𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐋𝐄 || 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝗼𝗸

𝟐.𝟎𝟗 - 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐲

╔══ஓ๑☼๑ஓ══╗
— 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟐 | 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟗 —
╚══ஓ๑☼๑ஓ══╝

(Ruby's POV)

It was early morning when the sounds of harsh banging on my door woke me up. As my eyes opened I wearily could feel a firm set of arms holding me tight. It took a moment for my tired mind to register that Harry was wide awake with an alarming look on his face as he stared at the door, probably from being startled awake before I was.

"Ruby, it's Ben. I have the guards here we know Harry is with you." my eyes widened at the voice on the other side of the door before I wiggled out of Harry's grip and hopped out of bed.

"I-I'm coming," I said and shuffled to the door, opening it a crack to see that Ben was indeed there with three guards "May I help you?" I asked them, my voice sounding smaller than I intended.

"Ruby..." Ben started as he frowned at me "I'm sorry, but with the charges he still holds, he can't stay." Suddenly my brows furrowed as my face flushed red in anger, the door flying open with a bang after I pushed it.

"That's bullshit!" I snapped and took quick notice of the way Ben held his hand up, causing the guards to halt from drawing any sort of weapons from my sudden outburst. I scowled at them as if I had the nerve to lay a hand on the king. I closed my eyes and took a breath to compose myself before I looked back up at Ben "Even with those charges, what he did yesterday should count for something, shouldn't it? He saved your lives back on the isle, he stopped me from killing all of you while I was under Uma's influence. Ben... I think we need to talk about this more in-depth, The confessions Harry made were completely false, he was lying." I pleaded and held my hand out behind me as I gestured to the boy.

"If this is true, I need to hear this from him," Ben said and looked past me as I hadn't even realized Harry had gotten up and walked to stand behind me.

"Aye... It's true, I did lie..." Harry said with furrowed brows as he held eye contact with Ben. Ben had let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to think.

"Okay. That complicates things a little but we're gonna need to go someplace private to discuss this. Get changed and meet me in my office in ten, okay?" he said. We all shared a nod in agreement before Ben ushered his guards to take leave with him as I closed the dorm door. I stood at the door for a good few minutes as thoughts ran rampant in my mind, my vision blurring in and out from the tears that welled in my eyes.

"Love? Are ye alright?" Harry said softly as I felt a hand slowly slide onto my trembling shoulder. I just nodded with a sniffle as I dried my eyes with my sleeved arm.

"I'll be fine once I know you're not going back to that island," I said firmly as I turned around and got some clothes out from my wardrobe, brows furrowed in anger as I pondered what we should say in our argument towards the king. I took some fresh clothes out for Harry and went to my bathroom to get ready myself, not uttering a word for the next twenty minutes. I grabbed my bag and phone before finally looking at him, seeing him sitting on the edge of my bed as he had been waiting for me to get cleaned up.

"Come 'ere," he said quietly with an arm stretched out towards me. I frowned and let my head hang as I dragged my feet towards my bed, letting him pull me between his legs and wrap his arms around my waist "Whatever happens darlin', I want to thank you, for trying so hard." he whispered, the back of his hand slowly drying the fresh tear that rolled down my cheek as I let myself plop into his lap.

"It would've all been for nothing if you end up getting sent back there," I said with a sniffle, my brows pinched together tightly. A stream of shushes left his lips as his hand smoothed the back of my hair in gentle strokes. The gentle touch soothing me into relaxing my brows and letting my features droop.