Sunflowers & Hot Chocolate | Remus Lupin

9 3/4

Artemis Celeste Black and her twin brother, Sirius Orion Black III, were starting their third year at Hogwarts; alongside their younger brother, Regulus Arcturus Black II, who was starting his second year at Hogwarts. The three of them couldn't wait to start school again: they could see their friends, use magic again, and most importantly: they were away from their family.

***
As the three Black siblings reached the platform, Artemis noticed her carrot-topped bestfriend, Lily Evans, waiting for the train alone.

"Missy! The train should be here soon, come wait with me!" the Gryffindor girl called.

"Lils! hold on I'll find you later" Artemis grinned and then turned her back to her mother and brothers.

smack Walburga Black slapped the younger twin leaving a red hand shaped print on his pale complexion.

"You two better do Slytherin and our family proud, do you hear me children?" Walburga  said unlovingly to her eldest and youngest child, ignoring Sirius.

After what felt like forever to Artemis, the red steam train arrived at the station. Eager to get onto the train, she waved goodbye to her mum whilst dragging her brothers forward to the platform. She knew her brothers would not be responsible enough to keep hold of their own tickets so she had all three of their train tickets in her purse. After she showed the ticket inspector hers and her brothers' tickets, she entered an empty compartment.

She wasn't alone in the compartment for any longer than 15 seconds as her brother waltzed in - still holding onto his face - with another thirteen year old boy with messy black hair and rounded glasses.

"Hey James, how's your summer?" Artemis asked him

"I was just telling Sirius about it, it was amazing. Dad took us to a resort in the Caribbean, mum came back with a nasty burn though" he answered, "how was your holiday, Missy?"

"Oh you know the usual, I was locked away in my room every other week. Not that different from Siri's" James sadly looked to the ground, feeling guilty for asking.

"I'm sorry to hear that Missy. Hopefully, next summer we can convince your dad to let you stay at my cottage" the boy said and the girl nodded

Artemis had many friends at school but James Potter was her best friend, they were inseparable during term. That was unless she wasn't allowed in the Gryffindor common rooms for some reason, but they'd always find a way to stay together. They'd been friends since the first time they met; this very day three years ago. Although they were so close, they did not have the star in their favour, they were rivals: they belonged to rival houses (she's a Slytherin, he's a Gryffindor) and their families despised each other. The Black family hated the Potter's ever since the Potter family stopped valuing blood purity since the Blacks were pure-blood supremacists.

Suddenly, another two boys entered the compartment: a lanky green-eyed boy, and a chubby rat-looking boy.

"How is that whenever I see the two of you together, you're always munching on chocolate?" the teenage girl asked playfully.

"Bad timing I guess?" the bigger boy shrugged.

"The trolley woman is coming around and Pete was desperate for some chocolate, so we bought some before coming here" Remus explained and Peter nodded.

The two boys put their bags on the luggage rack above the seats before sitting down. As usual, Remus sat at the window, facing Artemis, James sat between Remus and Peter, and Sirius sat next to his twin, facing James.

"Sirius, do you want to break out? Let go of your face" Artemis whispered to her brother

"No" the brother replied bluntly

"Okay I understand, show me at Hogwarts though or show Poppy, It might sting and it needs treating"

Soon, the five friends could hear the rattling of sweet wrappers and they could smell the lingering scent of freshly baked pumpkin pasties.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" a sweet old woman said, as she reached the compartment of the five best friends, with a Honeydukes Express trolley.

"We'll take th-"

"James no, there are other people on this train beside us" Artemis said shaking her head at her best friend "Can we have two Pumpkin pasties, three Liquorice Wands, five Chocolate Frogs and a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean, thank you Madame" she said smiling at the woman giving her a few Galleons. The woman walked off and Artemis slapped James around the back of his head.

"Oi! Black, what was that for?"

"For being a greedy git, my dear friend I have known you long enough to know what you were going to say before I cut you off"

"Fucking hell" James mumbled under his breath

The five all chuckled after that and spent the rest of the train journey sharing stories about their summers, cracking jokes and trying to stop Peter from throwing up all the sweets he'd managed to eat.