They had said that before, Malcolm wanted to cry, and they had been wrong. But he knew the subject was too personal to Potter, and frankly, he brought it up.
"I want to know," Malcolm paused again, trying to collect the proper words. "How you cope--coped, I suppose, with the expectations and responsibility that were thrust upon you. I find myself in situations that I could have never imagined. I was not supposed to end up here," he rambled on, well aware that this man knew nothing of him and could not care in the least. "I didn't--I didn't plan for any of this. I didn't expect to have the fates of so many in my hands as they so recently were." Malcolm paused.
"How sure are you?" Malcolm asked quietly, knowing he was pushing the issue, but also feeling a desperate craving to know the answer.