Story Time

It had been the Hufflepuffs' idea to use the Room of Requirement for a little unwinding time and Harry had answered eagerly to the owl he had gotten to his room after they had gotten back from their little study session in the library. The room had been made by Ernie Macmillan and he had managed to make the room into a mix of all the house colours. It had multiple groups of plushy sofas, chairs and small tables scattered around. Harry was feeling the firewhiskey take effect now as he watched his classmates talking to each other at louder and louder volume for each passing minute. He giggled at Nott who was standing on one of the sofas and telling everyone that he was the tallest person in the room and everyone should therefore listen to his every order. The ravenhead laughed for real when Terry pulled him down and took his place on top of the sofa saying that he was the tallest now.

Surprisingly, most of the other eight years had joined the ravenhead noted. The only ones missing were Hermione, Parvati and Padma who were too busy consoling Ginny. After the little fight, they had at breakfast the wizard had been a little saddened by his closest friends taking the redhead's side. Ron had come around and seen his side of the story eventually and Neville had apologised to him before going to the study session they had in the library. It still made him laugh when he thought back to that session. The faces everyone made when the Auror told them he was a part vampire was too hilarious to him.

"Potter, what in the world could be so funny?" Harry dried a tear from the corner of his eye as he watched Malfoy sit next to him. His cheeks were rosy from the firewhiskey he had been drinking and he looked more relaxed than usual. It being late at night none of them had informed the Aurors where they were so the blond could face some consequences for being here without supervision. But on the other hand almost the entire eighth year, including Harry himself, were present so the chances of something happening to any of them were small.

"Just remembered when Auror Zouch told us about him being a vampire. The faces of every one were too hilarious." Malfoy grinned at him.

"It actually makes sense that he is one. That bastard can make you tell him anything without even trying." Harry raised his eyebrows at the blond.

"Really? Did he make you tell him about your crush on-" Before he managed to finish that sentence the blond quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

"Not so loud, idiot!"

"Malfoy has a crush on someone?! Who it is?" The two wizards both looked to Justin who was standing right in front of them with a big grin on his face. Everyone in the room suddenly turned their heads and watched them. Malfoy quickly removed his hand from Harry's mouth as he cleared his throat loudly.

"That is none of your business Fletchley." Parkinson came staggering towards them with a mischievous expression then and Harry just managed to move a little away from Malfoy before the witch settled down on the blond's lap.

"Drakey… have you gotten over me already? Did our romance mean that little to you?" Some of the people in the room started to laugh at the witch's antics but the blond himself did not seem amused as he dumped her on the floor without saying anything. The girl gave him a harsh glare but before she got to say anything the door to the room opened and everyone in the room froze.

"Lookie here, Ace! We found the missing lambs!" Zabini groaned loudly as his older brother and Auror Zouch appeared through the door and looked at everyone amused.

"Are we in trouble?" Harry looked at Susan who had asked the Aurors with wide eyes. Both of them laughed as the older Zabini shook his head.

"No no, you are all adults and we are not teachers so no worries but only if I can get a drink." Seamus waved them over to the little makeshift bar they had made in the corner. It was just a table that had all the alcohol they had collected together but it did its job. Harry laughed as the older Zabini went over to the wizard and grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey.

"Well, you guys did not skimp on the vintage. Impressive." Auror Zouch walked to an empty chair opposite Harry and Malfoy, sat down and smiled at them both.

"Impressive gathering you all put together I must say." The ravenhead grinned at him proudly.

"It was the Hufflepuffs's idea actually. The Ravenclaws had most of the alcohol though." The wizard laughed.

"I am not surprised."

"I am surprised that there aren't more naked people here! Remember some of the Slytherin parties we were part of Ace?" Auror Zabini sat down in the chair next to the blond Auror while he took a sip of his glass. The Auror in question rolled his eyes but he did smirk.

"They were atrocious, Queen." Malfoy snorted next to him while Parkinson who was still on the floor giggled.

"Oh, I've seen worse!" A loud groan came from Zabini as he sat down next to Harry. The ravenhead looked at him surprised as he now found himself seated between the two Slytherins he once called his greatest enemies but quickly found out that he didn't really mind.

"Why do you always say that?! What is the worst then?" The Auror smirked behind his glass as he took a sip.

"You really want to know that my dear little brother?" Parkinson raised her hand excitedly.

"I wanna hear it! Tell us, Sir!" Harry raised his hand in the same manner.

"I want to hear it too!" The Auror laughed at them both and nodded.

"Alright, gather around everyone! Story time!" Everyone in the room looked at the little group confused before everyone started to sit down in front of the Aurors. Chairs and sofas were moved so everyone got as close as possible to them and while the girls squeezed themselves together on the floor in front of the sofa Harry sat on the boys spread out around them. Soon everyone was seated as comfortably as the room would allow as Seamus started to send some bottles around the room.

When everyone had a drink in hand Auror Zabini clapped his hands and cleared his throat. Auror Zouch took out his wand and waved it around in an intricate pattern and the lighting in the room dimmed slowly almost to the point where the room was completely dark and then small balls of light started to float around them casting long shadows around the room. Harry watched fascinated as one of them floated past his face, he tried touching it but his hands went through it like it was some kind of ghost.

"' Spirit lights', very difficult spell." Malfoy whispered to him from his right and he nodded at him in understanding. The older Zabini clapped his hands eagerly.

"Perfect, Ace! This really sets the mood right. Now everyone ready? I warn you this is not a story for the faint of heart!" He looked around the room and seemingly met everyone's eyes and got a nod from each one before he cleared his throat and began the story.

~⚡︎~

"It was the first real big boy case that I was a part of. A lot of kids had been disappearing around a village on the outskirts of London. Well, I say outskirts but it was far into Merlin knows where, anyway, we were a group of four: my boss, Fritz Fry and two juniors Anna Shots, Phillip Swank and myself. The weather was horrible, it was raining and thundering like you would not believe! It seriously took thirty seconds for us to get totally soaked, umbrella charms be damned. We had been informed that a suspicious cabin had shown up in a forest nearby the village and people were hearing horrifying noises from that direction in the middle of the night, so off we went to investigate." Harry felt that he was seated closer to the edge of his seat in excitement. Everyone else in the room had gone quiet and all the attention was on the wizard talking. He took a drink before he continued.

"Fry was the weirdest wizard I've ever known. You all need to know that he was one of the older Senior Aurors then, closer to fifty I think and he did not give a damn anymore. The wizard just walked straight into the forest without a care in the world wand in hand. We saw the cabin soon enough and it was clear something weird was going on. It looked like it was made out of gingerbread!" Some people laughed as Harry frowned, it sounded familiar to him somehow.

"Weird right? Well, there was a ward around the whole thing and when Anna removed it a more or less normal cabin came to view. I never quite understood the point of having it disguised like a gingerbread house but anyway there was light in the windows and Fry ordered us to spread out and walk around the thing so we could flank whoever was inside. I can still hear the tune that was coming from the building in my head to this day. It was a slow melody in a deep tone almost like a waltz. I went with Fry to the left as the other two went to the right. The melody suddenly stopped and a loud scream could be heard from the other side of the cabin and we both ran in the direction of it. Anna and Phillip were both gone and the wall was sprayed with blood. It was like someone had used a paintbrush on the wall." The girls made gagging noises at the front and Auror Zouch looked to his partner with a raised eyebrow.

"You do not have to be so detailed." The wizard only laughed before he continued.

"They wanted to hear it though! Anyway, Fry noticed that a blood trail was leading to the door of the cabin which means that whoever did this had to have been sneaking behind us and dragged both of them inside. As we rounded the corner, however, Fry shielded me behind him as we saw Anna standing in the doorway but there was something off about her. That's when I noticed the melody again, it was going slightly faster now but the tone was still the same. My mentor approached her slowly as I guarded our backs, hold on to your dinner guys, when he touched her she collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Do any of you know the risk of doing the healing charm Brackium Emendo wrong?" Harry gagged himself now as he got reminded of the time when Lockheart had made his hand into weird jelly when he had tried to heal it after the quidditch match. Malfoy next to him shivered as he downed the drink he had in his hand.

"I am not drunk enough for this!" Bulstrode commented before she reached for a bottle and started to fill her glass again.

"Seamus pass another bottle!" Neville shouted across the room from where he was sitting with Luna to the other Gryffindor who quickly went to get more bottles and passed them around. Auror Zabini laughed again at them all and the other Auror just looked slightly amused. He didn't seem affected at all by what was said and had probably heard it multiple times at this point.

When everyone had calmed down the Auror continued.

"Lucky for her Anna was not alive when she hit the ground so we moved her slightly out of the way and covered her body with Fry's robes then went inside. I should mention that I found out later that she had been hit by whatever spell that made her bones like that first but then with a killing curse soon after so the poor girl didn't suffer much. The cabin was pretty normal, for a spooky cabin out in Fucksville that is, it had a fireplace, bed and a little kitchen nook and it was clear someone was living there as the kitchen sink had dirty dishes and the fireplace was filled with old ash. However, there were no signs of Phillip anywhere and Fry gave me orders to look around the place but I found nothing out of the ordinary for several minutes before I happened to look under the bed. A trap door down to a cellar could be seen underneath and one simple Leviosa later we got the bed moved and hatch open. The song was unbelievably loud now and the waltz had almost sped up to the step of a tango. It was drilling into my head making him feel dizzy and nauseous. I wish it had distracted me more so that I didn't notice the smell coming from the cellar though. Salazar, I swear you have never smelled something that bad. Imagine the smell of a dozen rotten eggs mixed with rotten fish and you might get close." Some let out noises of disgust and glasses being filled could be heard. Harry emptied his own glass and grinned at Malfoy as the blond filled it again for him before he passed the bottle to Parkinson on the floor.

"Fry signalled me to be careful as we still hadn't seen Phillip and at this point, I wondered if the man had led the same fate that Anna had. Oh boy if he had ever been that lucky but I'm getting ahead of myself. The old man was the first to climb down and he shouted up to me that the coast was clear before I followed. The sight down there is something I will never forget. Someone had spelled the cellar twice the size of what you would expect it to be and in the far back corner were several rows of cages, just big enough to contain a child each. The floor around them was clearly filled with all kinds of bodily fluids and the smell was even worse up close." Harry could not tell which of the girls had let out a loud gasp of horror but he swallowed thickly as the wizard continued.

"Sadly, most of the kids we found had already passed away. But two kids were still alive, of course, they were scared beyond their own sanity and cowered away from us and told us to stay away from them. One of them kept saying they didn't want to be eaten like the others. That's when I noticed over in the other corner. Piles upon piles of bones, both adult and child, I later found out. But the sight was horrifying, something was eating the villages and didn't have mercy either as the bones themselves were broken and were filled with tooth marks. Fry had noticed a red door that seemed to lead in the direction of the village and said that we were going to check that out before taking care of the kids. If something was in here with us it was no guarantee that we would be able to protect them. Carefully, he got the door open and a long dark hallway was on the other side. I followed like the obedient rookie I was inside even though I have to admit I wanted to just take the kids and run. As we walked the hallway the song was getting unbearable and I asked my boss if he could hear it too but he said he didn't hear anything." Auror Zouch patted his partner on the shoulder when he said that and the man gave him a grin in return. Harry wondered for a second why the wizard could hear a song like that but not the old man but the older Zabini quickly continued the story.

"As we walked we suddenly started to notice this shimmering mist that was creeping along the floor. Fry did some counterspell on it to disperse it and the floor revealed itself. It was covered in dried blood along with the walls. Like multiple people had been dragged through this way over a long period of time. I froze as I heard a loud chewing noise along with the occasional growling as I was about to ask Fry if he heard the same the man froze himself and shielded me again. Which I have to mention was futile as I was taller than the man so I could easily see over his shoulder. The hallway had opened up to a smaller room than the one with the kids and in the middle of it was a huge werewolf that was chewing on Phillip who was clearly dead by the time. Hopefully, the bastard didn't suffer much. The old man was trying to back up the way he came but it was too late as the monster of a wolf noticed us before we could get away. It immediately dropped its meal and dashed towards us with lightning speed. We both managed to jump to the side and as I rolled around on the ground a little disoriented the wolf went towards Fry. I swear I fired every spell I knew at the beast but it didn't even acknowledge me like it knew I was the one that didn't matter. The song in my head was so loud at this moment that I almost didn't hear the screams of my boss as he was ripped apart by the wolf only meters away from me." Auror Zouch slapped him across the back of his head then. Making everyone in the room jump slightly.

"Must you recount so vividly, Queen? I gave you a warning already." The dark wizard looked around the room with a slightly apologetic look and Harry thought he looked like a kicked puppy for a second. The older wizard got his glass filled and he downed the whole thing before he cleared his throat again. The atmosphere in the room was tense and everyone was giving their full attention to the wizard now. Even the little balls that were floating around seemed to sit quietly in place.

"So the wolf charged me next and as it pounced in a last attempt I fired off the strongest Bombarda I've ever done right in its face. I watched as the monster dropped to the ground and wiggled around in pain. But it was obviously not dead as it glared at me with the intent of killing as I noticed its jaw now seemed slightly in the wrong place, however, as it was prepared to strike again it was like it changed its mind and ran out the door. My feet were moving on their own as I scrambled off the floor and ran after it as fast as I could manage in hope that it would not go for the kids. As I ran into that room the kids were still in the cages untouched and one of them pointed to the hatch in the ceiling which I had come down earlier with Fry. Quickly I climbed up, which was stupid, never rush into that sort of thing, and found the cabin empty. I ran outside then and found Anna's body just as we had left her earlier. There was no sign of the wolf anywhere, the song had also stopped and I could only hear my own breathing and the rain that was still pouring down." He took a deep breath then and the other Auror handed him another drink which he took gratefully.

"What happened next?" Anthony asked from somewhere behind Harry as his view was obscured by some bottles on the table directly behind him.

"Well, I did the only thing I could think of at the time. I puked." He laughed.

"Then I manned myself up and called for backup. I quickly sent a Patronus down to the villages so that they could get a message to the Ministry in London so they could send help. I then went back inside to get the kids out and retrieve the bodies of my colleagues. Worst day ever." Zabini next to him suddenly jumped out of his seat which made Harry almost fall off the sofa.

"Wait! When was this?!" The Auror looked at him puzzled.

"92'. Why?" The face of the younger Zabini was stripped of all colour as he sat down heavily again.

"That was the night you came home really late right? I remember because I swear the elves were talking about washing away blood off the floor during the night." Auror Zabini looked thoughtful for a while before he nodded.

"Sounds about correct, yes. Glad I had you to come home to, heh?" He smirked but it soon fell off his mouth as Zabini shouted at him.

"You could have died that night! It was my birthday the next morning and you could have been werewolf food, why did you even go on that mission!? Fucking moron!" Later, Harry would blame it on the firewhiskey in his system but he soothingly patted Zabini's back and the boy first looked at him surprised but seemed to accept it nonetheless.

"So you do love me! I knew it." Zabini groaned loudly in his hands as Harry heard him mumble curses over and over to himself.

"What happened to the werewolf, Sir?" Luna asked then. Auror Zabini grinned widely at them all.

"We never caught him, so I bet he is still wandering around, lying in wait, revenge on his mind." Everyone shuddered at the thought of having a crazed werewolf running around the place.

"How did you manage to get back to the field after that?" Malfoy asked from next to him which Harry thought was a good question. If he had not spent half his life running from a madman he would probably never even have thought about becoming an Auror. The older wizard laughed then.

"I met something even scarier than a werewolf."

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and everyone jumped, some even took out their wands and pointed in that direction. Harry then noticed that it was Auror Blackmoore who came through the door. She looked at them all slightly puzzled before she walked towards them. The older Zabini started to laugh then.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." The witch raised her eyebrow at her colleague as a laugh escaped Auror Zouch.

"So this is where you are all hiding, why are you all so jumpy?"

"Auror Zabini told us the story of his worst case! It was super disgusting! Pretty brilliant though." Ron had spoken up for the first time that night Harry noted and he looked around if he could see his friend among the people and soon found him seated in the back. Their eyes met for a quick second but the other wizard soon looked away making Harry frown.

"The one with the werewolf who kidnapped kids?" The brunette looked to her colleagues as Auror Zouch patted the right armrest of his chair in a sign for her to sit on, which she did.

"Yes, that one. Remember it, Prince?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course, hard to forget. I was the bait to catch his partner remember?" Everyone started to question that immediately but the witch only laughed at them.

"Oh no, I'm not telling that now. That might be an even more disturbing story. Maybe another time, hm?" Harry heard Seamus boo from his spot on one of the other sofas and the witch laughed at him. She looked incredibly tired. Not that that was weird seeing she had just woken up from a coma, but there was something different about her that Harry could not quite put his finger on. He peeked at Malfoy in the corner of his eye and the wizard was looking at the witch intently like she was the only one in the room.

"What's with the weird nicknames you have with each other then?" Nott asked from one of the chairs on the left. Harry had been wondering that himself, even though Hermione had told them something about it earlier in the year he was still curious to hear the whole story.

"Oh, that's a good one! May I?" The older Zabini looked at his colleagues with an excited expression and both of them gave him signs to go ahead.

"Alright, it was back when we were third years. Some weird rumours were circulating around that quidditch players were getting sick in a mysterious manner. Jack was on the team back then for Slytherin and he told us that it was super weird, 'cause not a single player from our team had gotten sick."

"Bloody cheaters all of ya!" Seamus shouted which got a laugh from some of the others. The Aurors sniggered.

"So, we got our eyes open for anything suspicious 'cause we didn't want our friend to get sick and after a few days of snooping around we figured out that there were some Slytherins from sixth year that we're the ones responsible. They were mixing some weird potions that instead of giving the players a boost during games made them super sick so the teams had to replace their best players with the rookies." Harry watched as Auror Blackmoore took a glass that floated towards her and she whispered something in Auror Zouch's ear. The man smiled amused at her and he took a sip of his own glass.

The ravenhead was reminded of what the Auror had told them that they'd had a few drunken nights together and wondered if it was a long time ago or not. Shaking his head he focused back on the story the older Zabini was telling.

"King, being the proud Slytherin he is decided that it was spoiling the outlook on our House even more and put his foot down. So he got us together and we managed to bust them while they were dealing with some Hufflepuff students. It turned into a huge fight but in the end, we came out on top and of course, we went to Snape with the evidence afterwards." Auror Blackmoore rolled her eyes at him.

"The world was saved by the Slytherins, who would have thought."

"So he was called 'King' because he stood up to his peers then?" Hannah pointed out to the Aurors. The dark wizard nodded at her.

"Bingo, King was the only one that took action about it. Us being his friends soon got matching nicknames that somehow just got stuck." Harry tilted his head to one side when he remembered that Auror Blackmoore was not a Slytherin.

"Excuse me, Auror Blackmoore but you're a Gryffindor, right?" She looked at him and nodded.

"Correct, I got to know them in our seventh year. It was Queen here that gave me my nickname. Simply put, he is a Queen and I am no Princess so, therefore, Prince fits the naming scheme." Harry giggled at the answer.

"How did a group of Slytherin get to know one Gryffindor in seventh year of all things?" Parkinson hadn't talked in quite a while and Harry jumped when he heard her voice as it was slightly slurred. The three older wizards grew quiet and all of them took a drink each before Auror Zouch answered.

"We helped her overcome a problem she had with a potion project. There was a Professor who made a mistake with Potion Master Snape's teaching plan so we had Potions with the Gryffindors in seventh year." The man showed everyone a polite smile but something sinister lurked underneath it and the small balls of light in the room dimmed slightly as a warning not to ask any more about it. The witch next to him patted him on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

The room filled with pleasant small talk after that and Harry leaned back into the sofa with a sigh. Zabini had left his spot next to him to go over to his brother probably to ask him more about the night before his birthday so it was only him and Malfoy left seated on the sofa. Malfoy was nursing his glass carefully as his eyes hadn't left the older witch since she had arrived. It was clear the blond was thinking about something as Harry could almost hear the cogs in his brain move.

"Gotta give yourself a headache soon Malfoy." The blond blinked rapidly at him like he had woken up from a trance.

"Pardon?" The ravenhead snickered.

"I can practically hear you think. What is going on in that head of yours?" Malfoy snorted at him and put his glass down on the floor.

"Nothing." Harry raised his eyebrow at him.

"Really? Nothing? I don't believe that Malfoy." The blond rolled his eyes before his eyes started to twinkle dangerously.

"So what did you have a fight about with She-Weasley about this morning then?" The ravenhead frowned at the other wizard.

"Nothing really." It was the blond's turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow now.

"Really? Nothing? I don't believe you, Potter." Harry glared at him for mimicking his own words back at him and was about to resort to some colourful words when Auror Zouch clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hate to be the bringer of bad news but it is quite late and you all should go to bed for some much-needed rest. So if the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors would kindly follow me." The wizard got out of his chair, downed the rest of his drink and carefully placed the glass on a table on his way out. The students in question quickly scrambled their way out of their seats the more sober ones helping the others and said their goodbyes to everyone. Harry gave Malfoy a last frown but when the blond responded with a smirk a smile grew over his face instead. Ron caught up to him and looked at him with a curious look as Harry waved goodbye to the Slytherins.

"What's with you and the Slytherins these days, mate?" Harry just gave his friend a shrug and the redhead shook his head in return mumbling something the ravenhead didn't quite hear as they quickly followed after everyone else.

~ཐིཋྀ~

Artemis was watching the Forbidden Forest from the windowsill on the fifth floor as she had done many times as a student. It brought back memories of a different time, not necessarily a better one but at least it was simpler to understand. She had been too angry to sleep even though she had tried after Zacharias and Septimus had left to go on their rounds. The other two had been put to bed and their curtains were shut tight. The brunette could tell that Orion had fallen asleep eventually and hoped the auburn-haired wizard had done the same.

In the aftermath of what she had done to Orion, she had felt the guilt seep into her but she had shaken it off. He deserved it she reasoned but there was still a part of her that felt he deserved more. Artemis shivered in the cold and wished she had brought a blanket with her. Her uniform did protect her somewhat from the cold stone of the castle but nothing really beat a blanket in this case but she settled with casting a heating charm around her instead.

Her attention was suddenly brought to a magical core that was coming towards her down the hall. Despite herself, she laughed as it got closer but there was no one there. It stopped right below the windowsill where she was seated and she looked down in the general direction she could feel it.

"Mr Potter, why are you doing up at this hour?" Nothing happened as she smirked waiting patiently for the boy to show himself. When he didn't she laughed again.

"Again, Mr Potter, I know that you are there. Why are you using your cloak when you are an adult who can go wherever he pleases?" The ravenhead came to view with a confused look on his face as he pulled the cloak off his head and bundled it up in his arms. He looked down at the cloak before looking up at her.

"Sorry but this cloak could evade death, how could you tell I was there?" The brunette smiled at him.

"So can I and I could feel your magical core. It's not hard by the size of your power, Mr Potter." The boy looked even more confused now but he shook his head and smiled tiredly at her.

"I couldn't sleep so I tend to wander the castle. Using the cloak has become a habit I suppose." Artemis understood what he meant, some habits were hard to get rid of, especially something that has made you feel safe for years. She started to look out towards the Forest again in the belief that the boy would put on his cloak and continue his wandering in the night but it seemed the boy had other plans.

"What are you doing up, Miss?" The brunette looked down at him again and only found genuine curiosity in his eyes.

"Same reason as you. I can't sleep and habits die hard. I used to come here all the time when I was a student here." He nodded in understanding before tilting his head to one side like a puppy.

"How did you get up there anyway?" The witch was suddenly reminded of the first time she met Orion in this exact place. The blond had asked her the same question all those years ago and she could not help but snicker.

"Magic, of course." Potter frowned at her then rolled his eyes.

"Obviously." He then froze in place as they both heard Peeves down the hall and Artemis had to hold in another laugh. History sure had a habit of repeating itself. She looked down at him and gave him a wink.

"Stand still Mr Potter. No need for the cloak." He looked at her with another confused look but stood frozen as Peeves came into view.

"Miss Demon! What a lovely night to see you here!" Peeves spun around in the air in front of her as he usually did.

"Evening Peeves, found any students out of bed?" The ghost grinned widely at her.

"Oh yes, some naughty Gryffindors thought they could escape the smart Peeves! But I scared them back to bed." Artemis took a peek at Potter who was still standing completely still underneath them.

"Haven't forgotten your job I hope?" Peeves spun around again before bowing deeply in the air.

"He is sound asleep Little One. Not even a stir." She nodded at him and waved at him to leave.

"Good, don't you have more places to haunt before the sun comes up?" The ghost nodded before grinning widely again.

"That I do! Maybe I am lucky to find little Potter out of bed! Toodles!" He started to sing a song as he flew down the hall and disappeared around the next corner. Potter was still standing still underneath the window and Artemis grinned at him.

"You can move Mr Potter." The ravenhead looked confused as his mouth opened and closed several times before he looked up at her.

"How did you do that? Peeves always know where I am, even under the cloak." She grinned down at him before she Apparated down to the floor. The boy jumped and his jaw seemed to hit the floor as he looked at her.

"Di… did you just Apparate?" The brunette nodded.

"B… But Hermione told me that it was impossible to Apparate inside the school. Not even the Headmaster can do it." Artemis laughed at him.

"Honestly, Mr Potter if you put your mind to it you could probably do the same. It does require quite an amount of magic but it is not impossible, and Peeves seeing you? That is a secret. How about we walk while we talk? This castle is not exactly warm at this time of night." She started to walk down the hall where Peeves had originally come from knowing the ghost would be far away from them at this point. The boy followed quickly and they walked in silence for a while before Potter broke it.

"What kind of song did Auror Zabini hear when he was in that cabin he told us today? Do you know?" Artemis thought about it for a while before she remembered what the boy was talking about.

"Ah, yes I know what it was. The wolf was not the only one present, at the time there was a wizard there that was a master at casting illusions. It was him that made the cabin look like a gingerbread house for instance and it was him that made Auror Zabini hear the song in his head. The theory is that all of them were actually seeing different things and that there were two wards placed around the house but since the others that he came with died we can't be sure. We are not completely sure why he kept hearing a song either." Potter looked thoughtful for several steps before he looked at her again.

"He must have been a wreck afterwards, I bet." The brunette nodded.

"He might tell the story today with no problem but he did have a hard time getting back into the field for a long time after that and only calmed down completely after we caught the wolf's partner. But as he said we never caught the wolf itself, however, it has been years so I doubt it's still alive. It is always though seeing your friends die, that never gets any easier as I'm sure you know." The boy nodded and seemed lost in thought for several minutes as they walked. Artemis decided that the younger wizard could talk if he wanted to but it seemed he was not against her company as he was still following her.

"I had a fight with Ginny this morning as you heard."

"I think the whole school heard that, Mr Potter." He smiled sheepishly at her before nodding.

"Yeah, that's true." He became silent again as they came to the moving staircases and Artemis decided to go up the stairs as she knew Peeves would still be on the lower floors.

"She told me that I was hanging around Malfoy too much these days and was suspicious that he was doing something to me. Like, if he had charmed me or poisoned me with something." The brunette looked at him a little dumbfounded.

"Really now? She does realise the boy is not allowed to have a wand outside of classes?" Potter nodded at her eagerly.

"I know! I told her that even but she would not listen to me! She only kept insisting that he was doing something wrong. Then suddenly the others around the table started saying the same thing like they knew it to be a fact. Malfoy hasn't done anything wrong this entire year in fact he helped save your life, Miss! He almost got himself killed in his own room even! I just don't get it." Anger was radiating from the young wizard and the witch could not help but smile at him.

However, a pulse of guilt went through her as she was reminded that it was she who had tried to kill the boy. She knew the story the two wizards had between them and had to applaud Potter for changing his way of thinking when he had evidence of Malfoy changing for the better.

"So you snapped then?" He looked a little guilty as he nodded.

"I was wrong to do so but…"

"You were not wrong for doing so, Mr Potter. You were protecting a friend from others who don't know the truth. Let them believe what they wish, the most important thing is that you know what is right, hm?" Potter stopped walking when they got off at the landing to the sixth floor and he studied her.

"You sound like you speak from experience." Artemis nodded at him as she stopped a few meters ahead of him and studied him in return. It amazed her that this wizard had managed to save the entire world only a year ago. He seemed so naive and innocent to the world that it almost scared her.

"A word of advice, Harry. Tell only one person your deepest secrets and keep the rest in the dark. Not everyone needs to know everything and sometimes keeping people in the dark is better for you in the end." The witch smiled at him in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "It might sound harsh but some friendships are not worth keeping longer than necessary. Especially if they can't accept you changing in front of their eyes. You saved the world, Harry, your job's done. Time to be what you want to be."

They stood in the hallway and looked at each other for a long time before the wizard walked a few meters over to her and looked down at her with tears in his eyes. The boy was not a lot taller than her but enough that she had to look up at him. The witch smiled at him as she brushed his messy fringes away from his eyes and saw the tears now flowing freely down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry but… can I hug you?" The brunette pulled him down into a hug and the wizard started to sob on her shoulder wrapping his hands tightly around her in the process. For his sake, she wrapped a privacy ward around them so the people in the frames would not get a free show at his expense.

Several minutes went by as she waited patiently for him to calm down while drawing soothing circles on his back and saying encouraging words in his ear. Finally, he let her go and stood up straight while rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

"I… I'm sorry, Miss." Artemis smiled at him and picked up the invisibility cloak off the ground that he had dropped earlier.

"Don't worry about it. Sorrow tends to hit you in the guts when you least expect it. I'll follow you back to the Gryffindor tower if you like?" Potter laughed at her as he took the cloak off her hands and nodded.

"I'd like that." They turned around and walked back to the landing and took the stairs up to the seventh floor. This time they walked in comfortable silence and Artemis could see the light coming through the windows and sighed. Another sleepless night.

"I see why Malfoy has changed so much now, Miss." The brunette looked at him puzzled.

"Changed?"

"Mhm, before you arrived he didn't talk to anyone, always kept to himself and went straight back to his room after classes and meals. Hardly ate anything either. Frankly, he looked like a walking corpse but after you came to school that all changed. He's even smiling now. But I guess if you gave him a speech like that too then I get it." The boy laughed then and grinned at her. They were outside the picture of the Fat Lady now and she looked at them curiously.

"Thanks for the harsh truth, Auror Blackmoore. I'll remember it." Artemis smiled back at the boy as he turned to walk into the common room that she had once called her own and as she walked back the way they came she swore she felt a needle prick her branding mark again.