Aurors

The group was all back at the office at eight as planned. Silence filled the space while they were sipping their coffees waiting for Artemis to voice her opinion. She could feel the tension in the room as she looked at the men before her. Once these men had been the boys who had saved her from a world of hurt, and now it was her choice to go back to the same place that they had saved her from. She wondered if she was really willing to go back to that for only one boy.

A frustrated groan escaped her and the men turned their attention on her. Orion was looking at her with an expression that she had a hard time placing. Nervousness, tension and something else had been radiating off the man since they had entered the Ministry. Zacharias got up from the sofa, placed his coffee cup on her desk and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Listen. If it was my brother that wanted our help I would not hesitate to go to Hogwarts. Would you follow me if McGonagall insisted that all of you had to come?"

He looked at her seriously while she thought about it. In the end, she nodded. The woman knew how much his little brother meant for him and it would be cruel to not follow him if the situation called for it. He smiled at her then.

"Now think that the Malfoy kid is my little brother as well. I mean he practically is, since he is Blaise's best friend and all. Does that change your decision?"

She frowned at the logic the man was using on her. After some minutes of thinking it over, she shook her head no. The tense air in the room shifted somewhat and Zacharias gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"I am sure the boy wanted you for a specific reason. If I know that boy as well as I think I do he did not pick you at random. That is not in his character. Besides we will all be there protecting you from yourself alright?"

Septimus spoke up from his spot on the sofa."Queen is for once correct, however, this time we are all with you from the beginning to be your supporting pillars. I would also like to remind you that now we have the authority to take action regarding the injustice that the students of Hogwarts might be facing within those walls." The others voiced their agreement.

Artemis thought to herself that at least she was able to see the old Potion Master again which brought some light into the dark situation.

"We better start the preparations to leave then." She got up from her chair and walked to the door.

"I'll tell Robards what we have decided."

The familiar sounds of the open office space met her as she walked out of her office. It was just as chaotic as it had been the day before. The same juniors looked at her as she passed them on her way to the Head Aurors office. She thought about her decision again and deemed that Zacharias had been right. Malfoy had probably chosen her with a thought in mind. He was a scared and nervous boy when they had met the first time, but she could still tell that behind all that was an intelligent and calculating man. Like all the Malfoys before him no doubt. With his mother in house arrest in France and his father in Azkaban, the young Malfoy had no choice but to rely on his own powers. Not an easy feat when the Malfoy name was now smeared in mud from their actions during the war.

The female Auror knocked on the door to her boss's office and was let in quickly. Robards was sitting behind his desk in his usual position. Covered in papers and coffee cup in hand.

"Ah, Auror Blackmoore. What a surprise. You have concluded yesterday's meeting then?" He pointed to one of the chairs that were standing before his desk for her to sit down. She chose to remain standing.

"Yes Sir. I have decided to take on the job. We discussed that there must be a reason for Mr Malfoy to choose me by name and therefore we decided to go. All of us." The Head Auror looked at her surprised. It seemed he had been expecting a different answer.

"Well, that is indeed surprising. Considering your past with the place I was sure you would never go near it again. Which would have been understandable, I had already prepared the letter to the Headmistress of you not going but I see that I have to change that now." He looked at her curiously.

"Can I ask what made you change your mind?"

"Auror Zabini can be convincing when he wants to, Sir." The Auror in front of her looked even more confused than before but he didn't question it anymore.

"Very well, you will all be leaving first thing tomorrow. I know it is sudden but the Headmistress insisted that you come as soon as possible. There will be a portkey waiting for you at seven o'clock in the Atrium tomorrow morning." Artemis nodded in understanding and turned to leave.

"Oh, before you go Auror Blackmoore. Seeing as I know of your situation with the place don't hesitate to send me an owl if you wish to be pulled out of the mission. I will take the fight to the Headmistress if it is necessary. No Aurors of mine shall go through unnecessary torture for one kid." She looked at him dumbfounded for a second before she nodded and left. There were a lot of things you could say about Robards but he always made sure that his employees were treated fair on any job they did.

Now that she was outside again she could feel Orion on the other end of their bond. He was scared for some reason and it puzzled her and she hoped that nothing had happened in her absence. She quickly made her way back to their shared office but when she entered the four Aurors were just discussing a recent case Cyril had been on. The feeling became more dominant however when her eyes met Orion's. Just as he looked away the feeling got replaced by a calm one and it confused her even more but she decided that she was leaving it alone.

She wondered if it had something to do with what he had said to himself in the elevator yesterday or if he shared this secret with the other three. It made her feel sad that it was something he discussed with them and not her.

They did tell each other everything, mostly because they had no choice in the matter but also because it made their everyday life easier. She leaned on her desk and told them what Robards had told her.

"I shall return home to pack, immediately!" Septimus seemed almost too eager to go, not weird seeing as he mostly spent his days locked in his own office these days. Zacharias groaned loudly.

"Time to go and finish all the paperwork I haven't done then… see ya tomorrow." He followed a happy Septimus out the door with shuffling feet while Orion looked over to Cyril.

"Don't you have to finish something before you leave?" The man shrugged in response.

"I suppose I have something, but listen King choose your words carefully, yeah? See ya tomorrow." He blew a kiss in Artemis' direction and went out the door. The brunette looked at Orion confused.

"What did he mean by that?" The blond just shook his head in response.

"It doesn't matter, let's finish some of the paperwork then go home and pack." She had to bite her lip to not respond with a rude remark but did as she was told.

~ཐིཋྀ~

The rest of the day went by at a slow pace but they did manage to finish a good heap of paperwork. Seeing as time was not on their side they took the floo system home this time and quickly went into their own rooms to pack.

Artemis had to swallow down the bile in her throat more than once during the process of packing. She wondered if she had made the wrong choice after all. This might be the mission that finally killed her emotionally. But at the same time when she thought about how Malfoy might be in the same situation that she had been in years ago the brunette became determined again.

At least Snape would be there for support. She hadn't seen the man in quite a long time and had felt guilty for not contacting him so now getting to meet him lifted her spirit. She was brought out of her musings by the smell of food from the kitchen and walked outside to the living room.

Orion was humming softly while he stirred in a pot. Feeling sentimental for a moment she went over to him and hugged him from behind. The man froze for a second before placing his hand over hers.

"Done packing?" She nodded.

He hummed in response while continuing to stir. They stood in silence for a while just enjoying each other's company. None of them had ever talked about what they were to one another. Some looked at them as lovers, others as rivals. Both of them had lovers in the past but it had never lasted long, because of the special situation of their bond they always got their emotions mixed up. The brunette was never sure if the feeling of love meant for her or the woman Orion was currently seeing. It was a mess. In the end, they had both made a silent agreement not to see other people. It was easier this way. They had separate bedrooms but once in a while, one would sneak into the bed of the other. What happened those nights was never spoken of the next morning. But it still felt right to Artemis when it happened.

She tightened her hold of him and he tried to look at her over his shoulder.

"What is it? Nervous for tomorrow?" Artemis just stood there and said nothing, he charmed the spoon to stir itself and moved around in her arms so he was now facing her.

"You heard what Zacharias said right? You won't be alone this time." He smiled softly at her, the one smile that he never showed anyone else but her.

"At least I'll see Severus again. He must have been busy these days seeing I haven't heard from him." The man in her arms tensed up suddenly and he cleared his throat.

"Ah yeah, he has probably been busy with the new students and all." Artemis tilted her head to one side while raising her eyebrow at him.

"I suppose…" Before she could say anything else the blond wiggled his way out of her grip and turned his attention back to the simmering pot.

"Well dinner is done, let's eat yeah?" With a flick of his wand plates and cutlery came flying out of their respective cupboards and placed themselves on the dinner table. Artemis looked at her friend while he walked out with the pot into the living room. It looked like he was running away from her but once again she figured it was best to ignore it. She had a feeling that if she asked he would not answer her anyway.

~𓅃~

Orion had not slept at all the night before, thoughts of what he was going to do today had been swimming around in his head. The day that he had dreaded for so long had finally arrived. He had to tell her today or she would figure it out on her own and the first target of her anger would be him. Because of the branding, she could of course not kill him, but it did not stop her from trying. The only one that they were waiting for was Zacharias, he still had ten minutes before the portkey would leave but the man was cutting it close at this point. Robards was impatiently tapping his foot while he kept casting a Tempus.

"That damn Zabini, always late! You will have to leave without him at his point." Just then the man in question came running down towards them.

"Sorry, Sir! I fell asleep on my desk doing paperwork and had to quickly go home and pack." He looked at his boss with a sheepish grin. Robards hit him over the head.

"Idiot! Now get ready all of you. The portkey will drop you off by the bridge and you will have to walk from there. You are to go straight to the Main Hall, the students should be eating breakfast when you arrive. The Headmistress will introduce you to all of the students and give a short speech about why you are all there. Got it?" They all nodded as they gripped the portkey that looked like a toy boat.

"Auror Blackmoore remember what I told you yesterday. Now be off!" Orion looked at her in question but she just nodded at their boss. Suddenly he felt the familiar pulling sensation and they were thrown into the short dimension of portkey travels. It lasted only for a few seconds and they soon stood in front of the bridge that led to the main entrance of Hogwarts.

He looked at the castle in awe, it had been nearly five years since he had been here last and the castle looked bigger than he remembered. The last time he had been here he had come to get Snape's approval for his Potion Master degree. The thought of the old potion master made him remember what he had to do then and his mood grew sombre.

"Wow! Looks just as spooky as always. Seems like the repairs after the war have been mostly completed though." Zacharias said as he looked around.

"It seems the same fog is still showing its presence as you can not see the astronomy tower." Septimus added as he squinted in the direction of said tower. The man was right, the fog was lying across the castle and its grounds like a thick blanket. It made the castle look foreboding in a sense.

Orion met Cyril's eyes as the other man grabbed Septimus and Zacharias and started to drag them towards the bridge.

"Come on we better go." Artemis was starting to follow but Orion grabbed her wrist. She turned to look at him confused.

"Orion?" He took a deep breath.

"I need to show you something before we go to the castle. But before we go I just want to say that I am sorry and I understand that you will hate me for what I've kept from you." She looked at him with worry now as he started to go in the direction of the lake.

The castle had somehow driven the Forbidden Forest further away and made a clearing next to the lake which the staff had made into a cemetery for the ones that did not have a family that died during the battle. Everything from magical creatures to staff was buried here. The closer to the cemetery they got the more confused feelings were coming off Artemis through the bond. He dreaded this even more for every step and he wanted to run away now more than ever. But this had to be done, he knew it.

When they entered the cemetery he went towards the back where the staff had been buried. He could see the gravestone now and let go of Artemis. He turned to look at her and knew immediately that she had seen it. Her face was set in an unreadable expression. The blond noted that she had cut off the bond and he could not feel anything from her. The man moved aside from the path and let her walk past him. The witch moved like she was in a trance towards the grave and sat down heavily in front of it.

Severus Snape 

09.01.1960 - 02.05.1998 

Orion closed his eyes and waited for the world of hurt that was going to come his way. He had kept this secret ever since he had gotten an owl from the former Potion Master a few weeks before the last battle. He had foreseen that he would not survive the battle to come and had insisted that Orion would not tell Artemis of his death before the time was right. He had feared it was going to break the woman and make her even more unstable.

The former Professor had put his entire trust into him with that letter. Orion had gotten word after the battle was over that the older man had been right in the fact that he would not survive. He had kept his sorrow hidden from Artemis to his best ability but had done what he had promised the older man. He felt relieved now that he could let go of the heavy burden but he could not help but feel some anger towards the man. Artemis was now ripped out of a reality she never even knew was fake all along.

"How long have you known?" Her voice was emotionless when she spoke.

Orion opened his eyes and looked at her, she was still sitting in front of the gravestone her head towards the ground.

"Since right after the war. He sent me an owl a few weeks before the battle telling me to keep it from you if he died."

She said nothing as she stood up slowly. Orion now noticed the familiar black fog underneath her feet and the temperature around them seemed to sink.

"Artemis, I didn't want to keep it a secret from you. Believe me."

She walked slowly towards him the fog underneath her feet was slowly spreading across the ground. When their eyes met Orion jumped backwards in slight fear. Her eyes were solid gold, but not from anger. There was a sorrow behind the eyes that seemed never-ending. The woman came closer to him and grabbed his throat. Though the witch was considerably shorter than him, her strength seemed to have doubled with the sorrow that flowed through her.

"You should be glad I can't kill you. Because the one thing I would like to see right now is you dropping dead before me." She let go of him and started to walk towards the Forbidden Forest.

Orion staggered while he coughed and watched her go.

"Artemis! Wait!"

The witch turned around quickly and shouted at him sending the fog hurling towards him making him fall to the ground. It was like having hundreds of icicles piercing him, leaving him momentarily unable to move.

"Leave me alone!"

She disappeared into the Forest and Orion was left alone in the cemetery. He cursed at himself slightly as he stood up on shaking legs. Whatever he did now would not help, so he turned to go back towards the castle hoping that she would calm down enough that she would return on her own.

~ཐིཋྀ~

Artemis walked in a trance through the Forest. When she was a little girl she had been terrified of the place but the Potion Master had said that nothing in there was as scary as her. Which she now believed to be true as all the creatures in the Forest ran away the second they saw her coming.

It had been a long time since she felt this power run through her veins and right now she could not care anymore. Without her knowing, the one person she had looked at as family had passed away and on top of it all asked someone to keep it a secret from her. Tears started to stream down her face as she walked and the fog seemed to spread even further. Frost was spreading along the ground and freezing smaller plants in the process.

A clearing came into view in front of her and she sat down in the middle. The Forest was quiet around her, it was like it knew that she was in deep sorrow. The woman had never cried like this before in her life and it scared her. The only light of hope she had of coming here had now been blown away in the wind. So on top of all the bad memories from her school years, she now had to see the memories of Snape walking around the castle. She could still remember his daily routine like it was yesterday.

The memories of him came flooding back. The way he would drink tea with her before going to breakfast, the way he would apologise if he came back late, how annoyed he had been when she had ended up in detention, the worried look he had when he was healing her wounds after she had been in a fight and so many more. Artemis was having trouble breathing now as the sobbing got worse.

Suddenly the raven on her chest started to burn and she let out a scream of pain. She had felt it warning her when she had grabbed Orion's throat earlier but this was different. It was ordering her now to calm herself. The brunette realised that since she had closed the bond Orion had now resorted to ordering the brand directly.

In the realisation, she looked around and what once was autumn had now turned to winter. The ground was white with frost and the trees around her had lost their leaves from the cold. Even so, the Forest was still deadly quiet like it was allowing her this. Artemis looked up to the sky and gasped. A cluster of stars met her eyes and she realised now why Orion had desperately tried to reach her. Somehow she had been sitting here the entire day.

The branding was still burning on her chest and she clutched it. Still, with tears in her eyes, she stood up from the ground the muscles in her legs were sore from her sitting on them for so long. She took a deep breath and called the fog back to her and the frost around her slowly melted as she started to walk back towards the castle. She followed where she could feel Orion's position like a compass pointing north and soon stepped out of the Forbidden Forest. When she looked back she could see a mirage of different creatures eyes looking at her from the dark. The woman paid them no mind as she walked away from them and once again remembered Snape's words. 'There is nothing in that forest that is scarier than you.'

Her stomach growled loudly on her way up the slope and she realised she hadn't eaten anything other than breakfast that morning. This suddenly made her think of Snape's house-elf. If he had not made her a free elf before the war Mips was probably still working in the kitchen. Tears filled her eyes again as she willed herself to Apparate directly inside the kitchen.

~ཐིཋྀ~

A couple of elves were scared stiff when she suddenly showed up with a crack.

"Is there an elf called Mips here?" Before the poor house-elves could say anything the familiar voice of Mips could be heard across the kitchen.

"Misses!! It is you!!"

Artemis looked in the direction of the voice as Mips came running towards her. The house-elf looked older of course but it was still clearly her, the big blue eyes filling over with tears as she hugged the witch tightly. Artemis dropped down on the floor and hugged the elf in return.

"I'm so sorry Mips, had I known I would have come and taken you home with me." The elf hugged her even tighter.

"Mips doesn't blame Misses for anything. Master was an evil man for not wanting to tell Misses of his death. But he did love Misses very much! He told Mips so!" Artemis started to sob again when she heard the words. Since it was Mips telling this she had no choice but to believe it. Mips was a house-elf who would never lie even when ordered. Mips pulled away from the witch after she had calmed down slightly. Mips snapped her fingers making Artemis' tears dry from her face.

"Now Misses you haven't eaten have you? That is bad for your health! Come, come Mips will prepare your favourites." The elf started to pull at Artemis' uniform sleeves in the same fashion she did years ago. The witch did not protest as she got up and was dragged to the back of the kitchen to where they kept the tables. To her surprise, someone was already sitting there.

Draco Malfoy was nursing a cup of something hot between his hands and looked up with confusion when Mips dragged Artemis into a chair. He tilted his head at her.

"Auror Blackmoore?" Artemis looked at the boy in front of her. He looked at her curiously and with what seemed to be relief.

"Misses sit here! Mips will be right back. Does Missters need anything?" She pointed at Artemis strictly then looked at Draco politely. The boy shook his head at her and she ran over to one of the stoves to start preparing some food. He turned his attention to Artemis again.

"You came after all. You were not among the other Aurors who were introduced during breakfast so I thought you weren't coming." The Auror had to fight back tears as she cleared her voice.

"Something came up so I had to stay behind. The Headmistress probably didn't know this at the time." She showed him a smile but she could immediately see that he was not buying it.

"Are you alright Auror Blackmoore? Pardon me for saying but you look like you've been crying." Zacharias had been right that the boy was indeed intelligent, that was for sure. She was unsure what to answer when her brand started to burn again and she clutched her chest in pain. Draco looked at her in alarm.

"Miss, do you need help somehow?" She waved her hand at him.

"No no, I'm fine." She took a deep breath, damn that Orion for being persistent. She made her left hand into a fist, blew into it and when she opened it a blue butterfly was resting in her palm.

"Orion, I am fine. So stop, please. I'll be back soon." The butterfly flew out of her palm and out of the kitchen. Draco looked at it go in awe.

"Was that a Patronus?" Artemis looked at the blond before her and took a mental note that he probably could not produce a Patronus of his own.

"Yes. It was. I would be in your debt if you could do me a favour of not telling anyone that I did that without a wand." He nodded in understanding. Artemis took a few deep breaths as she felt the burning stop, the Patronus must have reached Orion then and she could relax a little.

"I will keep it a secret if you tell me what's wrong." Artemis raised her eyebrows at him. Surprisingly bold this boy for being a Slytherin.

"If you tell me why you wanted me here." Two could play that game. Grey eyes met hers as he thought hard but in the end, nodded.

"You were the only one who treated me like a person and not like a dirty Death Eater before my trial. You helped me greatly even if you didn't have to. I know that it was your job don't misunderstand me. But other Aurors before you had treated me with disgust and refused to hear me out. So when the Headmistress came to me and said that she was going to get some Aurors to protect me, I gave her your name." Artemis frowned, she would have to figure out what Aurors had done the job before her and give the note to Robards later. The blond looked at her patiently, he was waiting for her part of the deal. She sighed while she had to force back tears again.

"I found out today that Severus Snape died during the battle. It was kept a secret from me. The man meant a lot to me." He had been honest with her, so she figured that she had to give him the same honesty. Draco looked at her with surprise and his eyes softened somewhat.

"I'm sorry." They sat in silence until Mips showed up with a plate of food and placed it in front of Artemis.

"Misses! Eat eat! You can't protect Missters if you die from hunger!" Artemis looked at Mips curiously then looked over to Draco.

"Told her, hm?" The boy blushed softly and nodded.

"She is… was Severus's house-elf. So I come down here from time to time to talk to her. She got really happy when I told her you were coming here. Now I know why." Artemis nodded in understanding. It made sense that the boy would be telling the house-elf things that he could no longer tell the former potion master. Mips looked at her with worry in her eyes as Artemis could feel tears start to fall again.

"Misses…" Artemis waved at her while she took a deep breath and dried her tears.

"I'm fine, don't worry Mips. Don't you have to help the others with preparations for tomorrow?" The elf nodded and started to walk back to the others while peeking at her over her shoulder. Artemis looked down at her plate and forced herself to eat something. She could feel Draco stare at her while she ate but the boy said nothing. The brunette thanked Merlin that the blond seemed to understand when to keep quiet.