𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃

Chapter 6

Retribution

Harry twisted the cold, ridged metal in between his thumb and forefinger and listened as the tumbler flipped. He pushed open the now unlocked door, his fingers skating over the uneven wood. His eyes searched for what he knew he wouldn't find and he pulled off his cloak slowly and painstakingly hung it on the rack by the door. Its fabric companion conspicuously absent. Harry reached out a hand as if it would materialize once he got close enough. He stared hard at the place it was meant to be.

He had been here today. His things were gone, the cloak that had been accompanying Harry for the last three days, taken with him. Harry glanced around the apartment expecting everything to look different and alien but it was nearly unchanged. It would seem as if the other man had had very little impact on his life but Harry knew the truth, he hadn't wanted his things in his apartment because it seemed too final and familiar.

His place seemed hollowed, empty, and stripped even though nothing had changed. Everything had changed. Harry made his way down the barren hallway, his harsh breathing echoing off the walls. He stood outside what he had dubbed 'Draco's room,' for who knows how long. Somehow he felt like he was intruding. He knew the other man wouldn't be there but it was still his space even if he didn't want it anymore.

The door was cracked a bit as if in invitation and Harry pushed open the barrier to find the room's immaculate cleanliness. The bed was made and on top of it was everything Harry had ever given Draco. It wasn't much and some were things Harry hadn't realized Draco had kept, like Harry's old shirt and a ticket to the opera Hermione had dragged them to. He found himself walking toward the bed, his hand reached out and he sifted through the tangible wreckage of their relationship.

It was torturous. It was a blatant reminder of how much Draco had cared. Tears prickled Harry's eyes as he realized that Draco had tried to keep and store every moment that involved Harry being nice to him. A hard candy that Harry had offered when he couldn't stop coughing, the shirt Harry had given him because Draco looked better in it than he did, a piece of glass from when Draco had broken the mirror in the bathroom and cut himself to which Harry had rushed to take care of him, not caring about the damage, the jacket that Harry thought he had lost that he had let Draco borrow one night when he was cold, and so many other things that were so inconsequential that Harry couldn't even remember their significance.

Harry moved the things off the bed and placed them on the floor, vowing to go over every scrap of paper until he knew their importance. He pulled back the covers and kicked off his shoes before slipping under the comforter. He stared up at the ceiling, his stomach sinking as he realized that he would never come back but what did he expect? This was what he deserved, loneliness, devastation, and hatred from Draco. He had done nothing to welcome Draco's love and he hadn't appreciated it when he had given it freely. Why was the past so much easier to understand than the future?

Harry cuddled Draco's pillow and allowed silent tears to sully it as he inhaled the scent that was laced within the bed coverings. He didn't know how long he laid there, desolate and alone, time didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

He must have fallen asleep because when his eyes blearily opened the room was dark. Harry considered never leaving this bed. His bed. But he felt like he was trespassing somehow. He achingly got out of the bed, every muscle in his body taut and strained with stress and discomfort. He haltingly walked the length of his flat, marveling at how open and large it seemed now. A chill ran through it and Harry shivered as he looked around the dark living room. The air seemed heavy with dread and despair and pushed down on Harry maddeningly.