Whenever You Speak

Harry wasn't exactly sure how Viktor had managed to corner him, but he did know that there seemed no way for him to escape the conversation he had been pointedly avoiding for the last few hours. "Viktor, what's the point?" Harry asked with a sigh. "It's not like I actually plan to stay here much longer," he said looking away. "So why did they send you?"

"I asked them to," Viktor admitted. "It does not matter if you stay for only a little while or for the entire summer. Someone needs to look after you. If you die, so does hope."

Harry's cheeks flushed as he looked away. "I'm just another person. I'm no one's hope." Viktor snorted causing the color in Harry's cheeks to deepen, this time with annoyance. "I'm not!" he insisted.

"You are," Viktor insisted crossing his arms over his chest. "Whether you like it or not Potter and the more you deny it the more you hurt yourself and everyone around you." Harry jerked at the very clear and pointed words. He doubted that anyone had ever spoken quite like that to him before. He had been yelled at. He had been abused. He had been encouraged. He had been degraded. But never before had he been told such words. Not even Dumbledore had spoken to him quite like that.

Harry worked at his lower lip. "Why?" he asked quietly. "Why did you come?"

"I told you, someone has to protect our hope. If we ignore that, than we lose that hope. If we protect it and nurture it, than we have a chance to win back what is rightfully ours."

A silence grew between the two young men as Harry considered what Viktor had just told him. A part of him wanted to truly believe it, but at the same time, he felt like he shouldn't place that high of a value on himself. After all, it could have been anyone. Dumbledore had told him that much. It could have been Neville in his place.

But it wasn't, his mind reminded him. It was you. Voldermort chose you and nothing can change that...

Harry nodded a little absently. "That doesn't mean I like it," he consented.

A smile touched Viktor's lips and he nodded his approval. "Than you shall join us for lunch, yes?"

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Us?" he asked shifting his weight from one foot to the other feeling anxious. "Who's us? You don't mean- You can't just invite me over to someone's house for lunch Viktor. It doesn't quite work like that."

The Bulgarian snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well I know," he he said. "Ms. Thurston wished that I should ask. Perhaps, you should like to say no to her personally?"

Bowing his head, the young wizard waved his hand, motioning for Viktor to lead the way. He wasn't about to argue with someone inviting him over for a meal when it was their own house. It was actually kind of nice to think that he would finally have someone on his own street who would tolerate him. It made him wish that Angel and her mother had moved to Privet Drive when he was younger.

Maybe then he wouldn't have been so lonely all the time.

Viktor paused at the door to number six for a moment before anxiously stepping inside. Harry was glad he wasn't the only one feeling more than just a little ridiculous about all of this. And he was feeling ridiculous as stupid as it sounded. It wasn't as if Viktor was going to lie to him about being invited over to someone's house for lunch. Harry followed the Bulgarian inside the house and looked around at walls and rooms that seemed similar in shape to the ones he had grown up around, but far more open and friendly.

"Is that you, Viktor?" Tasha Thurston called from the kitchen.

Viktor called back in Bulgarian and was answered in kind leaving Harry confused by the language for the second time in two days. As they entered the kitchen, Tasha turned away from her oven and came forward to envelope both boys in a hug. "Sorry about that Harry. I have a very bad habit of slipping into other languages when I have native speaks around to practice with," she confessed as she pulled back. "Why don't you boys go upstairs and fetch Angel. Lunch should be ready in a few minutes."

Harry and Viktor exchanged a look before nodding in agreement and moving back into the hallway and up the stairs. Viktor knocked on a closed door a little ways down the hall. "Just a minute!" the American accent called. The door opened a few moments to reveal Angel with her red curls frizzed around her face and her eyes bright with excitement. "Oh! Hi guys!" she greeted them breathlessly. "Is it time for lunch already or did you just come up to keep me company?" she asked.

"Lunch, actually," Harry managed to answer first with a smile. There was something about Angel and about her smile that was utterly infectious. It was as if she was just some bright light that liked to shine in every corner and make the darkness become forgotten.

She nodded. "Alright, I'll be out in just a second," she promised closing the door. Less than a minute later, she came out and moved past the two boys, stopping at the stairs to look back at them. "Well, aren't you coming?" she asked. "I know mom said you both had to come to lunch so let's not keep her waiting."

The two boys flushed and moved forward, stumbling into each other before Viktor finally stepped back and allowed Harry to go first. Harry couldn't help but think it was amazing the power that women could have over men.

Especially red haired ones.