The Exchange
"Oh my gosh, Haley, I love your hair!" Parvati Patil squealed.
While walking around with Hermione and Ron after classes, Haley was bum rushed by the Gryffindor girl who was just dying to meet the new girl. She ended up taking Haley back to her dorm room but not before the Slytherin girl latched onto Hermione's wrist to drag her along. Lavender Brown was in the room when they got there and she was just as eager about meeting Haley as Pavarti was.
"Yeah Haley. What do you put in it? It's so shiny." Lavender said, petting the raven locks.
Haley lightly pulled her hair from the other girl's grasp. "Erm... nothing unusual. Just normal shampoo."
"And your eyes. Wow. You're so lucky. I love how your eyes contrast with your hair. They're so green. Like the leaves of a tree." Pavarti smiled, leaning closer to the girl.
"Yeah, like grass or emeralds." Lavender added.
Pavarti and Lavender looked at each other with grins on their faces. Then they both looked at Haley.
"Like Harry Potter's!" They both squealed at the same time.
Haley just blushed.
"Harry Potter is so dreamy..." Pavarti smiled before she began to fan herself. "Don't you think so, Hermione?"
Hermione blushed. "If you ladies have forgotten, Ron is my boyfriend. And Harry's just one of my best friends."
"You mean you've never thought of him as a boyfriend?" Lavender cocked her head to the side.
"No!"
"That's a shame. Haley, you need to see Harry. I'm sure you'd agree with us."
Haley just laughed awkwardly. Though it was somewhat amusing to find out that these two girls fancied him, it was also just plain weird.
"So, Haley." Pavarti smiled at the girl. "What are going to do this weekend?"
"Well, Hermione and I were going to do a bit of shopping. I, um....I forgot how cold it got here."
"Shopping!" Both girls cheered, startling the raven-haired girl somewhat. Hermione simply shook her head.
"Oh my gosh! You're going shopping?!"
"Can we come with you?"
"We can judge your outfits."
"And you can judge ours!"
"It'll be just like a..."
"Girl's night out!" The two switched off. If Haley didn't know that Pavarti already had a twin sister, she could have sworn that she and Lavender were separated at birth.
"I guess so..." Haley said slowly.
Both girls smiled with glee. "All right! Shopping!"
Hermione just shook her head again.
---
The weekend came too soon as Haley was pulled from clothing rack to clothing rack by the two excited Gryffindors. Hermione trailed behind apologizing politely to the people who gave the girls funny looks.
"Haley, this would look great on you!" Pavarti said, holding up a green blouse.
"Here! Try this on!" Lavender handed the Slytherin a pair of low-cut jeans.
The girls eventually got a room started for Haley to try on clothes. They just continued to pile clothes in Haley's room, throwing them over the door or handing them to the girl from under the door.
Hermione sat back in a chair across the hall from Haley's dressing room and chuckled in amusement.
"What are you so smug about?" Haley frowned.
"You invited them. Don't look so shocked at their excitement. It's what most girls do."
"Well, you're not going crazy now are you?"
"That's because I've got my priorities straightened out. And since I've already got Ron, I don't need to go out of my way to impress anyone." Hermione cocked her head to the side. "That blouse is a little too big on you. It doesn't look right. Lavender!"
The girl came rushing around the corner. "You called?"
"That shirt's too big for Haley. Can you find one smaller?"
"Gotcha!" Lavender smiled.
Haley sighed. "What's wrong with this? It's almost clinging to me."
Pavarti came around the corner and dropped off some more clothes. "Haley, less is more. The less fabric there is concealing you, the more attention you get from the cute boys like Harry Potter." She winked before disappearing around the corner again.
"But...I am Harry Potter." Haley groaned quietly. Hermione just laughed again. "And what if I don't want to attract boys?"
"Well, then, Haley Jones..." Hermione smirked. "People would believe that you might be playing on the other side of the team."
Haley blushed before stepping back into her dressing room. She heard Hermione laughing again. The green-eyed girl frowned at her reflection. She was wearing the jeans that Hermione let her borrow and a top that Pavarti had picked out. She pulled off the shirt and slipped on another. It was plain white but rather clingy to accentuate her curves.
'I don't see what the big deal is. I don't notice anything when girls wear tight clothing.' Haley frowned again. 'In fact, I don't notice too many girls at all. I mean, with the exception of Cho Chang, I never really was attracted to that many girls.' Haley shook her head. "But that doesn't mean I fancy boys." She mumbled to herself. She scoffed at the idea. But then Draco Malfoy popped into her mind. She pushed away the image of the blonde boy whose face she had memorized a long time ago. "Yeah right." She shook her head again before continuing on with the growing pile of clothes.
---
"Haley? How many bras do you have?" Hermione half whispered.
"I...erm...."
"What size do you wear?"
"I don't...I don't know. It came with the uniform they gave me."
From behind the dressing room door, Hermione stared somewhat in shock. "Haley, I'm coming in."
"No, wait! I don't have a shirt-"
But before she knew it, her friend was already in the small room with clothes scattered all over the place.
"Hermione!"
"Oh, hush up. It's not like I haven't seen a girl's breasts before."
"But...this is so embarrassing."
The brunette rolled her eyes. "Get over it. It's just like two males seeing each other in their boxers. Now drop your arms."
Haley had her arms wrapped around her chest in an attempt to hide herself from the other girl. "I don't-"
"Haley. You've got nothing to hide. Honestly. Grow up." The raven-haired girl glared at her friend but tentatively dropped her arms, revealing her slim and slightly built form. Hermione shook her head. "You know, some girls would kill to have a body like yours."
"Hermione!"
"I'm just telling you the truth." She looked at her friend's chest. The Head Girl made a face with disgust looking all over it. "This bra is way too small for you. It's like they just pulled one at random."
"That's what they probably did." Haley shrugged.
Hermione paused for a moment. "Pulled it from where?"
Haley shook her head. "Oh, please. I don't want to know."
"Right. Me neither." Hermione placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. "Turn around." Haley did as she was told. The green-eyed girl felt Hermione pull at the bra to glance at the tag. "This is a size 34B. I'll be right back."
Haley sighed as her friend stepped through the door. Luckily, Pavarti and Lavender had decided to start pulling things off the rack for themselves. She would have been awfully humiliated had Hermione yelled to the two girls to pick out some bras for her.
The Slytherin looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had been a female for five days now and she had not wanted to look at herself nude or even partially nude in the mirror. It was a little embarrassing even if it were her own body. Even while taking a shower, Haley refused to linger in certain areas. But now, as she looked at herself, she realized that she was quite attractive. She was slim but not too skinny. She had a slight muscular build from playing so much Quidditch and her skin was a nice olive tone that went well with her beautiful, long, black hair.
"Haley, I'm coming in." Came Hermione's voice from the other side of the door. As she came into the room, Haley noticed that she had three different bras in her hands. As if understanding Haley's unspoken question, Hermione held them up. "I pulled three different sizes that I thought would fit better: 36B, 34C, and 36C. I don't think you're a D but if you are, we can always just pull it off the rack. Here," she handed the smallest one to the other girl. "Try it you just..."
Hermione threw her hands up in the air and groaned. "Honestly..." She huffed, but turned around to face the corner.
Haley turned her back to her friend before snapping off the bra that she was already wearing. She tried on the first one and cleared her throat to alert Hermione that she was ready for her to turn around.
"Hmmm...that's the 36B, right? Does it feel too tight?"
"A little, I guess."
"Try on the next one." Hermione said before turning back to face the corner again.
Haley slipped on the next one. It was a little more comfortable than the first one, but it still didn't seem right. She turned to Hermione.
"That one looks better but...try the other one."
Haley did as she was told. 'What a hassle....' She thought.
"That looks perfect." Hermione said, once Haley faced her again. "Not too tight, right?" Haley shook her head. "And you feel covered and supported?" Haley blushed slightly but nodded. "Well, I guess you're a 36C, unless you want to try on a D."
"No, I think this will do fine." Haley said quickly.
"All right. I'll go pick some more out for you. Are you done with everything?" She asked, motioning towards the pile of clothes.
"Yeah. I'll need help carrying all of it."
"Right. I'll get Lavender and Pavarti."
Once Hermione left, Haley took another glance at herself in the mirror. 'I wonder what's so fascinating about a woman's breasts. I mean, they're just large mammary glands, right?' Haley poked one of her breasts. "Whatever." She shook her head before slipping into the clothes she came in.
After putting what she didn't want on a rack, the four girls walked over to the register. Haley had chosen ten pairs of jeans, all of different cuts and colors, five different skirts at the insistence of the girls who thought of how cute Haley would look in them, twenty shirts and tank tops, eleven sweaters and jackets, two pairs of shoes, and twelve bras, two being sports bras. The girl sighed at the sight of the huge pile. It was definitely going to put a dent into her Gringotts account. Maybe she would sell them once all of this was done with.
While the other girls were talking amongst themselves as the clerk scanned all of Haley's clothes, the raven-haired girl spotted a ring in the glass case behind the register. It was large, obviously for a male, silver with an emerald in the middle.
"Excuse me. May I take a look at that ring?"
The witch pulled out the ring the younger girl was pointing to. "Is that for your boyfriend?" She smiled.
Haley blushed. "I don't have a boyfriend."
The witch still continued to smile. "The band was made to resize magically, depending on who the owner is. It fits perfectly, as long as you have fingers."
"Hmmm..." Haley inspected the ring closer. There was a faint image of a dragon whose wings flapped in the emerald and strange markings around the gem, as if in another language.
"It says 'Protect the ones closest to your heart.' It's written in a language that died out years ago." The witch said, reading Haley's mind. "Shall I add it to the rest?"
Haley stared at the ring, automatically thinking of Draco. "It suits him..." She mumbled to herself.
"Excuse me? Him who?" The witch gave a sly smile.
"Huh?" Haley snapped out of her thoughts. "Um, yes. I'll take it."
The witch totaled up all of Haley's purchases and with the help of the three other girls, they lugged it all back to Hogwarts. On their way towards the Slytherin dungeons, a voice came from behind them.
"Someone had a busy day today."
The four girls turned to see Draco Malfoy watching them with a look of amusement on his face.
"Thank goodness." Pavarti sighed. She walked over to the blonde boy and handed him the bags she was holding. "Haley, it was fun. I'll see you around."
"Hey, wait!" Draco frowned.
"Come on Lavender, Hermione." Pavarti said.
The other two girls smiled as they piled on the bags and boxes into Draco's arms. "Wait! I never-"
"See you at dinner, Haley. Bye!" The girls laughed and walked away.
Haley giggled quietly as to not frustrate the Head Boy further. She quickly said the password and hurried to her room with an aggravated Draco following closely behind.
"What did you do? Buy the whole store?" Draco glowered at the pile he dropped into the corner of Haley's room.
Haley ignored the comment and pulled a small box out of one of the bags. "I got you something." She turned to the other boy.
"Really?" Draco's frustration flew out the window only to be replaced with surprise.
"Yeah." Haley shrugged, holding out the little box to Draco.
The grey-eyed boy took the box and slowly opened it. There he saw the silver ring with the emerald in the center.
"It reminded me of you when I saw it."
Draco looked at the ring a bit longer before looking up at Haley. "You didn't have to."
"I know I didn't. I wanted to." She shrugged again.
The blonde looked at the ring again and sighed. He pulled it out of the box and slipped it on. He looked back up at Haley and stepped towards her.
Haley, unsure of what he was doing, stood where she was, her eyes locked with Draco's.
When he was merely centimeters away from the girl, Draco bent down and gave Haley a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." He whispered into her ear before stepping back and leaving the room.
Haley stared at the door, not really seeing it. She was still shocked at what Draco had just done. She lifted her hand to her cheek as a blush slowly crept up her face. She whispered into the air, "It was nothing."
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: If I owned the characters of Harry Potter, would I be writing fanfictions? I think not.
Shopping with the ladies. When I first started writing this, I didn't even think of Haley's clothes as a problem. But I guess after thinking about it, it became a little problem. That's a lot of clothes to buy. Plus, a ring. Harry must be rich. I don't know what else to say.