Wednesday, June 2nd.

GREAT HALL:

Since this school year had been an utter mess, the end of year exams were cancelled.

Artemis felt like she wasted most of her time, studying and preparing for the tests.

Blaise and Theo couldn't care less about the exams, they were too busy speaking in riddles, clearly discussing something top secret to even notice they didn't have to take their annual exams.

Daphne was angry because she felt like she could have spent the year sleeping, instead of paying attention in school.

Draco was irritated, but not due to the exams, but because he had found out that his father was fired as the school's governor and to top it all off, his house-elf was freed by his own enemy.

Artemis was going to miss Dobby, they played together a lot when they were younger, and he was good friends with Binky.

She knew how the Malfoy's, mainly her godfather treated the poor elf, but she still wanted him around.

Oh, how she loathed this year.

On the bright side Lockhart was hospitalized, Artemis was ecstatic about to, the man almost made her lose some brain cells.

She was just happy that he ended up in St Mongos, because if it didn't happen this year she would've had to do it next year, and it probably wouldn't be pretty.

Speaking of pretty, Artemis told the Don's about her new spell, they were shocked and excited to say the least.

Alana's attraction to the Seramore witch grew since then and so did Aurora's but they knew nothing would ever happen with the girl, so they just flirted with her instead.

Ever since they made up the rules, they've been working just fine. The attacks and rivalries between their houses have decreased significantly.

They still occasionally happen but not as much as they used to.

Artemis found out from the "chosen one" that his muggleborn friend was released from the infirmary and she found the spell to help him.

For some reason he felt like he could tell her a lot of things, he even showed her a torn page from a book, which helped both him and Ron to help Hermoine.

When she saw the page, she instantly remembered when her and Draco were in Diagon alley, and how he ripped something out of a book.

She knew he was the one to place the helping information in the hands of their group, she even mentioned it to him, he denied it but she saw the smile that was threatening to appear in his face, it confirmed her suspicions.

Snape had told Dumbledore about Artemis' creation, The raven haired wizard tried not to smile when he gave the headmaster the news.

It was annoying to hear that he was back in charge of the school but Artemis got over it.

Due to Artemis' new spell and the overall house points her house received through the year, Slytherin had won the house cup for the 8 consecutive year in a row.

The entire hall held mixed emotions.

Hufflepuff didn't care about the title, Alana winked at the pureblood witch, despite knowing that since Artemis' house had won, she could invite whomever she wanted to their meetings.

Ravenclaw clapped for the Serpants, even though some of them didn't want to, they were just being civil.

Aurora was slightly pissed off since they never really won much, but she got over it when she spotted some attractive girls look her way.

Gryffindor didn't even try to hide them anger, Ron sneered at all of them, especially the Seramore witch.

Artemis wiggled her fingers at the boy, wearing a huge grin on her face. When her group noticed his looks, Blaise flipped him off, Theo swiped his finger across his throat with a sickly smile, whilst Draco glared and Daphne smirked.

Pansy was still angry that Artemis had hurt her a couple months ago, Millicent had told her to let it go, but she didn't.

She didn't even care that her house won the house cup, she was blinded with envy and wrath, to notice how the colours on the flags stayed the same.

She just wanted to get back at the Seramore witch.

Meanwhile, pureblood 5 sat eating their last school feast of the year, smiles were on all their faces.

"Hopefully next year is better." Theo spoke after wiping his mouth, he turned to Blaise who sat next to him, who was scoffing down his food.

"I can't get any worse than this year," the Zabini added.

"Let's hope for the best," Artemis smiled at the blond that sat opposite her, next to her cousin, whilst Draco had his arm around her shoulder.

Since her conversation with Blaise and Theo, she had noticed that Draco had been showing more affection in the form of touch, she didn't mind, but she didn't think much of it.

Unknown to the rest of the group, Daphne and Blaise were holding hands underneath the table.

The Greengrass witch had gotten bored of all the back and forth flirting and decided to be upfront and tell him that she liked him.

He was shocked at first, slightly embarrassed that he didn't approach her at first. But after his initial shock he quickly asked if he could kiss her, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

His mother constantly told him that if a girl doesn't tell you what she wants, don't do it.

Daphne nodded instantly and they shared their first kiss.

They had been dating in secret since then, not wanting to expose their relationship just yet.

The blonde felt guilty for not telling Artemis, she assumed that she wouldn't like that they were together so she kept it to herself.

Blaise thought it would be good to wait to tell his cousin, especially since they would be going on holiday again together, whilst their mothers were away in America on a business trip.

He didn't want to ruin the two young witches' friendship, so he was going to wait for the perfect time to mention it.

"I feel like it's going to be so weird next year." The group looked at Artemis, she continued to speak, "I mean we're all going to be teenagers," Draco was still 12, but only for a couple more days.

"And we're gonna be better looking." Blaise added,

Draco smirked, "And taller."

"Not Temi." Theo teased, Artemis playfully rolled her eyes and threw a roll at his head, the group chuckled at the scene.

It truly was the end of an era, they weren't preteens anymore.

No longer kids, even though their parents and teachers will treat them as such.

"I'm almost 5"3" Artemis pointed out, and Theo nodded his head to Professor Flitwik mouthing the words, 'same height as him'.

"And that's how you'll stay." Blaise smiled at his cousin, his secret girlfriend hit the back of his head, making Artemis smile.

Draco looked down at the girl, leaning over and whispering, "don't worry you can always wear heels." His mother and aunts wore heels to compensate for their height.

The elder pureblood witches were average height for their ages, between 5"6 - 5"8.

The brown skinned girl looked at him, ignoring the flutters that filled her stomach, "you're right."

"For once." Blaise commented, Theo and Daphne didn't disagree. Draco shot him a glare before turning back to his giggling best friend.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"You know what." He shook his head playfully, her smile grew.

"You guys are disgusting." Theo frowned, he just wanted to eat his food, but the tension in the air made him want to jump off the Astronomy tower.

"Hater."

"I stand by that," Theo shrugged, "I'll be a hater, because at least all my food will remain in my stomach and not projectile vomit at the sight of you 4." He pointed at his Friends, they all threw rolls at his head, "this feels like a hate crime."

Draco narrowed his eyes at the boy, not understanding his last comment, noticing his Look Daphne spoke up before he could say anything, "You love us T."

He frowned, "Sadly."

Their conversation was cut off by the sound of the great hall doors opening.

The bushy haired muggle-born smiled and ran into the room. "Oh great, the Mudblood is back." Draco groaned, wishing he never had to see her again.

The other 4 ignored his comment, looking towards the scene, the doors opened again, revealing the notorious half giant; Hagrid.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at the exonerated man.

It was a rare sight, seeing an innocent man being let off for a crime, that wasn't his fault.

If only the rest of the world was like that.

"Sorry I'm late, the owl that delivered my release papers got all mixed up and confused" he said shyly. The entire hall looked at him, "Some ruddy bird called Errol" Hagrid went up to the three Gryffindors and thanked them.

Cute, I guess, Artemis looked at her best friend, he rolled his eyes.

"There's no Hogwarts without you Hagrid" Harry grinned at the man, The whole Great Hall erupted with cheers.

The Slytherins being the most hesitant. Most of them looked at their housemates not knowing what to do.

Artemis groaned and started to clap, signalling for the rest of her house to follow.

The winning house began to clap, even her friends did too.

They didn't stand, but at least they joined in.

Most of the hall were surprised that they were celebrating the return of the the half giant, but shook it off as they were excited to see him again.

She leaned over to Draco, "clap or I'll hex you." She threatened, his eyes widened and he slowly placed his two hands together, no sound came from his actions, but he still clapped.

He's trying. Artemis laughed.

"Rumour has it, Hagrid slept with a death eater in Azkaban."

"Shut up Blaise." They group said in unison.

***

Monday. June 7th

MALFOY MANOR:

"As the oldest, I get to choose the game," Blaise announced, sitting next to Daphne on the rich leather couches. Theo sat on the other side of the Greengrass witch, the three were sat adjacent to Artemis and Draco.

Surprisingly Theo was allowed into the manor, it was the third day of Draco's birthday celebrations and the rest of the group wanted the Nott wizard there, especially Artemis, so Draco let him come.

They had decided to spend the time playing board games, since Lucius wouldn't allow any muggle devices in his home.

Artemis had gifted him a knife set, she secretly bought it with her cousin, they remembered how much he liked sharp and dangerous things.

When she presented it to him on his birthday, his face lit up like it was christmas, she had told him to hide it away so his parents wouldn't find it.

She knew how unhappy he had been since Dobby had left, he put on a brave face, but he missed the little house elf, even though he didn't speak about it, she just knew.

Plus she saw his bitten nails, indicating his that his stress levels were very high. She immediately filed them for him. He liked to be pampered, especially by his favourite witch.

"But it's my birthday." they all turned to look at the Malfoy wizard, in disbelief.

Blaise sighed, "your birthday was a couple of days ago."

"Fine, its my house," he sneers at him, "i get to chose it."

"Definitely not." Blaise shook his head.

Theo gulped back his fear and cleared his throat, attracting their attention, "Before we start anything, i need to tell Draco something."

"What?" Artemis slapped his arm, 'calm down' she mouthed. Everyone but Draco knew what was about to be said, she didn't want him to react badly because he was frustrated.

The nervous boy swallowed harshly, he felt his heart thumping against his chest, Daphne gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and the cousins smiled at him, "I'm bisexual." he announced.

The group looked towards Draco, awaiting his response.

Many emotions flashed across his face,

Shock.

Confusion.

Unsureness.

"You're what?"

"Bisexual." Theo repeated, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

Draco looked around the room, he noticed their attentive looks, he spoke up again, "Is that like a disease?, like diabetes."

"Idiot." Blaise snorted, and hid his face in the crook of Daphne's neck, trying to conceal his laughter.

Theo gave him a blank look, stupid fool. He turned to his close friend, he noticed she how embarrassed she looked by her best friend.

"Bloody hell." the blonde witch sighed. She felt her boyfriends breath against her skin, she was internally screaming, she didn't want to make it obvious that she was enjoying this.

Artemis tossed her head back, she then looked towards the confused boy, "D, it means he likes both girls and boys in a romantic way."

"Oh, you like both?" Theo nodded, Draco leaned forward in curiosity, "Is that a rare thing or genetic?"

Artemis pinched the bridge of her nose, "Kill me now."

Daphne and Blaise conitnued to hide their amusement, obviously failing as the other three could hear snickering emitting from their mouths.

The platinum haired boy shot them looks, not understanding why his questions were hat big of a deal.

"Well as fair as i know my parents or grandparents only liked people of the opposite gender." Theo shurgged, he wasn't fazed by the questions, he was just happy that he wasn't being discriminated against. But i guess there was still time.

"Oh, so anyone in here could like both?" he looked at all of his friends, slying analysing them, wondering if they were also bisexual.

Theo nodded, "I guess so." Artemis winked at him, he smirked.

"Have you kissed a boy before?" Draco was very intrigued.

"Yes."

"Have you kissed a girl before?"

"Yes."

"Did it feel good." everyone looked towards him, surprised at the questions he was asking. He wasn't as hostile as they thought he would be.

Theo nodded with a huge grin, "Yes."

Draco raised an eyebrow and leaned back, wrapping an arm around the Seramore witch, he tilted his head, looking elsewhere.

His friends could see the thoughts popping through his mind, as his face changed expressions. He looked at the group, "Did all of you know?" they nodded simultaniously.

"Yes."

He looked at the his favourite witch, she felt his eyes on her, she turned to loook at him, "Is this why you two kept sneaking off," they both nodded slowly, he looked at Theo, "is this why you were having panic attacks?" Draco began to feel very guilty, he had been an arsehole the entire year, especially towards someone who was supposedly his friend.

The Nott wizard nodded and looked away, he didn't like think about there were times within the year when he felt he couldn't breathe, due to the intense stress he was feeling.

Remorse filled his eyes, he smiled softly at Theo, "Mate, i-i sorry." The Nott wizard was stunned, not expecting an apology, "i shouldn't have treated you like," he swallowed harshly, "l-like nothing." he spoke through gritted teeth, Artemis signalled him to carry on, the new couple continued to snicker until Theo smacked their heads. "I-i'm sorry." he repeated.

Artemis started giggling, as did the rest of the group "thanks mate." Theo replied with a genuine smile.

Blaise shook his head, a smile was still prominent on his face, "I didn't know he was capable of making an apology."

"He apologises to me all the time." Artemis spoke up.

Daphne playfully rolled her eyes "Because its you." Blaise and Theo said in unison.

The conversation about board games was long forgotten, Draco kept sneaking looks towards his female best friends, he needed to speak with her, Blaise told him too aswell.

He even spoke to Daphne about his thoughts on the Seramore witch. The blonde squealed in excitement when he told her, he instantly regretted telling her because she couldnt stop grinning the entire day.

He gently nudged his best friend, she was lost in her thoughts as well, she looked up at him, he gestured for her to go outside, she shot him an odd look before taking his outstreched hand and getting up from the comfortable couch.

"Have fun love birds." Blaise shouted out as they left the room.

Daphne leaned over the two wizards, "You guys owe me 40 galleons."

They shook their heads, "I owe you nothing, at least not yet." Blaise shrugged and Theo nodded in agreement.

"Well, i guess we'll see." Theo added on.

The three began preoccupied their anticipation by playing Mafia.

Artemis and Draco heard shouting and hitting sounds as they reached outside.

The sun was setting, colouring the scenery in a orange hue. The burning star emphasised the witch's features, he was mesmorised by her beauty, getting lost in the textures of her smooth skin.

"D, are you okay?" her voice snapped out of his hypnosis. He looked away briefly, embarrassed that she cought him in the act.

He cleared his throat and locked eyes with her. He got lost in her chocolate eyes, her heart fluttered under his heated gaze. She hated feeling like this.

Shes so beautiful.

My favourite person.

My witch.

My Arty.

"Yes, i'm okay, are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Good, great even." she smiled at his nervous state.

She was confused as to why he was behaving like this, but she shook it off as he opened his mouth to speak again.

"You're so pretty." he blurted out.

She blushed, letting out a breathe she didn't know she was holding, "thank you."

He smiled and then inhaled sharply, licking his lips as his eyes romed over her face, "i want to tell you something."

"Go ahead."

Before he spoke, he brought her into a tight embrace, wrapping his arms around her, he felt her arms go around his waist. He breathed in her scent, the apple body scrub that came off her body, her hair smelt like vanilla, he loved it.

They pulled away after a couple of minutes, he grabbed her heads, playing with their matching rings to calm his nerves, she smiled softly at the action, "don't hate me." he caught her confused look, "i want to tell you something important." her face scrunched up in confusion, he sighed and carried on, "it might change our friendship."

He stared at her as she took in his words, her expression changed like a light bulb went off in her brain, "are you gay?"

"What?" he screeched, his eyes practically bulged out of his head.

"D, if you are gay it wouldn't ruin our friendship," she smiled sadly, while he wore perplexed look, "i would always accept you."

If he was gay, it would upset her a bit since she was confused about her feelings for him but she would get over it and help him the best she could like she did for Theo.

"What? no im not gay." he denied quickly.

"Are you sure you know what it means becuase you didn't know what bisexuality was a couple minutes ago." she pointed out and pursed her lips.

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not a attracted to boys," she gave him a blank look, "fine, as far as i know i'm only attracted to girls," she gave him a pointed look, "i-i mean only one girl actually."

She didn't know why but she felt her heart drop, the idea of him liking someone didn't sit right with her.

He noticed her sullen face, instantly regretting that he mention the topic, "who is she?" she asked slowly, not wanting to know the answer.

He avoided her impenetrable gaze, "U-um its actually y-"

She cut him off, "is it Parkinson?" she pulled her hands away from him.

She grew angry.

She began breathing heavily, clenching and unclenching her fists, he shook his head.

"N-no, eww no." he stammered, he internally cursed himself for stammering so much. Merlin, i'm turning into Quirrell.

She huffed, "Don't lie Draco."

He ignored the fact she used his full name, it hurt him. "Its not parkinson, i wouldn't like her, especially after what she said about Uncle Zeke." he spoke honestly.

She closed her eyes and sighed deeply, "Fine, then who is it?" he went to speak but she cut him off again, "wait, is it Tracy?"

"No." he shook his head.

"Millicent?"

"Never." he was growing impatient.

She gasped suddenly, "Oh my merlin, HERMOINE?" he instantly cringed then fake gagged at the thought.

How could i like a mudblood? He grimaced, which suggested to her that it couldn't be the Gryffindor girl.

"Is it-"

"Allez-vous arrêter de parler Arty et me laisser parler?" Will you stop speaking Arty and let me talk?

She was stunned at his loud tone, she nodded slowly, ignoring how much she liked when he raised his voice, especially in French. "okay," she mumbled.

"It's someone from our house," she went to speak again but he silence her but cupping her face, "it's someone that is right in front of me." his eyes bore into hers. His words took her breath away, making her jaw drop to the floor.

They were engulfed in an uncomfroatble silence.

She averted her gaze, not knowing what to say.

He couldnt like her, it doesn't make sense.

No.

Nope.

Never.

He dropped his hands from her face, combing his hand through his gel-less hair; ever since school finished he had been leaving it natural, "Say something." he pleaded.

"Don't ruin it." she begged, looking up at him.

He gave her a sad smile, "I have to." he stepped closer to her.

"Don't say it." she repeated, both their eyes glossed over.

He cupped her gace again, wiping the fallen tear that escaped her eye, "I like you Artemis Joelle Seramore," she let out a shaky breath as he continued his confession, "I have since we were younger, I don't think I will ever stop liking you. My brain, my mind, my body won't let me, believe me, i've tried. I know you don't want to ruin," he gestured between them, "us, neither do I, but I know you feel something for me, I get we're young but I want to try something knew with you, so what do you say?"

Their eyes, stayed locked on each other.

Brown and grey.

Seramore and Malfoy.

Slytherin and Slytherin.

Pureblood and pureblood.

Artemis and Draco.

Neither of them spoke, she didn't know what to say, she couldn't speak, until she finally found her voice, "fanculo la mia vita." Fuck my life.

END OF ACT TWO

a/n:

probably the shortest chapter of this act. For some reason, this chapter took me soo long to write.

fave moment from this act?

who do you want to see more of ?

Hope you guys are liking this story.