Unexpected (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 9

A delicious smell that carried up the stairs into the room woke Roxanne. She sniffed the air happily and got up. When she snapped the light on she was confused at first.

Where am I?

Then everything came crashing back like a big and painful wave. She knew exactly where she was and it was not home. 

She forced herself not to think about it anymore and slowly put on clothes. Then she walked downstairs quietly. She could see Bastien's back, he was turning on the stove and put bacon in a frying-pan. He didn't seem to hear her walk up behind him.

"Fred told me about the no-magic rule in the kitchen," she started. Bastien nodded but didn't turn around at first. He didn't seem shocked to hear her voice -- apparently he had noticed her walking down the stairs. She went on when he didn't respond, "That sucks." 

"Well, in this kitchen I can use magic but I rather enjoy making food using just my hands," he said. Then he looked at her without saying anything more. It seemed to be a look of concern but he appeared satisfied with her state because he turned back to his eggs. 

"Thanks." Roxanne wasn't sure what else she could say to him. 

The lack of overprotective family members made it clear that he hadn't told her brother where she was, or else prevented anyone from visiting. He didn't ask anything of her, didn't stare at her in pity; he just helped her. She couldn't be anything other than grateful for the understanding of this near stranger. 

He gave her a nod again and when his eyes met hers he gave a small smile. Then Bastien pointed his spatula to a cabinet on his right, "There's plates in there." 

Roxanne put two plates and some cutlery -- which she found in a drawer right next to the stove -- on the small table. Then she sat down, watching Bastien turning the bacon over a couple times before putting it on her plate. Until the food was right in front of her she hadn't realised how hungry she was. She waited until Bastien came to sit next to her and then she dug in. 

Halfway through her breakfast she said again, "Thanks." 

"You don't have to thank me," Bastien answered after swallowing the piece of toast he had just put in his mouth. 

"But I do." Roxanne drunk some tea and thought about what to say next, or what not to say. "I'm sorry."

Bastien studied her for a moment. Then said, "You don't have to tell me anything, you know."

"But I want to explain," Roxanne objected. "Except I don't really understand myself..."

"I think I might," Bastien said, interrupting Roxanne's thoughts. "There is something weird going on. Something that is affecting everyone's behaviour. Everyone except me." His words were heavy with emotion and Roxanne could see some of it in Bastien's eyes too. 

"You might be right and that might be part of the reason, but it's not the whole story. Not for me." Roxanne waited to see whether Bastien was completed concentrated on her, instead of this lost in thought. She hadn't told many people what she was about to tell him and she needed to make sure he was actually listening. She took a deep before going on. "Life, in general, isn't easy for me. And it's not because I have actual hard things to go through, but just because it is. It's not something I can explain easily, and it's not something I discuss with many people."

"I'm honoured that you share something like this with me. No one in this camp seems to trust me--"

"I trust you," she interrupted. Roxanne wasn't quite sure why she did, trust him, but as soon as she said it, she knew it to be the truth. "My parents don't understand, not many people do, but it's especially hard that they don't know how to help me. My father is a spirited man, at his core, even after everything that happened in the war."