Hello again everyone! Here's another chapter! I have at least 4 or 5 chapters figured out still, so I hope I can keep the updates going. Hope you all enjoy.
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    Vanessa sat in the Great Hall, rereading the letter her father had sent back to her while she waited for dinner. She had filled him in on life here, leaving out some of what was happening, and had inquired about what she was to do for Christmas. The last thing she wanted to do was worry him, so she didn't bother to tell him that she and Draco had been arguing essentially nonstop. She sat there, gently stroking the owl that had delivered her letter as she took in her father's words once again.

    'Dearest Vanessa,

    I was delighted to receive your letter this morning. I thought I should quickly reply to you before I went to work. I hope this letter makes it to you as soon as possible.

I am so glad to hear your classes are going well for you this term. I have no idea what most of those classes entail, given that I'm just a normal guy. You're doing great, darling. I'm very proud of you and all you have accomplished so far. I think I can speak for your mother here too, and say she would be equally proud of you. Although she would be a bit disappointed that you aren't fond of Professor Slughorn. He was one of your mother's favorite teachers when she attended school. She would be delighted, however, that you were invited to be a part of his little club anyway.

So boyfriend, huh? I will have to meet this lad one day. He better be treating you with the utmost kindness and respect. As long as that is happening, and you are happy, then I am happy for you.

As far as Christmas goes, I unfortunately will be out of town for a big construction project. Some billionaire is paying the company extra to have the project expedited. You are still welcome to come home, but I suspect you don't wish to sit in an empty house for your holidays. It is quite lonely without you home, and I am so sorry I have to miss Christmas with you. We will have to make up for it this summer.

That being said, if you want to stay at school that is fine. If you would rather go home with Artemis or Alex, that's fine too. Just make sure it is okay with their parents first. And of course let me know what you end up deciding so I can make sure I send your gifts to the right place.

I love you so much, and I hope to hear from you again soon.

~Dad'

Vanessa sat the letter down on the table, and it startled the owl, causing it to fly off. That was fine. She wasn't quite ready to reply to her father anyway. Since he was going to be gone for the holidays, she needed to figure out what she was going to do. She rested her head against her left fist, and tapped quietly on the table with her right hand as she quietly pondered what her options were.

So obviously she had Slughorn's party, which she would need to find a dress for this weekend, but after that she hadn't the faintest clue as to what to do beyond that. She was guessing Draco was likely too busy- given that he couldn't even take a couple hours to attend a party with her. Honestly, the thought of spending the holidays alone at Hogwarts seemed horrible to her, so she wanted to avoid that. She loved Alex, but she didn't think she could bear to be with her for the entirety of Christmas break.

That left Artemis.

She already knew he was going home. His mother was insisting on it, and Artemis being the momma's boy he was, he wasn't going to deny her request. Honestly going back with him seemed like the best choice. Artemis' family had a sprawling estate, with everything from a stable to a pool to an observatory. Vanessa loved spending time there in the summer, and the last Christmas she had spent there was during their third year. Maybe this year would change that. After all, Artemis already had said she was welcome to tag along.

She thought about it quietly for a moment, thinking of a plan of attack. Perhaps she would ask Draco what he was doing first. If for whatever reason they couldn't spend the holidays together, she would go with Artemis. Problem solved.

Vanessa folded up the letter to her dad and put it in her bag. She'd reply to him after she got her plans completely sorted out. She looked up just in time to see Alex and Artemis approaching her. Alex was blabbing away about something, and Artemis looked to be completely bored of whatever it was. Alex had a way of quickly getting under his skin, so Vanessa wasn't entirely shocked by this.

"All I'm saying is that you don't have any room to talk about doing illegal things, mister," Alex stated as she took her seat across from Vanessa.

Artemis sighed and sat on Vanessa's right hand side. "Yes, but I can't say I have ever stooped that low," he retorted, completely exasperated.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. This was bound to be an intriguing conversation; it always was when Alex felt the need to remind Artemis of his checkered past. "Okay, so what's going on?"

Artemis rolled his eyes and shot a pointed glare at Alex. "Why don't you fill Nessa in on your ridiculous plan and see who she agrees with?"

Vanessa smiled a little when Artemis referred to her by her nickname, but she looked to Alex instead. "Dear Merlin, do I even want to know what you're up to?"

Alex reached into her robe's pocket and pulled out a small vial. Vanessa studied the potion for a moment, trying to place where she had seen the mother-of-pearl sheen before.

She didn't have long before Alex opened it, shoving it only inches from Vanessa's face. "What's it smell like?"

This seemed like a trap, but Vanessa inhaled the spiraling fumes of the potion. She was hit with the scent of old books, Earl Grey tea, and something else she couldn't quite place. She found herself taking deeper breaths, the intoxicating smell filling her up. After a few seconds, she blinked a few times, coming to her senses, and pushed the potion back towards Alex.

"What the hell are you doing with Amortentia? And where the hell did you even find it?" she questioned, ignoring Alex's question. "It's not allowed on school grounds."

"That's exactly what I asked her," Artemis explained.

"Ugh, you guys are such goody two shoes," Alex grumbled, shoving the cork back into the vial to seal it before putting it back in her pocket.

"Well, we are prefects, dumbass," Vanessa replied. "We have to care about the rules at least a little bit. Now once again... why do you have it?"

Alex shrugged. "I certainly wasn't going to put it in some poor unsuspecting fool's drink."

"Yeah, no, absolutely not. I'm with Artemis on this one," Vanessa decided, shaking her head. "This is incredibly stupid."

"How so?" Alex questioned indignantly.

"Amortentia will not make the object of your affections fall in love with you," Artemis explained. "It only creates a temporary obsessive infatuation, and if the potion isn't consistently administered, it will wear off."

"Oh, of course you would know that," Alex continued, huffing as she crossed her arms.

Artemis rolled his eyes again. "Yes, because I actually pay attention in Potions class. If you put in half the effort I do, you would've known that too." He paused, shaking his head. "So even if you do manage to slip it into some poor unsuspecting sap's drink, they won't truly love you. It only causes obsessive, suffocating infatuation. You do not want that, I assure you."

"You're better off actually going and talking to the guy instead of drugging him with a potion," Vanessa added. "Honestly, this is a new low for you. Stop being so damn desperate for attention."

"Well not all of us can garner the attention of multiple men, Vanessa," Alex retorted, a smirk forming on her face.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. Certainly this girl was mental. She was most certainly not getting attention from multiple men. Just Draco- and even that was only when he wasn't mad at her for whatever reason.

"Are you crazy? What are you even talking about? How am I garnering attention from multiple men? Am I missing something?" Vanessa questioned.

Alex opened her mouth to say something, but Artemis quickly cut her off. "She's obviously delusional," he said, his voice sounding strangely nervous. "I think her little plot here established that."

She blinked a few times in confusion. He knew something she didn't, but she was going to let it go for now. She swore her life was just growing more and more strange as time went on. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Vanessa shook her head at her friends.

"Whatever the case is with whose attention I supposedly have, I'm not the one trying to give someone a love potion to get a date," Vanessa retorted. "If you're too nervous or whatever to talk to the guy, why don't you tell us who it is, and one of us can talk to him?"

Alex glanced across the hall, and Vanessa followed her eyes to the Gryffindor table. So at least that guess of hers was right. "You two will only make fun of me," Alex admitted.

Vanessa was a bit offended by that as she looked back at Alex. "Seriously? Have we ever made fun of you for who you like?"

"No," Alex muttered quietly, almost so quietly Vanessa barely heard it.

"So just tell us," Vanessa urged.

Alex shook her head, her face turning bright red. She wasn't budging.

Artemis sighed, hardly hiding his annoyance. "It's Weasley. I pieced it together with the little information she's given us."

Vanessa looked back at the Gryffindor table. Sure enough, Ron Weasley was sitting there, chatting aimlessly to Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Whatever they were talking about had Granger looking rather upset. Knowing the three of them, Vanessa was sure it could've been anything. She supposed as far as crushes went, Alex could've had worse taste.

"I wish you luck with that," she finally said. "Last I knew, there were quite a few girls interested in him. What with him being on the Quidditch team and all that now. Apparently athletes are in high demand."

"I swear I'll talk to him this weekend between Hogsmeade and the Quidditch match," Alex replied. "Try to get to him before the crazies do."

"Hmm... you mean you aren't crazy? Weird," Artemis snarked. He was seemingly still in that sassy mood he had been in earlier. Vanessa was personally a huge fan of it.

She nudged him with her elbow before she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. He was tense, and his shoulder hurt the side of her face for a moment before he finally relaxed a bit. "Now, now, I'm sure there is someone here who makes our dear Alex look completely sane," she said, hardly resisting a laugh.

Alex smirked, something Vanessa wasn't expecting. It took her a second, but Vanessa realized it was likely because she was leaning on Artemis. She sighed a little and sat up. One day Alex was going to lose the notion of the two of them together, but apparently today was not that day.

"I suppose that's a true statement," Artemis agreed.

Vanessa opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she saw Draco enter the hall. She watched him approach them, studying his face and body language carefully as she tried to gauge what kind of mood he was in. He wasn't smiling- that wasn't new, but he didn't seem to be upset either.

Likely still paranoid about Potter following him, Vanessa thought.

Draco took his seat next to her, sitting down with a sigh.

"Guessing your day didn't get any better?" she asked him.

Draco shook his head as food began appearing on the table in front of them. "Not really," he muttered.

Vanessa frowned. "Well, we'll have to fix that," she decided. "Do you want to hang out with us tomorrow during the Hogsmeade trip?" She figured she could wait to ask him about Christmas plans. Now wasn't the time.

Draco was silent for a couple seconds, but he eventually smiled and answered, "I would love to."

Vanessa smiled back at him. She honestly had expected him to say no, so that was a pleasant surprise. Seeing that he actually wanted to hang out with her and her friends made Vanessa ridiculously happy. This was a major step in the right direction. Before today, Draco only seemed to tolerate her friends, and now he actually wanted to spend time with them as a group. Vanessa was amazed. Hopefully this was only a sign of good things to come.