16 – Suspicions and Bad Omens

All night, she had been lying awake, worrying. How could she have been this stupid? How could she let it come to this? Whenever someone looked her way at the breakfast table she wondered if they somehow knew. Did the whole castle know already? She sighed, staring into her cup of tea like it was hiding the answers to her problems.

"Was it that awful? Your lesson with Snape?" Ron asked from her left. Haley nodded, sighing again.

"It was like he was poking around in my head. With a toothpick." And that's not even the worst thing, she thought dejectedly.

"But it's a good thing that you're learning to defend your mind, isn't it?" Hermione whispered. She had said that almost a million times since the night before. Haley suspected she was a bit envious that she was learning about such an advanced branch of magic. Well, she would gladly swap places with her.

"Your breakfast," said a voice from behind her. One of the twins' voice? Before she could turn around someone dropped a folded up note on her empty plate. No, it was a letter actually. "From Snuffles," the voice added and when Haley turned around, she could see George Weasley wink at her. Then he joined his brother and Lee Jordan and left the hall.

Her fingers curled around the letter protectively. Would it be okay to open it here? After all, it had been sent to George… She decided to read it. George wouldn't have given it to her during breakfast if it wasn't safe, right?

Haley,

I'm sending you this letter through Molly. I don't want it to be intercepted again. You can give your answer to George who will send it back to Molly again.

Did your first day back at school go well? How did your Potions class go? If anything unusual happens you know you can write to me. About anything.

I also want to remind you to be careful around anyone who appears shady or distrustful. You never know where people's true intentions lie. Keep that in mind.

I'm awaiting your answer.

Snuffles

PS: While cleaning your room Kreacher found something under your bed. It's a small puppet or something. Is it yours? Do you want me to send it to you?

Haley chuckled to herself. Her godfather was clearly still trying to talk her out of seeing Malfoy. Well, if Snape told Dumbledore or anyone else, they would have to stop meeting up anyway. At least Sirius would be happy then. And what about herself? How would she feel?

"Snuffles?" Hermione asked, glancing over her shoulder. She nodded. Fortunately, Sirius had phrased everything vaguely enough so that no one who didn't know what he was referring to would actually get the true meaning.

"He's asking about Snape," she answered. "Wants to know how my 'Potions class' went." She shot her a pointed look, implying that he was actually asking about her Occlumency lesson.

"I see."

"I'm going to tell him that everything's fine. He's worrying enough as it is." She didn't want him to do anything rash. There was no need for it. Unless Snape had told Dumbledore…

She was losing her appetite again.

…

In the Entrance Hall the three friends were awaited by Luna Lovegood.

"Good morning," she greeted them with a kind smile. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" She was looking at Haley questioningly.

"Um… sure," she answered. "Where…?" The way the girl was looking at her, she assumed it was about something private. Something involving Malfoy perhaps?

Luna nodded toward the hallway on the left. She nodded. The Ravenclaw walked ahead and Haley began following her.

"Ron, where are you going?" She heard Hermione asking and turned around. Hermione was holding onto Ron's arm who was following them as well.

"But she said-" He protested.

"She was talking to Haley. Merlin!"

"Oh." Ron seemed confused for a moment. Then he grinned. "We'll wait for you then."

Haley shook her head, continuing into the hallway. They passed a couple of occupied class rooms until there was finally one to the left that seemed empty.

"I'll wait outside," Luna told her, nodding toward the door.

…

DRACO

When the door opened, he was leaning back against one of the tables, trying to come up with the right words. Haley spotted him at once, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. In the few seconds it took her to cross the distance between them, he registered a few things. Her hair was a mess and there were soft shadows underneath her eyes. Hadn't she got any sleep? Already, during breakfast he had noticed how worried she had looked. Anxious even. He hadn't dared looking at her for more than a few seconds. Not with Snape watching. Which was why he had asked Luna to do him a small favour.

As soon as the girl reached him, she gripped his arms tightly, her eyes fixing on his with burning intensity.

"What happened yesterday? What did Snape say to you? Does he know? Is he going to tell anyone? Has he already told anyone? What did he say?" She was shooting the questions at him like spells.

"Hey, calm down for a moment, okay?" He had to stop her. At that rate she was working herself into a panic.

"How can I calm down, when he knows? He knows and he's going to tell everyone and then we'll-"

"He won't tell anyone!" Draco interrupted her rambling. He placed his hands on her shoulders in a way that was meant to be comforting.

She gazed into his eyes searchingly like she was trying to tell whether he was lying. "How do you know?" Haley asked sceptically. Her brows were forming a furrowed line. He wanted to run his fingers over them to smooth the skin. But she seemed so guarded. He doubted she would appreciate the gesture.

"Look, I've practically known him since I was a child. He's always been a close friend of the family. He wouldn't do anything that would harm me. Or the reputation of his house."

"You trust him, then?" She asked, her frown deepening.

Draco sighed. "He hasn't told anyone yet. And I'm going to make sure it stays that way, okay?" She still didn't look completely convinced. "I was also thinking we could surprise him in the dark. You'll stun him and I'm going to erase his memory."

Haley chuckled at that, her features finally relaxing a bit. "You would do that?"

"Yes." He confirmed. Anything. He bit his lips, not wanting the words to slip out accidentally. "So, stop worrying all right?" He raised his hand to her face and brushed his fingers over the shadows under her eyes briefly. She didn't answer. But she also didn't slap away his hand, which he counted as a success.

There was only one more question left to answer. How had Snape known about them?

"I wonder how he found out in the first place," he said quietly. Haley looked away. Did she know? "Did he ask you? Did he use veritaserum on you?" He asked urgently, his hand cupping her face gently.

"No," Potter said, shaking her head.

"Then how…?" He didn't understand. Was she lying to him?

Slowly the girl lifted her eyes, meeting his. "He saw." She whispered simply.

"He saw? But where? How?" If Snape saw them, could there be someone else who had seen – wait… that night, there had been a pensieve on the table… memories… Had he seen it in her memories? What had they been doing that night?

"Your… memories?" He breathed.

Haley looked away. She didn't deny it.

"What were you doing there in the first pla-"

"Please don't ask." She appealed to him, her eyes wide. "I can't – I'm not meant to-"

She was panicking again. Following an impulse, Draco pressed his fingers to her lips, silencing her.

"All right. I won't ask. You don't have to say anything." It hurt seeing her like this. Distraught and panicked and out of her depth. It didn't suit her.

…

HALEY

The faint smell of mint and lavender and something else – something earthy – filled her nose. It was a strange combination but somehow it worked. Without a warning Malfoy had pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her. His scent was surrounding her. It was surprisingly pleasant. Calming. And distantly familiar. She buried her face further into the fabric, where it was coming from. Somehow it made her forget why she had been this upset, almost panicked. But she did remember.

She couldn't let him ask her these questions. Sirius had told her, hadn't he? That he might be using her to gather information about the Order? And that she was supposed to ditch him the moment she doubted his intentions only slightly? That's why she had panicked. Because she didn't want to doubt him. She didn't want to give up on him.

She snaked her arms around the boy, melting further into the embrace. No. Her godfather was wrong. He wasn't using her. Is this why you had to stop him from asking further? Because he is so trustworthy?, a voice asked mockingly. She shook her head. This wasn't right. He had only asked because he had been worried.

Malfoy's fingers drew soothing circles across her back. It almost seemed like an answer to her thoughts.

"Don't worry." He whispered. "No one's going to harm you. I won't let them."

Haley believed him. He sounded so convinced of his words. She felt his lips in her hair and the gesture was so tender that it touched something inside her. Made her feel lightheaded and jittery in a way that had nothing to do with the anxiety she had felt only seconds before.

She removed her head from his chest and looked into his grey eyes. "I…" she started to say, trying to put her feelings into words. Wondering if he was feeling this, too.

She bit her lips, feeling her heartbeat speeding up. "Do you–?"

In exactly that wondrous moment the door creaked open behind them.

"Your friends! They're coming!" Luna told them breathlessly. Haley gazed from the Ravenclaw to the Slytherin in shock. It was too late for him to get out.

"Hide! Quickly!" She told him, pushing him toward the cupboard in the back of the room. After the door was closed behind the slightly ruffled boy, there was barely enough time for Haley to rush back to the centre of the room, where Luna was standing. She could already hear the sound of feet rushing toward the room from the hall.

"Your glasses," the Ravenclaw whispered, reaching out her hand. "They're about to fall off." She smiled softly as she set her glasses straight.

"Oh, thanks," Haley replied, smoothing down her hair hastily.

That was when the door opened again, revealing Ron gazing curiously into the room and Hermione reaching out to stop him.

"Are you finally done with your talk?" The boy asked, frowning slightly.

"Ron, I told you not to-" Hermione started, then stopped herself. Both of them were looking at her strangely. Luna let go of her glasses and smiled at the newcomers cheerfully. "We're all done. I'm sorry for keeping you. You have to go all the way down to Professor Hagrid's, right?"

"Right," Haley agreed eagerly. "We need to hurry!" She wanted to leave as quickly as possible before her friends came up with the idea of checking the cupboard to see if someone was hiding inside it. "See you later, Luna!" She waved at the girl, suppressing the urge to thank her. Hermione and Ron would surely wonder why she was thanking her.

"See you," the girl waved back.

"But what-?" Before Ron could finish his question, Haley rushed past him, pulling him and Hermione down the hall, away from the class room.

…

Even though the three friends ran all the way toward Hagrid's hut, they ended up late. The good thing about running was that it prevented Hermione and Ron from asking questions. Fortunately, they arrived in time to see Lavender and Parvati vanish into the woods.

"Don't tell me we have to go in there again." Ron whined, eyeing the dark trees warily. He probably still remembered their encounter with the spiders in second year.

Hermione looked like she wanted to roll her eyes but seemed to stop herself. "Let's just go," she said with a sigh, leading the way into the Forbidden Forest. They didn't have to walk too far into the forest, before stepping into a clearing, where Hagrid and the other students were gathered in a half-circle.

When Hagrid spotted the three, he greeted them with a cheerful wave and invited them to come closer. The gamekeeper gestured toward a corner that Haley couldn't see and explained something about these creatures called 'thestrals'. Although Ron was taller than her, and Hermione didn't have Millicent Bulstrode blocking her way – like Haley did – they kept looking around like they couldn't see anything.

"What are we supposed to see?" Ron asked Hermione. "Do you see anything?" He turned to Haley, who shook her head.

"Oh. What's that?" The red-head asked, smoothing his finger over her shoulder.

"Huh?" Haley asked in confusion.

"Is that a grey hair?" The boy questioned, inspecting the thing he had picked up from her coat.

"W-what?" She sputtered.

"Ah, no. It's blond I think."

Hermione whirled around, her eyes fixing on the light hair. It was blond indeed. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Uh…"

"It could be one of Luna's…" he mused, frowning. "But she's got longer hair."

Her breathing quickened. She looked to Hermione for help, but said girl watched her curiously as well. She seemed conflicted though.

It was only a matter of seconds now before they figured it had to be Malfoy's hair. And why would there be one of the Slytherin's hairs on her clothing?

"Must have fallen off her fringe," she rushed out almost hysterically. "Happens to me all the time!"

"Hm." He kept inspecting the little hair. "Don't you think… she might be a veela?"

Haley frowned, shooting Hermione a confused glance. "What?"

"Remember Fleur? She's part veela too, right?"

"Too?"

"They've got similar hair, too..." There was a reminiscent smile on his lips. "I know you too are girls so you don't understand. But there's that pull a guy feels when they walk past… It's cause of the veela genes…"

What? Ron thought Luna was a veela? She blinked at Hermione, hoping her friend could make sense of the boy's words. But Hermione seemed to be bothered in a different way. She looked angry. And like she was questioning someone's sanity. Her own? Or Ron's? But there was another thing. She looked hurt.

She bit her lips, before grabbing Haley's hand forcefully. "I think I lost my quill," she rasped, pulling her away from the other students.

"Wait – what?" Haley asked, but her friend had already pulled her back in the direction they had come from.

When they were out of hearing distance, Hermione stopped abruptly, taking a deep breath before turning to her friend with determination. "You have to tell him!" She stated, visibly trying to stay calm.

"What? Tell who? And what?"

"You know who! You've heard him just now. He thinks she's a veela."

"Ron?"

"Of course, Ron! He deserves to know!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Luna! I didn't mean to confront you like this but you leave me no choice!"

"I – What do you mean? I don't understand-"

"Merlin, Haley. Stop playing dumb. Can't you see what's going on here?" She asked in exasperation, throwing her hands up in the air. She sighed. "You have to tell him before he makes even more of a fool of himself!" She bit her lips, her eyes glistening wet. Were those angry tears?

"I don't think I understand…" Haley admitted helplessly.

Hermione growled in frustration. "Ugh!" She buried her fingers in her brown locks.

"Look, just tell him. I'm sure he'll understand-" Hermione broke off, turning around.

A crunching noise had interrupted her. It sounded like someone was stepping on twigs. But there was something else as well. From the opposite direction…

"Isn't that Malfoy?" She murmured. "Where is he coming from…?"

Now Haley spotted him, too. He was following a different path and it didn't seem like he had noticed them.

"He's even later than us." Hermione remarked. "Probably a new way to sabotage Hagrid." She followed him with her eyes. "Now, that I think about it… he's been unusually quiet lately, hasn't he? Not that I'm complaining."

Haley said nothing. She had just noticed that he was wearing his new gloves. The one's she had made for him. And although a part of her felt happy and warm at the sight, another much bigger part desperately hoped Hermione hadn't noticed them. But that was stupid. He was so far away from them, there was no way, Hermione could have recognized the gloves. Right?

"Don't you think?" She asked slowly in a tone that Haley had difficulties interpreting.

"Um… sure, yes. Suspicious." She answered, nodding enthusiastically.

Her friend narrowed her eyes at her, there was a strange glint in her eyes, that also appeared whenever she was trying to master a new knitting technique.

"Haley, you're not actually-"

"There you guys are!" A voice interrupted her, followed by a freckled face that squeezed in between the two girls. "Hagrid sent me to look for you. Says the forest is dangerous. And he's right! I mean, why would you voluntarily stroll around here alone?" Ron looked from Haley to Hermione questioningly. Neither girl answered.

"You're missing out on all the fun! I mean these thestrals are sure creepy. And most of us can't see them obviously. But they're more interesting than those arrogant unicorns."

Ron kept telling them about these thestrals and how apparently only Neville could see them as they made their way back toward the others. Haley nodded every now and then but she couldn't really focus. Hermione was too quiet. It wasn't natural. What was she thinking about? Had she seen the gloves after all? Was she already counting two and two together? But no. That was absurd. She couldn't have noticed them, could she? And even if she had, from that distance it would have been impossible to recognize anything more than the vague colour. Haley had only recognized them because she knew what to look for. It will be all right. She told herself.

It was a good thing that at least Malfoy wasn't wearing the gloves when they finally reached their classmates. He looked away, almost the instant he saw her. But Haley had seen the hint of a smile for a split second. She snorted, looking around for Hagrid. That's when she noticed the thestral. It was beautiful. In a disconcerting way. But it had something elegant and mysterious about it. What had Ron said? Only Neville had been able to see it? Then Hagrid told them that only the people who had seen death were able to see thestrals. Haley's heart sank. She tried very hard not to take that as a bad omen.

…

A/N: Hello everyone! I can't believe how short this chapter is. Anyway. Fun fact: I actually went to the drug store and tried out different perfumes to see if mint and lavender make a nice fragrance. One of the perfumes had this hilarious description. It said "it is a fragrance that enhances a man's masculine character as well as considering his emotional and vulnerable traits." I found that really fitting for Draco somehow xD
A lot happened in this smallish chapter and the next one is going to be even more exciting!

Let me know what you think! And thank you so much for reading :)