About a month had passed since Vanessa and Artemis had told Dumbledore about Draco's suspicious behavior. Vanessa was fairly sure nothing had been done in terms of investigating his actions, or at least none that she had been informed of. The only good thing was that no one in the school had been poisoned from whatever shenanigans happened with the mead, at least so far. That alone was a little unnerving, but coupling it with the whole Vanishing Cabinet debacle was even more so. The school in general was already on edge because of what happened to Katie Bell, and Vanessa was already paranoid about her affair, but knowing there was potential for injury or an ambush at any time didn't make her feel any better.

    The month since hadn't been any more kind to Vanessa either in her dilemma. Draco had continued to show moments of promise and improvement, but there had been just as many horrid times in between. When he wasn't showering her with affection, he was accusing her of infidelity again. The cycle was absolutely tiring, and Vanessa was admittedly exhausted from the back and forth with him. As much as Vanessa hated to admit it, Draco had every reason to be suspicious of her.

    While she hadn't slept with Artemis since being back at school, she certainly hadn't been keeping her hands to herself when it was just the two of them. Stealing kisses, holding hands... it wasn't enough, but it was all the two of them could manage right now. Their already full class schedule only got worse with the addition of Apparition class on Saturday mornings for the next several weeks. The moments the two of them had alone were few and fleeting, at best. Their only chances for alone time were late at night in the common room, and even that was too risky, given that any one of their classmates could walk in from the dormitories at any time. But even with all their precautions, Vanessa knew that their secret wasn't really a secret. Their meeting with Dumbledore a month ago proved that. If a professor they rarely saw thought they were a couple, surely people who saw them more regularly would think that too.

    Once again, Vanessa found herself in another awkward Potions class. Sitting between the two of them was the worst punishment imaginable. Vanessa had pleaded for Alex to switch Artemis seats that morning before breakfast, but Alex liked torturing her so nothing changed. Things between the two boys hadn't gotten any better- not that Vanessa expected them to after the whole Hogsmeade thing- and the tension was palpable. While the other groups in the class talked amongst themselves about the potions they were supposed to be working on, the only one really talking at their table was Alex. She had been rambling about Merlin only knew what for the last fifteen minutes while they each worked on their individual potions, and had been largely ignored by the table's other three occupants.

    "Why are all of you so quiet today?" she asked incredulously. "I'm just trying to make this class pass faster, and all of you are being sticks in the mud."

    Vanessa sighed, knowing she was going to have to be the social one. "Sometimes people just don't want to talk, Alex," she answered. "Maybe this is one of those times."

    "Just because the boys have some issues right now doesn't mean we can't have some fun friend times still to liven this class up a bit," Alex retorted. Vanessa knew she was playing up the "the affair isn't a thing" angle, but it was still all too obvious. She wished her friend didn't live for drama so much, but that was likely never going to change. Alex was going to be one of those old women who stirred up trouble.

    "I could never be friends with someone like Fowl," Draco spat from her right side. "He's too much of a lying, hypocritical homewrecker."

    "In order for you to insult me, that would first mean I have to value your opinion," Artemis said in an eerily calm voice.

    Vanessa rolled her eyes. They were seriously going to have one of their rows in the middle of class. This was not their first public fight, and surely wouldn't be their last, but it never stopped being completely embarrassing. Vanessa was sure the entire school knew their business by now, and that alone was unnerving. She had noticed the stares from other students, the whispers that lingered in the air as they passed them. The girl rested her head on her hands, mentally trying to prepare herself for whatever was about to happen.

    Draco huffed from beside her. "I was nothing but kind to you, and I thought we were perhaps even friends, but you betrayed me."

    "Just because I've been civil doesn't mean I've ever liked you," Artemis countered. He was still much more calm than Draco, although that didn't take much. Vanessa wasn't sure she had ever truly heard Artemis raise his voice in all their years of friendship. He had a way of being cold and harsh without ever resorting to yelling. He didn't need to; the venom dripping from his voice did enough damage on its own. "Unlike some, I was raised with some decency and can be polite, even to those I truly despise."

    Draco snarled as he stood up, turning to face Artemis. "You've got some nerve dragging my family's decency into our fight," he spat, "when your father was nothing more than a common thief."

    "Better a thief than a Death Eater," Artemis retorted, not once looking up from his potion.

    Draco was desperate to get a reaction from Artemis, and slammed his fist against the desk, causing their cauldrons to rattle. If eyes hadn't been on them before, all of their classmates were surely staring now. Even Slughorn had taken notice of the disturbance and had stopped helping another student to shuffle over to their table.

    "Is everything alright, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked, his voice dripping with concern.

    "Perhaps you should ask Fowl that," Draco retorted snappily. "He's the one casting insults."

    Artemis finally looked up from his potion work, a baffled look upon his face. "I'm the one casting insults? You started it. You're the one who is questioning mine and my father's integrities; I'm merely stating facts," he replied. Vanessa doubted Slughorn picked up the condescending tone in his voice, but she surely did.

    "Now, now, Draco," Slughorn attempted to calm, "there's no need for that."

    "I should've known you'd side with him. He's in that stupid little club of yours," Draco shot back. He snatched his book off the table and shoved it in his bag before storming out of the classroom, everyone turning to watch him as he left.

    Vanessa sighed. She was truly hoping their drama wouldn't have to be public, but apparently with Draco that was too much to ask for. She was a little annoyed that Artemis had egged him on, but at least he hadn't raised his voice or turned it into a scene. He could be dramatic at times, but it was certainly nowhere near the level of theatrics Draco brought to the table.

    "Well then," Slughorn muttered, shaking his head before he looked at Vanessa and Artemis. "I'm not sure exactly what is going on between you all in this group, but it would do you well to keep your personal lives separate from your academics."

    She sighed again, pushing some of her hair behind her ear. "Yes professor," she replied. At least he hadn't directly insinuated he knew what was occurring between them.

    When Slughorn turned and walked away from them, Vanessa looked to Alex and Artemis before standing. "I'll be back," she declared.

    "Where are you going?" Alex questioned incredulously. "You seriously can't be chasing after him right now?"

    Vanessa hated that her friends both knew what she was doing. Artemis didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. She knew he was well aware of what she was doing without even acknowledging this possibly horrible life decision. She'd deal with him later. Right now she needed to attempt to get Draco to see reason, even though she was fairly certain that was an impossible task.

    She said nothing more as she turned away from her desk, even leaving her bag next to her seat, and headed out of the classroom as well. Vanessa's skin burned from the stares of her classmates and professor, but she needed to do this. Once in the corridor, she glanced around, trying to figure out exactly where Draco had stormed off to. It didn't take her long to spot him in the deserted hallway. She frowned, took a deep breath, and followed after him.

    She caught up with him a few moments later, and cut him off, causing Draco to stop in his tracks. He still looked beyond irate, but that didn't shock Vanessa. She was mentally preparing for the worst.

    "Was storming off really necessary?" she asked.

    Her boyfriend huffed. "Was it necessary? I'm not going to stand there and be embarrassed by you and your little friends in front of the whole class."

    Vanessa raised an eyebrow skeptically. "How exactly was I embarrassing you? That was all between you and Artemis. I was trying to do my work," she pointed out.

    "You're embarrassing me with this whole charade," Draco spat. "You truly think you're fooling me, and you're not. The entire school knows you're shagging Fowl."

    He was right, but she wasn't quite ready to deal with that fact yet. "Did it occur to you that maybe they think that because you keep having temper tantrums every couple days and shouting all of our business for them to hear?" Vanessa asked. "The source of these rumors is you blurting it all out."

    "You're conveniently forgetting that Blaise saw the two of you snogging at the Christmas party," Draco replied. "They aren't rumors if they actually happened."

    "I remember he saw us hug. He's delusional if he thinks he witnessed anything else," Vanessa persisted. "I'm not going to keep having this same argument with you. I can hug my best friend; it's not a damn crime."

    Draco rolled his eyes. "Best friend," he scoffed. "Yeah. Because best friends just buy each other expensive gifts, right?"

    In one fluid motion, he reached towards her and grabbed ahold of her necklace. Vanessa felt the clasp and chain at the back of her neck strain and break as he yanked the delicate piece of jewelry from her neck. Vanessa heard the clink of metal on the stone floor as he tossed it to the ground. She stood there in stunned silence for a moment before she knelt down, picking her necklace up and cradling the broken pieces in her hands as her eyes welled with tears.

    "Just forget the fact that I bought you a necklace too, huh?" he continued angrily. "Thought you'd wear something your boyfriend got you, but I guess I'm an idiot for believing that. You haven't even worn it once."

    Her head shot up from the broken necklace, and the glare she gave him caused tears to stream down her face. "And now I never will," she retorted. "I was foolish for ever believing you would change and try to fix our relationship. I can't do this anymore."

    "Neither can I."

    Draco said nothing more as he turned on his heel and started to walk away, leaving Vanessa alone in the corridor. With no one around, the tears flowed from her eyes unchecked. No matter how bad things had gotten, she hadn't imagined that this was how things would end. Had they actually just broken up? Her mind raced, unsure of what emotions she should be feeling here. On one hand, if they had, it was all over, and she could stop walking on eggshells. And she could be with Artemis. Yet, on the other hand, despite all the horrible things he had said and done, she still cared about Draco. She'd sort it all out eventually, but for now she held her necklace to her chest and cried some more.

    Her gut told her that this was far from over.

*****

Hi everyone. Long time no see. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to the new year! I apologize that this chapter took me so long to write. I was a bit uninspired for a bit there, and then the holidays hit. Between work and family stuff I was quite busy for a time and couldn't find but a couple minutes to write on any given day. I wrote most of this in a couple sittings the last few days, and finished it up late tonight. I hope I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon, since I kind of know what I'm doing. Maybe.

Anyway, I hope all is okay with you all. And as always, thank you for your continued patience with me!

~arty_writes