Hunting for a Clue

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Artemis Tuuri

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Art was up to her nose in books in a far corner of the library. She was seated on the floor behind what seemed like a fortress of old volumes that wheezed dust as she pulled out the next on top. They were all Quidditch books, of course. Art was no flyer herself due to her short stature and tiny hands. More often that not she was thrown off her Sienna with its energetic kicks because it was too powerful for her to ride. This was something she had to overcome before she made her escape.

Reading and practicing Quidditch was all she ever did in her spare time. Many people noticed her change in hobbies but simply assumed she was trying out for the team (albeit with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, for it was obvious that she couldn’t fly as well as everyone else). She was happy to let them think that. Anything to help her get away with what she needed to do. The next volume, Tricks and Charms for a Smooth Landing: A Rookie’s Guide to Quidditch, exuded a large amount of dust and she sneezed, rocking back with the force of it. Art crashed into the pile, and the cascade of books had the fortress tumbling down. She couldn’t be seen beneath the pile.

Art coughed and waved a tiny arm from under the mountain. “Help!” she squeaked, waving her arm like a drowning person.
 
Kiera was walking through the library on her way to her favorite table in the back, next to the giant windows. It was only the first week of school but Kiera was already stressing out about her NEWT exams. It was an important deciding factor in her future. Of course, her chosen career didn't need the exams but she still wanted to do well. Having options never hurt anyone.

Suddenly, she heard a crash come from the shelf in front of her. Kiera saw an arm sticking out. She gasped before quickly pulling out her wand. She waved it and the books flew off the girl and back onto the shelf. It was a handy spell she often had to use at Ollivanders. Kiera quickly made her way over to the young girl. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice full of concern.
 
Art sat up and giggled. "Gosh, that was nasty!" she commented, pulling out a piece of torn yellow parchment that was stuck to her mouth. Art was immensely strong for her size but had been quite incapacitated by the waterfall of books. "Thank 'ye Kiera," she said in her cockney English accent, recognising the head girl. "Don't 'ye worry about me, I'm fine. Thanks for yer help!"

"I'm Artemis," she introduced herself. As usual, she was cherry red with embarrassment but still merry-face at meeting a new person. She was pleased to find that Kiera was shorter than most people like she was. She had looked bigger up the front of the school at the Beginning of Term Feast. "Pleased 'ta meetcha."
 
Kiera smiled relieved as she found out that the girl was alright. Kiera helped her up carefully. She was surprised when the younger girl called her by her name. It took her a minute to remember that most people knew who she was since she was now the Head girl. She smiled kindly at the little girl. "Its a pleasure to meet you as well Artemis. How did you manage to knock all those books down?" she asked curiously.
 
"Just a sneeze," she answered sheepishly. This part of the library was particularly old, and so many books where encrusted with dust on every page. Artemis wasn't prone to allergies, but the dust took it out of one eventually if they spent so much time with them.

She began to pack them away with a skip in her step as usual, having to leap to get to the middle shelves. "'Ye know, I knew 'ye were Head Girl from the start, but what house are 'ye in? It's probably something I ought to have payed attention to."
 
Kiera smiled with amusement dancing across her face. So the little girl had gotten crushed by books because of a sneeze? Funny really. She didn't laugh outloud though as not to make the girl feel uncomfortable. Kiera grinned as she asked what house she was in. "You know, I was surprised you recognized me so quickly." she admitted. "But to answer your question, I'm a Gryffindor. What about you?" she asked.
 
Artemis batted her hand theatrically with a grin. "Nah, I'm just observant. I'm a Ravenclaw, a third year." This usually surprised most people who thought she was a first year, being so small, but it did explain how she was so comfortable with the school and knew the normal third year magic.

She suddenly realised how strange it would be to a clever person for her to be reading so many Quidditch books. There were also a few slightly more suspicious volumes about wilderness survival and navigating by the stars. She subtlety re-doubled her pack up efforts with the same jolly face as before. "Wow. How often does the head girl bump into a little mite like me?" she said proudly, though stuffing away Edible Roots and Fungi for the Lost Traveler with the other hand.
 
Kiera smiled at the girl as she said she was observant. There was something slightly different about her but Kiera liked her. She had a good attitude. "I never would have guessed you were a third year." she admitted. The size of the younger girl reminded Kiera of herself. She wasn't much taller than Artemis.

Kiera looked at the arrangement of books the girl had collected. The were an odd match. Quidditch books and wilderness books. She was curious as to what was going on. Her curiosity was only even more sparked as the girl attempted to distract her and hide one of the books. Kiera did laugh at her words. "I might be Head Girl but I'm still just a person. I bump into younger students more frequently than you would think." she said with a wink. Kiera's smile remained on her face. "Why are you trying to hide that book from me?" she asked in a pleasant voice. She wasn't mad just interested.
 
"Hide?" said Artemis with the correctly assembled 'bewildered' look. "What gave you that idea? Nay, I'm really excited about joining the Exploration Club this year. I know 'ye don't need all this stuff to join, but I couldn't help it, it's so much fun!" she lied with enthusiasm.

"Only people were thinking it's a bit kooky, so I'm a little embarrassed about it," said Artemis as she blushed on cue. It was probably the most convincing part of her tirade, as she blushed naturally anyway. "What 'chu here for?" asked Art in a non-offensive manner. She was genuinely interested.
 
Kiera could see right through the younger girl's lies. Her eyes grew suspicious. She knew what she had seen. Kiera knew all about the exploration club. She had been in it in previous years. Kiera shook her head. "You don't need any of that stuff for the exploration club." she said, making it obvious that she wasn't buying the younger girl's story. Kiera didn't press her any further at the moment though.

Kiera smiled as the girl asked her what she was doing in the library. She was going to show the girl that complete honesty was the best way. "The library has become my second home." she said with a laugh. "I need to study if I want all O's on my NEWTs." she said, determined to get those grades.
 
Okay, so she was no actress. Bad luck to meet someone who was clever... thought Art as she mentally bit her lip. In her case, honesty was not the best policy in her case. Honesty could ruin everything, and she was determined to get this right. She frowned to herself, irritated at almost being thwarted this early.

"Oh, that's right, you're up to NEWTS right now! Gosh, I'm not looking forward to those!" exclaimed Artemis in exactly the same cheery voice as before. She simply would not mention being caught out in a lie, nor would she say anything about why she had said so. Silence. Was. Vital. She didn't want to resort to Plan C.
 
"Neither am I." Kiera admitted to Artemis. NEWTs were definitely not going to be the highlight of her year but they were necessary.

Kiera was disappointed when the girl didn't volunteer what was going on to her. The disapproval was clear on her face. Kiera shook her head at the girl. "I wish you would just tell me what you are doing. It would be a lot easier than playing this game." she said, sitting down. She smiled kindly at the girl. "I'm not going to tell on you. You can trust me. Lets be honest. It looks like whatever you are doing is mildly dangerous and you are only a third year. I am five years older. Did you ever consider that I could help?" she asked, just wanting the girl to be up front with her.
 
"Yeah, mildly," said Artemis under her breath as she seated herself on the carpet. The very maximum she could tell her was what was happening with her brother. Further than that, she could only respond with more lies. Why on earth was she being goaded to speak about this? Forget it, this was the Head Girl. She may as well wing it.

"My brother is lost in New Zealand." said Artemis frankly. "It's cold and deserted and from what I've heard, he's very ill. Ever since the holidays I've been tracking reports of a curly-haired young man living off the streets, heading north. That's where we live," she said, frowning. "But only as far as Obsidian. After that, the well runs dry. He's lost his way."

Now came the lies.

"I'm sending a letter to mother with all the info I can about wilderness survival and things Simon will need to go and find Gregory. They're not experts, but I can help." she said firmly.
 
Kiera listened as the girl finally opened up to her. She could hardly believe her ears there was a boy wandering around alone and lost. Kiera couldn't help but stare. It took her a minute to absorb all of the information regarding the girl's brother. She needed to know a few more bits of information. How horrible this situation was! Kiera shook her head.

"You poor girl." Kiera said sympathetically. "I want to help. Can I do anything?" she asked, her compassionate heart taking over. She had always been one to volunteer services even though her plate was full. She meant every word she said.

Then something occurred to Kiera. "How did he get lost in the first place? Why wasn't your mother watching out for him?" she asked curiously.
 
"Oh no, um..." said Artemis awkwardly. "He's twenty-four. I don't know how he ended up here, he's meant to be in England. I'm terrified for him." She thought this next question required a bit of background information.

"Mother and father split up three years ago, and the six of us siblings parted. I went with Bess, Connie and Simon to New Zealand and Deidre and Gregory stayed with father in Yorkshire. We miss them terribly," she added quietly. "I can only assume that something terrible must have happened to Greg, because he's homeless and apparently looking for us. I can't see why father would kick him out though, but..." Artemis furrowed her brow. "It must have been dreadful. Greg's a sweet guy and really..." Art searched for the words, "Innocent. If he was a child he'd be long dead by now, but two weeks... I don't know what to do."

Artemis picked at a spot on the carpet. This was where she would draw the line. Her plans for finding her brother were hers and hers alone. She would be in terrible trouble if she was caught - as she was to find out.
 
Kiera listened as Artemis explained what was happening. She knew how the younger girl had to be feeling. She shook her head. "I am so sorry." she said, her chocolate eyes gleaming. Kiera was no longer smiling as she thought about her own brother and how she would feel if that was him.

"My parents are divorced too. I actually had no knowledge of my mother until a few years ago. She left us when I was two." Kiera told the younger girl. "I have an older brother, Cameron. If it was him that was lost and hurt...." she paused shaking her head. "Well lets just say I wouldn't be here." she said, understanding the girl's anguish. Kiera probably wouldn't have returned to the school at all if it was her brother.

Kiera offered Artemis a warm smile. "If you need a friend to talk to or help with anything, you can always come to me." she said sincerely.
 
Artemis blanched involuntarily at "Well, I wouldn't be here." She covered it with a shrug of her shoulders and thanked Kiera.

"That's really kind of 'ye. The most I can do at the moment though is send for help, though." Or so you would think. This can't wait, and I will not let him die out there. Kiera's kind words had only made her more determined to get this right first time. After that, there was begging for permission, and after that- her last hope in the world.

(( I don't know where you want to leave this, but if you wanted to join in while she's at the office, now would be a good time. Here's the link for you! Just let me know if there's other things you want to continue. (Btw, I'm not leaving this here I was just mentioning it whilst I had the chance) Ta! ))
 
Kiera smiled and nodded her head at Artemis. She had another idea that might be helpful. "If your help doesn't work out, we can always owl my brother. He is an Unspeakable at the ministry in New Zealand. He might be able to do something." she said, feeling helpless to help Artemis's brother. She didn't like feeling helpless. She didn't know what else to do.

((Okay! I can join! :) ))
 
(( Awesomesauce! May as well leave this here for the moment, since the best bit has already started :D ))

Art beamed at Kiera. Any help was very much welcome at this point. "Thank 'ye so much! Look, I shan't keep 'ye any longer, but..."
Art paused, genuinely overcome. "Ye're doing a great job as Head Girl," she laughed, though she was quite honest.
 
((Okay fine by me :D ))

Kiera grinned at Artemis as she complimented her. "Thank you." she said gratefully. "See you around." she said in a friendly voice before continuing on her way to her favorite table.
 
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