/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

"come grow old with me. the best is yet to be." ~ William Wordsworth

Not long after his night at Remus and Artemis's house, Sirius disappeared again. This time, however, Artemis felt a little better about it. For one, she had the satisfaction of having seen him at least once after that Halloween night when life as they knew it had ended. Also, she knew that he was leaving this time. She'd had some amount of time to prepare. And she'd see him again, unless he was captured and killed while in hiding. 

A month passed with no word from him. She hadn't asked him to write to her. Even after all her talk about not caring about the dangers of being in contact with him, she didn't want to be the reason he got caught. 

Remus and Artemis very quickly fell back into their old routine. Despite having lost his job, Remus's teaching salary left them financially stable for at least another few months, giving him more free time to find more odd jobs that would hire a now known werewolf. Artemis read more than ever, ordering books in the mail every week or so and tearing through them in mere days. She and Remus had recovered quickly after their fight the night Sirius showed up. Tensions had been high, they'd both been sleep deprived, and they knew neither of them meant what they'd said. They spent long evenings in their living room, letting the sunset pour in through the windows, reading their respective books in almost silence. 

One of these nights ended in Remus and Artemis both asleep on the couch in the living room. When Artemis woke up, it was still dark outside. Remus was shaking her shoulder, his eyes wide. "Art," he whispered. "Art, wake up." 

"What is it?" she asked groggily, then sat up straight. Something wasn't right. "What is it?" she asked more clearly now. 

"Something's happened," Remus whispered. "At the Quidditch World Cup. Dumbledore's called an Order meeting." 

She stared at him. "A what?" 

"You heard me, get up." He took both of her hands and helped her to her feet. She was still in her clothes from the day before. "No time to get dressed," said Remus. "We've got to go." 

She followed him into the backyard. "Are we going to the Burrow?" she asked. Now that the shock had faded, she was bouncing with excitement. She was getting out. 

"The Burrow? No," said Remus. "Dumbledore sent an address. Hold my hand." 

She took his hand, and a second later, felt a lurch in her stomach as Remus turned on the spot and apparated them both away from the house. She hadn't apparated in so long, the sensation nearly made her sick, until she realized where she was standing. 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius's childhood home. 

"What are we doing here?" she asked. 

"Dunno, this is the address Dumbledore sent." 

She shook her head. "Orion and Walburga died years ago, why would Dumbledore send us here?" 

Remus shrugged. "My guess is as good as yours. Come on." 

They mounted the front steps and Artemis drew her wand, holding it to her side just in case. Remus knocked on the door. A second later, it swung open, and Kingsley Shacklebolt loomed in the doorway. His mouth moved, but his words were drowned out by a horrible screeching behind him. 

"Mudbloods! Traitors! In my house... Oh, the shame! The shame!" 

"Shut up!" Kingsley shouted over the noise. "Come on." He motioned for Remus and Artemis to follow him inside. 

There was a crash in the hall and in an instant, Sirius was hurrying towards them. He grabbed a set of curtains around the portrait of Walburga Black- the source of the screaming, and wrenched them shut. "Will- you- be- quiet," he said through clenched teeth. 

Then, he turned to face Artemis and Remus. "You came," he said softly. 

He looked better than the last time they'd seen him. The cuts on his face were mostly healed and he'd gained some weight- he almost looked healthy. Artemis shrugged. "Dumbledore called." 

Sirius's gaze lingered on her for a long time. He'd been hoping- although he knew it was unlikely- to get the kind of greeting Artemis used to give him. When they'd be apart for a few hours on separate Order missions, or back at school when they'd have different classes, and when they were reunited, she'd fling her arms around him and kiss his cheek and say, "Missed you," in that offhand voice- two words that made his heart leap every single time. 

But she needed time. He knew that. They'd been through too much, and now she was looking at him like he was just another Order member. "Yeah," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He didn't know what else to do with them. "In here, everyone's in here." 

They followed him into the dining room, where the remaining Order members, plus a few additions, were seated around the table. Emmeline Vance leapt to her feet as soon as Artemis and Remus entered, along with a few other people they hadn't seen in years. Emmeline hugged both of them. "I missed you," she said, and she was smiling although her eyes were sad.

Artemis knew that most of all, Emmeline missed Marlene. "We missed you too, Em." 

"Everyone please take your seats." Albus Dumbledore was standing at the front of the room, Professor McGonagall seated to his left. "I would like to begin the meeting." 

Artemis and Remus followed Emmeline to a set of chairs near the back. Sirius sat next to Remus. "Where's Moody?" asked Remus. 

Dumbledore caught his eye. "Alastor had prior engagements tonight. And that's Professor Moody now, he'll be teaching at Hogwarts this year." 

Remus caught Artemis's eye. "He didn't tell us that." 

"I'm sure you can all catch up with one another once we get the official business over," said Dumbledore, eyes still lingering on the group of remaining Marauders in the back. "Now, for those of you who were not at the World Cup tonight, we had a bit of a... situation... on our hands. There was an attack by Dark Wizards. We do not have any identifying names as of now, because as we know, our enemies prefer to work anonymously. Yes, Mr. Lupin, they were wearing Death Eater masks." 

Artemis's chest restricted at the memory of the masked figures she used to fight against almost daily. She didn't want to do it again. She didn't want to do any of it ever again.

"Now, I do not want to jump to the conclusion that Voldemort himself is back," Dumbledore continued. A few scattered individuals shuddered at the name. "But if his defenders are beginning to come out of hiding and spread their ideologies once again... some sort of action must be made. For those of you who were present the last time this happened... you know exactly what I'm talking about. For newcomers, welcome to the Order of the Phoenix." 

Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The Order of the Phoenix used to be what he thought of as a noble team of individuals fighting evil. Now, the name only made him think of death. 

"Before we make any sort of movement, I need full cooperation from each and every one of you." Dumbledore's eyes made his way around the room. "I need to know that those of you who fought in the wizarding war are still willing to put their efforts into fighting this new wave of dark magic, and I need the newcomers to agree to do the same." 

"And what if there's another traitor?" Artemis asked, drawing all eyes to herself. 

Dumbledore sighed softly. "Before I answer that question, I want to make one other thing clear to everybody. You may recognize the man sitting next to Remus Lupin as Sirius Black, and you may have read things in the Daily Prophet about his role in the wizarding war and the deaths of James and Lily Potter. These things are not true. Sirius has proved to me that he is innocent, and you will all be expected to treat him as such. The man who actually betrayed the Order and caused such destruction is Peter Pettigrew, and his whereabouts are unknown." 

Sirius didn't react to anything Dumbledore said. He simply nodded and continued to stare down at the table. 

"Now, to answer your question, Miss Blake, we are being more careful this time around. Only the people I can put my entire trust in are at this table right now."

Not fully satisfied with this answer, Artemis nodded her head. 

"We'll be in the organizing stages for now. We're waiting for more information, and to see if the events of tonight were just a fluke, or a part of a greater wave. For now, I just need to know that each of you are willing to fight Voldemort's supporters, and maintain the peace of the wizarding world." 

Finally, Sirius spoke. "Until I die," he said, just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. 

Artemis and Remus stared at him, mouths agape. They'd both been having the same thought. 'Nothing could make me go through that again.' But their combined love for Sirius was the one thing that could. Artemis nodded slowly. "Me too," she said. 

Sirius stared at her, hope building in his chest. Remus caught Artemis's eye instead, and gave her an exhausted half-smile. "I'm in." 

After the meeting, Artemis silently followed Sirius into a sitting room in the back of the house. He turned to face her when he was sure they were alone, and closed the door. "So..." he said slowly, "We're doing this again." 

Artemis wasn't paying attention. She was walking around the room, taking in the old architecture, the dusty mantlepieces, and the dark magic insignias everywhere. "How can you stand to stay here?" she asked softly. 

"Well, it would be more bearable if you were here." 

She turned to look at him. "What?" 

"Artemis, sit down," he said, motioning to the couch in front of the fireplace. She sat. He took a seat across from her. "Art... I need you to know that I thought about you every day. You're one of the very few things that kept me sane in that place. I swore to myself, for thirteen years, that when I got out, I was going to be with you again. Now, you don't have to say yes. You can tell me to fuck off right now, and leave, and for the rest of your life, I'll just treat you like another old friend, but Artemis-" Desperation was building in his voice. "If there's any part of you that still loves me, and wants to try and salvage any piece of what we had... I need to know." 

She stared down at her hands. "I thought about you every day too," she said in a small voice. "I never stopped thinking about you." 

"Artemis..." 

"The war didn't end for me." She finally looked him in the eye. "And I don't think it ever will." 

He nodded. "I feel the exact same way. But I don't think either of us should live the rest of our lives being miserable over what happened. It's not what James, or Lily, or Marlene, or Mary, or anyone would've wanted. I'm not saying we can just snap our fingers and go back to the way things were. I'm just saying... if you're ever lonely in that house... you could always move in here with me." 

At this, she nearly smiled. "Okay," she said at last. 

He couldn't believe it. "Really?" 

"Yeah," she said. "I don't want to be there anymore. And I don't want to waste anymore time with you. I never stopped loving you, I need you to know that, I just-" 

"We were apart for a long time." 

"And I don't know if I can ever go back to the way things were." 

He knew what she meant. "Then let's just take it by the day. I don't care if we can't go back, I just want to see you." 

"Okay," she said, and for what felt like the first time in ages, she smiled a genuine smile. "But before we do any of that, can I cut your hair? It looks really awful." 

When he laughed, it sounded hollow and out of practice, but there was some semblance of the old spark back in his eyes. "Yeah, come on. You know you're the only person I trust with my hair. 

ik sirius doesnt technically go to grimmauld until the 5th book but like idk this is an au now ig

i also don't feel like checking the books so if anything from here on out is wrong it's just an au