I tried to alternate a bit between Audrey and Artemis. I always wanted to write from Artemis' point of view from the moment I read the first book in the real series. His mind is... different from everyone else's so I thought he would be a fun character. I'll always post whose point of view it is before each post, just so you can keep details straight. Hope you enjoy it!
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Artemis
I had just arrived into the Great Hall along with my cousin and best friend, Draco Malfoy. We were one of the first few inside Hogwarts, as I was Head Boy and it was my duty to lead the first year students to the Great Hall. It was a post I truly didn’t want, but I couldn’t turn it down.
My seventh and final year at Hogwarts was to be extraordinary. Not only was I Head Boy, but I was also the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Also the best keeper the school had seen in centuries. I don’t know how much better my life could’ve been, even despite my few flaws. I wasn’t even sure how I had gotten so well at Quidditch; sports had never been my thing. I typically lacked proper coordination and athletic ability for most sports, wizarding or not.
The year’s opening banquet was just about to begin, and all the houses were intermingling. Suddenly, Malfoy stopped. He gestured his head towards the Gryffindor table where Harry Potter stood talking with his girlfriend, a boy, and two other girls. One was a Slytherin. Malfoy started towards the table. Naturally, I followed. He was, after all, my cousin and best friend. I was just positive he was doing this to stir up trouble. It was what he always did.
“You know, Potter, just because you’re friends with a Slytherin doesn’t make you a part of the family.” And without even waiting for a reply, he walked away laughing. I watched him walk away for a moment before turning to Harry.
I just shook my head. “I apologize for my cousin,” I offered, throwing in what I hoped was a friendly smile.
Harry shrugged. “He’s like that all the time,” he assured me, returning my smile.
“Well you obviously know him,” I said with a gesture of my head, “I’m Artemis Fowl.”
“Yeah, I know,” Harry replied. “I play Quidditch against you.” He didn’t seem to be too happy about that. It’s not like I played seeker or anything.
I raised an eyebrow. “And have you won yet?” I challenged, jokingly.
Harry shrugged. “A few times.”
“Technically you just beat Malfoy. He is my seeker.”
“Audrey here is one of your chasers,” Harry’s girlfriend piped up.
“And you are? She is?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m Nikkie.” His blonde girlfriend pointed to a girl in Slytherin robes standing next to her. “This is Audrey.”
I looked Audrey up and down. She did look familiar. “Oh yeah, you’re my good chaser.” I put my hand out. “Pleasure to meet you, Audrey.” Something in the way she put her hand out told me she was nervous.
“Pleasure to meet you as well,” she replied with a smile.
“How long have you been playing?” I asked her.
Audrey shrugged. “Just started last year.”
“And I’ve never met you before this?” I asked. I could see her cheeks go to slightly pink.
“I suppose you haven’t,” she shrugged once more. “You’re the captain right?”
I nodded once. “Yes, I am. I guess we don’t talk much do we?”
“You’re pretty good. The team hasn’t been that great before you came along,” she commented.
“Thank you,” I offered. “You’re pretty good yourself. A bit clumsy, but no one is perfect.” Except maybe myself, I thought in the back of my mind.
Audrey laughed, and for some reason it made me smile. “Exactly why my nickname used to be Bella.”
I understood that one. It was a reference to the Twilight series. “Are you really that clumsy?”
“Well, I don’t think so. I’m too athletic to be.”
At the front of the hall, Dumbledore tapped his spoon on a glass cup lightly. Throughout the many, many years he had never broken a single cup. Honestly I was waiting for the one time he would, but it was unlikely that it would happen.
Audrey said good-bye to her friends, and I gave them a wave and threw in a “nice to meet you.” The two of us walked back to the Slytherin table, sitting down near the prefects and Quidditch team.
“… we will begin tonight’s banquet with the sorting of the houses…”
The hat was brought out and set on the stool. After shaking the dust from itself, it began to sing. Every year it had a new song. I honestly didn’t know how every year it managed to create a brand new one. It was kind of disturbing to me actually. Then again I zoned out every year around that time anyways.
I leaned over to Audrey. “What do you play?” I asked her quietly. I was unsure if she had even heard me.
She turned her head, but not her eyes. “Volleyball and soccer. Was a cheerleader before I got my letter in the mail.”
That last remark surprised me a little bit. Audrey did not come across as the cheerleading type. “So you’re not as clumsy as everyone thinks you are,” I insisted.
“Perhaps not.”
It was silent for a moment as the Sorting Hat finished up his song. Then the sorting began. Suddenly, it sunk in that I would be leaving Hogwarts forever after that year. I wondered silently what the world had in store for me once I left as a trained wizard. I hoped it was something exciting, but then again, my life had never been boring.
Once the sorting began, Audrey tapped me. I glanced at her. “Hmmm?” I asked.
“What did you do before you got your letter?” she asked me.
In the back of my mind, I could picture my best friend and one of my enemies, Holly Short. She was quite surprised when I had received my letter. She was an elf, and we had had some pretty intriguing adventures together before and after the fact. Before Hogwarts accepted me, however, it was all crime and doing no time. Maybe even helping some people. And some other things…
“Skipped school, made friends with strange people, broke some promises and a lot of rules. Normal teenaged, preteen stuff,” I shrugged. “Are you the only one in your family?”
Audrey shook her head. “Family’s Pureblood. Definitely not the only one.”
“Any siblings?” I asked her.
“Yeah, a brother, but mom chose to send him to Durmstrang,” Audrey admitted. “He needs more discipline in his life.”
I chuckled. “Must be pretty evil.” I held my grin at the word “evil.”
“Trust me, you have no idea,” she said. “What about you? Any siblings?”
I nodded once. “Twin brothers. But they haven’t started school yet. They’re only three years old.”
“I bet that’s fun. They’re wizards?” she asked.
“Unfortunately,” I replied. “Not old enough to do any real damage, but still.”
“Are they bad?” she inquired.
I contemplated. “Just about as bad as I am.” I shrugged lightly.
“…and that ends our sorting. Now shall we welcome our newcomers with the singing of our school’s song?” Dumbledore tapped his wand on the table then flicked it with ease to the opposite wall. The lyrics appeared on the wall. “Everyone find a beat you like and sing along!”
The school stood to sing the song, Audrey and I glancing at each other. I assumed neither of us sang. As usual, Fred and George Weasley (Ron’s older twin brothers who got held back a year due to too many detentions and crazy shenanigans) finished last singing the last note of the song in a key so high it might attract bats. In all honesty, they weren’t half-bad. Then we all sat and waited for the food to appear. When it did, we all started chatting and eating.
“So when do we start practice, Artemis?” Malfoy asked me almost immediately. He was always excited about Quidditch.
I turned to look at him. “We don’t start class until the day after tomorrow. Why not start tomorrow?”
“Yeah, maybe we could finally beat the Gryffindors’ team in our first game,” a girl named Pansy said. She was Malfoy’s on and off girlfriend. I ignored her comment.
“Do we play them first again?” Crabbe asked.
“We do. I looked at the Quidditch lineup this afternoon,” Pansy said.
“I’m up for a little practice. I haven’t flown in ages,” Audrey said, putting a piece of dragon-berry pancake into her mouth.
I smiled. “Tomorrow it is.”
Audrey ate quickly, but slowly all at once. Once she was finished, she slipped from the table and went to Gryffindor’s table. The snake on her right side stood out against the griffins of her friends’. It was really odd to see that. Our houses hate each other, yet they were the best of friends. It made me wonder if friendship was possible with anyone, even if there were boundaries.
“What are you staring at?” my cousin asked me, knocking me out of my state.
“Nothing at all,” I replied.
“You haven’t touched your food.” Malfoy looked at my plate. All my food still sat where I had originally placed it. I just truly wasn’t interested in it.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You better eat. You gon’ die!”
“I am not going to die.” I rolled my eyes. He was always so melodramatic.
Malfoy shook his head. “You can eat now. Your girlfriend’s gone.”
I glared. Any time I talked to a girl he insisted she was my girlfriend. I had never had one, so he liked to make fun of me any chance he got. “She is not my girlfriend, for the last time.”
“That’s the first time I’ve said it.”
Dessert appeared on the dishes in front of us. I only caught a glimpse of it before it disappeared again, only into the other students’ mouths. I was really glad I was not hungry.
“No, you said it yesterday,” I lied, trying anything to get him to leave me alone.
Malfoy shook his head again. “We didn’t see each other yesterday.”
“Uh… yes we did.”
“You need to eat.” Malfoy thrust a bowl of pudding into my hands. It was chocolate.
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t like chocolate.”
Malfoy snatched it back and grabbed a vanilla. “Eat.”
I snatched the pudding and ate a spoonful. “Happy now?”
“Yes I am,” Malfoy replied.
I rolled my eyes. He had no idea what he was talking about. Me liking her? That was definitely not the case. There was just something about her I just couldn’t place. Something I hadn’t figured out yet. Why had she been in my house and on my Quidditch team the whole time, yet I knew nothing about her, or even that she had existed? Why hadn’t I asked for friendship before? I was determined to get answers, and a determined Fowl always got what he wanted.