A/N Mutter… phone line died… mutter… I am lazy… mutter… thanks a lot Oriental Empress for reviewing! Huggles!

Chapter Two: Clouding Storms

Stormy gray skies threatened above as Harry Potter finally turned and glared into

a pair of stormy gray eyes.

Fell. Into entrancing, silver eyes.

Harry growled quietly, dangerously, snapping himself out of the spell, that

weakness. "For the last time, Malfoy, shove off."

"Aw, how sweet. Wonder Boy defends his little mudblood-" the cutting voice was

knocked off when Harry slammed the other boy into the wall.

"Harry!" Hermione cried out, struggling to restrain a furious Ron.

Harry ignored her as he focused on Malfoy, almost shaking, with more emotions

than he should have felt. Glared with silent threats, burning with fury, with unspoken

feeling. Hating Malfoy for the hate that challenged him back, with a smirk and that cool

defiance, fully knowing he would win.

"What are you going to do, Potter? Too chicken, are you? Too chicken to stand up

for your precious girlfriend?"

Harry burned. "Forget this. You're not worth it. Heartless bastard." Hissed. The

bitter words slipped out.

Malfoy didn't move, but his eyes changed, imperceptively, unnoticed by Harry.

But as suddenly as the pain had surprisingly manifested, the gates slammed again. Ice

glinted in the silent eyes that followed Harry's lingering glare.

Harry tore himself away from Malfoy. With a look at the other two Gryffindors,

the three of them left together.

"Wow!! What did you say to him, Harry? I couldn't really see because Hermione

was in the way, but Ferret boy shut up just like that!" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione gave Ron a disapproving look, as she glanced at Harry –he had an odd

look on his face. "You should've ignored him, Harry."

"He called you a mudblood!" Ron said.

"It doesn't matter, I don't care. Do you want to get in trouble?" she finished

pointedly, although touched by his indignation.

"But Hermione!"

A small smile forced it's way onto Harry's face at that one, but soon disappeared.

I hate Malfoy. I hate him, I hate everything about him.

"Harry?"

I don't love him. I don't love him at all.

They entered the Great Hall for dinner.

***

Harry checked the hallway for people as he stepped out of the portrait hole. The

dozing Fat Lady swung back into place between the perpetually burning wall candles.

Unable to sleep, Harry pulled his Invisibility Cloak closer to himself and padded down

the corridor.

He had happily lost himself in the brilliantly lit Great Hall, and had completely

forgotten his uneasiness in the warm comradeship of the Common Room afterwards, but

once the school had gone to sleep, his uneasiness had returned with a vengeance.

A huge window in the wall ahead let in the meager, foggy light that blanketed the

corridor. Harry felt assimilated into the darkness, resting his eyes in the fuzzy black and

blue gray. A gaze through the window revealed a high view of the autumn of the castle

grounds when Harry slowly wandered past it.

He lifted his head tiredly. Why were the skies still so damn stormy? It was as if a

day of forbidding cloudiness and rain wasn't enough. There were no moon or stars out

that night. The clouds swirled with the black night; the sky was low and still thundered

sullenly. Usually, Harry really didn't mind storms, but today, they made him feel

strangely empty and unsettled. Something was bothering him, but what was it?

And so Harry wandered aimlessly through the school, in contemplation and

reviewing his thoughts and his day that day.

How could he have let Malfoy get to him? How could he have responded? He had

completely lost control. And Malfoy had triumphed. Even with Hermione quietly

repeating "keep going, you guys, keep going", holding Ron's fist. But after that comment

about Hermione… Harry shook his head with shame, berating himself for the fault,

berating himself for revealing his anger to Malfoy, which was exactly what he knew

Malfoy wanted. Malfoy wanted them to respond, damn it, why did he do it? He sounded

so… so.. "heartless bastard" –why did he say that? He sounded so weak! But why is this

bothering me so much? No, it can't be that. This shouldn't bother me this much. It's only

Malfoy. I hate him. He hates me. I shouldn't bloody care!

***

Draco drowned alone in his deep envy of Granger and Weasley. It wasn't because

of who they were –Draco didn't give a damn about Voldemort. Draco didn't care if

Granger was Muggle-born, or if Weasley was poor. It wasn't as if he would exactly loved

them or even barely liked them, but Lucius and Voldemort were ridiculous. Draco wasn't

about to commit his life as a Death Eater to something so –so pointless. Something that

just killed people, that broke up relationships, for Draco believed in them so much, even

himself having none of worth, no true ones to speak of, he thought ironically. But these

Gryffindors, they had nothing, no fortune, no power, but they had everything. They had

friends, loved ones, and they had Harry. Oh, to only be friends with Harry!

Close to Harry, with that ease and understanding between them. What could have

brought those three so close? And the support, the confidence in each other, how they

protected and helped each other, unconditionally giving. Every time he saw them

together, the envy stirred again. He had watched them laugh together in the Great Hall

that evening, just as he had watched the three through the halls and in their classes

together for so long. Or rather, just as he had watched Harry.

That –Harry's label of him –it had hurt, that first strike had hurt more than he

could hide. Now it pulsed, in his mind, releasing waves of pain and doubt each time.

Could it be true –was it true, that he was just a cold, heartless bastard? Of course he acted

like it to the school, but gods, was it true? Insulting the depressed, cruelly mocking the

upset. And not caring –gods! Coming from Harry, it struck the bone.

Yet Draco, in his own way, felt that he had deserved it. It was harder and harder

to get Harry's attention now, filling Draco with almost a sense of loss. After all his

shouted taunts today about Harry, about his ruined potion today, about Harry's parents, it

was only after Draco had mentioned Granger – Granger! –that Harry had responded.

Harry. Harry, Harry… Draco focused his eyes back on the confused clouds outside.