They'd Never Tell

Hi, I have a new Harry Potter one shot for you guys.

And yes, it's another next generation fic.

If you like listening to music while reading, I suggest listening to Still Into You by Paramore, or Oath by Cher Lloyd which is what I was listening to, but that's your choice.

Artemis and Albus had one of those friendships that are nearly impossible to find, they were more like twins; they thought alike and acted alike (Especially the sarcasm).

She had raven black hair and obsidian eyes, nothing special, but Al liked that she couldn't care less about his dad's status, and treated him as ALBUS instead of ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER.

He had raven hair and bright sparkling eyes, like a clone of his father, which was a whole lot to live up to, but Artemis liked that he didn't let that change who he was and that he wasn't arrogant or spoiled. He also treated her like she meant something. After years spent in a muggle orphanage, she wasn't really used to that.

So of course, inevitably, they fell in love.

5 people really helped them along though, even more than the others.

This is a record they made to immortalize those 5 special moments.

Fred Weasley II

The first time he started displaying signs of liking her was during her 3rd year.

It was a colder fall evening, she was walking to her common room (which was in the dungeon, as the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin, she was obviously in his house) her best friend Al Potter right at her heels (he too was in Slytherin).

They were laughing fit to burst and she was grinning widely.

They turned the corner and she stopped dead in her tracks.

There leaning against the wall, was Fred Weasley II snogging a girl with dark hair (like hers, but slightly lighter) that was much taller than her.

When Al looked at her like weirdly, she quickly regained her composure and snorted,

"I just never thought that Fred would snog a girl, Merlin knows how many times he's said he wanted to remain single for life,"

They shared a small laugh, though Al could tell hers was forced.

They walked into the common room in silence and departed ways, her giving dumb excuses and him letting this one slide.

He would never tell but he could hear her heart broken sobs just minutes later.

She would never tell but she had had a HUGE crush on Fred since 2 months ago when he had defended her from a Pratish Gryffindor boy. She cried herself to sleep that night and the next morning she had no idea why Fred had a black eye and a split lip.

Al knew.

But he'd never tell.

Lily Potter II

The second time was in 4th year.

It was late spring and quite a warm, pleasant day and Lily Potter II was practically dying from excitement when she finally cornered Artemis.

"OH MY MERLIN!" she screamed almost jumping around with glee.

"Yes…" said Artemis hesitantly, she felt she was going to regret asking.

"I just got a date with Lysander Scamander!" she was acting like a person with ADHD who had too much candy and caffeine.

"Good for you," she said smiling

"But, um…..there was a condition….." she said wringing her hands, suddenly nervous

"I have to find a date for his brother-Rose has Scorpius so I can't use her-and Lucy and Molly are too busy with homework-and all my other cousins' are too old for him-and you're the only one left without a boyfriend-or isn't busy-are you busy this Friday?-oh, I'm sorry-I should have asked before now-and-" she rambled, she must have been hanging around Lysander too long.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't really do the whole dating thing," Artemis said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow and smirking a bit, she must have been hanging with Al and Scorpius too much.

"Yeah, but can you just do one date? Please? I'll do anything! I really like him," said Lily desperately

Artemis considered her options, "Alright," she sighed finally

"Yes!" Lily said grinning "Thank You!" she hugged Artemis and ran off.

She was going to regret this, she knew it.

xX Friday Evening Xx

"Where are they?" asked Lysander Scamander pacing restlessly.

His twin brother Lorcan Scamander rolled his eyes, he was far more comfortable with girls than his brother.

"Relax," said Lorcan "They'll be here,"

And true to his word a few moments later a rosy-cheeked, out-of-breath Lily appeared with an annoyed Artemis.

The boys' mouths dropped open.

Lily was wearing a white tank top with a pink mini skirt and pink ballet flats with light make up, her hair in a quick up do, normal Lily.

But what really surprised them was Artemis.

She was wearing a dark green tank top, a leather jacket and a black mini skirt (obviously borrowed, she wouldn't ever wear something like that) but she was still wearing her black converse, her hair was pinned to the right side of her head going down her shoulder in waves.

She looked really uncomfortable and every few seconds she would tug at her skirt.

She smirked at the boys "Close your mouths, unless you're trying to catch flies," she said finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Let's go," said Lorcan scowling

The date was long (not really but it felt that way) and uncomfortable, at least for Lorcan and Artemis, anyone could tell they weren't really interested in the date, Artemis wasn't really listening to anything; she just vacantly nodded and smiled at different intervals. Lorcan on the other hand was staring down random girl's shirts, or up their skirts and not even trying to go along with the conversation.

Not that Lily and Lorcan noticed.

They were talking and laughing and generally having a good time.

By the time the date had been going for 10 minutes, Artemis was fully tuned out, Lorcan was chatting up a random girl at the bar and Lily and Lorcan hadn't moved nor had they noticed anything had happened.

The town could have been hit by an earthquake and they wouldn't have noticed.

Eventually after about 15 minutes of torture (it felt like longer) Artemis, realizing that no one was going to care if she left, stood up and started making her way back to the castle.

As she was walking past the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes shop (they bought the building from Zonko's) a voice called out,

"Why in the name of Merlin, are you wearing that?"

She spun around and found both the Potter brothers staring open mouthed at her.

This was just perfect; she guessed fate really did love her (sarcasm, 'nuff said).

"I was forced on a date with Lily and the Scamander brothers and have just escaped," she said smirking

"Why Potter? I can show some skin, it's not illegal,"

Artemis saw James' eyes drift down and look her over, mouth still open and she rolled her eyes

"Eyes up here," she smirked, pointing at her face.

When he didn't reply she giggled twirling her hair and cocking her hip, 'why not have some fun with this?' she thought

"Hippogriff got your tongue?" she asked acting like she had seen Lucy Weasley II act around boys

"You owe me 3 galleons," said Al smirking at James "Fork it over,"

James reluctantly handed him the money, still silent

"Come on, let's get you more comfortable," said Al walking over and steering her towards the common room.

His hand was warm on her back; she blushed a little when he pulled her into his side.

"Why did he owe you 3 galleons?" she asked once he was out of earshot.

"He bet that a Slytherin girl couldn't be hot, or make him speechless by the way she looked," he said smirking

She would never tell but while he was laughing she giggled and thought for a fleeting moment that if it could throw James off guard, maybe it was worth wearing once in a while and that when she went back to her room she stowed the skirt in the bottom of her trunk, just in case.

He would never tell but when she went upstairs to change, he felt a strange sure of jealousy. He brushed it off though as she came back down in a green t-shirt and black skinny jeans, makeup-less but still with the pretty hairdo.

Today, he decided, wasn't as bad as he first thought, today was just fine.

The Slytherins sitting in the common room (that actually cared), watched Al staring dreamily after where Artemis had disappeared, they knew it was love.

But they'd never tell.

James Potter II

The third time was in her 4th year as well but nearer to summer vacation.

It was a warm day and everyone was lazing around, most students were out at the black lake.

As was the entire Potter-Weasley clan, Scorpius and Artemis.

Al and Artemis were talking about nothing in particular when Scorpius came over, Rose trailing behind him, both with a devious look in their eye.

"Riddle, bet you 5 galleons you can't get James to kiss you," he said smirking.

One thing he didn't know was she was no coward; sure she came from the house that valued their own skin more than others', but she had gained much from hanging around with a bunch of Gryffindors.

"I'd rather not," she said feeling quite lethargic and sleepy.

Just because she wasn't a coward didn't mean she felt she needed to accept EVERY challenge.

"She just doesn't want to do it because she knows she can't," said Al smirking.

She sat up, suddenly wide awake.

"What do you mean? Of course I can do it!" she said glaring at him straightening her back defiantly.

"Oh, yeah?" he scoffed "Prove it,"

She stood and walked over to where James was napping behind a tree, away from the rest of the family.

"Hey," she said sitting beside him and twirling a lock of her waist length dark hair.

He groaned and rolled over sitting up and blinking dazedly before jumping at how close she was to him.

"A-Artemis!" he said ruffling his hair nervously.

"What is it?" she asked faking concern and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, nothing, you just startled me a bit, but it's not every day a girl comes over to you and wakes you up," he said picking at the grass.

"I'm sorry," she said twirling her hair again and smiling slightly 'channel my inner Lily' she thought.

"It's cool," he said smirking

"What can I do to make it up to you?" she asked cocking her head slightly.

"Well…." He said trailing off "Nah, never mind," he blushed

"What?" she asked innocently,

Slowly, without him noticing, she was moving closer until she was inches from his face.

He went wide eyed and didn't say anything, just stared at her.

"What is it?" she asked,

She was so close now, that he could see flecks of dark green and dark brown swirled with the obsidian vortexes of her eyes.

"Let me kiss you," he mumbled closing the space.

The when their lips touched it was sweet and short and James saw fireworks; Artemis thought it was pretty good, but it felt like something was missing.

"Wow," he said once he'd pulled away

"I knew it was a bet, but that was bloody brilliant!" said James breathily

"You knew?" she questioned, crossing her arms

"Yeah, but I had to actually want to kiss you before I could," he said

"Well, I had to prove to your brother that I could," she said smiling slightly.

He chuckled, "I knew it,"

She laughed and then she stood and walked around the tree where she knew Scorpius, Rose and Al were spying to see how it went.

"You owe me 5 galleons," she said to Scorpius, smirking slightly

"And you," she said stopping really close to Al, close enough to see bits of gold and brown in his bright green irises, "I hope you've learned not to doubt me," she said quietly. Then she smiled and walked inside.

He would never tell but when she stopped really close his breath hitched and his heart felt like it was bursting out of his chest, and he honestly thought she was going to kiss him, she had been close enough. When she didn't he felt a little stupid, 'why would she feel that way about you?' He thought to himself 'you're just her best friend, nothing more.'

She would never tell but when she stopped really close to Al she felt a strange feeling in her stomach, like butterflies or something and her heart was beating really fast. When she had looked into his eyes she had felt compelled to kiss him, but she didn't understand her feelings just yet, so she decided against it.

Rose and Scorpius knew it was love.

But they'd never tell.

Louis Weasley

The 4th time was in her 5th year

It was a cold winter night, very close to the Christmas holidays which she would be spending with the Potter's (for the first time) instead of with the Malfoy's.

She was making her way to her common room, when Louis (the youngest of Bill Weasley's family) walked around the corner with James Potter, who had been kind of avoiding her since the whole 'Bet' incident.

Upon seeing her James turned and ran back the way he had come leaving Artemis alone with Louis.

"Hi, Louis," she said smiling politely.

"Um….Can I ask a huge favor?" he asked smiling nervously

"Tell me what it is and we'll see," she said

"Well…..this girl see, says she has to either kiss me under mistletoe first or not at all…..and she's really annoying so…can you….." he said blushing

"Kiss you under mistletoe? Well, sure, I don't have a boyfriend or anything, so why not, when will she be around?" Artemis said taking pity on the poor boy that was always so polite to her.

"Phew, thanks, meet me at the astronomy tower later today, seven o'clock, don't be late," he said sighing in relief.

"No problem," she said shrugging. "See you later,"

xX7:00Xx

Artemis calmly and quietly walked through the doors of the astronomy tower.

Louis was sitting there already waiting, holding a sprig of mistletoe.

"Hey, you're here, now we wait," he said standing and walking over to her

"Thanks for helping me," he said

"It is fine, I didn't have anything else to do," she replied smiling sweetly, then charming her jeans into a skirt.

"Good thinking, then you can act a bit girly and ditsy, I'm going to make you look a little different, so she won't know it's you," he said taking out his wand.

She smiled deviously, a glint in her eyes.

He charmed her hair wavy and she pulled it out of her face, then he reached into his bag and handed her a contact lens case. (She only knew what those were because Granddad Weasley was fascinated with muggles).

"Don't worry, they've never been used," he said reaching in his bag for something she identified as makeup, as she put the contacts in.

"Do you know how to put this on?" he asked

"Unfortunately, yes," she admitted taking it and applying a light layer of makeup.

"Really, well I guess Lily taught you," he said looking really surprised.

"Actually it was Vic when I was visiting, looking for Nicki, she was taking me to a café where I was meeting Al," she replied.

He smiled, suddenly there was loud thumping sounds coming up the stairs, and a loud.

"Louis, where are you, love?"

Louis held the mistletoe above their heads, and leaned in quickly.

When she burst in, they were still lip locked, and she gasped and then ran out in tears.

Once they were sure she was gone, they pulled back.

There was lip stick on Louis' lips, and Artemis just had to laugh.

Louis looked confused and then realized her lipstick was slightly smudged and reached for a napkin.

"Agumenti," he muttered

"Studied ahead?" she asked

"Yeah," he nodded, wiping his mouth

"I should probably go," she said, she quickly grabbed one of his napkins, said the water charm and wiped her face, she took out the contacts and counter charmed her hair so it was once again straight, she fixed her jeans quickly.

"Bye," she said smiling

He smiled and waved.

She would never say but the kiss was even less exciting than with James, the only boy she had weird feelings for was Al and that was new.

Al watched all of it, having overheard their earlier conversation.

He would never say but he felt insanely jealous of Louis and wondered why, he'd have to talk to Lily about this….

Lily talked to Louis and both figured it was love.

But they'd never tell.

Daniel McLaggen

The 5th time was in her 5th year still, but after the OWL's had ended.

It was a breezy, sunny afternoon and Artemis was outside lying in the grass, letting the breeze wash over her.

Al was there too, he was always there wasn't he? They were just enjoying the comfortable silence.

Lying with their heads next to each other and bodies facing opposite directions, Al yawned and lazily watched the clouds drift by.

"Would you rather kiss Claire Zabini or Alison Nott, Al?" Artemis suddenly asked.

"Oh, we're playing would you rather now, huh? Well probably Claire Zabini, she's nice, but James likes her, plus, Jake Finnegan likes Alison I think; but I'd rather kiss someone else I know," he said turning his head to face hers.

She turned her head so they were almost kissing (their hearts were both pounding at this point) and nodded for him to ask her a question.

"Would you rather kiss, James again, or my cousin Louis, I don't think you've ever properly met before, let alone talked," he said, ignoring the slight blush on her face when he mentioned kissing Louis.

He smirked inwardly, knowing that she didn't know that he knew she kissed Louis (if that makes any sense at all).

"Hm….." she said pretending to think about it "Probably James," she said "But, I'd rather not kiss either of them,"

He nodded

"Would you rather die in a pit full of boiling acid or admit that you actually love your brother?" she asked

"Die in a pit full of boiling acid," he said seriously

And they collapsed into a fit of laughter.

Once he had regained his composure he asked her

"Would you rather sing in front of the school or tell me your darkest secret?"

"Sing probably, but I wouldn't mind telling you a secret, I trust you," she replied.

"Oi, Riddle!" yelled a voice from behind them.

She rolled over.

"What!" she yelled sitting up, crossing her arms and setting her jaw.

"Want to hang out with a real man, instead of this Pansycake?" (A/N: Yay for Divergent stuff!) Yelled Daniel McLaggen, who was surrounded by his cronies.

"There's a real man over there?" she said feigning surprise "Where?"

"Here, stupid," he said

"I only see retarded boys and horrid cowards," she said coolly, a glint of red in her eyes, which is how I knew if they didn't stop soon, they were going to get it.

He looked offended, but he made his way over to Artemis and grabbed her arm.

"Ow, let me go!" she said angrily, trying to tug her arm away, her eyes beginning to shine red dully.

"C'mon, I'll show you a real good time," he said smirking

Anger pounding through Al's veins, he stood and grabbed Daniel's wrist, which was still holding onto Artemis' wrist.

"She said to let her go," Al said, dangerously calmly.

"Stay out of this Potter, she's not yours," Daniel growled

"She's also not something that you own, she's a human being, so I'd thank you to leave her alone, before I hex you; or she does for that matter," Al said glancing at Artemis.

He glared at me one last time, before he tuned and left.

Artemis glared after him murderously and with a swift flick of her wand, his hair was neon pink.

She giggled, and Al chuckled, watching his retreating figure, that didn't know his hair was pink yet.

Artemis looked at Al, her eyes the normal obsidian, with specks of dark green and dark brown swirled in a beautiful pattern that wasn't a pattern at all.

"Thanks for defending me, but you know I can fight my own battles right?" she said

"Yeah, I know," He replied

"I've got to go, I promised Rose I would hang out with her and Lily for a while," she said smiling

"Oh….Okay," he replied looking slightly disappointed

She giggled and since he was half a foot taller than her (a recent development that she was NOT happy about), she stood on her tiptoes and before he could even compute what was happening she lightly brushed her lips against his cheek.

Before he could even register what happened she had disappeared, back to the castle.

He stood in shock before subconsciously walking to what he eventually recognized as the Quidditch pitch.

"Hey, Al what are you doing here?" a voice asked

He turned to see his sister Lily in her Quidditch uniform.

"Hi Lils, I-" he began, and then realized that this was the perfect opportunity.

"Can I ask you something?" he said after a moment

"Sure," she said hesitantly

"What is this feeling when you just have to look at someone and you have these butterflies in your stomach and you feel and hot and cold at the same time, and nervous…." He said trailing off

Lily smiled

"That, is Love, and the stronger the feelings the stronger the love," she said finally

He sat there in shock for a minute.

"Thank you," he finally managed to whisper.

"No problem," she said

"I have to go, I promised to meet Artemis and Rose, bye Al,"

He nodded vacantly

He'd never tell, but this was the moment when he realized that he was in love with Artemis Riddle.

Artemis was vacant while with Lily and Rose

"What's wrong Artemis?" asked Rose eventually

"Hmmm? Oh, nothing…." She said trailing off

Lily and Rose looked concerned but decided not to press it.

She'd never tell but that was the moment she realized she felt something a lot more than platonic for Al Potter

They finally knew it was love.

But they were shy,

So one could be sure that they'd never tell.

Albus Severus Potter

The last time (so far) was in the summer before their sixth year.

It was a drizzly afternoon at Potter Manor and Artemis was lying on Al's Bed waiting for Al to come back from his trip with his dad.

She had gotten there early this morning after he had left and had fallen asleep on his bed.

"You like him don't you," said a voice from above her

She opened her eyes to see James standing there.

"James?" she asked "What are you talking about?"

He looked sad, his eyes swirling like a hazel ocean in a storm.

"You like Al," he said

It was a statement not a question.

She looked at him for a second.

Then laughed nervously,

"What? Of course not," she said blushing

"I see the way you look at him," James said

"Okay fine, but he can never know," she said after a minute.

"You should tell him," he said

Then he sighed

"He's in the backyard," whispered James "Love you, little sister,"

He grinned kissed her forehead and left.

She stood up and went downstairs to meet him.

He was standing by the old oak tree staring thoughtfully at the garden, and he didn't notice her until she was a couple meters away

"Oh, Hey Ari, how are you?" he asked grinning nervously

She walked over to him indecisively, biting her lip

Then she slipped on a patch of wet grass and grabbed on to the nearest thing…

…Which just happened to be Al's arm.

They fell together, Al on top of Artemis, trapping her as Emerald eyes met Obsidian.

They froze.

After lying there for who knows how long, Artemis began to realize their close proximity, or rather how close their proximity really was.

Her cheeks tinted pink; she realized that if he or she moved a muscle, their lips would touch.

From the redness creeping up his neck, it seemed Al had noticed too.

"S-sorry," She stuttered eventually but made no move to get up, for fear of accidentally kissing him.

"I-I-Uh….." stuttered Al

He'd never really noticed (well he had, it just didn't seem very important at the time) but when she was nervous she bit her lip, then her eyes darted to the left then to the right, and how she smelled of something exotic and himself, strangely.

"I love you," he whispered softly, so that it was barely audible.

"Sorry?" she mumbled eyelids drooping slightly

"Didn't quite catch that,"

He started to pull away blushing.

'Oh, no he is not getting away that easily' she thought gathering her courage

She quickly reached up, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down into a kiss.

He froze for a second but then gently began to kiss her back.

"I said….I Love You," Al said breathlessly once they had pulled away

She smiled

"I know," she said simply

And she did know.

She loved him and she could tell he loved her too.

He loved her and he could tell she loved him too.

And this time, they didn't need to tell.

And just like all those cheesy fairy tales, they lived Happily Ever After.

Not.

They sometimes had fights, but that was normal, the important thing was that they always forgave and forgot and they always loved each other, through the ups and downs, just as they always had, from day one.

8 years later

"Mama," said 3 year old Aria Potter

"Yes," replied Artemis as she tucked her daughter in for bed

"Can you tell me how you and Daddy fell in love?" Aria asked

"Yeah Mama," Albus' voice from the door way where he stood watching them

"Well…" began Artemis

"It started with 5 special people, that we trusted and knew would never tell…."

Because really, in the end, they didn't need to tell.

Oh My God. I FINALLY finished!

Whoop!

I hope you enjoyed my very long one shot with my character Artemis and Albus Severus Potter.

Please Review!

~Dooka