A Letter

Hi Artemis, I'm sorry.

I haven't got all the details yet, but I know you were hurt gravely and that it was the result of what I was doing. I want to assure you I never ever wanted to do that, I love you dearly and would never intentionally cause you harm. It's been over a day now, and I can't get out of my head if there is some true way to reverse time, impossible though I know it is. I just hope you're okay.

Another matter I of course need to address; I overstepped your boundaries. I stole your blood to use in experiments. I thought so many things wrong then: I thought I knew what I needed to handle it with due care; I thought I finally had gotten enough of a grasp on the nature of your power to try this kind of experiment; I thought asking for forgiveness would be easier than asking permission.

All wrong, all of it. I don't expect, nor really want that you forgive me for either of these. Not yet. Eventually, I hope you can, but don't try to push through your feelings if you aren't ready. If you have anything for me to do, or if I need to prove myself to you, don't hesitate to tell me so. You're welcome in my home at any time at all, wake me if you must. If you need time before approaching me again, please take it. As long as you are doing well, it's all that matters to me.

Yours in time, Eminence.

~𓅃~

Orion watched as Artemis dropped the letter on her desk, sighed and stood up. She put the letter in a desk drawer and just looked at him with empty eyes.

"I'm taking a shower then going to bed." He nodded and watched her go. The room filled with uncertain silence as the three wizards looked at the door almost expecting it to vanish in front of them.

When a minute had passed and there were no noises from the room or anything special coming through the bond Orion could not contain himself anymore and went over to her desk. Surprisingly, she had not charmed the drawer shut and he could easily open it and take out the letter. His brows knitted together more and more the closer he got to the end.

"Who's it from then?" Zacharias looked at him with annoyed eyes.

"Eminence." Before he got to say anything else Septimus got out of his chair, marched into their bedroom and closed the door forcefully behind him. The dark wizard whistled loudly at the other wizard's reaction.

"Ace is seriously out of it, huh?" The blond nodded as he pocked the letter in his robes.

"He blames himself for everything even though I told him none of this was his fault. Hopefully, he will come around eventually. Keep an eye on him in the meantime would you?" Zacharias looked at him confused for a second before the meaning behind the words seemed to click and he nodded seriously.

"Will do, King." Orion sighed, he was tired beyond belief but this chance had presented itself before him and it was uncertain he would be getting one as good as this again. Artemis would be asleep soon and would not notice anything through the bond if he was careful to keep his emotions in check. As he stood there thinking about what to do Cyril entered the office.

"Ey, Jack where have you been, mate?" The wizard looked at them both in turn confused for a second before shrugging.

"Took a few laps around the Quidditch pitch as I woke up way too early. What happened?" Orion took out the letter from his pocket again and showed it to Cyril. The wizard's anger was clear on his face when he gave it back to the blond.

"Bloody idiot. She didn't even have the courage to come here herself?" Queen laughed loudly at him.

"Oh sure, let her just walk into the snake pit, huh? Of course, she didn't come here herself. Ace would probably curse her straight out of the floo. Merlin knows what Artemis would have done." Zacharias had a point Orion noted. There was a good chance the witch had thought in a similar fashion by sending an owl instead of showing up in person and he had to admit she had made the right choice.

"I'm going to London. Eminence is going to get a visitor and while I'm there I'm going to see how the Weasley's are doing. Tell Artemis I am visiting them if she asks." He gave Cyril a strict look and the man held up his hands in defeat.

"She can probably tell where you are going anyway, mate." Zacharias said from behind his desk and both wizards looked at him as he grinned.

"What? The woman is not stupid. A letter, she reads letter, you suddenly vanish, yeah no way she knows where you are." Orion sighed in defeat as he looked at both of them in turn.

"Just keep an eye on her." They both nodded as he went towards the fireplace and took a fist of floo powder, however before throwing it in he turned to them one last time.

"Send me a Patronus if something were to happen." When he had gotten another nod from both of them he threw the powder in and clearly said.

"Ministry of Magic."

~ཐིཋྀ~

The brunette jumped slightly as Septimus walked into the room and banged the door shut. When he noticed her he stopped in his tracks and immediately looked guilty.

"My apologies. I thought you were already in the shower." Artemis shook her head as she had simply sat down on her bed to think for a little while as she had entered the room. She pulled herself from the quicksand of thoughts she was sinking into and studied her friend before her.

Now that they were alone she was free to look at him however she pleased. Septimus was not a shy man by any means and he often chose to ignore the looks he got from people on the streets. Like the rest of the Slytherins, he knew he had the looks to get anything he wanted. However, it was never necessary as one sentence from him gave him anything anyway. A giggle escaped her suddenly while he threw a shirt over his shoulders. The dark blond sent her a curious look.

"Do I really look that humorous without any clothing?" His peculiar way of speaking got her to giggle more as she shook her head.

"No, sorry. I'm not laughing at that." Still giggling slightly she stood up and walked to stand in front of him. Curiosity was still evident in his eyes but a faint shimmer of guilt was still hiding underneath. However, he said nothing as she straightened his shirt and started to button it up. Silence filled the room as she worked on the buttons and when she was done she looked up at him. When their eyes met the guilt was more clear in his eyes.

"Artemis, I-"

"You haven't changed much since the last time I saw you without a shirt. How many years has it been? Three?" Confusion replaced the guilt suddenly as he furrowed his eyebrows before realizing what she was talking about.

"I will have you know that I am working out regularly, but pardon me for not being a mountain like Queen." She laughed as a slight smile appeared on his face.

"Four years went by fast, did they not?" The brunette rolled her eyes at the way he corrected her.

"It really did. I came to you that night for revenge on Orion but I am sure you knew that." He kept smiling at her as he nodded.

"Yes. It was obvious. However, I am glad you came to me instead of going to a stranger. We had an enjoyable night after all. Do not think I have forgotten it." The brunette slapped him playfully on the chest as she laughed.

"With all that wine I'm surprised I remember myself. But you're right, it was an enjoyable night." Septimus looked at her confused again as she stood up on her toes and kissed his forehead.

"This makes us even now, Septimus. I used you for revenge and you blame yourself for something you could have avoided." The dark blond looked down at her with sorrow in his eyes but a slight smile graced his lips anyway.

"How fortunate I am to have such a forgiving Prince as my ruler." They both laughed softly at each other before Artemis looked at him with seriousness in her eyes.

"I mean it, Septimus. I don't blame you for any of this. So don't blame yourself, please." His sky-blue eyes studied her for a long time before he pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear.

"As you wish, my Prince. But know that I will not forgive her for as long as I live. What she did can not be excused." The brunette wrapped her arms around his waist as she hugged him in return. It was a reasonable thing for him to say as she was still unsure if she was going to forgive Eminence herself at this point but as long the other wizard did not get eaten by the guilt in front of her eyes it was fine by her.

After a few minutes of silence, he pulled away from her.

"I should let you clean up so that you can sleep. I need to get back to work myself. I will be in the office the entire day so shout for me if you need me, will you?" Smiling at him she nodded in thanks as he gave her one last look before leaving the bedroom leaving her once more alone.

The brunette grabbed a clean nightshirt and went into her bathroom. Steam was quick to fill the room after she had spelled the shower on. While she waited she stripped down and took a second to look in the mirror. Dark circles were clear under her eyes and her skin looked ashen compared to what it used to be. As she dropped the Glamour the scars seemed to show even easier now than they used to. The splinching scar was the most obvious and she was reminded again about how lucky she had been that Draco knew the correct spells to save her life. It was an impressive show of magic abilities as it was close to how Severus had healed her other scars. It was obvious who his teacher had been. As she stepped under the running water she heard someone enter the room and close the door softly behind them.

~𓅃~

The blond was walking at a slow pace down Diagon Alley in the direction of the Weasley's shop. On his way there he had decided to go to them first as he had no idea how his mood would be after he had visited Eminence. It was a calm morning as most shops had not opened yet it being just a little bit past eight.

He hoped that the Weasley brothers were up at this point and him showing up this early was not alarming to the younger one. Even if he had brushed it off when Cyril had mentioned it he did actually think about the other man from time to time in the middle of everything else. When the youngest Weasley brother had surprised them in the hall with his thanks he was relieved that Healer Crane had taken the request seriously. The wizard was indeed a war hero after all.

It was obvious that the few people around felt safe to see an Auror walking so openly in the streets by the way they all said hello to him as he passed. Of course, there were many hidden around the Alley daily and Orion had given some of them a quick nod of recognition already on his way. He could see the store in front of him now and was surprised to see lights in the shop windows as he got closer. Stopping in front of the door he pulled out his Auror badge just in case before he knocked on the door. Within a few minutes, he saw Charlie Weasley on his way to open the door. His confused expression soon turned into a bright smile as he quickly opened the door for him.

"Auror Silver! What a surprise! What brings you here so early?" The bright smile got the better of him and he smiled in return.

"Mr Weasley. I had something to do here in Diagon today and I thought of visiting to see how your brother is doing. Is this a good time?" The redhead laughed.

"Call me Charlie and yes this is a perfect time actually. We were just eating breakfast. Have you eaten? There is enough for you as well." Orion had to smile wider at the typical Weasley hospitality as he nodded.

"Then I thank you for the invitation, Charlie." The man grinned at him and moved away from the door and let him in. Quick to close it again when he was safe inside.

"Follow me, Mr Silver."

"Orion." Charlie stopped to look at him confused before he grinned again.

"This way, Orion." The blond was led up the same stairs he had the night when Artemis had woken up but this time the wizard walking in front of him was more confident in his steps and he had every right to be when Orion saw the big change to the apartment. He looked around impressed as all the trash and clothes had been cleaned up and it looked liveable again.

The younger Weasley was sitting at a small dining table he had not noticed the first time he was there and wondered if it was new.

"Auror Silver!" The redhead stood up suddenly and dropped his toast on the plate in front of him. Orion froze to the spot as the younger wizard almost ran towards him and grabbed his hand and started shaking it.

"I owe you my life, Sir. Thank you so much for all the help you have given me and my family." Charlie took a hold of him and pulled him a little away from Orion.

"Calm down, George. Don't scare the man, he is staying for breakfast." The redhead scratched his head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Sir. It's just that I didn't know how to thank you. I've been thinking about sending owls but I never knew what to write down. So when I saw you I just -" Orion held up his hand and patted the other man on the shoulder.

"It's fine, Mr Weasley. I see your new treatment is doing you good. I did say to your brother that Healer Crane is the best of the best. I also heard from your younger brother that he apparently gave your old Healers a piece of his mind." Both of them started to laugh as they got reminded of it.

"Yes, you should have seen him. I've never seen a Healer that furious. When I said to him that it was one hundred percent correct what was written in George's medical file I thought he was going to hex everyone on his way to the other Healer's office. But let's talk while we eat, yeah? Have a seat, Orion."

Orion pulled out a chair from the table as he waited for Charlie to make him some toast and an egg. He was quickly reminded of his empty stomach as the smell of a fried egg filled his nose and cursed himself for not thinking about that sooner.

To distract him from his tormenting stomach he studied the man on the other side of the table. George looked considerably better than he had done the first time he had seen him. Colour had returned to his skin and it seemed he had gained a little bit of weight. The dark circles were still evident under his eyes but they were not as bad anymore so he must have started to sleep better. Knowing Healer Crane he probably took away his privilege to always get Dreamless Sleep when he wanted to and had made him sleep without them for the time being. He would not sleep much for a long time but it was better than continuing the spiral of drug abuse.

"How are you feeling these days, George? If I can call you that." The redhead looked at him with pride evident in his eyes.

"Of course, you can call me that. After I swapped over to Healer Crane I've been feeling much better. He took away most of the potions I was on and ordered me to live without them. The first few days were hell but Charlie has been here the entire time to watch over me and the shop so that made it a little better. Ah, Harry comes by from time to time as well." The blond raised his eyebrow at him.

"Potter does?"

"He owns half of the shop you see. Blamed it on that he didn't need the extra money so he poured it into the shop. He comes by from time to time to check on stuff and help around." Charlie said from behind the kitchen counter with a grin.

"But of course, he only does it on the weekend when he doesn't have school the next day." He winked at Orion as the blond smirked in return.

"Right. Well, you look better George. I'm glad but know that Healer Crane is an extremely strict Healer. He expects progress from you." The redhead nodded seriously in return.

"I want to get better. My vision cleared when I stopped taking all the other potions let's just say. The first night I couldn't sleep I started to clean the place. Slowly, of course. As the hours went by I had suddenly cleaned the entire place and I felt so good afterwards. I cried. Not even joking." Orion smiled at him.

"I can imagine." Charlie then came and put a pile of toast and fried eggs on the table as well as mugs filled with tea. The blond had to remember to stay polite so that he didn't wolf down the food in front of him.

As the conversation turned to that of other things. Quidditch, new experiments for the shop, their school days. Suddenly, Charlie looked at him with a worried look.

"I'm sorry, Orion but I've totally forgotten to ask you about Artemis. Is she OK?" Orion nodded without thinking about it.

"She had been better but under the circumstances she is fine. Was back to work already on Monday morning." He noticed the curious expression on the younger redhead and was prepared for the question.

"What happened to her?"

"There was a Death Eater attack in the Leaky, she was in the middle of it." Both of them looked at him wide-eyed.

"That was Artemis?! We heard that there were multiple Death Eaters in there at one point and only one Auror who fought to keep everyone safe. Wow, I want her to be a dragon tamer even more now." Charlie laughed at his own joke as his brother rolled his eyes at him.

"I'm curious about when you worked with her, Charlie. I haven't heard her mention that before." Charlie took a bite of his toast as he thought about his answer.

"Oh, it was a long time ago. She was one of the Aurors they sent down to Romania after a couple of dragons managed to escape their closed habitats. It was chaos. But I swear I've never seen someone handle those beats as she did. That woman is total without fear. I watched as she just marched up to one of our biggest males and just ordered it to calm down and the bloody thing listened!" Orion was not surprised in the slightest by what he heard. The dragons probably could tell what she was and obeyed without question. The Ministry had gotten lucky that they had sent her it seemed.

"That is impressive, true. I don't doubt it." The talk flowed into ordinary chatter after that and Orion soon looked at a clock that was placed on one of the walls and noticed that it read just past ten.

"I'm sorry gentlemen but you probably have to open the shop and I need to get going." Both of the redheads were quick to look at the time and both of them got up from their chairs in a hurry.

"Bloody hell, time flew by fast. Sorry to throw you out like this Orion. Never thought I would enjoy having a conversation with a Slytherin for this long." Charlie's expression was filled with humour as he said it and Orion smirked in return.

"Likewise, Charlie. Never thought I would enjoy being in the company of two Gryffindors." They all laughed as Charlie spelled the dishes into the kitchen and was quick to follow them downstairs. Some people were already staring confused inside the shop to try and figure out why they hadn't opened yet. Orion shook both their hands before he walked towards the door.

"Ah, thank you again, Orion. I'm going to fight to get even better so the next time you visit you won't recognise me." The blond smiled at the younger redhead and slipped out of the door as Charlie opened it and greeted their customers.

~ཐིཋྀ~

The brunette froze as a pair of warm hands touched her bare shoulders.

"It's me." Cyril's voice was a whisper as he started to massage her shoulders gently.

"Cyril, I can't do this right now." He snickered slightly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything. I haven't even taken any clothes off. See?" He stretched his arm over her shoulder and his white shirt soon got drenched in water. Artemis frowned at him.

"I need to start putting locking charms on the door." He snickered again.

"Maybe smart. You never know who might enter." Rolling her eyes she took hold of her shampoo bottle and gave it to him above her head.

"Make yourself useful then." He grabbed the bottle without protest and was quick to start massaging the soap into her hair.

"You talked with Septimus, I gather?" She hummed.

"Remind me never to get on that wizard's bad side." Another hum.

"I've never seen him so angry before. I wonder if I have more competition than I realise." She snorted.

"He is a powerful wizard in his own right, you know. And I sure hope not, two of you are more than enough." She could almost feel the smirk on his face at what she said and blushed slightly.

"Of course he is, no argument there." He turned silent as he continued to rub the shampoo into her hair and she felt the stress slowly leave her body as she closed her eyes. A few minutes passed as he worked his magic when he was finished he tapped her on the shoulder.

"You can rinse now." She turned around and their eyes met. His ocean-blue eyes were clear with lust but as he promised he took a step back and let her tip her head backwards to rinse out the soap from her hair. The brunette noticed he was not wearing shoes or socks and had rolled up his pants so not to get the edges wet. As there were no shoes here he must have left them on the outside of the bathroom. His shirt was also rolled up to his elbows as to not get too wet in the process of washing her hair. It was a weird sight and it made her giggle. Cyril tipped his head to one side like a curious puppy.

"Find me funny, Blackmoore?" She only giggled again in response and continued to rinse her hair as silence fell over the room again. Artemis took hold of her body wash and was about to tell Cyril he was not to help her with that but the wizard went and sat down on the toilet seat like he had done when they had first arrived at the school. This time, however, he did not look away from her as she watched her hands move across her skin and somehow she did not mind.

"Lucky you that Malfoy knew that healing spell." She blinked at him before knowing what he said.

"Yes, I thought about it as well. Obviously, he was taught by Severus. The scars almost look the same." It was his turn to hum in response as he continued to watch her. Thinking about Draco she remembered what she had promised Orion earlier that morning.

"Speaking of him. I told him. Everything." Her eyes met Cyril's and found the surprise she was expecting.

"So he now knows everything about you? What you are? The mark?" She nodded.

"Everything. It was hopeless to keep it a secret any longer. He's seen too much. Orion's solution to Obliviate him will only damage him more than he deserves. Surprisingly, he took it well." Cyril sat there looking frozen in shock for a little while before he laughed.

"Well to be fair to him he had figured out a lot on his own so it was probably best this way." Artemis rinsed herself off and turned off the shower before stepping out. The wizard was quick on his feet and grabbed the towel from the hanger and wrapped her into it.

"Surprisingly, even though he had heard that I was bonded to Orion he thought you were the Master. It made most sense he said." Cyril stood in front of her with his hands on her arms and rubbed them up and down drying her in the process.

"I'm honoured. I'll leave you alone be sure to go to bed quickly, hm? How about I wake you up right before lunch?" She nodded in agreement and was taken by surprise as he smirked before leaning down and kissing her quickly on the lips before escaping out the door.

~🕮~

Eminence stood hunched over a bubbling cauldron, stirring it diligently when she heard the front door. She turned her head to speak over her shoulder,

"I'll be with you in a mome— Oh, Orion! Uh, still a moment please, almost done with this." Still stirring, she circled the cauldron so she could face the wizard to talk. He looked serious while he walked towards her but seemed to get distracted by the potion in between them.

"You should add peppermint. Helps with the smells afterwards." The witch paused for a second to consider his suggestion.

"True, that's usually a good idea, but I already put in oaken bark, and they tend to react poorly together. What do you think?" He snorted when he looked into the cauldron.

"Only way to save it then is to add a pine cone. Next time use peppermint, you will sell more of it that way. Even though I can't imagine who needs that much Laxative Potion." Eminence chuckled.

"Thank Merlin it's not for one person, it's a bulk order for a few pharmaceutical outlets. I have some pine cones over there, could you… wait, never mind. Accio pine cone." She caught it and then unceremoniously plopped it into the brew.

"You'd think after all these years I could get my head to understand that I can fetch things from and to anywhere." Orion rolled his eyes as he snorted again. Taking a last look at the potion in front of him he pulled out a letter she immediately recognised from his robes.

"Let's stop the friendly tone for now. You know why I'm here." The witch's arms slowed down, but she willed herself to keep stirring at least lightly.

"How is she?" The wizard raised his eyebrow at her as he clicked his tongue.

"I'll give you one guess. I've read the letter and you are wrong in the statement where you say 'I thought asking for forgiveness would be easier than asking permission' because had you asked her straight up the demon would probably just have attacked you. There is a reason why I've been trying to keep her a secret all these years and this stunt of yours did not help in any way, shape or form." She tilted her head at the wizard, confusion clear on her face.

"I've used her blood before, with her permission. I suppose that might have had some part in my hubris. I never saw a hint of the demon then." His eyes grew hard as he scowled back while shoving the letter back into his robes forcefully.

"That was on an innocent level. What you did this time was on a whole other scale and you know this yourself. This could have been fatal, Eminence." The witch sighed in return, feeling the annoyance rising.

"The consequence was on another scale, Orion. The experiment itself was something we were already working on together, I don't see her having any difficulty telling me 'yes' or 'no' if I had just asked her if I could. Maybe if we collaborated she might have even been able to give me an early warning of what would happen and I could stop before losing control. I don't know that though, because I can only see the future, not a past that never was." She had stopped stirring at this point, luckily the potion was basically finished so she wouldn't have to throw it all out. The wizard in front of her groaned in clear frustration.

"Listen, I am a Potion Master. I get where your curiosity comes from when you look at what her blood can do but there is a lot you don't understand about this. It's more than a red liquid flowing through her, it is her. It lives in a way that you now got a taste of. Every time she gets hurt in the field we have to scour the area to get rid of it and let me tell you another thing. You were lucky that she was in Malfoy's room when it happened, the whole school would have seen it if it happened anywhere else. There would have been no way for me to get that situation under control. Do you understand me?!" Eminence's eyes widened further the louder the man got. She had never seen him lose his cool in this fashion before. Suddenly, she realised what the meaning behind his words was.

"Demon blood. Demon blood! No, I didn't know that, I just tried to use it normally as an intimate personal link for her magic! Fuck. I'm not sure I've said sorry enough, I am sorry Orion. I actually never doubted her location, I saw her surroundings in my vision. Still, I foolishly didn't consider I would be the cause of her agony in the first place." She paused a bit, looking around and put out the fire for the cauldron. Even though it was a quiet day in the shop and they could not keep talking about this here.

"If we're to discuss further might I suggest moving upstairs so we can sit down?" It was his turn to sigh while he rubbed his eyes.

"Fine." Probably more so out of habit, the wizard took out his wand and cast a Stasis charm on the cauldron to make sure it would keep fresh before she led the way towards the stairs.

~🕮~

Her living room looked like any other muggle living room: a simple sofa set, TV and a Nintendo 64. However, because of her muggle nature, the room was a bit backwards to most wizards as the fireplace was behind the sofa and not in front as it usually was. Instead, the TV was put on display with the game console neatly on a shelf underneath. It had taken some time and trying to get it to work so far into the wizard territory but one day it had simply turned itself on with no problems. Eminence had been too afraid to turn it off for a week after that but it had magically worked somehow when she had turned it back on the week after. Furniture-wise it was a simple room but she had picked them out to be as comfortable as possible so the colour on its own was not really that important to her. The set was a light orange which Artemis had commented on for months as it stood out too much for the brunette's taste, however, Eminence grew to love it. Photos of her family decorated the wall. None of them was magical so none of them moved but the tall witch preferred it that way. She gestured for the wizard to have a seat opposite her when they got close to the chairs and after they had sat down, Eminence began to speak again.

"I had not until now quite understood the gravity of the situation. Her blood actually is alive. This was news to me, and I would certainly have re-evaluated taking and using it if I knew. I thought the blood was part of the demon, not that the demon was part of the blood." Orion leaned his head on the back of the chair in a manner that seemed so ordinary to the witch but she knew that this was a version of him most didn't get to see. He looked like he hadn't had a good night's sleep for weeks and was radiating anger and frustration.

"If it was that way my life would have been much easier, believe me." He shifted his position so he was looking at her, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"Also, I know Septimus told you about the branding mark as Artemis left that information out when she told you everything else. Why she chose to keep that part a secret, however, is beyond me." Eminence picked up the TV remote lying on the coffee table between them and started fiddling mindlessly with it.

"It's not easy to divulge your secrets like that. You fight desperately to keep it all to yourself while also trying to let everything go. I'm proud of her for telling me as much as she did, and glad she trusted me that much. Not really surprised she didn't go through all the details. I kinda got the drop on her." The blond wizard looked into thin air for a moment before shaking his head in frustration again.

"Speaking of Septimus. You have to know that he was serious when he told you that you only have one chance left. He has information on you that can send you straight to Azkaban and let me be clear here, Eminence, you will never see sunshine again. The man blames himself for this whole situation even happening in the first place which can cloud his judgement, however, I've warned him not to do anything as what happens next is all up to Artemis." The tall woman sank into her chair, ending up resting her head in her right hand with her left still fiddling with the remote.

"Great, of course, he would sleuth that out. I'm sure you've all told him numerous times it wasn't his fault. I'd love to tell him myself as well, though that would probably be unwise, he's another reason I decided to write a letter. You gave me one guess earlier, so here goes: She's up and about, doing her job but not really in it. Head too full of questions, thoughts and feelings." Orion nodded in agreement and they sat in silence for a couple of minutes each deep in their own thoughts until the wizard broke the silence.

"I'm surprised you didn't have tea ready this time. Earl Grey, black. Please." Eminence had to smile in response.

"Guess I'm a bit out of it myself, I should at the very least have put the kettle on as we passed the kitchen. By the way, I knew I'd see you soon, but not on which day so I couldn't prepare. I don't always know at all, in the first place. Just quite often lately. I'll be right back." She certainly didn't object to the more friendly request at this point and happily went downstairs to make them some tea.

On her way to the kitchen she peeked into the shop to make sure it was empty, which it was. With some time to herself, she thought about how this incident had affected everyone. Septimus blamed himself and was too upset for her to help him regardless of how hard she wanted to give the man a long hug. Based on Orion's reaction, Artemis was a long way from being fine but all things considered, could have been worse. The wizard in question was obviously a worried mess, that was easy to see and she needed to find a way through his guard so he would accept a hug from someone. Didn't really matter from who, really. As she'd heard nothing of Zacharias, the witch assumed he was relatively fine in all this and Cyril didn't matter to her at the moment.

About ten minutes later she came back up the stairs, levitating a tray with filled cups and a plate of biscuits. The blond wizard straightened up in the chair when she put down the tray on the table in front of him and for a second she wondered if he had fallen asleep.

"Thank you." His voice was rough and Eminence smiled at him as he grabbed a cup and took a sip of his tea while she took a seat again.

"Cyril called me a mudblood. Don't know if Septimus told you, it's basically a coin flip in my head if he did or not. I was considering if I should bring it up with you, your boss or Artemis first. Depends on how hard I want his face against a wall at any given moment really." If the wizard reacted to what she had just said he hid it well as he only put his cup down on the table calmly.

"I see. I'll talk to him about it. Expect an apology by owl in the next few days." The witch scowled at his practised response.

"Don't bullshit me, Orion." Orion looked at her with a tired expression.

"I'm sorry but there is nothing else I can do. I'm sure it was said in anger and he swears a lot when he's angry. As you probably heard." Eminence gave off a deep sigh.

"Tell me again in a believable sentence you'll talk to him. Yes, he swears, but epithets are something much more and I will be much angrier if you go and send a bloody owl anyway." His eyes locked with hers then before he answered.

"I. Will. Talk. To. Him. Better?" The witch's serious demeanour broke, and she laughed.

"Much. Thank you." Orion was quiet as he took another sip of his tea and it looked like he was debating with himself to ask what was bothering him. However, in the end, he sighed and looked at her once more.

"As I said earlier, I understand your want to figure out everything about the blood but for the life of me, I still can't figure out why you did it. Of course, I thought you understood the situation a little more but still, what you did was dangerous no matter how you look at it. I was told it was because of simple curiosity but you must have had a better reason than that?" The tall witch had to think it over a little bit on how to formulate herself to make her point across in a way that the wizard would understand her before answering.

"Artemis and I have been researching various aspects of her magic for a long time. I know enough about her to make wands she can wield, even without actually knowing much at all. Those spent wand cores are still brimming with magic, and through previous experiments, we've also found she's able to use them to an extent. Without her though, they're just pretty gemstones. When I saw the vial lying there by the blood, I… for lack of a better phrase for that feeling, couldn't stop myself. My search for how to harness those crystals is driven by curiosity alone, no profit or any other real motivation." The wizard studied her while he leaned back into his chair crossing his legs in the process making him look like the proud Slytherin he was.

"I see. I know how this went wrong then. So not all is your fault I suppose. Artemis gave you the blood vials until this point, correct?" Eminence nodded slowly in return.

"Not only did you take it without permission, but you also took too much. The demon noticed this and reacted. This is what makes it dangerous for her blood to end up in the wrong hands. She was fighting it for control for hours until I finally gave her a potion to knock her out completely. I'm sure she would have lost control and tried to find the source of her suffering which would have turned into something gruesome." The blonde listened intently as Orion explained, building upon ideas from her previous work with Artemis.

"I thought the crystal connected directly with her, but it may have been the blood, which according to what you just said is always one. Or maybe those cores are also still part of her. I am ultimately glad she was in a manageable location when all this happened, and that she's so strong and caring to fight for so long. However regrettable of course, it is that this occurred in the first place." He hummed in agreement before he frowned again.

"Still, there is something that has been bothering me even more and that is why in Merlin's name didn't you tell one of us about your vision in the first place?" At least this question was easier to answer, the witch reasoned.

"It came to me as a dream. It woke me up and I fixated on the last thing I saw: the wand core crystal. I thought that was going to be the solution, how to save her, and I didn't see you guys having expertise I could afford to take the time to ask for, regarding those, I was in a hurry to finish. After I lost control I was fully occupied trying to contain the damage from the crystal. Also, remember I was using the blood like it was normal, I didn't even know to ask for help about that." The wizard only gave her a strict look that obviously told her that she had made a mistake yet again before he sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm not sure how much you want to know but she bit herself in the arm to stay sane. I healed it after I knocked her out of course but it was clear she was in a lot of pain and yes, luck was on our side as Malfoy was by her side and could get the rest of us. Speaking of which, Artemis told the boy everything about herself. So he knows everything now." Eminence stared dumbfounded for a few seconds.

"Everything? That stings a bit I must admit, but at the same time, I'm glad. She can open up to somebody, and regardless he was getting quite close when he was here so eventually he'd have to be either told or Obliviated. Not that Artemis would let you do that what with them sleeping together. Thanks for not doing that to me by the way." The blond wizard spat his tea back into his cup and looked at her with a dumbfounded look in return.

"Pardon me? She is sleeping with who now?" The witch blinked a few times realising what she had just let slip.

"Draco said as much when we spoke during the Leaky incident. Before Artemis… arrived." Orion put his cup back on the table with a practised motion and stood up.

"Pardon me, Eminence but I have to get back to Hogwarts. I've been gone for a while already. Have a nice day." The tall witch grinned from ear to ear.

"Understandable, have a good day."

~ཐིཋྀ~

Cyril had done as he promised and woken her up right before lunch and she had walked there together with him and Zacharias and was now seated at the Slytherin table with everyone else. However, she was quick to notice Orion not being inside the school anymore and got a feeling of dread but said nothing. The Headmistress had just announced that Defence Against the Dark Arts was once again cancelled due to the lack of a classroom and Burns sent her an angry look. All she could do was shrug in return. If the witch doubted the truth she would gladly let the ghosts of the school speak their case.

As she sipped her tea her eyes met Parkinson's on the other side of the table. The young witch was giving her a pleading look and she had to sigh. Poking Zacharias in the arm he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Artemis tilted her head towards the students in front of her and watched as the man's mind clicked in place. He wolfed down his lunch and stood up quickly.

"Done already, Queen?" Septimus looked at him curiously from a little further down the table. The dark wizard smirked at him in return.

"Suddenly remembered I had stuff to do. Do try to not be too lonely without me, heh?" The dark blond rolled his eyes at him as he went back to his food. Artemis looked up at the dark wizard as he patted her on the shoulder before he left the Great Hall. She turned her attention to the younger wizards over at the other end of the table.

"How were your mornings then? Did I miss anything fun?" The younger Zabini rolled his eyes.

"Unless you find double potions fun, then no. Longbottom didn't even blow up his cauldron this time." The Slytherins around him snickered.

"At least it was Auror Zouch who was with us today. Professor Slughorn can't relax when Auror Silver is there. Must be because he too is a Potion Master." It was Artemis's turn to snicker.

"Auror Silver puts fear into most of his fellow Potion Masters. He was taught by Severus Snape after all." They all nodded with wide eyes.

"That makes so much sense! You should have been there the last time Auror Blackmoore. Slughorn looked like he was going to piss himself when Auror Silver walked in. I am not kidding that every time someone had a question he kept looking over to Auror Silver to see if he would say anything against him." Bulstrode called over from further up the table. The brunette laughed at them all again. It was easy to picture. When it came to potions you either did it Orion's way or not at all. Much like Severus had taught them so many years ago.

She looked to Draco who had not said anything all lunch and was slowly eating seemingly lost in his own world. Probably thinking about what she had told him the night before.

"Mr Malfoy, how was your morning?" The boy jumped when he heard his name and Zabini next to him looked at him strangely.

"Mate, you still asleep? You've been weird all morning." The blonde looked to his friend and then to her before shaking his head.

"Just thinking about homework." Zabini rolled his eyes and turned to Parkinson. Draco met her eyes with an apology on his lips but she shook her head.

"Seems the homework is piling up now that we are getting closer to Christmas, hm? I remember the stress myself. Thankfully, Halloween comes first and we get to have some fun." He smiled at her and seemed to relax.

"That's true and my morning was fine. I have no problem with potions after all." She snickered at him.

"I've noticed. Mr I-Have-The-Best-Grade-In-Class." His brows furrowed at her which made her smirk back at him. However, a smirk slowly spread on his face in return and she could tell the usual Draco was back to her. She peeked over his shoulder when she noticed Potter was walking towards their table followed by Weasley and Lovegood.

"Seems we are getting company." Confused the blond turned around just in time to see Potter stop behind him.

"Potter?" The ravenhead smiled down at him before looking towards Artemis.

"Auror Blackmoore I was wondering if I could have a word with you? Ah, Malfoy you can come along too of course." The brunette mimicked the confused expression of Draco but nodded anyway.

"Alright, I was done either way." She stood up from her seat as Draco was quick to do the same, remembering his bag at the last second. The mix of witches and wizards followed her out the big doors and she walked a little way down the hall before coming to a stop.

"So, Mr Potter what did you want to ask me?" The wizard looked around them expecting something to jump out at them at any moment as he whispered.

"Have you planned any more Defence classes?" Artemis looked at them all with a smirk.

"Good thing you were to ask that, Mr Potter. We might have something in the works. If you can collect all the eight years that want to join and meet on the seventh floor in let's say 30 minutes?" The students in front of her smiled widely at her before Potter stood at attention.

"Yes, Auror Blackmoore! Come on, guys." Only Draco and her were left in the hallway as the others started sprinting back to the Great Hall.

"How is that moron so happy these days?" Artemis gave the blond a knowing expression.

"Someone must have told him a thing or two, hm?" The grey eyes looked at her confused for a second before he understood.

"Let's go to the seventh floor then. I imagine you want to join?" He was quick to nod as he started to follow her. It was a long time since the two of them had walked alone like this.

"I thought a lot about what you told me Auror Blackmoore, and I've still ended up at the same conclusion. I still trust you. Completely." She stopped in her tracks and looked up at the blond with wide eyes. His eyes didn't waver as they locked with hers. Obviously, he was telling the truth. If she could she would have started to cry right then and there but she managed to stop herself and settled on touching his arm.

"Thank you, Draco." The blond gave her one of his more genuine smiles as they continued their walk towards the seventh floor.

~ཐིཋྀ~

A door was already visible where the Room of Requirement was placed and Artemis was not surprised when she opened the door to find Zacharias seated on a plush sofa. The room was decorated in a variety of colours and there were soft chairs spread out in a semi-circle around the sofa said wizard was seated on. He waved proudly at them when they entered.

"Take a seat, Prince! Gotta keep the royalty upfront, you know? I bet the other students are on their way?" She rolled his eyes at him.

"What's with the room setup? We can't have a class this way, Zabini." She watched as Draco went to sit down in one of the chairs closest to the wizard.

"Listen, I thought we would find out what the students want to learn first so we can put a plan together. What better way to do it than in a comfy chair, heh?" The brunette huffed at him as she sat down next to him.

"Seems like a good idea to me, Auror Zabini." Queen smirked at her again as he pointed towards the blond.

"Mr Malfoy agrees."

"Fine fine. Do you have any plan other than that?" The dark wizard leaned back into the sofa again as he thought it over for a second.

"How about we split them in half? You take the Slytherins and Gryffindors and I'll take the other two? That way it's easier to hide as well." Artemis thought about it for a few minutes and found that idea the most doable. That way they could keep their schedules separate and not all of the eight years would be missing at the same time.

"That seems logical. But you with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws?" She heard Draco snicker as Zacharias faked a hurt look at her.

"You hurt me, Prince! I can behave myself, you know that. Besides, we can't split up Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter. Their power level is no match for any of the others." Again, she rolled her eyes at him.

"You're right. Again. It is true that those two are of a higher level." Taking a peek at Draco he had a slight blush on his proud face and she snorted. Just then Potter peeked his head through the door and smiled widely again before sitting down heavily in the chair next to Draco. Said blond gave him a curious look as the ravenhead smiled back at him.

"Potter, did you forget your friends on the way here?" The young wizard laughed.

"No no, they are coming, I just sprinted ahead. I am looking forward to this." Zacharias laughed at him.

"I like your attitude, Mr Potter." He grinned then as the other students started to come in the door. Weasley looked at his friend with a curious gaze again as he sat down in the chair next to him. The rest quickly followed and each found their seats. When everyone was seated Zacharias clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone. We have made a plan for how to get this to work. We will split you up into two groups. Gryffindors and Slytherins will have Auror Blackmoore as a teacher and the rest of you will be with me." An obvious sound of relief came from the younger Zabini and some students laughed. Artemis hid her own snicker when the older Zabini gave her a look.

"So, what we need to know from you to get this plan started is, what do you actually want to learn? As my partner here said earlier it can be anything. From Charms to Defence." Surprisingly, the other Auror was more prepared than she thought as he brought out a parchment and quill from behind the sofa for then to cross his legs and rest it on them.

Everyone was quiet for a long time while they thought it over before Goldstein raised his hand. Artemis pointed him to talk.

"Burns has made us repeat shielding charms and wards since she got here but she hasn't really told us if we are doing it correctly or not. Harry even told her once that Neville was doing it correctly even if she said it was the wrong way of doing it. So maybe if we just all show you so you can actually give us an answer to that?" Zacharias wrote it down as he nodded. Granger was next and he nodded to her to speak.

"For one Harry, Ron and I were not here at all last year so we haven't done anything from the seventh-year curriculum and I know that goes for some others here too. So we need to repeat as much of that as possible." Artemis pointed to Bulstrode then.

"What about simple everyday spells? I know that is not in the 'curriculum' but I have no idea how to do cleaning charms for one. I would like to know that before I have to live on my own." Everyone looked at the Slytherin girl with wide eyes as she shrugged.

"What? They said 'anything'." The brunette smiled at her.

"Indeed we did. Next, Mr Longbottom?" The boy moved in his seat as he looked at Draco from time to time before he focused on Artemis again. From the corner of her eye, she saw the blond prepare himself for a rude comment of some sort as his hands formed into fists.

"I was wondering if we could also use the time to help each other with other subjects? Like if some of you are learning cleaning charms like Bulstrode mentioned, maybe the rest can study potions for example? Um, Malfoy was very good at teaching us last time we had potion homework for instance." Draco gave the Gryffindor a dumbfounded look across the room. While Potter was smiling like a shark, this had obviously been planned from the Gryffindors' side Artemis noted.

"That is a good idea, Mr Longbottom. I would like to then remind you that you are not forced to be here so if you would rather use your time on other things that is your own decision. But the idea of you all spending time together and helping each other with other subjects is a good idea. Mr Malfoy is indeed good at potion and will probably be willing to teach the rest of you if you are interested. Right?" She looked at the blond with a challenge clear in her eyes and he looked at her with dread in return. But slowly it turned to pride as the usual Slytherin mask came back and he snorted.

"I guess I have no choice in the matter. I can help you if you want." Potter laughed next to him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"We are in your care, Professor Malfoy." The blond smirked.

"That is 'Master' Malfoy for you, Saviour." Everyone burst out laughing as Potter turned a pretty shade of red in the face by the blond's quick resort.

The time went by quickly as ideas were thrown back and forth in the room and after the comments between Potter and Draco the room had lightened in mood and the students had soon figured out who was the strongest in the different subjects. Soon Zacharias had a big list of what people wanted to do the most and announced that he and Artemis were going to put together a little teaching plan for them all. The dark wizard stood up and stretched.

"Ok, this goes without saying but everyone needs to keep these meetings a secret, yeah? We are not originally allowed to teach you anything, so if the Headmistress finds out it's our heads that will roll. Got it?" Everyone in the room nodded seriously.

"We will always use this room when we are having our classes and as we have already agreed we will split you in two. But feel free to come here even if it's not your House's turn. For example, Mr Longbottom is the best in Herbology as we have managed to figure out so if you want to ask him something feel free to, hm?" Everyone nodded again as Longbottom looked embarrassed at her.

"Well, time to get out of here! I for one have a ton of paperwork to do. As it turns out it doesn't just disappear if I leave it alone."

"Funny that." Zacharias gave her a big grin as he winked at her.

"See ya at the office later, Auror Blackmoore." With the last wave to everyone he left the room and some of the students stood up and stretched.

"Can we leave, Auror Blackmoore?" One of the Patil sisters asked her carefully. She smiled at them all and nodded.

"Go ahead. Don't let me keep you." Most of the young wizards and witches streamed out of the room at once and Artemis mumbled a quick Tempus to check the time. Turns out they had been there longer than she expected as it was just past three o'clock. She had felt Orion return to the school grounds a while back but as he hadn't sent a Patronus she guessed it was nothing to worry about.

The only ones left in the room were the typical Gryffindor trio, Draco, the younger Zabini and Nott. Artemis leaned back into the sofa and waited for what would perhaps turn into an interesting conversation. Potter behaved like he had been friends with the Slytherin boys his entire life and it was obvious he had taken her advice to heart as he talked in an upbeat tempo with them about how excited he was to get started with the classes. Weasley and Granger on the other hand seemed like they would rather leave, especially her as she kept looking at the door more often than not. Even though it had looked to Artemis like the young Gryffindor had formed some sort of friendship with the Slytherin witches, it was obvious she was not comfortable with the young wizards yet. Not that Artemis could blame her, however, she knew the girl could defend herself but her being a muggleborn would always have a disadvantage in power.

"Mate, we are planning on going back to the common room. You coming?" Weasley looked at his friend with a pleading look. Potter didn't even blink before he answered.

"I'll stay a little longer, you guys can go." Granger sent him a slightly disappointed look.

"But Harry, you should spend some time with Ginny. You've been ignoring her since Tuesday." That was a point the witch should not have pushed as Potter's magical core soared to life and she wondered if the wizards in the room felt it just as easily as she did.

"You know the reason for that Hermione. She can't keep acting that way towards Malfoy anymore. He hasn't done anything to anyone this year. You know what he loses if he misbehaves but no matter how many times I tell Ginny this she doesn't listen and I'm sick of it." In his anger, he had stood up and walked menacingly towards his friend but Weasley was quick to get up and stand in his way.

"We know mate. I'll talk to her again. Hopefully, she gets it this time."

"Ron!"

"Leave him, Hermione. We can't force Harry to do anything. He said so himself, right?" The brunette got up from her chair and placed herself in between the two wizards and glared at Potter. All the Slytherins were glued to their chairs as they watched the event before them.

"Listen, Harry, this is not the time for you to be petty about this! Just talk to Ginny yourself! In fact, none of us understands anything, you wander the castle one night and suddenly you won't tell us anything anymore. We are your closest friends, what's gotten into you?! Is it the nightmares again? If you only ta-" Artemis decided that enough was enough as she felt the ravenhead's magical core almost explode with hidden anger and she noticed the other wizards in the room were feeling the same.

Taking the pretend wand out of her pocket she pointed to Potter and pulled him into a chair and sent both him and said chair as far away from his two friends as the room would let her. He sat in the chair with a surprised expression and his core calmed down from the sudden movement. The Auror stood up from her seat and gave the two Gryffindors a disappointed look.

"I think that is enough. If you two would kindly leave and perhaps discuss this when you don't have an audience and Mr Potter has calmed down." Granger opened her mouth to say something but closed it again quickly but she did not move. Clearly debating her chances in the end she seemed to say something after all as she opened her mouth again.

"I'm sorry, Auror Blackmoore. But none of this is any of your concern." Had she been a fellow student she would have hexed the girl into the next century but sadly she had to stay calm and collected but an icy smile never failed her as she looked into Granger's eyes.

"Pardon me for saying this, Miss Granger. But what control do you have over Mr Potter? He saved the world, yes, but now I think he can use the rest of his life to choose his own path. If making friends with the Slytherins is something he wants to do then let him. At least he is brave enough to look into their eyes and not constantly look at the door." That did the trick as whatever response the other brunette had was swallowed down as she ran out the door. Weasley gave the room a quick apology and hurriedly went after her.

"Not to be rude, Potter but you need better friends." Nott said towards the ravenhead who was struggling against the sticky charm Artemis had placed on him and the chair. He would not be released before he had calmed down, that much was certain. She looked towards him with a strict look.

"I know what we need to work on from now on, Mr Potter." He looked at her with a mix of anger and confusion before he answered.

"What is that?" On purpose, she released some of the wild magic from her core, not a lot but enough so she knew everyone in the room would notice. All the wizards gasped and she quickly wrapped up the magic again and gave Potter a knowing look.

"Control."