Chapter Three

"He's doing it again," Ron said with a scowl, in between mouthfuls of toast.

A fork paused just in front of Harry's mouth as he looked at his friend and asked, "Who?"

Ron made a face as though he'd eaten some bad jam. "Malfoy, he's staring at us again."

Hermione, who sat at Harry's side, leaned over and said, "Just ignore him. He's probably just trying to get a rise out of you."

Harry glanced over at the pale Slytherin, not surprised to see his eyes already averted, studying something in his hand. If Harry didn't know it were an act, he'd wonder how anyone could find a blueberry muffin so fascinating.

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, if that were the case, wouldn't he just come over here and insult us? Subtlety has never been Malfoy's game."

A thoughtful look crossed Hermione's face as she stared across the hall. "He has been acting different. It's been a week already and he hasn't said one bad word to Ron, you, or me. I wonder why?"

"Whatever the reason," said Ron, "Its a change for the better. Still a bit creepy though, the way he keeps looking over here. He's taken to staring at you during class too."

Harry's eyebrows shot up over the rim of his glasses in surprise. "Has he?" Harry knew Draco had been staring at them during meals, although not from his own observation. It had been Hermione's keen eye to originally spot it. Since then they had become hyperaware of the Slytherin's gaze on them. But Harry had no idea the strange behavior had extended into classes.

Hermione sniffed, still eyeing the blond boy critically and said, "Well, I say as long as he's not making trouble, we should just let him be."

Harry made a vague noise in reply, unsure whether he could let it be. He decided to observe Malfoy carefully during class that day and see if he really was staring at him as much as Ron said so, or if he was just imagining things. He figured Ron was probably being paranoid, but if not, then Harry would consider confronting Malfoy. Granted, just looking at someone was hardly something to become alarmed about, but it was Malfoy and past experience taught him to be very cautious when dealing with the highborn wizard.

* * *