REVIEW REPLIES:

Summer: I'm glad that you liked that bit! I've always thought that platonic Percico was adorable. And yes! He's finally starting to get over Percy! I'm not going to be focusing on romance for a while, but if I do, Artemis/Nico actually sounds pretty cute. Yeah, I'm planning on doing all 7 books at the moment. I've got a vague idea of where I'm going with this, so hopefully I'll make it through the whole series. Thanks for reviewing by the way!

DaughterOfHecate: Phew! I was worried that I'd made a bajillion mistakes. I'm really glad that you liked that chapter! I don't like Professor Snape much either, cause he was really mean. But I imagine that he's be nicer to Slytherins, or else he would have lost his job ages ago. I'm glad you liked that part! There won't be much action from the American side of things for the time being, since I have no idea what Percy and the others were up to right about now. The war was in August, so nothing major has happened yet. The Artemis Fowl books begin when Artemis is twelve, so we won't be seeing much of that until the sequel either. So at the moment, mostly I'll be focusing on the Harry Potter universe. I'm really glad that you like this story! I always love reading your reviews!

Artemis scowled as he noticed his fellow classmate perched on a window sill in the Owlery.

"Fowl." Nico grumbled, "What are you doing here?"

Now, the wise thing to do here, would be to tell Nico that he had come to get Athena, so that she could deliver a letter to Butler. Quick and easy. But Artemis didn't do 'easy'.

"Last I checked," Artemis said with a smirk, "The Owlery is open to all students. I have no reason not to be here."

Nico growled in frustration, which was understandable, given the circumstances, "Can't you give me a straight answer for once, Fowl?"

"You know that I can't." he teased. For a minute, it felt like they were back to normal, bantering good-naturedly (most of the time, anyway) and trying to get on each others nerves. Unfortunately, the light-hearted moment did not last long.

Nico's smile faded, "Seriously though, why are you here?" he asked suspiciously.

"I came to get Athena." he replied while making his way towards a group of owls, trying to find Athena without disturbing them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Nico seize up.

"What do you want with Athena?" he asked, attempting to sound casual. Artemis decided not to point out how blatantly obvious it was that he was concerned about something, and instead, opted to jot down Nico's odd reaction in his notebook.

"I need her to deliver this letter to Butler for me. Butler is my guardian, for the time being, anyway." he added, misinterpreting Nico's baffled expression.

"What makes you think that she'd just show up and deliver a letter for you? I mean, how do you know that she'll even show up?" Nico asked nervously.

Artemis turned around and gave him an odd look, "I get the feeling we're talking about two completely different entities here."

"I'm getting that too."

"Athena is my owl." Artemis explained, finally spotting Athena amongst the flock of birds, "A rather apt name, don't you think? Seeing as owls are the symbols of Athena and all."

Nico visibly relaxed, "You have a weird obsession with Greek mythology, you know that Fowl?"

" So I've been told."

Artemis reluctantly made his way over to the window sill that Nico was perched on and sat down, beginning to tie the letter to Athena's leg.

"I don't mean to question good fortune, but why, pray tell, are you not ignoring me like everyone else? Back when you... ah, caught me in the act, you seemed to be more annoyed than distressed, at least, at first." he asked hesitantly, decidedly avoiding making eye contact. He could outsmart criminals like it was nothing, but he couldn't ask one of his fellow 11 year old's a simple question without making things awkward. Go figure.

Nico shrugged, also not attempting to make eye contact, "I just... couldn't believe that you did it without a good reason." he answered, swinging his legs, "I know you said that you just wanted gold, but we both know that you're not that stupid. If you did want gold, you wouldn't have rushed in so blindly. So it had to be something personal. And doing bad things for someone you love... " he trailed off, meeting his eyes, "Well, let's just say that I can relate."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Should I be concerned that you can read me so well?" he asked, trying to change the topic. They were treading in dangerous waters here.

Nico snorted, " That's what you're worried about? Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Reading people kind of comes with the territory when you're a d-" he caught himself, "When you have ADHD." he amended quickly.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment on the little slip-up. He'd ponder on it later, in private.

"Well then, if that's all, I'll just be going." he said awkwardly. "Homework to do, letters to send, you know what I mean." he began to stand up before Nico pulled him down again.

"Nu-uh." he said firmly, "You're not getting away that easy, Fowl. I answered your question, now you have to answer mine."

"Which is?"

"Why did you try to steal the stone? Don't lie, Artemis. I know that it wasn't for gold, or money, or anything like that. Come on, wouldn't it feel good to get it off your chest?"

Artemis remained silent. Telling people about his dilemma wouldn't change anything. It would just make people pity him. He despised pity.

Nico sighed, "You know, once I tried to bring my dead sister back to life." he stated casually.

Artemis couldn't help it. He gaped at Nico as though he had burst into a song about sunshine and rainbows.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah." he said with a wince, "Crazy, huh?"

When Artemis didn't reply, he forged on, " Bianca has always been the only family I've ever known." he remarked wistfully, "She took care of me for years, even though she was only about two years older than me." his nostalgic smile turned into a guilty frown, "I- I never noticed how much of a burden I was. She was twelve , and she had to act like a parent. I suppose that I didn't help much either, by being so helpless and naïve." he admitted.

Artemis hesitated, "I almost hate to ask, but... what happened?"

"The Hunters of Artemis happened." Nico spat out bitterly.

"The Hunters of Artemis?" Artemis echoed, feeling lost, which was not something he was accustomed to feeling.

"They're this group of man-hating girls. They named themselves after the goddess Artemis, since she's the goddess of the hunt, who also happens to hate boys." Nico explained.

"So they're a gang?" Artemis asked sceptically.

Nico rolled his eyes, "Yes. They're a gang. Anyway, me and Bianca ran into a bit of trouble at our boarding school, and my cousins and two of their friends came to help us out. Unfortunately so did the Hunters. They offered to let Bianca join them. " he sighed, "They promised her a life free of responsibility. Free of me. She accepted in a heartbeat. No surprise there." he said bitterly, "She didn't even think to tell me before leaving me with a bunch of strangers I'd never met before. I was so mad, that... I didn't even say goodbye." his voice cracked towards the end.

Well. That explained why had reacted so badly when he had first heard Artemis' name.

Nico took a deep breath, "Bianca, a few of the Hunters, and my cousins Percy and Thalia went on a trip. I made Percy promise to keep Bianca safe. But... there was an accident. She tried to steal a figurine for me, to complete my collection, but she activated the defense mechanisms and some of the machinery malfunctioned. She sacrificed her life. All for a stupid figurine." he said, his voice no louder than a whisper.

"I was devastated when I found out. I blamed Percy for breaking his promise, even though it wasn't his fault. I- I said that I wished he was dead. After that, I ran away and met someone called Minos. He told who I was. Or what I was, I suppose. I was angry, desperate and alone. I did some things that I'm not exactly proud of."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "You were grieving. Besides, whatever you did couldn't have been worse than stealing an ancient artifact." he tried for a light-hearted, teasing tone, but it came out bitterly instead.

"Couldn't it?" Nico challenged, " I performed necromancy. I have no doubt that you know that necromancy is considered to be ancient, forbidden magic. Dark magic. I tried to hold someone's soul for ransom, in exchange for Bianca's. I almost killed someone." he stated, his voice dry and hollow.

"You what?" Artemis gaped. A thought occurred to him, "Why are you telling me this?" he asked suspiciously.

Nico rolled his eyes, "For a genius, you sure can be stupid at times." he sighed, "What I was trying to say, was that we all do crazy things for people we love. Sometimes even terrible things. But I know from experience that having people who care about you, who want to help, always makes things better. However, we can't help if we don't even know what's going on." he said quietly.

"When did you get so wise?"

"Stop changing the topic Fowl."

"Fine!" Artemis sighed, "I suppose it couldn't hurt to let one person know."

Was he really doing this? Apparently. Would this backfire in some horrible way? Possibly. Was he going to do it anyway? Obviously.

"My father, Artemis Fowl the First, went on a... business trip to Russia last year. The Russians didn't like that, so they blew up his ship, The Fowl Star, and he's been missing ever since. The government declared him dead. My mother was driven mad with grief. She doesn't even recognize me anymore." he stated blandly, blinking back the tears that were threatening to spill.

"I was left as the head of an almost bankrupt criminal empire with a bunch of greedy relatives, random people claiming debts, and an insane mother. I needed a way to fund a rescue mission to Russia to save my father. But not many people would be willing to fund a search party for a supposedly-dead criminal." he said in the same monotonous tone.

"So when you found out about the Philosopher's Stone, it seemed like the ideal solution." Nico realized.

Artemis nodded, "It was certainly better than my... other scheme. Trust me. You don't want to know." he said, noticing Nico's curious look.

Nico's gaze turned concerned, "Why didn't you tell the others? They would have understood."

Artemis averted his eyes, "I- I didn't want anyone to pity me." he murmured, sounding decidedly childish.

He expected Nico to ask him why he didn't want people's pity and sympathy, or to offer his condolences. But Nico surprised him, once again.

"I get it." he said simply, not bothering to elaborate. He didn't need to. Artemis got the message loud and clear.

Nico cleared his throat awkwardly, "Right, this has been great and all, but I'm not too good at the whole emotions thing, so..." he trailed off.

"I agree." Artemis said, standing up and watching Athena carry the letter away, "As heart-warming as this has been, I'd rather not make this situation any more awkward than it already is."

Nico stood up as well and turned to face him, extending a hand, "Well, seeing as we're being all sentimental and stuff, would you like to start over? Give this friendship thing another try?"

"Could you get any more cliché, di Angelo?"

"Gods, Fowl! You're not making any easier."

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't." Artemis smirked.

"True." Nico groaned, "Now can you please just shake the dam hand?"

"Fine." Artemis drawled.

"Friends?"

"Friends."

Nico grinned, "Great! Now that all of that mushy stuff is out of the way, I want to show you something!"

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "What exactly do you want to show me?"

Nico rolled his eyes, "Honestly, Fowl. Do you know how hard it is not to throttle you right now?"

"I can imagine."

"Whatever. You did want to see my sword again, didn't you?"

Artemis' other eyebrow disappeared above his hairline as well.

"So you admit that it exists?"

Nico scoffed, "Of course! I thought that everyone knew that by now."

"And you're volunteering to show me it?" Artemis asked sceptically.

Nico grabbed his hand, "Yes! Now come on!" he exclaimed, dragging them both in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

A.N:

Welp. That just happened.

By the way, I'm sorry if I got the whole 'dam' thing wrong. I'm clueless about that sort of thing.

Hopefully, I pulled off the whole 'heartfelt confessions' thing alright. I hope that it didn't seem too sudden or anything.

I literally have nothing else to say today. I'm kind of on a tight schedule, so I didn't have time to edit this thing before posting it, so feel free to point out any errors.

I'd love to see what you guys think!

-Keera!(*￣(￣ *)