Falling into You

By Weasley is my King

Chapter Six

Life's funny, she thought as she wandered the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Funny, she thought, that wherever I go there seems to be drama.She didn't understand how she could keep losing track of him. How could he have disappeared with the same girl not once but twice within the past two hours. This kind of thing never happened to her. Back home Lara never had the problem of losing or misplacing her boyfriends, they were the ones losing or misplacing her. She was a free spirit, unable of settling down and having a strong, meaningful relationship with another. Her mother, a beautiful blonde witch as well, often accused her of floating through life, not caring about anything but boys, lip gloss, and more boys.

She always viewed the situation such that she was a teenage girl, she didn't need to think about "settling down" or anything of that nature. She wanted to have fun in her teen years and that was exactly what she was doing. However, since she met Harry, things changed a little bit. Strangely, she began to pursue him because he seemed to be the only one hanging back a bit. He never blatantly stared at her or tried to pick her up in class, during meal times or in passing time between classes. Harry did, however, seem to be around her when others tried all they could to win her affections. He helped her in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classes as well as volunteering to go to the library with her to finish homework due to the common room being much to loud for her to concentrate.

During one of those trips to the library, Harry and Lara kept barely missing each other's eyes. He tried to focus on his potions essay while she focused on transfiguration, researching something to prove Hermione wrong, which to Harry was a lost cause. It wasn't until they caught each other looking at one another did Lara make the first move, something she never did. She leaned across the table and gave Harry a kiss. From there, the rest is history. That's why this was so strange to Lara, because she had chosen him. She had made the first move. She was looking for him. It should have been her he was looking for, he should have made the first move, and he should have chosen her.

On the way back to the library, just to reminisce the good old days, she passed a few faces, each smiling at her. She didn't really know what led her to the library, for she figured if Harry was anywhere, it wouldn't be the library, but outside down by the lake or on the quidditch pitch. Nevertheless, she wandered through the aisles and aisles of books, just looking. She sat down at the table she and Harry used to always sit at and opened one of the books already on the table. The blonde beauty leaned her head on her hand and began to stare at the words before her. She was in complete silence, beginning to finally feel at ease and she almost reached peace of mind when a book slammed down on the table across from her. She lifted her head from her hand and stared at the boy in front of her.

His stormy gray eyes were staring into hers and his slicked back platinum hair gleamed slightly from the lighting in the room.

"Yes?" she asked lazily, pushing the open book aside.

"In the library again, I see," he said, pulling out the chair across from her.

"Studying," she shrugged, "you know…."

He nodded slowly and arched his eyebrows. "Studying…" he said, reaching for the book she had pushed aside, "How to Grab a Malfoy's Attention?" He looked back at her with a sly smile.

"You wish," she said in a bored tone and closing the book in front of him. She was just about to stand up and leave when he said something she wasn't expecting, but should have been.

"Actually, Lara, I do."

She looked back at him and decided to sit back down. "Well, you seem to have grabbed my attention," she said, crossing her legs under the table, brushing her leg against his on accident. "So, why don't you start talking?"

He smirked. He had her hooked, and in no time she would drop Potter and be his. "You've been in here an awful lot lately," he told her, "I've noticed you just sitting here the same way every time, with a book in front of you, but never turning the pages."

"Your point is…?" she asked. Why, she wondered to herself, would Draco Malfoy, nemesis of her boyfriend and basically all other Gryffindor students, watch her from afar in the library? Why hadn't he given up pursuing her after she had chosen Harry?

"My point is," he said in a calm quiet voice. "I'm wondering if it's Potter who's making you act this way."

Lara rolled her eyes. Yes, of course, she thought. It was about Harry, everything always was. "First of all, it really none of your business, and secondly, we're fine." The last part came out of her mouth fine, but once the words were out, she found herself actually questioning what she had said. They obviously weren't fine. Honestly, how many people can lose their boyfriend as many times as she had and call their relationship fine? If anyone could, great for them, she thought, but she soon came to realize that she couldn't.

"Christmas is coming up," Malfoy stated, calling Lara's attention back to him.

"What?"

"Christmas?" he said slowly, "we all go home, get presents?" He waited to see if there was any kind of comprehension. They had lift off; she shook her head and blinked, obviously slamming back to reality.

"Oh, right," she said. "Christmas. What about it?"

"It's coming up," he repeated. "Are you going back to the States?"

Lara looked around the library absentmindedly. "No," she said, still not looking at him. She knew where Harry would be, he would be with the Weasleys, and that bothered her. Although, she couldn't very well tell him to not go. If he were to stay at school, he would be by himself. If he went back to the Dursleys, he would suffer through the holidays, and she certainly didn't want that. "My parents moved to London; my father got transferred or something like that."

"Interesting," he said, nodding, possibly plotting. "Perhaps we could plan something over the holiday. Maybe you could come over to the manor and have tea or lunch or something."

"Uh huh," she nodded slowly, still staring at a bookshelf across the room. "Sounds good. Well, I'll see you later, I guess." she said, standing up and pushing in her chair. "I have to go, uh, meet Harry for dinner."

.¸¸.·´¨»«´¨·. ¸¸.

It seemed as though all those involved in the drama of the afternoon arrived to dinner in shifts. Harry was already at the table when Lara arrived in the Great Hall. She walked slowly towards the table with all of her fellow Gryffindors, including Harry. She wasn't wearing her usual smile, showing off her pearly whites, and her eyes weren't sparkling the way they usually did. Lara sat down at the large wooden table across from Harry wordlessly. She slowly began to spoon food on her plate, and was just about to take her first bite when Harry asked her if anything was wrong.

She looked at him with eyes he'd never seen before. He realized what that look was, it was hurt. "Listen," she said softly. "we need to talk, but I'd really appreciate it if you waited until we were in private. I'd really hate to be embarrassed and humiliated yet again today."

"I wasn't-"

All she had to do was look at him again and he stopped. "Please," she whispered. This time, he'd seen yet another thing he'd never seen from her before. Her eyes were glistening with tears, and that was enough.

Harry just nodded silently and began picking at his food again. Lara sat across from him with tears in her eyes, pushing the little bit of food on her plate around. Every once in a while Harry would hear her sniffle or see her hand brush against her rosy cheeks to wipe away a stray tear. They sat in their uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Ron moseyed down the rows of tables to his seat beside Harry.

"Sorry I decked you before," he said as he piled food on his plate. "How's dinner? Good?"

Ron shoveled food into his open mouth and looked up at the silence at the table. "Iz-ebryting-okey? Oo-too-eem-odt." Ron swallowed and filled the silence again. "How's your face, Harry?"

"I'll be okay," he said with a nod. He glanced at Lara, who had given up on pushing around her food and was just staring out off into space while twirling her blond hair on her fingertips.

"What's wrong with her?"

Harry looked at Ron with a slight glare and questioningly. How could Ron not see that Lara was upset because of Harry. Heck, he thought, a new student could probably tell she was angry with him.

"I can hear you," Lara said in a bored tone. She didn't look at either one of them, her eyes still far away from them. She sighed heavily, shook her head and stood from the table. "Find me later," she said to Harry before she left.

Unfortunately, as she was leaving, she once again bumped into Draco Malfoy. He smiled charmingly at her and her shoulders immediately slumped. She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head with a small laugh of disbelief. No, he couldn't have just said hello and kept walking. He had to stop her as she was leaving and try to embark on another conversation. Not only was Malfoy talking to her in front of everyone, but Hermione was walking into the Great Hall and did a double take as she passed them. Lara's mind began to wander what Harry's mind was doing, besides thinking of course. Exactly what was he thinking? Did he assume wrongly that there was something between herself and Draco? Serves him right if that was what he was thinking.

As she made her getaway, she wondered whether or not she truly wanted Harry to feel jealous. She wasn't actually sure whether or not she wanted him to think that she could betray him, especially with someone he loathed. And on that walk back to the Gryffindor common room, Lara realized that though she hadn't known Harry very long and even though they hadn't been together very long, she actually cared about him. She cared about him much more than any other boy she had ever known. She realized on that walk that she actually might love him.