Interlude [h.s]

eighty-two

The next morning starts at five, with Harry locking himself in the bathroom. Alouette yawns and sits up, but doesn't inquire about his seemingly sour mood. By now, she knows he won't answer.

She lies down and tries to fall asleep again, but her slumber dissipates when she hears the shower being turned on in the other room. She sighs and gets up, somehow managing her way to the bathroom door with her eyes half closed. "If you wait until six the water will be warm," she mumbles, and the words stick to her mouth like glue. When Harry doesn't reply, she knocks on the door. "Did you hear me?"

There's no reply but the distinct sound of the shower door closing.

Alouette leans her forehead on the door. "You're so stubborn," she whispers. A faint sleep spell comes over her and she gasps when she almost falls to the ground. The scare is enough to wake her up for good, and she sits on the bed with a grumble. There's no way she'll go back to sleep, now.

She checks the time on the alarm clock again and gasps when she catches sight of the date.

October 9th, 2263.

They're going back to the Palace today. Now she understands why Harry has been tossing and turning for the whole night. She's reassured to know that, deep down, he's just as on edge as she is about this—though they are for different reasons. To her, this is the ultimate test. Harry was right when he said it's easy to trust someone when they're the only people you have on your side. She's been thinking about that a lot over the past few days.

For two months, she was the only person Harry had, and he was the only one she had. Their newly formed relationship is based on a sturdy foundation of trust because of it. But everything will change, now. Today is the day she'll find out if Harry can actually be trusted, or if he'll turn against them in the second he's back to the safety of the Palace. The worst part is that, if he were to betray them, she wouldn't be surprised. After all, she too has pretended to be someone she wasn't to seek safety behind enemy lines. After today, she'll know just how steady Harry's promises of friendship are.

It's so easy to feel like she's at the end of the ride, now, but she knows she's far from it. They still have to neutralise the Shade before they move against Northfair, and she still has to find a way to utilise the power and position Harry has granted her to get what she wants—what she's been fighting for. What her father created the Revolution to obtain. Yet, she's so close.

Alouette opens the wardrobe and goes through the clothes inside, finding the most appropriate ones for Harry to wear. It isn't an easy task. Nothing looks good enough when compared to the memory of Harry's pristine suits.

She puts them on the chair next to the bathroom door and knocks twice. "I brought a change of clothes."

The water on the other side of the door is still running, and Harry doesn't reply. There's no way for her to know what he's thinking, though she wishes she did. He's too unpredictable—has always been. The worst part is that he isn't unpredictable at all—his every action is calculated, his every word planned. He's only unpredictable to everyone else because they still haven't figured out how his mind works. It's in moments like these that Alouette wishes she had. She knows him enough to understand him, but that isn't enough. It'll never be enough when the fate of an entire country only depends on him. When Alouette's fate only depends on him.

She picks out her clothes and puts them on. Thirty minutes have passed, but Harry is still locked inside the bathroom. She doesn't find it too alarming. Over the past couple of weeks, she's had the distinct feeling that he retreats to the washroom when he's looking for privacy he can't get in their shared room. He was used to having many private areas just for him in the Palace, after all.