Red & White

thirty two.

Harry couldn't stay the night with her inside the storage room.

He wanted to, God did he want to. He could barely leave her, but she was given plenty of blankets, his own jumper, and a few food items to last the night.

Leah was dozing a few minutes after she was brought inside the castle. Harry had fixed up a nice spot in the back corner, away from any window, for a small bed. He had shrugged off his jumper to leave for her before guiding the sleepy girl into the makeshift bed.

The Prince had kissed her forehead goodnight, checked one final time to make sure she seemed alright, and then sneakily left the storage room. He locked the door twice just for precaution and kept the key pressed against his palm in a fist.

No one was roaming the halls of the castle. Harry knew where mostly everyone was. They were out looking for him. He had disappeared for hours. This was a Royal. The guards were flipping.

He slipped into his bedroom, surprised that not even his own security team was posted in front of his bedroom.

The Prince was unable to sleep. He tossed and turned, images of Leah being taken away filling his dreams. When he woke up, with sweat trickling down his face, Harry repeatedly told himself that Leah was safe. She was in the castle, asleep, and so should he.

He ended up having a grand total of two hours of sleep.

His wake-up call was a key jingling in the door and then the squeak playing in his eardrums.

"Jesus Christ, Harry!" He heard Louis shout after opening the door to find the Prince lying in bed.

He rubbed his eyes as Louis drew open the curtains before storming up to the edge of the bed and whacking the Prince.

"What the hell?" the younger lad growled in an extremely groggy morning voice.

Louis continued to slap him everywhere- and with force.

"No, Harry. What the hell is with you?" he bit back, angrily pushing him. "You just decide to disappear for the night? No one knew where the fuck you went. You didn't have any security with you! Your mother was worried sick. You weren't here, you weren't anywhere in the fucking castle. You can't do that, Harry!"

"I had to get her! They would have found her and taken her away from me."

Louis shook his head. "What are you even talking about?"

Harry sat up in his bed, arm soar from being hit so many times. "I went to a meeting last night and they said they had to round up all the Wales immigrants and transport them back to Wales for security purposes. And everyone thinks that Leah is from Wales. They were going to take her, they fucking asked me where the hell she was. I had to go to her."

The valet blinked, saying slowly, "Where is she right now, Harry?" He knew what he was about to say and a migraine was billowing in his brain.

"In an abandoned storage unit down in the servant's quarters.."

"Fucking hell," the valet swore, tugging at his hair. How stupid could he be?

"I didn't really have a choice, Louis," the Prince snapped, throwing back the duvet to get out of bed and pull on some clothes.

Louis followed. "You really think this will work? Do you honestly expect her to stay in hiding for the entirety of the war?"

"If she expects to stay in England with her family then she better stay in hiding," Harry argued in return. He walked around the room, picking up the key to the storage room, a few books, and two more of his jumpers.