The Exchange

Haley groaned. She felt a little groggy and her forehead felt as if she were on fire. And the monotonous drone of Professor Binn's voice did not help the situation.

Filch's idea of a horrible detention was to make the girl run chores for the various teachers of the school. And on her very first night, she was forced to work with Professor Binns, the teacher of the History of Magic. When Haley first reached the professor's classroom, she was a little bit grateful at how the teacher just began to start talking, lecturing the girl about proper conduct in the Hogwarts halls. He seemed to be distracted by what he was saying, for he hadn't ordered the girl to do a thing. But after three hours, Haley was amazed that she still had enough energy to keep herself awake. What started with a lecture about proper conduct soon branched off from one thing to another until he started to lecture about pureblooded families.

"A famous pureblooded family dated back to the time of the Renaissance is the McClarin family. A family full of bright children and adults alike. But with the rise of Voldemort, sadly, this family died out, not leaving a single heir to the family name.

"And of course, there are the Malfoys."

Haley snapped her eyes open, her interest piqued.

"The Malfoys can be dated back for a very long time as well. They are a very strong, prideful and intelligent family. Always having been considered a dark family, the Malfoys were always presumed to have some sort of Veela blood in their veins for their beauty could draw in the most flaccid of all men and women alike. However, this has never been proven but I'm sure you could ask the young Mr. Malfoy that if you feel so inclined."

Haley made a mental note to ask Draco about his bloodline. It would be interesting to know a person with Veela blood in them other than Fleur DelaCour. Haley snapped out of her thoughts and continued to listen to the professor.

"-is also apart of a strong pureblooded family. In fact, she was apart of one of the longest lines of pureblooded families, dated back from the times of Merlin. Known for their complete loyalty to one another, their family bonds made the Mavillian family strong and powerful. But it didn't necessarily mean that they were good people, no, definitely not. I do recall, many years back, an Emiry Mavillian had grown keen on the darker aspects of magic. So, her family, being as loyal as they were to her, studied the dark arts as well and defended her with all the strength they could muster up…" The professor paused, looking at the ground, his expression matching that of someone lost.

"What happened to the Mavillian family? And Emiry?" Haley asked, enraptured by the story.

The professor looked up. "Oh…errr…let me think. Ah, yes. The Mavillian family. They were hunted down by the early Ministry of Magic. They were captured and sent to Azkaban for practicing the Dark Arts. The only person to break off from the family was a Nathalia Mavillian. She would have been stripped of the family name but since she was the only one who could produce an heir, a Mavillian she remained. The rest passed on within the cells of Azkaban."

"So wait, there's someone here who's a part of the Mavillian bloodline?"

"Wait, no. She graduated a few years ago. Bright girl, that Natasha. The brightest in my class." The professor looked up, as if remembering the girl.

"Natasha Mavillian?"

"Hmm? Oh. Oh, dear me. It's getting late, isn't it? I didn't get a chance to ask you to stack that pile of books into the shelves, now did I? Oh well. You better be off, then."

"But what about Na-"

"Good night, Mr. Potter." And with that, Professor Binns floated through the door and disappeared from the room.

Haley sighed. "Why couldn't he start talking about that from the beginning?" Haley stood up and prepared to leave but took a glance at the pile of books. "Aw, why not?" She pulled out her wand and with a flick of the wrist, the books floated onto the shelves in alphabetical order. Haley smiled and left the room.

On her way back to the dungeons, Haley apparently had zoned out, paying little attention to who or what may be standing in her path. It was no surprise that she happened to have crashed into someone.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's all right. No harm, no foul." The boy chuckled.

Haley looked up at him. He was at least a whole foot taller than she was, and at least half a foot taller than how she normally was as Harry. All she could say was "Whoa…"

Again, the boy merely chuckled. "You're Hallie, right?"

"It's Haley…" she corrected.

"Oh, right. Haley Jones." The girl nodded. "My name's Leir. Leir Valex."

As she shook his hand, she looked at the boy questioningly. "I've never seen you here before."

Leir cocked an eyebrow. "Well, there are quite a number of students here and you've only been here less than two weeks." He smiled.

"Right…I just meant – you're so tall. I figured I might've spot you by now."

Another chuckle. "I'm new here. I came at the beginning of the term."

"Ah. So you're a newbie too." The Slytherin smiled. The boy nodded. "So what's it like being in Hufflepuff?"

Leir looked confused for a moment. "How did you…?"

"It says so on your robes. And your tie…it's Hufflepuff colors."

Leir looked down at his robes. "Oh right." He smiled. "Of course. Hufflepuff's all right, I guess. I don't really know anybody. I mostly keep to myself. But because I do, it makes people think I'm snotty and stuck up. I just let them believe as they wish."

"Hm. Well, as far as I can tell, you don't seem stuck up in the slightest bit."

He smiled. "Thank you. Well, it's getting late. I suppose I'll see you around?" Haley nodded. "Right then. Good night, Miss Jones."

"Good night." Haley watched as Leir walked away. It was weird to her that she had never spotted the boy before tonight. Sure he was new, but he was here for at least three months without notice. It made Haley reevaluate her relationships with the other students of Hogwarts. Suddenly feeling exhausted, followed by the largest yawn Haley had ever known, she continued her way back down towards the dungeons.

Upon entering the Slytherin common room, Haley spotted Draco sitting by a fireplace, reading a book. Feeling utterly drained, she plopped onto the couch, her head a few inches from Draco's lap.

"Well don't you look particularly horrid?" The Head Boy smirked, looking down at her from his book.

"Haha…you're so funny. You should do stand-up." Haley replied dryly.

Draco simply rolled his eyes. "How was punishment?"

The girl groaned. "Listening to Professor Binns lecture for nearly three hours straight isn't my ideal sort of detention." Draco scoffed. "But…things did get interesting towards the end."

"Really? How so?"

"He started talking about bloodlines. Particularly purebloods."

The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "Go on."

"The first family he talked about was the McClavion family."

"You mean McClarin?"

"Right. He said as brilliant as they were, their bloodline was cut short because of Voldemort."

"It's quite a tragedy, you know. My mother was a friend to them."

"Really? Small world."

"Not really. My family always took pride in purebloods. We would only mingle with the best. That's why if the McClarin family ever produced a female heir, I was to be engaged."

Haley's gaze darted towards the blonde. "Really?"

Draco nodded. "But, like I said, it was a tragedy."

"So wait. You would only marry a pureblooded witch?"

The boy paused for a moment. "It would be ideal. I'm not saying it's absolute, but having the idea that pure bloodlines are the best being rammed into my brain since I was three isn't something to easily overlook."

"Hm." Haley shrugged. "Oh, yeah. Hey, Draco. Do you have any Veela blood?"

Draco blinked at the question. "What?"

"Veela blood. Do you have any running through your veins?"

"What possessed you to ask such a question?"

"Professor Binns also mentioned the Malfoy family. He said that your family was assumed to have Veela blood in them because-"

"Of our beauty, right?" Draco scoffed.

Haley nodded.

"Just because we're drop dead gorgeous, people assume it's all magic. We can't help it if we're beautiful."

It was Haley's turn to scoff. "Oh please."

"You can't lie there and tell me you don't find me a bit attractive."

"Actually, right now, I find you a bit arrogant and slightly revolting." She smiled.

"Deny it all you want, Jones, you know you want me."

"Yeah, I want you to get you head out of the clouds and realize that you aren't as great as you think you are."

Draco gasped, placing a hand over his chest. "I'm offended!" He exaggerated. "I know I'm as great as I think I am. And then some."

Haley laughed. "You're utterly hopeless." She yawned.

"Why don't you get to bed?"

"Because I'm too exhausted to move."

Draco rolled his eyes. He stood up, leaving his book on the now vacant seat. "Come on. Let's get you to bed, then."

"Ugh. Why can't I just stay here by the nice toasty fire?" Instead of replying, Draco held the girl by her wrists and pulled her up. Haley groaned. "Hey. I was comfy…"

"Just think of how comfy you'll be in your nice warm bed…your wrists feel like they're on fire."

"I blame that on you."

"What? Why?"

"I caught your cold."

"I told you, you would. That's what you get for drinking my soup."

"Fine, fine. If you let me sleep here, I'll never bring you soup again."

Draco smirked but spun around and crouched down. He pulled Haley's arms around his neck and proceeded to carry her horseback style. "And you said that I needed to diet. Good thing I'm so strong."

Haley smirked. "I'm only heavy from all the muscles I have. You, you're just fat." The girl yawned again. "Draco? Have you ever hear of a guy named Leir Valex?"

Draco was quiet for a moment, trying to see if he recognized the name. "No. Why?"

"I bumped into him in the hall." She replied, lazily. "I've never seen him around before."

"Then he's either one of the lower years, a new student, or a Hufflepuff."

Haley snorted. "How can you assume that he's a Hufflepuff just because you've never heard of him?"

"Because I've yet to hear a Hufflepuff perform an achieve anything significant at this school. They're simply there for the rest of the school to pick on and ridicule."

Haley frowned. "You don't honestly believe that do you?"

Again, Draco rolled his eyes. "No, I don't. But I do believe that the Slytherins are the superior of all the Houses."

Haley smirked. "That's only because I arrived and was sorted into it. Otherwise, you'd all be lost without me."

Draco simply laughed, before crouching down so Haley could unlock her room. He opened the door and placed her down. "You think you can change yourself? I wouldn't mind if you needed help." He smirked.

"Ew. Perv." She gave him a friendly shove before grabbing her clothes to change in the bathroom.

Draco glanced around the room. He spotted the girl's trunk at the base of the bed. He looked at it curiously.

Haley came out of the bathroom and quickly hopped into the nice warm and comfy bed.

"What does the 'P' stand for?" Draco asked.

"Huh?" Haley opened her eyes and followed Draco's gaze to the trunk. "Oh that."

"Why's it 'HP'?"

"Errr…The 'P's for my middle name. Haley Piper Jones."

"Oh. Then where's the 'J'?"

"Honestly, Draco. I'll carve the 'J' myself if you'll let me sleep."

The boy hopped onto the bed, next to Haley. "It's not like we have classes tomorrow or anything. You're lucky you got sick on the weekend."

"But it'd still be nice to get some rest. And you're supposed to take care of me now that I'm sick and this is no way to take care of me."

"All right, all right. I hope you feel better in the morning."

"Thank you." Haley slipped off her glasses and shut her eyes.

"Haley?"

"Bugger off."

"Do you really find me unattractive?"

Haley opened one eye and looked at Draco. She sighed. "No, Draco. I think you're beautiful."

Draco smiled. "I knew it! You fancy me."

She glared at the blonde. "Ugh. You're horrible. Piss off already."

"Grumpy."

"Again, your fault."

"All right." The boy climbed off the bed and stood at the doorway. "Good night, Haley."

"Night, Draco."

Draco turned, locked the door from the inside and left the room.

Haley opened her eyes and sat up. 'Did I really just tell Draco that I find him beautiful?'

Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and all other Harry Potter characters and whatnot. Ethan and Leir belong to me. Yes.

So, pronunciation time. Maybe it should have come sooner but oh well. I guess I didn't know how to pronounce it myself until now. Haley is pronounced HAYlee, not HALlee. Leir is pronounced LEER. And yeah. You can figure everything else out.

This is kinda a boring chapter, but I guess it's necessary for whatever may come next. To the Hufflepuff fans, Draco didn't mean it. It was a joke. Hufflepuffs are supposed to be very intelligent in Herbology, a VERY important subject, if I do say so myself. What else? Leir. I suppose he's important. And so is whatever Professor Binns has to say. And now it's the weekend, storywise and Haley's sick. Ha. Everyone who saw it coming, please say "Aye." Yeah.

After a little bit of anger on my part, coming from a source I shall keep anonymous, I hadn't wanted to write for a while. I had even thought to simply pull all my stories off and keep them all to myself (like the little greedy bugger that I can be once in a while). But that wasn't fair to everyone else who didn't piss me off who actually likes to read these, so here I remain. So this one is for all the readers who stay on the positive side. And that's all I have to say about that.

Thanks for reading.