Brandon’s hand touches my arm gently. “Shall we stop for the day?”
I glance at him. His expression is creased with worry, his eyes steady and kind.
I don’t want to shrink from this, and I know he doesn’t expect me to. The slipway shook me, but I don’t want to turn it into another shadow I carry around. I have to let it go.
Maybe that’s why the melody toGoodbye Shadowkeeps looping in my head.
I smile and shake my head. “No. Let’s finish this chapter.”
And I do.
“A darker chapter,” Brandon remarks, before adding dryly, “Gilderoy Lockhart’s lovely.”
“Yeah. He kind of reminds me of Jack.” The words slip out, and I curse internally. There’s another shadow I have to free myself from.
I can tell Brandon has a few choice words to say about both Jack and the fickle professor, but all he says is, “At least Lockhart wouldn’t pass off someone else’s work as his own.”
I press my lips together and hum a noncommittal sound. No spoilers. “You finally understand the Skele-Gro reference now,” I tease, then sigh and stare at my cast. “If only it were that easy—a healing potion.”
“You’ll get there in time,” he promises.
“In time?Brandon, I’m not as patient as you.”
“You’re more patient than your sister.”
I huff a laugh. “True.”
A silence falls, the temperature dropping as the yard darkens, but neither of us moves. I draw the blanket closer around me, bracing myself for the trek inside.
Brandon seems content to sit with me, however, and I find myself humming a tune.
“Goodbye Shadow,” he murmurs, recognising it.
I smile and nod.
“I’ve missed you singing,” he says.
“That was just humming.”
“I’ve missed both.”
I meet his eyes for a heartbeat longer than I should.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
That night, Mum hovers at the foot of the bed like she’s not convinced I’ll survive eight hours without her.
“Are you sure you don’t want me down here again?” she asks for the third time.
“I’m okay, Mum,” I insist gently. “I’ve slept straight through the past few nights. And Brandon’s down here—he’s offered to help if I need it.”
Sharing the bed with Mum was comforting at first, but I don’t feel quite so fragile anymore. I want to try managing on my own.
I can even dress myself without assistance. The pants are still tricky, but nowhere near as bad as the lacy underwear that kept snagging on the edge of my cast as I drew them up. Ellenor wickedly packed only those and none of my cotton ones—a problem that has since been rectified.
Though I still have no idea why she gave me a lone sock markedDobby’s.
“Don’t you know what to do with it?” she teased after my first night home.
