Bruin was surprised by her answer, not only that she admitted not being okay, but also how softly she had spoken. A flood of thoughts washed over him and he realized how polar opposite their first years had been.
Bruin had easily just enjoyed the best year of his young life...being named top student and Quidditch Captain, doing well in classes, meeting Alice, making lots of friends, and hanging out with the boys in the Brotherhood. He didn't know too much about Bellatrix, but was pretty sure that her year had been pretty much the worst... alienating most of the staff and students with her wicked rants about pure bloods, struggling through some of her classes and finally, being implicated in Rose's death at the mansion and put on trial. It appeared that things had take their toll on her and Bruin had no desire to add to her troubles.
He got up and walked over slowly. "I'm sorry to hear that...", his voice trailed off. He didn't really know what to do, suspecting that if he offered to try and help that she would probably get her back up, her pride not wanting to let her show weakness. He decided to be a little more indirect and see what happened. "Are you looking forward to getting back into classes?", he said quietly, wondering whether she was approaching second year as a fresh start at things.
