Well, damn it, she hadn’t fallen for that for a second. He’d been hoping – well, what did it matter what he had hoped? She clearly didn’t have any patience for strangers peering at her oddly in crowded markets, and there was nothing Savino could have said to make this any less odd.
“Wait,” he said, dropping the act at once and letting the seriousness show in his expression again, in case his urgently-creased brow gave her pause. Somehow he doubted it – somehow he doubted that she would care what he had to say, whatever he had to say – but he planted himself at her side anyway, partly in apology and partly in protest. “You’re right, I’m sorry, that’s not true,” he admitted, in the hope that he would have time to say everything he needed to before she tried to move away, “and it’s just – I know this will sound crazy but – I’ve actually been looking for you. My name is Savino Zabini,” he added rapidly, in case she happened to be in society and had heard the name in passing before, or even better, to do with Divination.
Somehow, Savino thought darkly, he doubted that too.
“Wait,” he said, dropping the act at once and letting the seriousness show in his expression again, in case his urgently-creased brow gave her pause. Somehow he doubted it – somehow he doubted that she would care what he had to say, whatever he had to say – but he planted himself at her side anyway, partly in apology and partly in protest. “You’re right, I’m sorry, that’s not true,” he admitted, in the hope that he would have time to say everything he needed to before she tried to move away, “and it’s just – I know this will sound crazy but – I’ve actually been looking for you. My name is Savino Zabini,” he added rapidly, in case she happened to be in society and had heard the name in passing before, or even better, to do with Divination.
Somehow, Savino thought darkly, he doubted that too.
