/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟟.𝟥

"You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts." ~ Kahlil Gibran

~january 1972~ (continued)

The evening after the fight between Bellatrix and Frank in the Great Hall, Remus and Peter recounted the action to James and Sirius in the boys' dormitory. "-And then Artemis told Frank we'd get Bellatrix back, so we've got to figure out how to do that now," Remus said from his position sitting cross legged on his bed, hugging a pillow to his chest.

Sirius crashed onto the bed next to him, laying on his back and stealing the pillow from Remus. "Why do we do what she wants?" he said, putting the pillow over his head. He mumbled something else into the cushion, but it was unintelligible.

"What's your problem with her, anyways?" asked James, pulling the pillow away from Sirius as he sat on the bed opposite to Remus and Sirius. "She's never done anything to you."

Sirius sighed and sat up to face his friend. "She's just so- sensitive," he said, looking annoyed. "She's cool until you say one thing wrong." He rubbed at his face, but quickly retracted his hand as he felt a sharp pain just below his eye. The bruise he'd received on Christmas Day was still fading, and Sirius was reminded of it every time one of his friends or teachers shot him worried glances.

"Maybe you should stop saying the wrong things," Remus said, raising one eyebrow and tossing his head to get the mop of brown hair out of his eyes.

Sirius elbowed him in the ribs. "Everything you say to her is wrong!"

"That's not true," Peter said pensively, his eyes drifting to the snowy window as he thought back to his interactions with Artemis. "Yesterday I apologized for cutting her off and she said she liked my sweater."

They all stared at him for a second in confusion. "Pete, sometimes I think you forget the important sentences when you tell us stories," James said, making Sirius and Remus laugh, and Peter blush slightly. "Anyways," James continued, turning back to Sirius, "I dunno what the deal is with you two, but you should give her a chance. Remember when you were getting along in Defense class after Bones partnered you up-"

"One time thing," Sirius said drily. "She's touchy, and she's annoying, and she's got some sort of weird superiority complex- not to mention the damn mood swings..." He let out a groan and laid back on the bed, stretching his arms to the other side of the mattress. Then, with a sense of finality, "I don't like her, James."

"Well-" James stood up, ruffled Peter's hair, and started towards the door, "-I dunno how true any of that is, but she did agree to help me study for the Defense test so..." He opened the door of the dormitory as Sirius jolted upright and Remus and Peter looked back and forth between their two friends in amusement.

"James," Sirius said, drawing out the name for far too long, "I don't believe you."

James popped his head back in the doorway, a crooked smile on his lips, his glasses askew. "Don't you? I mean, Art also said if I do her Potions homework for her she'd see if she can get me a date with Lily."

"Might want to start with getting Lily to speak to you first," Peter murmured, and Remus and Sirius chuckled.

"And you'd better warn Artemis that she's going to fail her Potions homework if she lets you do it," Sirius called after James.

James stuck his head in the door one last time. "Joke's on you, I was planning on having Remus do it." And with that, he disappeared down the hall.

Ten minutes later, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had joined James, Artemis, and the rest of the girls in their usual seats in the common room out of sheer boredom. Artemis didn't acknowledge Sirius when he sat down on the other side of her couch, and he shifted to keep as much space between them as possible as he leaned over to talk to Remus. Artemis and James poured over Artemis's notebook on the table between her side of the couch and his armchair, James looking up every few seconds to contribute to everyone else's conversations and Artemis constantly having to pull him back to focus. "James!" she said after the third time James tried to get up to help Peter beat Mary at chess. "First of all, Mary's unbeatable, trust me, I've tried. Also- focus!"