The Exchange

Tonight was the night that Haley had her detention with Madame Trelawny. As soon as Filch had said it, the girl dreaded the moment, knowing that Trelawny most definitely had something to say about her current condition. It didn't help that her cold was still in effect, although it did ease up quite a bit especially after having some dinner. So now, Haley was trekking as slow as she could up the staircase to the Divination classroom. She let out one rather large sigh before stepping through.

"Ah! Harry Potter! I knew you were coming." Trelawny gasped.

"That's probably because Filch told you I was." The girl replied.

"No, no, no dear boy. The powers that be filled me with the knowledge of your whereabouts. I knew you were at that door right before you even stepped through."

"O…kay…do you mind telling me what I have to do? I'll feeling a little sick and would like to get some rest as soon as possible."

"All right. All you need do is wash the teacups and pots without magic. They're right behind that curtain over there. Be sure to stack them nicely in the cupboard after you wipe them dry. When you're done with that, you're free to go."

Haley nodded. This wouldn't be so hard. She'd been washing dishes for the Dursleys without magic for as long as she can remember. She made her way to the pile and froze. Towering above her was a mass amount of dishes. It nearly touched the ceiling. She wouldn't be surprised at all if Madame Trelawny had used magic to keep the pile from crashing down. Haley sighed and grabbed the pair of rubber gloves that waited for her at the sink. She slipped them on and began the long and arduous task at hand.

After half an hour or so, Haley cursed under her breath. She was probably only a third done and she was getting tired from standing. Having decided it would probably be best to wash the pile in sections, as opposed to all at once, Haley wiped down the last teacup of the first third and placed it neatly in Trelawny's cupboard.

"You're doing a marvelous job, dear boy. One would assume you've done this before. But as for myself, I know."

Haley refrained from snorting at this comment but turned to face her teacher. "Would it be all right if I sat down for a bit? I know this is supposed to be my punishment but I'm getting awfully tired."

"Say no more! I sense…you are ill, are you not?"

"Well, yeah. I told you that when I first get here."

Trelawny seemed to overlook the Slytherin girl's last comment. "Fear no more! Continue working, and I will return shortly."

"But-"

"Ah." The professor shushed. "Continue." She looked pointedly at the dishes before swirling around and walking out the door.

Haley sighed. "Okay…only two thirds left. I can do this." Haley picked up a teapot and started scrubbing.

Trelawny was gone for nearly twenty minutes when she came back into the classroom with her robes billowing around her feet. "Ah, Miss Jones. I have brought to you an assistant." The woman stepped to the side and introduced with a wave of her arms Haley's assistant.

The girl blinked. "Hi Ethan."

The boy smiled. "Hello."

"I'll leave you to your jobs." The professor bowed before leaving towards her office.

Ethan walked over to Haley's side and slipped on a pair of gloves. He picked up a teacup and began to rinse it off. All the while, Haley just stared at him in wonder.

The hazel-eyed boy looked at his friend from the corner of his eye and smiled. "You'll never finish your chore if you just stand there. Start scrubbing."

Haley snapped out of whatever daze she was in and obeyed. The two were quiet for a while before Haley's curiosity got the better side of her. She looked at the other Slytherin. "What're you doing here?"

The boy didn't look up. He just continued rinsing while he answered. "Trelawny swooped by. I was walking towards the common room when she stopped me and asked if I could help her. Since I had nothing better to do, I agreed. On our way up here, she told me that I would be helping you do dishes. And so, here I am, helping you do dishes." He finally looked at the girl and offered her a small smile.

"Well…thank you."

Ethan shrugged. "No problem."

"So…you know how to wash dishes the Muggle way."

The boy chuckled. "Yeah. Whenever my mum was angry with me or my siblings, she'd make us do chores without any help from any magical objects. Washing the dishes by hand is one my regular punishments."

Haley smiled. "So how many siblings do you have?"

"Three. An older brother, an older sister and my younger brother. He'll be attending Hogwarts next term. How about you? Any brothers or sisters?"

The girl shook her head. "Nope. It's just me."

"Lucky." Ethan put away the stack of dishes he had finished rinsing and wiping. "So why do you have detention anyway?"

Haley rolled her eyes at her oncoming memory. "It was all Snape and Pansy's fault. Pansy made inappropriate comments so I threatened to hex her when Snape came by and gave me a week's worth of detention. I think it's totally unfair. The punishment completely does not fit the crime."

"Yeah, well, the punishment for a Slytherin is never just. If that's what you wanted, you should have been sorted into Gryffindor. They're all for what's right and fair in the world."

"I think that's a common misconception of Gryffindors. They're not always playing by the rules. They're not all goody-two-shoes like everyone assumes, just like not all Hufflepuffs are overly cautious, not all Ravenclaws are overly intelligent and not all Slytherins are…well…arseholes."

Ethan smirked. "Well put."

"Just voicing my opinion."

Ethan paused in contemplation. "Why were you sorted into Slytherin?"

"Gee, I didn't know I had to have a reason." Haley replied, sarcastically.

"I simply meant that I wouldn't have pegged you as a Slytherin. You're…different."

"How so?"

"Well, most Slytherins tend to have a streak where they care more for themselves than anyone else. You…you're not like that. You seem to genuinely care for the people around you."

Haley blushed slightly, looking down into the sink. That's when she spotted something most surprising. "Hey…last cup." She scrubbed the teacup before handing it to Ethan so he could rinse and dry it. Haley placed the last cup into the now filled cupboard and smiled. "That was quick."

"Four hands are better than two."

Haley nodded in agreement. "Thanks for you help, Ethan. It would've taken me twice the time had you not been here."

"Glad I could be of service."

"I'll just tell Madame Trelawny that we're done. Then we can head back to the common room." Ethan nodded as the girl walked over the professor's office. Haley opened the door slightly and poked her head in. "Erm…Madame Trelawny?"

The professor, startled, dropped her book onto her desk. "Oh! You, I knew you were coming."

Haley refrained from laughing. "We're done."

"Right. Well. You are free to go then." The teacher smiled. She walked over to the girl and patted her on the shoulder. "Good night…" she trailed off.

"Professor?" Haley looked at her questioningly.

"Hmmm…my dear child…be wary of a mask. I fear the worst if you do not."

"Ummm…o…kay." Haley brushed it off as another one of Trelawny's strange and oftentimes wrong predictions. "Good night, Professor."

Trelawny nodded. "Good night."

Haley closed the door and walked over to Ethan who was standing by the classroom door.

"Ready to go?" He asked. Haley simply nodded. And, as every gentleman should, he held the door open for his female companion. "After you, Miss Jones."

Haley smiled. "Why thank you, Mister Maxwell."

As the two made their way back to the Slytherin dungeons, Haley noticed how late it was getting. There were few students wandering the corridors, and the ones that were still out were making their way back to their specified dorms. But the two kept at a leisurely pace, taking in the other's company.

"Ethan, why does Draco hate you so much?"

The boy smiled. "Haven't we already been through this?"

"Well, yeah. But there's got to be some reason. I mean, he can't just simply hate you."

Ethan was quiet for a moment. And then, "We weren't always enemies. In fact, we were friends. Of course we were. His best friend is Blaise, Blaise is my friend, it's only natural that we in turn became friends as well. But there was something about Draco that I couldn't…"

"You couldn't what?" Ethan was solemn for a moment. They continued down the hall in silence, Haley slowly becoming frustrated with the dead air. "Well?"

Ethan glanced over at his friend. "Draco's beautiful, isn't he?"

The girl almost tripped in her shock. "Wh-what?"

The boy merely smirked. "He's really fair."

"I…ummm…what?" Haley was confused. 'Did Ethan and Draco have a relationship that went bad? Does Draco even swing that way? Does Ethan? What's going on? What happened between them?'

Lost in her thoughts with her eyes still directed at her companion rather than where she was stepping, Haley couldn't help but run right into someone as she and Ethan turned round a corner. She also couldn't help her lack of balance as she began to tumble backwards.

"Oh!" Came the voice of the one she bumped into.

Haley was prepared to meet backside first with the ground. But instead, she felt two arms wrapped around her and a strong chest under layers of clothes against her cheek. She opened her eyes, looked up, and was surprised to see Leir looking down at her.

"Really, Miss Jones. There has got to be a better way of meeting up with you. All this bumping into each other could get rather painful after a while." He smiled.

"Heh. Sorry about that Leir." He helped the Slytherin stand upright, although letting his hands linger on the girl.

"Excuse me," Ethan practically growled. He glared daggers at Leir's hands before glaring up at their owner.

Leir blushed, dropped his hands at his sides, and took a step back. He looked at Haley. "Sorry about that. I didn't- I wasn't-"

Blushing also, Haley looked down. "It's all right. I know-"

"Ethan Maxwell. Who are you?" Ethan stepped in between the two with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh um, I'm Leir. Leir Valex." The boy held out his hand to shake the other's.

Ethan didn't move. His eyes were still digging into the back of the Hufflepuff's skull.

Haley frowned. "Stop that." She pushed the Slytherin to the side and smiled at Leir. "Sorry about him. Bad day."

Leir smiled, but only for a second as to not upset the other boy. "Right. Well, I guess I should be off. Good night, Haley." He timidly looked at the other. "Good night, Ethan Maxwell."

Ethan only sneered in response.

Haley watched the boy go down the corridor before turning to look back at Ethan who was still glaring down at where Leir had disappeared. "What's the matter with you? He was only being polite."

"If you ask me, I think he was being overly friendly. Who does he think he is, touching you like that?"

"For goodness sake, Ethan, it's not like he was groping me. I fell. He helped me up. I think it's rather valiant of him. What's it to you anyway?"

Ethan darted his gaze down upon the girl, a fire raging behind hazel irises. "I told you before, Haley. I find you positively beautiful. I'm sorry if that fact never seemed to register through your brain, but it's true. And to see that… fool with his hands all over you… It's nothing to be happy about." Ethan took a step back. He seemed to regain his composure despite the anger in his eyes. "There's something I have to do. I'll see you later. Good night." And with that, Ethan stormed off in a direction opposite from where their common room was.

Haley stood glued to her spot, staring at Ethan's retreating form. 'He's completely overreacting… he's a fool… he's positively mad… but…' Haley dropped her gaze to her shoes. "He's my friend. An idiot, but my friend…" She shook her head. "Whatever. It's his problem, not mine." She began to walk towards the dungeons. 'Poor Leir. He didn't deserve to be treated like that at all. I'll apologize to him tomorrow.'

"Excuse me, miss! What do you think you're doing out this late? I should deduct points from your house."

Haley smiled, but continued to walk not glancing back at the owner of the voice. "You wouldn't dare do that cause you'd be taking points from your own house."

Haley heard a scoff. "The least you could do is wait for me, Jones."

"You're a healthy boy, you can catch up."

Draco rolled his eyes and jogged over to his friend. "Why are you out?"

"I just finished detention with Trelawny." Haley decided against mentioning the fact that Ethan had helped her with it. She was sure it would only get her yelled at.

"Ah. I see. Two down, five to go. Are you feeling better?"

Haley paused and looked up at her friend. "Why, Draco. You sound genuinely concerned. Are you feeling all right?"

Draco smirked but continued walking. "Me? Genuinely concerned about you? Like that'll ever happen. I'm only curious so I know that I don't have to get up early tomorrow."

The Slytherin girl cocked an eyebrow and hurried to catch up to her friend. "Why would me feeling better affect you getting up early?"

"Well, if you're still feeling pathetically wretched, I figured more soup might come into play," he responded matter-of-factly.

Haley smiled. "I'm feeling much better than I felt this morning. No need for soup, but thank you for the concern. Genuine or not."

The two made their way into the common room. There were still a number of students still chatting amongst themselves in different areas of the room.

Haley yawned. "I think I'm gonna get to bed a little early. I need my rest."

"Plus a whole lot of beauty sleep." Draco remarked.

This earned the boy a glare. "I'm sorry the rest of the world isn't as gorgeous as you, Draco Malfoy. But if we all were, we'd all have our heads shoved up our arses." She offered the boy a dainty smile before proceeding to unlock her door.

Draco leaned up against the wall with a smile on. "Miss Jones, you just admitted that I'm gorgeous."

She opened her door slightly and looked at the Head Boy. "Think nothing of it, Malfoy. Remember? I'm sick. I'm absolutely delirious. Plus, as you can see with my glasses, my vision is horribly impaired. I'm sure your looks are just as vile and as disgusting as your personality is."

He couldn't help but laugh. "I like you better when you're asleep."

Haley smirked. "Ditto."

"Good night, Haley."

"Night, Draco."

---

The next morning, Draco was at her door with a thermos full of soup in one hand… and a bowl in the other.

Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter, but I do own Ethan Maxwell and Leir Valex. Woot woot.

Ummm… I sometimes feel bad for Trelawny. No one takes her seriously. She's like the boy who cried wolf. So, sorry Trelawny for bashing on you a little bit. I wasn't really going to put Draco in this chapter. That was the plan. But Draco is my favorite character. So, I caved and tossed him in. Heh. What else? Sorry this took so long to come out… I've been distracted. Yeah.

Don't tell anyone this but… I have no idea where this is going… hehe.

Kidding of course.