The Adventures of Artemis Hexley

OUT OF THE ASHES • The Smallest Victory

"I don't think I've ever been more bored in my life."

Charlie looked up from the copy of Which Broomstick? that he was currently thumbing through and regarded Artemis from the corner of his eye.

"You could still go out," he said. "Chiara or Penny might still be free."

"Penny won't be able to get a babysitter at this short notice, and Chiara's working here tonight. She might even be with Fleur." Artemis exhaled heavily, blowing a stray strand of hair away from her face. "No. I'll stay here. I should stay here. I just didn't think there'd be this much waiting, that's all. Do you reckon it'll be much longer?"

"I dunno, Artie. I've never had a baby before. I don't know how long it takes."

"Ages, apparently."

Artemis let out another huff of air, and slumped against the back of her seat with her arms crossed, one foot tapping impatiently. Charlie closed his magazine.

"I'm sorry," he told her.

"Why? You're not the one having a baby."

"I know, but this wasn't how you wanted to spend your birthday."

That was true. Artemis had intended to spend her birthday at Bill and Fleur Weasley's cottage in Cornwall, with sand and sea and a crackling bonfire. Unfortunately, her best laid plans had been scuppered earlier that evening by the arrival of a lion-shaped Patronus, which had spoken with Bill's voice and informed her that his wife had gone into labour, and that the pair of them were about to go to the hospital. Both she and Charlie had also gone straight to St Mungo's hospital, where they had taken seats in the waiting room and waited. And waited. And were still waiting, even now.

"It's fine, Charlie," she said. "I mean, I've had worse birthdays."

Another truth, albeit an unpleasant one. The previous two years, her birthday had been overshadowed by the battle that had taken so many lives, including those of her friend Tonks and Bill and Charlie's younger brother Fred. The battle had broken out in the evening of her twenty-fifth birthday, and her twenty-sixth then became the first anniversary of the event.

This year, though she would turn twenty-seven on the eve of the victory and memorial, the fact seemed to linger less heavily on her mind now that yet another year had passed. Still, at her words, Charlie's jaw tensed slightly. Artemis shook her head and unfolded her arms, guilty that she had accidentally caused harm.

"I'm sorry. I didn't..."

Before Artemis could continue further, the doors of the waiting room swung open, revealing a middle-aged couple, a tall wizard with glasses and a plump witch in a knitted poncho, both with red hair; Bill and Charlie's parents. Behind them trailed a much younger witch with a face almost as freckled as Charlie's and her hair - also red - pulled up into a messy bun: their youngest child and Charlie's only sister, Ginny.

"Oh, you're here already," said Charlie's mother, her cheeks flushed pink with excitement. "Any news?"

"None yet."

"Oh, well. These things can take time."

"Don't we know it," Artemis muttered. Mrs Weasley turned to her, beaming.

"And happy birthday, Artemis, dear," she said. She removed her bag from her shoulder and pulled out a box of small triangular sandwiches. "Your present is at home, but I thought there was no point in the party food going to waste. Unless you had dinner before you came here?"

Artemis took the box of sandwiches from Mrs Weasley's hands and wrenched it open. "No, I'm starving. Thanks."

"Neither of us had time to eat anything," Charlie explained, also helping himself to a sandwich. "We both came straight here after Bill sent his Patronus."