The Harvest || h.s.

Chapter 7

VII. ROSE GARDEN

Harry

"The castle looks lovely, dear!" Harry's aunt laughed drunkenly as she placed her hand on her nephew's shoulder. What she said wasn't even a bit funny, but she had drunk so much champagne that a mosquito flying may ensue an onslaught of laughter.

"Thank you, Aunt Mary." Harry smiled awkwardly. He needed a chance to get himself out of there.

"You are such an independent grown man," she squeezed his cheek, which caused Harry to wince in pain. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Aunt Mary," Harry repeated. He desperately looked around for a friendly face that could get him out of the situation.

Lou noticed the desperation in Harry's looks and quickly walked toward him and his aunt.

"Hello," Lou smiled at the Duchess, "Excuse me, can I please have a word with your nephew? The Sultan of Brunei is looking for him. It's paramount." She quickly said, giving no time for the Duchess to process her words nor formulate an answer. She grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him away from his aunt, without even waiting for her response. "You owe me one, big boy." She said once they lost her in the crowd.

Harry laughed. "Thanks, kiddo. Want a drink?"

"You do know me well." Lou grinned, and Harry walked her to the bar. He ordered drinks for both of them, and they lounged on the stools by the bar with their drinks in hand.

"So how is she doing? I haven't seen her in a while, you know who I'm talking about." Lou asked, taking a sip of her drink, and she felt Harry stiffen next to her.

"She's, um, she's good. Have you seen Lena?" He asked, hoping to drop the subject.

"Nope, not since the dance."

"About that dance, I see what you did there, young lady" Lou threw her head back and laughed.

"What did I do?" She asked.

"Oh, stop pretending." Harry laughed along. "I saw your little dance with Niall. What was that for?"

"It was to piss off my parents, as usual."

"Ah, the usual Lou pranks. Remember when we were younger? How you would do exactly the opposite of what they told you to do in front of the media?" They both laughed again.

"Those were the days, man."

"The glory days. I miss it."

"Me too," Lou sighed. "We used to be free, you know. Compared to now. Even with our restrictions, we were still free. I can't even have pets. What kind of person forbids another to have a fucking pet?" Lou asked and huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You at least have Percy."

"Yeah, I don't know where he is, actually," Harry said, referring to his beloved Persian cat. "Why don't you sneak one into your castle? I mean it's a castle for God's sake. No one will notice. Trust me; no one notices half of the things going on here." And he was one hundred percent right.

"You're right. I'm going to do it. I'm going to sneak in a fucking horse. You know what? I hope they do notice." Harry laughed at Lou's response.

"There she is!" Harry exclaimed, and threw his hands in the air as soon as he saw Lena coming to them. He extended his hand for her to reach it. She stumbled and grabbed his hand before she could fall to the floor, embarrassing herself in front of hundreds of the most important people in the world.

Lena laughed. "Sorry," she apologised, "I'm not used to walking in these heels."

"It's okay," Harry smiled. "You already met Lou, right?"

"Yeah," Lou smiled, "lovely girl."

"There's someone I would like you to meet, Lena," Harry said, taking Lena's hand and dragging her away from Lou before she accidentally mentions something she shouldn't again, this time in front of Lena.

Harry and Lena shuffled their way past the crowd of people. Harry approached a man who had his back turned to them. He tapped on the man's shoulder, and he turned around.

"Harry! Long time no see, how are you doing? I missed you." The man hugged Harry and gave him a pat on the back.

"I'm good, Crawford." Harry smiled. "What about you?"

"Great." The man, Crawford, smiled again. "So this is Lena?"

"Yes." Harry smiled, turning to Lena. "Lena, this is my second cousin, Crawford."

"Pleasure." Lena smiled.

"The pleasure's all mine, darling." Crawford smiled and took Lena's hand to kiss it. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"You too," Lena said. But Harry has never mentioned him. He, in fact, was Harry's first family member Lena has ever heard of or met. She wondered if he had any more surprise family members.

Harry huffed as he was quickly drawn out of the conversation again, by a Duke who wanted to introduce him to his new wife. Harry and the Duke got lost in the crowd, and Crawford turned to Lena. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lena quickly shut him off.

"So you are his second cousin?" She questioned.

"Exactly," Crawford said, taking a sip of champagne. "He never mentioned me, has he?" Lena shook her head, and Crawford chuckled.

"How come?" Lena asked.

"He doesn't like to talk much about his family. About anything personal, actually. If you want to get to know him, you have to dig real deep. But I tell you, it is not easy. Harry has developed a lot of trust issues. But if you want to know anything - and I mean it, anything - you can always ask me. I will gladly answer any question you have." Crawford smiled, to which Lena smiled back.

Crawford could be Lena's answer to all of her questions. To all of her doubts about Harry. For a second, she thought about asking him everything she was dying to know. About the third floor. About the toy. About the other Chosen ones and his family.

But once again, she decided just to shut her mouth and keep quiet. If Harry wants her to find out, he will make it known. Lena will know the answers when the time is right. But as of now, she would have to dig deep into Harry, as Crawford said.

It was later in the evening when the party started to die that Lena decided to go for a walk around the garden. She roamed around the outdoors of the castle until she found a rose garden.

She walked along the path, beneath arches adorned with roses, that lead to the center of the rose garden, where a water fountain stood right in the center, surrounded by a few benches.

In one of the bushes, there was a particular red rose that stood out that caught Lena's attention. She walked over to it, caressing the petals of the breathtaking flower. She ripped the rose, not caring about the thorns.

She admired the rose and sat on one of the benches, leaning her head back to gaze at the starry night above her, and slowly closed her eyes.

Lena sensed a movement close to her, and she quickly opened her eyes, just to see Harry looking at her. He smiled and took a seat next to her.

"Here," Harry said, taking his coat off and putting it around Lena's shoulder. "It's cold out here."

"Thank you, Harry." Lena smiled softly at him.

"Beautiful, isn't it? The sky." Harry said, looking at Lena and then looking up to see the illuminated wonders the universe had gifted them.

Lena nodded and looked up to the sky as well. Harry shuffled closer to her, and after a while of just sitting there next to each other, he put an arm around her shoulder.

Lena rested her head on Harry's shoulder and yawned. She slowly closed her eyes and found comfort in Harry's chest, who was still admiring the night sky. He chuckled lightly as Lena fell asleep on him.