LOVE COMES TUMBLING - drarry

2

November
On the surface, term progressed as if the war had never happened. Classes went on as normal, all the little cliques that had existed before were renewed (and new ones formed among the first years), and everyone groaned about too much homework and not enough time to do it in.

Beneath the surface, however, there was still a deep well of pain and grief. Everyone could feel it, but no one talked about it. Occasionally Harry would come across one or two people, huddled in an alcove or deep in the library stacks, where tear-stained cheeks and stifled sobs were the only release when memories overwhelmed.

The first few weeks had passed without incident. Until that morning.

Malfoy had come to breakfast with a split lip and a black eye, and Terry Boot's hand had been sporting a bandage that he had seemed quite proud of indeed.

This would not have seemed strange (it was Malfoy, after all) except for the fact that up until that point, everyone had been ignoring Malfoy . . . ignored him to the point that no one even acknowledged his existence.

Harry had been watching it all unfold for nearly a month now. The first week was full of dirty looks and name calling, but then one day – all of a sudden – it all stopped. It was as though Malfoy were invisible. Harry had watched people deliberately not move out of the way when Malfoy approached in the hallways, and not even flinch when they'd knocked into him. He'd watched Malfoy be blatantly ignored when he asked for the salt at the Slytherin table. He'd watched as more and more students hadn't even deigned to make eye contact with Malfoy, and by the time November had rolled around, Malfoy was a complete non-entity at the school.

While Harry was somewhat relieved that the outright bullying had seemed to cease, he wasn't sure that this was any better.

The other boy had cottoned on pretty quickly, Harry noticed, and reacted accordingly – by pretending that they were all beneath him anyway, so who was he to care? To add insult to injury, on the fifth day of the school-wide silent treatment, Malfoy had walked into the Great Hall for dinner with his sleeves rolled up, Dark Mark on full display and a challenge in his eyes that simultaneously said fuck you and what are you going to do about it?

Harry almost laughed.

But he also suspected that Malfoy did care, and very much so. There was a tinge of loneliness around him now, and he'd watch as Malfoy occasionally glanced around to see if anyone was looking at him. Harry had known since he was a child what true loneliness felt like, the kind that goes bone deep to the point that any sign of kindness from another human being is like a flicker of sunshine in a world of darkness, and he wouldn't wish it on anyone. His schoolwork had provided a sufficient distraction from the goings on around him, but this was becoming something that Harry could no longer ignore.

And while everyone was ignoring Malfoy and pretending as if he weren't there, Harry seemed to be the only person that Malfoy was ignoring. Several times when Harry would deliberately try to catch his gaze, Malfoy would knowingly look right past him.

It was, quite frankly, infuriating. So much for a show of mercy, Harry couldn't even make Malfoy look at him, for fuck's sake.

Ron, of course, was his predictable gleeful self over this game of Malfoy Doesn't Exist, but it was Hermione's reaction after Malfoy walked in, face bruised and mouth swollen, for breakfast the morning after the Halloween Feast that had given Harry an uncomfortable chill.

"He's brought it on himself, Harry. Things could be a lot worse after everything that Malfoy's done."

"Yeah well, from what I've heard, he's only just started to get what he deserves," Ron added lightly as though he were privy to some plot that Harry was unaware of, and Harry suddenly lost his appetite.