Windows

"Windows"

Harry knows it's an odd fascination. He doesn't know why he's so obsessive about it. Maybe it was because so many people made such a fuss over his eyes that made him focus so much on the eyes of others.

He had heard so many descriptions of his eyes. They were called "emerald" by most of the young third year girls, but there was also "jade" or "forest green". When people thought him evil in his second year, they called his eyes "pure Slytherin green", or even worse: "Avada Kedavra green". And, of course, there was the: 'freshly pickled toad' green. Most famously, though, was simply: "Lily's eyes".

To Harry, however, his eyes were green. Just green. Like him, Harry, just Harry. But people always tried to make them, like him, better and more special than they were. They really were just green and horribly near-sighted. He always wondered how anyone could be so particular about a pair of eyes hidden behind thick black glasses.

He always thought other people's eyes were much more interesting. He always tried to watch their eyes when they talked. Tried to catch the subtle ways they changed depending on the person's mood.

Hermione's eyes are plain brown, a bit like mud. They'd darken whenever she was working on a problem or researching one thing or another. But they never failed to brighten back up when a certain redhead walked into the room, only to darken once more. They got teary when she was upset, or narrowed into thin slits when angered.

Ron's eyes did the opposite when he was angry. They'd flash bright blue and widen until his face was all red and blue. But they danced about merrily when he was happy. They were searching when Harry would be too quiet, or when he'd "subtly" ask Hermione how "Vicky" was doing in Bulgaria. They darkened only when he'd see her writing a particularly long letter.

The twins' eyes always gleamed with badly concealed mischief. And they narrowed into brown lines when they were treated unfairly (in their opinion).

Ginny's eyes are... well, to Harry, they were a bit like hot chocolate on a cold, snowy day, warm and inviting, safe and cozy. But, of course, if you looked deeper they always seemed a bit haunted and guarded. And Harry knew why.

Molly Weasley's eyes are a lot like Ginny's, warm and inviting, but more like tea than coco. Tea personified home and hearth to Harry, which was everything Mrs. Weasley was. Her eyes seemed to warm your very soul with one happy, kind glance. And they seemed to envelope you in a hug before her arms could get around you.

Remus's eyes are the color of Uncle Vernon's expensive brandy. The kind used to impress business associates, or when Aunt Marge came to visit. His eyes held secrets Harry knew, and some he didn't. Remus's eyes were among the saddest eyes Harry had ever seen.

McGonagall had stern eyes. You didn't need to have Harry's obsession to see that. They were stern and discriminating, always keen and forever searching. But Harry could swear there was still a bit of girlish glee hidden in the eyes of the much older witch. It only seemed to appear at Quidditch games and the occasional Umbridge bashing.

Severus Snape has black, cold, calculating eyes. His eyes are shadowed and secretive, the eyes of a spy; or a man hiding the past, or hiding from it, or both. Harry didn't dwell on Snape's eyes; he didn't like looking into those eyes. Not out of fear of what the Legilimens would see, but what he would see in Snape's.

Dumbledore's eyes are often described as wise and eternally twinkling. But Harry wouldn't describe them as such. Perhaps it was because he'd spent so much time with the Headmaster and had had so many sad and deeply serious conversations with him; but to Harry, Dumbledore's sky blue eyes were lonely and hurt. Like Remus's, they were often sad. And Harry frequently wondered if they were always so bright and sparkly simply because the old wizard was holding back so many tears. He had as much reason to cry as the next person, if not more. He had seen things Harry could not, and did not want to imagine. He had watched as former pupils died or chose the wrong side. He was there when Lord Voldemort was simply Tom Riddle, dutiful Hogwarts prefect. Yes, to Harry, Dumbledore's eyes were quite sad and surprisingly unknowing.

Sirius's eyes are... were gray, as gray as the London fog. They were rainy-day eyes, in almost every way. There had been the occasional spark of boyhood giddiness, but it was always fleeting. It would disappear almost instantly when he'd look into Harry's eyes and see they were green and not hazel, like James's. Sirius's eyes were hot mercury when angry and cool silver when calmed. A dusky early morning gray when reminded of those dark twelve years or the even darker Halloween night that came before. They were a winter's night gray whenever thinking of those times long ago when he was just a boy running about Hogwarts with his three friends, before all the betrayal and sadness.

Draco Malfoy's eyes... they were a mystery. His eyes are gray and at first glance one would think they were identical to his father's, cold and unfeeling, with a heavy helping of aristocratic arrogance. That's what Harry saw for years. But recently with Draco's father's capture and the war brewing around Hogwarts, there was uncertainty in everything including Malfoy's eyes. His eyes grew shadowed and dark, not in anger or hatred, but simple helplessness. He was lost and his eyes showed that. He tried to duck and avoid eye contact, but Harry could always get him to look at him. Harry would find himself searching Malfoy's eyes for some hint of hope. But he never found it. He was certain it was there, just hidden, like so many other things.

Then one day, he saw something in Malfoy's gray eyes that took him a moment to place. It was an odd familiarity that caused Harry's chest to ache in an unknown way. Then it suddenly hit him. Those gray eyes didn't belong to a Malfoy, but a Black. They weren't Lucius Malfoy's eyes, but Sirius Black's. And it was then that Harry was reminded of the fact the Draco was in fact Sirius's cousin. Draco didn't have Malfoy eyes he had Black eyes. And that was all the hope he needed. That was all he needed in order to trust Malfoy when it was announced that he would be joining the Order. And for once Harry was thankful for his obsession with eyes.