The girl who understood

chapter 5

chapter 5
fathers and flubberworms

'I saw you arguing with that boy.', the foreigner began, having me explain: 'He's my brother.' A simple nod was his response to my statement. 'Please excuse if I am introding but..' He hesitated for a moment, his lips pressed tightly together, before proceeding: 'Why did you not tell him you cared?' I heard pain in his voice but could not find it in his eyes. Somehow he only showed me what he was willing to. I didn't answer his question. Instead I maintained the eye contact in a desperate attempt to understand this man. I could not. He had deliberately covered himself from any possible attempt at entrance. I could not break through. Yet!

'Why do you care?', I wondered. I could not answer myself this question. I needed his help to understand. 'Your brother was clearly accusing you of things that are far from true. If a total stranger can see that, so can he!' He was assuming things he could not possibly be able to fully grasp. 'Who are you?', I asked. Only in thought I added: 'Who do you think you are?'

'Kristiyan Draganov.', he introduced himself, now looking at me expectantly. Though he did not phrase his question I knew exactly what he wanted me to say. I was just about to give him my name, when something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Harry Potter was heading towards me, holding not one but two bookbags. 'You really did not have to-', I tried to assure him. I would have gone back to get it. But Harry did not hear any of it. 'We both wouldn't want you to go back in there.' I acknowledged his words with a simple nod. He was right. 'Thank you.'

Harry did not leave after handing me my bag. Instead he eyed me up and down with a sceptical look plastered all over his face, his brows furrowed in worry. It was obvious what question was sitting on the tip of his tongue. 'I am not telling you why.'. I called him off in hopes of driving him away. At the same time I felt strangely dependent on the thought of him understanding the genuine discomfort I was feeling. When his eyes met mine, the question I had just rejected was still laying within the green velvet of his irises but glimpsing through it, now, was a hint of understanding. The sudden flood of relief forced an uncontrollable smile onto my lips. I only realised when Harry, too, started smiling, the question in his eyes disappearing for a fleeding moment.

'Thank you.' I held up my bookbag but Harry Potter did not respond to that when he said: 'You're welcome!' Suddenly I felt horribly insensitive. Harry had found himself presented with a far more uncomfortable encounter than I had. 'I am sorry. Are you okay?', I asked, almost expecting him to turn on his heels and leave. He was probably sick of only ever getting questions in his life, not answers. I was aware that I was now deliberately adding to his pile of questions.

A different look of pain now washed over his eyes and as Harry quickly shook his head his black hair flew from side to side, several strands getting stuck behind his glasses. 'You have your own troubles.' That was what I had thought of him but he had followed me anyway. Incidently I pulled the sleeves of my cloak further over the back of my hands, gripping the cloth tightly between my cold fingers. 'Should we..?', Harry started, pointing behind his back. We both had Potions next so I nodded. We could go to class together.

'I should-', I started, turning back to Kristiyan, but facing the spot he had stood on mere moments ago, I found but an empty corridor. Kristiyan Draganov had disappeared without so much as a goodbye or even a waving hand. What bugged me more than his silent disappearance, however, was that I had not noticed him leaving.

I turned around to look at Harry Potter, who paid no attention whatsoever to the emptyness I had addressed. He was waiting patiently for me to proceed but I did not finish my sentence. 'Yes!', I merely stated before walking next to him towards the stairs. It took a long while for the staircase to allign in a way that would allow us to get to our destination, anticipating oddly uncomfortable silence between me and the Griffindor boy.