Conflicted Loyalites

Chapter 9

Harry's POV

Malfoys been avoiding me. There is no doubt about that.

Why do I feel so put out about it? Honestly, I have no idea.

My sudden interest in him is disturbing to say the least. I never realised how much I watched him over the years until I began to notice subtle changes about him that I shouldn't have noticed at all.

To start with, he had lost a lot of weight over the summer. So much that his ribs could be seen beneath his robes, each one prominent. His eyes were sunken, though they still held that superior gleam that had resided there for as long as I'd known him. His skin was paler than ever - making his hair look grey in contrast. He was still the same as usual in the classes he shared with me. Malfoy was well known for being second only to Hermione in exams, he'd never missed homework as far as I knew. That was reassuring to me, I'm not sure why, I guess it was just nice to know that not everything had changed. It gave me some hope that his home life wasn't as bad as I was starting to think.

The most startling development of all though, was his eyes.

He constantly looked alert, skittish. He jumped at every noise, flinched at every touch. At night, he seemed reluctant to sleep, constantly glancing my way as if I would strangle him as soon as he dared to relax.

What the fuck? How do I know so much about the git who's supposed to be my enemy? When did I notice all of this?

It's disturbing to think about.

I shake my head and focus on Professor McGonagall as she explains how to tell the difference between a natural object and a transfigured one. Transfiguration isn't the worst subject, and McGonagall is a really good teacher. I can think of worse ways to spend last period than in her class.

Although she was now the Headteacher, she'd somehow managed to keep up with her classes. I thought she would have given up teaching and just focused on her new, more demanding, role but apparently not.

We always do half theory, half actual transfiguration. Supposedly, an entire class of transfiguration would be too much of a pull on our magic

I look up from my desk in time to hear her explain what we'll be doing for the remainder of the class.

"Today, we will be turning inanimate objects into animals. I will split the room into three and give you all a particular animal to focus on. Whichever section gets the most transfigured animals gets to leave first." The professor smiled, eyeing us all as she spoke. "Each section will also be given a different base and species to transfigure." She flicked her wand and goblets appeared on my sections desks. I looked around the room.

Malfoy, sitting on the opposite side of the room from me - surprise, surprise - had small, smooth pebble. He was worrying at his arm again, almost unconsciously. I forced my eyes away from him. I couldn't watch him do that, not when there was nothing I could do. The middle section had lumps of firewood on their desks, each different shapes and sizes.

"Students, you have now been given your bases. The left hand side of the room," She gestured towards my side. "will be attempting to transfigure their goblets into birds. The middle will be focusing on rodents and the right hand side on small reptiles. You have ten minutes to come up with a transfiguration. Begin!" She clapped her hands together as she finished and turned with a flourish to sit behind her desk, watching us all closely.