/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟑.𝟟.𝟤

Sirius looked over his shoulder mildly. "Dunno why she's so keen on him," he said with a snort. "But it seems like all Gryffindor girls have bad taste. Exhibit A- Lily and Snivellus."

James let out a short laugh. "First of all, Lily isn't dating him, she's obviously in love with me."

"Keep telling yourself that, mate."

"-And I don't think Jonas is a horrible choice. I mean, he's nothing special, but there's nothing particularly wrong with him, is there?"

Sirius shrugged. "S'pose not, but it'd be great if Art would quit going on about him. Really makes me want to quit hanging out with her."

"Ah, we can't get rid of her," James said, grinning. "She knows too much of what we've done now. She's a liability."

"She's an annoyance."

"Don't say that," James said with a soft smile. "I dunno why you get under each other's skin so much, but the rest of us like her. Admit it, she's one of us now."

Sirius shook his head. "No way, mate. Especially not if she's going to keep being all mushy about Jonas Putry, I mean, really."

At that, James laughed. "Alright, point taken. Look, I'm sure it'll pass soon. She goes on and off with things so fast I can't keep up."

"Exactly," said Sirius, like James had just proved his point. "She's impossible. Completely impossible."

~

That night, Artemis sat on her couch in the common room long after everyone else had gone to bed. With her, Remus was lounging back in his armchair and Peter had taken James's usual seat in the chair across the coffee table from Remus. They'd finished their homework hours before and now just sat talking in soft voices, the fire crackling comfortingly in the hearth in front of them. "How's Jonas, Art?" Peter asked after a lull in the conversation.

A small smile crossed over Artemis's lips. "He's lovely," she said quietly, the fire reflecting in her blue eyes. "I mean, really. I didn't know if he was going to, you know, live up to my expectations because I didn't really know him before I asked him out."

"You didn't know him at all," Remus said with a laugh.

Artemis grinned. "Yeah, a bit stupid on my part. But it all just worked out really well. I'm..." she took a deep breath, "I'm not used to things working out like that."

Remus felt a flicker of pain in his chest for Artemis. He couldn't tell if he was jealous she had a boyfriend, or if he was sad she wasn't used to things working out well for herself. Maybe a mixture of both. He forced a warm smile and met her gaze. Her face, usually so set and determined, almost defiant, had softened completely and her eyes held only affection. "I'm so happy for you," Remus said, and his chest hurt even more. Maybe it was jealously.

"Thanks," Artemis said, ducking her head and letting out an awkward laugh. "He walked me to Transfiguration the other day and he carried my books and everything. And he's so funny. I feel like everything he says makes me laugh."

"Yeah, I can tell you're happy when you're with him," Peter said simply, leaning back in his seat. "And he looks happy too. It's nice."

At this, Artemis looked absolutely joyful. "I just get so happy when I'm around him, you know?" She looked to Remus, who nodded. He knew exactly what it felt like to be perfectly content with someone no matter what they were doing or what they were talking about. "I wish he was in our house, but at the same time, he has all those Hufflepuff traits, d'you know what I'm talking about?"

Peter laughed. "Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. It's funny how that works. Different people in different houses are all sort of alike each other, and I know that's intentional, it's just cool to see it play out."

"It's really cool!" Artemis said excitedly. "Like, Jonas is just so nice. And he always lets me be right about things, which normally I don't like, but it's a bit refreshing after spending so much time with you guys." She shot a pointed look at Remus.

He smiled at her, but in the back of his head, he wondered if he should maybe change the way he acted around Artemis, maybe be a little more passive. He shook himself. That's ridiculous. "Dunno what you're talking about," he said sarcastically. "It's not like Gryffindors like to argue or anything."

Artemis laughed and Remus's worries were calmed. Of course he shouldn't act any different. "Look, I love that about this house," Artemis said, suddenly mildly serious. "I really do. But with Jonas, everything is just so easy. I don't have to debate every little thing."

"That's good," Peter said quietly. "That's really good. I'm glad you found someone like that."

Artemis smiled at him. "Thanks, Pete. I am too. I really am."