/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟐.𝟙.𝟣

"perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition." ~ James Baldwin

~july 1972~

Art walked through the door of her mother's house and immediately felt a seismic shift in the universe. She couldn't place it exactly until she entered the living room. "Mum... where'd all of Dad's books go?" she asked in a hushed voice. 

Her mother winced slightly as she leaned in the doorway. "Ahh, I did some cleaning, Artie. Don't you think it looks better this way, anyways?" 

Artemis shook her head. "Where did you put them?" 

"The attic," Jane said in a relenting voice. She moved to the side as her daughter brushed past her and headed straight for the stairs. "Why don't you two go pack anyways?" she called after her. "Artemis- wait!" Artemis stopped halfway up the stairs and turned to her mother with an obstinate expression, her arms folded across her chest. "Don't forget clothes, anything you'll need for school next year, and maybe a few books, okay? Perseus, same goes for you. I don't know if Gregory and Isobel will be taking you to- to Diagonal Alley, or whatever it is." 

Percy looked up from the little hutch filled with family pictures he'd been examining. The one in his hand was of himself and his father about a year before Andrew died. They were standing in front of some lake Artemis couldn't place and were both wearing broad smiles and holding fishing poles. "I'm not going," Percy said calmly. 

"What? Of course you are, go pack," Jane retorted, sounding exasperated. 

Percy shook his head. "I'm going to Ivan's for the summer. I thought I told you." 

Jane's expression froze. Artemis could she was racking her brain, trying to remember whether or not Percy told her. "Right..." she said at last, very slowly. "I don't remember that. Why can't you just go to your aunt and uncles?" 

"Because I already told Ivan I was going to his house," said Percy. 

Jane's mouth hardened into a thin line and for once, Artemis hoped she wouldn't let Percy go. She stood on the steps and watched hopefully, wishing her mother's ignorance would somehow prove to be useful. "Well- fine, then." Artemis's face fell, but Percy's brightened considerably. Jane was looking sour. "You'd still better pack, I suppose. And you'll have to be the one to tell your aunt and uncle what's happening, I don't have the time. Actually, I have to work tomorrow so I'll be leaving around the same time as they pick you up. I trust you'll both be polite." She gave Artemis a sharp look and Artemis looked away quickly. "And Percy, you'll have to figure out transportation to your friends house. I can't focus on that right now." 

Percy shrugged. "Whatever," he muttered, and followed Artemis up the stairs, the picture of him and their father still in his hand. 

Artemis didn't go into her own room once she got upstairs, instead choosing to trail behind Percy to his. "Why can't you just come with me?" she asked, sitting down on his bed before he could try and kick her out. "Only reason I came home from school was that I thought we were going together." 

Percy gave her an odd look and carefully started taking the picture of their father out of its frame. "I promised my friend I would stay with him this summer. This has nothing to do with you, Art." 

"Yes it does!" she protested. "I can't stay there alone! Here- what if you asked your friend if I could stay there too? You could take me with you, Perc! I wouldn't be any trouble, I swear, I wouldn't even talk to you if you didn't want me to- I just-" 

Percy finally managed to remove the picture from the frame, then tossed the frame into the garbage can in the corner of the room. Artemis flinched when she heard the glass crack. "Jesus, Art, you know I can't take you. Ivan's family is pureblood, they don't want a little half-blood Gryffindor running around." Artemis tried to keep the hurt out of her expression, but failed. Percy noticed immediately and his face softened ever so slightly. "Look, what if I stay there with you the first night?" he asked. "Just until you get settled, and then I'll go to Ivan's." 

"What if it takes me longer than a night to get settled?" Artemis sniffed. 

Percy shrugged. "Then you're on your own. And anyways, you'll have Gregory around for company. He's around your age." 

"He's younger," Artemis said, pulling a face. "And I don't like him." 

"Well, you're going to learn to," said Percy. "Look, it's not that bad. Even if you don't have a good time, it's only two months. You're going to have to learn to live without me, anyways, you know I'll be leaving Hogwarts soon." 

Artemis opened her mouth to protest, her eyes narrowing critically. "You're only a fifth year, Percy, shut up. And-" she crossed the room to reach into the garbage can and pull out the discarded picture frame. "-these cost money!" She turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard behind her, the hinges rattled and Jane called, "What was that?" from downstairs.

The memory faded and when Harry's vision cleared again, he was standing in the Blake's dining room, watching what he assumed was Artemis and Percy's last dinner at home before they left for the Goyle's. The Goyle's. He couldn't believe his parents' best friend was related to Malfoy's best friend. He couldn't wrap his head around the daughter of a Goyle actually seeming to have a brain, but watching as she sat at the dining room table in stoic silence, he could almost see a resemblance. Artemis was sitting next to Percy, across the table from her mother and her mother's boyfriend, Alfie. Nobody was talking. Percy and Artemis were wearing identical scowls, the left corners of their mouths turning downward just slightly more than the right, giving them an annoyed sort of look as they stared down at their untouched plates of roast. Jane kept looking up at her children and then back down at her plate, blinking hard. Every time she did so, Alfie would look back and forth between Percy and Artemis and Jane in mild alarm and confusion. "So..." he said at last, "how was school?"

Percy and Artemis looked up at him with equal confusion. "Umm, good, I guess," Artemis said slowly. "How's..." she trailed off, realizing she had no idea what Alfie actually did. 

"I'm a librarian," he filled in quickly. "In the city. It's- it's a good job..." he trailed off awkwardly as Jane quickly stifled a sob next to him. He shot Artemis and panicked look and she merely shrugged, avoiding her mother's gaze like the plague. Harry thought back to the first memory he'd ever seen of Artemis, when Jane had gotten home from work and hugged her daughter and Artemis had hidden her Hogwarts letter so as not to hurt her. So much had changed since then. 

Percy looked back and forth between his sister and Jane, his lip curling into a humorless sort of smirk. "Why the hell are you crying?" he asked incredulously. "You're sending us away- not that I would've stayed anyways- but you're sending her away-" he jabbed a finger in Artemis's direction, "to a place she's terrified of going to, and now you're the one crying. You don't even have the decency to own up to what you're doing to her?" 

"You don't know what you're talking about," Jane said in a hushed voice. Alfie looked more alarmed than ever and he put out a comforting hand to touch Jane's shoulder. She moved away. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Percy, and you don't even have to go to the Goyle's. I'm letting you stay with your friend, so just drop it." 

Percy looked absolutely indignant, but Artemis kept her eyes cast towards the table. "I'm not talking about me," Percy argued, "it's not about me-" 

"Oh- for once, it's not about you?" Jane shot back, her voice rising an octave. Artemis looked up at her mother, then at Percy, who seemed shocked at the insult. "Percy, of course it's about you. Everything always has to be about you. You act like you care about your sister, but where have you been for the last five years to help care for her?" 

"I'm right here-" Artemis started. 

"I was at school!" Percy shouted, getting out of his seat and throwing his napkin down on the table angrily. "I was getting an education so I could get out of here! You're the reason I didn't come back!" 

"You take that back-" 

"No! You're a terrible mother!" Percy's voice cracked and he took and angry step forward. "I get it- Dad died- we were all upset, but you were supposed to take care of us! You were supposed to provide for us, and instead you left Art to starve here while you went off to god knows where-" 

Jane flushed and got up just as angrily, her blue eyes flashing the same way Artemis's did when she was upset. "I was working! I was trying to provide food, but it was a bit hard when your father's family wouldn't help at all-" 

"There's no way you worked all those hours and still couldn't afford food or heat in the winter or new clothes for Art. Either you're really bad with your money, or you're lying about something." Percy folded his arms and gave her a challenging look. 

Artemis watched her mother's face take on a million different expressions at once. She looked hurt, and fearful, and angry, and sad, and Artemis was sure something terrible was going to happen. Alfie was looking just as horror-struck, not knowing what to do. "Get out!" Jane shouted, "Get- the hell- out!"

"Gladly!" Percy shouted back, and he stormed out of the room and up the stairs. 

The room went completely silent as Alfie, Artemis, and Jane all listened to Percy storming into the room and slamming the door behind him. The whole house seemed to rattle at the impact and Jane flinched hard. "I- uh-" Alfie stammered, breaking the silence, "I brought dessert." 

~

The Apotheosis of Sabina. Trajan, who restored imperial prestige, hailed from Spain- the first Roman emperor to come from the provinces. His successor and cousin, Hadrian, was also Spanish-born but was educated in Athens. Hadrian led a Classical revival upon becoming emporer. He abandoned the age-old fashion of being clean-shaven and adopted the Greek fashion of wearing a beard as a sign of his admiration for the Hellenic heritage. Hardianic reliefs relied on allegory for largely personal reasons. First Hadrian proclaimed the beautiful young Antinous a god and erected cult statues of him as Apollo throughout the empire-

Artemis ran her fingers over the words on the page of her dad's favorite art history textbook, reading the paragraph over and over again and trying to memorize it. She'd spent the rest of the evening lugging the stacks of books from the attic to her bedroom and piling them around her bed. She knew she couldn't take them to her aunt and uncle's or to Hogwarts, but she hated the idea of parting with them. What if her mother got rid of the books that fueled almost all of her childhood memories? She looked over at Athena's cage where her owl was perched, a dead rat at its feet. "That's gross, 'thena," Art observed. She sifted through the pile before finally pulling out An Anthology of Greek Mythology, the book her mother used to always read to her as a child. She flipped to her favorite page, the one about the greek goddess, Artemis. She had the page memorized, but the words weren't the reason she loved the page so much. After her dad died, Artemis and her mother had taped a number of Artemis's favorite pictures of him in that page of the book. That way, anytime Artemis wanted to read it, she'd feel like she was with him. 

"Hey Dad," she whispered, lightly touching a polaroid of herself at the age of four holding her dad's hand in their favorite art museum. They were staring at Van Gogh's Self Portrait and Andrew was pointing at some minute detail, probably explaining it in terms far too complex for her four year old mind. Still, Artemis could remember listening to him in enraptured silence, hanging onto every word. 

~

"You've never travelled by Floo, have you?" Percy asked quietly. He and Artemis were sitting side by side on the couch in the now empty-feeling living room the next morning, watching the fireplace expectantly. Artemis shook her head. "Alright, well, just keep your eyes shut and your elbows in. And don't forget to get off at the right grate." 

"What-?" 

Just then, there was a thumping sound coming from the fireplace and, to Artemis's intense surprise, a woman dressed all in black velvet robes that couldn't be comfortable in the mid-summer heat stepped gracefully from the grate and dusted herself off. She had dark hair twisted into a severe looking braid that ended in a knot at the back of her head and very pointed features. Artemis thought she would be pretty if she'd stop sticking her nose in the air like a dog sniffing for a treat. She surveyed the room with beady dark eyes before her gaze finally fell on the Blake siblings. "Hmph," was all she said at first.

 Percy scrambled out of his seat and stuck his hand out to the woman. "Aunt Isobel," he said in a reverent voice, "it's so good to see you." 

Artemis followed him rather reluctantly, not sure how to act around the woman and feeling rather shabby in her denim shorts and her father's old Blodwyn Blood t-shirt. "Hello, Aunt Isobel," she said softly, standing a few inches behind Percy. 

"Artemis, Perseus," their aunt said in a taught voice. "Where is your mother?" 

"Oh- right," Artemis said, happy for an excuse to leave the uncomfortable exchange. She hurried to the bottom of the staircase and shouted, "Mum! Mum, Aunt Isobel's here!" 

She ignored the equally horrified and severe look her aunt and brother were both giving her. There was a crash from upstairs and then Jane appeared, her makeup half done and her hair askew, the shirt of her work uniform not tucked in. Artemis couldn't help but feel a note of satisfaction when she saw the disapproval forming on her Aunt Isobel's face. Jane rushed into the living room and stuck out a hand to shake Aunt Isobel's. "Isobel, hello," she said breathlessly. "Excuse the house and... my appearance." She looked down at herself in embarrassment. "Thank you so much for taking the children." 

"Of course," Aunt Isobel said stuffily, "all children deserve a... proper upbringing." 

Jane's face went slack and she drew her hand away. "Er- right. Thanks. Ahhh, have fun you two." She pulled Artemis into a hug and Artemis let her for a few seconds before pulling away. She started towards Percy, but then thought better of it and merely gave him and awkward sort of nod. "Have a good summer." 

Neither Art nor Percy answered her. Percy grabbed his own trunk and handed Artemis hers before picking up his owl cage. "Well," said Aunt Isobel, turning to sweep elegantly towards the fireplace but stopped when she realized that the fireplace was right behind her in the cramped living room. She pursed her lips tightly. "Come along, children," she said, pulling out a small sack of green powder. "After me." 

Artemis quickly learned to hate Floo powder. She watched her aunt step into the grate, throw the powder into the flames, which promptly turned green, much to Artemis's shock, and then stepped in and said loudly, "The Goyle Estate," before being whisked up through the chimney and disappearing. Artemis watched in awe as Percy stepped forward and did the same thing, not even bothering to explain what to do to Artemis before leaving. 

She watched as the last bit of Percy disappeared up the grate, and then took her own scoop of Floo powder. She cast one last look over her shoulder at her mother, who was standing with her fist near her mouth, watching her go with tearful eyes. Artemis faced forward again and set her shoulders bravely. She threw the powder into the fire and hesitantly stepped into the roaring green flames. They weren't hot, like she'd expected, but instead warm and sort of delicate, lapping at her skin and tickling her slightly. "The Goyle Estate," she said clearly, and then felt one of the worst sensations she'd ever experienced. It felt like all of her insides were slowly being pulled from her stomach as she hurtled through the chimney, her elbows banging against the walls and scraping up. When the network finally deposited her at the Goyle's, she tripped over the grate and toppled over onto the ornate carpeting of one of the many sitting rooms in the mansion. She let out a low groan and picked her head up, rubbing at her head and feeling a small trickle of blood run down her arm. She didn't open her eyes until she heard low, gravelly laughter from across the room. 

When she squinted at her little cousin, Gregory, she was struck by how much bigger he'd gotten since she'd last seen him. Not just bigger, but bulkier and older. She'd forgotten that he was only a year younger. "Even I know how to use the Floo better than that," he jeered.

"Now, now, Gregory," his mother chided. Aunt Isobel looked down at Artemis with shrewd eyes as Artemis picked herself up from the ground and dusted off her clothes. Percy was standing by his luggage, staring around the lavish room in wonder. The place was adorned in thick, decorative velvets in rich colors and old, old artifacts no doubt passed for generations through the Goyle family. Aunt Isobel looked perfectly in place with her luscious robes and tight hairdo. "Dinner is promptly at seven," she said in a no-nonsense sort of voice. "Gregory will show you to your rooms. Go and unpack, then change and come down for dinner." She wrinkled her nose once again at Artemis's disheveled appearance. 

"Follow me," Gregory said with a snarky sneer.

Artemis picked up her trunk and owl cage and started to follow Gregory, but stopped when Percy hung back. "Actually, Aunt Isobel, there's something I need to talk to you about," he said slowly. Aunt Isobel nodded curtly, then looked at Artemis and Gregory expectantly, waiting for them to leave. Percy caught Artemis's eye and nodded towards the door. She reluctantly followed Gregory out into the hall and up the winding staircase. 

"Mum says you're staying here because your mum doesn't want you anymore," Gregory said nonchalantly. "Is that true?" Artemis didn't answer. "I mean, it's not like we really wanted you either. Mum and Dad think it's really disgraceful, what your dad did." 

"What?" 

"Marrying a muggle and all. They won't talk about it unless they think it's just the two of them. That's how disgraceful they think it is." Artemis remained quiet, but her grasp on her owl cage tightened considerably. "Then again, your dad always did love mudbloods... according to my mum and dad." 

Artemis couldn't keep her anger inside anymore. "Then your mum and dad have it wrong," she said defiantly. "And have you ever considered that they might not want you either, and they're just stuck with you because they lost the gene-pool lottery?" 

"Of course they want me, I'm not a mudblood-" 

Quick as a flash, Artemis dropped her trunk, grabbed her wand from her pocket, and pinned Gregory against the wall, her wand pointed straight at his neck. "Say it again-" she challenged, "say it again and I'll hex you." 

"Artemis?" Percy's voice came from down the hall. "Artemis!" when he rounded the corner and saw Artemis holding Gregory against the wall, he walked quickly towards them and pried his sister's hand off of their cousin. "The hell d'you think you're doing?" 

Artemis fought Percy off of her, but let Gregory go and put her wand away. "He insulted Dad." 

"I did not!" Gregory protested, giving Percy a wide-eyed, innocent stare. "All I said was that I was happy she was coming to stay with us and she just- she just turned on me." His lower lip started to quiver and he looked down at the floor pitifully.

Percy raised his eyebrows, and then gave Artemis a long, tired look. "Look, Greg, Art's just adjusting to her new... living situation. I'm really sorry, mate, okay? Is this her room here?" He pointed to a nearby door. Gregory nodded his head and sniffed. "Great, I'll help her get settled in. See you at dinner, okay?" 

They watched as Gregory nodded, shot Artemis an evil grin, and then sidled off down the hall. "He's lying-" Artemis started indignantly, but she fell silent when she saw Percy shaking his head. 

"I know, Art," he sighed, picking up her trunk and Athena's cage and leading her into the first bedroom on the right. "Here's your room. You like it?" 

Artemis looked around at the dusty drapes, the cold decor, and the twisting, dark oak wood four poster bed, much too big for her to feel comfortable in. "No," she said at last. "I hate it." 

"Well, you're going to have to pretend to like it," Percy said, setting Artemis's things down on the bed and turning to leave. "I told Aunt Isobel I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon. After that, you're on your own. I'll see you at dinner." Artemis turned and watched as he left the room, closing the heavy door gently behind him. 

When Artemis was all unpacked, she changed into clean pants and a plain black t-shirt, choosing to slip her school blazer over the outfit at the last minute to make it a bit more formal. To be honest, these were the nicest clothes she owned. She made her way out of her room and down the stairs, going the exact way she'd come so as not to get lost. When she stepped down the last stair into the foyer, she could hear voices coming from the next room in. It was her aunt and uncle arguing. 

"I thought we were getting the boy and not the girl!" the unmistakable voice of her Uncle Gregory said angrily. 

"I know, Gregory." Isobel sounded as though she was saying the words for the hundredth time. "It wasn't my decision." 

"Is she anything like Andrew?" 

"Worse. You should see the girl. Like a wild animal." 

There was a long pause. "And she's definitely staying for the summer?" 

"Yes." 

"A halfblood, living in our house? What have we come to, Isobel?" 

"I don't know, dear. I don't know." 

"She'll be a bad influence on Gregory." 

"We'll keep them apart as much as possible." 

"Filth... Filth in our house. I don't believe this." 

"We're doing it for your brother, dear. Not for the mudblood. Just for your brother." 

Artemis couldn't take any more of this. She took a deep breath and opened the door, barging into the dining room and interrupting their conversation. Her aunt and uncle turned on her shrewdly, not looking at all sorry that she'd overheard what they were saying. "One must not interrupt, child," Aunt Isobel said stuffily. 

"It's rude," Uncle Gregory chimed in.

"Right- sorry." Artemis couldn't keep the note of sarcasm out of her voice. 

She couldn't tell if her aunt and uncle picked up on it, but neither of their expressions wavered from their shrewd, pretentious gaze. "Go in to dinner," Aunt Isobel said sharply. 

"I suppose we have to feed her, don't we?" Uncle Gregory muttered under his breath.  

That night, Artemis couldn't sleep. Her room was too dark and unfamiliar, the bed too large and there was a tree branch that kept knocking incessantly against her window, not allowing for even a second of peace. She jumped at every noise. At last, she couldn't take it anymore. She slid out of bed and opened her door slowly so it wouldn't creak. Then, a candle in hand for light, she crept down the hallway to the room Percy was staying in. She knocked softly on the door, but didn't wait to open it. "Percy?" she said lightly, her voice cracking. "Perc?" 

"Go away," Percy mumbled into his pillow. 

"Percy, I can't sleep." 

"Go. Away." 

"Percy, please?" she was at the foot of his bed and she watched him stir and squint up at her. 

"Fine. Put the candle out," he said grudgingly, raising a corner of the blanket for her to climb under. 

Artemis blew the candle out and set it on the mantle before jumping into bed and burrowing under the blankets, squeezing her eyes shut to keep the scary darkness out. "Percy, they hate me," she whispered, her voice quivering.

"Go to sleep, Art."

"No, I mean they really hate me. They want you here, notm me." 

"What d'you want me to do about it?" 

Artemis hesitated for a moment. "Stay here," she said quietly. 

"Go to sleep," said Percy, and he rolled over and didn't speak again.