For Want of a Shoe

For Want of a Shoe


Draco Malfoy stalked out of the room. There was something about the way that girl had looked at him that made him feel all spooky.

She had looked at him as if he was a ghost. There was something in her eyes. It had slowly dimmed out, but it had been there. He shuddered.

He decided that he hated that girl. She was very pretty, and he could already tell that she would be a handful, and she irked him, but he was drawn to her.

He ran his fingers through his hair and decided to go to bed. As he passed by Buffy’s room, however, he heard her talking.

He walked into the room, looking around.

But she wasn’t talking to anyone there. He looked closer.

She was talking to herself. In her sleep. He edged closer.

He couldn’t tell what she was saying. He rapidly left the room.

The next morning, he came down for breakfast remarkably early. Harry was already there.

“Good night’s sleep Draco?”

“What do you want?”

“I saw you coming out of Buffy’s room last night.”

“The girl was talking to herself. Wanted to make sure there was no one there.”

“So you don’t like her then?”

“Potter, when have you and I ever fancied the same girls?”

“Just making sure.”

“Go away Potter.” Draco pleaded.

Harry smirked and left.

“Morning Buffy.”

Draco turned at her name.

She had a large bandage on her head, and he imagined that she had one around her ribs. But he noticed that she didn’t limp.

He took his breakfast and tried to exit the room. She grabbed his arm.

“Sorry for being mean to you last night.”

“That’s fine. Will you let go of me now?”

She did. “It’s just that you reminded me of someone.”

Draco’s expression didn’t change. “I see.”

He left the room. He shuddered. She couldn’t possibly be trying to be his friend…could she?

___

Buffy sat in the kitchen eating slowly. She was thinking about Draco and his remarkable resemblance to Spike. There was no way. There couldn’t be.

And yet, the walked the same way, they talked the same way, they dressed, acted and looked the same. She stared at her plate. The eggs did not look appealing at all. She had been instructed to stay inside all day, but she was dying to go outside. She went back up to her room. There was a selection of clothes in the closet, many of them resembling the ones left behind in Sunnydale. She put on a leather jacket over what she was already wearing and opened the window.

She looked down. She sighed. On a good day, she could probably make it, but she wasn’t going to take any chances now. She knew for a fact that they could fix her if they wanted to, but they still didn’t trust her. Then she saw the answer. She climbed out the window and scaled down a tree. This time, she landed uninjured.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in her side, she ran. She closed her eyes and plopped down on the grass. She looked around and rose to her feet. She sat back down and stretched out her legs. Her side didn’t hurt so much anymore. She attempted a back flip, but landed painfully on her butt. She sat up. She spent the rest of the afternoon climbing trees and running around.

It started raining, but she didn’t care. When she became aware of the time, almost two hours had passed. She cursed and ran back. She decided climbing back in was useless, they had no doubt noticed that she was missing. She walked through the front door. Immediately the redheaded woman was upon her, yelling at her and pointing and gesturing. Buffy tuned it all out. She went back up to her room and crawled under the covers again. She didn’t notice Harry coming in. She was too exhausted and wet.

She did however, notice him pointing a stick at her and muttering a few words.

She jolted up in bed. Something was different. She ran her hand along her forehead. She knew.

“How did you do that?”

He shrugged, “I am a wizard.”

“Why didn’t you do it before?”

“We weren’t sure magic would agree with you.”

“I see.” Buffy lay back down.

“You might want to change.”

“Huh?”

“You’re wet.” He smirked and left the room.