IV.
"I am a lonely man," he said one day, suddenly and unexpectedly.
She looked up, mouth slightly agape.
"Is it possible that you are also a lonely person, Miss Granger?"
No, she lied to herself. I'm not.
He continued, oblivious to her unspoken lie. "I am older, I can live with my loneliness. But you are young… It must be difficult to accept your loneliness."
"I'm not lonely," she muttered, unconvincingly.
"You're here, are you not?" He said, ignoring her. "Youth is the loneliest time of all. Otherwise, why should you come here so often to visit me?"
"I–"
"–Perhaps, in time, you'll realise that you cannot rid yourself of your loneliness when you are with me. I can't help you forget it, and soon, you will find that you no longer want to visit me." As he spoke, the Professor smiled sadly.
That night, she cried for the time.