3 - The Truth Is Hiding In Your Eyes

HALEY

He was avoiding her. It was painfully obvious that he was. She gave him a day. Two days. Three. A week. But then it was enough. Originally she had wanted to approach him right after they had all departed the train, but she hadn't been able to make out the blond head in the crowd.

After the third day she sat down and resorted to putting her thoughts in order. Why was this even that important to her? Why was she so set on talking to the git?

I just need to make sure. Make sure what? Make sure that I wasn't mistaken. That maybe there is a decent person behind that icy demeanor. Maybe we've been wrong all along? She also refused to believe that she had misjudged a person so badly. The glimpses she had seen of the Slytherin the last year… She wanted to see more of them. She wanted to make sure that… they weren't wrong about his character. That he wasn't the bad guy because they always made him out as such. She… well… she had trust in people. And she wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't give him that tiny benefit of the doubt. So she sought him out. But he avoided her like a snake no matter how hard she tried. And finally after one week she'd had enough. She was just about to ask Fred and George for help when an opportunity presented itself by coincidence.

It was an afternoon like any other on a day that still carried the faint smell of late summer along with it. The leaves had already started to change their colours and it wouldn't be too long until they'd begin to fall.

Haley was walking along the grounds lazily, her mind wandering from one thought to another, when she spotted a lone figure walking a few ways in front of her. What were the odds, that the shock of white blond hair belonged to Malfoy?

Trying to make as little noise as possible, Haley followed the figure, getting closer and closer until there were only about 10 metres separating her from the boy. Once she was absolutely sure that it really was the Slytherin – without either Crabbe or Goyle for once – she drew her wand from her pocket and pointed it at him. If Moody knew she was attacking someone from behind he would certainly be disappointed but Haley really didn't have a choice. And she wasn't going to let him sneak away from her another time.

One hex later and Malfoy was lying on the ground, a laughing mess. She grinned. One point for Haley. She could have walked toward him faster but she took a sick pleasure in seeing the boy rolling around on the ground, being tickled by invisible hands and not being able to do a thing about it.

Once Haley had finally reached the boy that was lying underneath a tall oak tree, she was hit with a strange squeezy feeling in her gut. Never before she'd seen Malfoy laugh like this. Scornful? Yes. Cackling? Definitely. But this? This was different. For a moment she just stood there, watching in wonder. Then she registered, the painful way in which he was holding his stomach and the tears that were starting to roll down his face.

"Finite Incantatem," she murmured, pointing her wand at the boy. The laughter quieted down at once. Getting less intense gradually until it stopped all together, leaving only silence behind.

Malfoy sat up slowly. "Potter," he stated hoarsely, voice raw from laughing, "what do you think you're doing?"

Without thinking about it, Haley extended her hand to him and for a crazy second it seemed like he was going to take it and let her help him up. He seemed to realize what he was doing then, letting his hand fall mid-raise and looking away with a snort.

Haley's hand fell to her side, while Malfoy quickly got to his feet. He didn't look at her. She watched his movements carefully, ready to stop him at the first sign of him making a run for it.

"I'm not letting you run away this time," she informed him.

Malfoy snorted. "I'm already trembling."

Haley didn't feel like wasting her breath on an answer to that.

"Fine," Malfoy said, his voice sounding tired, "Say your piece. If it's that important to you."

Now that she finally had his attention, Haley wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to say to him.

She had been too busy with actually making him listen to her.

"Uh – I –" she started, fumbling with the note in her left hand nervously. She looked to the ground, but of course her words weren't hiding there.

When she looked up again, she could swear, there'd been something soft in his eyes. But maybe it had been nothing but a trick of the light because not a second later his face had closed off, betraying nothing but cold hardness.

Haley sighed. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep doing this without going insane.

"I know you didn't mean it," she stated, determination, making her words sound more powerful.

"Didn't mean what, Potter?"

"What you said to me. On the train."

"Ah, that," he mused, "Why are you so sure, I didn't mean it?"

If he thought this was enough to discourage her, he was sourly mistaken.

"You can stop with the pretence now. Nobody's watching." Haley said, not backing down. She didn't understand why he was still keeping up his pointless act. They were alone, weren't they? There was no reason for him to still act that way. Unless… But no. Any second now, he would tell her she'd been right. Maybe he was simply afraid, she was still mad or something.

"You – what? You think this is a pretense? I was only pretending to be cruel to you? Why would I do that?"

"Well, what was I supposed to think after the way you were acting last year?" Haley spat in frustration. This was not at all going the way she had imagined.

Malfoy's shoulders were shaking slightly in silent laughter.

"Someone is a little bit nice to you and you think – Wait, you don't actually think, I like you, do you?"

Haley didn't say anything, she only stared at him in silence. She couldn't believe the git was actually using these words against her.

"Do you fancy me, Potter?" He said it in such a cruel and mocking way that Haley felt sick to her stomach. She was clenching her fist so hard, that the note inside it would have been crushed to tiny little pieces, if it had been something other than a piece of paper.

"You're disgusting," she threw the words at him like they were something ugly and despicable.

"You're right," there was no amusement left in his voice or face now. It was devoid of all emotion, icy and unforgiving, like a particularly harsh winter storm.

"And you'd better not forget it a second time," he continued, "You know that I'm on... that side." It was clear what he was referring to. His father was a death eater. They had killed Cedric. She had to fight them. She had to fight him. He was the enemy.

Was he really, though? Wasn't this him pushing her away on purpose, because he wanted to... he wanted to... well, what exactly was it that he wanted? The way he stood there under the oak tree, shaded by the leaves above... The expression on his face mostly hidden by the shadows. Who was he? What did she really know about him?

"It's truly a shame what happened to the poor, little Hufflepuff, isn't it?"

Haley did a double-take. Did Malfoy really just say that? Was he actually threatening her? And the way his lips curled into a disgustingly self-satisfied smirk... That was too much. He didn't have the right to talk about Cedric that way. Or at all. If he'd wanted to make her despise him, he'd reached his goal.

Haley shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe I actually thought – I actually thought – I –" She paused, putting her thoughts into order, "You know what? Just forget it."

This had been a waste of her time from the beginning. How could she have been so stupid? What a fool she was. What was she still doing here? Shouldn't she leave already? What was she waiting for? Nothing.

The note suddenly felt scorchingly hot in her hand. She remembered then, how she'd wanted to thank him. How she'd wanted to tell him, that the note had been bringing her luck.

What a foolish thought. He didn't deserve her gratitude. She kept her eyes firmly to the ground. Then she angrily threw the paper ball into the grass. She didn't need it anymore.

With her head raised high Haley marched back toward the castle. Her throat was aching, her eyes starting to burn but she refused to cry. What use was there in crying? It's better this way, she told herself, it doesn't matter. She should have known it would turn out this way. Should have listened to her inner voice. It doesn't matter, she thought, as the sun was setting in front of her.

...

DRACO

It all seemed rather dramatic how the setting sun was illuminating Potter's retreating back. She was always walking away from him. But it was his own fault, wasn't it? And certainly it had been the right thing to do? Draco sank back against the tree that was behind him, suddenly feeling weak. With his eyes shut tightly, he punched the ground in frustration. The pain in his hand wasn't enough to dull the ache he felt in his chest. He'd sworn to himself he wouldn't be that person anymore. That he wouldn't hurt her again.

So after the disastrous encounter on the Hogwarts Express, he'd taken to avoiding the girl. With an actual Ministry represent at Hogwarts it wouldn't be too long until word got around to the ministry or his father. Draco didn't want to imagine what his father would say, if he found out, he was being friendly toward Haley Potter. So, there really had been no other choice but to avoid her. Although it went a long way from what he really wanted to do, whenever he saw her. Back on the train he'd only meant to give her a little hint, for her to stay away and show her that whatever had happened between them last year was in the past. (He tried not to acknowledge the fact that it definitely wasn't in the past for him.)

But it was Potter after all and therefore he really should have known she wasn't going to give up so easily. All week she had tried to confront him until she had finally succeeded in catching him off guard today.

And with a tickling hex of all things. That was so Potter. If she could avoid violence, she would. Always. The thought made Draco smile softly, despite himself.

She'd really looked lovely today. Seeing her from such a close distance had done things to his heart, that were too dangerous to even think about. Her hair had grown longer. It went a little over her shoulders now, although it was still a wild mess most of the time. But Draco liked that. In fact he had caught himself imagining one too many times what it would feel like to run his hands through the raven locks. Or to spend hours trying to tame them into a decent hairstyle for once. Would they be soft? Would he get his fingers tangled up in them so deeply, that he would have trouble getting them out again? He imagined Potter glaring at him, if he ever got his fingers entangled in her hair.

Those deep green eyes that always looked like they were ready to kill, whenever they were directed at him. Lately she'd more often than not looked at him differently. Like she was trying to figure him out and uncover all the secrets that he kept hidden so carefully.

And during one tiny second she'd almost caught him. When she'd been just about to talk, seemingly too surprised that he was actually letting her talk to form coherent words. If it hadn't been for his long experience with keeping his true feelings under control, he might have accidently smiled at her. It had been quite endearing, seeing her this nervous, with one hand tinkering around with... something.

Right. There had been something in her hand. She'd thrown it into the grass, before leaving. Draco knelt down and started to look around in the grass. With the setting sun it was quickly becoming dark around him but the thing couldn't be far. Then he saw it. It really was nothing special. Just a note. Folded together tightly. He picked it up and began to unfold it eagerly. It wouldn't be cursed, would it?

The words that were glaring up at him like a twisted ironic joke hit him just as hard as a curse would have. Don't die.

Draco's fingers started to tremble, his eyes lost their focus and he couldn't breathe. He'd written this. Every word. Every letter. He still remembered pondering about the wording. Trying out every possible variation of Good luck, and I know you can do it, or Be careful. Until he'd finally settled on this rather neutral approach. Already anticipating the possibility of someone else finding the note and tracing it back to him. The memory was fresh in his mind and yet it seemed like it had happened in a different lifetime.

He'd written this. And all this time Potter had been keeping it. Draco's heart was twisting in a painful way. Had she known it had been from him? And if she had, why had she kept it?

At least she must have suspected it, why else would she have thrown it away in that moment?

One thing was certain in any case. She didn't want it anymore. And the message could hardly be any clearer. She was done with him. Although that was exactly what he'd been trying to achieve, he hadn't anticipated the pain that realisation would bring with it. A silent scream was resounding in his head. He crumpled up the note in his fist angrily. It was astounding how much the note now resembled the state of his heart.

...

"You're a bit confusing, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Draco replied, like the dignified person he was. In his defense, his mind had been preoccupied with… other… important… matters. Reluctantly he turned toward the voice that had so impolitely disturbed him.

"You!", he exclaimed, once he'd spotted the blonde girl, that was currently sitting at his table in the library. He'd ordered Crabbe and Goyle to do a background check on her. She was a fourth-year and her name was Luna Lovegood. People often called her "Loony" because she believed in the existence of all kinds of impossible creatures. Also her father was the producer of The Quibbler.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in annoyance. He hadn't even noticed when she'd arrived.

"I'm doing my homework," the offending girl replied innocently.

Draco eyed her disdainfully. "I can see that. I meant what business do you have, sitting at my table?"

The girl looked at him in wonder, making her already huge round eyes appear even bigger.

"I didn't know students could purchase these tables. Don't you think they belong to Hogwarts? But then again, who does Hogwarts belong to? You don't think Dumbledore owns it, do you?"

What the bloody hell was this girl talking about? She was constantly trying to disrupt Draco's focus but he wouldn't let himself be tricked by her!

He cleared his throat importantly, "Well, I don't actually own the table, I guess. But since I'm sitting here, it's my table for the day and since we don't know each other, I thought it quite strange for you to do your homework here. Considering there are plenty of empty seats where you could do so without disturbing people you don't even know."

Loony didn't answer at first. The pitiful girl was obviously on the dense side.

"I like this table. Nobody ever comes here, so I can do my homework in peace, without having people steal my notes or hiding the books I need." The way in which she stated these facts sounded strangely neutral. She wasn't looking for pity or help. It was just the way things were.

Draco wasn't completely heartless. If she was only there to quietly do her homework he had no reason to chase her away. Right? They would be even then. She had helped him that night, when he'd been stuck in the knight's helmet and now he would simply return the favour.

"Fine, you can stay. I was going to leave anyway," he said, closing the book that had been lying on the table in front of him untouched for a while.

"You're done watching her then?" The girl asked, nodding at something to Draco's left.

The question threw him off so bad that he answered without thinking about the words.

"I – I wasn't watching Potter!"

The girl grinned triumphantly. "So you were watching Haley Potter."

"What? - No, I-"

"I never mentioned her name. I was merely referring to her. And considering she isn't the only girl sitting at that table, how else would you know who I was talking about?"

Draco gaped. He had let himself be tricked by that brazen little girl. He would show her what it meant to be messing with a Malfoy. He looked away.

"Well, I wasn't looking at her, I was just… lost in thought. And she… happened to sit in my line of sight."

"Oh. Well then," the girl opened a huge book that was lying in front of her and started to read.

Was this all she had to say? Didn't she know who she was talking to? Well, he might as well leave like he'd wanted to. But maybe he could steal a final glance at Potter – who he had not been watching – just to ease his mind. She was wearing her hair over her left shoulder, making her long neck stand out for everyone to see. A lock of hair kept falling into her eyes, which she pulled back behind her ear every few minutes or so. It was really distracting. He had to suppress the urge to walk up to her and take care of the lock himse–

"Lost in thought again?" Someone asked smugly, startling Draco so much, that he almost fell out of his chair. Damn. He didn't like the knowing grin on the blonde girl's face at all.

"I could be mistaken, but to me you look more like someone who has finally found the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. That's what is a bit confusing, though. One day you look at her like that and the next you treat her like she is the most horrible person in the world. Why's that?" She tilted her head to the side curiously.

Draco's brain felt like it was being short-circuited. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be worrying about first. The fact that the Luna girl completely saw through him or that she was totally delusional at the same time.

"Snorkack?" He asked finally, settling on the easiest matter.

"Yeah. It's only a question of time until someone will find it."

"Right..." Draco stated. He was quickly learning that it was safer not to ask. He bit his lip, considering whether he should...

"You know… the thing you said earlier… that thing..." Draco found himself stammering. With his hands he gestured to his left, trying to make her understand without actually having to spell it out.

"You mean, that you have a crush on Haley Potter?"

Draco's eyes widened until they were almost as big as the girl's offending blue orbs.

"Are you daft? You can't say something like this so carelessly!"

The girl simply watched him, which was embarrassing because he was sure that he was blushing furiously.

"But yeah… that," he muttered under his breath, "Is it… is it really that obvious?"

Draco was sure he was slowly going insane. How else could it be explained that he was telling his deepest secrets to a stranger? Maybe it was the fact, that considering the girl's reputation it was unlikely anyone would believe her, should she ever tell someone about this. But perhaps it was also because he had carried this secret with him for such a long time that it felt liberating to finally be able to talk to someone about it. Even if it was Loony Lovegood. Said girl seemed to think about her answer for a moment.

"I guess," she began, "you're not as subtle as you think you are," Draco's heart sank, "But it's not like it's blatantly obvious."

"So you're saying," Draco urged in frustration. Why couldn't she speak in certain terms? He had to fight the urge to shake her until the answer tumbled out of her.

"I'm saying that observant people would surely notice it, if they had a reason for being suspicious and would be actively looking for it. I don't think you've been found out though. Not yet. In fact I think Haley Potter is convinced that you actually despise her."

This was a good thing, wasn't it? Then why did his heart feel so heavy all of a sudden?

"I don't want her to think I hate her," he admitted in a small voice.

"Oh, really? Because to me it seemed like that was exactly what you were trying to achieve."

"Well, what choice do I have?" He blurted, his voice too loud, "We're not on the same – Father would – I can't – It's too dangerous. You wouldn't understand." He ended quietly.

"Ah. I guess I wouldn't understand, that you're afraid how your family might react, if they found out about your crush on her. Would they actually disown you? I read something similar in a muggle book once. In the end the boy and the girl died."

Draco looked up at the girl in an irritated way, from where he'd been hiding his face in his hands.

"Is this supposed to make me feel better? Were you actually listening?" He was wasting his time here. It had been a mistake, confiding in Loony Lovegood. He chuckled darkly.

"I know that you-know-who is back and I imagine your family still supports him. But do you, really? What if staying away from Haley wasn't your only choice?"

"What are you talking about?" He snapped. Her words were stirring up something inside him. But he couldn't let himself hope. He couldn't.

"Maybe there is a way for you to see her, that doesn't endanger either of you. My mother always said 'If there is a will, there is a way'."

As much as Draco wanted to he couldn't let himself believe in her words. The disappointment in the end would be too crushing.

"It doesn't matter either way. She doesn't even like me back," he whispered.

"Are you sure about that?" The girl wondered.

"Yes." He said, finality in his voice.

"It can't be helped then," she replied, closing the book in front of her with a resounding clap.

"Still, there's one thing that's certain."

"What's that?"

"She won't be waiting for you to make up your mind forever."

"What do you mean?"

"I remember how disappointed many guys were last year, when she accepted Michael Corner's invitation to the Yule Ball."

Draco's hands clenched at the mention of that prat.

"And although many people see her as a crazy liar at the moment, I'm sure… that will change once everyone finds out, she's been telling the truth, all along. Don't you think?"

Draco didn't answer. He only frowned. The girl shrugged.

"I'll continue this essay in the common room. It's hard to concentrate with you constantly talking to me," she said, getting up and collecting her things.

"I'll see you around, Draco Malfoy," she said with a wave, before walking away.

Draco was too stunned to reply. How dare she treat him like that and then just walk away like she hadn't been totally disrespecting him? He really hoped he wouldn't see her again all too soon. She always left him with unsettling thoughts.

…

A/N: Hello, my dear readers :) How did you like the big confrontation? Or Draco and Luna's heart-to-heart? Or most importantly what do you think about the POV change? I shouldn't like pining Draco as much as I do... well...
I promise the drama will be resolved soon!
Thank you lots and lots for reading :) Reviews and favourites and follows make me happy :)

Also, I'm working on a new fic atm. It's a cross-over between HP and the "Silber"-trilogy by Kerstin Gier. I don't know if that one is available in English but maybe you know her "Ruby-Red"-trilogy? Anyway in my fic there'll be Haley and dreams and... it's an AU where James and Lily are still alive! Cool, huh? I'll still update all of my other stuff of course :)

Title's from "Decode" by Paramore

Have fun and keep reading, Feather :)