The Scars That Haunt Me

Chapter 4

He still wasn't looking up, but I could tell he felt the piercing gazes of everyone around us.

I grabbed him by the upper arm and forced him to sit down at the table.

He wasn't touching anything. His plate laid there empty.

What's wrong with him? Why isn't he eating?

Whatever, if he wants to die from hunger, so be it. It's not like I care or-

"The infamous Potter! A Slytherin! No wonder you're always getting in trouble and stalking around the school claiming He's back!" My train of thought was interrupted. I turned my head to see a sixth year Gryffindor right next to Potter, shouting out his claim to everyone in the room.
Everyone turned to look at him, as if urging him to continue.
"You're nothing more than a liar, Harry Potter! No wonder you're such a nobody. No one even trusts you. Guess we all secretly knew you were just as rotten as the rest of the lot!" Kids were laughing at his remarks.

Potter seemed to shrink as the laughter continued.

"He's such a moron. Did he really think he could go on forever parading around as some sort of hero? What a total loser!" Another Gryffindor joined in.

"Not like we wanted someone like you in our group. If I were being honest, I feel bad for the Slytherin's knowing they have to deal with you." More and more Gryffindor's joined in on the mocking.

Did this always happens with Potter every time something was amiss? That makes no sense. Most of the time, it's not his fault, he just always seems to get dragged into it.

"Ha! You think we want to deal with an imposter like him?!" A Slytherin screeched. "I'd rather become a Gryffindor then have to spend five seconds in the same commons as this freak!"

"No wonder his parents died and his Aunt and uncle despise him. No one wanted him."

Whoa, that was low. Extremely low. No one should ever say that.

Okay, okay. I did at one point, yes, but he made snide remarks towards my parents as well. It wasn't always one sided and besides, I was like twelve.

But it had me questioning. I know Potter's parents were killed by Voldemort, but did his aunt and uncle really despise him? That can't be right. He's the golden boy, there's no way he could have a horrible home life even after losing his parents.

Anyways, this is getting out of hand. Everyone was gaining up on him. Almost as if he hasn't been saving our arses for the past four years!

Before I could stop anything from going any farther, Potter jumped up from his seat and ran out of the great Hall.

Some kids seemed to snicker, knowing they got under his skin.

How could people be that rude to him? Granted. I never really was nice to him either, but we're rivals, we're supposed to gain up on each other like that. I don't just do it and leave it at that. Potter always had a come back to put me in my place, but this time, he said nothing to no one.

It's not like him at all, but do I really know him? I only know what I've seen, what he's put up front. What if he's really entirely different?

Blaise and I looked at each other.

"I'll go check on him. If we're late, tell the teacher what's going on." I told him as I stood up from where I was sitting.

I calmly walked out of the great Hall.

I couldn't seem to find him any where. It's like he vanished.

Ten minutes had passed and I still couldn't find him.

Where did he go? Maybe in the commons.

I went down to the dungeons and muttered the password before stepping in the green and silver commons area.

I've been here for five years now, absolutely nothing has changed and by my guess it looks exactly like the other common rooms, just different colors.

I looked around, but still couldn't find him.

It's literally like he disappeared off the face of Hogwarts.

Ok. So not outside, not in our first period, not in the hallway, and not in the commons. Maybe the dorm?

That seemed like my next best option.

I made my way up the stairs and into our dorm room. I looked around, but couldn't find Potter anywhere.

This doesn't make sense. There's no where else he could have gone without me spotting him at least once.

Then, I heard it.

There were tiny sniffles coming from our bathroom.

I approached the door and tried opening it, but it was locked.

"Harry?"

Whoa, did I just say that? Nope. Not right. I meant Potter, it just slipped is all.

"Can you open the door?" The sniffling came to a stop, but no more noise was made for another few seconds.

"Please? I think we need to talk." All of a sudden I heard shuffling, the toilet flushing, a cabinet open and closing, then the click of the door.

"What is it Malfoy? Come to watch me for fun?" He asked. His head was still down.

I didn't like the fact he wasn't looking at me, or even at anything really.

"Come on." I motioned toward his bed. He took a seat and I sat next to him.

"I can't believe they all said that about you. Your fellow Gryffindor's? They're supposed to be close to one another. I guess not. And about that whole lying and being distrustful thing is not true. Sure we Slytherin's lie sometimes, but who doesn't? It doesn't make you a bad person because you got placed into Slytherin. That includes the stereotype of us all being evil."

I'm being honest. Just because the dark lord was part of Slytherin, it does not make Slytherin as a whole all bad. I've always hated that stereotype, but there's not much I can do about it.

"Malfoy?" He said finally after a good two minutes of silence.

"Yes?" I replied. He looked nervous. Almost as if he shouldn't ask.

"Earlier, at the bathroom. Did....did you call me Harry?"

Blood rushed to my cheeks when I realized what he had asked.

I did call him that. It was weird, I never call him that, but to be honest, saying his name felt right, for some reason.

"It was a spring of the moment! Nothing else!" I said a little too quickly and loudly.

I watched his lips curl in a slight smile. He looked up at me.

For the first time today I could see his eyes. Emerald green eyes were all I could keep focused on, they were captivating.

They were dead and tired, yet beautiful all the same.  Dark circles were around his eyes, proving how little sleep he's had. His face was sunken in, like he hasn't eaten in awhile and his skin was almost a sickly pale.

His hair laid messily on top of his head, some strands were covering parts of his face. Lastly, his glasses were on, but seemed to be just hanging on slightly, like they could fall off any moment now.

It wasn't until now that I realized how beautiful he is. How he actually makes me have butterflies in my stomach, even though the feeling is foreign.

However, it also scared me. He was too skinny and pale. It made me worry about his health and whether or not he was taken care of properly.

I moved my hand up close to push his falling round glasses back up on his face and said, "Yes, I just did."