The first day back to classes went about as spectacularly as Vanessa imagined it would. She spent most of it awkwardly between Artemis and Draco, both refusing to properly communicate. Vanessa understood why- Draco was right to be suspicious and pissed, and Artemis was just trying to maintain the lies she had orchestrated- but that didn't mean it didn't suck any less. She hated it, but for now, it was what she was going to have to live with, at least until she figured out what the hell she was doing.

    The halls were quiet that night as she and Artemis did their prefect rounds. Vanessa could hear their footsteps against the stone floor, and it only made the night seem even more unusual. She couldn't remember a time when the castle was so silent. Their round together had been relatively light on conversation as well, with only a brief conversation about Artemis signing up for Apparition classes. Vanessa still hadn't decided if she wanted to take the additional class or not; it was a twelve week course, and she felt she had enough to worry about right now. She still had a bit of time to decide. That aside, Vanessa didn't like the silence between them. She assumed it was because he knew as soon as they finished their rounds, she was going to sneak off with Draco again. He was likely waiting for her at the entrance to the Ravenclaw dorms, so anything she wanted to say to Artemis she'd have to get out before they got there.

    "Weird how quiet it is tonight," she started. She hated making small talk with her best friend of all people, but what else could she say?

    "Don't jinx it," Artemis replied. His voice sounded a bit tense, and Vanessa hated it. They hadn't talked about anything that happened over break since being back at school, and she was sure that was at least partially to blame for his cold demeanor this evening. That, and dealing with Draco.

    "Alright, I'll take it back," Vanessa said with a laugh. Artemis merely huffed as a response, causing her to frown for a moment before she stepped ahead of him, making him stop in his tracks. "I'm not sure what's going on in that big brain of yours, but it's going to be okay."

    Artemis was silent for a moment, looking anywhere but at her. After a few seconds, his deep blue eyes met hers and he sighed. "This is just... difficult," he said quietly. He hesitated, and Vanessa knew he wanted to say more but couldn't out of fear that someone would overhear him. "Especially with him being the way he has been."

    She knew what he meant. It was hard to act as if nothing was wrong with Draco continuously insinuating there certainly was. Admittedly she didn't know how much longer she could keep up the lies, and she was sure Artemis was feeling similarly. Eventually the truth was going to come out, and it was going to change everything. Vanessa only hoped she could delay that a bit longer, until she could figure out if Draco was even capable of changing his ways. Her brain already knew that answer, but her heart was playing stubborn.

    "I know," she replied. "We just have to keep this up for a bit longer."

    Artemis wasn't reassured. "He's going to figure it out, Nessa. He already knows. Our denial isn't convincing him at all."

    "I know," Vanessa repeated in a whisper. "I know. Between his constant insinuations and knowing that Alex knows and could accidentally let it slip to him or anyone else, I'm sure it's going to come crashing down around us sooner rather than later. But for now, everything is fine, and we should try to keep up that appearance."

    Artemis took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright. I'll do my best."

    Vanessa smiled weakly, and then glanced around the hallway. They were completely alone, something that didn't shock her judging by how quiet this evening's rounds had been. She hesitated for just a moment before she stood on her tiptoes, leaned forward and quickly planted a kiss to his lips. It was brief, and Vanessa had to resist the temptation to make it something more lasting; oh how she had missed kissing him. Reluctantly, she pulled away from him, knowing very well she had to stop in order to avoid possibly being caught.

    Even in the dim lighting, Vanessa could see Artemis' usually pale face was flushed pink with blush. Hopefully it was just light enough no one else would notice.

    "Let's get back to the common room," she said.

    Artemis nodded, but said nothing more as he and Vanessa began to walk once more. Vanessa had always been comfortable in silence with Artemis, but this silence was different. It wasn't just a pause between conversations, not just enjoying the other's presence. It was a longing silence, one that Vanessa had dreaded since the moment she realized what had happened at the party. She had been friends with Artemis forever, and she was unable to imagine her life without him. Yet, Vanessa was having an increasingly difficult time seeing him as just her friend. How could she simply be friends with him when every time she looked at him she was thinking about how much more she really wanted? She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind just as the common room door came into view.

    She'd be lying if she said her heart didn't sink when she saw Draco leaning against the wall a few feet from the door.

    Vanessa put on a fake smile as the two of them came to a stop a few feet from Draco. He moved off the wall, and put an arm around Vanessa's waist. She noticed his glare was still focused on Artemis, daring him for a confrontation.

    It was tense for a few moments before Artemis forced a smile and turned to Vanessa, completely ignoring Draco's presence. "I'll see you in the morning, Nessa. Good night," he muttered before stepping towards the door to answer the riddle necessary for entry.

    Vanessa didn't even get to hear what it was before Draco wordlessly took her hand in his and whisked her back down the stairs of Ravenclaw Tower. She silently wondered where he was taking her to have their next fight. This time it would probably be some accusation about her and Artemis shagging while on their prefect duties or something else just as ludicrous.

    After a few seconds of descending the tower's steps, Vanessa dared to ask, "So where exactly are you taking me?"

    Draco was quiet for a moment before he glanced over at her. "I want to show you something," he replied.

    Vanessa raised an eyebrow. What could he possibly want to show her? "Alright," she answered hesitantly. "How much longer before we're there?"

    "Not long now."

    The couple walked in silence for a bit longer before Vanessa realized where he was leading her- a place they had spent a lot of time in this year. The empty space on the wall in front of them soon revealed the door to the Room of Requirement. She contemplated what he could possibly need to show her inside the room. Her stomach churned; whatever it was obviously couldn't be shown with other people possibly around.

    They stepped inside the room, and Draco shut the door tightly behind them. Vanessa glanced around the ever-changing room. Usually Draco had required it to be something nice and put together for an amorous rendezvous, but this time the room was in absolute chaos. It was a collection of broken and discarded items of all sorts, hiding Merlin only knew what secrets.

    And then suddenly she remembered something Artemis had told her on their first night at the manor. According to him, Draco was using the room to repair a Vanishing Cabinet. Vanessa still didn't know what to make of that; she had no reason to doubt Artemis but it seemed so strange.

    "So uh... what is it that you wanted to show me?" she asked.

    Draco stepped in front of her, taking her hand in his. "C'mon," he replied.

    He led her through the maze of clutter, carefully weaving around the towers of junk before he came to a stop at a large item covered by a black sheet. Draco turned to face her and took a deep breath before he started talking again.

    "So, I know I've been... distant and busy a lot of the last couple months, so I haven't been able to spend more quality time with you," he started. "It's because-"

    "You don't say," Vanessa interrupted.

    Draco gave her a stern look. "Anyway, it's because I've been working on this project in my spare time," he continued. He reached up and pulled the sheet off the object with a flourish.

    She felt her stomach churn; Vanessa really hated it when Artemis was right.

    Standing in front of her was indeed a Vanishing Cabinet. She couldn't tell if it was functional or not, but the point still stood. Draco had been repairing a Vanishing Cabinet, just like Artemis had said. At this point, Vanessa was just impressed that Draco was even letting her in on this project at all. She wasn't sure what he was going to tell her when she asked her next question, but she needed to know.

    "A Vanishing Cabinet? Why've you been working on this?"

    "Snape's having me work on it for extra credit," he replied.

    Vanessa didn't believe that at all. Draco and Snape had been at odds all year. Why would Snape all of a sudden offer Draco an opportunity to get ahead in class with extra credit? Especially since Snape of all professors didn't offer extra credit- to anyone. Surely this was another lie, but the fact he was even showing her the cabinet in the first place was good enough for now. Eventually she'd figure out the whole truth.

    "That was nice of him to offer you some extra credit," she answered.

    Draco nodded. "Yeah. It will be a nice little boost for my grade."

    Vanessa was still skeptical. If this was some real extra credit project, couldn't he have just mentioned it before now? There was no reason to hide something that was just a school project. He could've been open about that. Plus, why would Snape want him to repair a Vanishing Cabinet? It made no sense.

    Unless Snape was a Death Eater again too.

    It wasn't exactly a secret that the man used to be one of Voldemort's right hand men. No matter how much Dumbledore swore he was a changed man, the fact he was allowed to teach children now was astounding. Vanessa wasn't convinced Snape was a good guy now, and knowing that Draco was doing something shady too and using him as an alibi didn't make that any better. The odds of the two of them doing something sinister for Voldemort seemed more likely than not at this point.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Draco spoke again. "I've almost finished fixing this old thing, so I should be less stressed going further," he continued. "I know I haven't been... the greatest to you, but that changes now. Things are going to be on the up and up now. I promise."

    Truthfully, Vanessa didn't think anything was going to change, but she needed to keep the front going. She nodded slowly. "Makes sense. I uh... look forward to things being better."

    This complicated things. A lot. She was sure he was going to continue being his usual jerky self, and yet this is what she got? Some promise of things getting better? She didn't believe it, but she guessed only time would really tell.

    "Good," Draco replied

    He took her hand in his, pulling her into a tight hug. Vanessa hesitated for a moment before hugging him back, silently hoping that her hesitation wasn't noticeable. If it was, he didn't say anything before he kissed her deeply. Vanessa kissed him back, and the churning in her stomach was enough for her to know that things were certainly going to get worse before they got better.

*****

Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long. Took me a minute to figure out what I was doing with this chapter. It's also been a busy couple of weeks between work and everything else. Hopefully I can have another chapter done soon. I have to get one done in Shine Again first, but that shouldn't take long once I get it started. Thank you- as always- for being patient with me!

~arty_writes