Celebratory chapter because Katrin won Favorite Original Character on the HP fanfic awards! 😭😂😏😅

Ch. 45
Informant

Katrin stood at the threshold of her brother's room silently, gnawing on her bottom lip as she debated whether to walk in and confront him.

He'd been quiet all Christmas break, keeping to himself more than he ever had. His usually bubbly, laid-back nature was dwindling, and he had turned melancholy and brooding. It wasn't like him, and she wanted to know just why he was acting this way. Though, she had a suspicion.

The girl, the informant. The person who had captured her brother's fragile heart. He acted like he didn't care about anything, like he was tough. But in reality? He was breaking.

She pushed open the door wider so she could see inside, not bothering to knock as she could hear the scratch of quill against paper and knew he was merely writing a letter. Again. For the third time that day.

His room wasn't small or large. It had a single bed pushed to the side, leaving the room mostly free. It was a mix of colors, not having a single color scheme  but more of a mash-up of different colored furniture and decorations.

His floor was a simple cream carpet, his walls light yellow. The bed-sheets were red but the duvet was green, the frame a dark oak. His desk was white, clumps of the paint sticking to it's surface. The chair he sat on was brown, the curtains in front of the desk, open to show the view of their yard, were blue. His dresser, which was opposite his bed, was a dark grey. The posters on his walls showed a mix of Quidditch players and recent muggle artists like the Dog person and Elton John.

It wasn't that they couldn't afford to keep a color scheme, but that he simply didn't care. He had a lot on his mind anyway, and when he had been allowed to decorate his room by himself he had just grabbed the things that he needed without caring if they matched or not.

"Hey," Katrin greeted. Cain merely nodded, his quill still writing away. She walked over to him, and when she was right behind him he quickly stashed the paper in his desk.

"Hey, Kat." He turned, a small smile on his face. She leaned around slightly, catching sight of an envelope that had been torn open hastily. In swirling calligraphy, someone had written Cain across it.

She grabbed it, Cain making no effort to stop her, "Why didn't you tell me that she replied?" Katrin asked, shaking the contents out of it. She answered her own question, seeing only a small note reading I miss you too, I'll see you in a little while, I promise.

There was something else too. A picture. It was of Cain and a girl, Cain looking at the girl with the smallest smile and shining eyes. The girl was extremely pretty, with smooth, dark skin, long hair and eyelashes, and an excited expression. Her eyes were crinkled at the edges like she was mid laugh, her slim figure tiny against Cain's frame.

"How is she?" Katrin asked as her brother sighed. He looked at the picture with a deep emotion, bags under his eyes and his mouth in a frown. He missed her, Katrin knew. And Cain didn't just show that type of emotion for anyone.

"Corrie? She's fine, I suppose." He sighed, "Her parents are as deep into the Ministry as ever, so she's been-"

"Cain, do you love her?" Katrin asked seriously, putting her hand on his shoulder. She had known they were friends while the girl was at Hogwarts, two years before, but she had never really gotten to know her because Cain always hogged the time with her in the summer to himself.

"What makes you think that?" He asked sarcastically. Katrin smiled.

"Does she love you back?" She asked him, not expecting to see a worried expression cross his features.

"How do you do it?" He whispered, "Love someone so much, but stay away from them?"

Katrin shut her mouth, watching as he stared out the window silently. He usually didn't mention the thing. He knew it was painful to her.

But she realized with guilt that it wasn't herself she should feel sorry for at the moment, it was Cain. He only wanted someone to relate to, of course.

"Because of just that..." Katrin sucked in a deep breath, "Because you love them so much that you never want to see them hurt. And you know that what you feel might hurt them."

Cain smiled lightly, "Wow, very heroic, Kat."

"Shut up." She chuckled, messing his hair up. He looked up at her seriously.

"Thank you, though." He said, "I don't think I could hold up an act like you do."

"I have to." She replied simply, "You don't."