/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟡.𝟣

"sweet, crazy conversations full of half sentences, daydreams and misunderstandings more thrilling than understanding could ever be." ~ Toni Morrison

~march 1972~

Artemis finished reading her letter from her mother for the third time and then went back to the top to start again. She felt like she had to be reading something wrong. There was no way her mum would let her boyfriend of not even a year move into the Blake home, especially so soon after Artemis's father's death. Then again, Jane was known to act on instinct with no real logical backup. All the same, as Artemis read the words over and over again, she couldn't help searching for a detail she'd missed the first two times. Something that would make the situation less maddening.

"Who's that from?" Remus asked, leaning over Artemis's shoulder to read the letter.

Artemis crumpled it up in her hands and shoved it into the depths of her bag. "Nobody. Don't worry about," she snapped. She turned back to the breakfast table to scowl down at her plate of eggs and toast.

"Fine, sorry I asked," Remus muttered, pulling a basket of scones towards himself and taking multiple. "Put these in your bag, Sirius, will you? We're running low on food upstairs." Sirius took the scones and wrapped them in a napkin before tucking them securely in a corner of his bag. Artemis watched in silence, taking deep breaths to keep her feelings over her mother's decision at bay.

Lily's eyes skated over to her, and Artemis knew there was no hiding how upset she was from her. "You okay?" Lily asked softly. She was completely off speaking terms with James after the fiasco on Valentine's Day, but other than that, or maybe because of that, she'd been in an overall good mood lately.

"I'm fine," Artemis said quickly and far too brightly. Then, under her breath, "It's cool. It's fine." Lily gave her a worried look, but to Artemis's relief, the bell rang before she could say anything. "Well," Artemis said, scooping up her things and catching Remus's eye, silently signaling for him to wait for her, "I'll see you in Charms." She ignored Lily's response and hurried to catch up with Remus and the rest of the boys.

When they were halfway to Professor Flitwick's classroom, Artemis caught sight of a tall, dark head of hair a few feet in front of her. She took action the second the idea struck her, jogging ahead of Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter to catch up with her brother. "Percy!" she called out, reaching to grab hold of the back of his robes. She missed and he ignored her. "Percy!" Percy still didn't turn around, but a few members of his posse did.

Among them, Bellatrix Black caught sight of Artemis and tossed her long mess of dark hair over her shoulder with a haughty air. "Perc, what's she doing here?" Artemis felt a surge of rage at how Bellatrix seemed to think she knew her brother better than she did.

"Hm? I dunno who you're talking about," Percy said airily, still not looking back.

Bellatrix let out a high pitch giggle. "Percy! Don't be stupid!"

At this, Percy finally turned around to face Artemis, a leering and completely humorless grin on his face. "Can I help you?" he asked in a cold, mocking voice.

Artemis glared defiantly up at him, not letting him off the hook for even a second. "I need to talk to you," she said in her strongest voice, trying hard to ignore Bellatrix laughing in the background. "Please?"

"And what would you need to talk to him about?" Bellatrix asked. Both Percy and Artemis ignored her.

Percy started to turn his back on Artemis once again, but she caught his sleeve and held him back, throwing all caution to the wind. "Percy, did you get a letter from Mum about-"