The Family Name
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 27: Holly
After she the Ravenclaw had gone, Draco turned to Fowl and grinned. "Success."
Fowl smirked at him and Draco didn't even mind. "Of course."
They started walking down the stairs, side by side. Draco was so elated it was hard not to show it, but then he remembered what else he had meant to tell Fowl that day.
"Fowl. . . Lockhart did it. He captured a leprechaun. It's in the family dungeons."
Artemis looked at him sharply. "How do you know?"
Draco snorted. "You're not the only one who has sources and knows how to sneak around." He watched Artemis think for a minute. "What are you going to do with this information?"
"You remember me telling you these fairies have kept their identity secret for hundreds of years. However, I discovered their existence and. . . chanced to conduct some business with them."
"Some business."
Artemis nodded.
"What kind of business, Fowl?"
Artemis sighed, again deciding how much to tell Malfoy. He'd already been sure that if a fairy was captured it would be held at Malfoy Manor. That's why he'd told him as much as he already had. But it wouldn't hurt to share a few more details.
"I kidnapped a LEP Recon officer and held her for ransom for the gold."
Draco stopped walking. "You did."
Artemis stopped, too. "I went into negotiations with the police commander, who let a troll loose in the manor, but Butler disposed of it. You've heard that story. Finally, they were forced to pay me, so I let her go. My plan now is to contact her and tell her I have information on this new, abducted officer."
"You better start your message with, 'I didn't do it this time.'"
Artemis half-grimaced. "It won't be that bad."
"Right. Fowl, I suspect she's not going to be happy to hear from you."
"True. . . but she'll want the news. We'll come to some sort of agreement."
Draco laughed. "Only you, Fowl."
Artemis shrugged and began to resume walking, but Malfoy grabbed his arm, suddenly quite serious. "Wait. She has to promise not to hurt my father. No, I mean it, Fowl. I'm the one who told you about all this in the first place. She has to promise."
"Fine. Let me briefly borrow Dobby and I'll tell Holly not to hurt your father."
They regarded each other for a moment. "OK," Draco nodded finally.
Artemis and Draco were serving detention in Greenhouse Three due to a fight they'd had before resuming their truce, involving flesh-eating cacti and several innocent Hufflepuff bystanders. Half-way through, Dobby suddenly appeared next to a large fern. He looked somewhat apprehensive as he bowed to Draco. "Young master, I got your summons."
"Yes, I assumed." He pointed a muddy finger at Fowl. "He wants to talk to you."
"Hello, Dobby. I'm a--friend of Harry Potter. He said you'd be the one to ask to help us with a problem we have," Artemis lied easily.
Dobby immediately perked up, puffing out his chest with pride. "Harry Potter is a great person, sir! Dobby would be honored to help a friend of Harry Potter!" Draco grimaced.
"Yes. Now then, you're a house elf."
Draco nudged him. "That's pretty obvious, Fowl."
"Shut up, Malfoy."
"You're Artemis Fowl, sir?" Dobby's eyes widened.
"He is. You can't tell Father you've talked to him. You can't tell either of my parents about any of this."
Dobby shifted from foot to foot nervously. "But. . ."
"I know, so it's OK." Draco crossed his arms and leaned back against the table.
That was enough for Dobby, who had no desire to converse with Draco's parents about anything. "Very good, sir!"
"Dobby." Artemis regained the elf's attention. "The point is, you're a fairy, and have fairy connections. What I need is for you to contact a LEP Recon I know."
"A leprechaun. Yes, sir."
Artemis shook his head. "I mean a real LEP Recon, a member of the police force."
Dobby commenced looking wide-eyed and nervous again. "How--how do you-- know?"
"That's not important." Artemis waved it away. "Her name is Captain Holly Short. She needs to know that someone else has discovered their identity. I can give her all the details if she comes to see me at Hogwarts."
"Yes, sir! I'll go see her right away, sir."
"Go on then," Draco ordered. Dobby bowed to him one more time and then popped out of sight.
"You're going to let me know when this Holly person gets in touch with you, right, Fowl?"
"Of course. I rather think she's going to want to talk to you, anyway."
It took two days of searching unsuccessfully for their missing policeman before Commander Root gave in and ordered Capt. Holly Short to go talk to Artemis Fowl.
"You can't be serious!" she exploded. "I still think he's in on it!"
"We've searched Hogwarts. We need his cooperation."
"I have to object. . ."
"We all know how you feel about Fowl, Captain. Do you think I like this-- crawling to the Mud Boy for help? I'd rather swallow live stink worms. But the life of an officer is at stake here, so you need to overcome your personal problems with him."
Holly did not like this one bit. "He was dangerous before he had magic. What is he capable of now?"
"He doesn't have Butler with him," put in Foaly, who'd been eavesdropping from the corner.
Holly gave a sudden vicious smile. "That's true. One punch and I could. . ."
"Don't bruise him, Captain. We do want his information, after all. He needs to be conscious to talk."
Artemis was walking back to the castle with his fellow Slytherins after a Care for Magical Creatures class, when a small pebble hit him in the shoulder. Hard. He looked around and spotted Holly hiding in the bushes and beckoning to him.
Artemis stopped and made up an excuse. "Oh, I forgot my book back there. I'll catch up to you."
"Don't be long," Zabini replied. "You'll miss lunch."
Artemis nodded and reached into his robe pocket. He produced a pair of mirrored sunglasses and slipped them on. Then he turned and walked over behind the bush. "Hello, Capt. Short."
"Hello, Mud Boy. Tell me what you know."
"What, no pleasantries?"
Holly glared at him. "You're lucky I don't have a gun to your head! I see no reason to show you any more courtesy than that."
"Still bitter, Capt. Short? Can't we wipe the slate clean?"
"Kidnapping. Actual bodily harm, extortion, conspiracy to commit murder. That's a lot of slate."
Artemis smiled. "I was young and selfish. Believe it or not, I do harbor some doubts over that particular venture."
"Not enough doubts to return the gold?"
"No, not quite. But I'm helping you now, aren't I?"
"That remains to be seen. Talk, Fowl."
"Very well. I believe one of your officers has been abducted. And before you speak, no, I had nothing to do with it. I happen to have a friend. . ."
"You have friends, Fowl?"
Artemis ignored this. "He found a letter regarding the abductor's plans. Have you heard of Voldemort?"
Holly frowned. "Yes."
"This man wants to drain the fairy's energy and use it to return Voldemort to life."
Holly's eyes went wide, then narrowed. "Who is he? I'll kill him!"
"Ah, that's the thing, you see. It's my friend's father. You can't hurt him. I had to promise my friend you wouldn't."
"Since when have you had to do anything, Fowl?" Holly looked extremely skeptical.
"All right then. Your officer is being held in the man's dungeons. The easiest way to get into the house and navigate the dungeons successfully is to have the son lead us. He won't cooperate without that reassurance."
"After the time stop and the ground flush. . ."
"You'd kill his mother? Their servants? They haven't done anything wrong."
"It's not like you to argue ethics."
Artemis almost shifted uncomfortably, but restrained himself. Truthfully, he'd be happy to see Lucius Malfoy dead, and he was not particularly concerned about Narcissa. But Draco would grieve, and Artemis found that he didn't like that idea. He wasn't sure why, and for once decided not to think about something. "Do I have your word or not?"
"All right, Fowl, but they'll all be mind-wiped," Holly agreed after a pause.
"Fine. Would you like to meet the son so you can plan your rescue? I'll send an owl and have him join us in one of the classrooms."
"I can't get used to the idea of you being a wizard." Holly frowned at him, recalling Root's expression the day they'd found out. Foaly had the boy under observation when he'd received his Hogwarts letter. The Commander had nearly had a stroke.
Artemis gave a noncommittal "Hm" and they headed to the Owlery after Holly reshielded herself.
Draco entered the DADA room a bit warily. Artemis sat at a desk just inside the door, wearing those funny mirrored glasses again. He pulled Draco aside immediately on the pretext of moving around him to close the door. As he did so, he shoved a pair of glasses in Malfoy's hand. "Put them on," he ordered in a hushed voice.
Draco did so automatically. "What's going on?"
Holly's voice interrupted. "You think I'm as dishonest as you, is that it? You have to shield everyone so I won't double-cross you?"
The boys both turned to see her, sitting on Lockhart's desk, wearing the flying wings, and holding a gun. "We have already established that you don't really want to be working with me," Artemis said as Draco stared.
"Is this Holly?" he asked, studying her carefully.
"Yes." Artemis felt a brief twinge of satisfaction that Draco had guessed her identity so easily. "She wants your help in rescuing the fairy prisoner."
Draco paled. "I was afraid of that. Because it's at our manor. . ."
"He, not it. Trouble Kelp is the name of the officer involved. And who are you, anyway?" Holly stood up, eyeing the blonde with dislike. He was associated with Fowl and a kidnapping, that was enough reason to dislike him.
"Draco Malfoy."
"Malfoy," Holly repeated. "What've you got, Foaly?"
Draco frowned in confusion. Artemis explained to him about Foaly, contact lenses and helmets that let him see what she saw and let her speak to him, computers that let him look up information on anyone and relay it back to her--and then stopped his explanation as it seemed Malfoy's eyes were starting to glaze over.
"Never mind. Pretend it's magic. She's talking to an all-knowing centaur by magic."
"Can you look up information on anyone?" Draco asked suspiciously. "Cause you've got one of those. Computer. I remember. You showed me."
Artemis raised an eyebrow. Maybe Malfoy was picking up more than he'd thought. "Yes, I have one, and yes, I can."
"Is that how you learned my father is a Death Eater?"
"No. . ."
"Foaly says your father is Lucius Malfoy and he's a Dark wizard," Holly broke in. "You live somewhere in Wales, but it's unplottable."
"I suppose my father's safety is contingent on my helping you?"
"Yes," Holly grunted.
"Would you be going along, Fowl? This is your chance to look at architecture."
"Oh yes," Holly burst out before he could answer, "you'll be staying in my sight at all times. I won't have you roaming around to alert this Lucius." Holly fingered her gun. "Unless you want your mind wiped, you'll be come along with me."
"Besides, I'm not going anywhere with this--lady--alone. I don't trust her. I don't trust you, come to that, but still. . ."
"Fine, yes, I'm coming," Artemis responded as Holly looked indignant. "No need for threats."
"I'm the only honest one here!" Holly scowled.
Draco smiled. "I was right. She doesn't like you."
For the first time since he was two, Artemis felt the urge to stick his tongue out at someone. He mentally smacked himself. "I don't think she looks incredibly fond of you, either."
Draco sat down on one of the desks, unconcerned, still grinning. "By the way, we get to bring your bodyguard along with us, don't we?"
"I never approach possible danger without him."
Holly snorted and looked disdainful.
"Face it, lady, we're wizards, not fighters." Draco looked more amused than annoyed.
"That's Captain Short to you."
Draco wisely refrained from making any short jokes. Something about the capable way Holly held a gun put him off. Besides, a Malfoy always showed good manners. OK, not always, but with adults, in certain social situations. . . all right, whatever, sometimes Malfoys showed good manners. "As you wish, ma'am."
She blinked at him.
"You know, I need a bodyguard like yours, Fowl," Draco mused. "Crabbe and Goyle aren't as effective as I'd hoped. They're young yet, and all that. Do you think I could rent one?"
"You don't rent guards, you buy. To ensure their loyalty."
Holly snorted again.
"How'd you get yours, then?" Draco asked.
"The Butlers have served the Fowls in that capacity for generations."
"Malfoys have always had this, 'if you can't protect yourself, you're not worthy of the name' kind of attitude," Draco shrugged.
"Why don't you combine the approaches?" Holly interjected with a gleam in her eyes. "You can call it the Malfowl Way."
"What about the Fowlfoy Way?" Artemis responded, now amused, as well.
Draco shook his head. "We do not combine our names in any form because it might give Pansy ideas."
"Ah. Good point."
Holly sensed a potentially embarrassing story. "Who's Pansy? What sort of ideas?"
The two boys exchanged a look. "You know, that's not important," Draco tried. "Let's get back to planning."
"You're hiding something."
"Pansy is just a classmate," Artemis said. "She's a bit mental, really."
"Look, first thing's first. How we get my parents out of the house?"
"Mr.'s Crabbe and Goyle, Sr.--how intelligent are they?"
Draco tossed his head. "I've seen flobberworms with more intelligence."
"We fake a letter from one of them to Lucius, inviting him and Narcissa over for--dinner and a Death Eater meeting or something. . ."
"Better be Goyle. And drop it with the Death Eater thing, all right?"
Half-a-smirk. "All right. Then we send a letter from Lucius accepting their invitation. What would Goyle do?"
Draco brightened. "He'd assume he'd invited them and then stupidly forgotten. And he wouldn't want to say anything for fear my father would give him grief about it. That's brilliant!"
"Then while they're gone, we'll go in, free Officer Kelp, and that will be that," Holly said decisively. "You'll be the guide in and out, I'll be the firepower, Butler the brute strength, and Fowl. . ."
They both looked at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Fowl, of course, will be the brains of the outfit," Draco said dryly.
Artemis looked Malfoy in the eye and smirked. "Of course."
Artemis knew a fairly simple spell to disguise handwriting, so the letters were quickly composed and sent off. Then the boys had to go to their next class.
"We'll meet back here Saturday at 5:00," Holly commanded. "Don't be late."
"I would never keep waiting a fair lady such as yourself," Draco returned.
"Don't be cheeky," Holly growled, and shielded.
"She needs to learn how to take a compliment," Draco complained.
"She's still here, you know, just invisible."
"Facts are facts."
"Come on, Malfoy. Charms awaits."
"Unless. . . maybe it was my delivery," he worried.
Artemis rolled his eyes. "You sounded perfectly gallant to me."
Draco grinned. "Come on, Fowl."
A/N: Well, there she is at last. I'm finding her a bit difficult to write, too. But she is here, and I hope she is to your liking so far. Disclaimer: Sentences here and there are taken out of Artemis Fowl: The Artic Incident, which has not happened yet in this storyline.
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 27: Holly
After she the Ravenclaw had gone, Draco turned to Fowl and grinned. "Success."
Fowl smirked at him and Draco didn't even mind. "Of course."
They started walking down the stairs, side by side. Draco was so elated it was hard not to show it, but then he remembered what else he had meant to tell Fowl that day.
"Fowl. . . Lockhart did it. He captured a leprechaun. It's in the family dungeons."
Artemis looked at him sharply. "How do you know?"
Draco snorted. "You're not the only one who has sources and knows how to sneak around." He watched Artemis think for a minute. "What are you going to do with this information?"
"You remember me telling you these fairies have kept their identity secret for hundreds of years. However, I discovered their existence and. . . chanced to conduct some business with them."
"Some business."
Artemis nodded.
"What kind of business, Fowl?"
Artemis sighed, again deciding how much to tell Malfoy. He'd already been sure that if a fairy was captured it would be held at Malfoy Manor. That's why he'd told him as much as he already had. But it wouldn't hurt to share a few more details.
"I kidnapped a LEP Recon officer and held her for ransom for the gold."
Draco stopped walking. "You did."
Artemis stopped, too. "I went into negotiations with the police commander, who let a troll loose in the manor, but Butler disposed of it. You've heard that story. Finally, they were forced to pay me, so I let her go. My plan now is to contact her and tell her I have information on this new, abducted officer."
"You better start your message with, 'I didn't do it this time.'"
Artemis half-grimaced. "It won't be that bad."
"Right. Fowl, I suspect she's not going to be happy to hear from you."
"True. . . but she'll want the news. We'll come to some sort of agreement."
Draco laughed. "Only you, Fowl."
Artemis shrugged and began to resume walking, but Malfoy grabbed his arm, suddenly quite serious. "Wait. She has to promise not to hurt my father. No, I mean it, Fowl. I'm the one who told you about all this in the first place. She has to promise."
"Fine. Let me briefly borrow Dobby and I'll tell Holly not to hurt your father."
They regarded each other for a moment. "OK," Draco nodded finally.
Artemis and Draco were serving detention in Greenhouse Three due to a fight they'd had before resuming their truce, involving flesh-eating cacti and several innocent Hufflepuff bystanders. Half-way through, Dobby suddenly appeared next to a large fern. He looked somewhat apprehensive as he bowed to Draco. "Young master, I got your summons."
"Yes, I assumed." He pointed a muddy finger at Fowl. "He wants to talk to you."
"Hello, Dobby. I'm a--friend of Harry Potter. He said you'd be the one to ask to help us with a problem we have," Artemis lied easily.
Dobby immediately perked up, puffing out his chest with pride. "Harry Potter is a great person, sir! Dobby would be honored to help a friend of Harry Potter!" Draco grimaced.
"Yes. Now then, you're a house elf."
Draco nudged him. "That's pretty obvious, Fowl."
"Shut up, Malfoy."
"You're Artemis Fowl, sir?" Dobby's eyes widened.
"He is. You can't tell Father you've talked to him. You can't tell either of my parents about any of this."
Dobby shifted from foot to foot nervously. "But. . ."
"I know, so it's OK." Draco crossed his arms and leaned back against the table.
That was enough for Dobby, who had no desire to converse with Draco's parents about anything. "Very good, sir!"
"Dobby." Artemis regained the elf's attention. "The point is, you're a fairy, and have fairy connections. What I need is for you to contact a LEP Recon I know."
"A leprechaun. Yes, sir."
Artemis shook his head. "I mean a real LEP Recon, a member of the police force."
Dobby commenced looking wide-eyed and nervous again. "How--how do you-- know?"
"That's not important." Artemis waved it away. "Her name is Captain Holly Short. She needs to know that someone else has discovered their identity. I can give her all the details if she comes to see me at Hogwarts."
"Yes, sir! I'll go see her right away, sir."
"Go on then," Draco ordered. Dobby bowed to him one more time and then popped out of sight.
"You're going to let me know when this Holly person gets in touch with you, right, Fowl?"
"Of course. I rather think she's going to want to talk to you, anyway."
It took two days of searching unsuccessfully for their missing policeman before Commander Root gave in and ordered Capt. Holly Short to go talk to Artemis Fowl.
"You can't be serious!" she exploded. "I still think he's in on it!"
"We've searched Hogwarts. We need his cooperation."
"I have to object. . ."
"We all know how you feel about Fowl, Captain. Do you think I like this-- crawling to the Mud Boy for help? I'd rather swallow live stink worms. But the life of an officer is at stake here, so you need to overcome your personal problems with him."
Holly did not like this one bit. "He was dangerous before he had magic. What is he capable of now?"
"He doesn't have Butler with him," put in Foaly, who'd been eavesdropping from the corner.
Holly gave a sudden vicious smile. "That's true. One punch and I could. . ."
"Don't bruise him, Captain. We do want his information, after all. He needs to be conscious to talk."
Artemis was walking back to the castle with his fellow Slytherins after a Care for Magical Creatures class, when a small pebble hit him in the shoulder. Hard. He looked around and spotted Holly hiding in the bushes and beckoning to him.
Artemis stopped and made up an excuse. "Oh, I forgot my book back there. I'll catch up to you."
"Don't be long," Zabini replied. "You'll miss lunch."
Artemis nodded and reached into his robe pocket. He produced a pair of mirrored sunglasses and slipped them on. Then he turned and walked over behind the bush. "Hello, Capt. Short."
"Hello, Mud Boy. Tell me what you know."
"What, no pleasantries?"
Holly glared at him. "You're lucky I don't have a gun to your head! I see no reason to show you any more courtesy than that."
"Still bitter, Capt. Short? Can't we wipe the slate clean?"
"Kidnapping. Actual bodily harm, extortion, conspiracy to commit murder. That's a lot of slate."
Artemis smiled. "I was young and selfish. Believe it or not, I do harbor some doubts over that particular venture."
"Not enough doubts to return the gold?"
"No, not quite. But I'm helping you now, aren't I?"
"That remains to be seen. Talk, Fowl."
"Very well. I believe one of your officers has been abducted. And before you speak, no, I had nothing to do with it. I happen to have a friend. . ."
"You have friends, Fowl?"
Artemis ignored this. "He found a letter regarding the abductor's plans. Have you heard of Voldemort?"
Holly frowned. "Yes."
"This man wants to drain the fairy's energy and use it to return Voldemort to life."
Holly's eyes went wide, then narrowed. "Who is he? I'll kill him!"
"Ah, that's the thing, you see. It's my friend's father. You can't hurt him. I had to promise my friend you wouldn't."
"Since when have you had to do anything, Fowl?" Holly looked extremely skeptical.
"All right then. Your officer is being held in the man's dungeons. The easiest way to get into the house and navigate the dungeons successfully is to have the son lead us. He won't cooperate without that reassurance."
"After the time stop and the ground flush. . ."
"You'd kill his mother? Their servants? They haven't done anything wrong."
"It's not like you to argue ethics."
Artemis almost shifted uncomfortably, but restrained himself. Truthfully, he'd be happy to see Lucius Malfoy dead, and he was not particularly concerned about Narcissa. But Draco would grieve, and Artemis found that he didn't like that idea. He wasn't sure why, and for once decided not to think about something. "Do I have your word or not?"
"All right, Fowl, but they'll all be mind-wiped," Holly agreed after a pause.
"Fine. Would you like to meet the son so you can plan your rescue? I'll send an owl and have him join us in one of the classrooms."
"I can't get used to the idea of you being a wizard." Holly frowned at him, recalling Root's expression the day they'd found out. Foaly had the boy under observation when he'd received his Hogwarts letter. The Commander had nearly had a stroke.
Artemis gave a noncommittal "Hm" and they headed to the Owlery after Holly reshielded herself.
Draco entered the DADA room a bit warily. Artemis sat at a desk just inside the door, wearing those funny mirrored glasses again. He pulled Draco aside immediately on the pretext of moving around him to close the door. As he did so, he shoved a pair of glasses in Malfoy's hand. "Put them on," he ordered in a hushed voice.
Draco did so automatically. "What's going on?"
Holly's voice interrupted. "You think I'm as dishonest as you, is that it? You have to shield everyone so I won't double-cross you?"
The boys both turned to see her, sitting on Lockhart's desk, wearing the flying wings, and holding a gun. "We have already established that you don't really want to be working with me," Artemis said as Draco stared.
"Is this Holly?" he asked, studying her carefully.
"Yes." Artemis felt a brief twinge of satisfaction that Draco had guessed her identity so easily. "She wants your help in rescuing the fairy prisoner."
Draco paled. "I was afraid of that. Because it's at our manor. . ."
"He, not it. Trouble Kelp is the name of the officer involved. And who are you, anyway?" Holly stood up, eyeing the blonde with dislike. He was associated with Fowl and a kidnapping, that was enough reason to dislike him.
"Draco Malfoy."
"Malfoy," Holly repeated. "What've you got, Foaly?"
Draco frowned in confusion. Artemis explained to him about Foaly, contact lenses and helmets that let him see what she saw and let her speak to him, computers that let him look up information on anyone and relay it back to her--and then stopped his explanation as it seemed Malfoy's eyes were starting to glaze over.
"Never mind. Pretend it's magic. She's talking to an all-knowing centaur by magic."
"Can you look up information on anyone?" Draco asked suspiciously. "Cause you've got one of those. Computer. I remember. You showed me."
Artemis raised an eyebrow. Maybe Malfoy was picking up more than he'd thought. "Yes, I have one, and yes, I can."
"Is that how you learned my father is a Death Eater?"
"No. . ."
"Foaly says your father is Lucius Malfoy and he's a Dark wizard," Holly broke in. "You live somewhere in Wales, but it's unplottable."
"I suppose my father's safety is contingent on my helping you?"
"Yes," Holly grunted.
"Would you be going along, Fowl? This is your chance to look at architecture."
"Oh yes," Holly burst out before he could answer, "you'll be staying in my sight at all times. I won't have you roaming around to alert this Lucius." Holly fingered her gun. "Unless you want your mind wiped, you'll be come along with me."
"Besides, I'm not going anywhere with this--lady--alone. I don't trust her. I don't trust you, come to that, but still. . ."
"Fine, yes, I'm coming," Artemis responded as Holly looked indignant. "No need for threats."
"I'm the only honest one here!" Holly scowled.
Draco smiled. "I was right. She doesn't like you."
For the first time since he was two, Artemis felt the urge to stick his tongue out at someone. He mentally smacked himself. "I don't think she looks incredibly fond of you, either."
Draco sat down on one of the desks, unconcerned, still grinning. "By the way, we get to bring your bodyguard along with us, don't we?"
"I never approach possible danger without him."
Holly snorted and looked disdainful.
"Face it, lady, we're wizards, not fighters." Draco looked more amused than annoyed.
"That's Captain Short to you."
Draco wisely refrained from making any short jokes. Something about the capable way Holly held a gun put him off. Besides, a Malfoy always showed good manners. OK, not always, but with adults, in certain social situations. . . all right, whatever, sometimes Malfoys showed good manners. "As you wish, ma'am."
She blinked at him.
"You know, I need a bodyguard like yours, Fowl," Draco mused. "Crabbe and Goyle aren't as effective as I'd hoped. They're young yet, and all that. Do you think I could rent one?"
"You don't rent guards, you buy. To ensure their loyalty."
Holly snorted again.
"How'd you get yours, then?" Draco asked.
"The Butlers have served the Fowls in that capacity for generations."
"Malfoys have always had this, 'if you can't protect yourself, you're not worthy of the name' kind of attitude," Draco shrugged.
"Why don't you combine the approaches?" Holly interjected with a gleam in her eyes. "You can call it the Malfowl Way."
"What about the Fowlfoy Way?" Artemis responded, now amused, as well.
Draco shook his head. "We do not combine our names in any form because it might give Pansy ideas."
"Ah. Good point."
Holly sensed a potentially embarrassing story. "Who's Pansy? What sort of ideas?"
The two boys exchanged a look. "You know, that's not important," Draco tried. "Let's get back to planning."
"You're hiding something."
"Pansy is just a classmate," Artemis said. "She's a bit mental, really."
"Look, first thing's first. How we get my parents out of the house?"
"Mr.'s Crabbe and Goyle, Sr.--how intelligent are they?"
Draco tossed his head. "I've seen flobberworms with more intelligence."
"We fake a letter from one of them to Lucius, inviting him and Narcissa over for--dinner and a Death Eater meeting or something. . ."
"Better be Goyle. And drop it with the Death Eater thing, all right?"
Half-a-smirk. "All right. Then we send a letter from Lucius accepting their invitation. What would Goyle do?"
Draco brightened. "He'd assume he'd invited them and then stupidly forgotten. And he wouldn't want to say anything for fear my father would give him grief about it. That's brilliant!"
"Then while they're gone, we'll go in, free Officer Kelp, and that will be that," Holly said decisively. "You'll be the guide in and out, I'll be the firepower, Butler the brute strength, and Fowl. . ."
They both looked at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Fowl, of course, will be the brains of the outfit," Draco said dryly.
Artemis looked Malfoy in the eye and smirked. "Of course."
Artemis knew a fairly simple spell to disguise handwriting, so the letters were quickly composed and sent off. Then the boys had to go to their next class.
"We'll meet back here Saturday at 5:00," Holly commanded. "Don't be late."
"I would never keep waiting a fair lady such as yourself," Draco returned.
"Don't be cheeky," Holly growled, and shielded.
"She needs to learn how to take a compliment," Draco complained.
"She's still here, you know, just invisible."
"Facts are facts."
"Come on, Malfoy. Charms awaits."
"Unless. . . maybe it was my delivery," he worried.
Artemis rolled his eyes. "You sounded perfectly gallant to me."
Draco grinned. "Come on, Fowl."
A/N: Well, there she is at last. I'm finding her a bit difficult to write, too. But she is here, and I hope she is to your liking so far. Disclaimer: Sentences here and there are taken out of Artemis Fowl: The Artic Incident, which has not happened yet in this storyline.