The Secret

"I dare you to speak. I dare you to move. I dare you to take a chance," said Draco Malfoy softly, looking at the boy in front of him with his pale gray, listless eyes.

He stood stock still in the middle of the Slytherin hallway at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He stood watching Harry. He stood waiting like a bird watching its prey. He stood knowing the Secret. He knew. The Secret.

The boy in front of Draco, Harry Potter, shuffled uncomfortably under the boy's gaze, trying not to show his fear. Fear. A fear that Draco was an expert at evoking in Harry. A fear that dared him to do things that Harry wasn't used to. A fear that caused nightmares, sleepless days, and distraction in class. A fear that plagued him.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry. Of course he knew perfectly well what his enemy meant, but he wanted to stall and see if someone came sooner. Someone who was just wandering the hallways. He hated when Draco did this. When he put Harry in the Hot Seat. He hated it when Draco so obviously exhibited that he knew the Secret. The Secret.

What Draco meant was: I dare you to do something you're not used to. I dare you to break out of your defense wall and do something out of the ordinary. I dare you to tell the people who mean the world to you the Secret.

Draco knew that Harry was stalling. Draco always knew. Those emotionless gray eyes knew everything about every one. They knew. Of course they knew. You couldn't lie to them. They always knew.

"You know what I mean," said Draco, his lazily elegant demeanor intrigued and scared Harry at the same time. His calmness and blatant voice captured Harry's attention. Draco's way of knowing Harry so well. Of knowing the Secret.

The Secret. He knew.

"They can't know," said Harry quietly. He started backing away from Draco, but he stopped. Something was forcing him to stay.

"They have to know. Weasley will be utterly blind to your uncomfortable state when someone brings up the Prophecy. Granger will know. She will sense it. She knows you. She knows you better than anyone. She knows you better than you know yourself." Draco's voice resounded in the hallway, leaving echoes. Echoes that made Harry's skin tingle. Echoes that reminded him of the Secret.

The Secret.

How long could Harry hide the Secret? How long could he keep Ron and Hermione at bay? Draco was right. Hermione would know. She would sense something wrong. She would see right through his lies. She would see it in his eyes. His emerald eyes and other lies. She would know the Secret.

The Secret.

When Harry snapped himself out of his thoughts and looked up, he saw that Draco had left. Harry heard the echoes again. The Secret. The echoes of the Secret. Hermione would know. She would know the Secret. She would know. Harry would tell her the Secret. She will know. She will know.

The Secret.