Another Step

Henry had been through a hell of a journey the past year, the past two months you could argue. Six weeks today Henry Yewbeam overdosed in the Ministry of Magic and was taken to St Mungo's by Sophia Granger. There she had placed him under watch and received help for his addiction. Sophia Granger was the reason Henry stood behind the counter of Eeylops Owl Emperium, not because it was her who managed to get him the job but because she was the reason he was breathing, walking, talking and recovering.

After leaving St Mungo's Sophia had taken him in which, granted was a bit of a controversy when Maura Goldstein found out, but he was recovering and hadn't taken drugs in six weeks. Six weeks. If you had told the death eater that seven weeks ago he would be sober he'd have laughed, walked away and gotten high. A part of him had forgotten the feeling of high, it was a feeling he could only imagine. The taste of sugar had left him. He finally felt recovered and that he was getting his life back on track.

It had been difficult at first, there were occasions when Henry had almost slipped - even left the house for drugs, but that was beyond him now. Sophia setting him up to work for the Owl Emporium helped. It had given his days structure, gave him more debt with Sophia and reminded him that there were people depending on him. If he didn't come to work the manager would be run off his feet, he wouldn't be able to go out and find natural resources for the owls and the fact he felt he owed Sophia something kept him away from walking out of the door and finding a dealer.

There was still a problem. The death eaters. He was a death eater and, thankfully, he hadn't seen any of them since the last meeting. Maybe if he was unlucky one would come by the store, talk to him, catch up. However so far that hadn't happened. It had kept him on his path of sobriety. Of course there would come a time when he would be called upon to carry out a task but at the moment he had been kept off the radar, nobody knew what he was doing nor did they know with whom he was staying. He needed out of the death eaters but until they needed him was it really worth putting himself on their hit list sooner? Not to mention Sophia too.

Maybe I should give him a chance. Soph sees good in him, so maybe the rest of us can find that in him too.

Since talking to Sophia after finding out that she had helped Henry, Hitame had been turning that thought in her mind over and over. Sophia saw good in him. She saw that he was a good person but she couldn't be right in believing that he was, could she? Hitame wasn't sure what to believe. She wasn't sure she could trust Henry and with the way Sophia had been acting lately, she wasn't sure she could trust her either.

It was sad, to say the least, that she was now cautious arounf the person who had once been like a sister to her. Around the person eho had taken her and her siblings in when they had no where else to go. But in all honesty, she was starting to wonder why Sophia hadn't made her leave her house already. She deserved it, after everything she'd put the older girl through.

She wasn't judging Sophia's decisions, she just thought it wasn't a good idea to be around a criminal and drug addict. Okay, so maybe she was judging. And if she was honest with herself, she was in no position to judge. Especially not Henry and his dtug addiction, considering she had been in the same pisition not too long ago. She couldn't judge, yet that was exactly what she was doing.

But it's different! I'm not a criminal!

She tried to reassure herself that it was completely different. But it wasn't. A drug addiction is a drug addition, criminal or not. She had managed to find out that Henry was now working at the Owl Emporium, thanks to Sophia, and she thought that couldn't be better. Though she had never been too close to the new owner, Hitame had recently picked up the friendship with Yumi she had since she found out the werewilf girl was back in town.

She took that as an excuse to go to the Emporium to visit. She was determined to give Henry a chance, if her pride allowed it.

After arriving in Diagon Alley, dressed in a sleeveless red shirt with black jeans, Hitame looked for the sign of the shop. When she finally found it she pushed the door open tentatively and heard the bell in the door ring above her. She let out a soft breath and took a few steps in before saying, "Hello?" In a soft voice

Henry had been feeding one of the barn owls when he heard the jingle of the door bell and the sound of a voice that made him freeze. His back was to the door but he had a sense he knew exactly whose voice that was. They hadn't had many conversations but he'd recognise it anywhere, especially from the time he'd heard her at Sophia's. She'd come not too long as Maura discovered Sophia was allowing Henry to live with her, what was she doing here? Here to tell him to leave Sophia alone, to get out of their lives and never return?

He wouldn't do it. Sophia wanted him there, invited him into her home. Finally he was getting onto the right path again and Hitame Higurashi wasn't going to make him back towards his death eater route. Turning around, the bag of nuts still in his hand, Henry's eyes found the Gryffindors.

'Hello.' He replied. There was a little stiffness in his voice. Hitame hadn't been aware that the death eater was in the house when she'd started questioning Sophia's motives behind helping him stay clean of his addiction. Of course he hadn't heard the conversation, Henry had been up on the top floor hiding away from the guests but he sure had heard the tone of her voice and it hadn't been that supportive.

'Can I help you?' He asked, moving behind the counter and placing the bag of nuts into a drawer.

The Gryffindor's eyes narrowed as the young man appeared at the counter and she exhaled softly, trying to control her emotions. She wasn't mad at him, much, she was more disappointed that Sophia hadn't wanted her to know. Or anyone to know at all. So much for having a friend who's so close to you that you think of them as family.

"Don't act like I'm a threat to you." she told him, placing a hand on her hip, when she heard his stiffened tone. "I'm not here to try to get you away from Sophia. She can do whatever she wants with her life, it's not my choice." she explained. She didn't think there was an exact reason for her being there. And if there actually was, she sure as hell would love to know what it was.

"I guess I'm here to just.. talk." she said, much to her own surprise. "I'm not saying I trust you. Or that I think you're a good person. I just want to know why she seems to trusts you so much. I want to try to believe you're good like she does." Her hands curled into fists as she fought back the urge she had to scream at him. The urge to tell him she would never trust him.

It was possible that at some point she would be able to, but she didn't know when or how that would happen. She doubted she would spend enough time around him to really know what he was like. "I just don't want to jump to anymore conclusions about you, without knowing at least a little about you."

She was here to talk? What was there to talk about? In all honesty he didn't know Sophia's reasons for helping him, she was just one of those kind hearts that saw the good in someone and thankfully she'd seen the good in him. Moreover even if he did know her reasons why did he have to explain them to Hitame? Surely if they were as close as they were Sophia would have told her those reasons?

'I don't have to explain myself to you, nor do I have to explain Sophia's means to you.' He replied, once again rather stiffly. There was no inflection in his voice, it was merely monotone as though someone were telling him what to say. It wasn't because Hitame was on the receiving end of these words he'd been talking like that a lot, to everyone apart from Sophia.

'Sorry.' He added. Even if Sophia hadn't told Hitame her intentions she was still her friend and Henry had to make an effort, sure he didn't have to explain himself but really he should. Sophia had once told him to let people start to see the good in him, showcase the real Henry, shying away from Hitame's question wasn't helping him.

'I don't know.' He told her, once again it came out stiffly but Henry hadn't intended that. His eyes flicked towards the window where a little boy was dragging his Mother's finger to an owl in a cage at the top of the window. How long would it be before that little boy would turn to drugs, enter the dark arts and lose himself piece by piece? Never. Nobody went through what Henry did, of course they did, but Henry didn't see that. As far as he was concerned nobody understood what he was going through, only Sophia could understand to an extent. Why? He didn't know.

She should have expected his reaction. In fact, she had expected it. She couldn't and didn't blame Henry for what he said to her. She wasn't always the easiest person to talk to. Especially when there had been a secret involved. But she had to try to be, if she didn't she wouldn't get him to talk with her.

Hitame sighed. Why did Soohia have to believe everyone was good? Actually, almost everyonr. There was one person who she couldn't believe was good, and even though now she thought the same thing, maybe that was the reason she had begun to distance herself from the older girl. The fact that she hadn't wanted her near him, now she understood how she had felt.

"Let me ask you something." She said softly. "Do you think you're alone? And I don't mean that you think you have no one around you." Her hands curled further, causing her nails to stsrt digging into her palms and she lowered her gaze to the floor. "I mean that you believe no one else can fall into the same things you did. That no one can become addicted like you did." Something had begun to form in her throat that threatened to make her voice crack if she didn't stop talking.

The conversation has nose dived into a pit of personal conflict. Hitame hadn't held back her reasons for being here, she wanted to talk to him and was here asking him questions as if she knew what it was like to be an addict. Did she? As far as Henry could see no. She didn't appear a mess, she seemed somewhat happy, happier than him anyway.

He eyed her suspiciously. Was she trying to get him to confess something, find some dirt on him to feed to Sophia so she'd chuck him out. It didn't make sense as to why she had headed straight into such a serious issue. Eeylops Owl Emporium was a place to purchase an owl, collect some food and bring your owl if it was injured or not feeling too good. This shop wasn't the place for this kind of conversation, especially when anybody could just walk in.

Henry moved from behind the desk, hurried past to the front door and bolted it shut, flicking the sign so that it now read 'closed'. Then, he turned back, his breathing slightly heavy and her eyes fixed straight into hers.

'What do you want from me?' There had to be something she wanted, why else would she be here when she wasn't welcome?

Now she was getting impatient. She understood why he didn't trust her, and that he would be hard to get to when it came to judt talking. She deserved to not he trusted by him, but she wasn't there to start problems. Even if it seemed like it to him. It wasn't like her tone helped her out one bit.

She didn't want to seem like a threat to him. She knew what it was like to fall victim to an addiction. Whether he believed her or not, it didn't change the fact that she knew exactly what it was like. She had spent a few weeks in St. Mungo's after she'd overdosed. In truth, she hadn't meant to, but she knew what it was like to do that and have to be stuck in the hospital because of it. She wasn't sure how she was supoosed to expalin that to hin without him thinking she was just mocking or teasing him.

"I want you to answer me." The girl answered him simply. She just wanted an answer from him. Even if it was a stupid one. She sighed. "How hard is it for you to just answer me?" She muttered. "I get you don't like me. I deserve it, I guess. But I don't have anything against you or Sophia. I'm just disappointed that she didn't trust me enough to tell me that you were hiding there. I mean, I live there.. I have a right to know."

Henry didn't reply for a moment instead he soaked up her words like poison. Was Sophia ashamed of him? Hitame had a point, why didn't she let her know he was staying there too? Surely if Sophia was a good friend of Hitame she wouldn't think Henry would be a threat that could break that, unless he was. Unless Sophia didn't believe Henry to be entirely good and wanted to keep him out of the way because, if she had to, she'd choose Hitame over him. The thought of that pained.

'I don't know what you want to know. If Sophia hasn't told you anything there must be nothing to tell.' He swallowed. A new thought had suddenly come to mind, a realisation. It was because he was a death eater, a death eater who had tortured Hallie Rookwood, put Maura into a coma, almost killing the child she was carrying too. Now he understood. If the death eaters were to find out he was staying with an Order member, receiving help from her could that put him at risk? If Hitame told anyone and word spread it could potential endanger all of them.

Rolling back his sleeve the dark mark, black and radiating on his left arm, glimmered in the light that filtered through the window. The dark skull so beautifully engraved, permanently etched onto his skin stared at Hitame. He wasn't sure if she was aware he was a death eater, no doubt she knew he was a criminal but a death eater?

'That's why.' He told her.

The Gryffindor girl laughed. He probably wasn't aware that she knew what he was, besides a criminal who had hurt his friends. She looked at the mark on his arm and shook her head. "And you think that makes a difference to me?" she asked, pointing to the mark. "If Sophia doesn't care, don't you think I wouldn't? My parents were among their ranks.. now my sister is.." she stopped for a moment, before clearing her throat.

"I've had friends who are Dark Followers and Death Eaters, so do you really think knowing you're one of them would affect me? I knew you were one before anyways, so it's not like this takes me by surprise." she added, bringing one of her hands up to rub her arm slowly. There hadn't been many people she'd told about Naomi being a Dark Follower, much less about her knowing that the girl was alive.

"And just so you know. Whether you believe me or not, I know what you've been through." she said, her gaze lowered to her shoes. "I know what it's like to be addicted to something. I was in St. Mungo's for a few weeks because of the same thing. I hadn't meant to, but it happened. And if it hadn't been for my friends - " she winced slightly. Friends. What friends? " - I probably wouldn't even be alive." she ended with a shaky sigh, finally lifting her gaze to look at Henry, with tears beginning to form on the brim of her eyes.