The girl with golden hair (Harry Potter fanfic)

Chapter 1.6 (The young Seeker)

(Selena Gomez as Elizabeth Euphemia Bouchard)

What if I fall? Oh, but darling, what if you fly? -Erin Hanson

The Hogwarts castle
Scotland, Great Britain
September 19 1991

A few weeks later, they had their first flying lesson. Of course Artemis had flown a broom before but she never boasted about it like Draco, Ron and Seamus seemed to do...constantly. Draco told everyone about his flying adventures which always seemed to end into nearly being killed by a helicopter. Seeing as Artemis had several flying lessons with him, she knew this wasn't true at all. The only dangerous moment had been when Draco fell of his broom when he was eight. Thankfully Jace saved him and pulled him on his own broom.

Neville told them he never had flown a broom before because his grandmother wouldn't let him near one. Artemis felt she'd a good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.

Hermione was also nervous about the flying because it wasn't something you could learn from a book, and if Hermione wasn't good at something it had mostly to do with something she couldn't learn from only theory - Not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages. Neville was hanging on her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later.

Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. A barn owl brought Neville a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. "A Remembrall!" Giselle said "If you have forgotten something the white smoke will turn red."

Neville held the Remembrall tightly and his face fell as the smoke turned a deep scarlet.

While Neville was trying to remember what he forgot, Artemis's cousin Draco Malfoy snatched the glass ball out of his hands. Harry and Ron immediately shot up, looking for a reason to fight him but McGonagall seemed to smell an argument from miles away. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "What's going on?"

"Mafoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Scowling, Draco quickly dropped the ball back on the table. "Just looking." He shrugged and sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle.

"I'm sorry about that, Neville. My cousin can be a little-"

"Ho, ho, ho, cousin?" Harry said, stopping Artemis from apologising to Neville for her cousin's behaviour.

"Oh, yeah, right, you didn't know." Artemis said awkwardly. "Remember that I told you I have a cousin who I practically live with..."

"Yes." Harry said wide-eyed.

"Well...er...I guess you just met him..."

It was quiet for a few seconds. Every pair of eyes on her. Elizabeth scoffed. "Oh, come on, you act like she just admitted a murder."

"He's really not that bad." Artemis shrugged. "He's really sweet to me and my sister. He's like a brother to me but that doesn't mean that I approve of his behaviour towards you, Neville. I'm sorry if he scared you."

More silence. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and Hermione awkwardly took another bite from her breakfast, not looking up from her book. "Oh, this is ridiculous!" Elizabeth said after a few seconds. "Come on, Ara. It's Charms first." She hooked her arm through Artemis's and pulled her out of the Great Hall. "Oh, and Neville..." she called back to him. "You forgot your robes."

Neville immediately looked down and groaned when he noticed he wasn't wearing his black Hogwarts robes.

"Thank you." Artemis whispered as soon as they had left the Hall.