OH F*ck left unsaid...

Dark Circles.

Seriously?

Alex still couldn't believe that his well-thought schedule could get disturbed by something as measly as dark circles. He didn't even know if he should be amused or annoyed.

Could it have been any more embarrassing?

…He didn't even want to think about it. He didn't want to jinx it; after all, whatever entity that had reincarnated him in this world seemed to hold a grudge against him, or just wanted to use him for entertainment purposes.

But, wasn't Harry Potter supposed to be fate's favorite toy in this world? Why was it toying with him though?

… Oh Right. Because Harry F*cking Potter hadn't even been born yet, and fate needed some entertainment, so, why not use the resident reincarnated wizard for getting some giggles? After all, where is the fun in waiting when you have an alternative ready, right?

Wrong.

Alex fumed internally, as he made his way towards the library after having breakfast, considering the various methods of running damage control after his 'dark circles' had run over his entire schedule despite his diligent efforts to keep it secret.

He'd been cautious enough to not show a drastic change and draw attention to himself. Sure, he had started consuming eggs and meat, as a source of proteins, to help develop his body; after all, he can't just hope magic to supply nutrients to his body too, right? But, it wasn't that he'd done it out of the blue; that would have been suspicious.

He'd gradually increased his intake over the week, both for his sake and to prevent causing suspicion among adults, and he wasn't even the only child who changed eating habits, others had done so before him.

As for his increased and longer stays in the library; couldn't a bookworm mega-evolve into a mega-bookworm upon meeting some conditions? He'd pulled off even weirder stunts than these in all his years at the orphanage that the people here should've grown numb to it by now.

Ruined, all of that, just because of a minor ignorance on his part.

He didn't even know that he had dark circles till that morning, and then too, it was Sarah who had told him about it. She almost looked like he had some kind of terminal illness when she told him about it. He didn't ever want her to cause her pain, to become the source of worries, especially so. Even the things he had been doing for the

last week for her sake too.

But, he'd caused her pain and had added to her worries, so much so that she'd decided to stay by his side, sitting on a chair all night, even when he slept. All of that, because of some 'dark circles'.

He cursed his luck once again. He'd been doing that a lot since last week. Where were these dark circles when he used to watch web series all-night-long in his last life, or when he had completed his assignments staying awake the whole night because his lazy ass had to procrastinate till submission date?

Why had they appeared when he was finally working his ass off? When he's doing all that training to protect his family?

He'd even missed his morning training for the day, what with Sarah sleeping on the chair even as her upper body leaned on his bed, trapping his blanket under her weight. He couldn't have gotten out of bed without waking her up. He didn't even remember when he had begun sleeping last night. Probably, he had fallen asleep by giving

in to the soothing sensation of Sarah's warm and somewhat calloused hand stroking his head.

The point was that he'd missed his training too, all because of 'dark circles'.

He knew that he'd f*cked up somewhere when Sarah had unexpectedly entered his room last night. That feeling grew stronger when she'd decided to sit down beside his bed and declared her intention of her staying with him.

Even though he felt elated and warm because of the concern showed by her regarding him, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at her overprotective nature. He was an adult for god's sake; he could take care of himself.

But, he couldn't blame her; after all, from her perspective, he was still a child, a mature one, but a child nonetheless. The fact that she'd not forced him to do anything he didn't want to do, spoke volumes of her trust in him. Still, she couldn't stop herself from worrying, just like he couldn't stop his training even though he knew it was the reason behind her worries.

He would have to find some way to remove these dark circles though. Now that he thought about it, shouldn't magic have healed them too?

Wait…

…Were dark circles even considered as an injury? Weren't they just darkened skin caused by the excess flow of blood towards the brain because of lacking sleep or excessive stress? What if overusing magic was one of the reasons for the development of dark circles? After all, practicing magic did exhaust him mentally.

Placing his thoughts aside for another time, with somewhat mixed feelings and bipolar mood, he reached the library and made his way to his usual spot. He'd to work extra hard in magic training to make up for missing his physical training that day. He had decided to at least increase his speed in elementary transfiguration involving just shape change; after all, a sharp projectile is better than a blunt one.

So, he started his training for the day.

…Dark Circles.

Really?

---------------------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah knew that what she was about to do, would annoy Alex greatly. But, desperate times needed desperate measures, and it was not like she would allow her son to isolate himself over his baseless worries of getting undermined by her. So, she steeled her heart and made her way towards his kingdom of isolation, the library.

'For the Greater Good.'

She told herself. She opened the door to the library, and watched as children with age similar to Alex, and younger stormed through the library door from behind her.

Alex looked really surprised upon the unexpected visit of children in the library. Usually, they would be in the Hall at that hour, learning to read and write from Sarah or practice what they knew, even as she paid attention to the preparation going on in the kitchen for the afternoon meal. He had 'learned' reading and writing there too. So, growing confused, he looked towards the person leading this assault against his unofficial, undeclared, and unnamed base of operation.

"Hope you don't mind, Alex. I'm getting the hall and the kitchen cleaned for the month."

Noticing his stare, Sarah answered with a gentle smile on her face.

'Suspicious.'

Alex discerned. Sarah did get them washed thoroughly once in a month, but the timing was too coincidental for it to be unintended, especially if he factored in the worry she'd shown that morning. It was a ploy, and he knew it.

"It's Ok, Sarah."

He replied with a light smile as he didn't mind it; the presence of others in the library was factored in when he'd first picked his position in the library. Also, he trained magic with his hands under the table anyway, so, as long as no one raised the cloth covering the table, and looked underneath, he had no problem.

Even though Sarah was surprised, she didn't show it on her face and just nodded with a smile. She had expected at least a little resistance at best and a loud outburst at worst. She didn't think that he would accept so easily. She even began to wonder whether Thomas had diagnosed Alex correctly or not.

As she had already brought the children to the library, she just decided to teach them there; Alex could still use some company, after all. And, she still intended for Alex to fraternize with other children for as long as possible. Being a loner wasn't nice, especially for one so young.

Alex focused on his transfiguration underneath the table while still pretending to read the book he'd chosen for the day. He didn't get to practice for long though. Just a few minutes after Sarah had settled at one side of the library, with children for varying ages huddled around her as she read to them from a book, he felt someone tugging his left elbow.

Looking there, he found a two-year-old, blonde little girl with chubby cheeks, Amy, standing there with a book wrapped between her little arms. She was the most recent addition to the orphanage.

"Read this."

She ordered Alex upon begetting gained his attention even as she extended the book between her arms towards him.

Alex glanced in Sarah's direction and still found her reading a book to the other children. He would have gladly indulged little Amy's 'request' any other time, but he had some serious practice to do.

"Isn't Sarah reading a book there? You should hear that story from her, it's really good."

He coaxed her as gently as he could. She'd just lost her parents a few months ago. It was too hard for him to get annoyed at her.

"I want this one."

She insisted, her hands indicating the book she held.

"No, Amy. I will read it to you later. For now, you should go there."

Alex declined once again.

"Alex is a meany. I will tell Sarah."

She threatened with her cheeks puffed up in anger, her eyes glaring up at him, and the book now tightly held against her chest.

"No."

Alex replied in a stern voice. His patience was now wearing thin, and he was trying to hold himself back as much as possible. Also, he worried for Sarah; he was not scared of her.

Upon realizing that threat wouldn't work, and getting a stern response for an answer, Amy's eyes reddened a little, her cheeks puffed up even more, and tears started gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Please Alex."

She now pleaded, almost whined, and gave him a look he couldn't quite refuse. Sighing dejectedly, he just nodded his head and made her sit beside him, and began reading the book she'd insisted on.

…At least, he'd now determined the effectiveness of puppy-dog-eyes himself. Sarah wouldn't know what hit her the next weekend.

But, how did children even learn to give that look? Was it something genetically inherent?

Keeping aside his musing, he focused on satisfying the little empress beside him, so that he could return to his training as soon as possible.

------------------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------------

"Amy, my lap isn't a pillow. Go to sleep in your room."

"Eric, don't fight with Charles. He's younger than you."

"Kevin, don't scribble in the book. Sarah has to clean them later."

"Arthur, don't poke your nose. It's bad manners."

"Lisa, Angela, and Mary, that book is not for you. Read something else."

'How did it become like this?'

Alex lamented. He'd been tricked into spending time with the children as Sarah had left to prepare for the lunch half-hour ago. She had even 'kindly' suggested the children to spend some time in the library 'like Alex did'.

He didn't know how Sarah came to the conclusion that his spending time with kids would help him with dark circles, nor did his knowing it mattered. If that was how it would go from now on, all because of some 'dark circles', he would rather prefer to increase his resting time than allow it to continue. He hadn't gotten any training done that day and a little less training would be better than no training at all.

He would have to make his new schedule later though. For now, he had his hands full with these children.

'Can this day get any worse?'

He groaned.

"…Arthur. Did you just wipe your hands on my shirt?"

All he got in response was a giggle from the three-year-old, red-haired boy.

At least, he was proved right about jinxing himself. That was still a small win, right?

Right?

------------------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------------

Alex's hopes for the afternoon were dashed too when Sarah, along with the entourage of children, even including the older ones that had returned from school, had entered the library after lunch. This time, it was because children couldn't go out to play as Sarah had gotten pesticides sprinkled in the lawn.

In the months of autumn, when there weren't many leaves left on trees, that is.

Sarah's desperation for keeping him from isolating himself was now easily apparent for his twenty-five-year-old soul. But he, for the love of God, still couldn't understand her motive in doing so.

He was certain of one thing. If he wanted to prevent Sarah from getting any more concerned with him, he had to do something about his 'dark circles', and had to be seen mixing with the kids.

He did just that.

By the end of two hours, he'd gone from the unwillingness to grudging acceptance of the situation his 'dark circles' had landed him in.

By dusk, he'd unknowingly started enjoying himself in their company.

Alex enjoyed the dinner that night. It had suddenly acquired a pleasant and cheerful atmosphere that he felt was absent for a long time now. Once again, he escorted the younger ones to their bed and he returned to his room in a happy and relaxed mood for the first time in the last week.

Like the last seven days, he waited for his roommates to fall asleep, and started his meditation session. The only training he'd been able to do that day.

For the first time, despite his hundreds of meditation sessions, he thought of…

…nothing.

He had unknowingly initiated a magical process he was obsessing over for the last seven days.

Perhaps, it was intended to be that way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------------

Alex woke up to the sensation of pleasant heat around his eyes; that would have been soothing in the slight cold of the months of autumn, if not for the fact that it was accompanied by an irritatingly bright light that seemed as bright as the sun.

The 'dark circles' that had been the source of his problems were now absent from his face, and took away with them, three days of his training time, because, it took him another two days to get Sarah to believe him that he didn't have any problem sleeping. She only believed when she saw his dark circles lighten over those days. She still didn't leave him alone for more than five hours in the library though.

He had been forced to sacrifice his training time to achieve that result. So, from the fourth day, he���d almost stopped doing Yoga and jogging, and just focused on getting his body to move as he desired, performing different basic moves of gymnastics in random order one after another.

Lame, but he'd to use what he'd gotten. People in those novels had it too easy sometimes.

But, on the other hand, spending time with family had a nice effect of making him relaxed for his training, especially the magical aspect. He'd been having an easier time focusing his magic and trying out new spells. That wasn't the only boon; he'd even begun on the path of occlumency, something that had eluded him and had been a source of his stress for so long.

'How times change. Only a fortnight had passed and he was already feeling like a few years had gone by.'

He was feeling the passage of time in a manner that he had never felt before. In his last life, a few months could have gone by without making him feel as tired as he was feeling after just two weeks. Perhaps, the situation would have been even worse if Sarah hadn't interfered when she did.

'I guess that's another reason for me to care about her.'

Alex thought as he slipped out of his bed, tidied it, and made his way to the bathroom. The day he had been dreading had finally arrived. Sarah was going to London that day.

He, in his free time during breaks, had been thinking about all the possible things he could do to counter the various scenarios he could encounter in his visit to the Hellhole.

Most of them had made him look cool though. Consequently, they were the least likely to happen.

He didn't consider himself ready; probably, he could never be ready for a situation that could endanger the lives of those he considered family. But, he had done everything he thought was possible without getting any kind of attention from any side of the world. Wizards and muggles, that is.

He could only do so much in eleven days of training. He didn't even know where he stood in the power spectrum of the wizards, but he could do without finding it by experience. It was better that way.

After dressing up, he put on the most hopeful and cheerful facade he could, and entered the only bedroom on the ground floor of the orphanage building, Sarah's room.

Sarah looked up from the desk she was working on, preparing a list of the items needed at the orphanage. She had her brown hair tied up in a bun instead of her usual straight and sleek style. Her working vogue, it seemed.

"Do you need something, Alex?"

She absentmindedly asked, trying to remember any item she might have forgotten to add to the list.

"Can I come with you?"

Alex, in his most pleading voice with some meekness added into the mix, asked Sarah.

Now that had provided Alex with the undivided attention of Sarah. She tightened her grip on the pen she was holding, getting anxious due to the unexpected nature of Alex's request. Still, she didn't let any of her worry show on her face and just let her curiosity mix into her voice as she asked a question.

"Why do want to come with me Alex? You just visited London a few days ago."

Left unsaid was the fact that he'd fainted on that trip too, for a reason that she still didn't know. She was honestly curious and somewhat shocked by his request to visit London. Why would he want to visit a place where he'd encountered something scary enough to frighten him to unconsciousness? Shouldn't he want to stay as far away as possible? Or…

…did he want to protect her from the thing or person that had scared him?

She would have gushed at the sheer cuteness and the heartwarming intentions of Alex if such a situation was possible…

It was impossible, right? Anyway, she looked at Alex's face, more specifically, into his eyes, and waited for his response.

"It's because I fainted on that trip. I want to visit London again. Please take me with you. I promise I won't be naughty."

Alex replied, keeping his voice on the edge of what could be considered as whiny, looking straight into Sarah's eyes with a hopeful look plastered on his face.

'He is lying. Again.'

Sarah could tell with ease. She was feeling a little disappointed too. Alex's condition had been improving in the last few days, so, she'd hoped that he would finally confide in her in a few days so that she could completely allay his fears, but it seemed that it would take a while.

"Not today. I have to visit a few friends of mine in London. You will get bored there."

She randomly made an excuse. Even though she was curious about the reason behind Alex's fear, she wouldn't take him to London and risk another trauma for him. Sating her curiosity would not be worth Alex's health. It could never be.

Alex had kind of expected that response. After all, Sarah was nothing, if not responsible.

'It's hard mode again…'

Stomping down the remaining dregs of his dignity, he made use of the occlumency training he had recently found success in, and formed an image in his mind…

…Image of Amy's puppy-dog-eyed look he had been hit with a few days ago in the library, copied it to the best of his abilities and pleaded in a voice that had finally dived into the deep end of what he considered whiny.

"Please~"

She seemed surprised by his uncharacteristic behavior. God knows, he too wondered about how low had he fallen since his reincarnation. But, before he could celebrate the win that he considered his own…

"Not today, Alex."

…Sarah denied.

Sarah didn't know what to feel at the moment, amusement or concern. She didn't expect Alex to give her that kind of look. The fact that he had pulled it off amused her. The fact he'd tried doing something so out of character raised her hackles and further affirmed her decision of not taking him to London anytime soon.

Also, taking care of children from her youth did make her immune to the puppy-dog-eyed looks.

'Perhaps, I would have given in if he had called me Mom…'