/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

"we loved with a love that was more than love." ~ Edgar Allen Poe

Christmas had been a joyful occasion for everyone in Grimmauld Place, but the rest of the winter left both Sirius and Artemis depressed and lonely. Being together all of the time was a relief after years apart, but they missed the way things used to be more and more everyday. When spring finally gave way to summer, though, things only grew worse. They couldn't go outside to enjoy the weather. They couldn't plan spontaneous road trips to the beach, or invite their friends over for a picnic, or do any of the things they would've done under normal circumstances. 

It was June eighteenth. Sirius and Artemis were finally planning their wedding, a tiny ceremony in the living room of Grimmauld Place- close friends only. The guest list only had about ten people on it. For the first time in a long time, they were laughing. "You know, when I pictured my wedding as a kid, I thought maybe I'd at least do it somewhere other than my house," said Sirius, looking around at the living room and chuckling to himself. 

"And I thought I'd have more than two friends to invite," Artemis added. 

It was depressing to say the least, but when they were together, they could laugh about it. That was what Artemis loved about Sirius. He could make her laugh about anything. "Should we even bother with suits?" 

"Well, I can tell you right now, I'm not buying a wedding dress." 

Sirius settled himself on the couch and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. "Then it's settled. The dress code is jeans and everyone's favorite band t-shirt from the seventies." 

"Perfect," said Artemis. 

The door opened and Sirius and Artemis jumped as Remus hurried into the room, ignoring the portrait of Sirius's mother. He was out of breath. "There's trouble at the Department of Mysteries. Harry's there. Art, Moody says you can go, we need all the hands we can get." 

Sirius leapt to his feet. "I'm going too." 

"No," said Remus. 

"If Art's going, I'm going." 

Remus knew he wouldn't take no for an answer. "Fine," he said at last. "We don't have time for this. Let's go." 

The fighting had already started when Remus, Sirius, and Artemis hurtled into the Department of Mysteries. Artemis had never been there before. Shelves had fallen in the struggle, and there were wizards and witches everywhere on both sides, hexes flying through the air and creating a sort of smog that made it hard to see. 

Sirius and Artemis hadn't dueled in a long time. Artemis was almost afraid she'd forgotten how. But Sirius threw himself into battle immediately, jumping in front of a girl with white blonde hair in a Hogwarts uniform and hexing the Death Eater she'd been battling. "Careful there," she heard him call to the girl. "That one once tried to kill me because Gryffindor won the House Cup." 

Seeing Sirius run into battle like it was second nature fueled a new kind of confidence in Artemis. She and Remus followed him, dodging curses and throwing their own back with ease. "Stupefy!" Artemis shouted, shooting a jet of blue light at a hooded figure fighting Hermione Granger. She stood at Hermione's side when the Death Eater dodged and shot green light back.

She and Hermione ducked, then both started throwing out hexes at rapid fire. A second later, the Death Eater fell. "You'd make a good auror," Artemis said to Hermione in an offhand voice. Hermione beamed. 

Artemis felt the weight of someone behind her. Sirius was standing at her back. "Malfoy just almost killed you, Blake," he said, waving his wand at the Death Eater who'd tried to get Artemis from behind. "Watch your back." 

"Well, you've got it now, don't you?" 

Sirius managed to stun Malfoy, then turned around and pulled Artemis into his arms to kiss her. "I missed fighting with you," he murmured. 

A second later, Remus shoved them both to the ground. "Will you cut it out?" he said frustratedly. "Honestly, at this point, you're going to disgust Voldemort enough to make him kill you himself." 

"Blame Sirius!" said Artemis, still grinning. 

"We'll continue this at home," said Sirius. 

The three friends got to their feet, and all saw the same thing at once. Harry was dueling Bellatrix Lestrange. Sirius bristled. "Oh no you don't." 

Artemis started to follow him, but was distracted by a hooded figure who seemed to target her specifically. She scowled at them and found herself engaged in battle, turning and dodging and throwing out spells like she could do it in her sleep. 

She didn't see Sirius's fight with Bellatrix. He didn't see him step closer and closer to the tapestry on the back wall. She stunned the Death Eater she was fighting and turned to find him. He was laughing at his cousin, inches from the tapestry. Artemis ran to help him, but she was too far away. There were too many people in the way. And then the spell hit him. Sirius's face seemed frozen in that familiar smile, his eyes glinting with trouble. And then he fell. 

Artemis fell too, sinking to her knees and letting out a scream that didn't seem to come from her own mouth. He was gone. He was all gone. Sirius Black, the boy who'd once promised her he'd never die... was never to be seen again. 

"No," she said, her voice too choked by sobs to come out as anything more than a dull rasp. 

She was shaking. And then she saw him. Percy was standing just behind Bellatrix, staring just as she was at the place where Sirius had stood a second before. Percy. Artemis thought he'd died. She hadn't heard from him since the last war. 

She was on her feet in an instant. He'd seen her too. He walked towards her. They were standing mere feet apart. The battle around them turned into a dull roar in Artemis's ears. She didn't care about it anymore. She didn't care about anything anymore. Sirius was dead. Her older brother was standing in front of her, his dark eyes glinting in the light of a million spells that flew all around them. 

She didn't have a reason to continue the fight anymore. She was alone. She couldn't find Remus in the smoke anywhere. For all she knew, he was dead too. 

She knew two things in that moment. She didn't have any reason to continue living the way she'd been living without Sirius. And Percy didn't deserve to be alive after everything he'd done over the years. He'd been a Death Eater all that time. He'd been a part of the deaths of her friends, he'd been a part of the attacks against the people she cared about, and ultimately, he'd been a part of Sirius's death. 

She didn't want this anymore. She didn't want to fight in another war, to lose the last remaining scraps of love she had in the world. 

They said it at the same time. The curse Artemis had refused to use until then. The curse Percy had used far too many times. Brother and sister in blood, enemies caught in the hands of a cruel war. She watched the green light hit him in the chest. Her big brother. She saw him sitting on the beach as a child with a big book on aquatic life. She saw him standing next to her in the cool air of the museum, complaining again and again that he wanted to leave.

She saw the twinge of panic cross his face. Guilt, shame... something close to fear. And the ball of green light approaching herself. She felt none of those things herself. She wasn't afraid of death now that it had taken so many of the people she loved. She heard Remus scream faintly in the background. She saw Percy's expression slacken. She watched him fall back, suspended in slow motion for a split second. Brother and sister. Blood.

And then everything went black. 

the end.