Draco sneezed. He hadn't realized that he had sat in the bitter cold for such a long time until his own cold caught up with him the next morning. He rose from bed, feeling miserable and even colder than before. But he was a Malfoy and Malfoys didn't care about their health. They cared about their education. So, he got dressed and left the Slytherin common room and slowly made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast.
That's when he spotted something on the floor: a glossy, rectangular piece of paper. He picked it up and was shocked to see that it was a very up close picture of Haley. The boy frowned. Haley hadn't been looking at the camera while this was taken. That could have easily meant that someone was stalking her. But Draco chided himself for jumping to conclusions. It could have been also been a candid shot taken by one of her friends.
"Hey, Draco!" Haley hurried up to her friend.
Draco, startled from his thoughts, tried desperately to shove the picture into his pocket.
"Glad to see you didn't freeze out there." She smiled. She looked at the boy curiously, as he tried unsuccessfully to hide the picture. "What's that?"
Draco shook his head. "It's nothing." He said, hiding it behind his back.
"That's a picture. Who is it of?" Haley grinned. "It is of your secret lover?" She teased. She circled the boy to try to catch a glimpse of the shot.
Draco tried to keep the photo away from Haley's eyes. But he was feeling exhausted so when she swiftly grabbed the picture from his hands, there was nothing he could do about it.
The smile slowly faded from Haley's face. "What's this?" She looked up at Draco, confusion written across her features. "Why do you have this? I don't remember posing for any pictures."
"It's not mine." The boy defended. "I found it on the floor just now."
"Then why were you trying to hide it from me if you just found it?"
"Haley I didn't…I-ah…ah choo!" Draco sneezed.
Concern immediately flooded her face. She stepped forward and placed a hand upon Draco's forehead. "Oh my gosh, you're burning up!"
The Head Boy shook his head. "I'm fine."
"You are not fine. What time did you get in last night?"
"I don't know…" Draco sniffled.
"Come on, we need to get you to the hospital wing." She took Draco's arm and wrapped it around her shoulders to help him walk.
The blonde pulled back his arm. "I'm fine. I need to get to my classes…" Just then, his knees gave way, and had it not been for Haley, the boy would have crashed face first into the stone floor.
"Draco, you are not fine. I'll take notes for you in class if you're so worried."
"I'm supposed to learn from your chicken scratch?"
Haley frowned and released the boy, allowing him to fall flat on his face. Draco groaned and rolled over onto his back. The raven-haired girl inwardly smirked, but placed her hands on her hips and bent over her friend. "It's either my chicken scratch or Goyle's."
"Good point. But what about my Arithmancy class?"
"I'll just borrow Hermione's." Draco frowned. "It's either that or nothing else. She's the only one that I know of in that class, other than you."
"Ugh, fine."
"You know what? Never mind. I think I'll just leave you here like this, you ungrateful twat. Have a nice day, Draco." The girl smiled and began to walk away.
"Haley!" Draco whined, still not moving from off the floor.
The girl rolled her eyes and quickly returned to the boy lying on the ground. She pulled him up and wrapped his arm around her again to support his weight. "After this, you're going on a diet."
Draco scoffed. "You know you like my sexy body."
"Clearly, this cold has made you delusional."
The blonde rested his head on Haley's. "Thank you."
The girl smiled. "No problem."
The two made their way up to the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey frowned upon seeing Draco. "This is what you get for staying out of bed so late, Mr. Malfoy." The nurse forced him to rest in one of the beds and poured some juice for him. "Better hurry to class, Miss Jones. I' m putting you in charge of collecting Mr. Malfoy's homework for him."
"Right." Haley walked over to Draco's side. "Get better soon, Draco. I won't do this for you everyday."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
The two shared a friendly smile before Haley left to go to class. She remembered the picture that was carelessly shoved into her pocked. 'What was Malfoy doing with this?' Haley frowned. She didn't want to think about it and simply threw the picture away into the nearest trash receptacle.
---
Draco was bored. He had slept a good four hours before being woken by Madame Pomfrey to eat some lunch. After finishing his meal, the boy was wide awake and feeling much better than he had felt when he first woke up in the morning. But the nurse urged him to lay back and rest some more so that he wouldn't have to return the next day. So there he sat, staring at the ceiling feeling absolutely bored. He did calculate that classes would end at precisely three in the afternoon. From Divination class, it would take Haley about ten minutes to get to the hospital wing to visit him. Draco frowned. Haley was two minutes late.
'She better not be off with Maxwell…damn that Maxwell…' Draco then remembered the picture. He sat up. 'I bet it was his picture…No…I can't keep jumping to conclusions. But she did say that she never posed for it so that means someone must be following her…but who?' Draco frowned again. He looked at the ring the girl had given him. Curious as to what the markings said, he searched the library. He was sure that he could have simply asked Haley but he wanted to do this on his own. He was a little startled when he translated it into 'Protect the ones closest to your heart.' But from then on, Draco vowed to try not to upset the girl so much and do what he could to keep her from harm. She was the closest friend that he had, next to Blaise, and he was alarmed at how close they became in such little time. He couldn't help but feel as if he knew this girl from somewhere before. There was something in Haley's eyes that seemed so familiar to Draco but he just couldn't place it. He sighed.
Haley grunted as she pushed through. "Too many books…" She mumbled to herself. She walked over to Draco's bed and dropped everything on the corner.
"You're fifteen minutes late." Draco scolded.
"For what?" Haley frowned.
"If you get out of class at three, it should only take you ten minutes to get here."
"Yeah, if you fly." The girl rolled her eyes. "I had to track down Hermione to get her Arithmancy notes. She made it very important that you don't bend the edges of her parchment." Draco scoffed, but Haley simply ignored the sound. "And…" She reached into her bag and pulled out a bowl, a spoon, and a thermos. "I stopped by the kitchen and got you some soup." She smiled, handing the boy the thermos. "It's chicken noodle."
Draco stared at the thermos for a minute. "What…?"
"Warm soup's supposed to make you feel better." Haley smiled. "Plus, chicken soup is good for the soul."
The blonde looked at his friend skeptically. "Chicken soup is good for the soul?"
"Will you just eat it?" The girl rolled her eyes. Smirking, Draco obliged. "Oh yeah. Blaise said that he would be up soon to visit you and keep you company."
"You're leaving?" Draco asked, between swallows.
"Well, yeah."
"Oh." Grey eyes averted from Haley's to the soup.
Haley smirked. "Don't worry, you spoiled brat. I'll be back. Ethan said he needed help with Divination. We're going to work on it together for a bit and then I'll come back up after dinner."
"Maxwell? You're going to be working with Maxwell?"
Haley frowned. "Don't get into this again. I know very well how you feel about him and I know a bit about how he feels about you, but he doesn't throw a fit whenever I tell him I'm hanging out with you."
"I do not throw fits."
"Sure you don't." Haley replied, sarcastically. "Don't worry about it, Draco. I'll be fine. I've faced people more threatening than Ethan Maxwell."
Draco sighed. "Just be careful, okay."
"Funny," Haley smirked. "That's what he said to me about you." She picked up the thermos. "Are you almost done? I should bring it back to the kitchens."
"Almost. The rest is just soup. And I might spoil my appetite for dinner."
"Well then I'll finish it." She picked up the bowl and drank the leftover soup.
Draco smirked. "Now you're going to catch my cold."
Haley shrugged. "Then you'll just have to take care of me." She smiled. "See you later, Draco."
"Bye Haley."
The girl packed up the thermos, bowl and spoon before leaving the hospital wing. She quickly made her way to the kitchens where she thanked Dobby for the soup. Dobby, friendly as ever, showed Haley his newest pair of socks, a blue one with goldfish swimming around and a pink one with little hearts all over it. After promising the elf a fresh new pair for Christmas, Haley took off once more to the Slytherin common room to meet Ethan so they could work on their Divination homework together.
"Trust me. I do it all the time." Haley said, filling her chart with yet another unbelievable tragedy. This time, she would slip on a tea cozy and fall down a flight of stairs, effectively resulting in the girl's demise.
"Haven't you ever tried doing it the right way?" Ethan asked.
"Well I tried it at first but this way is just easier since Madame Trelawny loves it when she hears that I'll be mauled by a pack of mastrots or fall somehow and break my hip."
Ethan cocked an eyebrow. "Just how many star charts have you made since you've been here?"
"Um, just the one for November. I, um, I tried doing it properly the first half of the month but I just put random things in the last half." Haley covered. The Slytherin boy just watched her curiously. "What?"
Ethan smirked. "It's nothing."
"O…kay…" She looked over her homework. "I'm pretty much done here. How about you?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
The girl started packing her things in her satchel. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving." She picked up one of her parchments with some of her Transfiguration notes and scanned it just in case she missed something for her homework.
Ethan gathered his things and sighed. "Well, I'll meet you down there. I've got one more thing to do before I head off for dinner."
"All right. You sure you don't want me to wait for you?"
"Nah, you go on ahead." Ethan picked up his things before heading off towards the boys' dormitories.
Haley, too, gathered her things and dropped them off into her room. Upon leaving her room, Haley came face to face with an angry Pansy.
"I don't approve of this one bit." Pansy glared at the girl.
"I would ask 'what in hell are you talking about?' but I realized that I don't care whether or not I have your approval." Haley bit back. She could see the anger rise within Pansy's chestnut eyes.
"I'm talking about you, stealing away my Drakie in the first place and then going behind his back with Ethan Maxwell." Haley couldn't really tell, but she thought she saw Pansy flinch at the name.
"First of all, I didn't steal Draco away from anyone. He and I are just friends. And second of all, Ethan and I didn't do anything since we, too, are just friends. So bugger off."
"Oh, don't you go playing the innocent role! You know what you're doing. You're toying with these boys as if they were…toys! I don't see what anyone likes about you! You probably just put them under a spell of some sort!"
"How dare you accuse me of such a disgusting thing! I would never stoop that low to get a boy! I don't even like bo-" Haley threw her hands over her mouth, eyes wide.
Pansy's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Oh my God, you're a poof! Get away from me you dyke!"
Haley frowned. "Dammit, Pansy, I'm not a poof!"
"You just said you don't like boys. You can't take that back, you poof."
"That doesn't mean I like girls, either!" The black-haired girl growled.
Pansy's jaw dropped as she took a large step backward. "Oh my God, you're a bloody animal lover!"
Haley stared in shock and disgust at Pansy's new assumption. "No! Of course not!"
"You stupid Americans are so disgusting!"
"I don't fancy animals of any sort!" Haley was beginning to get very irritated. She wanted to put an end to this conversation before anyone stepped in the room to hear them.
"You just said that you don't fancy boys and you don't fancy girls. What else does that leave, you freak?"
"It means I have no preference, you dumb arse. I don't care what gender they are as long as there's love involved!" Haley blinked. She hadn't even realized this was how she truly felt before yelling at Pansy. And now that she thought about it, it didn't really disturb her even though a little bit of her said it should.
"Oh my God, you're such a hippie freak. Peace, love. It's a wonder that you weren't stuck with those goody-two-shoe-Gryffindors." Haley rolled her eyes. "But that still doesn't change the fact that you're prancing around this school as if the world owes you a favor!"
"I do not prance!" Haley briefly wondered if she actually did prance about since both Draco and Pansy mentioned it. "But at least it would be better than walking around with my nose stuck up in the air with a stick shoved up my arse!"
Pansy gasped. "I do not walk like that! You're such a stupid-"
"I am not stupid!"
"Slut!"
Haley gasped. "Why you little…" The girl clenched her fist and started towards Pansy. Pansy's eyes grew wide before she started screaming and running about the common room. "Come back here!" Haley yelled.
"Get away from me!" Pansy screeched over her shoulder.
"How dare you call me a slut and expect to get away with it! Get over here!" The green-eyed girl made a swipe at the other girl's robes, missing by a few centimeters.
In seeing Haley's close proximity, Pansy picked up the pace and started screaming some more. She darted towards the girls' dormitories and ran up the stairs at full speed. Throwing open the nearest door, Pansy shut Haley out, leaning her weight on the door to keep it closed.
"Pansy! Get out here!" Haley roared, pounding on the door. She was just about to ram into it when she suddenly found herself paralyzed and falling to the ground.
"Miss Jones!" Snape snarled, looking at the frozen girl lying before him. "How dare you disrupt my work with your bothersome squabble. I'm sitting in my laboratory when all of a sudden I hear some screaming. To my surprise, I see you chasing after one of my students in my common room." The professor released the girl from his spell. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't give you a detention right now."
Haley sat up. "She started it! She called me a-"
Snape held out a hand, signaling for her to stop. "Not good enough, Miss Jones. Detention for a week with Filch."
Haley abruptly stood. "But that's not fair! Pansy-"
"Do you want to make it two?" Snape warned, looking very tired and very aggravated at the whole situation.
Haley frowned and faced the door. "Pansy! When I get my hands on you-"
"Miss Jones, that is enough!" Snape glared daggers at the girl.
"Fine!" She threw her hands up in the air and stomped all the way out of the dungeons.
'Stupid Snape. Stupid Pansy.' She suddenly lost her appetite and walked through the corridors, not really caring where she was going. 'It's so unfair. My whole life is unfair. Why did I have to change into a girl? Why do these things always have to happen to me? This is all so stupid and unfair…' She stopped and leaned again the nearest wall, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. "I hate this…" She grumbled to herself, running a hand through her hair. "I hate all of this. I want this to be over with. No more skirts, no more Slytherins, no more stupid hair to get all over the place, no more stupid bras and no more stupid periods!" Haley slid down to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. 'Why couldn't I have a normal life? Why couldn't I have Seamus's life? It seems normal enough. Or maybe Blaise's. I don't know him too well but I'm sure his life is more normal than mine.' Haley groaned. 'I thought that after Voldemort was gone, there'd at least be no more weird situations going on… Boy was I wrong…The next thing I know, I'm a girl. A Slytherin girl none-the-less … My life would be so much better had I not taken that stupid potion. My emotions wouldn't be on the fritz, I'm sure. I wouldn't have to be a Slytherin and I wouldn't have to bother with stupid pug-faced Pansy and that grease-ball Snape. There's nothing that I would miss terribly had I not been changed into a girl…' She frowned at this statement, not really knowing why.
"Haley?"
The girl looked up to see Blaise leaving the hospital wing.
'The hospital wing? When did I get here?'
"Haley, are you all right?" Blaise looked down at her, worry shining through his eyes in her lack of response.
Haley snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Blaise. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, positive."
"What were you doing, just sitting out here?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I don't even know how I got here."
The blonde looked at her curiously, tilting his head to the side. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Haley nodded. Wanting to change the subject, she looked at the infirmary doors. "So, how's Draco?"
"Better. He's sleeping now, though. I was just about to go to the Great Hall to get some dinner.
"Right."
"Did you already have something to eat?" Blaise cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Haley lied. "Loads. I'm stuffed." She patted her stomach for affect.
Blaise smirked. "Right then. I'll see you later, Haley."
"Bye Blaise." She watched as he disappeared around the corner.
The girl looked back at the infirmary doors. It was then that she realized that all she wanted right now was to see a friendly face. She knew that if she had gone to Ron, he would have teased her and if she went to Hermione, she would have lectured her about something. And she didn't want either of those. But Draco…She sighed. She wanted to see Draco.
Haley opened the door and poked her head through. Madame Pomfrey was nowhere in sight and all the beds were vacant except one. Haley smiled to herself and walked over to the sleeping Draco.
The candlelight gave Draco's pale skin and platinum locks a heavenly glow, somewhat surprising Haley. She had spent the better part of the past seven years believing the pure-blood to be nothing more than Satan's spawn. But now, listening to the gentle sounds of Draco's rhythmic breathing, Haley could think of nothing other than how ethereal he looked.
Quietly and carefully as to not disturb the boy, Haley pulled up a chair next to Draco's bed. 'He looks so peaceful…' She smiled. Haley dropped her head onto the bed, hiding her face in her arms as she replayed the day's events in her mind. 'Snape's still a biased jerk, Pansy's still stupid, Ethan's still a mystery, and as for me…I'm a mystery myself. No preference? Where did that come from?'
As Haley wondered whether or not she really did have a preference, Draco stirred from his slumber. He exhaled deeply before opening a sleepy, silver eye. In seeing a mop of black hair next to him, Draco opened his other eye and stretched his limbs. "Haley?"
The girl in question looked up. "Sorry. Did I disturb you?"
The blonde shook his head. "What are you doing here?"
"I said I was coming back." She stood up. "But if you don't want me here, that can easily be arranged." The girl headed towards the door.
Draco frowned. "Jones, come back here." He sat up on the bed as she turned and sat back down in the chair. "I meant, why aren't you having supper right now?"
Haley sighed. "I wasn't hungry."
"Why? What's wrong? Did something happen?" He asked gently.
"I'm just frustrated. I needed a place where I could relax."
"So you came to the hospital wing?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"I didn't come here intentionally. I was just walking down the corridors and the next thing I knew, I was standing outside the infirmary doors."
"I think you like me." Draco smirked.
"What? You're crazy."
"You just happened to be at the Hospital Wing, knowing that I'm here? I think your subconscious led you here because you fancy me."
"Ugh. Why does everyone keep saying that?" She threw her hands up in the air. "And no matter how many times I say that I don't, people just choose to ignore it."
"I'm just teasing you, Jones."
"Which is exactly why I didn't go see Ron."
"The Weasel?"
Haley glared at the nickname. "Hey. Ron's my friend."
"He calls me 'ferret'." Draco frowned.
She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, if I wanted someone to tease me, I would have gone to Ron."
"All right. I'm sorry. You just need to relax. People are going to believe whatever they want-"
"Oh my gosh, you're lecturing me." She gave an exasperated sigh. "If I wanted a lecture, I would have gone to Hermione."
"Well then what am I here for? Why did you come to me?"
"So you could be a friend. Not a teacher, not a clown, but a friend." Haley sighed and dropped her head on the bed again. She said something more, but it was muffled against the mattress.
"What?" Draco asked.
The girl peeked up over her arms. "I said, 'You're supposed to protect me.'"
Draco smiled slightly and patted the bed, motioning Haley to sit with him. Once she was situated, Draco wrapped an arm around her waist, resting his head atop hers. "I can't promise that I'll make all your problems go away, but while you're with me... I'll do my best to keep them away."
Haley smiled, turning to look at the boy. "Thanks, Draco."
Draco smiled in return. "Hey. What are friends for?"
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: No, I don't own the Harry Potter characters. Although I do own a pair of glasses that are somewhat similar to those of one particular scar-studded Gryffindor. By this, I mean Harry. Duh.
The photo. I'm sure the issue of the photo shall arise once more in a later chapter. I hope you have a fun time with this one as I wrote it instead of carrying out a different task. It is now 12:34 in the morning and I have yet to go to bed. Thank you all for keeping me awake at night. Haha. I'm just kidding. I didn't mind it one bit.
To those of you who think Harry's acting too much like a girl...Bah Humbug. For now, I blame it on the hormones. He's not used to it yet, I guess. But don't worry. Soon, testosterone will fly through the air. Most likely on broomsticks. Gasp! Is that foreshadowing? Maybe. Only if what I think is the definition for foreshadowing is correct.
Ethan and Pansy and Blaise...oh my...Yes, there was a point in having Haley and Ethan do their homework together. Ummm...sorry to any Americans who might have been offended by the "stupid Americans" comment. Harry is only upset that Snape was being unfair and thus the "grease-ball" comment. Things will change. Snape yelled "Miss Jones" as opposed to "Mr. Potter" simply because he believes that other students may hear him through their doors. Eavesdropping ickle buggahs...Maybe. I do believe that Harry got to the hospital wing because of his subconscious no matter how much he denies it.
This one is for doxie who simply requested an early Christmas gift. And if I don't get one out sooner than the end of the holidays, Happy Christmas and Merry New Year, everybody. Hope you have a fantabulous time.