Chapter Eight, - Destined to Fight.

"When I was born the Wizarding World was in the middle of fighting the First War that lasted for eleven years. The Wizarding World likes to classify people as Dark or Light. It's not about the type of spells you use it is what you intend a spell to do that gives you the classification as a Dark or Light Witch or Wizard. The leader of the Dark was a person who called himself Lord Voldemort. His true name is Tom Marvolo Riddle which when you move the letters around becomes 'I am Lord Voldemort'. He was a half-blood which means he had one parent who was a Pure-Blood, whose family they come from is completely magical, in this case it was his mother and one Muggle parent which means a person who doesn't have any magic in them. Basically he started this war because he despised Muggles and Muggleborns. Muggleborns are witches and wizards that are born into a family with no magical background. He wanted the wizards and the witches to rule the Muggles, basically turn them into slaves. He was very bitter towards Muggles having grown up in a Muggle Orphanage.

There, of course, were people who fought for the Light and opposed him. My parents were part of a group called the Order of the Phoenix set up to combat Voldemort and his forces. My mother was a veela, who is basically a witch or wizard with a creature inheritance and veela's have an alternative form which they can turn into if you make them too angry which is a fire bird. In the first war her biological parents who were then called the Belavounts were one of the oldest and richest veela families in France. My mother was taken from them and given to a Muggle family by the Headmaster of Hogwarts which is the magical school in Britain. Eventually they found my mother and were able to communicate with her for a short period of time. Both her biological family and adoptive family were killed at Voldemort's command. My father's parents were also murdered when he was in his final year at Hogwarts. They were an old Pure-Blood line and extremely wealthy. When they refused to join his cause Voldemort had them killed.

The year before I was born a Prophecy was made which said, 'The One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark the child as his equal, but the child will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.' It could have meant me or one of my best friends, Neville. As both of our parents had defied Voldemort three times it could have meant either of us, so both of our parents went into hiding with the Fidilius Charm. The Fidilius Charm works by hiding the location of an object like the location of a home within a Secret Keeper. The Secret Keeper is the only person who can tell people where the object is. Even if you have been told the secret you will be unable to tell anyone else unless you are the Secret Keeper.

Sirius my Godfather and adoptive father was going to be my parents' Secret Keeper, but as the obvious choice they thought it would be safer to lead everyone to believe he was their Secret Keeper and use another friend to be the real one. Sirius would be the decoy while the true Secret Keeper was safe and unknown. They decided to use Peter Pettigrew. He was the weakest of their group but he had always clung to them because they were able to protect him through school. They distrusted Remus because at the time Voldemort was recruiting werewolves heavily and they knew someone close to them was leaking information to Voldemort. They thought Peter too weak to even attempt to leave their side and with the offers Voldemort was promising werewolves they jumped to believing the worst of Remus.

Severus, who was only young and foolish as he says, was on the Dark Side to begin with and told Voldemort the first part of the prophecy. Voldemort immediately chose me as the one the prophecy meant. I, like him, am a half-blood and by that time Peter was already my parents Secret Keeper and could tell Voldemort we were living in Godric's Hollow. When Sev found out he was going after me and my parents he begged Voldemort to spare us as he loved my mother ever since they were children, but Voldemort said he would only spare my mother.

Sev went to Dumbledore to ask for his help and Dumbledore said he would help him but only if Sev turned spy for the light side. But it was too late Pettigrew had already sold us out. On Halloween three months after my first birthday, Voldemort found us. I remember that I was sitting on the floor in our living room whilst my mum was in the kitchen and my dad was sitting on the sofa making coloured puffs of smoke come out of his wand while I was trying to catch them.

My mum came back in and told my dad not to get me too excited otherwise I wouldn't sleep. My dad then stood up and threw his wand down on the sofa stretching before picking me up and giving me a hug a...and kissing my forehead before giving me to my mum and doing the same to her. Quite suddenly the front door got blown off its hinges. Voldemort was watching all of that from outside before he blew the door off its hinges. My dad came running into the hallway with his wand arm outstretched and shouted. 'Lily! It's him. Take Artemis and run I'll hold him off.'" Artemis stopped talking to wipe the tears that were running down her face and rested her head on Jasper's chest taking deep breaths while looking down at Teddy who was still asleep in her arms so she didn't have to see all the pitying looks.

"I'm so sorry Artemis dear no one should remember the night their parents died." Esme said sadly.

"Thank you." Artemis mumbled but they all heard her. Artemis turned her head into Jasper's chest as his arms tightened around her as she was trying to hold back her tears.

"So, your dad tried to hold Voldemort off to give you and your mum time to run." Emmett said in a soft voice.

Artemis nodded her head, which was still buried in Jasper's chest. "Yes. He started battling with Voldemort to give us time to run but we couldn't get out so mum ran upstairs, but as we reached the landing mum turned around to look at dad and watched as Voldemort k...killed him. I started crying and mum screamed as we saw dad fall to the floor de...dead." Artemis took a minute to compose herself before explaining about the Killing Curse. "The Killing Curse is a bright neon green light that kills instantly and is not meant to leave a mark and once it hits you, you die there is no way to survive it and I'm the only one who has." Artemis said and went to continue but was interrupted by Rosalie.

"You have survived that curse?" She asked and Artemis nodded and this time she was interrupted by Jasper.

"How many times and when?" He asked frightened for his mate. Artemis looked him in the eye before answering.

"Twice. You know I showed you my scar on my forehead." When Jasper nodded she continued. "I'm coming to how I survived it and the second time was a year and a half ago in the war but I'll tell you about that when I get to that year." Artemis said and Jasper nodded and held her tighter as if he could protect her from her past.

"My mum ran into my nursery and barricaded us in. She placed me into my cot and she crouched down and said, 'Arte you are so loved. So loved. Artemis mamma loves you. Dada loves you. Artemis be safe be strong.' She picked me up and hugged me as Voldemort broke into the nursery and my mum placed me back into the cot and stood in front of it as he came into the room. He started telling my mum to stand aside so he could kill me but she wouldn't she begged him to have mercy and spare me and k...kill her instead and he just laughed. My mum pleaded to him, 'Please not Artemis. Not Artemis have mercy. Take me. Kill me instead.' And he just laughed and k...killed her. Before turning his wand on me and as he shot the Killing Curse at me it bounced back and hit him. It didn't kill him as he took several measures to make sure he was immortal instead it just stripped him of his body and he fled but he was still alive just too weak to do anything else. When the Curse bounced back it blew off the whole roof on the right side of the house and I was left with a lightning bolt scar on the right side of my forehead.

After a while Sirius arrived and when he found me he took me out of the house after wrapping me in blankets. Once we were out of the house he cleaned and healed the cut on my head and calmed me down as I was still crying. My friend Hagrid, who is a half giant, arrived and had orders from Dumbledore to take me to live with my mum's adoptive older sister as I would be protected by the blood wards there. The reason I survived was because my mum had sacrificed herself for me and it had invoked Ancient Magik. My dad had also sacrificed his life so it was their love for me and the olde Ancient Magiks that were protecting me. Dumbledore knew my mum was adopted as he had put mum with the Evans he knew the blood wards didn't exist. He always was the one to perform the Fidilius Charm so he knew Sirius was innocent.

Sirius gave me to Hagrid with the intention of coming back for me as he knew as well as Dumbledore what Petunia my 'aunt' and her husband were like as they had heard it from my mum and Sirius had met them. He was going to track down Pettigrew and then come for me. But when Sirius finally tracked down Pettigrew in a street in Muggle London, Pettigrew started shouting about how Sirius had betrayed my parents and then blew up the street killing twelve Muggles and turned into his rat Animagus form. Some wizards and witches can have the ability to turn into animals. My dad was able to turn into a Stag, Sirius a large bear-like black dog called a Grimm. They did it to help Remus on the full moon when they were in school as the Wolfsbane Potion wasn't invented then; the Potion helps the person to keep their human mind during the full moon so they are able to stay in control. Anyway they did it to help Remus as a werewolf is not a danger to animals just humans.

So Pettigrew turned into a rat and escaped in the sewers after cutting off his finger and framing Sirius for his and the Muggles deaths. When the Aurors who are like policemen arrived at the scene they immediately decided Sirius was guilty and sent him to Azkaban which is the wizard prison in the North Sea that is guarded by Dementors. Dementors make you relive your worst memories while sucking all the happiness from you. They can give you the Kiss which is basically sucking your Soul out through your mouth so you're left as nothing more than an empty shell. Sirius was in there for twelve years before he broke out when I was thirteen and he was the first prisoner to escape. He was able to stay sane because he knew he was innocent and as it wasn't a happy thought the Dementors couldn't take it from him." Artemis explained.

"That's terrible. Why would they do that to Sirius?" Esme asked.

"Dumbledore wanted me downtrodden so I would be easy to manipulate, he couldn't have me growing up loved and cared for." Artemis said with a sigh and looked down at Teddy who looked as if he would be waking soon. "Hagrid brought me to Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall who were waiting at Privet Drive in Little Whinging Surrey. That's where my mum's adoptive older sister lived with her husband and son. McGonagall argued with Dumbledore about leaving me there but he didn't listen to her and he left me on their doorstep, and just went off to a party." Artemis said and went to continue but was interrupted by Jasper.

"WHAT?! HE LEFT YOU ON THE DOORSTEP!" Jasper roared outraged his eyes turning black and he clenched the arms of the armchair they were sitting in, which looked like he was about to rip them off at any minute. Artemis suddenly heard the sound of Teddy crying, she looked down to see he was screaming in her arms with tears running down his face like a waterfall. At the sound of his son's cries Jasper immediately calmed down his eyes turning back to an amber-honey colour. Artemis started to rock her arms while humming a lullaby to him as Jasper started to run his hand softly through Teddy's hair, trying to help calm Teddy down. He felt terrible that he had woken up their son and that he had scared him and was trying his best to calm Teddy down, while gently wiping the tears off of Teddy's face with his thumb.

To Jasper's shock and his family's Teddy's cries quieted into whimpers as Artemis kept humming to him and he, Jasper kept softly running his hand through his hair. After a few more minutes Teddy's whimpers turned into hiccups and his eyes started to flutter close and soon he was fast asleep in Artemis' arms. "Arte I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake Teddy up. I just couldn't understand how anyone would leave a baby on a doorstep and that it was you just made me mad. I'm sorry." Jasper said kissing her forehead. Artemis kissed Jasper on the cheek before waving her hand and conjured a travel cot and that had an emerald blanket in it, and carefully stood up and placed the now sleeping Teddy in the cot. Artemis placed Moony back into her son's hold and placed the emerald blanket over him and moved his hair out of his eyes before standing up and waving her hand again creating a one-way Silencing spell around Teddy. Artemis suddenly felt arms wrap around her waist making her jump, but she relaxed as she recognized the scent as Jasper's and the fact that it was the same soft touches on her stomach made her calm down more quickly. "I'm sorry babe I didn't mean to scare you." Jasper said kissing Artemis' neck before leading her back to the armchair.

Artemis smiled and leaned into Jasper's touches. "Its fine Jazz and you won't have to worry about waking Teddy up anymore as I've put a one-way Silencing charm around the cot, which won't hurt him but it will stop him from hearing what we're all saying but we'll be able to hear him." Artemis said. Jasper and the rest of the Cullen's nodded in understanding and with awe in their eyes. "Right, after they left me at the Dursleys which is my mother's adoptive sister, her husband and their son who is a few months older than me. They knew about Magic and they don't like anything that they don't think is normal and they have a... erm a very medieval view on magic, they hated it and they hated me." Artemis went to continue but was interrupted by a horrified gasp coming from Carlisle making everyone look at him to see that his eyes were wide and there was a look of recognition, anger, sadness and fear on his face and there was also unshed tears in his eyes when he looked at Artemis shocking the rest of his family as they had rarely seen anger on their Mate's/father's face before.

"What is it Carlisle?" Edward asked as all his Sire was thinking about was the Egyptian alphabet. But Carlisle ignored him as he looked at Artemis who was being held in a loving embrace by Jasper, but Carlisle could tell that Jasper had tightened his grip on his mate when he noticed the anger, worry and fear in his face.

"Wizards and witches have always been feared the witch trials all those years ago prove that. There are some who try to beat the magic out of others." Carlisle explained trying to forget the terrible ordeal. Suddenly, he turned to face Artemis and demanded "Tell me it didn't happen to you to." Everyone turned to look at her as Jasper held her as tight as he could without hurting her, but Artemis' silence was answer in itself.

"Please babe, please tell me what happened." Jasper said softly. Artemis sighed softly and closed her eyes gathering her thoughts and fighting against the torrent of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her before taking a deep breath and speaking in a voice no louder than a whisper she knew the others would be able to hear. "When I was dropped off there they didn't want me and they made that fact perfectly clear. Since I was first dropped off there until I was eleven they made me sleep in the cupboard under the stairs..."

"WHAT!" Jasper roared, but Artemis put a calming hand on Jasper and kissed his lips which seemed to calm him down somewhat. "Jazz please calm down. If you act like this for me just sleeping in a cupboard how will you react to what happened to me during school and the war?" Artemis asked calmly. Jasper sighed and buried his head into Artemis' neck until he had calmed down and started to attack her neck with butterfly kisses before pulling back and kissing her on the lips. "Sorry babe I just can't stand that you were treated like that." Jasper said.

"It's fine. When Dumbledore left me there he left a letter explaining all that had happened for my Aunt to give to me but they never did. I didn't know that I was a witch let alone a half-veela as Dumbledore told me my mother was a Muggleborn. I thought I was a freak as weird things kept happening around me and my Aunt and Uncle made sure that I knew I was a freak, but I was just showing Accidental Magic which is natural and they knew that but they didn't care. They, mainly my uncle used to beat me whenever I showed Accidental Magic or for no reason at all, if I didn't get my chores done by the time he got home he would beat me and every time they did, it was worse than the last. I even got beaten if my cousin did something because he blamed it on me and they believed him as Dudley could do no wrong in their eyes. They were trying to stamp the magic out of me, which is dangerous as if they had succeeded I would of died or my magic could of turned inwards and could explode out of me if I got too emotional and would of killed me and anyone near me.

They would starve me and lock me in the cupboard for weeks at a time only letting me out to use the bathroom, from the age of four I was made to cook, clean, mow the lawn do all the gardening etc. And a few times my aunt would hit me around the head with a saucepan, my uncle would use his belt to hit me, a wooden bat, a cane and his fists and feet I still have all the scars that I cover up with a glamour charm and a few times he... he ran me over with his car when I was seven. A few weeks before my eleventh birthday my Hogwarts letter arrived and they wouldn't let me have it and burning it and any that arrived, my aunt and uncle also encouraged my cousin and his gang to beat me up and one of Dudley's friends who holds people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them, he used to always try to kiss me but they hardly ever caught me.

On the letters it said 'The Cupboard Under The Stairs' so they decided to move me into Dudley's second bedroom as they thought the letters would stop. The teachers didn't know as it was a self-addressing quill that wrote the address on the envelopes but Dumbledore knew what was happening at the Dursleys and he did nothing. And because of what happened at the Dursleys I find it hard to trust people especially large men. Anyway the letters kept coming so Vernon decided to move us, we drove for hours and ended up in a rundown hotel on the outskirts of town and when letters appeared there Vernon brought a rifle and took us to this run down shack on an island in the middle of the sea which was the day before my eleventh birthday. They never remember my birthday all they have given me is a coat hanger and a pair of Vernon's socks. At midnight on my birthday my first friend Hagrid who is a half-giant who works as the games keeper at Hogwarts and the Care of Magical Creatures Professor came to retrieve me. He told me about my parents and how they died as I didn't know anything about them, what they looked like and what their names were. I didn't even know how they died because Petunia told me they had died in a car crash because they got drunk as they couldn't stand to be with me anymore, so I always thought I had killed them because they didn't w-want m-me." Artemis said as she buried her head in Jasper's chest and started sobbing as Jasper held her tight to him trying to comfort her, the best he could without using his powers on her.

"Shhh. It's alright Darlin' you're not with them anymore and I'll never let anyone hurt you, Teddy or this baby I promise. I love you." Jasper whispered softly kissing her neck, but he knew his family could hear every word he was saying. After a while the sobs lessened until all could be heard was Arte's quite breathing as she had drifted off to sleep after the emotional display. Jasper smiled as he watched his mate's peaceful face and didn't have the heart to wake her from her slumber so moved to get slightly more comfortable and lay Arte's head upon his lap so she would be more comfortable.

Carlisle came over and checked Artemis over to make sure everything was alright with her and the baby, after he had finished checking her over he smiled happily and returned to his seat next to Esme. Jasper looked at him expectantly wanting to know that his mate and his daughter were alright. "Well Carlisle are they both okay?" Jasper asked running his hand through his mate's hair.

"Everything is fine with the both of them. Artemis' body just shut down from the emotional stress and I expect she is also tired, but her heart is slower than it should be and I'm afraid that whatever has happened to her in the war has affected her heart and when she wakes up I'll have to ask her if she is on any medication for it and if not I'll have to prescribe her some, but knowing from what you have told us about her family and how dedicated Andromeda is to her work I expect that they know and that she is on medication. But otherwise they are fine Jasper don't worry." Carlisle reassured.

"That poor girl she has been through too much in her young life." Esme sighed sadly. "I can't believe someone would treat another person like that let alone their family and I fear what else she has gone through if that was just at her aunt and uncle's house. Jasper why don't you put Artemis on the couch she'll be comfortable on there." Esme continued. Jasper nodded and carefully picked up Artemis and carried her to the couch that was next to his arm chair and just as carefully lowered her onto the couch, but instead of returning to the armchair Jasper lifted Artemis head up and sat down and rested her head in his lap as Esme came over and covered her in a blanket which Jasper smiled gratefully at her and returned his attention to his sleeping mate and kissed her softly on the forehead as he stroked her hair.