Sang Qui Lie

Artemis snorted softly as she glanced around her room. It was, in her opinion, overly extravagant, ugly, dark, and utterly Narcissa Malfoy. The walls were a dark mahogany wood, lovely really, but paired with the royal purple draperies, covers, beds, and upholstery, it just did not work.

As the house elves scuttled around unpacking her bags, Artemis wandered into her bathroom, leaving Echo to watch the house elves. A tiny gasp escaped her lips as she pushed open the door to her private bathroom. It was completely black and green marble with silver fixtures. Artemis walked in and grinned at the bathtub that was roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool. As she peered closer at the nozzle, she shook her head. There were hissing snakes etched into it. Typical. This family had a Slytherin obsession.

Artemis turned as she heard the door behind her open. Cassandra stepped in, holding Echo in her hands. The black and silver kneazle purred happily as Cass rubbed her side. Artemis smiled. "Hey, moving in comfortably?"

Cass laughed. "Don't you love these rooms?" She looked around. "Your bathroom is worse than mine." Behind the closed bathroom door, Artemis heard a house elf hurrying to get out of the way as Draco walked into the bedroom, loudly slamming the door behind him.

"I do believe I have a visitor." Artemis groaned.

"Nice of him to knock." Cass smirked as Draco pushed open the bathroom door. Artemis had a fleeting thought of how strange it was to see her cousin in the bathroom with her. Looking at Draco, Artemis came to the decision he wasn't a horribly handsome boy, but compared to the pictures of Hogwarts students she had found, he was not that horrid.

He had the same silvery, blue eyes that Artemis had, except his weren't as slanted. He was pale, but it was a sickly pale, not the natural whiteness of the twins. His hair was a very light blonde, and it would look good if he didn't insist on wearing it slicked back to his head. Well, Artemis pondered, if something dropped on his head, it wouldn't hurt him.

Draco had his trademark smirk on as he greeted his cousins. "Hello." Echo growled slightly and pressed up tighter in Cass's arms. Artemis, attempting to be polite, said, "What a pleasure to see you again, Draco." Cass didn't try to be kind in the least. "What do you want, Draco?" she barked.

"If you want lunch, it's ready." Draco said evenly. "But my father wants to speak to you before you eat. After lunch I will be..um, informing you of Hogwarts procedures." Artemis could tell Draco was biting his tongue, trying to be courteous. Probably under Lucius's direct threats.

Having delivered his forced message, Draco relaxed. He couldn't stop the smart remark that was begging to escape his lips.

"Welcome to hell," he slurred, looking particularly at Cass. Artemis bit her tongue as Draco turned on his heels and left. She looked at Cass and muttered, "Not many places are worse than hell, but this is probably one of them." Cass smiled.

Splendid, Artemis thought to herself. Three days living with my rodent of a cousin. What did I do to deserve this cruel and unusual punishment?