The Exchange – A Replacement
"Four! Four! How is it possible that not one… not two… not three, but FOUR of MY students are in detention?!"
Professor Snape looked each one of the delinquents in the eye. Sitting in a row were Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Ethan Maxwell, and Haley Jones. None dared make a move or else their detention would be much worse than necessary.
"Miss Jones, I believe you've caused me nothing but trouble since your arrival. Therefore, you will meet Filch on the first floor. You'll be scrubbing toilets for the next three hours. Go. NOW."
Haley quickly got up and stifled a smile. It was rather humorous to her that all four of them had to serve detention all for attacking the same person. But scrubbing toilets were never fun so her smile quickly vanished as she grew nearer to the caretaker.
"Haley, wait up!"
The girl paused and froze slightly as she saw Draco jogging over to her. He didn't look too pleased.
"You've got toilet duty…?" Haley stared.
"Yes. Apparently, as Head Boy, I should know better than to attack an injured person. So yes. I've got toilet duty. But Blaise and Maxwell were the ones who injured him in first place and all they have to do is put away Christmas decorations. Bullocks."
"So… since I've been a pest to him and since you should've known better, we're stuck scrubbing toilets…"
"Seems so."
"Grreeeaaattt…."
"Hey! You two! Move along!" Filch growled from the other end of the hall. When the finally approached, he shoved a bucket and a brush into each of them. "Start on the first floor and make your way up to the seventh. I'll be keeping an eye on your progress so don't even think about trying to run away."
Haley took her bucket and walked into the girls' room, assuming that Draco would take the boys' room. However, it seemed that Draco has his own ideas as he followed her in.
"Draco… this is the girls' room."
He rolled his eyes. "A toilet's a toilet no matter who's pissing in it."
Haley couldn't help but laugh. "Well that is true…" She shook her head, bemused. Entering the furthest stall, Haley set out to work.
"So…" Draco started, entering the stall next to his friend. "I noticed you were avoiding me all day."
"No I wasn't…" Haley denied.
"Even through the wall, I know you're lying. Ugh… this is disgusting… I don't see why this is necessary. Isn't this what the house elves are for?"
"It wouldn't be much of a detention if the house elves were doing this for us, Draco. And I wasn't avoiding you. I was just very busy today."
"Yeah… busy avoiding me…"
"I was not." Draco remained silent. She could almost feel the look of doubt between the stalls. "Okay, fine. So what if I was?"
"You're avoiding me because of the whole thing that happened yesterday, right? Well you never gave me the chance to explain myself. I think I deserve that much."
"There's nothing to explain. You don't feel the same. Enough said. Don't make it more than it has to be." Haley got up flushed the toilet and proceeded to clean the next one. 'Plus,' she thought to herself. 'I don't need to hear you say you could never love me as Harry…'
"Of course there's more to explain." He too flushed the toilet and moved on to the next. "The reason why I can't love you is because-"
"Because you're in love with someone else, right?" Even though the words came out of her mouth, it still pained her to say them.
"Uh, well yeah, but-"
"Well then… that's that. I can't make you change the way you feel about this person, right?"
"Well no… not really…"
"And I don't see the point in even trying to." Haley poked her head out of her stall and looked at Draco in the one next to her. "Let's just think of my little outburst as a momentary lapse of good judgment." She forced a playful smile.
"But Haley-"
"I mean, really. What else could it have been? Why else would I spout something as atrocious as that if I really hadn't gone temporarily insane?" She joked.
"Haley-"
"So please Draco, just forget it happened."
He didn't seem convinced.
Haley sighed and frowned. She looked away from the boy. "Draco… how would you feel if you dumped all your emotions onto the lap of your mystery girl and she didn't return your feelings?"
"…I suppose I'd feel rather awful…"
Haley looked back up into the solemn face that was Draco's. "Okay then. Now you sort of know how I feel. So let's change topics."
"I… all right."
Haley returned to her toilet. "So who is this mystery girl, anyway?"
"Hmph. If I told you that, it wouldn't be much of a mystery now would it?"
The girl rolled her eyes at the evasive answer. "Okay fine. Answer me this, then. Why haven't you told mystery girl how you feel yet?"
"Well… I guess it's because in the past, I was pretty sure mystery… girl… despised me."
"And now?"
"And now… I'm not exactly sure anymore."
"But that's a good thing right?"
"Mmmaybe. I've done some pretty stupid things…"
"No surprise there…"
"Not helping."
"I'm just saying…"
"Anyway…I just don't know what to do anymore. Despite her not hating me now, I think that could radically change within the next few days… maybe weeks if I'm lucky."
Haley frowned. "Why?"
Draco was quiet. Even his scrubbing ceased. Then, "…Haley, answer me seriously. Would you rather be loved for the person you are on the inside? Or would you be happy in being loved for the person circumstances have made of you?"
"That's easy. I want to be loved for who I really am."
"Right. Good."
"I can't say that it'll work out that well for you though," Haley smirked. "I mean, you are somewhat of an arse."
"Piss off."
Haley just laughed to herself.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Just so you know… I do love you…"
Despite herself, Haley felt her insides warm. "…Yeah…"
"So… if it'll help… I'll stay away for a little longer, just a little bit… if it means I can have my friend back." He poked his head around the stall and looked at the girl next to him. "Deal?"
She offered him a small smile. "…Deal."
Draco smiled in return, but frowned almost immediately after. "Hey… you can avoid me all you want. That doesn't mean you have to take it out on your necklace."
Haley blinked. "What?"
"Your necklace. You took it off." He nodded at her neck.
"No I didn't…" Instinctively, she reached up and felt her skin. It was bare. Frantically, she looked around her.
"Wait. You di-"
"I never took it off. I wouldn't. I didn't even notice… I must've grown used to it… But I never…" She stood and looked in the stalls she had scrubbed. She looked around the entire room, but to no avail. She was beginning to feel a little frantic. "Draco, I'm sorry! I don't know what happened!"
"Look, it's all right. You must've just dropped it somewhere. When did you last see it?"
"I don't know! It just slipped my mind… so many things have happened I just…"
"It's all right, Haley. We can look for it later. If we don't finish these toilets, Filch will give us double duty for sure."
Even with his reassurance, Haley still didn't lighten up as she continued her scrubbing. Her neck suddenly felt naked without the piece. 'He had given it to me… it was my present and I lost it as if it were some random trinket… I can't believe this… where could it be?'
After a moment of silence, Draco spoke up. "If it means that much to you, Haley, I'll just have another one made…"
"No!" Haley snapped. "It's not the same… I'll find it. I promise."
"Haley, it's not a big-"
"I'll find it."
"…Okay."
Haley scrubbed with vigor. She wanted to finish the restrooms as soon as possible to begin her search. 'It may be dispensable to him, but it's irreplaceable to me! It's proof that even though Draco is unwilling to accept Harry as a friend, he was willing to keep Haley as one, and that's good enough for me. I can't believe I lost it!'
The toilets of Hogwarts were cleaned in record time after that, with Haley having scrubbed more than half of them just so she and Draco could hurry on to the next room. And even once they had finished and dropped off their supplies at the caretaker's office, Haley made a mad dash for the Slytherin dorms, leaving Draco long and far behind, much to the latter's chagrin.
Haley immediately charged into her room and began searching the place. She left no pillow unturned, no pocket unsearched and yet, she still couldn't find her necklace. When she felt she had gone over her room enough times, Haley slumped onto her now disheveled bed in defeat.
'Where could it be? I didn't take it off so it must've fallen… but when? And where?' She was just about ready to search somewhere else when a knock came upon her door.
"Jones? You in there?"
The voice undoubtedly belonged to Pansy.
"Yeah. Come on in."
The girl did as she was told and upon seeing the room, Pansy's eyes widened with surprise. "Wow… redecorating?"
"I was trying to find my necklace."
Pansy took a careful step over Haley's schoolbooks and stood next to the bedpost. "Your necklace?"
"Yeah. It's gold with a ruby. Draco gave it to me."
Pansy pouted. "Draco never gave me any jewelry."
"Did you see it?"
Pansy thought about it. "Well… now that you mention it, I do recall you twiddling with it yesterday morning when you came to see me…"
"Really? So I had it yesterday for sure?"
The smaller girl nodded.
Haley's hopes were rising but suddenly they drooped once more. "But since then I've been running around everywhere…"
"Sorry, mate. That's all I remember…"
"I guess I'll just keep searching…" Again, Haley slumped in her seated potion on her bed.
"It's getting dark now. You should probably hold off your search until tomorrow. You can retrace your steps and all."
"I suppose you're right." Haley looked back up at Pansy and shook her head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry, Pansy. Did you come here for something?"
"Hm? Oh right. The clothes-"
"Oh! Of course! Sorry. My mind is just so cluttered right now. Here." Haley stood and grabbed one of the bags she had dumped out in her search. She had set aside Pansy's selections on her trunk after carefully going through them to make sure the necklace hadn't fallen into the pile. She placed the clothes in the bag and handed them over.
"How much was it for the stuff I picked out?"
"Don't worry about it."
"What?" Pansy looked perplexed. "But I thought-"
"You've helped me out quite a bit these past few weeks. I really appreciate it."
"So you're giving it to me?"
Haley shrugged. "It's the least I can do."
"You're really something, you know that?"
"So I've heard…"
Pansy accepted the bag and made her was back towards the door. She paused before opening it. "Tomorrow… if you want… I'll help you look for your necklace. I know it means a lot to you."
Haley smiled. "Thanks Pansy. You're a good friend."
A little blush crept up the smaller girl's face, but she left without another word, closing the door behind her.
Haley looked at the mess around her and sighed. With the flick of her wrist, she began to put her things back in their proper places. She suddenly realized how disgusting she felt for having scrubbed so many toilets and headed into her bath.
'It's just a necklace…' Haley tried to reason as she shampooed her hair. 'He even said he would replace it if need be… but…' She closed her eyes and let the water drip over her head. 'It's what the necklace means that makes it so important to me. He gave it to me, asking me to cherish him…'
She opened her eyes, a dull sadness coming over her. 'No. He gave it to Haley, wanting Haley to cherish him. Did he give it me, knowing who I really am though? If he did, what does that mean? Are Haley and Harry really just two different people to him? When I change back, will we still be the rivals we had become?'
So many questions swirled in her head. She finished her bath without answering any one of them. She just didn't know the answers. Haley readied herself for bed whilst tidying up the last bit of her things. And just as the last of her belongings were put away, a light knock came upon her door.
'It's getting pretty late…' Haley frowned. Still, she opened her door. "Hello."
"Hi." Draco replied.
"Did you need something?"
"I just… I wanted you to…" Draco exhaled. "I know it's not the same as the one I gave you, but here," the boy pulled out a necklace from within his pocket. Actually, it was just a ring and a piece of string, but he held it out to his friend anyway. "Think of it as a placeholder for the time being."
Haley took the makeshift necklace into her hands and peered at the ring with curiosity.
"It's my family crest," Draco said, answering her unspoken question. "Just… hang on to it until you get your other one back."
Although the thought warmed her heart, Haley shook her head and held out the necklace so Draco could take it back. "I can't take this, Draco."
"Sure you can. I'm giving it to you as a temporary. You seemed pretty upset earlier, and I know it's not the same thing, but… just wear it. I gave you the other one as a sign of our friendship and now I'm loaning you this for the same reason. So that way… they sort of mean the same thing. You know?" The expression on her face clearly read that she was lost. Draco tried again. "If I know you're wearing this one, then it's like you're wearing the other one… meaning you don't hate me and that our promise still holds strong. Makes sense?"
A smile slowly crept up on Haley's face. "I thought it didn't matter. It was something you could easily replace."
Draco shrugged. "It is. Haley, it's not the necklace that you're wearing that matters to me. It's the reasons why you're wearing it that I care about. So in the mean time, that is if you don't hate me and you do still cherish me, wear this one. Just for now."
Haley glimpsed at the necklace and pretended to think hard about the request.
"Oh, come on, you faker." He snatched the necklace out of her hand and put it on for her. "There."
She smiled as she looked at the ring. Then she looked back up at her friend. "Thank you, Draco. I will find it, you know."
Draco smiled back. "I know you will. Just try not to lose this one, too, okay?"
"I'll do my best."
And without warning, Draco grabbed Haley's wrist and pulled her into a hug, rending the surprised girl speechless. He held her tightly, resting his head on top of hers.
"Draco, what-"
"You look like you needed one." Before she could reply, he spoke again. "Never mind. I lied. I was the one that needed it..."
Haley smiled at the words and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She wrapped her arms around his torso and returned the embrace. The two stood there like that for a little more.
Draco inhaled deeply. "…You smell good."
"I just took a bath."
"Ah. That makes sense. Cause normally you smell horri-"
She shoved him away before he could finish his sentence, causing the boy to take a few steps back, all the while with a smile on his face.
"I'm joking, Jones."
"You better be or else the necklace comes off."
"All right, all right," he conceded. He smiled softly at his friend. "Good night, Haley."
"Good night, Draco."
She watched the boy walk to his own room and disappear behind his door before she closed her own. Feeling rather content, Haley walked over to her bed and collapsed into it. Carefully placing her glasses on her nightstand, she stared at the canopy above while playing with her new necklace in her hands.
'If anything… he still wants me as his friend. Whether or not he's separating Haley from Harry, this friendship still really means something to him.' She smiled and closed her eyes. 'Good…' She thought, reaching for a pillow and hugging it to her chest. "…Cause it means the world to me…'
And with that thought, she let her dreams overtake her.
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own naught the Harry Potter characters, but instead the characters Maxwell, Valex, Mavillian, and McClarin. Yes. And this story. Yes.
I would like to type something profound and awe-inspiring here, but I'm going to be late for work. So instead, here is a sideways happy face :) Cheerio!