Romeo, Romeo...
Harry spent Sunday in the library, Lisa at his side in Hermione's place correcting his essays over his shoulder. He hadn't seen Ron, Hermione or Dean all day, and he'd seen more than enough of Lavender and her giggling posse to last a lifetime. Lisa patted his shoulder with a half-smile when the high-pitched laughter sounded yet again from behind a stack of books only two tables away. "Sorry, Harry," she muttered softly and he shrugged. It was still better than anyone knowing the truth.
An hour before dinner, Harry stood from his chair and stretched. Then he took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "My eyes are killing me," he complained looking down at Lisa with a half smile.
She stood from her chair and grinned. "Sorry. I guess you Gryffindors aren't quite as used to this sort of thing as Ravenclaws." She leaned over the table, gathering her scrolls and parchments into a neat pile.
Harry snorted and did the same. "You could say that. Hermione's the only one who could do an all day study session and come back fresh as a daisy," he commented, shaking his head a bit.
"How come you didn't just spend the day helping her with the set?" Lisa asked and slipped her belongings into her bag. "Your eyes would hurt less, I'm sure," she laughed.
The Gryffindor shook his head. "No way. First, they haven't asked." He could tell Lisa was about to break in so he waved a hand to stop her. "Second, no way am I going to volunteer for as long as those Slytherins are still showing up. I don't like watching my hard work going up in flames."
The girl laughed. "Oh, I heard about that! It's awful." She led the way around the table and Harry followed her to the door. He opened it for her, putting on a gentleman's show for the members of the gossip mill still hanging around, and walked her down the hall. "Do you think she'll be finished in time for the play?"
Harry shrugged. "Knowing Hermione? Probably. She's got Ron and Dean helping now too, so at least there's that." He shook his head. "It wouldn't surprise me if she gets half of Gryffindor in there before its all said and done."
Lisa giggled and nodded her agreement. "I could see that happening. Oh, hang on," she said, pausing mid-step and swinging her bag around to dig inside it for a moment. "I found something that should help," she trailed off, mumbling under her breath until she found what she was looking for. "Here we are!" she handed Harry a small rolled parchment with a victorious grin and started back down the hall, Harry keeping step.
The Gryffindor lifted his brows curiously, then unrolled the parchment. A few words were written on it, but Harry focused only on the three that he knew Hermione would love. "To make clothes," he read and grinned up at Lisa. "How did you know?"
Lisa shrugged. "Hermione has been quite vocal in her complaints lately. I figured I could at least do this." Harry smiled down at her as he stopped at the end of the hall and Lisa reached out to put a hand on his arm. She didn't need to say anything. He'd seen that faraway look and that smile often enough by now to know that she was thinking of Tuesday night and her upcoming trip to Hogsmeade.
He grinned back and watched her walk away, slipping the parchment into the pocket of his robe. She really was a nice girl, and his grades were improving already. Turning, Harry almost ran into another student, just barely managing to stop himself from colliding with the boy leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "Sorry," he said automatically, not bothering to look up.
"That was truly touching, Potter," Malfoy's voice was dripping with sarcasm, stopping Harry mid-step in his way around. "Romeo and Juliet are together in real life as well. I've heard the rumors, but I must say," the blond drawled, pushing himself off the wall to look down his nose at the shorter boy, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. You think she'd have better taste."
Harry rolled his eyes and tried to curb his temper. "What's it to you, Malfoy?" he asked, proud that most of his usual fire didn't show in the question. The other teen was helping him after all.
Malfoy's eyes narrowed and he lifted his chin, sneering "Not a thing," in a voice so cold it actually raised goose bumps on Harry's arms. He looked down, trying to rub the bumps away and when he turned his gaze back up, ready to loose a scathing reply, Malfoy had already stormed away. Harry watched the edge of the boy's robes disappear around a corner, completely confused. Whatever the hell that was, it made absolutely no sense.
"No Slytherin antics today?" Seamus asked Hermione as soon as the bushy haired witch sat down for dinner.
She shook her head. "Nope," she actually smiled for what seemed like the first time in a week. "We didn't tell them we were going to work on the set today. And we fire-proofed the balcony so they can't ruin it again."
"Proud of yourself, aren't you?" Ron laughed, dropping to sit next to Hermione. He immediately started piling food onto his plate, talking without looking away from his rapidly filling plate. "I'm just glad we finally finished that bloody balcony."
"You?" Hermione scoffed. "If I have to make it one more time, I'll scream!" She shook her head, clearly remembering the fate of her previous attempts.
"Speaking of," Harry broke in before his friends could launch into an extended discussion of the complete worthlessness of Slytherins as a stage crew, "I have something for you." He tossed Hermione the rolled parchment, taking a bite of his chicken as he watched her open it.
Hermione's eyes widened almost comically and she started bouncing happily in her seat. "Oh, gosh, Harry! How did you find this?"
"Me?" Harry laughed. "Hermione, if you couldn't find this spell how on earth do you suppose I could? Lisa found it for you. She thought it would help, you know, since your stage crew isn't."
"Ooh, she is the best girlfriend you've ever had!" Hermione squealed, jumping up from her seat. "Now I've got to go salvage what I can from what's left of the costume cloth." She spun around and ran from the room, her robes flying out behind her.
Ron laughed as he watched her go. "I'll have to agree with her, mate," he told Harry, turning back to his plate. "You did pick a good one this go, didn't you?"
Harry smiled and nodded, hoping Ron didn't notice that he was faking the agreement. He shouldn't have worried though. His friend was far too interested in his food.
By the time Monday afternoon arrived, Harry was actually looking forward to the rehearsal. For some reason or other, Malfoy had taken every opportunity to insult Harry and his friends, almost as if he was trying to start a fight. If Ron had had his way, the Slytherin would have succeeded and more than once.
As soon as he'd taken his seat in the circle though, Harry realized his mistake. Malfoy was directly across from him, and whatever had put him in such a bad mood hadn't yet been resolved if his cold glare was anything to go by. But at least during rehearsal, he could only say his lines and since his character had already died, Harry could expect a little relief for however long today's lasted.
Harry listened as the others read their lines, following along in his own script to avoid looking up. It didn't help though. He could still feel Malfoy's glare and it unsettled him more than it ever had before. He flipped the page in his script, lifting a hand to rub at his forehead, but it did nothing to ease the pressure starting to build up behind his eyes.
Next to him, Harry felt Seamus shift in his seat and knew the other boy was getting bored. He looked up slightly at the elbow digging into his side. He didn't have any lines this act, so that couldn't be why the Irish teen was trying to get his attention. Turning slightly, so he didn't have to look at the boy who was still glaring so intensely, Harry turned his attention to his friend, brows raised in question.
"Malfoy's glaring at you," Seamus whispered behind his hand and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I know," he answered softly. "Nothing I can do about it."
"But why?" Seamus asked. Harry shook his head. He didn't have a clue, and somehow he didn't think the middle of Juliet's monologue was the time to find out. "Well, at least be a Gryffindor and meet his eyes!" the sandy-haired boy scolded. "You haven't turned down a challenge in the last five years. Why start now?" he finished, slouching back down in his seat and lifting the script to cover his face.
Harry leaned back in his own chair and flipped another page in his script, his eyes quickly finding and following as the Capulet half of the circle began to mourn Juliet. Seamus was right. Shying away from Malfoy wasn't something he'd ever done before. They'd always hated each other, they'd always glared at one another. It was routine, tradition by now. Just because they'd shared a few sessions of private lessons in the last week didn't change that fact.
Thinking about it and actually meeting Malfoy's glare were two completely separate things though and when Harry did finally look up, meeting that cold stare with his own anger, he couldn't even try to look away. There was something else in those grey depths, some emotion that didn't convey hatred, something that drained Harry's anger until his brows furrowed in confusion instead.
It didn't make sense! Malfoy was tense and frowning. His light brows were furrowed so deep that Harry could see the lines even from across the circle. Anyone looking at the Slytherin could tell that someone had pissed him off. Anyone with sense could tell that it was all directed at Gryffindor's golden boy. So then why was it that Harry couldn't sense any of that anger he'd believed was there? And if it hadn't been anger that had Malfoy sniping at him the last two days, just what was going on?
A/N: Okay, I meant to write more, but it was getting a tad too long for my tastes. So even though it's kind of short, look on the positive side. I've already started the next chapter! Heh. Right. So thanks to GivenPeace13, Lady of the frozen black flame, Hyper Hippie, Draco and Hermione is like PBJ, trillium248, SwarmOfFanGirls, brionyjae, weapons kunoichi Xx, Death-God-777, YeahYouWannaKnowMyName, and LyricallyInspired. Holy crud, you guys have long names! That would get on my nerves whenevr I tried to long in! Anyway~ Reviews please! (And take into consideration that I'm really not much of a 'please' person before you decide not to!)