obliviate - j.potter

seven

Sirius stares at the back of Artemis's head during Potions class. To be more precise, he has been practically boring a hole into her skull with his gaze, because Artemis can clearly feel his eyes on her. Remus, sitting beside her, looks at his Potions partner with concern, noticing that she is behaving differently than she did before the holidays. "Are you okay?" he whispers to her. She only nods silently, not even glancing at him. Remus sighs and focuses back on Slughorn's words.After a while, Artemis feels something being thrown at her head. She tries to ignore it, but after the fifth time, she turns to Sirius, irritated.

"What?" she asks, annoyed. "Can we talk later? Please?" His eyes reflect pure worry, and she knows it must be about Regulus. Artemis takes a deep breath and then nods.

James watches Sirius with confusion. Why would his best friend want to talk to a Slytherin? After all, he hasn't spoken much to her over the past few years, barely at all. But now, after leaving the House of Black, he seeks contact with those who are awful to others? It makes no sense to him.

After Potions, Sirius grabs Artemis's arm and pulls her out of the classroom. "Sirius!" the young Slytherin exclaims in surprise before quickening her pace. Sirius drags her into a less crowded corridor and quickly looks around. "How is he?" he asks worriedly. Artemis sighs. "He's okay. He doesn't talk to us about home. He didn't talk much about it before, but now he doesn't talk at all," she admits. Sirius clenches his fists and punches the school's wall with his left hand. "Fuck! I should have taken him with me," he says angrily, mostly at himself. Artemis looks at him sadly. "We tried to talk to him about it, but he ignores us. He wants to protect you by sacrificing himself," she says quietly, clenching her fists as well. "Thanks, I feel so much better after your words," Sirius replies sarcastically, running his right hand through his hair.

"When have I ever been a positive person?" she retorts, making him roll his eyes.

"Oh come on, you were very positive about our wedding," Sirius tries to lighten the depressive mood with a joke. Artemis lets out a small laugh and lightly punches Sirius on the arm. "Of course. Having you as my husband was the greatest dream of my life," she says sarcastically, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Well, I'm glad because I couldn't imagine a better wife than you, dude" he grins at her. The two teenagers look at each other in silence for a few seconds before bursting into loud laughter. "I hope you never call one of your bitches 'dude' . That's a total mood-killer," Artemis laughs, causing Sirius to laugh even more. "Trust me, it goes over really well," he wipes away his tears of laughter and grins at her.

James, who has been observing all this because he doesn't trust the Slytherin, can't believe that his best friend is laughing and holding this girl in his arms. He feels betrayed. Sirius is his best friend, not that of this green-wearing girl. He is jealous of their 'friendship.'

How is it that ever since Sirius left the Blacks, James hasn't been able to make him laugh like this, but this girl manages it in a single conversation?

What does this girl have, besides a malicious family? Because James Fleamont Potter knows many rumors about this family, and one is worse than the other.

웃

James sits impatiently on his bed, waiting for Sirius to finally come. Remus, also on his bed, reading one of his books, while Peter is organizing his collectible cards. "James," Remus warns, looking up from his book. "I don't want to hear it," James says, staring at the door. "Staring at the door won't make Sirius come any faster," the smartest in the group says, annoyed. "I don't care," is all James replies. Remus and Peter exchange a glance for a moment before shaking their heads and returning to their activities.

"Hey hey hey!" Sirius practically kicks the door open and enters the room with a wide grin. "Hi Padfoot," Peter smiles at him. He's glad that at least someone can lift Sirius's mood, unlike James."Finished fucking your girlfriend?" James asks sarcastically. Remus's eyes widen, as do Peter's. "What the fuck?" Sirius says, confused. "What girlfriend am I supposed to have fucked? I'm not even drunk!"

"I don't know? How about your Slytherin bitch?" James asks venomously. Sirius's eyes narrow into slits as he looks angrily at his best friend. "You know very well that Artemis is just a normal friend, James," he says slowly. Sirius doesn't want to start a fight with James, but James has other plans. "Really? It sure looked like it, Sirius."Peter draws a tense breath and looks worriedly at Remus. Remus just shakes his head. 'Maybe they need to fight it out,' he thinks and waits. "I mean, you're supposed to marry her, right? Maybe you miss the thought of finally fucking her after you get married and did it now," James hisses at Sirius, whose eyes widen in shock. "What the fuck, James?!" Sirius yells at him, stepping closer. "Artemis and her siblings are an absolute exception among all the Death Eater families! She is genuine and fair! What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you hate her so much?! Did she skin your owl in front of you or what?!" Sirius growls at James, grabbing him by the collar. "Are you sure, Sirius?! Any girl can bat her eyelashes and wrap a guy like you around her finger!" James yells back, grabbing Sirius's collar too. "Oh yeah? Is that what Lily did to you then?! The girl hates you, and yet she wrapped you around her finger!"

"Okay, that's enough," Remus says, stepping between the two. James looks at Sirius, hurt, but Sirius also seems unhappy about the situation. "Wow. Seems like you're hanging out too much with those Slytherin idiots, asshole," James says quietly, looking away from Sirius. "And I don't understand how you can reduce a person to something without even knowing them," Sirius hisses again, crossing his arms over his chest, but not looking at James. James raises an eyebrow, unable to believe what he's hearing. "Oh yeah? What about all the rumors about the Gaunts, huh? You yourself said they are descendants of Salazar, and guess who else is a descendant.""Artemis, Apollon, AND Athena are not what you think, James!" Sirius groans, rubbing his face with his hand. James says nothing more."The Gaunts..." Sirius begins, then sighs. "The Gaunts are a feared family among the Death Eaters. They are the most powerful and influential in the magical underworld. Scratch that, in the entire magical society. Everyone knows the rumors about the three assassins. Apollon, who defeats his enemies mentally. Athena, who defeats her enemies from the inside out. And Artemis, who terrorizes her opponents even after death. But have you ever thought that the rumors might not be true?" Sirius asks James, who looks back at him. "Every lie has a bit of truth in it, Sirius," he warns him.

Sirius gives a humorless laugh before turning away from James and running his hands through his hair, stressed. "Fucking hell, James!" Sirius groans in frustration. Remus, who has been standing silently between them, places a hand on James's shoulder. "Let him explain," he says simply. James reluctantly nods, allowing Sirius to continue.

"I don't know everything about their family, James. But every time we see each other, they disappear after a few hours with their father, Hermes Gaunt. And every time Hermes calls his children...damn, James! Even I wasn't as afraid of my parents as they are! Every time I saw them during the holidays, they left the Black residence with a look as if they had died inside! And EVERY time I saw them at the station again, they LOOKED dead! I'm not saying I got lucky with my family, James, but compared to Artemis, I was fucking lucky," Sirius ends his speech, looking at James, who stares at his best friend, shocked.

"How can you say that when you were literally nearly dead on my doorstep?" James asks angrily. Sirius gives another humorless laugh.

"Yeah, no shit, Prongs" he said bitterly.