/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟐.𝟜.𝟣

~

"and who, when it comes to the crunch, can live with a heart of gold?" ~ Carol Ann Duffy

~october 1972~

"Art, aren't you ready yet?" Marlene groaned impatiently.

Artemis looked over at her three roommates, all standing impatiently by the bed nearest to the door dressed in their Hogwarts uniforms. She frowned and threw her hairbrush into her open trunk, where the clothes she bought over the summer were still sitting, untouched since she packed them for school. "Ummm, yep. Ready."

Marlene gave Artemis a once over and rolled her eyes. "I don't see why you can't just wear the uniform, but whatever."

Artemis shrugged and followed the girls out into the hallway, adjusting her jeans and her dad's old sweater that hung down almost to her knees. Ever since the disaster with her cousin and her uncle, Art had given up on wearing anything but old clothes from back home and the things she'd taken from her dad's old closet. She was on her fourth week of detentions, but she didn't care. Nothing would make her wear clothes that showed what she actually looked like. She hated it.

When the girls reached the top of the steps that led down to the common room, the four boys in their year stood waiting at the bottom, the way they'd done every single day since the first morning last year when James tried to ask Lily out. "And that's day... thirty-one of Art not adhering to the dress code," James announced as Artemis jogged down the stairs and fell into step with Remus. "And day thirty-one of nobody knowing why-" He pretended to hold a microphone to Artemis's mouth, but she pushed his hand away.

"Mmmm, the real mystery is whether or not you'll be joining me in detention tonight. Got anything fun planned?" she asked hopefully. Last year, the boys' constant pranking and troublemaking got on her nerves, but now that she was spending just about every night stuck in McGonagall's classroom with no form of entertainment, she liked when she had company.

James shrugged. "You'll just have to wait and see, Blake. Sirius? Got any ideas?"

"I'll think about it during Charms today," Sirius said and winked at James, who nodded his head knowingly.

Artemis caught Remus's eye and shrugged in confusion. He gave her a wan smile and pulled a small book out of his bag. "Catcher in the Rye. Have you read it?"

"Nope. Thanks." Artemis flipped through the pages before slipping the book into her own satchel, exchanging it for a little green novel which she handed to Remus. "Hitty." Remus gave her a doubtful look and her face broke into a smile. "Just give it a try."

Remus flipped the book over to the back to read the synopsis, but before he could start, it was snatched from his hands. Sirius, his hair growing out so long it was almost covering his eyes, quickened his step as he looked at the book so Artemis and Remus had to almost jog to keep up with him. Sirius had grown over the summer and was now almost a head taller than Artemis and a few inches above Remus. Both of them, who'd been around the same size as Sirius all last year, were a bit wary of the new development. "Okay, really," Sirius said, sounding agitated, "Artemis, where do you find these?"