/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟙𝟘.𝟤

"I- uh- don't think he was," Peter stuttered nervously. "Listen, I wasn't going to tell you- I just really want everyone to get along, and you're both my friends and-"

"No, no," Artemis murmured, "I'm glad you told me. Now I can go beat him up again." And with that, she picked up her wand and started towards the portrait hole, leaving Peter staring helplessly after her.

He cleared his throat and called after her in a feeble attempt to get her to stop. "Wait- Art- don't you want to finish the game?" But she was already gone.

Artemis's hair swung wildly around her shoulders as she stormed through the hallways of the castle, wand in hand, scanning every corner for signs of Sirius. She knew it was pretty much pointless to search for him in the endless and impossible to navigate halls of Hogwarts, but she needed to try- or at least keep walking until her anger wore away. She wasn't the annoying one- and it drove her mad to let Sirius get away with thinking he was in the right all the time.

She headed towards the library, knowing that if nothing else, she could find Remus or Lily and complain to them, but before she was even halfway there, she heard Sirius's gravelly voice coming from the landing of the next stairwell over. At the sound, her temper flared once again and she slammed open the door- but stopped short the second she saw who Sirius was with. At the sound of the door, Sirius, Bellatrix, and Percy all jumped and looked up at her. "Ohhh, perfect," Bellatrix drawled, "Even more fun."

Artemis was frozen, rooted to the spot at the sight of her older brother. She debated running, just getting as far away as possible, but then she saw the look on Sirius's face and the black eye still lingering from her own fist. "What's going on in here?" she said at last, her eyes never leaving Percy's face.

"Well, we were just talking about you," Bellatrix said in an obnoxiously high pitch. "Sirius's little dirty-blooded girlfriend-"

"Shut up!" Sirius snapped, holding his wand up menacingly.

Bellatrix looked to Percy, seeming to expect him to help her make fun of Artemis and Sirius, but he was standing just as still as his sister, staring at her fixedly. Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at him, but took it upon herself to harass Artemis on her own. "Going to defend her are you?" she crooned to Sirius. "Just look at her- do you even shower?" She said it very slowly, like she was talking to a small child. Artemis felt her chest constrict and her hands start to tremble in rage. "Look at her shoes!" Bellatrix cackled. Artemis looked down at her shoes, which were fraying at the seams. She pulled the sleeves of her blazer down subconsciously, knowing her uniform was getting too small, but also knowing her mother would never be able to afford to buy her a new one.

"Bella," Percy said softly, "let's just go..."

Bellatrix gave him another accusatory look. "What- why? Oh, isn't this the girl who tried to talk to you that one time? Filthy mudblood doesn't know not to talk to pureblood-"

"Bella..." Percy said, his voice taking on a warning edge. He finally met his sister's eyes and gave her the slightest of nods towards the door, willing her to go away. Artemis knew this was all the help she would get from him.

Sirius was looking back and forth between Bellatrix, Percy, and Artemis, trying to piece together what was happening. When he saw the tremor in Artemis's hand, he slowly moved up the stairs to stand at her side, facing the two Slytherins. "Stop it, Bel," he said defiantly, tightening his grip on his own wand.

Bellatrix sneered at him and climbed the stairs so she was standing directly in front of Sirius and Artemis, her face just inches from Sirius's. "Make me, squib."

Artemis expected Sirius to fight back, but he merely flinched at the word and stayed quiet. For some reason, this made her even angrier. "Stop it!" she cried, and without thinking, put a hand on Bellatrix's shoulder and pushed her away from Sirius.