Uncomfortable Meetings

[Sora Blake]

Sora was not one who truly supported very hot days but, even though the temperature was quite astounding, it was one of those days that you just had to be outside. That was the reason why Sora was in Diagon Alley, sitting outside the famous Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor under the shade of an purple umbrella that each table outside provided, idly poking his now melting chocolate fudge sundae.

This quiet, little R&R session was actually a nice thing for Sora. It gave him time to catch his breath from all the paperwork and field assignments. Working as a hitwizard was a very time consuming thing and was also was very stressful. There were times where he couldn't even sleep at all but that was due to a entirely different reason all together.

Despite him staring into the depths of his ice cream cup which held the grim remains of his sundae, which was now a thick murky liquid, he was still very aware of his surroundings. If there was one thing his training has taught him it was to never let your guard down at any time. It was annoying sometimes that he was always on the job of sorts but it did keep him alive.

Sora leaned back into his chair, probably appearing to a passerby that there was something awefully interesting in his cup by the way he was intently staring in it.

He was fully aware of the soft footsteps behind him.

((closed))

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany had found a hot day in October to be more a sign rather than completely unusual. It was a sign that read, 'Be outside!', in bold, capital letters. Obediently, she had listened and left her current living quarters with Shay and Allegra to venture off to another familiar place. Diagon Alley was bustling, as usual, and exactly the same way as last time she had visited right before her seventh year at Hogwarts. There was no shopping that she needed to do, so she just stuck to looking into windows and pushing through the crowd.

Though as the day wore on, she began to feel the heat of being in the sun. On the corner she spotted the infamous Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor and made a bee line towards it. The blast of cool air as she walked in was refreshing and after she had ordered she decided to take her time and sit out side under the shade to eat it. Taking her waffle cone filled with cookie dough ice cream, Brittany padded out the door to the outside area. Surprisingly only a couple seats were taken as she moved towards the corner seat, two tables in front of an auburn haired man that she barely glanced two moments at.

However, if she had taken another moment she would have realized that this man was indeed Sora. Seating herself in a position to look out over the street, Brittany began to eat at her ice cream.

Lost in a daydream, she had no time to prepare her self for this next familiar yet unfamiliar encounter that was soon to take place.

[Sora Blake]

Sora continued to stir his now fully melted glob of ice cream with a look akin to boredom plastered on his face, eyes half-lidded as he stifled a yawn. He was fully enjoying his 'Doing Absolutely Nothing' portion of the day as he stared at the back of a pretty brunette a few tables in front of him, fully enjoying the view with a small grin. If he wasn't so preoccupied with making swirls in his ice cream cup, he would've noticed that the girl in front of him was indeed Brittany.

A sharp wind blew past Sora, taking the napkins that he placed before on the table with it and also causing his cup of melted ice cream to tip over, spilling over his right hand causing a chocolately mess,

"Merlin's Beard..." he cursed as he quickly stood up, trying to grab the escaping napkins to no avail. He sighed as he shook his hand, trying to fling off the excess chocolate sweetness. He looked around him, searching for napkins on the empty tables but finding none. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he looked towards the woman with the brunette hair,

"Hey miss," Sora said, moving towards her, using his left hand to shield his eyes from the sun, "do you have any napkins?"

The wicked beast Drama drew closer.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany hadn't heard the small commotion made by the man sitting behind her. She had been too wrapped up in her dreams in the clouds to have heard the plastic cup tip over or to have seen the napkins flutter two inches above the ground past her feet. Although at the sound of the voice, her attention came back to reality. Glancing up quickly, she realized it was the guy behind her and had only mainly noticed his now chocolate dipped hand.

"Of course..." Brittany said at once and scooped up the couple napkins she had on her table as she stood. Turning back around she looked past him to see the mess he had made on the table. Letting a small chuckle out before she got a hold of her self, she realized that this thought to be 'stranger' might find her laughter rude. Holding the napkins out to the man she told him, "Looks like this wind has made quite a mess." Knowing that the chocolate would definitely be sticky she looked up to tell him so, "You know you might want to-"

Her voice caught in her throat and it felt as if the Earth had just started spinning below her feet. Sora... The name began to consume her thoughts. The eyes had given him away, Brittany couldn't believe her eyes.

"Wet a couple of those." Brittany finished her sentence in nearly a whisper unable to turn away.

[Sora Blake]

To say that Sora was dumbfounded and shocked to find Brittany back in England and in Florean Fortescue's place of all places was to put the situation very very lightly. It was as if Sora had lost the ability to form words or anything resembling words. A small and quiet 'bwa?' sound made its way out of his mouth from the back of his throat. Unfortunately for Sora, 'bwa?' was not under the category of 'word' so he was still continued to be rendered speechless by her sudden appearance.

Sora remembered the letter that he found on his dormitory back in Hogwarts. It had been the morning after the final feast he ever had in Hogwarts. He thought it was a stupid prank pulled on him by one of his more least liked housemates. But after searching all over the castle for Brittany...he knew it was true. She had truly left him.

He hadn't even said goodbye to her.

And now she stood an arm's length away from him, meeting him in such a uncomfortable situation, with him looking very much worse for wear and dripping chocolate ice cream and her looking still perfect than ever. But there was one thing he knew he or she should do...

And that was to break the silence...

His eyes hardened slightly as he licked his lips, jade eyes boring into hers. He slowly moved forward and retrieved the napkins from her outstretched hand, the silence still stretching on,

"...I'll be sure to write you a letter to thank you for these napkins." he said viciously, eyes flashing dangerously, showing his true Slytherin colors.

[Brittany Garland]

Ouch.

That was a low blow and she felt the hit all through her body. Brittany had to close her eyes hard together in an attempt to hold back any emotion from leaking into them. More tears than anything, fortunately they hadn't shown up. Yet. Opening her brown eyes back up to stare at him some more she was lost for words. What exactly could she say to that? Sorry would definitely not work in this case. That she was almost positive for. What she had done, well it wasn't easily forgiven.

"Sora...." Brittany's voice shook with the small word. She could hear it which certainly meant that he could. There were no explanations, there was no where to runaway, or even to hide this was truly happening. Gathering her thoughts before they ran away, she withdrew her outstretched hand.

The awkward silence had gone on too long and it was her turn to put it to a stop. "I deserved that." So she had crumbled, the lioness in her cowered before the snake. Brittany could feel her heart pounding in her chest. It was so loud, Sora had to have heard it too because of the closeness of the both of them. Resisting crumbling into his arms was proving to be the worst and it took every bit of strength in her to keep standing.

Her courage failing her in all aspects, she wasn't even able to look back up into his eyes. Instead she had found a lovely spot on the ground to focus on. "I don't know what to say..." Brittany mumbled. Boy was that an understatement. The near woman had the mentality of a two month old at the moment.

[Sora Blake]

Sora felt a twinge deep within him when he saw Brittany react from his hurtful words. He knew that he shouldn't have said those words to her but he really couldn't help it. She truly did hurt him when she left without a word to him, leaving behind just some stupid letter. It left a deep wound that wouldn't simply fade away.

Sora's anger rose when he watched her look down at the floor, blatently avoiding his eyes. For some reason, each time he tried to not get angry with her only led him down deeper into the road of anger,

"Look at me." Sora said quietly, staring straight at her with stoic green eyes, "You owe me at least that..."

[Brittany Garland]

At his brief silence, she had thought that maybe that was the worst. Yeah right. Not a chance. Of course, Brittany had already done something again within two seconds to displease him. Having looked away in shame and sorrow, she felt her self looking back up in obedience. The words Sora spoke had been quiet to the world but deafening to her. Her face came back into his view as her brown soft eyes met his hard green ones. Somehow she had to shake this weird way she was acting. It was not exactly like her to allow someone, even Sora, to walk all over her. Usually she had a little backbone.

Not finding any in her yet she continued to stand there like the cowardly lion. As she forced her self to think, she began to work her self up. Not towards getting upset, but towards being riled up. Keeping her thoughts spinning she quickly became a possible contender in this thing. Now Brittany's expression had changed. There were no more sad, puppy dog eyes or upset features although you could still see flits of guilt. She'd been able to harden her face more to give away less as her thoughts, like a steam engine, gained power and speed.

"What if I had stayed?" Brittany had asked without even knowing she was saying it. Her words had been level, her tone curious yet smart. The girl had surprised her self with that and felt the need to repeat it for some reason in order to emphasize a couple of the words, "What if I had stayed?"

Now this could go two ways and subconsciously she knew that. Sora may be thrown off completely by it or it could blow up in Brittany's face. Coming to that realization, she faltered in her hard face but only for a moment before he answered.

[Sora Blake]

The young Hitwizard watched with judging eyes as Brittany instinctively went from being defensive to offensive in terms of stature and tongue. Her words now held an edge that showed her true colors as a Gryffindor, standing much more taller and radiating a sort of energy that wasn't present until now.

He moved forward and looked down, now mere inches away from her face. So close that she could probably smell the chocolate upon his breath. He studied her, relating her to the Brittany that he knew back at Hogwarts to the Brittany that he was currently looking at. He couldn't really pinpoint it but they were two completely different sides.

"I don't live in a world of 'what if's' nor do I deal with them." he said quietly, staring down within the deep pools of brown in her eyes, "Things happen for a reason..."

He continued to stare down at her, his jade eyes revealing nothing. He then turned around and looked out at the many people enjoying their day outside. From the little kids playing with their mini-broomsticks to teens buying their books for the next Hogwarts semester. It was awefully...alien to Sora.

"...Why did...you leave...?" he said quietly, his voice breaking before growing stronger once again, "I thought...I thought what we had was strong..."

"Why did you leave?" he said once again, turning his judging green eyes back towards Brittany.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany took in all that Sora spoke. She absorbed every word as if she were a sponge. As he had stepped closer to her, she smelled the hint of chocolate on his breath but more intoxicating was the familiar smell. It made her heart skip a beat as she breathed as deeply as she could without being too obvious. When he turned away, the gears in her mind started turning once more. The last words he spoke before he turned rang through out her mind and made her thoughts run wild more. "Things happen for a reason..." Well, of course they did. She was not dull, she knew that just as well as the next. Though quite suddenly her angry thoughts paused and a knew one crossed her mind. If things did happen for a reason, this meeting between the two of them was no mere coincidence.

Quickly she ran out of time to think this thought out further because she had thought for a moment that this meeting was over. As Sora turned away, Brittany felt an instinct to reach out for his arm. This was far from over. However, as she started to stretch out her arm he spoke once more. Withdrawing her arm she caught the break in his voice and it broke her lion-spirit. Before she knew it they were face to face once more. This was the question that she had expected to answer multiple times upon her return, but the first time she had actually been asked.

"It was. We were-Sora..." Brittany's voice broke and so did her eyes with his. The words stuck in her throat with the use of past tense.

Knowing she owed him this, she looked back up into his jade eyes marveling at how he showed so little emotion. "My main reason was my family. I needed to straighten things out with them. Another was to be on my own. Travel and see things in person." Brittany explained but knew that she wasn't answering his real question. The one question that he wanted to know but hadn't asked, not that he needed to say it in so many words. She felt the air stinging her eyes and fought back the lump in her throat.

"I had to leave when I did, the way I did. I knew..." The girl paused, steadying her voice, "I knew if I said goodbye in person- if I saw you I would never be able to leave." Brittany lost control of her tone on the last few words, having them grow higher in pitch. As her round brown eyes brimmed with tears she knew she wasn't able to look into his emotion-less face any longer. In an attempt to not let him see her tears, she side-stepped past him. But couldn't walk away. She watched the same sights that Sora had just seen and felt the same way that he had. Just as the ice cream cone she had sat down on the table had been long forgotten and starting to melt; so were these occurrences forgotten and melting away to new things.

[Sora Blake]

Sora's eyes followed Brittany's form as she moved away from him. He half expected her to run away just as she did before, feeling oddly let by her motives. He wasn't going to lie to himself, he still had very strong feelings for the Gryffindor. So getting a not-so-simple answer from Brittany was kinda confusing for Sora...

"We 'were'..." Sora said, repeating what she had said just moments before. It felt odd hearing that sentence and felt odder coming out of his mouth. The past tense verb that she uttered left a sour taste in his mouth. She did not say 'We are' nor did she say anything of the sort to regard their relationship to the present. He guessed they truly...were over.

He looked down onto the stony floor. He felt her just a few steps away from him despite her not being in his vision, "...So do you really think that leaving me without a word was going to help things?" he asked, looking back towards her, seeing her in tears. It broke his heart seeing that he was the one who caused this. He has resigned himself in the past to never make Brittany cry for any reason at all. He would hurt anyone who ever accomplished that feat and seeing her now like this told Sora that he had failed miserably,

"...Do you really think I was that selfish to let you not go?" he asked, pale green eyes seeking hers,

"Do you even still love me?"

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany felt everything break within her upon Sora's question. She knew that she needed to try and make sense this time when she spoke instead of running on and on. Trying to put words together while holding her composure was difficult. Feeling her heart pound beneath her bosom she summoned the strength to turn back to him. Brown eyes full of sorrow she reached out and took one of his hands in both of hers.

"I know you would have let me go. How ever much time I needed, I knew you would have allotted me that. But the complication would have been me. Telling you, saying goodbye in person was what I would not have been able to walk away from. And I could never have asked you to put your life on hold for me." Brittany explained in a calm, steady voice.

Somehow this courage and bravery to explain things have bubbled up suddenly. She was able to look Sora in the eyes and tell him exactly what she wished to say. The only thing she was praying for was that he understood someday. Maybe it wouldn't be today or tomorrow but one day he might. That was all she could hope for. "The question of my love for you..." Brittany's voice broke and she had to look away to collect her self.

Taking a long inhale of air, she found his eyes once more. "Honestly it breaks my heart that you..." Brittany stopped that sentence from going any further, she knew that he had good reason for questioning it. The young woman reached one of her hands up to touch the side of his cheek reminiscing in what they had and what may lay before them still.

"I love you. I always have and I will never stop loving you Sora." Brittany expressed. "And I'm sorry. For everything. Especially for anything that I have done to make you doubt that love. I didn't mean for..." Cutting her self off she quickly realized that sentence was asking for a smart remark, backing up she finished, "I'm sorry."