled from her bag. She had looked Artemis dead in the eyes, a guarded expression on her face, saying absolutely nothing. Blair wasn't entirely to blame, Artemis hadn't said anything either. Blair didn't waste another second to be stuck in an awkward situation with a best friend who refused to accept her help; so she lunged past her, ensuring to barge unforgivingly into Artemis's shoulders to make a crystal clear point.

Instead of chasing her like she did all summer, this time she's waiting for Artemis to reach out. Only time would tell if Artemis does reach out, though at the current point in time, she really couldn't bring herself to do it.

It was the morning of Halloween when Tiberius had lost Blair, he'd abandoned her in the common room try and get to Artemis before she could take him away. The Great Hall was noisier than usual, a lot of excited chatter about the Halloween Feast, it was crammed more too with a lot more international students coming out of their enchanted makeshift dormitories to be part of the festivities. Artemis was sat on the Slytherin table, nearest to the doors and furthest where her friends usually sit in the centre; though from peering upwards to the table opposite, Marlene and Fred were sitting with Camden and James. She had only just piled her plate filled with bacon, baked beans, eggs, hash browns and sausages when the bench beside her gave way a little bit, and a shoulder knocked into her, causing the ketchup she was putting on to go squirting across the table.