Silver Eyes

By: FreakyHotGeek

Note: Love you all to pieces, reviewers! I tried to write quick for you, but as usual I've gotten sore wrists from all that typing, so it's coming out a bit slow… -sob-

Disclaimer: Hi-ya! –fights off crazed fans with karate move- Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm NOT JK Rowling, therefore NOT the owner of Harry Potter. And sadly, also not Ron Weasley.

Chapter 6

Getting To Know Me

I lay in bed, my mind whizzing with all that had occurred.

Trelawney had agreed to teach me what she knew about my "gift", as she called it. It still seemed so strange, so impossible to me that what she was saying could be true, could be real. And yet, I knew that it was the truth. I had seen first hand what happened when I looked people in the eye.

After I'd begun to ask my multitude of questions, Trelawney had sent me on to Transfiguration, saying that I could miss no more of class, and was to come back at the end of the day.

And so I had done. When I returned to her that evening, I was even more full of questions than when I had left. The first thing I did when I reached her, however, was to tell, not ask. I recounted what had occurred at the feast that first night.

"Ah, yes… What happened to you was this; you did not know the power you possess, and so you could not clearly see into the soul, but also you have always longed for people to look you in the eye, yes?" she paused, waiting for me to nod, which I did. "Therefore Mr. Weasley found himself unable look away, because your will held his gaze."

Now, as I look back, that makes sense. If I could only learn to control it, to not force my will on others with my eyes, then I wouldn't have to be afraid of looking people in the eyes.

Suddenly it occurs to me I should have asked her why Blaise could look me in the eye without problems. I had an inkling of my own, however. He was not only gifted in Divination himself, but likely of strong will. Plus, when he was around, I had a bit of trouble with breathing, letting alone thinking anything useful, so there was nothing in my head for him to be pulled towards doing.

Trelawney had explained to me how to look into the soul, though she cautioned me against doing so.

"The soul is sacred, private. You would do best not to intrude."

Then the rest of our first session was spent in meditation, for keeping a clear mind, not wanting to someone to act a certain way, is how I can keep from disturbing people with my gaze.

It seems insane I could be capable of making anyone do anything, even though the evidence stares me plain in the face. I have a terrible urge to test it, to confirm its truth and reality. As I stare up at my ceiling, I wonder what I would see if I looked into Blaise's soul… and how my life could improve now I knew I could control the reactions of others to myself…

Morning came without my ever recalling falling asleep, and I was full of excitement, optimism, and curiosity, something a bit different from the state I found myself in most mornings. Now that I knkew what had contributed to the sorry state of my life the last few years, I felt more equipped to overcome it.

As I walked down the staircase, for the first time since first I'd climbed them, I held my head high. The very air seemed to be quivering with possibility, and I'd spent too long standing in the shadows ignoring it to do so again.

But at the same time, I feel as if I am merely waiting to be told it was all a joke, a lie, simple deceit. For it shouldn't be this easy to correct six compounding years of being the school's most unimportant student, the most talked about during winter, the most ignored all other times. Maybe I could force them to accept me, but wouldn't my heart still know that I had no friends?

The revelation caused my heart to deflate like a popped balloon.

Still, as I take my breakfast, I try to be impassive, to have no desires to force upon people. It was time to put this to the test.

My place at the table is, as it should be, unoccupied. I settle into it with ease, sighing with the familiarity of it, but it's not to last.

"Hey, Shiva," a soft, warm voice says from behind me. I feel my cheeks turn bright pink.

"Hi," I reply, turning to face Blaise with wonder. What is he doing over here? Why isn't he with Malfoy?

"Draco's got Prefect duties, and since being a Prefect's never interested me personally, I'm stuck with eating breakfast alone. Except of course, you are too, because for unexplainable reasons, you always are. So what do you say to a walk down to the lake for breakfast?"

I blink at him, trying to catch up. He's just invited me to have breakfast. With him. And not Malfoy. Just him. I spend another few seconds gaping like a fish, and finally manage to nod.

"B-but…" I say in afterthought. "What will," I jerk a finger at his fellow Slytherins, "they say about you going off with a Gryffindor?"

"They," Blaise says, smiling warmly at me as he offers his hand to help me up. "Won't say a thing if they know what's good for them."

I smile back, a bit weakly because I'm still a little flabbergasted, and take the offered hand with my own, which trembles terribly.

"Relax, would you?" he says, "I don't bite."

I try to relax. After all, Blaise just happens to be my first ever sort of friend. It's not as if he's madly in love with me, or vice versa. I let out a sigh of held breath, and smile. I resist the urge to scrape his soul with my eyes, to read him like a book. For one, I know it's not right, and secondly, I have the oddest feeling he'd know I was doing it, and I didn't want to lose the only kindness I'd been shown in a very long time here at Hogwarts.

We chat about a few things on the way down to the lake, but once we get there, we are pretty quiet, nibbling at our toast. Blaise sprawls out magnificently, completely at ease, while I clutch my legs up under me and sit stiffly, as is my nature, especially in school.

"Why do you do that?" Blaise asks, cocking his head slightly at me.

"Do… what?" I respond, confused.

"Sit or stand so nervously… and avoid people's eyes… things like that."

I feel my cheeks burn. "Oh…" I begin. "I….that is… I er…"

"Go on, spit it out," he encourages, causing me to emit I sound I only realize afterwards is laughter; I haven't heard it from myself in so long.

"I don't know, it's complicated." I decide on. He goans.

"Diamonds aren't a girl's best friend," he says, a mocking grim tone in his voice, "That word is… complicated."

I sigh, "For lack of a better one, that's it," I say. "I… I suppose I'm just not good around people, for starters."

"For starters? Which means there's more."

I wonder for a moment if I couldn't just make him shut up, but again I decide against it. I'm a bit afraid of delving into this power of mine.

"And… I'm just… different from most girls," I finish, giving him a small look that dares him to question me more.

"Well that'll have to do, for now."

I almost let the silence come over us again, but I realize how stupid that would be. This is yet another opportunity which is staring me in the face.

"You've had your question," I say, grinning slightly, "Now I get mine."

He looks a bit taken aback, but he recovers quickly. "Okay," he says. "Go on, then."

I already know exactly what I am going to say, "What made you invite me into your compartment on the train?" I ask.

His face falls for a second, and he sighs, "Do you want the truth or the nice answer?" he says at length.

"Always the truth," I say, dread filling my heart.

"It was your eyes," he says, and I deflate, apparently visibly, because he added at once, "And not the way most people see it… it was how they were sort of full of hopeless hope, if that makes sense…"

I can only blink at him. "If it was the eyes at first," I say carefully, "Then what made you keep talking to me?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, apparently you cannot count," Blaise says lightly. "That's your second question, and you only got one."

There is nothing I can do to defend myself. He's right, after all.

End note: There you have it, chapter 6! Hope you liked! Review, please!