What You Can't See (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Sanity

Olivia wanted to apologize.

The thought stuck with Olivia even after she put the book down and turned off the light in her room. She'd come to know, over the last year and so, his schedule for riding the bus, having noticed the times the young man with the curling black locks of hair would ride the bus, always avoiding times when there were quite a few individuals on the bus during the day, almost as if he'd carefully planned this out.

As such, there was a definite hope of seeing him again the next day to apologize to the boy she still didn't know the name of. She'd already imagined how awkward the apology would be, what with how she'd only finally mustered the courage to speak with him the day before, along with the awkward accidental kiss on the cheek.

But for all the imagining, for all the hope, he wasn't there.

"Well, this is awkward," Olivia thought as she rode the bus, looking out the window, disappointed in not seeing the mysterious young man. "And I can't say I'm not disappointed. I definitely wished he'd be here so that I could see him again."

A voice in her head suggested she imagined him, that the mysterious boy nobody else could see was simply a figment of his imagination.

"Why, though?" Olivia thought to herself. "Why am I suddenly thinking this when I've seen him right there before me? I even," and then came a deep breath, her eyes closing. "Kissed him on the cheek accidentally. I touched him, and he defintiely wasn't a figment of my imagination. So why am I worried he might be a figment of imagination?"

"Because you're interested in him, that boy," the voice in her head said, which Olivia could not deny. However, she also admitted to the voice that she was also interested in what he was reading.

"Why I'm worried isn't why I'm doubting my own sanity, though," Olivia thought to herself, watching the countryside outside of the bus rush by, as the outside was more interesting than the inside where a certain mysterious stranger wasn't. "He did insist I shouldn't have been able to see him, and there was that stick which he acted like I shouldn't know about like it was important. As if it were a—but magic isn't real, so that's impossible."

She got off, rode the bus a few more days, watching for him, going to the library only to finally settle on heading to the local pizza place in the next town, knowing full well visiting the library that much, particularly when she'd struggled to finish the books with her mind distracted as it was by the invisible boy on the bus.

Stepping into the parlor, one of her friends waved her over, and she headed over. A slice of pizza was pushed over as she attempted diving into the book while everyone else around her chatted about who they were dating. Still, eventually, she let out a sigh and closed the book, putting it into her book bag and shaking her head. "This isn't working."

"What isn't?" her friend asked. Olivia frowned, looking right at the friend. In the back of her mind, she recognized the friend who waved her over, Grace, was the same one who'd asked if there was anybody she was interested in. Or perhaps she was the one who'd encouraged her to ask him out the next time she saw him.

Olivia frowned. "Nothing. Just, I've got a lot going on."

"What could you possibly have going on?" Grace asked. "I mean, you've likely already finished your summer homework, right?"

"Right," Olivia said. "You've got me on this one."

"This wouldn't happen to be about this guy you like, would it?"

"I'm not sure if like is the right word," Olivia said. "I mean, I barely know him, and definitely owe him an apology the next time I see him."

"Why? This wouldn't happen to do with....." Grace took a deep breath. "You didn't take my advice of asking him out, did you? And that didn't go terribly wrong, did it?"

"So she was the one who suggested I ask him out, not the one who asked if there was anybody I was interested in." Olivia shook her head. "No. Not when he's a complete stranger."

"Oh," Grace said. "Well, that's more than what we got last time, although Fiona isn't here today to hear it. "He's a stranger?"

"Just some guy I saw on the bus, so I guess it's not a big deal?"

"Yeah. But you're interested in him, right?"

"Because he's into books," Olivia said. "I couldn't even ask him about the book he was reading on the bus without messing that up."

"Oh," Grace said. "How could you possibly mess that up? I mean, this is one of your favorite subjects?"

"I defintiely can't tell her he thought he was invisible," Olivia thought to herself. "Well, for starters, he didn't realize I was talking to him at first."

"Oaf," Grace said, rolling her eyes. "You two are made for each other; if he was so into his book that he wasn't paying attention to the fact you were talking to him."

"I don't know. I think I might have scared him away."

"Come on," Grace said. "You're a really nice person."

"Yeah, well, when I sat next to him," Olivia shook her head. "I didn't even get a chance to tell him my name."

"Why not?" Grace said.

Olivia felt heat spread across her cheeks. "The bus pulled to a stop as I was trying to do so."

"And?"

"What do you mean and?"

"Your cheeks are flushing up! What happened?"

Olivia sighed. "I might have accidentally kissed him on the cheek."

Grace laughed. "Oh. Is that how you messed up?"

"Yes, well, I haven't seen him since," Olivia said, looking at the ground.

"Because he likes you, then."

Olivia shook her head. "No. We barely know each other."

"Well, I can't think of any other reason a guy would stay away from a girl," Grace said.

Olivia frowned. "I'm sure there's a reason. But he's definitely not been riding on the bus at his usual time, so...."

"I'll ride with you," her friend said.

"Whatever for? It isn't as if he's going to show," Olivia said.

"He might. And I want to see this guy who's caught your attention. He must be something if he caught your attention, as we all know how picky you are regarding guys, that it isn't just about looks. It's also—not sure what else you're looking for, honestly."

"He won't show," Olivia said, thinking this true.

Yet he was there the next day, on the bus, reading his book. Grace was on the bus with her, looking around, when she said something Olivia hadn't expected. "Where is he?" she asked.

"So he is a figment of my imagination?" Olivia swallowed, watching as he glanced up at her nervously. She wasn't sure what to think, let alone what she should do beyond, "If he's real, I still owe him an apology for the other day."