10 – How to Apologize

"Go and get your things,' he said. 'Dreams mean work."
― Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

...

Hermione's hazel eyes were flitting back and forth between the gobstone bracelet and Haley in suspicion. Then what is it like? She had asked. The green-eyed girl didn't know how to answer.

"Don't tell me you… you've got a crush on him?" She asked hesitantly.

"Me? A crush on Malfoy? Are you insane?"

"Then why are you sleeping with this thing?" Hermione gestured toward the gobstone, that was still wrapped around her wrist.

Haley tore the leather band off her wrist, frantically shoving it into the drawer beside her bed. "It's just… you know, I've been trying to…"

She couldn't do it. She couldn't even imagine what Hermione would do if she found out she was sneaking around in other people's dreams.

"Does it have something to do with what you said earlier? That there was someone who liked you but they were treating you like the dirt beneath their fingernails?"

Haley was baffled. "How come you remember exactly how I phrased that?"

"You painted such a vivid picture. But that's hardly what's important here." Hermione lifted an eyebrow. "Was I right? Is this about Malfoy? Does he secretly like you? How did you find out? Did he tell you? Did he confess it to you?"

"Merlin, Hermione! I can only answer one question at a time!" Haley quickly weighed her options. Maybe she could answer some of the questions without lying. Well, she didn't have to answer all of them, right?

"You were right." She admitted with a sigh. "It was about Malfoy." It felt so embarrassing to admit it out loud! Her cheeks were burning up, too! "Just the thought that he's been thinking about me like that all this time makes me sick! That's why I've been so tetchy this morning."

Hermione looked at her, sympathy shining through her eyes. "I'm sorry. I can only imagine how upsetting this must be." She said, placing her hand gently on top of Haley's. "At least that explains your irritating behaviour this morning."

Haley glanced at her friend guiltily. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." She apologized only too readily, noting that Hermione hadn't asked how she had found out about Malfoy in the first place.

"So, what does that gobstone have to do with all of this?" She asked.

"Um… well… you see…" Damn, she still didn't know how to explain this. She had to make something up. And quickly. "I… I found this spell the other day. Um… it's – you need a personal item for it."

"A spell? What does it do?"

"So, once you've obtained the personal item, you dip it in Lethe River Water and then – uh... you have to wear it somewhere on your body. It – it works best when the person is asleep." Was it too much? Did it sound too wild?

"Okay… but what does it do?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Oh, it… it…" She bit her lips, trying to come up with something believable. "It's meant to remove his memories. His memories of me."

"His memories?"

"Yes. That's why I need to wear the object on my skin, so the memories of me will get soaked up inside the gobstone."

"But why…?" Hermione trailed off, seemingly considering the new information.

"If he doesn't remember me, he won't have a reason to harass me, right?" The explanation actually sounded plausible to her own ears.

"But Haley you can't just erase somebody's memories! That's stealing. And not to mention highly immoral!"

"Like Malfoy's a saint!" Haley fired back in anger.

"Still, that doesn't give you the right to tamper with his memories!" Hermione seemed to be in full morality mode. It really was a good thing she hadn't told her what she had really been doing.

"Well, from the looks of it it's not working anyway." She grumbled in frustration.

"Haley, you-" She broke off with a sigh. "Look, this isn't right. There has to be another way to do this. Have you tried talking to him?"

"I have actually. Unfortunately that ended with me in a mud puddle." She muttered sarcastically.

"I thought you said that was an accident." Hermione frowned.

"It was – I mean… well – it wouldn't have happened if Malfoy had not been present. And he didn't exactly lift a finger to help me."

Her friend took her in for a quiet moment. "You know, this all seems like some weird dream," she whispered. "Malfoy having a crush on you. It doesn't make any sense, does it?"

Haley shook her head dejectedly. If Hermione only knew how ironic this was.

"We should go to sleep for now," the brunette whispered, squeezing her hand. "Who knows? We might come up with a brilliant plan tomorrow. Don't you think?"

Haley shrugged.

"And if nothing else works… do you remember that spell we found with the little yellow birds? I've been itching to try it out on someone." She grinned cheekily.

Haley shivered. Her friend could be really scary if she wanted to be. If she remembered correctly they had found the spell in a book called "Revenge and Other Sweet Pleasures".

"Try to get some more sleep, okay?" Hermione sent her a warm smile, before getting up and walking over to her own bed.

The girl removed her glassed and closed her eyes, trying to think about nothing in particular. As she sank into the realms of sleep, her fingers subconsciously brushed across her wrist where the gobstone used to rest. The gobstone that was now lying forgotten inside her drawer.

…

Hermione, Ron and Haley spent almost all of Sunday working on their homework and preparing for the pre-exams that were due to take place the following week. By the evening Haley felt so exhausted that she was sure her brain actually ached. Ron agreed. Even though Hermione said that was nonsense. In any case, Haley felt far too tired to even think about visiting the dream corridor. She needed her sleep, especially with the pre-exams just around the corner.

Monday morning started with pre-exams in potions. For the practical part they were split up into teams of two. Haley partnered up with Neville, while Ron and Hermione worked together on their potion. It wasn't too difficult, seeing as Haley had practically brewed potions with her mum her entire life. She tried to get a glimpse of Malfoy but the Slytherin was all the way on the other side of the room and with the steam filling the chamber she couldn't see further than to the next table. Surprisingly, the boy seemed to be ignoring her. He never bothered her even once. Didn't even glance at her. As far as she knew. Well, that was all the better, right? On the other hand, it was likely that he was simply too focused because this was the pre-exam and he couldn't be bothered wasting his time sabotaging her. Haley was more than okay with that.

The next pre-exam they had was in History of Magic. Haley thought there were a few dates she got wrong, but otherwise it had went okay. They couldn't all be Hermiones and Malfoys who spent the whole lesson furiously scribbling letters onto their parchments. Not that she had watched the blond. She simply wanted to make sure that he wasn't plotting anything. But just like in potions the Slytherin didn't seem to even notice her. No arrogant smirk. No disdainful eye-roll. It was as if she had turned into a ghost, just like Binns. How weird. Could it be that he was behaving like this because of the things she had said to him in his last dream? Because of her dramatic exit with the fire?

She grinned to herself. Could it really have been that easy? But no. She needed to wait and see. Maybe he was just trying to lull her into a false sense of security before pulling another stupid prank.

"Haley, stop dreaming. It's time for lunch." Hermione grabbed her arm and pulled her in the direction of the Great Hall. As far as she knew they didn't have any other classes together with the Slytherins that day. Perhaps she should just let it go and try to focus on her remaining classes. There was still time to observe Malfoy tomorrow.

She didn't get the chance to observe the boy in charms on Tuesday. He never even showed up for the class. Defence Against the Dark Arts was the same. Was he sick? Haley would have thought that like with Hermione the pre-exams were too important for him to miss. Even if he was sick. She was so focused on wondering about Malfoy's whereabouts that she almost didn't notice that Neville made all the chairs in class float when it was his turn showing the Levitation Charm. And he made the students sitting in the chairs float along with them.

He seemed weirdly clumsy lately, like he wasn't able to control his magic properly any more. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, too, he accidentally set their boggart on fire, frightening it so much that no one could continue fighting against it. It was hilarious. And loosened up the tension surrounding the pre-exam a bit. But sadly it wasn't enough to get Haley's mind off her worries.

When Malfoy didn't show up for Care of Magical Creatures on Wednesday, she began to wonder if something really was wrong. While picking up the worms to feed her bowtruckle, she tried to get close to Pansy Parkinson. Perhaps she knew why Malfoy wasn't coming to classes.

"Seriously, this class is a joke. Only that half-giant would come up with such a stupid task." She told Millicent Bulstrode. "You know, it would be much more fun with Draco here. Why did he have to get sick during pre-exam week? My poor Draco," she whined miserably.

"So he is sick!" Haley said triumphantly, never minding that the two Slytherins now knew she had been eavesdropping on them.

"Potter," Parkinson sneered derisively. It was pathetic how she seemed to be imitating Malfoy's usual tone. "Get lost. This is none of your business."

"Believe me, I wasn't exactly eager to talk to you." She rolled her eyes.

"'ey. This is a pre-exam! No talking, everyone!" Hagrid instructed, pointing a massive finger in their direction.

"Whatever," Parkinson said arrogantly, taking a bowl of worms back to her own bowtruckle, Millicent Bulstrode in tow.

Haley smiled apologetically at Hagrid, who gave her a wink and a thumbs up.

"What did Pansy want?" Hermione asked once the lesson was over and they made their way back to the castle.

"That prat really is sick," Haley said. "I knew it."

"So?" Hermione asked. "Are you going to go to the hospital wing to check on him?"

Ron snorted. "That's stupid. Why would she – hey, where are you going?" He called after her but Haley was already heading up the staircase. To get her invisibility cloak.

…

There was no one in the hospital wing besides Madame Pomfrey. This was strange. Shouldn't Malfoy be in the hospital wing when he was sick? Haley fetched the Magnificent Marauder's Map from her pocket and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." As the map came to life in front of her eyes, she wondered why she hadn't thought of using it before.

"Draco Malfoy," she whispered. This searching feature was so handy. The boy's little green dot was blinking down in the dungeons. Was that… the Slytherin dorm? But if he was sick… why was he in his dorm instead of the infirmary?

Perhaps he's already feeling better, she thought. And why was she bothering with the git in the first place? There was an uncomfortable feeling in the back of her mind. But Haley couldn't make sense of it until the following day.

Over breakfast Haley kept feeling Hermione's eyes on her. She waited for the girl to stop but when she continued staring at her, Haley threw her spoon down, splashing milk and cornflakes around her. "What is it?"

"You're not… still doing that, are you?" Hermione asked, ignoring her friend's outburst. "Evanesco," she added, almost as an afterthought, vanishing the milky mess around them.

"Doing what?" Haley asked in annoyance, picking up her spoon again.

Hermione didn't have to do more than glance at her wrist pointedly. Even though she wasn't wearing the leather band, she pulled down the sleeves of her robes swiftly.

"No." She replied. It wasn't even a lie. She hadn't been to the dream corridor ever since that last time when she had yelled at Malfoy and created an inferno inside his dream.

"Don't you think," Hermione leaned close to her, making sure that no one else could hear them. "Don't you think your spell might have worked after all? Maybe it worked and… and damaged something inside him."

"No." Haley shook her head and frowned sceptically. That couldn't be right. Her mum would have told her if the dreaming thing was that dangerous.

"I mean. Don't you think it's odd? Him missing all those classes? And during pre-exam week? And didn't you say he wasn't even in the hospital wing?"

"I'm sure it's nothing serious. He's probably just pretending." Her own words weren't even convincing her.

"I don't know. I think we should tell one of the teachers. Or Madame Pomfrey at least."

"No!" Haley protested too quickly. "I mean. Let's wait one more day. If he isn't back by tomorrow I'll go tell Madame Pomfrey."

"If you're sure." Hermione went back to stirring her cup of tea. But Haley could tell that she was still pondering the matter.

She didn't mind. She was lost in her own mind. What if she was right? What if it was her fault? Perhaps, she had went into his dreams too often or… or maybe it had been too much… what she had said to him. Maybe it had really messed him up somehow. She had to fix this. If it was really her fault, she had to try and make it right again.

...ooo…

The dream corridor hasn't changed in the days I haven't been here. It's still the same seemingly endless hallway with doors in all kinds of shapes and colours along each side. The urge to go see mum and ask her for advice is almost too powerful to suppress. I know that in her familiar embrace I would feel safe and warm and like everything was okay. But somehow I feel like this is something I have to do on my own. And besides that, I can't stand to disappoint her. And I'm sure she would be disappointed if she found out what kind of mess I have created.

That's why I'm marching down the hall past my brother's dream door, and past the dream door that seems to belong to Hermione and past – where is Neville's dream door? It used to be next to Hermione's but now… now it seems to have changed places with… Malfoy's? I frown, trying to remember what mum said about the meaning of dream doors. It seems so long ago. I can't remember. Well, it doesn't matter now. I need to make this right.

As always Myron Wagtail greets me from inside his poster. "You again." He notes, he somehow seems paler than usual. Is he sick as well?

I grab the guitar that's resting against the door without even thinking about it twice. The solo flows from my fingers with familiar ease. I think I've never managed to play it this well before.

I don't know what I expect. Applause maybe? In any case, Myron only shakes his head regretfully.

"That was something," he commented, sounding impressed. "But it's not the right tune."

"What? But last time this worked as well! And the time before that, too!" Is he kidding around?

"Just because the tune was right last week, doesn't mean it can't be different tonight." The lead singer shrugs in a way that seems to say. 'I don't make the rules.'

"Does that mean the song changed? I have to play something different?"

Myron says nothing, which I take as confirmation. What a downer. The right tune could be a million songs. How am I supposed to find the right one?

Perhaps Myron will be gullible enough to help me again.

"Hey Myron?" I ask innocently.

"Hm?"

"You're not overworking yourself, are you?" I'm trying to hint at his paleness.

"Me? Nah, why d'you ask that?"

"You seem so pale, lately."

"Nah, that's the latest trend now. You didn't know? Melancholy and all that."

"So, you're into melancholic music?"

"Well, lately, I guess. There's that one ballad, the master keeps listening to all night, you see. From one of our ballad albums. It used to be the hit two years ago-" Myron claps his hands in front of his mouth like he had said something he hadn't wanted to say.

Hm. Two years ago… Which ballad of the Weird Sisters was popular two years ago? My cauldron is cold? Or maybe Un-accio My Heart? No, those came out last year. Perhaps…

I place my fingers on the strings and begin to pluck the intro to Magic Works. Now, that I think about it, I really should have thought of this sooner. Maybe it's too obvious? I don't really know how to play the chorus, so I imagine the strings to play the notes that would be right, while keeping up at least the correct rhythm. I'm amazed when it actually works.

From the looks of it Myron is amazed, too. He bobs his head along to the music and once I get to the second verse the door opens on its own.

Wow. It really was that obvious. And here I was worrying, I would never guess the right tune.

Without giving myself time to overthink this further, I slip through the door.

The room I step into is really dark. Only a lone candle on a bedside table lights up a small part of the room. It looks like a bedroom. The giant bed in the centre of it takes up most of the space.

"Mother? Is that you? Am I allowed to go out again?" Asks a child's voice from behind the curtains that go all around the bed. Wait, is that Malfoy's voice? But I haven't heard it sound like this in at least four years.

"Mother?" The voice asks again. If I don't answer, he'll probably check who entered the room. But I need a disguise! Something good – something… My eyes flit around the room until they finally rest on a poster. The same poster that I've seen only seconds ago in the dream corridor. It's worth a try, I guess. I close my eyes and concentrate hard on making myself look like Myron Wagtail. I've been a fan of the Weird Sisters for so long, that imagining what their lead singer looks like seems like child's play. I open my eyes again, spotting the black nail polish and countless silver rings sitting on my fingers. I notice that my hair is black as well, as it comes down to my left and right. I feel like an endlessly cool badass rocker now.

I make my way over toward the bed and draw back the curtain.

"Oh. Hey Myron," the little boy greets me like he's used to seeing and talking to celebrities casually like this.

I blink at him in surprise. It's Malfoy. But he looks so young. About ten I would guess.

"You want to play gobstones?" He asks me, gesturing toward the colourful stones that are strewn across his huge bed. "There's not much to do in here. And I'm not supposed to leave the room," he admits sheepishly.

I hesitantly sit on the edge of the bed. "I…" My voice is too high! I need to make it sound deeper. I clear my throat. "So…" That's better. "why are you not supposed to leave your room?" I ask, going in straight for the kill.

"I..." Everything about this boy screams innocent and pitiful to me! It seems so wrong!

"I've done something bad…" he says vaguely, shrugging his small shoulders. I want to hug him. I need to remind myself that I'm mad at this boy and that I don't even like him.

"Something bad?"

"I…" he bites his lips, looking at his fingers where he's playing with a green gobstone that looks eerily familiar. It's the one my sleeping body is wearing as a bracelet in that exact moment. In the next second the gobstone is gone.

"Oh no! I lost it again!" The boy exclaims, lifting the blankets and pillows around him in search of the little stone.

"Malfoy!" I yell impatiently. I didn't come here to look for a stupid stone.

"Huh?" He looks at me in confused wonder. It looks so cute. Why does he have to look like a child? Children are my weakness!

"Why don't you tell me what you've done? Maybe I can help you," I offer with a kind smile.

"I made her sad." He says after a while.

"Hm? Who?"

The boy doesn't look at me. "She told me. She told me she was hurt. Because of me. I never wanted to hurt her. Not really," his voice is a broken whisper that painfully tugs at something in my chest. I know I should be mad. But compared to the sympathy I feel my anger seems like a tiny flame that is threatened to be blown out by a breeze.

"Then why did you hurt her in the first place?" I ask, the question fuelling my anger again.

The boy looks at me out of frightened, grey eyes. "I–It's complicated…"

Of course it's bloody complicated. I barely keep myself from growling at him. This would lead me nowhere.

"So, until when are you stuck in here?" I ask instead, trying not to sound too impatient.

He shrugs again. "I don't know. Until I'm forgiven maybe?"

I roll my eyes. I can't help it.

"You think she won't forgive me?" His little chin wobbles. "I knew it. It's hopeless!" He wails. "After everything I've done, how could she forgive me? I'm such a fool!" He buries his fingers in his hair and tears at it violently. I reach out to pull his hands away.

"Merlin! Are you mad? You're behaving like a little child!"

He blinks at me owlishly. That's when I realise my poor choice of words. I guess I'll have to be a bit more gentle. "Right. So… why don't you try apologizing? That's what people usually do when they make a mistake."

"But that would be useless!" He argues. "She'll never forgive me. I wouldn't forgive myself!"

I pinch his cheek. It's a reflex. My little brother has ruined me. "You never know. You might be surprised." I feel like I'm going to regret these words.

"You think so?" He asks hopefully. My fingers are itching to pinch him again, so I ball them up into fists.

"Who knows? If you're lucky."

Then the boy deflates again. "I don't know how… I've never apologized to someone before."

Hm. This shouldn't come as a surprise, really.

"Why don't we… um… I mean, we could practise? I'll pretend to be that girl and you can practise apologizing to me." It's probably a crazy idea. Especially seeing as I won't really be pretending. But Malfoy doesn't know that…

"You would do that?" He asks, his eyes shining. I nod. "Thanks Myron!" He smiles and the smile on his face is almost blinding.

An expectant silence grows around us leading to… nowhere.

"Right. So, how do I…" the boy stares at me questioningly. I guess there is no way around it. With a snap of my fingers I turn into myself again.

"I thought this might be easier," I mumble, still imitating Myron's deep husky voice. I clear my throat again, before continuing in my natural voice. "I thought you had something to say?"

Malfoy swallows nervously, fiddling with his thumbs. "So…"

I sigh. This is isn't leading anywhere. "Look. Why don't you start with telling me why you're apologizing?"

"Um… okay. So..." He takes a deep breath and looks at my left shoulder. "I… I've been really mean to you." He starts and I nod, encouraging him to go on. "I c-called you n-names and… r-ruined your potions and… tripped you up and…" He counts all of his little misdeeds up on his small fingers. "I pulled all these pranks on you… I… sent Flitwick a love note and signed it with your name-"

"Wait, that was you?" I remember how embarrassing the conversation with the Charms Professor had been.

He nods, not meeting my eyes and continues. "I stole that scarf you bragged about to everyone in third year and…"

"I think that might be enough for the start," I interrupt him. If he lists every single prank he ever played on me, we'll never finish this.

"There's one more." He perks up, and I note that his voice seems a little deeper now. He bites his lips cheekily. "I spat in your soup when your house won the House Cup last year."

"You what?" I screech in disgust.

He chuckles. "Okay I made that up. I thought about it, though." Am I imagining this, or does he look slightly older now?

"Good. I mean – well… now you should apologize," I tell him.

"Right. So… I…"

That boy is really crap at apologizing.

He clears his throat, his eyes still fixed on my shoulder. "I want to… I want to apologize." He looks up into my eyes hesitantly. "I'm sorry," he whispers and somehow he looks like his fifteen-year-old self again. "I'm sorry for doing all these things to you."

Well, look at that. I never would have thought he actually had the guts to apologize. I nod approvingly, while he keeps staring at me.

"So, does this mean you forgive me?" He sounds so eager. But I can't let him off this easily. It's much easier not to be charmed by him now that he doesn't look like a child any more.

"Oh. Well… we were just practising, remember?"

"Oh, right. I forgot," he says, deflating visibly.

"But that wasn't too bad, I think. We can work with that."

"So, what now? Do I have to apologize again?"

"Ah, no. You're not quite done with your apology yet."

"What? What else do I have to do?"

"Well. You need to show me – I mean her – that you're being sincere. And that you're not going to do the same things again."

"And how do I do that?" He's not even rolling his eyes but the tone of his voice makes me think he's doing it mentally.

"I don't know! Do something nice?" Seriously, he can't expect me to do everything for him. He quirks an eyebrow that seems to say 'Like what?' If he actually asks that, I think I might slap him.

"I think I have an idea," he says instead, surprising me. "Follow me." He gets up from the bed, grabs my hand and pulls me toward the door.

Wait. That's the door that leads into the dream corridor! Does he know about it? Before I can panic any further the boy has pulled open the door and me right though it.

On the other side of the door we're greeted by an onslaught of colours and light. This is not the dream corridor.

"Diagon Alley?" I ask in confusion. What are we doing here?

Instead of answering Malfoy grins at me, pulling me down the street until we reach one of my favourite spots in Diagon Alley: Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"That's your grand idea? Ice cream?"

The boy shrugs as we enter the shop, a bell chiming cheerfully behind us. "You said, I should do something nice," he reminds me, as he inspects the many different ice cream flavours. "I'll treat you." He squeezes my hand that he's still holding, grinning in a suspiciously nervous way. I pull my hand free. Does he think this is some kind of date?

He frowns down at my hand. "I apologized, didn't I? Aren't you going to give me a chance?"

I don't remember ever saying anything about giving him a chance! Whatever he means by that! And I never agreed to holding his sodding hand!

"Look. Let's take this step by step, okay? We're not even friends for Merlin's sake!"

He eyes me, seeming disappointed and a little thoughtful. "Fine. Let's start with being friends, then." He says matter-of-factly. Is he actually serious?

"You can't just decide it like this. Friendship doesn't work like that!"

"I'm sure I can make it work," he replies, grinning cheekily. "Pick anything you like. It's my treat." He informs me, nodding at the display in front of us. I want to tell him that it doesn't matter anyway because this is a dream and he's not really treating me. But I guess, it's the gesture that counts.

Malfoy decides on something with chocolate, coconut and lots of cream and chocolate chips, while I order a cookie dough sundae. I love that flavour!

We sit down to eat our ice cream at one of the tables in front of the parlour. The sun is shining and it feels like late spring or early summer. I hear birds chirping and while I lick my ice cream I notice the boy, sitting opposite me, stare at me, an annoyingly smug grin on his face. It gives me the feeling that we're playing some kind of game that I don't know the rules of and he's the one winning.

"What? Is there something on my face?" I ask in annoyance.

He keeps grinning, almost absently eating his ice cream, while his eyes never stray from my face.

I scowl at him, clicking my tongue.

"You want to try?" He asks, holding his cone out to me. Is he delusional? I shake my head, not bothering with a verbal answer. He seems to wait for me to do something. Does he want me to return the offer? Well, in that case he will be disappointed.

"Is it good?" He asks, glancing at my ice cream.

"To die for." I reply, thoughtlessly. Fortescue's does make the best ice cream!

He bites his lips. "Can I try?"

I don't even wait until he's finished asking the question before I shake my head. Something flashes up in his eyes. Anger? Annoyance? I can't tell.

He gets up abruptly, walking around the table and plops down in the seat next to me. "Just a taste," he asks, reaching for my cone.

"No." I say, raising my arm and holding it out of his reach.

"Come on," he whines. His tone makes me chuckle because he might look fifteen now but he still behaves like a child.

I shake my head again, trying not to grin.

"Don't be such a–" He breaks off, never finishing whatever he had wanted to call me. I freeze. Because there's a glob of cookie dough ice cream on my cheek.

He watches me, cautiously, like he's afraid I'm going to attack him. When I do nothing but glare at him darkly, he raises his left hand and – fast like a snitch – wipes the ice cream from my cheek.

It happens so fast that I can't even slap his hand away.

"What are you-?" I gape at him, as he licks the ice cream from his fingers. "Ew."

"Mm. I like it," he says, grinning triumphantly. There's a mad glint in his eyes that makes me slightly uncomfortable. What is he planning?

He pushes his cone into my free hand, leans forward and cups my face in his hands. His eyes sweep across my face in a way that seems almost appraising. Like he's found a new promising broom or something. "I really, really like it." He says, before pressing his lips against mine.

I want to push him away but there are ice cream cones in both of my hands. Sneaky bastard. How bloody convenient for him.

… ooo …

When Haley woke up there was still a lingering taste of ice cream in her mouth. Her eyes were wide and her pulse racing. Why does he keep doing that?, she thought angrily. That's what you get for trying to help that git. Her eyes fell on the leather band around her wrist. She tore it off and threw it against the curtains around her bed in frustration. Why was her heart beating like this? Was it because of the kiss? Or because of the way he had looked at her? Or was it his words? No. She shook her head in disgust. The mere thoughts repelled her. It had to be because of the surprise. And she had woken up so suddenly. That had to be it.

She pulled the covers back up around herself and tried to calm her heart. She didn't dare close her eyes, fearing the remnants of the dream would come back to haunt her. After a while, she felt calmer and tried to fall asleep again. It's nothing. It's simply because I woke up so suddenly, she thought as she drifted off to sleep, all the while ignoring the sceptical voice that whispered, her explanations sounded more like excuses.

…

A/N: Hey everyone! Here's a new chapter for you. I had so much fun writing pre-teen!Draco. Wasn't he cute? I'm super curious what your guesses are for The Secret ... Anyway, thank you for reading and leave me your thoughts!