The Human Stain

The Human Stain

By Anna Kate

For Kostya and Anouska,

Who helped me make Hampton College

Chapter Two- Hampton College

Two days after moving into their new apartment, Harry, and Claudia (and Emma) had managed to finish setting up the entire place except Claudia's bedroom.

Claudia said it was because she was a perfectionist. Harry and Emma insisted it was because she was fussy (which caused Claudia not to talk for the rest of the day, which was no great loss, really).

In the evenings, Emma took them out to show them the town, but they mostly stayed on Castle Street.

Harry and Emma would talk about 'adult things' while Claudia watched the passer-bys from restaurant or café windows. Occasionally, she voiced her own opinion, but until the time that she did, she sat silently and watched, a statue with ebony hair.

One morning, Emma was in the apartment before Harry even awoke. He learnt later that Claudia had let her in, then gone back to sleep, but he didn't know that to begin with.

He startled awake to the sound of the kettle boiling in the kitchen. Believing it was Claudia, he turned on his side and started to fall asleep, when the door was opened and he heard the click of a mug being put on his bedside table.

"Claude, what are you doing? You know you're..." he was cut off, when he noticed Emma standing next to him, eyebrows raised. "What're you doing here?" he asked, voice slightly slurred from sleep. He blinked; his vision was blurry without his glasses.

"Good morning to you, too!" Emma laughed slightly. "Claude let me in, and then went back to bed. And I think I deserve a thank-you for making your coffee," Harry nodded his thanks, and sat up in bed. He picked up the mug and took a sip of the coffee.

"You are very good at making coffee," he stated, completely serious. Emma smirked.

"Much better than you, I bet. Anyway, you have to get dressed," she headed towards his wardrobe, and opened the doors when she got there.

"Why?" Harry wrinkled his nose as she began throwing out some shirts and trousers.

"Because, my stupid friend, we are going to see Claudia's new school," her voice was muffled, since she was still in the wardrobe.

"Do we have to?" Emma stood up straight and glared at him. "Oh, fine. Go away, I need to get dressed," Emma smirked again and left the room.

Harry took a last gulp of the coffee and threw the covers off his bed. He reached for his glasses and put them on, smiling when everything became clear. He went to his wardrobe and chose, at random, a pair of jeans and a shirt.

Pulling on his shirt, he reached for his black jacket, one which Claudia had affectionately named 'a blazer'. Or was that what it was anyway? Harry shrugged, he really couldn't care less.

Going over to the chest of drawers and mirror on the opposite side of the room, Harry inspected his hair. He sighed.

Useless. Absolutely useless he thought. His hair was still as messy as it had been during his school days, maybe even messier. Combined with the new black rectangular glasses and a paler complexion, Harry did look different, yet his hair would always be the same.

The same...

Harry sighed again and opened up a small scarlet box.

Now, men are not supposed to have jewellery, but Harry, over the years, had amounted a fair collection.

He only wore bracelets and necklaces, finding rings bothersome, and he had no piercings to put earrings in.

He rifled through the tangled web of silver and gold pieces of finery and eventually found a small silver band.

Nothing peculiar about it, on first glance, yet, when looked at closer, two grey eyes were reflected on the inside metal.

Harry smiled and pulled the bracelet onto his wrist.

He left his bedroom, and walked through the narrow hallway leading to the main room. Emma was sitting at the table with a very grumpy looking Claudia. Emma gave him a cheery smile.

"Good, you got dressed," Claudia winced at the sound of her voice. Emma gave her a weak smile. "Sorry." Harry nodded at Emma.

"Obviously, I got dressed, but is there any coffee left?" Emma smiled and pointed to the mug sitting on the table where Harry usually was seated. Harry sat down heavily into the seat and took a sip of the hot drink. "Have I told you how much I love your coffee?"

Emma giggled but pouted. "And here was I, thinking you were going to announce your undying love for me," she gave a fake sob. Harry wrinkled his nose.

"Sorry, m'dear, but no," Emma laughed and winked at him. Claudia gave a disgusted snort, then got up and left the table. Emma looked after her, and Harry shrugged seeing Emma's concerned look.

"Don't worry. She's still grieving after Anna," he mumbled, closing his eyes slightly at the mention of Anna's name.

"Are you?" Harry hesitated, yet gave a small nod.

"Yes," he said after a moment. "I still miss Anna,"

--------------

"Ah, Mr. Evans, we've been expecting you!" a cheery woman with short spiky brown hair and glasses greeted them at the entrance hall. She held out her hand and Harry shook it. "My name is Holly Hutchins; I'm the school sectary,"

"Pleased to meet you. May I please introduce my daughter, Claudia, and Claudia's aunt, Emma," Harry said, gesturing to Claudia and Emma. Emma shook Holly's hand and Claudia nodded her hello.

Emma grinned at the word 'Aunt'. They had decided that Emma would be Claudia's 'aunt' in the car to Hampton College, and Emma had agreed heartily.

"Well, the Headmistress is still in assembly, but she should be here shortly. If you'll please take a seat, I'll bring you some drinks," Holly said this very quickly, giving various hand-gestures along the way. "What would you like?" she fluttered her eyelashes at Harry.

"Um, tea for me could be just fine. Emma?" Emma nodded and said she would like tea too. Holly left them, and the trio sat down on the scarlet sofa near them, Claudia sandwiched in the middle.

"Do I have to have an interview with the Headmistress?" she asked after a few seconds of silence. Harry nodded.

"It's a Private School, Claude. She'll want to know what you're like, especially if you start boarding," Harry reached out and held Claudia's hand, smiling slightly at her.

"I don't want to board, Dad," Claudia mumbled, and Harry smiled.

"I know, but still," he gave her a kiss on her forehead, and they waited in silence. "We have to be ready, Claude," Claudia nodded and gave a great sigh.

The tea came and went, yet there was still no sign of the Headmistress.

Towards last morning, a petite middle-aged woman came through the door. Her short black hair was pinned to the side and she smiled at Harry, eyes covered by half-moon glasses.

"Mr. Evans! Pleased to meet you, my name is Abby Taylor and I'm the Headmistress. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting so long, one of our teachers fell down the stairs earlier and we had to sort her out," she said this as though it was normal for teachers to fall down the stairs. She shook Harry's, Claudia's and Emma's hands, and led them into her office, chatting along the way.

The office was a large, spacious room with four large blue armchairs around a fire, and a desk in the far corner. Mrs. Taylor bid them to sit down in the armchairs, and they did so.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," she said, sitting down in the armchair opposite Harry. "Well, what brings you to our school?" she asked.

"It seems like an extremely good school, very academic. Claudia has been going to state schools since we came back to England, but I think, since we are settling down here, it would be good for her to go to a Private school," Harry told her, lacing his fingers together and regarding the woman with a slight gleam in his eye.

"Ah, I see. May I ask what other countries you have lived in?" she looked at Claudia this time.

"Erm, the Czech Republic, mainly in Prague and... well, I've only lived in the Czech Republic," she mumbled, bowing her head to hide behind her hair.

"Do you speak Czech, Claudia?" Claudia nodded.

"Yes, my mother was Czech," Claudia smiled, and repeated the sentence in Czech. Mrs. Taylor smiled and gave a slight clap.

'This woman is reminding me more and more of Dumbl-...' Harry's thoughts trailed off pathetically, due to the sharp bolt of pain that ran through his heart. He winced slightly, and Mrs. Taylor looked at him, concerned.

"Are you well, Mr. Evans?" Harry nodded, and said, yes he was fine. Mrs. Taylor went on to explain about the school, its history and the GCSE pass rate. Harry nodded, taking in all the information, yet his mind seemed to be wondering else where.

Eventually, Mrs. Taylor stopped talking, and they left the office.

"We can take Claudia from here, Mr. Evans. Unless you would like to look around the school?" Mrs. Taylor asked, motioning with her hand as if to show him something. Harry thought for a moment, but then gave a small nod.

"Yes, why not?" Claudia smiled slightly at him, and they set off around the school.

The school was set in 4 acres of fields and woods, an old Victorian manor standing in the middle of all the lesson buildings. Since the school grounds were so vast, every door had a code, which made Claudia visibly pale when Mrs. Taylor told her she would have to memorise all of them.

Things got weird when they got to the Language Department. The first stop was French, which had Claudia and the French teacher speaking in very rapid Czech, since the French teacher turned out to be Czech too.

The Spanish teacher looked vaguely familiar, with dark skin and plaited black hair. Harry even squinted at her to see if he knew her.

But the piece de résistance was the English Teacher.

"Mr. Evans, this is our English teacher, Mrs. Granger," Harry's heart stopped when the English teacher turned around. Bushy dark brown hair was pulled into a bun, brown eyes still as warm as ever.

Except when it had happened.

'I can't believe you hid this from us! I can't believe you didn't tell us! It's awful, shameful, disgusting, Harry!'

Harry fought the urge to clamp his hands over his ears and sing 'lalalala' to drown out those sounds.

"Mr. Evans, pleased to meet you," Hermione smiled at him and held out her hand, which he unsteadily shook.

She didn't seem to recognise him; he was just another faceless parent to one of her students. The scar was hidden, under a glamour that had been in place for 16 years. He didn't want to ever see that damned thing again.

"Dad?" Claudia looked up at him, concerned. "Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, just a bit tired," he attempted to give her a reassuring smile that seemed more like a grimace than anything else. She gave him a weak smile, and Hermione began talking to Claudia.

"What's it like having a writer for a Father?" she asked. Claudia looked uncomfortable, never being one to mix her father's job with her home life.

"Erm, cool, I guess," Claudia shrugged, and Hermione decided to back off.

"We really should be going, Hermione dear," Mrs. Taylor said and Hermione smiled.

"Maybe I'll see you soon," Claudia nodded and smiled, and Hermione turned away. She clapped her hands at the class of chattering teens.

"Class! Pay attention!" she sounded eerily like the old Transfiguration professor.

They saw the rest of the classrooms, and then headed back to Stoatley Hall, the main reception building.

"Well, that's all of the buildings. Now, Claudia, we'll give you your assessments for English, Maths and Science. You can go if you like, Mr. Evans," Emma and Harry kissed Claudia good-bye and left together, leaving Claudia to the clutches of Mrs. Taylor and Holly.

-------

"Do you want to grab some lunch?" Emma asked as they turned into castle street. Harry shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" he pulled into the nearest parking space and they both got out of the car. IN silence, they walked over to the Café Uno, and were seated immediately.

"I'm sure Claudia's had a test day in schools before," Harry shook his head.

"No. Well, none that I knew of. Mind you, I was away from home a lot," Emma nodded, and called over a waiter. While Harry slid deep into thought, Emma placed their usual orders and waited patiently for Harry to eventually leave his mind.

For Harry, he was just trapped in a dark room he lived to call Cogito- his thoughts. His mind was his refuge in times when he was worried. Anna used to say that he should wake up every now and then.

"HARRY, WATCH OUT!"

Harry jerked suddenly as the familiar noise of a crash of thundered resounded in his head.

"Harry, watch out for your drink," his eyes snapped up to meet Emma's anxious gaze. He gave her a blank stare.

"Your drink, you looked like you were going to knock it over," Harry looked down and noticed his hand was almost touching his glass of coca cola.

"Sorry," he mumbled, resting his head on one hand. Emma frowned.

"Where were you?" he cocked his head to the side, questioning her query. "You were thinking, and my mother used to ask us where we were when we daydreamed,"

"Somewhere. I don't really know where it is, but it's there. And I like being there too," Emma smiled.

"Good. It's better to be somewhere you like than somewhere you hate," she poured herself a glass of water from the jug in front of them, and they continued chatting until it was time to pick Claudia up.

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"So, how was it?" they were back in the car, driving home from picking Claudia up from the school. Claudia gave a slight nod, as she looked out the window.

"It was okay, I guess," Harry blinked, brow furrowed.

"You guess?" Harry looked in the mirror and Claudia nodded, not taking her eyes off the window. "What do you mean, you guess?" Claudia shrugged and Harry sighed. She was being vague again, and he hated that. It normally meant she was mad with him.

Emma smiled at Harry and leaned forward to put on the radio. With music filling the car, there was really no need to talk. However, Emma had other ideas.

"What did you do, Claudia?" Claudia sniffled again, and acted like Emma wasn't there. Emma repeated the question and there was still no answer.

Harry felt a small flicker of anger start at the pit of his stomach. He gripped the steering wheel hard, and the rest of the journey was spent in silence.

---------

By the time they had pulled into Old Inn Drive, Harry was thoroughly angry with Claudia. She was being rude and blatantly selfish in her dismissal of everything Emma did or said. It was driving him mad!

They (well, he) said good-bye to Emma at her door, and then father and daughter climbed the stairs to their own apartment.

Harry unlocked the door, and Claudia flounced through it, dumping her jacket over the bar on her right and sat with a 'HMPH!' on the nearest armchair.

Harry locked the door, feeling the anger rising up his throat. He took his own jacket off, put it in the coat cupboard next to the door then turned on Claudia.

"What was that about, Claudia?" he asked her, green eyes watching her with silent fury.

"What was what about?" she asked back, trying to radiate innocence.

"That, back there!" Harry pointed at the closed door. "You utter impertinence towards Emma," he snapped, clenching his jaw. He began walking forward, towards Claudia, who was watching him warily.

"She deserved it!" Claudia snapped back, trying to worm her way back into her normal self.

"How, Claudia? How the hell did she deserve that?" Harry shouted now, his anger building up so much he couldn't be civil anymore.

"BECAUSE SHE WAS TRYING TO REPLACE MUM!" Claudia roared, standing up and stamping her foot.

"SHE WAS NOT TRYING TO REPLACE YOUR MOTHER!" Harry felt like he was about to explode with his rage. "How could she?" Harry said in softer tones, though it was through gritted teeth.

"YOU ACT LIKE YOU DID WHEN MUM WAS AROUND!" Claudia bellowed at him, throwing her arms in the air, face red. "YOU ACT ALIVE! BUT YOU DON'T NOTICE ME!"

"Claudia! Is this what this is all about? You being ignored?" the disgust Harry felt seeped through into his words. Claudia glared at him with an arrogance that Harry had only seen in one other person in his life. And that didn't help his mood at all.

"YOU SELFISH BRAT!" he yelled at her, feeling his cheeks go red. He saw her wince and her eyes go watery with tears.

"W-what?" she stuttered, quiet now.

"Claudia Emily Evans, you are a spoilt brat!" he stated firmly, crossing his arms. Claudia mimicked the action.

"Oh, I'm the selfish one? I'M NOT THE ONE WHO DOESN'T GIVE HIS DAUGHTER A DAMN PIECE OF ATTENTION! EVEN WHEN HER MOTHER DIED!" her anger was back at full blast now.

A sharp pain went through the glamour-covered scar on Harry's head. He felt dizzy and hot.

"Claudia," he mumbled, trying to balance himself on the bar. Another pain went through his scar.

"DON'T YOU DARE 'CLAUDIA' ME, DAD! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOU RANTING ON AND ON ABOUT EMMA BLOODY STOCKDALE!" Harry winced at the loudness of her voice.

"Claudia," he rasped again, trying desperately to get her attention. She didn't even seem to notice him. The pain was growing to an overwhelming proportion, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stay alert for much longer.

"OH, AND ANOTHER THING, YOU ARE A-...." but she never finished her sentence, as Harry's hand slipped from the bar and he went crashing to the floor.

Merciful darkness held him now.