It seemed as if the pile of homework was never going to end. Vanessa had been working on various assignments for what seemed like an eternity already, and she still had so much more to do. Alex had long abandoned her in favor of a nap, and while Vanessa so desperately wanted to do the same, she knew that wouldn't go well for her later. Getting her work done now meant she could possibly relax after dinner, not that that was likely either.

Vanessa was flipping through her Charms textbook looking for the answer to a question when she heard the door to the common room open and close. She glanced up from the book to see Artemis enter the room, a smile on his face all the while looking like his usually calm demeanor was moments away from breaking. Anyone who didn't know him very well would be fooled, but Vanessa saw through her best friend's fake expressions. The girl frowned as she shut her book, knowing fully well she wasn't going to get any more of her homework done right now. Whatever was troubling Artemis was far more important.

"What's wrong, Artemis?" she asked, cutting right to the chase.

Artemis didn't say anything, and instead took his seat next to her on the sofa. He glanced around the room before looking back at her. "Good, we're alone," he stated before taking a deep breath. "I need your help with something."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "Really? Right now? I know we're alone and all but I don't think we really have any time for-"

"-no, not that," Artemis cut her off. "It's... it's about Malfoy."

She frowned again. This couldn't be good. She would've preferred it to be basically anything else. "Alright... shoot."

"So long story short, he snuck off to Hogsmeade, and I followed him. I watched him somehow convince Madam Rosmerta to spike some mead," Artemis explained. "He figured out I had been following him, and confronted me. I told him I knew about the Vanishing Cabinet- because well I saw it, and you confirmed it- and whatever had just transpired with Rosmerta. He, of course, threatened to kill me if I took this information to Dumbledore, and that is exactly what I intend to do."

Vanessa nodded slowly, knowing exactly where this was going. "You want me to talk to Dumbledore with you."

"I'm obviously not going to force you to, but I think something needs to be done. Malfoy is up to something sinister right under their noses and needs to be stopped before someone else gets hurt, or worse, killed," Artemis continued. "I know you're in a delicate situation, being his girlfriend and all, but even you have to admit he's acting shady."

The frequency in which Artemis was right was really starting to bother her. Sure, he was a genius, and he usually made good points. However, the last few months it was certainly more often than she cared to admit. Especially about the whole Draco mess.

Vanessa sighed. "I know. The Vanishing Cabinet may really be extra credit, but I can't think of anything that could be deemed innocent about the exchange with Rosmerta," she replied, shaking her head. "You know you're probably going to get in trouble for also venturing off school grounds, right?"

Artemis shrugged. "A few weeks of detention will be worth it if it means no one else is harmed by his schemes," he answered. He was quiet for a moment before he added, "So are you with me?"

"I don't think I have much of a choice this time," she replied, frowning. Despite knowing how this was going to backfire on her, she knew it was the right thing to do. Vanessa took a deep breath as she stood. "C'mon. Let's get this over with."

Artemis stood too, a frown more than apparent on his face as well. "I'm sorry," he offered.

"Why are you sorry? You don't have anything to apologize for," Vanessa stated. "I'm not going to be mad at you for wanting to tell me and the Headmaster. Especially not when I agree that whatever is going on is suspicious at best. Plus we are prefects; it's kind of our job to report this kind of stuff."

Artemis nodded slowly. "You're right."

Vanessa smiled slightly. "It's nice to hear you say that for once."

The frown on his face had dissipated a bit, but he was still nowhere close to smiling. Vanessa supposed this was truly no time for happiness, given the gravity of the whole situation, but it didn't stop her from wishing her friend would smile. He had always been the most glum and serious of her friends; Vanessa just wasn't used to being involved with whatever caused his bad mood.

"Come on; let's go," Artemis replied quietly.

The two of them made their way out of the Ravenclaw common room, heading through the hallways towards the Headmaster's office. Admittedly, Vanessa had never gotten used to the idea of going to see Dumbledore for anything. Sure, she was a prefect, and other than Flitwick, that was who she was supposed to report to. She wasn't sure if it was because she found Dumbledore to be too important to bother or if it was because his eccentricism was too much for her. Perhaps both.

When they arrived at the gargoyle statue at the end of the corridor that led to his office, Vanessa wasn't entirely shocked to see Harry Potter stepping out of the spiral staircase that led to the Headmaster's office. Artemis and Harry exchanged small, awkward smiles as he passed by them. She silently wondered why Harry had been visiting Dumbledore for a moment but soon brushed it off; they were probably just coming up with some new nonsense reason to award him extra house points.

She heard Artemis mutter the password to the staircase, and within a few moments, they were ascending the stairs that lead to the large oaken doors of Dumbledore's office. She watched as Artemis knocked on the door three times before taking a small step back as he waited for a response.

It was silent for just a moment before they heard a response from inside the office. "Come in!"

Vanessa and Artemis exchanged glances before he opened the door, allowing her to step into the office first before following. Vanessa's eyes darted around the room, taking in all the room's oddities. Portraits of former headmasters were hung on the wall, most of them sleeping. Several spindly tables with strange silver devices were scattered about the room. Towards the back of the room, the Sorting Hat sat upon a shelf. On the far wall, a shallow stone basin with silvery light emanating from it was visible from behind a golden partition.

"Ah, Vanessa, Artemis," Dumbledore's voice broke her thoughts. For a moment she had forgotten they had come to see him and not his office. The old wizard was standing in front of his desk, hands folded in front of him. His blackened hand only looked worse than it did at the start of the year. "What brings you both here today? It is not often the two of you visit me, let alone together."

Vanessa looked to Artemis, hoping he would take charge of this meeting. And he did. "We have uncovered a threat to the school, and think you should be informed of it," Artemis began.

Dumbledore's eyes widened a little behind his half moon spectacles. "Oh? And whatever may that be?"

Artemis didn't hesitate; Vanessa wasn't shocked. "Draco Malfoy is up to something truly nefarious," he continued.

"Draco?" Dumbledore echoed. "Why do you say that?"

"For starters, Vanessa and I both have witnessed him repairing a Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement on a few separate occasions," Artemis went on. "Secondly, today I saw him leave the school grounds, so I followed him to Hogsmeade. There I saw him have Madam Rosmerta possibly poison some mead. When I confronted him with this knowledge and suggested that I would inform you, he threatened to kill me."

"He's also just generally acting suspicious," Vanessa added. It hurt to admit since she was dating him and cared for him, but the truth needed to come out. Even if it made him mad at her later.

Dumbledore nodded slowly, taking all that information in. Having minimal interactions with the man, Vanessa wasn't sure how this was about to go. Was he going to take this seriously? Or was he just going to blow it off? Dumbledore was certainly a wildcard, and she knew he was a tad unpredictable at times. But she didn't have much time to think about that before he replied.

"I see. The Vanishing Cabinet is part of an extra credit assignment given to him by Professor Snape to help his Defense Against the Dark Arts grade," Dumbledore explained calmly. "But as for the mead, that is a very serious allegation."

Vanessa frowned slightly. So it seemed that the cabinet was legit. Unless there was some convoluted plot that Dumbledore was in on, and that just seemed too crazy to be true.  But even if the cabinet was part of his schoolwork, there wasn't any reasonable explanation for the mead, right?

The look upon his face was enough for Vanessa to know Artemis was skeptical about that response too. But he didn't let it show when he spoke again. "Surely if he felt the need to threaten my life, whatever he had Rosmerta slip into the mead couldn't have been anything good."

"I am inclined to agree," Dumbledore said, nodding lightly. "I will be personally looking into this matter. I thank you both for coming forward with this information."

"You're very welcome, professor," Artemis replied.

"However, while it is good that you uncovered this information, leaving school grounds is still against school rules," Dumbledore continued. "Surely the lead candidate for Head Boy would be aware of that?"

Vanessa's eyes went wide at the realization of what Dumbledore had just said. She glanced over at Artemis, and he looked just amazed by the comment.

"Perhaps I didn't hear you correctly," Artemis went on in disbelief, "but did you say Head Boy?"

"Well of course I did, Artemis," Dumbledore answered. "You are the leading candidate for the position." He paused for a moment, contemplating his next words carefully. "By all means, you should receive detention for breaking the rules-"

"-I understand, professor," Artemis interrupted solemnly.

"You didn't let me finish," Dumbledore said. "But I am going to pretend I don't know about that little walk. Can't have this blemish your chances, after all."

She saw her friend breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank you, professor," he replied.

A small smile crossed Dumbledore's features. "No need to thank me," he assured. The old man looked at the clock on the wall. "It is just about dinner time. You two should go get something to eat. In the meantime, I assure you I will look into all you just told me."

"Will do. Thank you again, professor," Vanessa spoke up again. "C'mon, Artemis."

Artemis nodded briefly before he and Vanessa turned and started to head out of the office. Just as they reached the doorway, Dumbledore spoke once more.

"And for the record," he called out, "you do make a lovely couple."

Vanessa and Artemis both froze in their tracks, exchanging a nervous glance before looking back at the man. So they really weren't fooling anyone. Not even professors they hardly saw. But it was Artemis who spoke up first, continuing their grand lie.

"Thank you, professor, but we are merely good friends. Vanessa is actually seeing Draco."

"Ah, my mistake then," Dumbledore answered. He winked. "Carry on."

Vanessa turned back towards the door, her face blushing furiously as she grabbed Artemis by the wrist and drug him down the spiral staircase and as far away from that crazy old man as she could manage. She thought they had done a good job of hiding their sort of relationship, but she had been very wrong. And that implication had her beyond worried about what hell was about to be unleashed.

*****

Hello everyone! I am so sorry that it took me so long to get this written! October has been a pretty busy month at work, and I've been busy with appointments and even a brief illness the last few weeks too. I stayed up late tonight to get this finished, because I was tired of just chipping away at it a couple sentences at a time like I had been for so long.

I thank all of you for your continued patience with me, and I hope that I can get the next chapter done soon. As usual, I am going to bounce back to Shine Again for a chapter, but I think I have the basics outlined of that chapter so I hope it doesn't take long to write. I likely won't be writing Friday or Saturday this week- as I am having a costume party on Saturday I will be preparing for.

I hope all is well with you all! <3

~arty_writes