The Adventures of Artemis Hexley

DRAGON HEARTSTRING (Or, How Charlie Weasley Got A New Wand)

In the spirit of saving money, the Chatfield family had decided to spend a week camping in the Devonshire countryside instead of going abroad, a decision which they came to regret on the second day of their holiday. Typically, the weather turned decidedly British, flooding their tent and all their belongings, and they were forced to change plans.

As Mr and Mrs Chatfield drove through the narrow winding lanes, quietly bickering over the top of the steering wheel and map respectively, they paused by a gateway, where a young girl with was balancing with her feet on the metal gate, leaning over it to pat a group of black-furred cows, her back to them.

"Excuse me," said Mrs Chatfield, having just won the argument as to whether or not they should stop and ask someone for directions. "We were wondering whether this was the right way to Ottery St. Catchpole?"

The girl turned away from the cows and towards their car, and she jumped down from the gate. She wasn't as young as either Mr or Mrs Chatfield had assumed from her short stature; she must have been about seventeen, possibly even older. She had dark hair that hung in wet strands around her face, and hazel eyes that reminded them both of a cat. The yellow rucksack she had left by the gate looked surprisingly dry, given the rain that was still falling heavily from the sky.

"Yeah," said the girl. "It's not far, actually. Carry on over the bridge, turn left, and then there should be signs from there."

"Is there a hotel in the town?"

"I dunno," the girl shrugged. "I'm here visiting my family, I've always just stayed with them."

Mr and Mrs Chatfield thanked the girl, and carried on driving towards the town. In their rear view mirror, they saw the girl wave goodbye, before turning back to the cows.

"I'd better be off, too," Artemis Hexley said to the group of heifers, once the car full of  Muggles had driven away from her. "See you later, girls."

She picked her rucksack up from the ground, and walked down the lane and over the bridge, turning right and following the path along the bank of the river until she came to a tall, ramshackle house made up of several stories stacked haphazardly on top of one another. Artemis walked to the front door of the house, winding her way around the chickens that clucked and pecked in the front garden. She knocked on the door three times, and the handle pulled down.

The door cracked open, and Artemis was greeted by a single brown eye at roughly the height of her shoulder.

"Artemis!"

The door opened fully, and the owner of the brown eye, a red-haired little girl flew out from behind it, wrapping her arms around Artemis' waist.

"Hey, Ginny," said Artemis, returning the girl's embrace and briefly resting her chin on the top of the crown of her head. "As much as I like your hugs, can we go inside? I'm soaked through."

Ginny let go of Artemis' waist and took her by the hand, leading her through the door,

"Mum! She's here!" she called out, much louder than one might have expected for someone so small.

"Ginny, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't shout through the house, come and find me to talk to me," said a lady's voice from the direction of the kitchen. The voice was followed by the figure of a short, plump lady, also with red hair, appearing in the doorway, her hands on her hips. She caught sight of Artemis, and immediately softened, taking her hands off her hips and stretching them out towards the dark-haired visitor, and pulling her into another hug. "Artemis, dear. It's lovely to see you. Bless you, you're sodden. Why didn't you Apparate closer to the house?"

"I only Apparated around the corner, Mrs Weasley," Artemis replied. "I just stopped to pat the heifers."

"Well, you had better go and warm yourself up. Go through to the sitting room and get a fire started and I'll fetch you a cup of tea."