/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟓.𝟛.𝟥

"I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love." ~ Leo Tolstoy

~september 1975~ ((continued))

They sat in the boys' dormitory, all five of them. Artemis was on the floor across from Remus, leaning up against the wall under the windowsill and scribbling in her little black notebook. On the bed above them, Sirius sat cross-legged with James, Peter perched on the bed next to them. "So, Remus, you'll go to the hospital wing like usual and while you're taking your potion, the three of us will sneak into the passage under the Whomping Willow," James said pragmatically.

"You remember how I told you to get into the passage?" asked Remus, chewing on his lower lip.

"Peter's going to dart between the branches, hit the lever, and then we'll be golden," said Sirius.

Remus gave an affirmative nod, almost satisfied that all would be well. Artemis, not looking up from her notebook, lit herself a cigarette. "You'll all be careful, won't you?" she asked absentmindedly.

"Don't worry about us," said James. "We're professionals."

At this, Artemis did look up from her writing to give James a look of doubt. "Right, see, the whole point of being a 'professional' is having done something more than once, Potter."

James gave her a teasing grin. "Yes, but see, the whole point of me and Sirius and Peter doing this is that we're naturals at everything, Blake."

"Whatever you say," Artemis sighed. She'd been in a sulky mood ever since her fight with Sirius and she still wouldn't speak to him or even meet his eyes. "You guys should probably head out. Remus, d'you want me to walk you to the hospital wing?"

Sirius let out a short laugh. "Oh, yes, mother, I'm sure Remus would love that marvelous contribution to our efforts."

Artemis pretended not to hear him, never taking her eyes off of Remus. He gave her a small smile and reached out a hand. "I can walk there myself, just help me up, will you?" Art took his hand and pulled him to his feet, where he swayed for a few seconds unsteadily.

She held onto his arm for another second to ensure he wouldn't fall over from exhaustion, then pulled him into a quick hug. "I'm serious, be careful, okay?"

"We will be," Remus reassured her.

James hopped off of the bed to throw an arm around Artemis's shoulders. "Yeah, don't worry about it, buddy. We'll catch you on the flip side."

"Don't ever call me 'buddy' again," Artemis said with a dry smile. "Want me to wait up?"

"Oh, please don't," Sirius muttered. Again, Artemis ignored him. He frowned. Usually if he pestered Artemis enough, she'd snap on him and shoot insults back, eventually breaking her anger down into vague annoyance, and then they could be friends again. It didn't seem to be going that way this time. It was like he didn't exist to her, wasn't even worth the time.