"We're going to get caught, you know."

    "Oh hush, Artemis," Vanessa silenced, waving her hand at her friend. "No one is going to recognize us. We'll be fine."

    The two of them, as well as Alex and Draco, had broken Hogwarts rules and had snuck off to Hogsmeade. The remaining trips to the village had been cancelled after the incident with Katie Bell earlier in the year. They had thought it was in everyone's best interest if the students stayed away, given that they weren't able to track down whoever had given Katie the cursed necklace. They weren't willing to take any chances and have another student cursed.

    Of course, that meant nothing to Vanessa. She had already broken enough rules this school year; what was one more? Surely the worst that could happen was that they get detention and lose some house points. Big deal. The thrill of sneaking out and breaking a major school rule was a huge rush. And having all three of her favorite people with her made it all the better.

    The four of them walked down the street, trying their best to keep as low of a profile as they could. With any luck, no one would realize they weren't supposed to be here. As long as they didn't do anything to draw attention to themselves, it was likely they could pull this operation off without a hitch. The snow was picking up, and Vanessa wanted to get back before too much more fell.

    "It's not like we're wearing our school uniforms, Artemis. No one is going to realize we're students," Alex chimed in. "Stop being such a damn worrywort."

    Artemis huffed, shoving his hands in his jacket's pockets. "No, it's certainly not strange that there's only four teenagers here on a weekend. Surely that's not a redflag."

    Artemis had a point, but Vanessa wasn't going to admit it. Not until after they had finished their mission and got back with no issue. The last thing she wanted to do was jinx this.

    "Relax, Fowl," Draco chimed in. "We aren't going to be here that long."

    "Just long enough for me to get a dress for Slughorn's party and then we can turn around and go back," Vanessa assured. "I promise this is going to be a quick in-and-out process. You just need to relax a bit."

    Vanessa saw her friend frown from the corner of her eye, but he said nothing more on the matter. She took a deep breath, and put her focus back on the busy street in front of her. They were almost there. All she wanted to do was get this dress and get back. Honestly she was more upset with herself for not packing a dress in her trunk when she packed for Hogwarts in the first place. If she had any sense to do that, this whole trip could've been avoided. But it was too late for that now. She needed a dress, and she was going to get one.

    The four teens finally reached a shop Vanessa hoped would be the answer to all her problems. Honestly if there wasn't a decent dress, she'd improvise. She looked to Artemis and Draco. There was no way they would enjoy this process.

    "Why don't you two stay out here?" she suggested. "I'm going to guess neither one of you care much for dress shopping."

    The boys exchanged glances, but it was Draco who spoke up. "No, can't say that we do."

    "Alright, so wait right here and we'll be out shortly!" Vanessa announced. She planted a quick kiss on Draco's cheek before she grabbed Alex's hand and pulled her into the shop.

    Much to Vanessa's delight, the store was pretty busy. Hopefully enough that the two of them weren't going to be noticed. Vanessa released Alex's hand and began to look around the shop, hoping something would catch her eye.

    "So is there something in particular you're looking for?" Alex asked. "I haven't seen you wear many dresses in the last five or six years, so I'm not very sure what I should be looking for."

    "Um," Vanessa muttered, rummaging through a rack of dresses. "I'm not really sure either. Nothing too fancy, nothing too simple. Something in between, I guess. Like it's a party, but not like a ball or anything."

    Alex nodded, knowingly. "Alright. Long or short?"

    Vanessa thought about it for a moment. "Probably short? Again. It's a party."

    "Any specific colors you want? Or any you want to avoid?" Alex went on.

    Vanessa stopped her search for a moment to look at Alex. "You have been my best friend my whole life; I would think you would know what colors I like and what ones I avoid by now."

    Alex smirked. "Alright. Bright yellow, coming right up!"

    Vanessa smiled and rolled her eyes, but said nothing more as she moved on to the next rack of dresses. Alex was merely joking, or so she hoped. Yellow was not her color by any means. Blonde hair and pale skin coupled with yellow just made her look more pale and washed out. Honestly, Vanessa would take literally any other color.

    "So, you said Draco wasn't going to go with you?" Alex asked.

    Vanessa nodded. "Yeah, he uh... said he had other plans," she said quietly. Vanessa hadn't told Alex that the two of them fought briefly about that. It was better that way. Alex still wasn't Draco's fan, and with the two of them finally tolerating each other's existence, the last thing Vanessa wanted to do was say something that could mess that up.

    "You're going alone?" Alex pressed on, not looking at her as she continued to flip through dresses.

    Vanessa was sure this was a trap. "Yup," she answered.

    She didn't need to see Alex's face to know the girl was smirking. "You're not going with Artemis then?"

    There it was.

    "I mean, technically I guess I am, but not really?" Vanessa answered, sighing. "We're friends, attending the same party. That's really all there is to it."

    "Uh huh," Alex muttered, obviously not buying it.

    Vanessa turned to look at her friend. "Can we just not do this today? I'm not in the mood to argue with you about this."

    Alex raised her hands. "Alright, Nessa. You win."

    Vanessa sighed. "Thank you."

    "For now."

    Vanessa shot her a glare but it must not have been threatening enough, as Alex smirked back at her. One of these days Alex was finally going to lose the notion she had in her mind about her and Artemis. Vanessa wasn't sure when or how, but it was bound to happen. Alex was certainly acting weirder than normal. All of her friends, for that matter, were acting strange recently. As if they all knew something that she didn't. Honestly it was getting kind of old. Vanessa wanted to get to the bottom of it.

    "Tell me something," she started, "what do you all know that I don't?"

    Alex played coy. "What are you talking about?"

    Vanessa pulled a dress from the rack, looking it over fully before hanging it back up. "It's been happening for a while, but you all keep making weird, snide comments and giggling a lot. Like what was the comment last night about me having the attention of a bunch of guys?"

    Alex shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're talking about for the most part," she answered. "As for my comment last night, it's not really a secret. A lot of guys are fond of you. That's common knowledge."

    "No, no, no," Vanessa countered. "The way you worded it last night made it seem super specific. You're not getting out of this without telling me what you know."

    Vanessa watched her friend for a moment. Alex was silent, looking as if she was debating something over silently. "I can't," Alex eventually sighed, taking a dress off the rack to look at it. "I was sworn to secrecy. Pinky promise and all that good stuff. I take that seriously."

    "It's not an Unbreakable Vow, ya know," Vanessa huffed. "You can break it without serious consequences. Especially to tell your best friend."

    Alex laughed, putting the dress back. "Oh no I can't. I know they would kill me if I ever told you," she said. "I'm sure you'll figure it out in due time. Maybe even sooner than you think. But for now, we need to find you this dress."

    Vanessa frowned. That was not the answer she was hoping for. She needed answers, and now. But she knew Alex was stubborn and wasn't going to budge. She shook her head, trying to forget about it for now. She was going to get to the bottom of this mystery, but it was going to have to wait. She put her focus back on looking for a dress.

    "Yeah, before the boys end up killing each other outside," she mumbled, silently hoping that was not the case.

*****

    Artemis watched as Vanessa drug Alex into the shop, leaving him standing awkwardly with the last person he wanted to be alone with. Despite him keeping up appearances, Artemis was still not a fan of Malfoy, especially knowing that his suspicions were at least partially confirmed. He only hoped Vanessa and Alex made this quick so he didn't confront Malfoy the way he so desperately wanted to.

    Not only for whatever he was doing in the Room of Requirement, but also for the horrible way he treated Vanessa.

    From the corner of his eyes, he saw Malfoy move across the street and sit on a bench. Artemis reluctantly followed suit, and sat down on his right.

    "Figured they could be a minute," Malfoy started, "so might as well sit and relax a little bit."

    "Probably," Artemis agreed with a sigh.

"Vanessa was dead set on getting a new dress for this party," Draco replied. He sighed. "Shame I won't get to see her in it."

Artemis knew this was because Malfoy said he had "other plans" and about the fight that caused, but he decided to play dumb to see what excuse Malfoy was going to give him. Surely not the truth. "Oh? I thought Vanessa was going to ask you to come with her," he said.

"She did, but I can't go. I've got some other stuff going on that night," Malfoy explained. He paused for a moment. "Not that it matters. If I didn't have other plans, we wouldn't be making it to the party anyway. I'd be too busy pulling that dress off of her."

Artemis' right fist clenched subconsciously. There he went, objectifying Vanessa. How disgusting. Vanessa was a beautiful girl, no doubt, but she was so much more than that. Artemis recognized that, so why the hell couldn't Malfoy? If they weren't trying to keep a low profile, Artemis would've cursed him so quickly his head would spin, if he didn't punch him in the jaw first. Artemis wasn't a violent person by nature, but damn was Malfoy starting to bring the worst out of him. One of these days he was going to snap.

Instead, he bit his tongue and forced a smile. "Oh, I'm sure," he muttered.

Malfoy huffed and leaned back into the corner of the bench. "You probably have a wonderful time, being surrounded by girls all the time."

Artemis wasn't sure where he was going with this. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're always with Vanessa and all her friends. I'm sure you've probably dated at least one of them," Malfoy retorted.

"No," Artemis answered. It wasn't a lie. He hadn't dated any of them, hadn't kissed any of them, or anything. The most he had done with any of the girls was hold Vanessa's hand. They were his friends, and that was it. "Vanessa and I became friends on the train ride before first year. She was already friends with Alex since childhood. Kendall and Amber were sometime after that. I think they all view me as nothing more than a brother. And Emily is my cousin, so no."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow for a moment, but then nodded. "So are you seeing anyone right now?"

"No," Artemis repeated. He decided the best way to keep him from prying further was to give him some details. "Haven't seen anyone since my last girlfriend was petty and broke up with me before fifth year started."

A shame that plan backfired. "Well, damn. You interested in anyone then?"

This was absolutely the last question Artemis wanted to answer, at least not with the complete truth. "Yeah, but she doesn't know I exist," he answered quietly. He paused for a second, debating if he should add more. "She's um... kind of seeing someone else right now. And she's completely enamored by him, despite the fact he's a jerk and treats her poorly."

He had probably said too much, but he certainly felt better saying it.

"Well that's rubbish," Malfoy replied with a huff. "You would think she would leave that guy. I'm sorry, mate."

    Is he truly that oblivious? Artemis wondered. He shook his head lightly, and put on a small smile. "Perhaps it's for the best that she doesn't see me as anything more than a friend," he sighed. "I don't need a distraction with my classes right now."

Another lie. He certainly didn't think it was for the best, but he really didn't want Malfoy prying further and discovering the complete truth. He had already said too much.

"Who is she?" Malfoy asked.

"You don't know her," Artemis responded, almost too quickly. Even then, he didn't feel this answer was too far from the truth. Malfoy certainly didn't know the same Vanessa he did. Vanessa had been a shell of her former self since she started seeing the Slytherin boy. She wasn't the same, and it hurt seeing her like this. "I know her from outside of school."

Malfoy seemed to buy that answer. He nodded slowly. "Still sucks."

Artemis shrugged. "It is what it is," he said. He was quiet for a moment before he looked over at Malfoy and spoke again, his voice sounding much more threatening than even he intended as he added, "All I know is that if I have the opportunity to show her that she deserves better, I'm going to take it."

Malfoy laughed. "Do it!"

So he is an idiot, Artemis thought. He smiled. All the better; the realization would hit that much harder later. "Oh I intend on it," he assured.

Malfoy didn't get a chance to respond before Vanessa and Alex rushed up to them. Artemis almost sighed in relief, but didn't want to show any bit of nervousness. It was key to keeping Malfoy in the dark about all of his plans and intentions. His cluelessness about the whole thing was hilarious.

But for now, Artemis was more than content in letting Vanessa take over the talking.

*****

    Vanessa took one more look in the bag before leaving the counter. She had finally found her dress for the party! It took a bit longer than she anticipated, but it was perfect. She had decided on a dark blue, satin knee-length dress. It wasn't super flashy, but it wasn't drab either. The best she could hope for when it came to last minute party attire. Luckily she had some shoes already, so that wasn't going to be an issue.

    "Alright, now that you have your dress, let's get the hell out of here," Alex announced. "I'm sure the boys are freezing and want to go."

    Vanessa nodded, but said nothing to her friend as she led the way towards the front of the store. Alex was right; it was snowing and super cold, so she wouldn't be surprised if Artemis and Draco were both beyond ready to leave. She opened the front door of the shop, and glanced around trying to find her best friend and boyfriend. She didn't have to look long.

    The two of them were seated on a bench directly across from the shop, talking amongst themselves about something she couldn't hear. Vanessa was pleased to see the two of them hadn't killed each other in her absence. She stood there for a few moments, watching them quietly. A smile stretched across her face, unable to stop herself from thinking of how flawlessly handsome the both of them were despite the wintry weather blowing snow through whatever hair wasn't under a hat, and making any exposed skin flush pink. How could anyone look so perfect all the time? It was sickening.

    And then, that was weird.

    Alex cleared her throat. "Are you done staring? We've gotta go."

    Vanessa didn't even realize she had been staring at the two of them. "Um, yeah," she said. "Let's interrupt their conversation and get going."

The two girls made their way across the street, through the crowds of people, coming to a stop in front of the boys. Draco and Artemis both looked up at them for a moment before standing too.

Draco put an arm around Vanessa. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

She nodded, lifting the bag up. "Sure did. I think this dress will be perfect for the party," she answered. "Or at least I think it will, given that I have no idea what this party is actually going to entail."

"Great, you got your dress," Alex replied. "Now let's get out of here."

Vanessa looked at her friend, momentarily confused. "Ah yes, I forgot you had plans to try to talk to a certain someone this weekend," she said sweetly.

Artemis smirked. "You mean We-"

"-you mention who it is, and I'll kill you," Alex cut him off.

Vanessa shook her head, smiling. "Alright, alright. Let's go."

As the four of them began the trek back to Hogwarts, Vanessa was just grateful that she was able to find an outfit for the party, even if she had to break some school rules to do it. Perhaps more so, she was grateful that the three people she valued the most were all still getting along and not trying to kill each other. Well, other than Alex's empty threats, anyway.

She smiled. Things were finally going okay.