Vanessa had only been at King's Cross for about five minutes before she was already over being there. It was bustling with activity, students and their parents rushing all over the platform trying to make sure they didn't miss the train back to Hogwarts. Vanessa only wished she could conveniently miss the ride to school. It was the last place on Earth she wanted to be right now, and the crowds of students were only reaffirming that thought. They were inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but they were only adding to her annoyance.

    She stood with Artemis silently off to the side, patiently awaiting the orders to board the train. They were a few feet apart, keeping their distance to maintain any shroud of normalcy they had left between them. Not touching him was harder than Vanessa wanted to admit. She flexed her fingers at her side, longing to hold his hand in hers once again, despite the fact she had held it not but five minutes previously when they had used Side-Along Apparition with Butler to arrive at the station. Although, that was probably why it was so difficult now. Vanessa took a deep breath, willing herself to remain calm and collected. It was going to be a long trial period if she couldn't resist the urges to show him affection.

    Especially since soon she was sure Draco would be making an appearance.

    All Vanessa could do was hope that Alex found them first so she could help diffuse any tension there could possibly be. Right now, the last thing Vanessa wanted was to be alone with both boys. Partly because she was nervous she'd say or do something incriminating, but also partly because she was positive Draco was going to air his suspicions and immediately start a fight. He was just too paranoid to not start drama right away. His theatrics knew no bounds.

    Luckily for Vanessa, she saw Alex pushing her way through the crowds, making her way over to where the two of them stood. She appeared to be in a good mood, and was carrying a few extra bags in addition to her trunk. Vanessa raised an eyebrow curiously, but she was sure Alex would give some sort of explanation when she got to them. The first thing her friend did upon reaching her and Artemis was to set her stuff down, and pull the two of them into a tight embrace. Vanessa hugged Alex back with one arm, trying her hardest to not hug Artemis as well.

    "I've missed you guys!" Alex greeted before pulling away from both of them. "How was your break? Tell me all about it!"

    Vanessa smiled, but it was somewhat forced- partially because Alex knew exactly how their break was, and partially because she no longer had a convenient excuse to touch Artemis. "It was fine," she replied, shrugging lightly.

    "You and I both know that's a huge lie," Alex said, a smirk forming on her face. "I think 'fine' hardly covers it, judging by what you said in your letter."

    Vanessa barely resisted rolling her eyes. Because of course Alex would bring that up now. As much as she wanted to talk to her friend about what happened over the two weeks with Artemis, Vanessa knew she would have to wait until they were absolutely alone. There were far too many ears on the platform, and the last thing she needed was for anything that happened to get back to Draco. So for now, she would have to play it cool.

    "I mean, it was more than fine in all honesty," Vanessa relented, adjusting her necklace- the one Artemis had gotten her. "But we'll have to talk more about it in private."

    Vanessa was relieved when Alex didn't push the issue. "Riiiiiiiiiight," she responded. "I get the picture."

    "What's in the bags?" Artemis asked, breaking his silence to change the topic.

    "I'm glad you asked," Alex replied, happily. She glanced in each bag before handing one to Vanessa and the other to Artemis. "These are from gran. She was disappointed she didn't get to see you guys, so she insisted I deliver these."

    Vanessa peered into the bag, wondering what could possibly be inside. She wasn't entirely shocked to see a light blue hand-knitted sweater and a box of what she could only assume was homemade cookies. She looked back up at Alex just as she had started talking again.

    "She literally knitted you both a sweater while we were there the other day," Alex continued. "She missed you guys."

"We missed her too," Vanessa replied. "We'll have to go visit her for Easter, and if not then, this summer for sure."

She glanced over at Artemis, who was still peering into the bag Alex handed him. Vanessa tried her damnedest to not stare at him, but she found it near impossible to avoid. Especially knowing she would be stealing glances while Draco wasn't around. She cursed silently, knowing fully well that it was only a matter of time before she broke the façade of only being friends with him.

    Artemis had a small smile on his face as he finally looked back up at Alex, but it quickly faded as he caught a glimpse of something over her shoulder. Vanessa followed his gaze, and was quickly disappointed when she saw Draco pushing his way through the crowd towards them.

    Vanessa sighed. "Well, it was peaceful for a moment, anyway."

    Alex turned to look over her shoulder to see what her friends were staring at. It didn't take her long. "Ugh," she groaned. "He couldn't have missed the train or something?"

    "That would've been too convenient," Vanessa mumbled.

    "You don't say," Artemis huffed. The annoyance was already present in his voice. Vanessa knew he was likely going to be much less tolerant of Draco and any nonsense he may pull. On one hand, Vanessa really wanted to see someone knock Draco down a few pegs; he wholeheartedly deserved it. On the other, she didn't want Artemis to possibly get hurt; he was good with his words and spells, but if Draco decided to throw a punch it was all over.

    Vanessa looked to Alex once again, hoping this final plea was enough to keep her friend's mouth shut about what had transpired between her and Artemis. Draco was approaching fast, so she needed to assure Alex's silence quickly. "Swear to me you will say absolutely nothing incriminating in his presence," she begged. "I promise we'll talk about it later when it's just us."

    Alex nodded. "You can count on me." Vanessa wanted to believe her friend, but she'd be lying if she wasn't still doubtful about her not letting it slip.

    Moments after Alex spoke, Draco came to a stop beside her. He was silent for a moment as he glanced between the three of them before his eyes finally stopped on Vanessa. Her eyes met his, and Vanessa studied his face for a few seconds, taking it in for the first time in two weeks. The two week break hadn't done him any favors; he still looked just as sickly as he had the last time she saw him, perhaps even more so.

    "Hey," he greeted, setting his trunk down beside him.

    "Hey," Vanessa echoed.

    He stepped forward, arms open wide to offer her a hug. Vanessa stepped forward into his arms, wrapping her arms around him as he did the same. Even though she was pressed tightly against him, the embrace wasn't as warm and inviting as she had hoped it would be. She didn't feel happy, she didn't feel safe. It was nothing like the embraces she had shared with Artemis. She felt her stomach churn at the thought; certainly not a good sign for Draco. Honestly, Vanessa was a bit relieved he had only hugged her; she wasn't sure how she would've handled a kiss at that moment.

    After a few seconds, he pulled away and looked down at her. "How was your break?"

    She definitely couldn't answer that question truthfully, but saying nothing would look just as suspicious. Surely a vague answer would be good enough. She shrugged lightly. "Eh, it was alright," she answered. "Yours?"

    He seemed to buy that response, much to her relief. Anything to delay the inevitable. "Mine was fine," he replied. "Nothing particularly exciting." When Vanessa merely nodded, he turned to Alex, smiling. "What about yours?"

    Vanessa was shocked to hear him ask her friends about their break, especially since he never really treated them like they were his friends too, even though he spent just as much time with them as she did. Her skeptical side thought it was merely a way to gauge whether or not she had given a truthful answer herself.

"It was great," Alex said, smiling back at him. If nothing else, Vanessa was glad Alex was pretending to like the guy. "Got to see my grandmother, so that was nice."

    Draco nodded slowly before turning to Artemis. The friendly look on his face had dissipated, just like Vanessa knew it would. "What about you, Fowl?"

    Vanessa turned slightly to look at Artemis. He had an eyebrow raised, obviously just as confused as she was that Draco was even asking in the first place. Artemis was smart enough to realize this was a trap to get him to admit to something.

    "It was fine," he answered, unenthused. It seemed like a safe answer.

    But it wasn't. Of course Draco turned the innocent response into something suspicious. "Did you manage to keep your hands to yourself?"

    She noticed her friend tense up slightly, but she hoped she was the only one who did. The indifferent look upon Artemis' face had been replaced by one of annoyance. Vanessa knew he was struggling between continuing the lie or being smug and blurting it out. Luckily for her, Artemis had better self-control than most.

    "Of course I did," he answered calmly. His voice almost sounded too sincere, a small smile tugging at his lips. He maintained eye contact with Draco for a few moments before kneeling down to open his trunk to put his bag of gifts away.

Vanessa thought for just a moment that things were going to be okay, that they had momentarily skirted disaster. She knew there was going to be an altercation at some point, but any delay was a welcome one. Maybe the train ride back to Hogwarts wouldn't be as awkward as the one two weeks ago. She thought perhaps things could go back to what they were like before the party for now, where everyone at the very least pretended to like each other.

At least until Draco opened his mouth again.

"Likely story," he spat. He was right back to the hostility with Artemis. Of course.

Artemis' head shot up as he pulled a book from his trunk before slamming it shut. "Believe what you want, Malfoy," he hissed. "I'm not going to waste my breath arguing with you. Nothing I say will convince you otherwise."

    Artemis didn't wait for Draco to reply before he grabbed his trunk and stormed off, heading towards the train. Vanessa couldn't say she blamed her friend for walking off. Draco certainly wasn't going to listen to him, no matter what clever lies he spun. Some battles were won by retreating, and Artemis was well aware of that. Vanessa knew he wasn't going to be the one to throw the first spell or punch. Artemis had too much riding on staying out of trouble; he was a prefect and needed to set an example- even if he at one time broke much more than a few school rules. Not to mention, Artemis' parents were very insistent on him sticking to the straight and narrow path now, so he'd have to contend with them too if he was the one who started the fight.

    Vanessa was shaken from her thoughts when Draco huffed. "What the hell is his problem?"

    Vanessa shot him a glare. "Really? How would you react if you were constantly being accused of doing something that you didn't do? You'd probably be pretty peeved, wouldn't you?"

    Draco didn't say anything; there was no comeback to that. He would've had a much more dramatic reaction had he been accused of something- whether he did it or not. They all knew that. Sure, Artemis was ridiculously guilty of everything Draco was accusing him of, so Vanessa knew that was likely why he backed off. Feigning innocence was difficult, but they were going to have to do it for a little longer.

    "I know I would be," Alex chimed in. She was trying to be helpful, but now was truly not the time for it.

    Vanessa sighed. "Let's just go."

    She picked up her trunk and started to walk off, following the same path Artemis did. Draco and Alex followed behind her. After a few moments, they finally caught up to Artemis, who was now standing in line, waiting to board the train. He glanced back at them, but said nothing. He still had an annoyed look upon his face, and Vanessa was sure he was going to be silent the whole train ride, if he had his way. She couldn't say she blamed him; the tension was still thick, and it didn't appear to be changing anytime soon.

    Once they had gotten their trunks squared away and they settled into their compartment, Vanessa hoped things would lighten up a bit. Artemis sat across from her next to the window, and immediately started reading the book he had pulled out of his trunk earlier, making himself look as unapproachable as possible. Alex sat next to him, and watched her and Draco get settled into their seats before she started talking again.

    "So gran said this summer when we all visit, she'd like for us to go down to the ocean..."

    Vanessa tried to listen, but her mind wouldn't shut off. Draco's hand held hers tightly, his thumb stroking hers lightly. Her stomach was still churning, unable to shake the feeling that the one whose hand she should be holding was sitting across from her. As she listened to Alex go on about her grandmother's plans for them this upcoming summer break, she couldn't help but feel like this train ride was only the beginning of what was going to be pure hell.

*****

Hey everyone! Sorry again for the huge delay in updating. I think I was just going through some sort of writer's block, but I think I have shaken it for now. I hope all is well with you! Thanks again for your patience with me! I hope I can have the next chapter here soon. :)

~arty_writes