/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟓.𝟙𝟘.𝟣

"a sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ." ~ John Steinbeck

~april 1976~

The weather was becoming warmer, but Artemis remained reclusive, hardly seeing anyone for weeks. She and Lily made up a few days after their fight, but things were still awkward between the girls after they found out about Bones. Art ended up spending more of her time in the boys' dormitory than the girls', especially when Sirius wasn't there. She laid on Remus's bed one afternoon, warm spring air breezing through the half-open window as she flipped through one of his books and smoked a cigarette. The boys' dormitory was one of the few places she could go to be alone during the day. The boys were never there, always out causing trouble and roaming the grounds, and Artemis had no interest in going with them anymore. She didn't have much of an interest in anything but lying around and being with Professor Bones.

The dormitory door opened with a bang and James entered, a small piece of paper clutched in one hand. "No!" he said without context.

Artemis turned to gaze at him and raised her eyebrows. "Sorry?"

"No, this is not happening!" James roared, and shoved the paper in her face.

"What-" Artemis looked down at it and her heart froze. It was a note she'd left on Bones's desk after class one day. I'll be there tonight. xoxo. AB. "What's this?" she asked, trying to play it off. AB could be anyone, and the note was vague enough to mean anything.

James didn't buy it. He rummaged around in his pockets and threw a few more pieces of evidence onto the bed. A tube of her bright red lipstick, one of her hair ribbons, and a tissue with lipstick marks blotted onto it. "Yeah? You don't know?"

"What're you getting at?" Artemis asked, getting defensive.

James glowered down at her. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, and anyways, Remus confirmed the whole thing."

"What?!"

"Well, we were sneaking into Bones's office to mess some stuff up and I found this shit while Sirius and Peter were keeping watch. I knew what was happening, Moony just confirmed it. This is why you've been so weird this year!"

Artemis scrambled off of the bed and hurried to shove her things into her pockets. "It's none of your business, James," she said in a would-be calm voice. It didn't sit well with her that more and more people were finding out. "It's none of your business, so just shut up about it!"

"I'm not going to shut up about it!" James said angrily. "This is so stupid, Art, you know better!"

"Can people stop fucking saying that?" Artemis was practically shouting now. She couldn't stand her friends acting like they knew better than her. "Why does everyone always have to get so involved in my shit?"