Tuesday, January 6th, 1992

LIBRARY:

The new School term had started up and thankfully for the rest of the week, Artemis had no lessons, unless she was counting midnight astronomy lessons, which she and Draco occasionally went to.

The witch luckily bounced back from her annual Christmas trauma and decided it would be better for her to study and keep herself busy so she wouldn't have to deal with what was going on in her mind.

She was currently sitting in the library trying to perfect some of her charms while doing some other research. Her favourite lesson was potions at the moment, however, she didn't mind some of the things she learned in muggle studies.

She was fascinated by how muggles used electricity, technology, and science instead of magic in their daily lives. Despite being a pureblood she was intrigued by people who couldn't use magic, it's not like she cared for them or hated them, she was just curious.

She kept on studying for a while until someone approached her table. She internally groaned because even though the library was slightly busy, there were other available seats.

She looked up and locked eyes with a green-eyed boy with a scar branded on his forehead.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked nervously. He didn't know why but his palms were sweating.

Her mouth morphed into a fake smile, "of course Harold."

"It's Harry."

"I know."

He shyly smiles and sits opposite her, taking out his parchments and some books he had got from some shelves.

She went back to reading through her potions book. Harry awkwardly scratches the back of his head and sighs.

Feeling his gaze on her, Artemis looks up as he gulps at her impenetrable eyes, "Say what's on your mind, something is bothering you."

"Ummm i-i" he stutters.

"Spit it out, Harold"

"You aren't going to stop calling me that are you?"

She tapped her chin, pretending to think, "Not planning on it anytime soon, no."

He let out a small laugh, "okay I guess I'll allow it."

"With or without your permission I was going to do it."

He pushed his glasses by the bridge, "I'm not really surprised about that but—umm– I was wondering something."

She narrowed her eyes, "Are you going to keep wondering, or are you going to ask me?"

He cleared his throat and sat up straighter, "Ask you."

"Go ahead." her eyes went wavering from his. He clutched his chair so it didn't seem like he was squirming in his seat. It was obvious to her that he was because he kept shifting under her gaze.

"Why do you hang out with Malfoy?" he inquired. Artemis resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the question.

It wasn't the first time she was asked this question and she knew it wouldn't be the last.

"Why do you hang out with Weasley?" she shot back, his eyes widened at her rebuttal, not expecting it. He was friends with Ron because he was the first person to be nice to him since he arrived on the train.

"Because he's my best friend," he spoke with conviction.

She raised a brow, "Draco is mine."

Harry licked his lips and shook his head, "But I don't understand why."

He gathered that the Malfoys were blood supremacists and hated anyone who wasn't a pureblood. He loathed Draco since their first interaction in the robe store. He just didn't get why someone as nice and smart as Artemis would be friends with someone so cruel.

Artemis placed her elbows on the table and leaned over, "You came over to sit with me, so you could ask me about my choice in friends?

Harry recoiled at the distance between them, "No."

She looked away from his eyes and peered down at his blank parchments and unopened books, "Really, because you haven't written a single thing since you sat down Harold."

His body temperature rose and his eyes looked everywhere apart from her face,  "I was planning on– I mean I was about to– I just was curious." he stuttered.

He's starting to sound like Quirrell. Artemis thought.

She cocked her head to the side as her eyes met him again,  "Have you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?"

"Well it's a good thing I'm not a cat." he sassed and she held back a grin. She liked when he wasn't his normal righteous self.

"Good because snakes eat cats." Artemis hummed and moved back, sitting more comfortably in her seat.

"You were going to eat me?" he screeched, attracting some attention to their table;  But the librarian shushed and shrunk back in his chair in embarrassment.

Neither of them noticed the three Slytherins look over to them and rush out of the room. 

She rolled her eyes, "No, because you aren't a cat, Harold, right?

"No– I mean yes– I mean no I'm not a cat." he stuttered.

"Are you sure? You don't seem sure?"

"I'm sure." he nodded, though he was thinking if he accidentally transfigured himself into a feline.

"Good just checking." she grinned at how she was making him nervous.

He cleared his throat again, trying to gather his thoughts, "You never answered my question about Malfoy."

He didn't realise how the topic of conversation had changed; From friends to studying, to cats and snakes.

Artemis was getting bored of the discussion and wished she never let him sit down. She began playing with her hair, which made Harry look towards her twists.

Her hair was dark, almost black, but in the light, you could see the chocolate brown shine through.

"I did but it wasn't the answer you were hoping for."

She knew that he was looking for a detailed answer as to why she and Draco were best friends but she didn't owe him that. She didn't owe him anything.

"Not really but-" he started but he was cut off by another voice erupting through the room.

Quirrell was standing by the entrance of the well-lit room, he was playing with his hands. His eyes nervously shifted between the faces of the students. "A-attention students, the library will b-be c-closing s-soon." his gaze found Harry and Artemis' and it lingered for a while before he abruptly left.

She looked at the clock and the hands told her that it was almost 9, meaning she had 20 minutes until she had to leave when she looked back at the boy, she noticed him wincing and immediately touching his scar. "Ahh." he groaned.

"What's wrong?" she didn't particularly care, she just wanted to know why he looked like he was going to have a brain aneurysm.

"It's just my scar." He traced his small chubby hands over it a couple of times before going to gather his belongings.

"Does it usually hurt in the presence of Quirrell?" it couldn't have been a coincidence, since he had not been in pain before he entered the room.

He shook his head and stood up, "No, but it sometimes hurts when I'm around Professor Snape." The teacher seemed like he wanted to kill him half of the time.

"Right." she nodded even though she didn't believe that Snape was at fault for his random pains. The brown-haired boy tucked his chair into the table, "Well goodbye Harold."

He waved goodbye, "Goodbye Artemis." He frowned when he began to walk away, he had suddenly forgotten the real reason he went to sit with her. He shook his head from the thought and exited the room.

The girl dropped her smile and went back to looking through the book in front of her while she had the time. She had read another 5 pages before a familiar presence had approached her and cleared their throat.

She looked up, "Hey D." she smiled at him but it faltered when she acknowledged the scowl on his face.

He leaned on the chair in front of him, gripping it tightly, "Arty why are people telling me you were with that freak four-eyed blood traitor potter?" he spat. His blood was boiling at the thought. He had run out of the common room when he had heard the news.

Her smile dropped, "Who are these people and why do they have my name in their mouth?" she was used to people talking about her, Daphne too. This is why they always jinxed the people who couldn't keep their mouths shut.

She always avoided getting detentions, it wasn't hard when she always chose to punish the perpetrators when she was conveniently around Snape. He acted like he didn't see a thing.

He gulped at her tone and moved back slightly, "Pansy, Crabbe and-"

She cut him off, "Your goons?" she groaned, "And since when do you like Pansy?"

"I don't." he denied, he didn't like the girl, she was always trying to get near him and it made him feel unsafe and very uncomfortable. He had to run away from the girl on many occasions, hiding out in the boy's toilets.

"Why are you speaking to her then?" 

"I didn't, she spoke to me." he retorted.

"So are you sending your goons to spy on me?" she didn't like to be monitored, it made her feel claustrophobic.

"Nope, I wouldn't do that." I would, he thought. "They just tell me things I guess." he shrugged trying to regain composure, "so were you talking to Potter?"

"Yes I was," she started to gather her things. Not missing the glare that appeared on his face, "I was defending you if you must know."

"You were?" his grip loosened on the chair that was in front of him and looked up at her, as she got up and tucked her chair into the table.

"You doubt me?" she questioned with a small smile.

He instantly shook his head, "No, I would never."

"Good." she smiled as he grabbed her bag and put it on his shoulder.

"So you were talking about me?" he asked, the glare that was on his face was replaced with a smug smile.

She nodded and linked their arms as they walked out of the library, "Yes but then his scar started aching and he left."

Draco laughed at the thought, "Stupid git."

"Yeah yeah come on let's go to the common room."

"Oh my merlin I forgot to tell you, Blaise has got your wand," he informed, remembering when his best friend waved the wand in the air and almost set fire to their entire room.

"I knew it, I tried cursing Theo this morning and I almost threw him out the window."

They laughed as they made their way to the dungeons.

***

Saturday, March 7th:

ASTRONOMY TOWER:

It had been a couple of weeks since Artemis and Daphne's birthdays. The Seramore witch was two weeks older than her friend, but they chose to pick a day so they could celebrate their days together.

Artemis was never bothered about her birthday, but she did like being the centre of attention sometimes, whereas Daphne loved it.

She especially loved how much Blaise focused on her instead of the random girls she would see him talking to in the other years.

Draco had been pestering her to go somewhere in the castle with her, he had claimed that he found somewhere that she would love, so he wanted to show it to her.

The two best friends were strolling through the school at 8 pm. Their hands occasionally grazed against each other making Draco shiver at the feeling of her soft touch.

Artemis never liked not leaning on someone, for some reason, she could never really walk in a straight line, her mother thought she had a vitamin D deficiency since she usually sat in the dark despite having many lights in her room. She preferred a darker setting, even though she loved the way the sun shone on her during the summer.

Due to her walking into people, she had to link arms,  link pinkies or someone usually put their arm around her shoulder. She didn't mind being touched, but she usually preferred if she initiated it, but if she didn't, then she had to trust the person or she would shrug them off.

She linked her and Draco's arms as they started walking up the stairs. She kept groaning because the steps felt like they were never-ending. She had been walking most of the day and her feet were hurting, 5 more minutes of this and she would have to ask Draco to give her a piggyback. She didn't care if it looked un-lady like she was tired and needed food.

Her best friend rolled his eyes, "you're so dramatic." they wore only a minute away from their destination.

She raised a brow and scoffed, "I'm dramatic?"

He nodded, "Yes you are."

"You're worse than me." Artemis was never a dramatic person, an extremely impatient person, yes, but not that dramatic, she left that role to her grey-eyed friend.

He instantly shook his head, "Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am n-"

She cut him off," Wait, let's agree that B is worse than us and leave it at that." her cousin was probably the only one who could beat Draco's title of being the most dramatic in their group. He was technically on the same level as the Malfoy wizard but he was just loud in his approach, whereas Draco was more emotional.

"No, Daphne is, she once screamed when she saw a small stain of ketchup on a pair of red gloves she wore one time."

"That is a reasonable thing to be upset about, they're two different colours of red." Artemis understood where her friend was coming from, just because something is the same colour does not mean it is the same shade.

He narrowed his eyes, "No they weren't."

Artemis huffed, "Okay so if I pour mayonnaise onto your head and said they are the same colour would you be mad?"

"Yes, of course, I would be, my hair isn't the same shade as a condiment."

"You just made my point."

"How?"

"Because you agreed that colours and shades are different."

"No I didn't"- he cut himself off when he realized that they had arrived in front of a door. He cleared his throat then looked back at his friend who had a blank look on her face.

She tilted her head, "D, we've been here before haven't we?"

He sighed, "We've been to the astronomy room but not the tower." They went to the astronomy room whenever they had bothered to attend the class. Since it was midnight class they usually went once every fortnight. He enjoyed the class but he knew the tower had a better view. He also liked the lesson since he had got to spend time with Artemis without any interruptions.

Other than defence against the dark arts, it was one of his favourite lessons.

She nodded along, "That explains the steps." she drawled.

He groaned at her irritated attitude and grabbed her hand, "Yeah yeah let's go."

He pushed open the door with his available hand, and let her walk through first.

She strolled in, still keeping her hand on his, and noticed the Ancient charts draped the walls. Her mouth gaped at the gleaming spheres of spun glass orbit one another in mid-air and planetary models and armillary spheres filled the room.

She was truly amazed at the site. She wished she had come sooner. She turned and grinned at her best friend. "It's amazing D."

That's not the best part, he pulled her slowly towards one of the balconies. He made sure that they were a couple of inches away from the edge, so she didn't feel unsafe, but she had walked to the very edge and looked up at the night sky.

The burning balls of light were scattered across the ether, Draco could almost see their reflection in her eyes.

"Arty, look at the moon, it's brilliant isn't it?" He was excited at how close they were. The tower was one of his favourite places on the grounds. He found it towards the end of the last term, he had to avoid many teachers getting to it since they had thought it was dangerous for any first years to go to, but somehow he found a way. He was becoming more agile like his best friend who also managed to sneak her way in and out of many places.

She was distracted by the stars to even care about the big white ball that lit up the sky, "Yeah it's nice, but the stars are nicer." She lifted her other hand and started to join the constellations. He smiled at her actions.

"At night the boys and I transfigure the ceiling into the night sky, it–um–helps me, I mean us sleep," he confessed.

She turned to look at the wizard and smiled widely, "That's so cute."

He rolled his eyes, "Don't call it cute." He didn't think it was cute, he thought it was anything but cute.

"But it is." she insisted. She made a mental note to change the ceiling of her and Daphne's room if the boys ever stay over.

He shook his head intensely, "It isn't cute, you know I hate that word."

She shrugged, then thought of something, "You're cute, would you prefer me to compliment you than your room?" she inquired.

His eyes went wide at her words, making her laugh fall from her lips, "Umm...." he didn't know what to say, he was taken back.

"Yes or no?" she pressed, she knew the answer since she had already dealt with Draco's ego for 12 years straight.

"I'm not cute, Arty." he groaned.

"Then what are you?"

He tapped his chin, before a smirk appeared on his lips, "Very attractive, scratch that I'm the best looking boy in the year." he proclaimed.

Such a big ego. She thought.

She smiled, "Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Fine, okay you're attractive," Artemis knew her group of friends were attractive despite their age. Draco's body temperature rose due to her words, he turned away so she couldn't see him blushing at her  "The view is beautiful."

When he finally controlled his thoughts, he turned to look at her, eyes scanning across her features, the way her skin didn't have a single blemish, how her lashes fluttered when her eyes gazed at a new start, he loved how her plump lips twitched into a smile whenever a star twinkled and winked at her. "Very beautiful" he muttered, she didn't hear him since she was fixated on the view. 

She was brought out of her trance when she felt him grab her hand tighter, they shared a small before looking back up.

"You know I was named after a constellation."

She gave him a knowing look, "You know I do, 'the Draco Constellation. Despite its size and designation as the eighth-largest constellation, Draco is also known as the "dragon" constellation. The name is derived from the Latin term Draconem, meaning "huge serpent," and the constellation snakes its way through the northern sky, which is very fitting since you are in Slytherin.'" she recited.

She loved his name, it was unique a lot hers, she even asked her Aunt Cissy about the origins of her best friend's name. She was informed by the elder witch, the history that was behind Draco's name. "Oh, and it's also a Greek constellation, just like how I'm named after a Greek Goddess."

she looked at him when she finished her rabbling, something that only a few would catch her doing. When they locked eyes, she noticed a twinkle appear in his iris'. He beamed at the girl, he dropped her hand and threw his arm around her bringing her closer to him. "So I guess we're a perfect match."

"I guess we are." She rested her head on his shoulder, and they stood in silence for a while before she decided to speak up,  "Thank you for bringing me here."

"I would do anything for you, Arty, anything," he confessed.

"Same D, same."

***

a/n:

let's be real Quirrell was stuttering like tina from glee, Idk how no one picked it up.

also, I wanted to include a harry x Arty moment because they have only interacted once and that was ages ago.

What do you want to see in the future?

Only 2 more chapters left of this act.