One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

It had been nearly a week since Artemis had found out about Draco's deal with Deagus DeMarco, and Draco had not seen so much as a glimpse of his fiancé. Apparently her Head of House, Professor Flitwick, had excused her from her classes. She hadn't even eaten in the Great Hall since their argument. Draco had tried desperately to apologize and explain the situation to Artemis. He had sent her numerous owls, every day, only to have them returned unread. He had even tried to get Cosette to help him, but even she wouldn't hear him out. Draco knew that the longer this went on, the worse it would get.

"So, any luck finding Artemis?" asked Blaise, startling Draco, who had been deep in thought.

"I know exactly where she is, stupid. I just can't get to her," whined the depressed young man.

"Do you think she'll be back to class tomorrow? It's been a week, surely Flitwick will make her go."

"I hope so. Luckily Charms is the first class of the day and if she is there, I'll definitely be able to talk to her." Draco's mood lightened slightly at the thought of finally being able to resolve things with Artemis. Professor Flitwick had partnered Draco and Artemis together, in the beginning of the year, so for two hours, she would be stuck next to him, unable to escape his explanation or ignore him.

"Just be careful you don't come on too strong, mate. She's probably still really angry," warned Blaise.

"You think?" spat Draco sarcastically, as he stood and gathered his Quidditch gear. "Come on, were running late for practice."

"So what! Quidditch season is over, or maybe you've forgotten. Perhaps that lovely Quidditch Cup, in the common room, will remind you." Blaise made no move to gather his things for practice.

"I'll not have my team turn to shit, just because you don't feel like practicing. If you want to be on my team, the winning team, next year, you'll get your ass out to the pitch. Now." Draco turned sharply, leaving an annoyed Blaise mumbling incoherently behind is back. After a few moments of self pity, Blaise trudge down to the Quidditch pitch.

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"Settle down!" shouted the tiny professor, as he stood perched a top a large stack of books on the top of his desk. The children quieted and awaited their assignment for the day. As the instructor was about to dole out the day's class work, the heavy wooden doors of the Charms classroom opened. Much to Draco's relief, his fiancé walked into the room.

Draco had expected Artemis to look upset, he was fully prepared to feel guilty due to her distraught state. He was not, however, prepared for what he saw as she entered the room, slowly approaching her usual seat, at his side. She looked fine. You couldn't even tell she had missed an entire weeks worth of classes. Artemis looked like her usual, healthy, happy self. For some reason this bothered Draco, she had spent an entire week avoiding him, causing him to worry, completely ruining his week. All the while, she was as chipper as ever. As she took her seat, apologizing to the professor for her tardiness, Draco buried his annoyance towards her seemingly cheerful disposition. Silently, Artemis withdrew her books and parchment from her satchel, without so much as glancing at the nervous young man to her left. Mustering up as much courage as possible, Draco leaned towards his fiancé, but before he could say anything, Artemis interrupted him.

"Don't," she said firmly.

"But… if you would just let me explain," he pleaded, hoping she would let him finish.

"Malfoy, I said, don't," she hissed. Draco could practically feel the anger she had been attempting to hide, radiating from her body. A part of him, garnered a bit of satisfaction from the fact that she was not nearly as 'fine' as she had originally appeared. Biting his tongue, Draco turned his attention back to the professor, trying to give Artemis the chance to calm down before he tried to speak to her again.

Unfortunately, Professor Flitwick planned on lecturing all class, so Draco was not afforded another opportunity to apologize. Instead, he took advantage of their closeness and slowly laced his fingers with hers, squeezing softly as he turned and offered her a small smile. Without removing her hand from his, Artemis leaned towards him, placing her mouth right next to his right ear and whispered "touch me again Malfoy, and I'll hex your balls off." Snatching her hand from his, she averted her attention back to the days lesson. Draco did not attempt to speak to, or touch, his fiancé for the rest of the class.

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All throughout lunch that afternoon, Draco watched Artemis, hoping she would look his way. She never did. As the bell rang, alerting the students that classes would be resuming soon, Draco rushed across the hall towards to Ravenclaw table. His next class of the day was Potions and he was hoping that he would be able to catch Artemis beforehand, since he wouldn't see her again until dinner. Unfortunately, Artemis had thought ahead and before Draco could reach her, none other than the Golden Trio had joined her. Draco stopped dead in his tracks, every muscle in his body tensing in anger. I told her to stay away from them! She's just using them to piss me off! he thought angrily. Doing his best to control his temper, he approached her.

"Artemis... can we talk?"

"I don't think she want's to talk to you ferret" spat Harry Potter, a malicious smirk plastered onto his smug face. Harry turned back to his friends and continued his conversation. "So you'll meet us in the library tonight, right Artemis?" asked Harry. Artemis nodded and offered him a slight smile.

"You're a godsend," wisped Hermione, " I don't think I could manage to catch these two procrastinating fools up, on my own. I've been telling then all year to take good notes and pay attention. But what do they do. The same exact thing they do every year, they leave it until the last three weeks of the school year!"

"We know Mione, we know. We're awful, pathetic boys and we ought to be punished." joked Ron, earning himself a slap on the arm from his annoyed girlfriend.

"I'll see you guys later," she whispered as she and Cosette quickly left the Great Hall. Draco tried to catch up to her, but Harry and Ron effectively blocked his way.

"Move," hissed Draco, his hand twitching around his wand.

"Let her be Malfoy," whispered Hermione, "just give her sometime" Hermione grabbed onto the sleeves of Harry & Ron's robes, dragging them out of the angry young man's way.

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Draco was pissed. It seemed like everyone was trying their hardest to keep him away from Artemis. Unfortunately it was working, quite well in fact. As he lay stretched out on his bed moping about his rotten luck, Draco recalled something he had heard Potter say earlier that day. After grabbing his wand from the bedside table, he dashed out of his room and headed for the library, hoping to catch her before she left

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"Thanks again, for all of your help," gushed Hermione as she packed her textbooks into her satchel.

"I was happy to help," assured Artemis as she too packed her things. Harry and Ron were busy putting the library books they had used, back on the shelves. As the girls were finishing putting their things away, the doors of the library slammed open and a frantic Draco entered.

"Good, your still here," sighed Draco as he quickly approached Artemis.

"I have to go," she whispered before trying to leave the library. Unfortunately she didn't see a route that would allow her to avoid him. Draco was a great deal faster than her and he circumvented any chance she had at escaping him. He quickly latched onto her arm, preventing her from getting away.

"Please just hear me out," he pleaded before she had the chance to say anything.

"No..." she whispered trying to wretch her arm from his grasp. Noticing Artemis and Draco struggling, Hermione rushed over and wedged herself between the two of them.

"So Draco, do you think you'll make Head Boy?" she asked as she tried to pry his fingers from around Artemis' arm. Once Hermione's hand touched his skin, Draco jerked back, as if he had been burned. Artemis took advantage of this and made her escape. Draco tried to go after her, but Hermione pushed a chair in his path causing him to trip and crash to the floor, landing on a cushion that Hermione had conjured to soften his fall.

"Sorry," she whispered, only half meaning it.

"Dammit!" shouted Draco, "why can't everyone just butt out!" Hearing the commotion, the librarian, Madam Pince, rushed over to the shouting young man, yelling loudly and demanding that he leave her library at once. Draco rushed out, hoping to catch up with Artemis, but she was no where to be found.

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The last three week's of Draco's sixth year at Hogwarts were disasterous, to say the least. Apparently, his fiancé had decided that the best way to handle their situation was to act as if he didn't exist. Unfortunately for Draco, she was really good at it too. He had tried everything he could think of to convince her that he was sorry, but every attempt ended the same. She was either threatening to hex some part of his body he was quite fond of, or she had simply walked off. Luckily, Draco had the foresight to make sure that they were alone before attempting to reconcile with his future wife, so he still had some of his dignity intact.

As Draco boarded the Hogwart's Express, for the the journey home, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive about greeting his parents. As soon as Artemis saw her parents, she would tell then everything and he'd be as good as dead. His father had been so relieved to see the two of them getting along the last time he had visited, and he would be in rare form once he heard that things had changed.

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"I'm going to miss you so much this summer!" shouted Cosette as she threw her arms around her best friends neck.

"I know, I'm going to miss you too. You have to come visit me. I'll go mad if you don't," exclaimed Artemis as she returned the hug as enthusiastically as she could.

"Don't let him bother you too much Artemis. Try to enjoy your summer. After all, it is your last summer as a single girl."

"I'll try." Gathering her things, Artemis headed towards the platform her parents had told her to meet them at. 'Don't cry, don't cry... hold it in,' she thought. Artemis had decided not to trouble her parents with what had happened between her and Draco. Unfortunately her mother would know something was wrong, if she suddenly burst into tears. Luckily her Father wasn't nearly as perceptive, but either way, bawling her eyes out would certainly tip them off. As her parents came into view Artemis speed up, suddenly realizing just how much she had missed them while she had been away. As she reached her mother and father, she threw her arms around them, burying her face in the crook of her mother's neck, the familiar scent of her perfume hitting the young girl instantly. After a few moments of embracing his daughter, Perseus withdrew while his wife, clearly had no intentions of letting go of her dearly missed child. Mother and Daughter stood together, tightly embracing one another, until Persephone felt something wet on her neck. Realizing her daughter was crying, she tried to pull the young girl away, so that she could look at her, but Artemis refused to let go.

"What's the matter, love?" cooed Persephone as she gave up trying to move her young daughter against her will. "Tell mother what's got you so upset. I know you couldn't have missed me this much." Persephone stroked Artemis' hair, trying to comfort the distraught girl. However, her mother's caresses only made Artemis sob harder. Becoming alarmed Perseus stopped talking to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, who had accompanied them to the platform, and tried to comfort his child.

"Darling, what's the matter?" he questioned as he pried Artemis from her mother, replacing the crook of Persephone's neck with his solid chest. "Shhh," he whispered quietly into her ear.

"Take me home," Artemis pleaded, looking her Father in the eye for the first time since she had left the train.

"We will Darling, after lunch with the Malfoy's, I'll take you home," assured Perseus squeezing Artemis tightly.

"Now," she whispered, desperation evident in her voice.

"No Darling, after lunch. We've made plans already."

"Then I'll walk," spat Artemis, wrenching herself from her father's grasp.

"You'll do no such thing," he admonished, not really taking her seriously.

"Perseus, my daughter is upset, and she would like to go home. So I am going to take her home. Now... not later. There was a time, my dear husband, when you gave a damn about your daughter's well being. Clearly your business arrangements hold rank these days," hissed Persephone as she wrapped an arm around her daughter and headed toward the exit, without so much as a glance at her husband.

"Well... I'm in trouble," stated Perseus flatly, turning his attention to the Malfoy's. As Artemis and Persephone disappeared through Platform 9 3/4, Draco Malfoy slowly approached his parent's and Mr. Fowlington. Draco smiled weakly, wondering if they knew anything.

"What did you do?" questioned Lucius impatiently. Lucius knew his son very well and based on Artemis' behavior and Draco's current inability to look him in the eye, he knew that Draco was most certainly the cause of Artemis' distress.

"Can we just go home?" asked Draco impatiently, just wanting to feel the infrequent comfort his own bed could offer.

"No, we most certainly can not," replied Lucius, "What. Did. You. Do?"

"I FUCKED UP, ALRIGHT! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR? YOUR SON COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FUCKED EVERYTHING UP, AGAIN!" shouted Draco, losing what little control of his temper that had remained intact. The last month had been hell for him and his father's automatically blaming him, however justified it may have been, angered, not to mention hurt, Draco more than he cared to admit. Needing to get away for awhile, Draco quickly walked past his stunned parents, and passed through the barrier of the train station, disappearing from sight.

"Well I'm going to have to take a rain check on lunch, Lucius. Perhaps once they calm down some we'll arrange something. Besides it looks like I'm going to have to make a quick stop at a jewelry store... or two, before heading home," mused Perseus as he bid his companions farewell.

"I recommend Allevella's Rare Gemstones and Antiquities. Tell the jeweler what you did and she'll find you the perfect trinket. Get's me out of trouble every time," gloated Lucius as he looked over his shoulder at his lovely wife, who just so happened to be wearing several of his gifts. Narcissa rolled her eyes, even though she knew he wasn't exaggerating.

"Will do," said Perseus before crossing over the barrier, just as his family and Draco had previously done.

"Where do you think Draco went?" asked Narcissa, her voice wavering, failing to mask the nervousness she felt towards her son's current state of mind.

"I don't know, but I'll find him and when I do.."

"Lucius, maybe you should let him cool off first. This has got to be hard on him. It's a lot for a boy to deal with. Not only does he have to manage being a student, a brilliant student at that, and you couple it with Quidditch and friends and just being his age in general and that's enough to stress out anyone. But then you add on having a fiancé, begrudgingly for that matter, it was only a matter of time before he cracked. Darling, he's only human. I know he cares for Artemis, but he's going to make mistakes. He's going to hurt her and she's going to hurt him, but eventually they'll find a way to make things work. We did." Narcissa hoped her husband would see reason. Draco's yelling at his father, was unacceptable, but she knew her son was troubled by, not only the situation, but his feelings for his fiancé. She knew that Draco's outburst would not sit well with her Lucius, but she needed him to agree to stop meddling in the children's relationship.

"I know it's got to be hard on him. But he is not a boy anymore. He is a man and I need him to start acting like it. Which means no throwing temper tantrums in the middle of a train station," spat Lucius, his cheeks coloring slightly due to his anger towards his young son. Narcissa's patience was beginning to wear quiet thin. She couldn't believe how Lucius was behaving, childish was the only way to describe it.

"For once can you just be there for him. Listen to him, don't make him listen to you. Talk to him not at him. Comfort him, be his father. After all, what ever he's feeling right now, is most certainly your fault. I told you this would happen, before you had even met with Perseus. I told you it was a disaster waiting to happen. So don't you dare take it out on Draco," shouted Narcissa, grabbing the attention of the other witches and wizards in the train station who had come to greet their children.

"Narcissa, quiet down," whispered Lucius, embarrassed by the way everyone was looking at them.

"I will be quiet when you promise me that you will give your son a break When, instead of berating him for faltering, you help him fix the problem. Until then I'm just going to have to KEEP YELLING!" shouted Narcissa her normally pale face having turned an unbecoming shade of pink, due to the exertion of her outburst.

"Fine, you win. I'll talk to him when he get's home. I won't yell, alright?" agreed Lucius, hoping to quiet his wife. Narcissa nodded in agreement and followed her husband towards the barrier of the platform, leaving the train station and their audience behind.

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I noticed that there were no reviews for chapter's 12 and 13. If there is anything in any of the chapter's that isn't working out, let me know. Your opinions are always appreciated. They help me determine wether or not I'm taking this story in the right direction. If the last two chapters sucked all together please let me know, so I can fix them before too many chapters are effected by their content.

Thanks a bunch :)

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