Time to Talk

Sophia sniffled and wiped the tears away with her sleeve. "It was a gigantic fortress in the middle of nowhere. Valcan kept saying Esrella and I were free to do as we wished, but really we were stuck there. There was nothing else around as far as I could see out of every window."

Sophia suddenly frowned and looked back at the floor. "I'm sorry Bruin. You must hate having to listen to all of this. I'll stop now."
 
"It's okay...", Bruin reassured Sophia, wondering what else there was to say. "You can keep talking if you want. So what did you and Estrella do all summer then?", he prompted her.
 
Sophia looked up at Bruin once more, trying not to look upset but failing miserably. "Actually we both mostly kept to ourselves. We did find this portrait hall together once, but Valcan did not seem to like that much."
 
"Oh...", Bruin exclaimed, a little surprised that Sophia and Estrella hadn't spent more time together. Bruin recalled how different Extrella had been since she returned to school and while he had attributed it to her break up with Kale, he began to wonder if there wasn't more to it than that. "So, did you learn anything interesting about your family while you were there? It couldn't have been a complete waste of time...", he said more hopeful, than certain of what he had just stated.
 
"To be truthful, it was mostly a waste of time. I tried to research, but I did not find out that much. Well, there was information on the Drages, but I do not feel as if I belong to that family. Although my paternal grandmother was a Drage." Sophia suddenly smiled. "She was very beautiful. I wish she could have raised my father. I am sure he would have been a very different man today if she had."
 
"That's too bad...is that where you are going to have to go at every break from now on? Or was it more of a one shot deal?", Bruin asked wondering about how Sophia's mother felt about the situation.
 
"I have Winter Break to myself again, but I have to return to the Herrogard next summer. I think I may spend my break with my mother again. She is staying with my uncle right now. She said I met him once when I was little, but I do not really recall him."

Sophia sighed, feeling like she was talking entirely too much about herself. "Anyway, enough about me and my problems. I want to hear about you and your problems now."
 
Bruin gave a little laugh. "Well, that'll be a short conversation then. Sorry to rub it in, but I appear to be problem-free at the moment actually. Aside from not having a decent costume for the Halloween Ball, that is. Do you think you and Ford will be going?", he asked, assuming that they were still together.
 
"Halloween Ball? Oh, well, I guess we will..." Sophia looked down at the floor as she considered this. Would they got together? Yes, she and Ford were still together, but Sophia had not exactly felt the same for Ford as she had the first time they had dated. She had not even told Ford about her summer yet, at least not this in depth. Bruin was the only person she had told about what had happened at the Leaky Cauldron. Why had she not told Ford?

Frowning Sophia sniffled again, the tears and such still not completely gone from her system.
 
Bruin didn't know exactly what to make of Sophia's non-commital response, but decided that he wouldn't dwell too much on it. "Is everything else okay? I mean, are you glad to be back at school and stuff? You and I haven't really talked much in or about classes. I suppose we should be talking with Professor London soon about the Animagus Training stuff, eh?"
 
"oh, right," Sophia said softly and looked back up at Bruin. "We should talk to her about that." She seemed a bit out of it, as if she were not completely there in that classroom.
 
Bruin was becoming increasingly concerned about Sophia. She had never been one to open up much, but she had always maintained a quiet confidence and purpose about her that appeared to be lacking. He began to wonder how to help her shake the effects of the summer and help her regain some of her usual fire.

Bruin crouched down in front of Sophia and looked into her golden eyes. "Listen, I'm not quite sure what's on your mind right now, but I'm worried about you. What can I do to help?", he asked placing his hand on her chair to steady himself and hoping that he wasn't making her fell trapped like she had by Athene's Uncle.
 
Sophia was a bit confused when Bruin got up and knelt before her. What is he doing? "Worried? Why would you be worried?" She knew she was not acting normal, but she did not think it would worry Bruin. Was it not good that she was not being cold and harsh? Sophia was very confused and mixed up, but she did not realize how much she was showing it.
 
Now Bruin was the one confused. Sophia had asked him to speak in private, had confided something troubling to him, was emotional one moment and distant the next, and now she was wondering whay he was worried. The strangeness of girls never ceased to amaze Bruin.

"Uh, I guess that you just aren't acting like yourself, I guess.", Bruin replied, feeling suddenly awkward for having indicated he was worried. "But I guess if everything is fine, then...I, I wont...."

Bruin was becoming tired of running around in circles trying to figure everyone else out. He had tried to figure out what was bothering Estrella and she hadn't felt like sharing and now Sophia was essentially doing the same thing. Girls!!!, Bruin thought to himself.
 
Sophia frowned, sensing that Bruin was confused. "I'm sorry Bruin. You are right to be worried, I'm acting crazy. I...this is still very odd to me, this sharing thing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for bothering you."

Very suddenly Sophia away from Bruin in her chair, tears flowing from her eyes down her pale cheeks. Why was she acting like this? What is wrong with me?
 
Bruin looked at Sophia, surprised by her sudden movement. "Listen, it isn't the sharing thing that's bothering me. It's the not knowing what's really wrong or how to help."

Bruin realized that Sophia was obviously going through something upsetting and didn't want to force his help upon her, but believed that honesty was always best and felt good about what he had just said, at least in terms of how honest it was.
 
Sophia turned and looked at Bruin, her cheeks glistening with tears and her expression hopeless. "I do not know what will help. I cannot remember ever feeling this way Bruin. This sad, and helpless."

She frowned as she tried to think back to her childhood, unable to get a grasp on any real concrete memories. All that came up were generalizations of what had happened.

"Bruin, will you tell me about your childhood?"
 
Bruin lowered himself to the floor, sitting with his knees bent up in front of him and his arms wrapped around them. He was confused and felt rather useless, unsure how to console his friend and unclear as to why she would ask him to recount his rather boring childhood. "Umm, sure...", he replied uncertainly. "Anything in particular you want to know about?"
 
Sophia bit her lower lip for a moment. "No, nothing in particular. I just really want to hear about your childhood. What is the earliest memory you have? A very specific memory?"
 
Bruin wondered where this was all going, but decided to simply play along. He began to search his mind for significant or specific memories, thinking about being lost in the woods, his first time on horseback, learning to swim, and then finally, settling upon the day that his parent's took him to pick up his yellow lab, Ray.

"Um, I guess, one of my best memories would be from the summer I turned 5. I had been bugging my parents for as long as I can remember about getting a dog and they kept saying that I'd need to wait until I was older and more responsible. And then one day near my birthday they loaded me up in the car and said we were going for a drive. We drove out to this little mountain town that had an old sawmill on a river that ran right through the middle of town. It was the first time I saw one of those and my dad started explaining how the water turns the wheel, which turns some gears, that powers some saws that cut the wood and stuff, but I was just struck by the fact that it kept churning around and wondered where the water came from for it to keep running like that.", Bruin was surprised at the vividness of the memory, having not really thought about that day in what seemed like forever.

"Anyways, we drove to the far side of town and ended up at this little house that had a barn out back and I asked why we'd stopped. My parents just smiled and told me that I'd see soon enough as we got out of the car. A man came out of the barn with a big black lab who came running up to us. I asked the man if I could pet him and he smiled and told me that Buttons would probably be offended if I didn't. I remember getting a big slobbery lick across the face and as gross as you probably think that is, I loved every minute of it. I was having so much fun I almost didn't hear the man say something about the puppies being out in the barn, but when it sunk in, I looked up at my parent's and they just pointed towards the barn and told me to go and take a look and see if I saw anything I liked." Bruin could barely stop talking now, thinking back to the day that Ray came home to live with him.

"So, I ran towards the barn and just stopped dead in my tracks because there was Ray..."

labrador_retriever_puppy_h03.jpg


"I mean I know you've met him and now he's just this big old dog, but he was the funniest little thing, just sitting there with his paws stretched out in front of him looking so proud. I laid down beside him and he nibbled on my fingers and bit at my hair and stuff. I can still remember the smell of that place and the sound of the river in the background, it's weird.", Bruin laughed thinking about it now. "It's funny, come to think of it, I think my parents had already picked him out because he was the only puppy there, but I know that there could have been 100 puppies there and I still would have chosen him. We were just meant for each other..." Bruin's voice trailed off and he looked up at Sophia, wondering if this is what she meant.
 
Sophia listened in awe to Bruin's story. He remembered so much, telling her how it all happened as if it were yesterday. Why can I not remember like that? Tears began to stream down Sophia's face more so than before and she looked down at the floor.

"That...that was so...so...you are very lucky."
 
Bruin didn't know what type of reaction his story would produce, but more tears and a downward glance wasn't it. "Yeah, I suppose I am...", Bruin replied. He knew that Sophia's upbringing had been very different, but wanted to know where this was leading. "What are your earliest memories about?", he asked hesitantly as he leaned forward and tried to wipe away one of her tears tenderly with his hand.
 
Sophia jumped slightly when she felt Bruin's hand on her cheeks, gasping softly. She had not been expecting it. But once she saw that it was just Bruin's hand she calmed down, not at all scared by this. She smiled weakly and bit her lower lip.

"I...I do not know. I cannot remember anything nearly as clear as you recalled the day you got Ray. My childhood is just vague recollections for the most part, and I do not know why." Sophia sniffled slightly and looked away from him, more tears streaming down her face.
 
Bruin judged from Sophia's reaction that he had startled her and felt, if possible, even more awkward than he had previously. What am I doing wrong, he thought to himself. Why can't I help Sophia feel better? He thought about what she had said and a puzzled expression came over his face. "Isn't that a little weird? I mean, do you not remember anything vividly or just stuff from when you were young?", he wondered aloud.

Bruin began to wonder if it was normal for him to remember the details of a day over 10 years ago so precisely. Whether everyone could recall unusual sounds, smells and feelings so well or whether he was abnormal in this respect...

 
"I can remember things. I remember lighting you on fire quite vividly," Sophia said with a slight smirk. "It is only my childhood I cannot remember. The earliest solid memory I have is from when I was nine years old."
 
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