1.2 ARTEMIS | James Sirius Potter

xiii. 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙 𝖐𝖊𝖊𝖕𝖊𝖗

thirteen
the secret keeper

        After Artemis's panic attack last week, James Potter had yet to leave her side. In fact, James and Fred had yet to leave her alone. The only time when James would be forced against his will to leave would be at nighttime, or when they had separate lessons, which meant Fred took over from James and babysat her. Although it was never strange for Artemis and Fred to be together, they were good enough friends and, due to their matching timetable, more often than not, they say next to each other in lessons.

        It was infuriating. Truly infuriating. Artemis was seventeen—eighteen in five days, she didn't need anyone, especially not teenage boys to babysit her every minute of every day. Maybe once or twice she's voiced this argument to both boys, but both denied any attempt of babysitting. Eventually she got James alone and called him out on it then, which ended badly. They'd argued. Badly.

        James had said, "because I'm worried about you!"

        Artemis had scoffed, "you shouldn't be. I don't worry about you, so I don't see why you should worry about me."

        It was difficult to get the image of James's crestfallen face out of her mind. Her words had stung him, and they had every right to sting. As much as Artemis had confided in James about her troubles with Blair and her mother. . . James had confided in her about his own troubles, too.

        "Fuck you, Malfoy," James had said, not shouted, but in a tone so dark and frightening, it felt like he'd slapped her instead. He walked away without looking back and Artemis was, finally, left on her own. And as much as she enjoyed and relished the solitude, she only felt lonely and lost.

        They then both avoided each other for the next few days until they were called in by McGonagall to have an interview with the Daily Prophet. An interview carried out by Hattie Crawley, Hogwarts and Gryffindor Alumnus. The interview started off extremely awkward and full of tension, but then by the end of it, they were laughing.

        Since their argument however, Artemis dismissed the babysitting theory completely and hardly found herself resenting James's company. In fact, she often found herself seeking it. When it was just her and Fred in the Slytherin common room studying, she'd subtly find a way to bring James up, excuse herself and say she was off to discuss some confidential Triwizard thing with him. It was obvious Fred never believed her, but he didn't say anything and Artemis didn't waste too much time thinking about it.

One afternoon when Artemis and James had reconvened in the Entrance Hall for lunch after a gruelling morning of lessons, James confided in Artemis once again.

        They were sitting side by side on the Gryffindor table—a table which Artemis thought she'd never be seated at ever, locked in their own little bubble as they shared stories about their mornings. That morning they'd been in separate classes and Artemis felt it was necessary to fill him in on her Astrology assignment that she failed miserably. A rather uninteresting story that even bored Artemis, but their relationship has blossomed into the kind where they told each other uninteresting things.

        So it was no surprise he didn't answer when Artemis finished her rant and he continued to stuff his mouth with sausage rolls.

Artemis elbowed him three times before he looked at her with his cheeks bursting with the food he'd crammed in there and narrowed eyes. "What?" He said. Well, with all that food in his mouth she wasn't too sure, but she assumed that's what he attempted to say. "I'm eating."