Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other copyrighted characters. Credit must be given to J.K. Rowling.

Warning: This chapter (and fic, for that matter) contains strong language and a few adult themes. That's why it's rated M, meaning mature. So if you didn't already see the M when you clicked this fic, and don't want to read an M-rated fic, click your back button…….NOW! And on with the story!

Him

Chapter 2

Brrrup. Brrrup. Brrrup. Harry sat in Charms, lazily watching Pansy tapping her fingernails against her desk. Her head was in her left hand, and every once in a while her eyes would droop shut. She hadn't spoken to him in a week. Of course, they weren't known to be very social with one another to begin with. In fact, Harry only remembered a few actual exchanges with her his entire stay at Hogwarts, and they hadn't been very friendly exchanges, to say the least. Professor Flitwick's lecture fell on deaf ears as Harry felt his eyes begin to droop.

"Wake up, mate," Ron said softly, shaking Harry's arm gently. Harry's eyes flew open and automatically settled on Pansy's seat. She was gone. Harry's brow furrowed as he looked up at his standing friend.

"You fell asleep. Class is over." Ron pointed to the students filing out of the classroom. Harry gathered his books and walked silently with Ron to lunch. They didn't have much to say these days—not since Hermione left. The Order of the Phoenix had felt that Hermione and her parents would be safer if they were hidden temporarily. Hermione, Along with being muggleborn, was also Harry's best friend; she was higher up on the hit list than any of the other muggleborns at Hogwarts. Harry and Ron had been glad to know she was safe, but without her, they led empty, bland lives. That was one of the reasons Harry had followed Pansy that first time.

Harry had been bored—again. It had been two weeks ago, the beginning of October and the start of another snowy winter.

Harry saw the snow begin to fall from his dormitory window. It wasn't extremely late, but it was past curfew. He didn't care, though. He wanted to be outside. He removed his invisibility cloak from his trunk, careful not to wake his dorm mate—Ron, Neville, and Dean. Seamus' mother had not allowed him to return to Hogwarts because of an impending war. Harry had shaken his head in annoyance when he had seen how many students had returned to Hogwarts. The school had been reduced to half its normal size. Even without Dumbledore, Hogwarts was by far the safest place to be. In fact, it was because they were without Dumbledore that school was being kept so safe.

Minutes later, Harry, safely hidden under his cloak, was standing outside. He looked up and watched the white snowflakes fall from the black sky. There was a slight breeze that rustled the leaves of the old, creaking trees scattered throughout the grounds. Harry had closed his eyes to listen to the calming sound of the trees when he heard a new sound—the crunching of feet on new snow. He opened his eyes in alarm, his heart beating wildly. He thought at first it was Moody. He could, after all, see through his cloak. Perhaps he had seen him leaving the castle. The sight of Pansy Parkinson, though, was quite a surprise to him. He wondered what she was doing up this late. The first thing that entered his mind was Death Eater business. Though he had never heard her mention the group directly, she had made no effort to denounce the group. He followed her.

She stopped at an enclosure of old trees at the edge of the grounds where she pulled herself up onto a tree stump. She sat there silently, staring up at the sky like Harry had been doing only moments before. Harry realized with embarrassment that perhaps she just wanted to be alone, like he had. He felt like he was intruding and yet, he couldn't bring himself to leave. His eyes were glued to Pansy's face. He had never seen her without a scowl before. Even when she was with Malfoy she had always been glowering at someone. Her expression was unguarded now—relaxed. She looked…beautiful. He could feel his cheeks burn at the thought. No, not beautiful. Her black hair fell to her shoulders and her blue eyes—

Her blue eyes were rimmed with tears. Harry was startled by the tears, and even more startled by her sudden sobbing. She held her head in her hands and was crying loudly now, and Harry couldn't help but wonder why she was upset. He wrapped his invisibility cloak tighter around himself as he slowly shuffled away.

"Draco," she had sniffled very softly. Harry had still heard her, though. Him? She was crying over that

Harry had found that she returned often to the enclosure of trees. Sometimes she would cry, sometimes not. Sometimes she came during night, sometimes during day. One day she would make multiple trips, the next none at all. He supposed he had become quite obsessed with following her. She hadn't returned since she had caught him, though.

"Harry?" He looked up at his ginger-haired friend and found that he looked worried. "Are you alright? You haven't said a word since we left class." He expressed his concern as they made their way over to the Gryffindor table. They plopped down beside Dean and Neville.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking." Ron nodded, unconvinced, and turned to pile food on his plate. Harry's stomach grumbled loudly and he too began piling food onto his plate. The Great Hall buzzed with excited chatter. Granted, the chatter was quieter than it once was.

Harry and Ron walked into Transfiguration in much better spirits. They had both received owls from Hermione, who informed them she was having a brilliant time where she was staying. That meant nothing. Hermione had a good time wherever she went, so she could have been anywhere. She did, however, inform them that the Order was looking into her visiting them or them her.

Class hadn't started yet so students were drifting about the classroom, chatting with friends. Harry and Ron set their bags on their desks. There was a cry of excitement from the door. Several people had stopped talking to watch Dean, a grin plastered on his face, walk quickly over to McGonagall's desk and pluck up a black and white ball.

"It's a football, Harry!" Dean had directed the statement towards Harry, knowing he was probably the only other one in the room who knew what it was. He dropped the ball to the ground and kicked it towards Harry and Ron.

"What do you do with it?" Ron asked as he picked the ball up and inspected it. Harry laughed and swatted the ball from his hands.

"You kick it." Harry kicked it back towards Dean.

"Why?" Ron asked skeptically as he watched Dean kick it towards them.

"I—Because—For fun." Harry grinned at the look on Ron's face. He clearly didn't care for it.

"Dean, you'd better put that back on McGonagall's desk," Harry said as he motioned towards the professor's desk without looking. He was horrified when he heard a yelp of outrage, realizing he had just whacked someone. He turned slowly and began apologizing to whoever he had hit. He was stunned when his eyes connected with familiar blue ones. Pansy's mouth hung open in outrage as her two hands clutched her left breast protectively.

"Pervert! Potter's a fucking pervert!" she shrieked loud enough for the entire class to hear, and for McGonagall as well.

"Language, Parkinson! Five points from Slytherin," she said as an afterthought. "Everyone take your seats. Today we will be learning how to transfigure magical items into muggle ones." She made her way over to her desk and grabbed the football, turning it back to a Foe-glass. Pansy was still standing in the same spot.

"Miss Parkinson, please take your seat," McGonagall said firmly, becoming impatient.

"But—But I've just been assaulted!" Pansy's normal scowl was replaced by a flabbergasted look. McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"You're overreacting. Now take your seat, please. We've already wasted five minutes of teaching time." McGonagall pointed to the large clock on the wall to prove her point. Pansy stamped her foot in fury.

"Of course! Perfect Potter would never do something so outrageous! I must be making it up," she spat. The class was frozen in their seats. "This is fucking incredible!" Her voice wavered as the adrenaline pumped through her body. She grabbed her bag and ran heatedly from the classroom. McGonagall raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"It was an accident," Harry muttered to Ron, who shrugged indifferently in return. With the drama over—or having left, rather—the class began to snicker. McGonagall waved her hand in annoyance and began her lesson.

It was cold outside. And dark. The wind howled angrily through the swaying trees. The dark storm clouds overhead threatened rain. Deep, rolling thunder shook the ground. Harry's nose was frozen. So were the tips of his fingers. Normally, the thought of leaving the castle during such fierce weather would have been out of the question. But she hadn't been at dinner.

Harry stopped at the enclosure. He hadn't worn his invisibility cloak this time; he wanted to talk to her. She was sitting on that stump again, her cloak wrapped tightly around her small frame. She had been resting her head on her arms, but as Harry approached she sat up and glared.

"Stop. Don't come any closer to me." She stood up on the stump and towered over him. He could see her reaching for her wand as she stared him down.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, Pansy—"

"Parkinson to you." She corrected quickly.

"Parkinson…I just," Harry hesitated as he watched her mouth tighten in anger, "wanted to apologize for this afternoon. If I had known you were standing there, I wouldn't have pointed." He looked away from her and watched as lightening struck a spot a few miles away. She didn't say anything. Harry continued without looking at her.

"McGonagall was out of line. It wasn't fair the way she treated you. If it had been me—"

"I thought I said I didn't need your fucking sympathy," Pansy said softly as she sat back down on the stump. She was no longer glaring. Her face was void of everything but fatigue.

"It's not like I can help it," he exclaimed, his voice deepening in anger as he remembered back to third year, when he had allowed Wormtail to slip through his fingers. Because he hadn't wanted Sirius to deal with him himself. Pansy watched with mild interest as Harry's green eyes darkened.

"Potter?" she asked as Harry looked up at her curiously. "What do you want with me, again?" She sneered at him in disgust. "Sex? A blow job, maybe?"

"NO!" Harry shook his head furiously, startled by her propositions. He could already feel his ears begin to redden.

"Don't look so shocked, Potter. Like I'd really do that with you," she scoffed.

"No. I don't want anything from you," he denied.

"Good." She smiled sweetly at him. If it hadn't been so cold out, it might have melted him. "I'm leaving Hogwarts in the morning."