/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟜.𝟤

"He knows his stuff, doesn't he?" Artemis asked in a low voice.

"Ummmm... I'm pretty sure..." But before any of them could have second thoughts, they had arrived at the top of the owlery.

They all stood in the chilly open air, which was just beginning to smell like the snow and cold of the start of winter. "Whose owl should we use?" Mary asked, hugging her arms around herself and shivering slightly. "Mine's delivering a letter to my dad."

"They all know what Athena looks like," said Artemis, glancing over to the owl Percy had gotten her in Diagon Alley. The day he'd come home to stay with Artemis and her mother for the remainder of the summer felt like ages ago. Athena was the only thing connecting her to Percy since she started at Hogwarts. A gloomy feeling built in her chest to match the overcast weather. "They've seen her at breakfast."

Lily shrugged her shoulders and turned in a slow circle. "I don't have an owl. Marlene?" Marlene shook her head with no explanation. "Sev?"

Severus looked around at the girls, an unimpressed look on his face. "Fine then," he said, narrowing his eyes. "We can use my friend's." Then, under his breath, "Who's proving to be more useful to this than any of you."

Marlene and Mary shared a dark look, but Artemis and Lily hadn't seemed to have heard. They followed Snape to a gray owl in the corner and knelt down to help him tie the little vial of gold potion to its leg. Artemis's eyes widened the second she saw the little round gray circle around the owl's left eye. It was Aries, Percy's owl. She wanted to tell Severus that they couldn't use this one either; she couldn't let Percy see his own owl swoop down on the Gryffindor table for one of her own pranks, but she still hadn't told the girls that Percy was her brother in the first place. She knew it wasn't a huge secret, but she'd grown used to being her own person. For the first time ever, she was Artemis Blake instead of Percy's little sister. It would take too much explaining, anyways, to describe the entire situation with her father's infidelity and the splitting of the family names. On top of that, she hadn't even told anyone about her father's death the year previous. She kept her mouth shut. "You're sure they'll fall for this?" Mary asked doubtfully. She'd been the most reluctant to prank the boys back, despite being hit the hardest by their initial 'joke.'

"Trust me," Artemis said in a dry voice. "Those boys would never pass up the chance to look cooler, and they know Felix Felicious can help with that."

"But you're sure they won't... know?" said Mary. "I mean, Remus will... right? He's top of our class-"

"No," Lily said exasperatedly. "I'm top of the class, and Remus is just as stupid as the rest of them."

"Hey!" said Artemis, who still rather liked Remus.

Marlene glared at her. "Pick a side, Art." Artemis stared at the ground and fell silent.

Mary looked nervously between the girls and then stepped forward to help Lily finish tying the potion and the note to the owl's leg. "I still don't think it's a good idea..." she said before Severus took the owl in one hand and flung it out into the air.

"We know, Mary," said Marlene. She'd been irritable all day, snapping at everyone who crossed her. Mary took it much worse than Artemis. She blinked her eyes quickly and crossed over to stand next to Lily, who shot Marlene a reproachful look. They all watched as the gray owl spiraled out of sight, all four girls wondering if the prank had gone too far, but nobody voicing their concerns. They didn't want Severus to think they were too weak to gain his respect. Despite his arrogance, Mary, Artemis, and Marlene each secretly wanted him to like them. There was something dark and mysterious about the way he acted that was so intriguing to them... mixed with the fact that the boys in their year seemed to hate him already.