I Think I Like Him

7. How Tables Turn

Word count: 1136

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"What do you think you're playing at, Malfoy?"

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy straightened slightly, gaining his composure.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about"

"I've done nothing wrong, Potter"

Harry huffed, fuming. "You- ugh, you're just too good at that!"

"At what?" Draco cocked his head, mirroring Harry's stance.

"Twisting things around so you're never in the wrong!" Harry crossed his arms venomously.

Malfoy froze for a second, before a light smirk crossed his face, "well.. I am a Slytherin, after all."

"Clearly," Harry retorted. "I want answers, Malfoy. You're up to something and I want to know what it is." Malfoy, in reply, snorted; leaning against the wall.

"you think this is funny?" He said, feeling the urge to conjure a mirror just to make sure he hadn't somehow morphed into Hermione overnight.

"Very" he leaned forward slightly "You're just so obsessed, aren't you?"

"What?"

"You just don't know how to leave well enough alone. That could be because of your little saviour boy complex..." he paused, leaning forward again and lowering his voice. "Yet.. it's always me, isn't it? You always have to know what I'm doing..."

"Because it's always something bad!" Harry said, a little too loud, a little too defensive.

Malfoy's smirk grew wider, "yes, well.. that's what you tell yourself, isn't it?" Harry took a step back, and Malfoy took one forward.

"You say it's because you hate me so much.."

"Because I do!" Harry mentally hit himself, he couldn't get his voice to sound truthful enough. But it's not like he was lying. "No... it's not hate.. but what is it, Potter? Why are you so obsessed with a Slytherin? A Malfoy? Me?" Harry was now against the wall, shrinking at his words. The silence told him that Malfoy wanted an answer, but it was one he couldn't give because if he was honest, he didn't know either.

After a while without Harry's reply, Malfoy sniggered, "Wow, I guess you're right. I really am good at doing that" He took one last smug look at Harry's flustered form before leaving the room. The silence that followed made Harry question whether he had imagined the entire thing because surly- surly that did not just happen.

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"Are you alright, Harry?"

Harry was now back in the common room, his 'conversation' with Malfoy having taken up the rest of dinner, and Hermione stood in front of the portrait as he climbed in, probably having been there for awhile.

"Uhm.. yeah- no, I'm fine"

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed, collapsing into the nearest chair. "Look, Hermione.. I don't wanna talk about it, alright?"

She nodded, surprising Harry that she would give in so quickly, though he didn't dare question it, as though reminding her would encourage a change of mind, and lead to a full-on questioning session. And he, quite frankly, would rather not today.. or any day, really.

He swivelled around in his chair so he was facing the table, leaning forward to prop his chin up on his palms.

Hermione suddenly grabbed something in the corner of the room, just outside his line of vision, and placed it on the table.

"You missed pudding" she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Harry looked up to an elegantly decorated treacle tart on a patterned dish. He flashed Hermione a grin before eating, the sweet syrup taking up his mouth instantly -still warm, he noted, knowing that was Hermione's doing.

"There you are, mate!" Ron waltzed in, presumably from the boys dorms.

Harry nodded, glancing up to offer him a grin.

"Mmm, whatcha got there?" Ron scooped up a few crumbs from Harry's plate and ate them, humming as he did so.

Hermione gave him a look but he deliberately ignored it, sprawling over the loveseat opposite Harry. "So, where were you, mate?"

Harry groaned and flopped back in his chair, head falling back dramatically.

"What?" Ron questioned, his eyes wide with genuine innocence.

"I'll tell you later, Ron.." he said, lifting his head back up and picking up his treacle tart again.

"..as in you'll tell him later, or you won't and your just trying to get him off your back?" Spoke up Hermione, hand on hip.

Harry didn't answer.

She sighed and strode forward, pushing Ron's feet off the loveseat (much to his annoyance) and sitting down, crossing one leg over the other femininely.

When Harry eventually looked up, he saw them both staring at him intently and he huffed, holding his head in his hands.

"Come on, Harry.. what happened?" Hermione said gently, and Ron nodded vigorously.

"I- ..I can't even make sense of it myself, so you two couldn't possibly understand.."

"Mate, what do you recon' we'd do? Never talk to you again? Nothing's that bad." Ron said, an amused smile on his face.

"Are you sure about that?" Harry said, not entirely joking.

"O'course, mate!"

Harry sighed.

"I don't even know why I'm making such a fuss about it, really.. it just got to me, for some reason."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Nothing really happened... just Malfoy being Malfoy"

Ron nodded understandingly where as Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean, Harry? Has he been badmouthing you again?"

"Yes- I mean, no, not.. really?"

"What?"

"Ugh.. it's hard to explain.." Harry sat up and faced the pair, "You know how Malfoy has been acting.. odd, lately?"

"Yea?" Ron said.

"Well.." He paused for a second, clearly thinking through his words, "He was just doing that again" he said, hand on forehead.

"But what did he say?" Ron was getting frustrated now, and both him and Hermione were becoming steadily aware that he was holding something back.

"Just on about how I'm supposedly obsessed with him and stuff.." he rolled his eyes and Ron and Hermione's mouthed dropped.

"Obsessed?" Hermione repeated, and Harry nodded.

"Has he gone mental?" Chortled Ron, keeling over and holding his stomach, "he's the one staring at you all the damn time!" and while the other two stayed quiet, he didn't notice.

"Alright, I'm off to bed" he said, getting up and stepping over Hermione's legs.

They nodded speechlessly as he headed up into the boys Dormitory.

"Harry.." Hermione began after a moment.

"If anything like this happens again, tell me. I'll try help you make sense of it all" she smiled, and he nodded.

"Thanks, Hermione.."

She uncrossed her legs, standing up neatly and walking away, going up and into the girls' dorms.

He waited in the empty common room for a while, until he glanced out the window and saw that the sky was lightening, and so he begrudgingly shuffled up the stairs and into his dorm, and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.