His smile didn't reach his eyes. It never did, you see. Not when he was with his friends, not when he was by himself, not in class, not at the lake under the weeping willow tree, not feeding the giant squid, not kissing his lover, not even on his broom chasing a snitch. That isn't to say he didn't smile. He had several: soft smiles, hard smiles, confident smiles, cheeky smiles. I could go on and on. But his smiles didn't reach his eyes.
I watched him from the beginning, too shy to actually go talk to him. So I watched. I never learned any secrets of his that no one else knew. How could I have? His life was plastered on the front page from the time he walked back into the wizarding world. Quotes of things he never actually said, bad lip readings I assumed. I'm bad enough at lip readings that it might have been true. I never learned something trivial about him through watching. To the newspapers, nothing was too trivial to report and I read the newspapers just like everyone else.
Despite his smile not reaching his eyes, he was courteous to everyone. Never a harsh word, even when the school deserved it. I should rephrase, especially when the school deserved it. He always kept going, doing his best for us and the world. Killer werewolf on the loose? He was there to protect us. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named murdering muggleborns indiscriminately? He fought back for our safety. Were your things stolen by bullying roommates? He would hunt for them with you, and then go express his disappointment with your roommates. Cut your hand? He carried bandaids in his wallet. What did we do to deserve his kindness? His bravery? His kindness? The answer would be nothing. We never did anything.
His smile didn't reach his eyes. It never did, until one day he fell. It was inconceivable to us, the watchers. It was inconceivable to them, his friends and adoptive family. But one day he fell. It was a simple curse from a simple criminal. A criminal who barely knew which way to hold his wand. It was a simple curse: reducto. He should have been able to dodge. He should have dodged. But he didn't. In that moment, a smile graced his face. It wasn't a soft smile, it wasn't a hard smile, it wasn't a confident or cheeky smile. It was a satisfied smile and it reached his eyes.