Harry found himself stretched between fretting over Malfoy's involvement with Voldemort and Artemis' strange behavior which took more of his attention every day. Normally, he wouldn't bother with some odd things that happened here and there - it was Hogwarts, after all - but the way Artemis acted became increasingly more suspicious and that combined with Malfoy, combined with what he was learning about Voldemort through his sessions with Dumbledore, made Harry in general jumpy and unhappy.

He'd already told Ron and Hermione about Artemis - seperately, of course, because they were fighting, too, just one more thing for Harry to deal with - and even though they (especially Hermione) thought he was going a bit overboard with his worry over Malfoy, they seemed to agree that he was justified in his suspiscion of the other boy.

"Sneaking around school grounds at night is creepy," Hermione had said once as she picked at her food, frowning thoughtfully. "It would probably be a good idea to keep an eye on him, even though he might not be doing anything wrong." She obviously didn't believe this, though, although she clearly wanted to think the best of him. Then her eyes had turned earnest. "But do be careful, Harry. If he is up to something, things could go badly very quickly."

"I will," he'd promised. It wasn't an empty promise, either. He intended to be careful - but he also intended to dig into whatever secret Artemis was keeping. If it had something to do with Voldemort, they needed to know.

Artemis seemed to sense his suspicion and strayed farther away from the trio of friends, hardly speaking to them. The distance made Harry's job harder, but it let he and his friends talk more freely about the Irish boy at meals, and made it easier to avoid awkward questions from him. The only times he really saw Artemis were at meals, a ways down the table, in the few classes they had together, and in their dorm. And at those times Artemis almost never met his eyes, and didn't speak a word to him. The boy mostly kept to himself as far as Harry could tell. He didn't have any friends, and rarely spoke to anyone at all. The total of three times Harry had seen him in the common room, he'd been doing his homework in silence, reading, or staring into space, thinking hard about something or other. He took pills in the morning and at night, never said what they were for (and nobody asked), and only had brief interactions with those in his classes.

It could be said that he was shy, but Harry didn't think that was the case. He had too sharp of a tongue to be a 'shy' person. He wasn't afraid to speak out in class, didn't blush under the gazes of his peers, or dodge people in the halls. He was aloof, silent, and cold.

It was downright creepy.

Harry had told Dumbledore of his suspicions, just as he had told him about Malfoy, but the headmaster responded the same way as before. He said he would take the right amount of precautions as he did with Malfoy, and would keep an eye on any suspicious parties. Harry wasn't entirely happy with it, but knew there was nothing more that could be done.

He just wished he knew what the secret was. If it didn't have to do with Voldemort, he would leave it alone, unless it was something equally as disastrous.

But he couldn't leave it until he knew.

Christmas loomed, and for a while tensions eased. Artemis knew Harry was suspicious of him (and didn't really blame him much, although it wasn't a nice thing to think about), and did his best to avoid he and his friends, but when Christmas arrived, Harry disappeared to stay with the Weasleys, and Artemis was whisked away back to Fowl Manor, to his endless relief.

Despite his best efforts, Artemis Fowl Senior couldn't make it home for Christmas, so Artemis spent it with his mother, his younger brothers, Butler and Juliet, and Holly. For the most part, the holiday was restful. Artemis didn't have to worry about keeping his secret for once while away from the prying eyes of the wizards, and found it extremely relieving to be able to head out with Holly on the full moon without worrying about being caught.

Butler frequently shot him worried glances, which Artemis deflected with frowns. The two of them didn't speak much over the holiday - at least, not about Hogwarts - a fact that made Artemis uneasy. Butler didn't talk much, period, but he usually confided in Artemis, especially when he feared for his safety. It was unsettling, but Artemis had no doubts that he would get a few stern warnings before he went back to school again.

Too quickly for comfort, the days passed, and suddenly Artemis stood in King's Cross Station with his suitcase (filled with new clothes, more pills, and a couple of his presents) and an anxious frown. Holly howevered just behind him, shielded. Butler, as they neared the entrance to Platform 9 3/4, bent down to Artemis' eye level, and Artemis knew that this was what the older man had been trying to say throughout the holiday.

"Be careful," he warned quietly. "Holly told me about Harry Potter being suspiscious of you." Artemis resisted the urge to cast an accusatory look at his invisible friend. "Don't do anything unusual unless you have you. And I know, you're not a normal teenager, and now that they all know you some, they're not expecting you to be, so don't change. But Artemis, just be careful."

"I do try to." Artemis tried to sound indignant, but the words just came out flat.

"Try harder, then." With strain evident on his face, Butler straightened and motioned Artemis toward the wall. "Check in soon," he instructed, and then Artemis stepped through the gateway, back to wizarding school.

It was supposed to be fun, at least a little bit, Artemis reflected. Interesting, at the least. He wasn't supposed to feel nothing but tension and anxiety as he walked toward the train, and toward school life. He wasn't supposed to dread arriving at Hogwarts, or going to class. He'd been prepared for stress, certainly; but he'd expected things to be easier than this, foolishly.

Silently, he stared out the window and watched the other students board. The break had given him a bit of rest, though, fortunately. He'd gotten a new supply of pills, regained some level of normality, and prepared himself for his return to school enough that he felt at least a tiny bit more secure than normal as he sat alone on the train as the doors closed and it pulled away from the station.

He spun his wand absently in one hand and kept his eyes on the blur of scenery as they started off to Hogwarts once more.

Sorry for the very short chapter, but there wasn't a whole lot for me to say here, I think. The next one will be longer, I promise. And, it's already written, and just needs to be looked over. So that's good. And Chapter 12 is being written, too! What do you know, I'm actually keeping up with my promise!

Thank you all for your support (and your bribes; cake is definitely the way to get me to write, ha), I really appreciate it. And to celebrate getting back into the swing of things and actually updating regularly, I'm here to announce that the 120th reviewer gets a one-shot of their choice! I think I'll be doing this for every ten or twenty reviews, too, because I've never written a one-shot before, and I'd like to get in some extra writing practice! So the 120th reviewer, you get to give me a writing prompt! Something interesting, please.

Except smut; I can't do smut. *frowny face* At the very least, I wouldn't publish it.

So, a one-shot of your choice within reason, anyway. I will have the power to play with the idea a bit, though, and change things up, but if there's something you really, really want to happen, I'll almost definitely do that. The one-shot can be for either of the fandoms in this story, or in any of my others, for the most part. Please, suggest anything. :)

I'll leave you with that, then, as an incentive to review. That said, please review anyway, offer of a one-shot or no, and tell me what you think. I'd really love it, and as always it improves the story. :D