Restless

"So ,what now?" asked Artemis, as she and her husband lay in bed early one Tuesday morning. PJ had started his third year at Hogwarts and the girls had begun their seventh, so the couple was now left all by themselves, yet again.

Shortly before Lucius' twenty-first birthday he completed his apprenticeship with Severus and at the start of the school year he had begun teaching Potions on his own. With the house all to themselves Artemis and Draco were at a bit of a loss as to what they were supposed to be doing. So, both had thrown themselves into their careers but after just three years they found themselves wanting. What they wanted they weren't exactly sure, they just knew that something wasn't right. They were only forty-one years old, yet they were at a point in their lives where they were lost. While their relationship was still going strong, neither really knew what to make of all of the alone time. After having a house full of kids for over two decades they had forgotten what it was like to just be around one another. Draco wasn't needed at the office all that much since he had hired such capable people to work under him and Artemis headed the Fashion Department but she didn't actually do much, other than give the final okay on whether or not a design would be used. Both had tried to develop their own hobbies but that had been pretty unsuccessful. So after three years of practically living at their respective jobs and remaining unfulfilled, they both opted to spend their day's at home, together.

"Do you want to go into town?" Draco asked, staring up at the ceiling.

"Did that yesterday," she replied, turning onto her side to face him.

"We could go visit Severus," he suggested, perking up at the idea of seeing his Godfather again. When Severus left Hogwarts a few months back he had opened up his own Potions store and the last time they had seen it, things were going very well for the former professor. He had decided to produce the potions and salves he created, for the public. His acne and stretch mark salves were his most popular.

"We could but he's so busy during the day," Artemis replied, not really wanting to interrupt him while he was busy just because they were bored.

"This is ridiculous," Draco laughed. "I know that it's weird not having the kids here but there's no reason why we can't function without them."

"I just don't know what to do with myself," Artemis explained, flopping down onto her back. "It hasn't been just us for so long and even before Luce was born we had our careers that we were developing."

"Let's go on vacation," Draco said, sitting up and pulling on his pajama pants.

"Vacation from what," she laughed, slapping at his bare bottom just before he had the chance to pull his pants all the way up.

"You always said you wanted to see the world. I can't think of a better time for us to do it." Draco rushed into his closet and started packing a trunk with some of his things.

"Umm, Draco don't you think we ought to talk about this a little more," Artemis asked, peaking into her husband's closet.

"Where's your spontaneity?" he joked, tossing some more clothes into the trunk.

"I never had any," she replied. "Where are we going, how long will we be there, don't you think we should let the kids know we won't be here?"

"Where ever we want, for ever how long we want and we'll write them when we get there," Draco replied, answering all of her questions at once. "Now start packing."

Nearly four and a half hours later Artemis still wasn't ready to go. She had barricaded herself in her closet and hadn't come out since. Draco had finished packing his things for their trip in just thirty minutes so he offered to help her but she refused him saying that he would just get in the way of her 'system'.

"Aren't you ready yet?" he groaned, flopping down onto their bed.

"No I'm not," she replied. "How am I supposed to pack accordingly if I don't have the slightest idea where we're going? It's hard to make sure you have the right attire if you don't know what the climates like."

"Just throw some stuff in your truck and whatever you don't have with you we'll buy when we get there. It's the perfect excuse for you to go shopping!" he replied enthusiastically, hoping to speed her up a bit.

"Where are we going?" she asked, for the millionth time that morning.

"Tokyo..." he exclaimed. "We're going to Tokyo!" Truth be told Draco hadn't actually thought about where they would be going so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh, that'll be fun. I've always wanted to go there. What Hotel are we staying at?" she asked, excitedly.

"I don't know," he whined. Suddenly it dawned on him, maybe she was right. Maybe he should have put a little more thought into this vacation. As of now, not only did they not really have any plans but they didn't even know where they were staying.

"I'm not leaving her until you can tell me what Hotel we're staying at. I'll not get there and have no place to stay," she said, sitting down on the top of her trunk.

"Fine, I'll go make reservations but you had better keep packing." Draco disappeared from sight and Artemis returned to her packing, glad that she had been able to convince him to be a bit more prepared for their venture.

"What ever you do make sure you remember that we have to be back in time for PJ's Quidditch game. He'd be crushed if we missed it!" Artemis shouted, as her husband rushed downstairs towards his office.

Artemis and Draco spent three weeks traveling around Asia, taking in the sights and culture. They had planned on staying for a few more days but Artemis had begun to grow homesick so they cut their trip short. Besides, PJ's first Quidditch match of the season was in one week and they wanted to be refreshed when they went to visit him.

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"Ophelia... Hero, I'll need you both to stay after class," Lucius said trying to remain calm, he didn't know why his sister's enjoyed trying his patience so much but something had to be done. For nearly three years now he had put up with their childish antics and he'd more than had enough.

During his first year of teaching Potions without Severus' supervision Lucius' sister's had only stepped out of line on a couple of occasion's, none of which were all that bad. But as the year's progressed, the girls seemed determined to drive him mad or at least embarrass him until he refused to ever show his face again. For the most part he had been able to handle their barbs but this time they had gone too far. When he had arrived in his classroom for his Advanced Potions class this morning he was greeted by the sight of hundreds of poster's on the walls. All of which had pictures of him when he was a baby. While he had been a very cute baby his sister's neglected to select the photos that demonstrated this fact. Instead they chose all of the photos that he had deemed the most embarrassing ones, the ones that he had insisted that his mother and father never show to anyone. The looks on his student's faces were unforgettable as they stared at photos of him crawling around in his birthday suit, covered in his baby food and dressed up in horribly girly dress robes.

"My how you've grown, Professor," said one of the young witches, as she gazed at a photo of him in the bathtub playing with his bath toys, a beard and wig made of bubbles on top of his head. "Thanks Dad," he thought, knowing that his father had been responsible for it.

"Detention, Miss Flackerty," he snapped, ripping the photo from the wall. Once all of the photos were down he began his lesson. Thanks to Ophelia and Hero's antics, though they had yet to so much as make a peep Lucius knew they were behind this as no one else had access to his baby photos, he was in a wicked mood. After assigning them an eight page essay that was due by the end of class he went to take his seat. Upon seating himself, Lucius heard a loud squeaking noise which startled him and made him stand back up as the students laughed uncontrollably.

"Funny ha ha, laugh your asses off!" he grumbled, picking the offending item up off of his chair. When a bright yellow rubber duck came into view the students began laughing even harder. Storming over to the twins' desk in a very Snape-like fashion, Lucius leaned in very close to them and whispered, "You want a war... you got one." Returning to his normal height he turned to James and Travis, a sly grin on his face, "Detention... every night this week."

"What?" the twins and their boyfriends shouted in unison.

"But you know that Gryffindor has Quidditch practice every night this week!" bellowed James, jumping up out of his seat.

"Yeah, the first game of the season is in less than a week!" Travis interjected. Both boys were on the Gryffindor team. Travis, who had thankfully dropped most of his baby weight, was a beater and James, big surprise here, was the seeker.

"Suck's to be you. Besides it doesn't matter how much you practice Slytherin is going to bury you," laughed Lucius, before leaning close to James' ear. "You're going to get your ass handed to you by a third year, Potter." Lucius spat, referring to his younger brother's position as the Slytherin seeker. Lucius giddily walked back to his desk, took his seat and propped his feet up all they while smirking at his twin sister's who sat stunned, their boyfriends glaring at them. "Don't forget, you'll both need to see me after class."

Two hours later when the bell rang dismissing the Advanced Potions class, all of whom were mentally exhausted after having to complete so long an essay in so short a period of time, Ophelia and Hero approached the Professor.

"What?" huffed Hero, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Try that again," glowered Lucius, standing up from his comfortable seat so that he towered over the girls.

"What, sir?" grumbled Hero.

"This is your final year at Hogwarts and it seems that the two of you have made it your mission to drive me mad. I thought it was only necessary to warn you that it won't work. Don't think that because I'm your brother I'll allow you to walk all over me. I busted my ass to get where I am and I'll not have you two sniveling, obnoxious little twits ruining this experience." The girls stepped back slightly, unaccustomed to their older brother being so angry with them. Truth be told, the girls had always been rather boisterous but over the past few years they had calmed down a bit, just like most of the students tended to do. Lucius was most relieved when they had finally stopped using so much bad language. He knew that when he was their age he had been the same way but eventually the novelty of saying those forbidden words had worn off. It just took the girls a little longer than it took him. Their only real problem, aside from their boyfriend obsession, was that they often liked to cause trouble, especially at their brother's expense.

"Luce," Hero interjected, only to be cut off.

"Shut. Up." He growled. "Technically this is my fault. I've allowed this behavior for entirely too long. Rest assured ladies, I fully intend on putting a stop to it."

"Lucius, we're sorry," stammered Ophelia, still uncomfortable with her brother's mood.

"Professor," he corrected, his jaw tightly clenched.

"Professor, we're sorry," she amended.

"Oh, I plan on making you sorry. Very, very sorry," he assured, the trademark Malfoy grin presenting itself. "I'll be seeing you." Ophelia and Hero rushed out of the classroom muttering to each other, trying to mull over just what their brother had in store for them. Lucius decided that the best plan of action was to get them where it hurt most... their boyfriends.

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"How was your detention?" asked Hero, as she rushed over to her boyfriend before he had a chance to enter the Gryffindor portrait hole.

"Peachy," he replied, sarcastically. "You know you're brother is a real asshole!"

"That'll be another week's detention," drawled a very familiar voice, sneaking up behind the children. James and Travis stared at their Potions professor, dumbfounded. It was like he followed them back to their tower just looking for an excuse for assign more detention. "Hero, Ophelia, out of bed after curfew, tsk tsk. Look's like you'll be busy with detention yourselves. One week of detention working with Filch for being out after curfew." Turning, Lucius strode back down the corridor, whistling happily so that they could hear him.

"This is all your fault!" shouted Travis, turning to his girlfriend. "Geesh, I didn't know being your boyfriend would be such a pain in the ass. Do me a favor, Hero, go crawl back under whatever rock it is you came from!" Before Travis knew it, he was pinned against the hard cold stone wall, two very strong hands tightly gripping the collar of his robes.

"You listen to me you little punk if you ever speak to my sister that way again I will rip that sorry excuse of a head of yours off," Lucius growled, his face a mere inch away from the petrified young boy. "And Potter!" he added, but when he turned around and saw that James was comforting Hero who was crying because of what Travis had said about her, he changed his mind on what he was going to say. "You're excused from your detentions. Now all of you go to bed, it's well past curfew." Once the boys were inside of their tower, James berating Travis the entire way, Lucius caught up with his sisters.

"Are you all right?" he asked, stopping his sister from walking away and wrapping his arms around her.

"No, I'm not all right," she stammered, her crying making it difficult for her to speak.

"That's the third time they've broken up this month," added Ophelia, gently wiping at her sister's tears. "I keep telling her he's a loser but she won't listen."

"What do you care anyway, it's your fault!" Hero shouted, knowing that it was her brother's constant hounding that caused Travis to break up with her... this time.

"You're my sister, that's why I care and yes I might of had something to do with it but honestly if Mum knew you let that boy speak to you like that, she'd skin you," Lucius replied, walking with them towards the Slytherin dorms. "Can we just call a truce? We're a little old for these feuds, don't you think? Besides, Mum and Dad will be here on Saturday for PJ's game and they'd be pretty bummed to see us at each other's throats again."

"Fine," agreed Ophelia, back to her chipper self again.

"Fine," Hero muttered, wiping the remnants of her tears. "But ease up on Travis would you, he's a good guy."

"No, I won't ease up on him. He's an asshole and I'll treat him as such. I don't want to hear that you're back with him, I swear if I so much as hear it I'll tell Mum and you know what'll happen. She'll tell Dad and he'll show up half naked again and you'll have to listen to all of your girlfriends go on and on about how hot your Daddy is."

"Ugh," groaned Ophelia and Hero in unison, hating when their father came to visit. Honestly, they couldn't see why the other girls were so fixated on him.

"Don't worry, Luce, I'll make sure she stays away from him... James will too. He's really pissed at Travis for the way he treats Hero," laughed Ophelia, dragging her sister towards their room.

"Oh, girls!" he shouted, just as they entered the dorms.

"What?" they asked, peaking back out of the door.

"It's your last year here, don't you think you should try to do better than just average in your classes. I know Mum and Dad would love that," he said, returning to Professor mode.

"We're too pretty to be smart," laughed Hero, pulling her sister inside and shutting he door. For several years they're family had a long standing joke about the girls being so pretty that they didn't have to be smart. None of them believed it, least of all their parents, but they loved to joke about it.

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"So Perseus Jeremiah, how does it feel to be named seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team despite being one of the smallest and youngest members and for three years in a row?" asked Rita Skeeter, leering at the annoyed young boy. "No student has managed to not only become seeker during their first year but to hold the position for the following years as well, at least not since Harry Potter."

"It's awesome, now can you leave me alone, I've got to go meet my parents," he grumbled, storming off before turning back to the stunned reporter. "Oh and just so you know, I think Rita Skeeter is a washed up old hag... you can quote me on that!" Snickering to himself, PJ rushed over to the stands to search for his parents.

"There you are!" exclaimed Artemis, wrapping her arms around her youngest son. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Mum" replied PJ, genuinely having missed his parents. "Where's Dad?"

"He went to fetch your brother and sister's. You know how much he hate's it when people are late," she laughed. "Are you nervous?"

"Not really, I've been doing this for years Mum," he gloated, a proud smile on his face. "I bet Dad's a wreck."

"Yep, so is your grandfather. He's so worried you'll get hurt playing out there with kids that are so much bigger than you," she replied, sharing the same sentiments with her father-in-law.

"It'll be fine," he laughed. "They'll have to catch me first. Look, I've really got to get back to the locker room or Captain will have a heart attack. Tell Dad I love him and I'll see him after the game."

"Okay," she replied, as PJ took off towards the lockers. "Be careful!" she shouted, receiving a wave of his small hands in acknowledgment.

"Suck's doesn't it?" she heard someone ask. Turning she came face to face with her mother-in-law.

"What?" she asked.

"They go from needing you for everything to needing you for hardly anything, in an instant," Narcissa clarified, hugging the teary-eyed mother.

"Yes, it certainly does suck," Artemis agreed, as they walked towards their seats.

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