𝒯𝑜 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝐵𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈

August 20th, 1993

Her voice was soft... no, not soft. Her voice was far from soft. It had a strength, it was one of those voices you had to give full attention to. But at the same time, it had a calming effect... one that made you want to listen.

One that apparently made you forget to speak back... or Harry Potter just never learned that questions typically need answers. The moment of silence that followed her question was definitely too long. He stared at the girl with empty eyes for a bit too long, but who knows, maybe that is just normal for teenage boys when a girl stands before them.

And despite the growing awkwardness in the air, the girl remained patient, with a gentle and awaiting smile. But she did finally spur him a bit, "I just noticed you were staring," her weight shifted a bit, "then I noticed you were alone and decided to start making friends early. I assume Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts and all. Figure he could catch me up on the news and gossip."

Finally, Harry showed some emotion; however, it came in the form of a flinch and wary eyes. She tilted her head and gave the boy a soft smile, "Don't give yourself too much credit, you aren't Patrick Swayze."

His eyebrows knit together in an unasked question, one the girl answered anyways, "An actor, dreadfully attractive and far too old for me."

Finally seeming to catch the joke, Harry relaxed just a bit. His shoulders fell, leaving their stiff hold, but the wariness did linger in his eyes.

A beat of silence followed.

Shifting her weight, she tried again, "May I sit here?"

Blinking, Harry nodded. The silence held in the air as she placed down her bags from the morning of shopping. The fingers that had been just lingering over the chair finally grasped it. The chair was unstable. Had that wobble anytime she shifted her weight, the chair falling back onto the leg that couldn't quite reach the ground.

Once comfortable, she eyed the boy before her as he shifted in his seat. Her steady gaze never left the teen; however, in contrast, Harry Potter seemed more content staring at a vacant chair.

...

It only took a moment for the tension to begin creeping its way into the empty space between the two. Harry's face was empty but you could almost see the swirl of questions working behind his eyes. So the girl pushed him to speak one more time.

"You can ask anything you want." Her eyes remained steady on the boy, waiting to finally catch his and maybe start their conversation properly.

And eventually, they did. His green eyes met hers... but that seemed to stop him all the same. Understandably so... her eyes were... well far from normal by most standards. They just seemed dark from a distance, nothing to really think about. But here, now that he could get a proper look... they were most certainly something to think about.

They were mostly green, a sort of dark green, a green you see in a forest with nothing but the moon to shine on the trees. That alone was fine, unseen, but fine. What really threw people for a loop had to be the thin ring of an almost cobalt blue around the pupil.

It was unnatural... and something about those eyes just seemed to pull you in, locking you onto her gaze.

Harry eventually seemed to pull himself out of his daze, but his question showed his thoughts still held there, "How do you explain your eyes to muggles?"

The girl paused for a moment, humming to herself as her eyes stared into Harry's... then she slowly waved a hand across her face, the blue ring seeming to be swallowed by the green, "Illusion Charms can be your best friend."

She waved her hand again, lips forming a smirk as Harry seemed just the tiniest bit fascinated. Whether with her ability to perform magic with a casual wave of the hand or with the way the blue in her eyes seemed to flare outward a bit was unknown. Either way, she definitely had his interest.

But Harry Potter seemed to lack the ability to speak of his own interest and ask his own questions. Something the girl didn't seem at all bothered by. "I'm going to be a third year. My family is well known," she paused as she seemed to consider the right words, "more so in the states. So Hogwarts is preferred to leave the spotlight to some degree."

Harry's eyes narrowed, his gaze finally finding the will to leave the girl's hold over him, "Pureblood?" He seemed to cringe at the question as if whatever it meant was a touchy subject.

The girl's head tilted a fraction, once more humming to herself as she adjusted. Placing her head against her hand as she continued to study the boy and consider her answer, "Depends on who you ask I guess," her lips quirked into a smirk again, the fire in her eyes dancing, "Some would say blood traitor... or at least think it first. Technically my family has been witches and wizards for many generations, though."

Harry seemed to relax at that completely and met her eyes again. The answer clearly the correct one.

Silence filled the space between them again, just for a moment. A quick pause as Harry seemed to finally accept a level of trust in this stranger...

"Iris."

Harry blinked, the question flying out of him, "What?"

The girl smiled, eyes finally moving away from the boy as she explained, "My name is Iris."

The quiet lingered back into the space between them, but the tension was long gone. An odd sense of comfort there instead. Iris turned her attention out to the people, watching as they continued about their day, absolutely no one even glancing in the direction of the two teenagers. Harry looked down, seeming to just remember the essay he had been working on. The two just sat in the quiet, the peace... the gentle breeze, the strange hum of large crowds, and that smell of freshly baked pastries from somewhere nearby.

"I blew up my Aunt Marge," Harry said rather suddenly.

Iris's head snapped over to the boy, the words slapping her across the face. Her hand falling as she shot to attention. Her eyes wide and her voice slightly higher in pitch, "Excuse me."

Harry's eyes widened in response. "Like a balloon, she bloated and flew away!" He rushed to explain.

A breath of air left her nose as Iris relaxed once more. Harry smiled as the air settled once again, "Don't keep up with the news or gossip but yeah, I blew up my Aunt."

Placing her head on her hand, Iris smiled at the boy and said, "Well, please, do continue." Harry noticed how that blue fire in her eyes flared out again.