Three Men On Tour: 35

For a moment it seemed as if Harry was going to reply. His face suffused with colour, his eyes goggled in their sockets, and several times he started to articulate before thinking better of it and lowering his raised finger to think some more. George didn’t look triumphant. He looked raw and uncomfortable.

Eventually, Harry ceased glaring at everyone around him and settled with glancing over at me in mute appeal, although whether he was drawing me in to take his side, or accusing me of siding against him I wasn’t quite sure. Either way, I didn’t want to get involved. I was proud of the number of times I hadn’t made a fool of myself in front of a dining room full of strangers and I determined to maintain that record. Refusing to meet either of my former companion’s stares I rose from my table and turned to leave. So pre-occupied was I with maintaining a modicum of decorum that I ran straight into the next person attempting to enter. We huffed our disapproval of each other while politely taking the blame when our eyes met and I realised I had walked straight into Elspeth. For a moment, I thought she would say something. Then she gave an anguished wail and ran from the dining room in floods of tears. I called fruitlessly after her as I felt the stares of a thousand eyes burning into the back of my head.