Jane [h.s.]

two

Harry

"Why do you keep sitting with me?"

Harry shrugged, he really didn't know why he kept going back to the different girl, "I dunno, I thought maybe we could be friends?"

Jane didn't look at him, her hands twisting in her lap, "You don't want to be my friend."

He was determined although he was confused with how she acted sometimes, "Yes, I do."

She looked at him now, her dark eyes hard and intent on making him go away, "Why?"

Harry wasn't going to go away, even if she looked at him like he was the devil himself, "Because, you're different. I like different."

Jane didn't say anything, her eyes now darting around frantically, like someone was going to run around the corner and do something terrible.

"My sister's different too, you know. Sometimes, she isn't herself."

She didn't talk, but he didn't press her to say anything. He just wanted her to know that he wasn't like the other kids, that he would be her friend even if she scared him sometimes.

They sat there in silence, her eyes flitting back and forth constantly and his hands twisted awkwardly in his lap.

Jane was very different, he knew that by watching the way the adults looked at her when she started yelling, crying, or when they noticed her eyes wandering like they were now. That didn't stop him from trying to understand though.

He hated being alone and, surely, she must have too.

Jane's lips were trembling as she turned to look at him with glossy eyes, "Are you one of them?"

Harry didn't really understand what she meant by 'them', but he knew that his answer was no.

He shook his head, his fingers pulling at the dirt beneath him. He wanted to hold her hand, but he knew that it wasn't a good idea, just like he knew the answer to her question was no.

"No."

"They...they say that you are and that you want to hurt me too."

Harry frowned and thought about what she had said, picking out his answer carefully in his mind, "I don't want to hurt you, Jane. Why would I?"

Her dark eyes searched his lighter ones intently. He shifted a little uncomfortably, but he didn't look away.

"Everyone wants to hurt me."

Again, he shook his head, "I don't want to hurt you, Jane."

"They say that you do."

"Well, then, they're wrong."

. . .

Harry couldn't do a thing and he watched them take her away. She looked so terrified and his chest hurt when her dark eyes met his, pleading for him to help her.

He couldn't do a thing or they wouldn't let him back inside. Or, even worse, they'd keep him inside and never let him out.

A guard was staring him down from the exit they had just taken Jane through, and he slowly walked back to the table where his sister sat, unmoving, a wicked grin playing at her lips.

"I told you she would lose it."

He exhaled through his nose and ran a hand through his hair, "I already knew that she would. I just wanted to talk to her, even if only for a little bit."