three
the goblet of fire

        Given the events at the evening feast last night and the arrival of the three schools, all conversations the next morning at breakfast were about the same topic in every friend group.

        The Triwizard Tournament.

        With its new and 'improved' rules, it meant that you had to compete as a duo, therefore increasing the probability of being selected. Two out of however many seventeen year old Hogwarts students entered. The last day to enter was Saturday midday—two days away—and Artemis has already decided exactly what she was going to do.

        If she enters the tournament and wins, she'd gain a lot of respect from the Wizarding World and judgments made against herself and her family would be dropped. At least that's what she hoped would happen. Last night she spent more time dreaming about lifting the trophy than actually sleeping, giving herself plenty of time to think over her decision.

        Yes, it's dangerous. Yes, people have died. Yes, there's a good possibility she could die. But also, Aurors will be placed in every task to ensure nobody does something stupid and reckless, like dying. Artemis isn't stupid. She had O's in every single one of her NEWTs last year. It's not like she'll suddenly forgot how to cast a spell the moment a dragon breathes fire at her.

        The only issue with wanting to enter is the whole fuss about getting a parents permission. In other words, Artemis had to persuade her father, who is still grieving the loss of his wife, into allowing his daughter to enter a competition that could, maybe—possibly kill her too.

        As soon as she got back to her shared dorm room, Artemis sent Apollo to her father with a letter, trying to soften the blow, asking for him to write out a permission letter for her. In case she did somehow get chosen and would need to show proof. It was early morning, not much into eight o'clock and Artemis was restless, keeping an eye out for her father, ready to badger him the moment he walks into the Great Hall.

        From where she sat on the Slytherin table with Blair and Tiberius—who's in Hufflepuff—she had a perfectly good view of the tall, magical goblet that will decide who'll represent their school in the tournament. In front of the long teachers table stood the Goblet of Fire. Blue flames burned seductively from the top, practically begging Artemis to drop her name straight into its icy flickers. It was magnificently wonderful to look at, definitely caught in a trance, the flames mesmerising her, filling her with a winning greed and—

        "Artie?"

        Artemis blinked once. Twice. Turning her head around to rejoin her friends in the land of reality. Whenever her eyelids fell shut, she could still see the flicker of blue from the goblet against the black abyss of nothing. "Sorry. What did you say?" She asked, taking a bite out of some toast and spreading more raspberry jam onto her next slice.

        "Are you going to Hogsmede this weekend?" Tiberius queried.

        Hogsmede. Huh. Artemis almost forgot about the first trip to Hogsmede is Saturday, right before they announce the competitors. "Probably. You guys going?"

        Eagerly Blair nodded, her teeth on show, her face glowing with delight. "Saturday is mine and Sander's two year anniversary. He's taking me out on a date to celebrate," she gushed, her violet eyes dreamy and filled with adoration. An uncomfortable knot formed inside Artemis's stomach, the regret weighing heavily upon her shoulders, feeling like the Greek God Atlas.

        Tiberius pulled a face. "Disgusting. You two are disgusting. Love," he rolled his eyes sardonically, "makes me sick."

        Blair was not happy with that. "Just because Mags is more interested in her books than you."

        "Shut up, Blair!"

        Artemis couldn't help but smirk at the stammering of her best friend, his pale cheeks changed to red out of embarrassment at the mention of his crush, whom he's crushed on since first year. The three of them were sitting in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express, hoping to be sorted into the same House as each other. Anyway, the compartment door slid open and three children of the same age, who looked identical—save for the fact two of them were girls and the spare, a boy—asked if they could share with them. Tiberius wasn't happy about sharing with strangers—he's terribly shy and hates meeting new people—but despite his wishes, Artemis and Blair allowed them in.

        Camden and Marlene began talking about Quidditch with Artemis and Blair—the latter suddenly became interested in the sport because of how adorable Camden looked (obviously she grew out of that after meeting the Scamander twins) even though she couldn't stand a minute of watching it without getting bored—whereas their sister, Margaret, hated Quidditch so much, she made no input. But tiny Margaret was also incredibly shy and instantly took a liking to Ty, who detached himself from the four enthusiastic first years. Margaret sensed his discomfort and offered him a liquorice wand. And for Tiberius Nott, it was love at first sight. . . of food.

        "Why don't you just tell her?" Suggested Artemis, her eyes piercing Tiberius's, the greens of his eyes frantically jumping about Artemis's face. "I could always talk to Marls for you—"

        "No!" He yelped. "Don't you dare," he pointed his finger at Artemis first then saw Blair leering at him, he included her too. "Mags doesn't see me like that. I'm pretty sure she fancies your boyfriends twin."

        Both Blair and Artemis frowned together. "Lorcan's gay, isn't he?"

        Tiberius's brows touched his hairline. "He's what?"

        "You didn't know?" Artemis was astounded, it was so obviously obvious.

        "That's great news, Ty!" Blair tried to be the supportive best friend whereas Artemis wanted to laugh. "You have a chance with Mags now."

        The pair bickered back and forth about why Mags does or doesn't fancy Ty, while Artemis's attention got caught by her father, who had just entered the Great Hall, adorning his black suit, and he strolled with long strides down to the teachers table, in between Slytherin and Gryffindor.

        Instantly Artemis was on her feet, anxious to get to him quickly.

        "Artemis?" Blair tugged on the hem of her sleeve. "What's wrong?" The concern on her best friends face truly did sting. Wrinkles between her thin brows. Violet eyes darkened with curiosity and concern. Her lips pursed together. Her whole attention on Artemis. It only made her feel even more guilty than before.

        When her mouth opened, she almost forgot how to speak. "I—um—I just—I'll be back now."

Gasps sprouted along the Slytherin table as Artemis, rather impulsively, clambered across the table, accidentally knocking over Tiberius's goblet of orange juice, spilling it all over his clean robes. Tiberius threw the goblet at her as she ran down the length of the tables after her Dad. "Malfoy! You tosspot! I'll kill you—"

Artemis's feet collided with the stoned floor heavily, her footsteps so loud it drowned out many conversation and diverted the attention towards herself. By now Draco turned around, hearing the noise and was most likely prepared to tell someone off. When he peered over his shoulder and his grey orbs landed upon his daughter, practically charging at him, his face broke out into a grin. "Artemis darling," her father said, turning fully now to face her. "What's the rush? You know I can't tell you the results of the test—"

"Hi, Dad. Did you get my owl?" She panted, trying to suppress it as much as she could, hands on her hips to widen her lungs.

"Yes," he replied, completely toneless and his grin, gone and a stiff compression of the lips in its place.

Artemis reared back, pulling her shoulder blades together. "Could you write me a permission slip, please?"

"Let me think," her father drawled slowly, rubbing his chin between his thumb and finger, feigning thought. It wasn't difficult to tell whose personality Artemis followed. "Am I going to write out a permission slip for my daughter to enter a dangerous competition that has killed many wizards and witches before her?" Artemis's stomach dropped, her fists clenched. Annoyed. "No, Artemis. The answer is no. You don't have permission." He turned sharply on his black suede shoes.

"But Dad—" Artemis jumped after him and grabbed the cuff of his suit, his glacier eyes throwing a warning at her, ordering her to step down. "—I want to enter. I'll—I'll win."

Draco lowered his voice, as if aware that they weren't in enclosed space. Even if the students had gone back to their conversations, there were still some nosy ones who watched their interaction take place. "You'll die, Artemis. Your mother is dead. My wife is dead. I cannot lose my daughter, too."

Artemis inhaled sharply, almost choking against the oxygen the infiltrated her lungs. As her father continued to walk towards the teachers table, he didn't spare her another glance as Artemis stood frozen in her place. The harsh reality of his words hitting her like a slap across the face and a kick in the gut when you're already down. It definitely stung, his words, but was he wrong?

Your mother is dead. My wife is dead. I cannot lose my daughter, too.

▬▬▬▬▬

The owlery always has been a smelly place. Owl droppings covered the floor and Artemis made sure not to step on any fresh ones. Skeletons from dead and eaten rats or voles were scattered messing around the oval room, too. Her nostrils burned from the putrid smell, wondering if perhaps one of the owls had eaten a gone off rat. Even though the remainder of the summer sun still shone in the sky, a draft still swept through the tower, reminding Artemis to hurry up.

        In her hand she held a pre written letter for her Aunt Daphne. Inside the letter, she asked her aunt to write permission for Artemis to enter the tournament because—yes, she truly was grasping at straws here—her Aunt Daphne would always give Artemis what she wanted if her father had told her no.

        Whenever Daphne Greengrass came to visit Malfoy Manor, Draco would always tell Artemis off for eating too many chocolates that will surely spoil her dinner. But her aunt took pleasure in doing the opposite of what her brother in law says, therefore sneaking some chocolate to Artemis before dinner was served. She'd do it all the time, for anything. Even with Scorpius, too.

        If Artemis wanted a new broom, Aunt Daphne would buy her one. If she wanted to go see a Muggle show in the West End, Daphne would take her.

        So technically, Artemis could be seen as a spoilt brat, but it gave her faith to believe that her Aunt Daphne would give her what she wanted this time, too.

        Her owl, Apollo, was perched on one of the low windows, looking as if he'd just landed there after having flown around for a while. In his grasp though, he had a letter with her name written on it in hues of emerald.

        Artemis scrunched her brows, recognising the writing as her aunts. She reached a hand out to retrieve it, but Apollo—forever playing tricks on her—dropped it in a pile of owl droppings. "Apollo!" She screeched, her arms flailing about until her hands reached up towards her short hair and pulled at the roots. "You stupid bloody owl!"

        In response, Apollo flapped his wings jovially and let out an overconfident hoot before abandoning Artemis for the soaring blue skies above.

        With her wand in hand she levitated the envelope out of the pile of poop and used a cleaning spell to rid it of its stains. Carefully she folded it into the pocket of her Slytherin robes. Ye draft picked up and she decided to read it in front of the fire in the Slytherin Common Room. Although curiosity gnawed impatiently at her, her fingers twitching with a need to see why her aunt owled her.

        As Artemis turned around towards the doorway, a person came scuttling into the room, sliding on some fresh dropping and crashing into Artemis, whose eyes widened with knowing how this would end up. Covered in owls shit.

        "Oh bloody hell—!" James Potter slid forwards across the cobblestoned floor, arms outstretched to try and grab onto something to stop himself from getting a face full of owls mess. It was Artemis. He grabbed Artemis's shoulders to steady himself, causing her to step backwards, not once, but four times. Her feet tripped over each other as the momentum from James sent them both hurtling backwards, into what Artemis could only presume was a massive pile of owls shit. With Artemis underneath to soften James's landing, they fell onto the largest pile of rats carcass and faeces, Artemis being hit with the worst of it. The smell crawled into her mouth now. Gagging and coughing. she rolled James away, rising to her feet and sending a dangerous glare his way.

        Behind his circular glasses, his eyes rolled to the back of his head in disgust of what just happened. His face contorted painfully and he wasted not another second to get back onto his, surely unsteady, feet.

       "You utter twat," Artemis told him honestly—not maliciously, or devilishly, honestly. Because that's exactly what he is. When he looked at her, there wasn't any sign of amusement, mischief or smugness, he just looked absolutely disgusted and in desperate need for a shower. Artemis pointed her wand at herself before muttering the Scouring Charm, her clothes clean and smelling of lavender once more. "You're a twat, Potter," she repeated, her tongue flying a hundred miles per hour, "honestly. Do your glasses even work—what're you—why're you looking at me like that? Stop looking at me like—hey! Don't touch me—"

        James had an amused gleam sparkling in his eyes—despite being covered in literal shit—he looked positively entertained. Without any warning, he'd lifted his arm up level with her head and, grinning as he did so, picked something that had got caught in her hair—despite her attempts at swatting him away. "Calm down, you tit," he clicked his tongue, taking his time with untangling whatever it was stuck, "there's a rats rib cage stuck in your hair." When he pulled away she saw the tiny rib cage rest in his palm, missing a few bones. He let it drop to the ground and Artemis had no idea what to say or do next. "You're welcome," he chided sarcastically, arms folded.

As a reflex, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "I could've done that myself."

"Whatever, Malfoy. Just accept the fact that I helped and move on." A smirk danced upon his face, impatiently waiting for an acknowledgement for his help—which he shall never receive.

"Suck my dick, Potter." She countered, her tongue flying before her mind could even begin to think.

James scoffed. "Always so vulgar, Malfoy."

The pair pulled faces at each other just when an owl swooped uncontrollably into the owlery from behind Artemis, straight towards James and crashed to the ground. A crimson letter skittered across the floor towards Artemis's feet.

"Errol!" Too busy fretting over the bird to notice anything else, Artemis crouched down to the floor, smirking as she picked up the letter.

The envelope was a dangerous shade of red with James Sirius Potter scrawled untidily across the front, a few exclamation marks to highlight its importance. Artemis could hardly contain herself. It was a howler. James Potter had received a howler and Artemis, both curious and sly, wanted to know why he had gotten a howler.

So.

Artemis opened it.

A second too late James glanced up, panic in his eyes. "Malfoy—!"

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" The unmistakably shrill and authoritative voice of Molly Weasley exploded from the envelope that now faced James wholly, levitating in the air. "HOW DARE YOU BRIBE YOUR UNCLE INTO WRITING A PERMISSION SLIP FOR THE TOURNAMENT. HOW DARE YOU EVEN CONSIDER ENTERING. YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER HAVE BOTH WARNED YOU ABOUT GOING BEHIND THEIR BACKS.

        "IF YOU DO SUCH A RECKLESS THING, I WILL NOT HESITATE TO COME TO YOUR SCHOOL AND DRAG YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME, WHERE YOU WILL BE DEGNOMING EVERY GARDEN IN THE COUNTRY FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE, JAMES SIRIUS POTTER! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" A pause hung in the air. James held his breath and pulled at the roots of his hair. While Artemis, now stood completely in the room and leant against the wall, her eyes were open wide, undoubtedly shocked at Molly Weasley's howler.

James doesn't have permission, either.

The pair watched—mystified by the stern lecture of Molly Weasley—the red letter magically begin to shred itself up, the pieces of paper swooping to the floor, only to burst into flames of vermillion and icy sapphire.

Angry and clearly frustrated, James kicked a pile of bones and they sprayed across the floor towards Artemis. She let out a yelp, leaping into the air so not to get any dirt on her Doc Martens. "Oi—!"

"Fuck!" James shouted. "For fucks sake!"

"I assume that's not the news you were expecting?" Artemis mocked with a silky smirk adorning her face, with the aim of irritating James and ruining his mood even further.

"What gave it away?" He replied, his tone full of contempt.

"There's no need to get your knickers into a twist, Potter."

James rolled his eyes, stalking towards her and mumbling, "shut up." On his way out, he knocked his shoulder into hers, without even bothering to glance back at her, never mind an apology, he left her in the owlery, pacing down the steps as if he had somewhere he needed to be.

         "Nice chatting to you, Potter!" Artemis called after him, her tone mocking and full of scorn. "We should do it again sometime!"

        At the bottom of the longwinded steps, Artemis could only just make out his figure with her poor eyesight, James had lifted one arm in the air to offer her a rude gesture that was too obvious and predictable.

▬▬▬▬▬

Inside her robes the letter from her Aunt Daphne burned a hole in its pockets and frustrated Artemis to no end. All she wanted to do was open the letter and see if her aunt would grant her permission. Since the owlery, time hasn't really been kind. Between lesson and her friends trying to get her attention, Artemis has yet to find a moments peace to even open the envelope.

Lessons finished for the day a little over an hour ago. Most Hogwarts students were gathered in the Great Hall, watching earnestly as the older students dropped their names into the burning embers of the goblet. Once or twice an international student would come along and drop their names in, but since arriving, Artemis has yet to meet one.

Artemis sat with Marlene and Tiberius. It had been at least twenty minutes before the trio grew bored of watching students drop their names into the goblet, so they invented a game. A rather judgemental game, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

Whoever dropped their names into the goblet, the trio would engage in debate over whether or not that person would die in the tournament. If so, which task and how would they die. For a while it was entertaining enough to distract Artemis from her own greedy thoughts of eternal glory.

"Artie, look!" Tiberius gave her elbow a small nudge, his head pointed to the goblet as a pair of boys from the American school sauntered cockily over towards it. Their robes were two colours; Ravenclaw blue and cranberry red. Even it's though they have four different houses, much like Hogwarts, all students wore the same colours. Artemis thought it was a rather brainless idea, because now the Ilvermorny students looked like Ravenclaw-Gryffindor hybrids. And Merlin knows the Wizarding World doesn't need anymore pompous Gryffindors.

"They'd both die during the first task," Artemis declared, upturning her nose at their attitude. "They'd probably accidentally kill each other."

As if they could hear Artemis and her friends make judgemental comments about them, one of the boys—the most good looking one, trailed his eyes lazily around the hall, until settling upon Artemis and her friends.

Marlene scoffed. "Reckon they'd be stupid enough to throw their wands at a dragon instead of using them."

"Nah." Tiberius shook his head. "I reckon they'd die in the third task because they want the trophy for themselves, therefore killing each other for it."

"That's a good shout," Marlene agreed and inclined her body towards Artemis, ignoring Ty's protests as she leant across his lap. "Those Yanks are staring at us."

And they were.

Both of them were.

The blonde haired one had been staring at Artemis with inquisition, his eyes boring into her like she was a book laid open and bare, ready to reveal all her darkest secrets to everyone and everything. He then decided to wink devilishly at Artemis as he walked by, Artemis narrowed her eyes at him intimidatingly and unimpressed.

"Actually, I think they were staring at you, Artie," Marlene said, her eyes following them out of the hall questionably.

"That was weird," Artemis noted, feeling strange about being winked at by a complete stranger for no apparent reason.

        "Very weird," the pair mumbled in unison before quickly returning to their game of acting as a banshee.

        Artemis on the other hand, pulled out her aunts envelope and smoothed it over with her fingers. Her eyes brushed across the surface of her knuckles, momentarily hesitating at how much better they looked now than yesterday, when the bruising really stood out. After seeing Madam Pomfrey last night, the cuts had disappeared and the bruises could only be seen if you stared really hard. Artemis didn't mean to do it. She just lost her temper the day before September first. Scorpius has pushed her buttons and she'd locked herself in her room, screaming her throat raw and throwing a handful of punches into her bedroom wall, simply just angry at the world and Merlin.

        The envelope popped open after she slipped her thumb beneath the flap and her aunts writing was written in the same emerald as Artemis's name on the front. Inside her chest her heart hammered rapidly, her vision being filled with the sight of the Triwizard Tournament trophy, a bright blue of icicles and azure, her name—the Malfoy name being treated with respect and thought of not with animosity or distrust, but with admiration and adoration, like that of Merlin himself.

"Why am I not surprised that Potter would enter? Bastard thinks he's got a chance just because his father won," Tiberius interrupted her foolish and selfish dreams with a scornful sneer and a head jerk in the direction of the goblet, where the aforementioned boy strides towards the goblet with his shoulders pulled back and head held high. Beside him was Camden Wood, who looked just as arrogant as his best mate.

        Marlene scoffed. "Now there's a pair that would get killed before the first task."

        "Definitely," Ty chuckled, turning towards Artemis, but she'd already abandoned them and jumped off the bench, making a bee line for the goblet. The letter now tucked away back inside her robes.

        "Oi," Artemis called, stepping through the Age Line and pulling at the sleeve of James's shirt before he could drop his name. "Potter. Thought you didn't have permission?" She wasn't sure why she did it, but she wasn't inclined to stop herself from doing it either. Perhaps it was jealousy that James Potter had enough courage to defy his parents wishes and enter the tournament, whereas Artemis is too afraid of hurting her father and brother even more.

        James whirled to face her. Even Camden paused to watch their interaction. It was difficult to ignore the stares from those who watched, especially those of her friends, who must be thinking Artemis has finally lost her mind. "Nobody likes a snitch, Malfoy," he hissed at her, unimpressed with her calling him out in front of everybody. He was mostly worried one of his family members would catch him, seeing as that half the school was made up of Potter-Weasleys. "I don't see you entering," he straightened his back then, allowing everybody else to hear.

       Artemis dropped his sleeve and clenched her fists, her heart rate becoming impossibly fast at the prospect of James discovering that she doesn't have permission either and is too cowardly to defy her fathers wishes. They stood rather close together, their heights not dramatically different, but she still had to crane her neck to make sure that her serpent-like eyes unnerved him. "That's because I've already entered," she quipped tactically. Her eyes, for a sparse moment, averted behind James and towards Camden, who looked confounded with an open mouth and was ready to deny her statement. "Stay out of this, Wood."

        "Oh yeah?" James mocked, seeming to enjoy how the tables had turned. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Is that why you and your father were arguing at breakfast, because you'd entered?" It was obvious by the way his eyes twinkled menacingly at her did he know that she didn't have permission either. "Or was it because he wouldn't give you permission?"

        "That's not true—"

        "Prove it," James egged, fully aware of exactly what he was doing, whilst knowing how Artemis would react. 

        It doesn't take a seer to know what Artemis would do next. Her actions are always strangely impulsive when caught up in a moment similar to this one, where she is challenged to something she doesn't want to lose. Or maybe it's because this is the opportunity for Artemis to grab as an excuse to fulfil her desirous dreams of glory. At least this way she can blame it on James for pushing her buttons, rather than blaming herself for entering without provocation.

        The letter from her aunt is back in the palm of her hand. Artemis wasted no time in ripping the front of the envelope, which had her name and school written on it. Her eyes narrowed at James, who read the message clearly and stepped to the side. And all of a sudden, the goblet of fire that's been glowing seductively within her dreams suddenly became incredibly daunting.

        I cannot lose my daughter, too.

        A sharp inhale of oxygen later and Artemis pushed her fathers voice away. Just for a short moment while she betrayed him. The embers tickled her palm as her hand hovered above the flames. She clenched her jaw tight. Do it. Drop it. Do it, Artemis. Drop it. All at once her wrist relaxed. Her fingers spread open and the ripped envelope fluttered downwards, being beckoned by the flames until it was swallowed whole, being burned away into the tournament.

        Artemis stepped back, hand on her hips with her head cocked to the side all smugly and victorious. By the look on James's face, he knew he couldn't step down now. So in one swift movement, his arm lifted up the flames with his eyes on hers the entire time. And he dropped his name into it, walking off with Camden after Artemis smirked mischievously at him.

        However, before Artemis could even walk back to her friends, another person approached her.

        "Artemis?"

        It was Scorpius.

        Sharply she turned on her heel, facing him with wide eyes and a hanging mouth. Hearing his voice after so long of not speaking broke her heart. But what broke her heart more was the angry tears in his eyes; his silver irises swimming with heartbreak and disappointment. "Scorp—Don't—Don't tell Dad."

        "Don't," he said, his voice thick. Scorpius had an arm outstretched that stopped Artemis from approaching him. "You better pray to Merlin that you don't get selected."

        "Scorp, please—" Artemis lunged for him but he yanked his arm into his chest, sending her the coldest glare she's ever received, shivers of discontent ran down her spine.

        But he didn't look at her again. He simply walked away from her with sunken shoulders and a hanging head.

        What had she done?

        Your mother is dead. My wife is dead. I cannot lose my daughter, too.

▬▬▬▬▬

a/n wow this chapter was all over the place 😅

but everything in this chapter had to happen for the plot (maybe not the owlery scene but I just thought it would be funny 😅😂🙄)

sorry for the long wait it would've been out sooner but I've been over these last few days

hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I cannot wait for the next one xD which should be up by end of next week!

also, low-key hate myself because i've gone and started an Oliver Wood fic🙄🙄 so keep an eye out for that if you fancy 😉

leave your comments below i love reading them!!

thanks for all the support it's been amazing!!

see you all soon,

love, glesni x