A/N: Wow, I seem to be on an update streak of every eight months, don't I? Well, Merry Christmas to all! This update is dedicated to my lovely friend, Aletha, because she wanted this update for her present, and, being such a wonderful person, I fulfilled her request. Again, I apologize for the major lack of updates, but there have been other updates, school, etc. that have been taking up some time. Remember to review at the end, lovelies!

The Other Half

There's More Than Just Magic in the Air

"So, you ready?"

Artimis looked over at Draco as they pulled up to the Malfoy manor. It was gated – not surprising – and the yard was particularly manicured. It was highly doubtful that anyone other than house elves took care of it. The building itself was pretty grand, but, despite the impressiveness of the property, it still had this cold feeling to it, even just from looking.

"Guess so; nice place you've got here."

Draco shrugged. "It's alright, I suppose."

"You're real spoiled, y'know that?"

"Of course; are you ready to start performing?"

"Bet I'm a better actor than you," Artimis smirked.

"Highly doubtful, but we'll find out soon, won't we?"

The carriage pulled up the gravel drive to the front entrance, the doors of their ride opening. Draco stepped out, extending his hand to his sham of a girlfriend. Taking a deep breath, Artimis took his hand, the gravel crunching underneath her feet. She followed Draco to the front door, which was quickly opened by about four house elves. Entering the foyer, there was a curved staircase to the right, a grand chandelier overhead, and several tapestries and portraits bordering a series of doors.

"Wow, Snob Hill," Artimis commented, more to herself than to Draco. Regardless of her intention, he still heard her, and cracked a smirk. There was a clicking of heels, and, glancing up, Artimis saw a lovely blonde woman coming down the stairs.

"Draco, darling, welcome home," she said, but with a slight edge to it, much like her face. Artimis began to assume that the entire family wasn't very good at showing emotion that would come the most naturally to others, especially since neither mother nor son made a move as if to even hug.

"It's good to see you, Mother," Draco said, nodding his head. "Have you been well?"

"Well enough, thank you; what's that in your ear?"

Draco's hand went up to the earring Artimis had forced in. "Oh, just an earring, Mother; nothing horrid to worry about, I assure you."

"Alright, alright; so, who might your lady friend be?"

With the attention shifting to her, Artimis flinched, but oh-so slightly, and hoped they didn't notice at all. She smiled, and Draco stepped next to her.

"This, Mother," he said, placing his arm around her waist, "is Artimis Crawford; my girlfriend."

Mrs. Malfoy's face lit up at the words. "Splendid to meet you at last, Artimis."

"It's lovely to finally meet you, too, Mrs. Malfoy," she responded in a well-rehearsed aristocratic tone.

"Please, dear, call me Narcissa. I am very glad that you were able to stay with us over the holiday."

"No trouble at all Mrs. - Narcissa; your hospitality isn't going by unnoticed, I assure you."

Narcissa smiled, her features softening. "Well, I'll be in the sitting room if you two need anything. Draco, why don't you show your sweetheart to her room; I'm sure you both must be exhausted."

Draco nodded, his mother turning and walking through one of the doors, closing it behind her. Once he was sure his mother had gone, Draco let out a sigh, turning to Artimis.

"Well, it seems she bought it, doesn't it?"

"Guess so; on that note, will I get to see where I get to sleep now?"

"Well, I was just going to say that you should be sleeping with me-"

"Dream on, Draco; I am not that kind of girl," Artimis said, walking towards the staircase. "Shall we?"

Draco walked up the stairs, leading Artimis to a room on the back of the house. Opening the door, Draco bowed, letting her in with a smirk.

"Your room, Mademoiselle."

Stepping inside, Artimis let out a faint gasp at the design. The bed was a four-poster, with intricate designs on the silver banisters, and a silvery-blue curtain hanging about it. There were two sets of additional doors in the room: one that was to a closet, the other to a private bathroom. Next to a large bay window was a silver vanity, as well as doors to a balcony on an adjacent wall.

Walking farther in, Artimis absorbed her surroundings, forgetting that Draco was behind her, leaning against her doorframe with a half smirk, half smile.

"You like it, I assume?"

Turning around, Artimis gave him the same look. "I think it's lovely, Draco; thank you."

"You're most certainly welcome. I'll give you a chance to settle in, but let me remind you that we'll be having dinner at six, and semi-formal dress is required."

"Lovely."

"Of course I am," Draco smirked. "If you need me, I'll be right down the hall- the door with the serpent on it is mine."

"I never would have guessed."

Draco stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. Tossing her purse on the bed, Artimis looked around the room, finding her clothes in the appropriate locations; house elves, of course. Glancing at the clock, she decided she could squeeze in a quick cat nap before needing to get changed for dinner, since she knew it'd take her forever to find anything suitable to wear. Jumping onto the bed, she sunk down into the comfy mattress, closing her eyes and drifting into dreamland.

Artimis awoke a bit later with her cell phone vibrating in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw that it was a quarter to five.

"Shit," she muttered, walking to the bathroom, tossing her clothing to the ground as she went. About forty minutes later, she came back out of the bathroom, only to find a dress laid out on the bed for her. It was simple, about to the knee, with a halter neckline and a lovely pale green color. There was also a pair of heels in the same shade next to the bed, ready for her to put on.

Quickly changing, Artimis added some makeup and pulled back part of her hair in a silver clip she found sitting on the vanity. Her jewelry had been placed in the boxes that were also on the vanity, so she pulled out a long pair of silver earrings and a matching necklace that ran straight down the plunging neckline of the dress. She assumed that it was Draco who selected the dress, since a) she didn't own it, and b) she wouldn't normally opt for something that revealing for dinner with someone's parents.

There was a knock at the door as she was slipping on her shoes. Walking towards the door, she asked who it was.

"Your dinner date for the evening," Draco's muffled voice said from the other side of the thick oak door.

Artimis smirked to herself, opening the door to find Draco dressed in black slacks and a white dress shirt. She thought she saw his eyes widen for a moment, but she assumed that it was wishful thinking, since he proceeded to eye her up and down.

"You look particularly fetching this evening, Artimis."

"Why thank you; you don't look too bad yourself, Draco. So, shall we?"

Draco extended his arm for her, leading her down the stairs and into the dining hall.

"So, you never did say how you two ended up meeting," Narcissa was saying over dinner. Artimis looked across from her to Draco, motioning for him to take the question.

"Well, we were on the train to school this year, and we kind of ran into each other in the hall, quite literally. Some words were exchanged, but by the time we got to school, we'd actually started talking like civil people. Got to school, and we really hit it off after a while, and the rest, as they say, is history."

Narcissa sighed wistfully, looking at Artimis. "You two are a very lucky couple. Tell me, Artimis, what family are you from, again?"

"The Crawford's, M- Narcissa; we're from the United States, as I'm sure you can tell."

"Oh, you're of that family?" she looked at her son. "Draco, I'd hold onto this one, if I were you; the Crawford's are a very prestigious pureblood family, you know."

"I don't plan on letting her go anytime soon, Mother," Draco said, sending Artimis a wink.

"Well, since we've all cleared our plates," Narcissa continued, "I'll leave you two to your own devices until the morning, alright?"

"Alright; dinner was lovely, Narcissa, thank you," Artimis said with a smile, standing up as the table cleared. As the two walked out of the dining room, Narcissa made a sound, causing the two to stop and turn around.

"Look who's under the mistletoe," she said in a sing-song voice. Looking up, Artimis and Draco saw the leaves directly above their heads, a small gulp coming from the throat of the former.

"Come on, now, give us a kiss," Narcissa urged.

Artimis quickly leaned forward, pecking Draco on the lips as briefly as she could, smiling at her hostess.

"Oh, I get it; saving yourself for later this evening, then? Don't look at me like that, dear girl; I was your age once, too, you know. You two be safe now, you understand?"

"Don't worry mother; you won't be having any grandchildren out of wedlock, I promise," Draco smiled. "Goodnight, Mother."

He escorted Artimis back upstairs, her face burning red at his mother's comment. They stopped in front of her bedroom, and she was still babbling about it.

"To think that she would even think we were...oh God, what would my parents think?"

"Artimis?"

"-I mean, I'm not that kind of girl, last time I checked; I've done a lot of things, but really-"

"Artimis, stop talking for a second."

"-never been so embarrassed in my life, I don't think. I mean, come on! I would never-"

Artimis was cut of this time, not by Draco's words, but his lips. It was a light kiss, and didn't last long, because he pulled off while she was still in shock.

"Happy Christmas Eve, darling," he said, nodding his head and walking into his room.

Blinking twice, Artimis gave a growl of frustration as she shut her door soundly behind her.

"Merry Christmas, Harry," Maggie beamed as her beau came down the stairs the next morning. Harry yawned, seeing his girlfriend seated cross-legged on the ground next to the tree.

"Happy Christmas to you, too," he smiled, glad he'd decided to get dressed first.

"Can we open presents now? Can we, can we, can we, can we? Please?"

"Maggie? How many Chocolate Frogs have you had already?"

"Enough; so, is that a yes to opening presents?"

Harry sat down on the floor next to her, mussing his hair again. "Let's."

Maggie dove for the boxes, handing Harry one while she found one for her. Looking at the label on it, he found it to be from the Weasley's, and opened it with a smile to reveal another sweater.

"Doesn't she send you a sweater every year," Maggie said, opening the package from her parents, which contained several sparkly pairs of earrings.

"Yes, but there's always a lot of candy with it," Harry said, motioning to the pile of sweets he'd just dumped to his left.

"Nice," she said, handing him the package from Hermione.

"Okay, so we've gone through almost all of them," Maggie said, hunting around the tree to make sure there weren't any boxes hiding from her. "Open mine next!"

"Alright, alright," Harry laughed, picking up the box with gold paper in front of him. Taking off the paper, he smiled to find a new broom kit under the wrapping paper.

"Thank you, Mags," he smiled, leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

"Well, I figured that you'd need it, since that's all you ever do is fly, you know," Maggie smiled, picking up the box from Harry. "May I?"

With a nod from him, she tore away the paper, lifting the lid to find a gold necklace with a heart-shaped locket at the end of it. Opening the locket, she saw a picture of her and Harry inside, who kept kissing each other and beaming.

"Harry, I absolutely love it," she grinned, throwing herself forward and hugging him.

"Well, that was the idea, so I'm glad you love it," he smiled, kissing her again.

"Can you put it on for me," she asked.

"Sure, turn around."

"Mmkay, so we've just got the presents from Artimis left; I'm a bit scared to open them, actually."

"Well, how about you open yours first, then I'll open mine?"

"Sounds like a plan, Stan," Maggie smiled, opening the box. She laughed as she pulled out a picture frame, which held the image of Maggie, Artimis, and their friends from back home all at the beach, splashing each other and disturbing the peace.

"Friends," Harry asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah; this is from last summer, actually," Maggie smiled, setting it on the table. "I remember that picture, actually. Now, open yours!"

Harry rolled his eyes, opening the small box and pulling out a gold chain with a sun pendant on it.

"Well, this explains a lot," Maggie smiled. "You two think alike, so you must be twins."

"Yeah, guess so," he said, still looking at the crystal-encrusted pendant. "That's really cool, now that I think about it."

"Of course it is," Maggie grinned.

"So, no one's going to be home for a few more days," Harry said, a gleam in his eye. "Whatever shall we do to occupy ourselves?"

"Harry..."

"I mean, there's no one else around in the Common Room or anything..."

"Harry, you're scaring me."

Harry stopped talking, suddenly pouncing on Maggie, tickling her.

"Oh God, Harry, I can't breathe," she laughed, sliding out from underneath him and jumping over the couch.

"Yeah, you better run," Harry called after her as she ran around the Common Room.

"Happy Christmas, you two," Narcissa beamed as Draco and Artimis entered the living room, the tree packed with presents.

"Holy..." Artimis started, catching herself before she said something she'd regret. Draco acted like this was an everyday thing, which it probably was in his case. Narcissa took a sip of her tea, watching the two teens.

"Well, aren't you going to open them, then?"

Artimis slid into the presents, tossing one at Draco. They spent the next couple of hours going through all the boxes, finally coming to a manageable amount. There were more presents opened than Artimis was willing to accept, except for Narcissa sitting right there, and she had bought most of the gifts.

"Hey, who's this one from," Draco said, picking up one for Artimis, trying to see who'd sent it. Realizing who it was, she quickly grabbed it from Draco, ripping off the paper, so as not to let him see Harry's name scrawled across it. She went wide-eyed as she pulled out he silver moon pendant her brother had sent, clasping it around her neck.

"Remind me to thank Maggie when we get back to school," she said, covering up who'd really sent it. "Here, Draco, this one's for you," she added, handing over a green box with a silver bow on it.

"Aw, you shouldn't have," he smirked, opening the present. Inside the box were a few black leather straps which Artimis explained to be necklaces, a silver belt with the Slytherin crest as the buckle, and a ring formed by a silver dragon.

"Thank you, darling," Draco said with an actual smile, sliding the ring on his left middle finger, "I'll never take it off."

Artimis smiled. "Glad you like it."

"Now, open mine," he said, handing her a silver box. Removing the paper, she opened the lid, her eyes widening momentarily at the ring inside. It was a fairly simple band – platinum - with small purple and green stones around it. The ring was on a delicate silver chain, which Artimis picked up, looking at the ring.

"Draco..."

"Hmm?"

"...Thank you, it's beautiful," she smiled.

"May I," Draco asked, motioning for the chain.

"Yeah, of course."

Just as she shut the clasp, a flash went off, causing the two to turn to face Draco's mother, who was beaming with a house elf and a camera next to her.

"You two are just so cute, I couldn't resist," she smiled.

"Draco, does your mother scrapbook, by any chance?"

"Don't think so...why?"

"Just wondering why there've been a lot of pictures, that's all."

"Okay, you two, I'll leave you alone to do...whatever it is you're going to do," Narcissa smiled, gliding out of the room.

"Well then," Artimis said, sitting on the couch, "what to do, what to do..."

"We could always take her advice and go shag."

"I'll pass, thanks."

"Snog?"

"How about...no?"

"Well, you're no fun."

"Oh, I'm a lot of fun, just not with you."

"I think I resent that," Draco said, sitting next to her.

"Okay, it's a free country," Artimis shrugged.

They sat there for a few minutes, watching the fire, until, next thing she knew, she was on her back, ice blue eyes looking into hers.

A/N: Remember to review, lovelies. Merry Christmas! I'll try and work more on this one soon, promise! Again, thank you to those who have stuck with this ::mwah!::

Serenity