Vixen could feel some ones eyes burning into her skin, some one's merciless
gaze intensely burning into her flesh. Vixen knew who it was, because he
had been staring at her when ever possible. Every time she had looked up,
her gaze had met his. She was flattered, but a part of her also wished he
would stop
Looking up from her breakfast again, she looked across the room; Harry Potter sat, and stared at her, unhopefully. Vixen stared back at him, a soft smile spread on her lips before she looked away.
She knew that she shouldn't be encouraging him by smiling at him. But she couldn't help it. Harry was a really sweet guy, he had always been really nice to her and from what she knew of him, he was nice to everyone.
She had been warned against Harry Potter. True, the people who had warned her had not been the most sincere and trustworthy people in the world, but she had been warned against him all the same. She had also been warned against Ron and Hermione, and although she was yet to meet them, she knew they would be pretty cool people to.
Vixen had been told that Harry was the lowest of all scum. Vixen could straight away tell that that was bullshit, because the person who had told her really was the lowest form of scum. But she didn't say anything to prove them wrong; it was too dangerous to defy them.
It was to dangerous to defy any one in her life, she had been hit and beaten by others more times than she cared to remember, by the people in her life who were there to love and respect her. It was too dangerous to have an opinion in her world.
It was especially dangerous to have an opinion on Harry Potter.
And she did have an opinion on Harry Potter, she had a strong opinion. She thought that he was nothing like what people said he was. There were a few different points of view when it came to Harry, but hers was that he was nothing special.
Well, he was something special, but nothing special all in one. Sure, so he had defeated the dark lord a few times, that made him special, but he was not some cover boy, he was not some angel in the centerfold.
He was just a boy.
Just a boy who had come across a few problems and made them solutions. Just a boy, who, with the help of his friends, had faced the fears of so many people, and made the world a safer place, He was just a boy who didn't ask for any of it, but got it all.
Harry Potter was just a boy.
She knew it sounded clichéd, but to her, Harry Potter was just Harry. Just plain old Harry, just a boy, and nothing else really.
He was a kind sweet boy, with a great sense of humor and a killer smile. But he was just a boy.
A boy who was still staring at her. She looked over at him again; he was smiling at her, and even risked a wave. Vixen gave him a quick nod, but couldn't bring herself to look away.
His green eyes were burning into her grey eyes. And in that moment, she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to tell him everything that she was thinking and feeling. She wanted to tell him the truth about herself, the painful truth about why she was strange around him. Vixen wanted him to know, because he deserved to know the truth.
She guessed he would find out soon enough, and he was right, she should be the one to tell him, not the grapevine.
Seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors had potions together this morning, she guessed that she could tell him after class, then she tell him the truth, she could have everything out in the open, and then, it would be up to Harry to make the next move.
"Good morning Vix" The voice startled her out of her thoughts, Vixen looked up at the owner of the voice, but she really didn't need to, she would have recognized that drawl anywhere.
"Draco" She replied curtly. He smirked at her and took a seat beside her, reaching for food. Crabbe and Goyle sat down on the other side of the table, blocking Vixen's view of the Gryffindor table.
"Come now Vix, don't be rude" Draco replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her body against his side "Is that any way to treat me?"
"I don't know" She muttered, she didn't have the time or the energy to fight with Malfoy that morning. Looking across at the Gryffindor table, Harry sat, looking confused.
Draco still had one arm wrapped around her shoulder. She shrugged and the arm dropped. Looking over at Harry again, she saw that he was not watching her, he was talking to Hermione. It seemed like he was ignoring her. This meant, he had not seen her shrug Draco off of her. Things were turning out bad, because she already knew what he was thinking.
"Umm, I have to get going, I want to stop by the library before potions" She told the boys before standing and collecting all of her books. She started to walk away from the table when his voice called her back.
"Hey, Vixen, where is my hug?" Draco called. A few of the slytherin table laughed, but everyone in the room heard him. Harry looked across at the slytherin table, wanting to know what was going on.
Vixen moved back to Draco and wrapped an arm around his neck. To any one else in the room it would have looked like a hug, but Vixen and Draco both knew that she was cutting of his air supply. She moved her lips to his ear and whispered.
"You are a sick loser Draco, Grow up"
Then she released his neck and turned, leaving the great hall.
~*~*~
Harry watched as Vixen turned back to Draco and wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling him into a hug. He watched enviously as her lips moved to his ear and whispered something to him.
So that was her big secret, he thought, she was dating Draco Malfoy.
Harry sighed and dropped his head to the table. Draco Malfoy, she was dating Draco Malfoy Vixen, his crush, was dating Malfoy. It all made sense now, that was why his conversation with her had been so cryptic.
A few things still didn't make sense about what she had said, but now Harry understood her hesitance to be seen around him.
He didn't want to believe it, but he knew that he had to believe it. It was a reality now, it was a nightmare, but it was reality. The girl he liked, the girl that he had not been able to get out of his head for the last week was dating some one else.
But not just some one else, she was dating Malfoy.
Harry could feel his heart splitting in two.
Harry, after taking another deep breath, began to bang his head on the table in front of him.
"Harry? Harry? What is wrong?" Hermione asked Harry stopped banging his head against the wood and looked up.
"Nothing is wrong Hermione, everything is just peachy" Harry replied sarcastically.
"It is that girl isn't it?" She asked "The one from the train station?"
Harry nodded. "She just hugged Malfoy..they must be dating or something"
"Maybe" Hermione replied and then looked up and down the Gryffindor table.
"Have you seen Ron this morning?" Hermione asked nervously. She didn't know if Ron had told Harry about what had happened between them the night before, so she was a little on edge.
"No, he said he wasn't feeling well and he didn't want any breakfast, he was just going to meet us at Potions." Harry replied. He suddenly realized that Ron had been acting strange. "Do you know what is going on with him?"
"I am not sure, Listen Harry I am going to go to the library, there are a few things I want to read over before we go to potions. Just make sure you don't bang you head against the table any more, you will get a head ache" Hermione smiled before standing gathering her books and moving away from the table.
Harry smiled, but he had nothing to be happy for. He had a bad feeling that today was going to be a bad day. Maybe even the worst day of his life.
~*~*~
The library was usually empty at this time of the morning that was why Hermione liked it so much. She liked having the place all to herself, liked it being silent, and liked the fact that she could find any book she wanted.
That was why it was a big surprise when Hermione entered the library and saw that there was another pile of books on a table. Setting her own books down beside the other persons, she moved off to the potions section, looking for the book that she needed.
The other occupant of the library stood at the potions bookshelf, a book open in her hands. Hermione approached the girl quietly, not wanting to disturb her. When the other girl did see her, they shared a quick smiled.
"Hi" The girl smiled. Hermione smiled back.
"Hello" Hermione replied, looking for the book that she needed.
"Umm, you are Hermione Granger aren't you" The girl asked. Hermione smiled and turned to her. Hermione immediately recognized the girl from the train station. This was the girl that Harry liked.
"Yes, I am" Hermione replied.
"I am Vixen" She replied, holding out her hand for Hermione to shake. Hermione took it.
"You are the girl that Harry knocked over at the train station" Hermione laughed, Vixen nodded. She had a feeling that Harry and his friends would always see her as 'the girl from the train station'
"Yes that is me" Vixen smiled before looking down at her watch. "Oh, we have to get going, we have to get to potions, I hoped I would be able to read over the potion we were making before we had to go to class."
"Oh, don't worry, It is a rather simple potion" Hermione smiled at Vixen. Hermione already knew the potion back to front. Vixen laughed.
"Well, that is something I think you will learn about me fast, I suck at potions, it is my worst subject" Vixen replied. Hermione smiled.
"I guess we all have a bad subject" Hermione told her "Me, I can't stand Divinations, I suck at that"
"But you are good at all the other subjects" Vixen replied as they moved back to the table where her books were. Hermione smiled. Vixen was really nice, she was sweet and she seemed to be nothing like the other slytherins.
"And you are head girl this year, congratulations" Vixen added. Hermione blushed. "Lets just say my father had a lot to say about that" Hermione chuckled.
"Thank you, that accomplishment took a lot of hard work.. and a lot of sacrifice" Hermione admitted. Vixen smiled.
"But sometimes things are worth the sacrifices we make" Vixen replied.
"But when does a sacrifice become worth it?" Hermione asked sadly. She couldn't help but think about the whole situation with Ron. Things were just so confusing, and she didn't really understand anything anymore.
"When we get what we want out of life, that is when it becomes worth it" Vixen told her.
"But what if what you wanted out of life has changed?" Hermione asked. Vixen sighed and looked at Hermione.
"Then you just have to work for the next thing that you want" Vixen replied. Hermione stood, letting Vixen's words sink in. It made sense what she was saying. She had gotten what she wanted, she was head girl, now she had to work for the next thing, taking each goal as they come and not resting until they became reality.
She had reached one goal, and her next goal was Ron.
Hermione then realized that she had dumped all of this emotional stuff on some one she didn't even know. Hermione looked at Vixen and smiled.
"I am sorry, I didn't mean to dump all of that on you" Hermione replied.
"It is alright Hermione. It seemed you needed to get some things off of your chest" Vixen replied. Picking up her books, she smiled at Hermione again "I don't have many friends that are girls Hermione, and I know you don't either. I hope that we could become friends, if that is ok with you"
"I would like that to" Hermione replied. It was the truth, she would really like to have a girl to talk to about some things sometimes. It was great having boys as friends, but there were some things that you just can't tell boys about. And now with Ginny in Romania, she really had no friends who were girls.
She wanted to accept Vixen's offer of friendship, because she was a really nice person, she seemed to be very smart, had a good head on her shoulders. And she was interesting, but Hermione couldn't stop herself from thinking about Harry.
Harry liked this girl. He really liked this girl, it wasn't just a crush, it seemed like so much more. Hermione had never seen Harry look so in love. And this girl was with some one else, and that was hurting Harry.
Hermione didn't know how Harry would react to her being friends with the girl that he was in love with but couldn't have.
But this girl was offering her friendship, and it looked like Vixen needed the friendship as well. Hermione smiled.
"So, you have to tell me everything about you Vixen" Hermione smiled. Vixen couldn't help but laugh. Hermione looked really excited about getting to know her.
"Well, what do you want to know?" Vixen asked as they left the library and headed towards the potions dungeon.
"Friends, family..boyfriend?" Hermione replied. She knew it seemed a little sneaky, but she wanted to get just a little bit of information to tell Harry, anything to make him feel better.
"Oh, I don't have a boyfriend" She replied. Hermione looked at her, slightly confused.
"But, this morning, I saw you hugging Draco Malfoy" Hermione replied. Vixen laughed.
"Malfoy, No, Draco isn't my boyfriend, Draco is my ......."
Looking up from her breakfast again, she looked across the room; Harry Potter sat, and stared at her, unhopefully. Vixen stared back at him, a soft smile spread on her lips before she looked away.
She knew that she shouldn't be encouraging him by smiling at him. But she couldn't help it. Harry was a really sweet guy, he had always been really nice to her and from what she knew of him, he was nice to everyone.
She had been warned against Harry Potter. True, the people who had warned her had not been the most sincere and trustworthy people in the world, but she had been warned against him all the same. She had also been warned against Ron and Hermione, and although she was yet to meet them, she knew they would be pretty cool people to.
Vixen had been told that Harry was the lowest of all scum. Vixen could straight away tell that that was bullshit, because the person who had told her really was the lowest form of scum. But she didn't say anything to prove them wrong; it was too dangerous to defy them.
It was to dangerous to defy any one in her life, she had been hit and beaten by others more times than she cared to remember, by the people in her life who were there to love and respect her. It was too dangerous to have an opinion in her world.
It was especially dangerous to have an opinion on Harry Potter.
And she did have an opinion on Harry Potter, she had a strong opinion. She thought that he was nothing like what people said he was. There were a few different points of view when it came to Harry, but hers was that he was nothing special.
Well, he was something special, but nothing special all in one. Sure, so he had defeated the dark lord a few times, that made him special, but he was not some cover boy, he was not some angel in the centerfold.
He was just a boy.
Just a boy who had come across a few problems and made them solutions. Just a boy, who, with the help of his friends, had faced the fears of so many people, and made the world a safer place, He was just a boy who didn't ask for any of it, but got it all.
Harry Potter was just a boy.
She knew it sounded clichéd, but to her, Harry Potter was just Harry. Just plain old Harry, just a boy, and nothing else really.
He was a kind sweet boy, with a great sense of humor and a killer smile. But he was just a boy.
A boy who was still staring at her. She looked over at him again; he was smiling at her, and even risked a wave. Vixen gave him a quick nod, but couldn't bring herself to look away.
His green eyes were burning into her grey eyes. And in that moment, she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to tell him everything that she was thinking and feeling. She wanted to tell him the truth about herself, the painful truth about why she was strange around him. Vixen wanted him to know, because he deserved to know the truth.
She guessed he would find out soon enough, and he was right, she should be the one to tell him, not the grapevine.
Seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors had potions together this morning, she guessed that she could tell him after class, then she tell him the truth, she could have everything out in the open, and then, it would be up to Harry to make the next move.
"Good morning Vix" The voice startled her out of her thoughts, Vixen looked up at the owner of the voice, but she really didn't need to, she would have recognized that drawl anywhere.
"Draco" She replied curtly. He smirked at her and took a seat beside her, reaching for food. Crabbe and Goyle sat down on the other side of the table, blocking Vixen's view of the Gryffindor table.
"Come now Vix, don't be rude" Draco replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her body against his side "Is that any way to treat me?"
"I don't know" She muttered, she didn't have the time or the energy to fight with Malfoy that morning. Looking across at the Gryffindor table, Harry sat, looking confused.
Draco still had one arm wrapped around her shoulder. She shrugged and the arm dropped. Looking over at Harry again, she saw that he was not watching her, he was talking to Hermione. It seemed like he was ignoring her. This meant, he had not seen her shrug Draco off of her. Things were turning out bad, because she already knew what he was thinking.
"Umm, I have to get going, I want to stop by the library before potions" She told the boys before standing and collecting all of her books. She started to walk away from the table when his voice called her back.
"Hey, Vixen, where is my hug?" Draco called. A few of the slytherin table laughed, but everyone in the room heard him. Harry looked across at the slytherin table, wanting to know what was going on.
Vixen moved back to Draco and wrapped an arm around his neck. To any one else in the room it would have looked like a hug, but Vixen and Draco both knew that she was cutting of his air supply. She moved her lips to his ear and whispered.
"You are a sick loser Draco, Grow up"
Then she released his neck and turned, leaving the great hall.
~*~*~
Harry watched as Vixen turned back to Draco and wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling him into a hug. He watched enviously as her lips moved to his ear and whispered something to him.
So that was her big secret, he thought, she was dating Draco Malfoy.
Harry sighed and dropped his head to the table. Draco Malfoy, she was dating Draco Malfoy Vixen, his crush, was dating Malfoy. It all made sense now, that was why his conversation with her had been so cryptic.
A few things still didn't make sense about what she had said, but now Harry understood her hesitance to be seen around him.
He didn't want to believe it, but he knew that he had to believe it. It was a reality now, it was a nightmare, but it was reality. The girl he liked, the girl that he had not been able to get out of his head for the last week was dating some one else.
But not just some one else, she was dating Malfoy.
Harry could feel his heart splitting in two.
Harry, after taking another deep breath, began to bang his head on the table in front of him.
"Harry? Harry? What is wrong?" Hermione asked Harry stopped banging his head against the wood and looked up.
"Nothing is wrong Hermione, everything is just peachy" Harry replied sarcastically.
"It is that girl isn't it?" She asked "The one from the train station?"
Harry nodded. "She just hugged Malfoy..they must be dating or something"
"Maybe" Hermione replied and then looked up and down the Gryffindor table.
"Have you seen Ron this morning?" Hermione asked nervously. She didn't know if Ron had told Harry about what had happened between them the night before, so she was a little on edge.
"No, he said he wasn't feeling well and he didn't want any breakfast, he was just going to meet us at Potions." Harry replied. He suddenly realized that Ron had been acting strange. "Do you know what is going on with him?"
"I am not sure, Listen Harry I am going to go to the library, there are a few things I want to read over before we go to potions. Just make sure you don't bang you head against the table any more, you will get a head ache" Hermione smiled before standing gathering her books and moving away from the table.
Harry smiled, but he had nothing to be happy for. He had a bad feeling that today was going to be a bad day. Maybe even the worst day of his life.
~*~*~
The library was usually empty at this time of the morning that was why Hermione liked it so much. She liked having the place all to herself, liked it being silent, and liked the fact that she could find any book she wanted.
That was why it was a big surprise when Hermione entered the library and saw that there was another pile of books on a table. Setting her own books down beside the other persons, she moved off to the potions section, looking for the book that she needed.
The other occupant of the library stood at the potions bookshelf, a book open in her hands. Hermione approached the girl quietly, not wanting to disturb her. When the other girl did see her, they shared a quick smiled.
"Hi" The girl smiled. Hermione smiled back.
"Hello" Hermione replied, looking for the book that she needed.
"Umm, you are Hermione Granger aren't you" The girl asked. Hermione smiled and turned to her. Hermione immediately recognized the girl from the train station. This was the girl that Harry liked.
"Yes, I am" Hermione replied.
"I am Vixen" She replied, holding out her hand for Hermione to shake. Hermione took it.
"You are the girl that Harry knocked over at the train station" Hermione laughed, Vixen nodded. She had a feeling that Harry and his friends would always see her as 'the girl from the train station'
"Yes that is me" Vixen smiled before looking down at her watch. "Oh, we have to get going, we have to get to potions, I hoped I would be able to read over the potion we were making before we had to go to class."
"Oh, don't worry, It is a rather simple potion" Hermione smiled at Vixen. Hermione already knew the potion back to front. Vixen laughed.
"Well, that is something I think you will learn about me fast, I suck at potions, it is my worst subject" Vixen replied. Hermione smiled.
"I guess we all have a bad subject" Hermione told her "Me, I can't stand Divinations, I suck at that"
"But you are good at all the other subjects" Vixen replied as they moved back to the table where her books were. Hermione smiled. Vixen was really nice, she was sweet and she seemed to be nothing like the other slytherins.
"And you are head girl this year, congratulations" Vixen added. Hermione blushed. "Lets just say my father had a lot to say about that" Hermione chuckled.
"Thank you, that accomplishment took a lot of hard work.. and a lot of sacrifice" Hermione admitted. Vixen smiled.
"But sometimes things are worth the sacrifices we make" Vixen replied.
"But when does a sacrifice become worth it?" Hermione asked sadly. She couldn't help but think about the whole situation with Ron. Things were just so confusing, and she didn't really understand anything anymore.
"When we get what we want out of life, that is when it becomes worth it" Vixen told her.
"But what if what you wanted out of life has changed?" Hermione asked. Vixen sighed and looked at Hermione.
"Then you just have to work for the next thing that you want" Vixen replied. Hermione stood, letting Vixen's words sink in. It made sense what she was saying. She had gotten what she wanted, she was head girl, now she had to work for the next thing, taking each goal as they come and not resting until they became reality.
She had reached one goal, and her next goal was Ron.
Hermione then realized that she had dumped all of this emotional stuff on some one she didn't even know. Hermione looked at Vixen and smiled.
"I am sorry, I didn't mean to dump all of that on you" Hermione replied.
"It is alright Hermione. It seemed you needed to get some things off of your chest" Vixen replied. Picking up her books, she smiled at Hermione again "I don't have many friends that are girls Hermione, and I know you don't either. I hope that we could become friends, if that is ok with you"
"I would like that to" Hermione replied. It was the truth, she would really like to have a girl to talk to about some things sometimes. It was great having boys as friends, but there were some things that you just can't tell boys about. And now with Ginny in Romania, she really had no friends who were girls.
She wanted to accept Vixen's offer of friendship, because she was a really nice person, she seemed to be very smart, had a good head on her shoulders. And she was interesting, but Hermione couldn't stop herself from thinking about Harry.
Harry liked this girl. He really liked this girl, it wasn't just a crush, it seemed like so much more. Hermione had never seen Harry look so in love. And this girl was with some one else, and that was hurting Harry.
Hermione didn't know how Harry would react to her being friends with the girl that he was in love with but couldn't have.
But this girl was offering her friendship, and it looked like Vixen needed the friendship as well. Hermione smiled.
"So, you have to tell me everything about you Vixen" Hermione smiled. Vixen couldn't help but laugh. Hermione looked really excited about getting to know her.
"Well, what do you want to know?" Vixen asked as they left the library and headed towards the potions dungeon.
"Friends, family..boyfriend?" Hermione replied. She knew it seemed a little sneaky, but she wanted to get just a little bit of information to tell Harry, anything to make him feel better.
"Oh, I don't have a boyfriend" She replied. Hermione looked at her, slightly confused.
"But, this morning, I saw you hugging Draco Malfoy" Hermione replied. Vixen laughed.
"Malfoy, No, Draco isn't my boyfriend, Draco is my ......."