One More Night {A Harry Potter/Artemis Fowl Crossover}

Chapter 13

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay again. The mom life has me quite busy, especially with my daughter just turning one the other day and her being increasingly mobile. My writing time is limited, so I am trying my best to balance it between my three stories (and it's going terribly, by the way). I've had horrible writer's block, but I'm hoping to fix it. I have a vacation coming up here in about three weeks, and I want to try to write as much as I can while I have the downtime. As always, thank you for being patient with me. Hopefully the next chapter doesn't take me so long.

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    Vanessa brushed the creases out of her skirt as she made her way through the hallways, trying to get to Slughorn's office. She was running super late for the Slug Club meeting thanks to her latest rendezvous with Draco in the Room of Requirement. For all she knew, the meeting could even have been over. For the moment, all was good between her and Draco, and all the verbal slander had been pushed aside. Vanessa still had no answers about the bandaged arm, but she was going to keep at it. He was going to have to tell her sooner or later. He was going to break, she was sure of it.

    She was only hoping her absence wasn't noticed at the meeting, but she knew with Slughorn that was going to be difficult. He was too observant. Especially when it came to his little club. Not to mention Artemis was likely on time, and Slughorn knew how close the two of them were. She was sure Artemis was growing irritated with the old man.

    She rounded a corner too fast, and bumped clear into someone. She almost fell over, but managed to get a hand onto the side of the wall to keep herself upright. Vanessa blinked a few times in her confusion until she saw Amber and Kendall standing in front of her. They looked just as confused as she did, so that made Vanessa feel momentarily better.

    "Oh, hey guys," she greeted sheepishly. "I uh... didn't think I'd run into you of all people."

    Kendall was the one who responded first, adjusting the strap of her bag and where it sat on her shoulder. "Don't you have a Slug Club meeting to be attending?"

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Vanessa mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm just... running late."

    Amber smirked, her blue eyes shining mischievously in the dim lighting of the hallway. "Been sneaking off with Draco again, huh?"

    Vanessa blushed, adjusting her shirt some more. "I mean, is it that obvious?"

    Amber shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, maybe to us, only because we know that's what you two have been up to. But then again, a lot of the school knows you and Draco have been uh... doing the horizontal tango," she replied with a wink. "By the way, your tie is still super loose."

    Vanessa frowned as she straightened up, looking down to pull her tie tightly back into position. "Better?"

    "Much," Kendall assured with a nod.

    "I promise I'll catch up with you guys here soon. I know it's been like an eternity since we've gotten to hang out or anything," Vanessa swore. "Class has been nuts, and prefect duties, and-"

    "-running off with your man," Amber interrupted, shrugging lightly. "We get it. No worries. We'll chat later. Get to your little nerd meeting before you're missed. Say hi to Arty for us."

    Vanessa shook her head, but couldn't resist smiling. "It's not a nerd meeting, but alright. See you girls later."

    Her friends gave her a wave, and without another word, Vanessa continued on towards Slughorn's office. She was walking as quickly as she could manage without running, and she was sure no matter how hard she tried, she was going to look like a hot mess once she arrived. After a walk that never seemed to end, Vanessa finally made it to the eccentric professor's office. She opened the door, and of course immediately everyone's eyes went to her. Exactly what she didn't want.