/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟓.𝟝.𝟣

"never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." ~ Ernest Hemingway

~november 1975~

November third came, and with it, the birthdays of Artemis and Sirius. Artemis awoke to find the entire dormitory decorated overnight by Marlene, Lily, and Mary and a little cake on her bedside table with a card that read,

We love you, but you sleep too late, so we went down to breakfast. Meet us there or we'll bring food up for you. Happy birthday, darling. xoxoxo - L, M, + M

She smiled and sat back in her bed, scooping a bit of icing from the cake with her finger and eating it absentmindedly as she opened up a copy of Great Expectations by Dickens. It was a book she and Remus were reading at the same time and neither of them cared for it much, but Art kept going just to read the annotations her dad had made in the margins so many years ago.

Andrew Blake was always the best at birthdays. He'd come into Artemis's room at the exact time she was born in the middle of the night and scoop her out of bed to take her outside and watch the stars while he told her the story of her own birth. She'd heard it a million times, but it never got old when her dad told it. A bitter feeling flared in her chest when she remembered for not the first time that she'd never hear it that way again.

Before she could stir too deeply into her sadness, the door of the dormitory crashed open and the girls entered, carrying plate full of Artemis's favorite breakfast foods along with balloons and cards people had given them to give to her. "You've got fan mail," Marlene said in a singsong voice, showering Art in cards and gifts.

"Oh, they didn't have to," Artemis said, but she grinned and eagerly started opening the packages. The first was a makeup kit from Alice.

"You'll have to let me borrow that," said Marlene, taking a large bite from Artemis's cake with a fork she'd brought from the Great Hall.

Lily sat next to Artemis on her bed and plucked a piece of bacon from her plate. "I think we'll all be stealing that."

"You guys are the worst, you know that?" Artemis said, laughing.

Mary pulled an envelope from her pocket and handed it to Artemis, looking almost hesitant to do so. "Sirius got you something," she said, watching Artemis closely to see her reaction.

She scowled down at the envelope on her lap. "Did he really?" she asked in a distasteful tone. "Well, I'll take care of that." Artemis stood up, brandished her wand, and muttered, "Incendio." The paper immediately ignited on fire and crumpled, the flames slowly making their way towards Artemis's hands.

"Oh, Art, put it out, will you?" Lily said worriedly as Marlene watched in amused rapture.

"Yeah, okay," muttered Art, but she waited a few moments before extinguishing the fire just before it touched her hand. When it was no more than a crumpled heap of ash, she tossed it into the fire, staring after it with a disgusted look on her face.