polaroids & scrunchies \\ a short story

•five•

song for this chapter // your winter by sister hazel

+++

three years. three years of stolen kisses in the middle of classes, hot chocolate and cuddling on cold nights, and endless late runs to the store for flower and sugar so that harry could make audrey's favorite sweets. strawberry nutella cupcakes ended up being her passion, and harry made sure to make them constantly. his hair was beginning to grow, again, but he still kept it shorter than he had, had it. it waved a little bit around his ears, and sometimes he would have a single strand of hair fall into his eyes. but now, as their college years were coming to a close, they only had one enemy.

time.

and it was ticking by fast.

sometimes, harry couldn't breathe, thinking about it. audrey spent plenty of full moons awake, squirming out of harry's grasp and sitting criss-cross on the wooden flooring of their shared flat with 'harry potter and the half blood prince' in her hands, hoping to push away the sad feeling that erupted in her chest every time she thought about their life after college was over. as much as she wanted to see them moving somewhere together and living happily ever after, she knew deep down that they were going two completely different ways in life, and she knew that harry was aware of this, as well. at many times, these thoughts created tension, but harry and audrey were very good at talking things out. they never fought. sometimes audrey wished that they did, just so they could get it over with, but they never could.

they loved each other too much.

it was their final day of college, and harry waited outside of audrey's last class quietly, staring at his shoes. everyone in the building found him a little off, today, and they were completely correct. harry felt like he was a slowly deflating balloon. he didn't even have enough energy or heart in him to participate in his art class, which was so unbelievably rare that even mason noticed, and he was a man that definitely kept to himself and stayed out of people's lives. mason bought him a bar of chocolate, which harry was holding now. he didn't really want it, and he decided to give it to audrey. it was dove branded chocolate with caramel filling, which was her favorite.

inside of the classroom, audrey was hesitating to pack her things, knowing that just outside the door was the beginning of the rest of her life. a life without harry. back at their flat was her new job's acceptance letter and her one-way plane ticket to queens, new york. finally, audrey composed herself and put her things away, slinging the mustard yellow bag over her shoulder and tightening her hair that she had pulled back with her dark brown scrunchie. she trudged her way towards the door, opening it to a very heartbroken harry. around his neck was his polaroid camera, dangling cautiously. he looked up from the ground and into her eyes, a small, accidental pout on his lips.

"can..." he swallowed, blinking quickly so he wouldn't cry. "can i take a picture of you?"

audrey frowned, gently holding her hand against harry's face. "we'll take one together, harry." she spoke carefully, brushing her thumb across his eyelashes, and then his bottom lip. "just... tell me where to stand."

harry lifted the camera up, facing it towards the two of them. "where you are is perfect, love." he whispered. he cupped her cheek in his hand and gingerly pressed his lips against hers, snapping the photograph with his other hand. the photo began to develop, and he slowly pulled away. he kissed her once more, and then took the photo from the camera, tucking it safely away in his coat pocket before taking her hand in his. then, they proceeded back home, but they walked slowly as the snow began to stick to the ground.

underneath audrey's eyes were deeply rooted eye bags, nearly consuming her whole face, and harry had his own set to match. they both were sat on the wooden flooring, legs crossed beneath them, and side by side. occasionally their knees would touch, causing them both to sharply inhale as the harsh reminder of the conversation to come sent sharp pains throughout their entire body. audrey was beginning to heave, and harry was already crying. the day had come.

time had won.

audrey turned her body slightly to face him before resting her weight onto his arm, leaning her tired head against his broad shoulder and wrapping her small fingers around his bicep. he was moving a lot due to his body racking with sobs, but as her head bobbed around, she didn't mind. she knew her body was doing exactly the same.

an hour they sat in silence, minus the sniffles and the kisses audrey presses into harry's shoulder in an attempt to calm his trembling soul, but it didn't help much. if anything, with every kiss audrey placed, a new wound would tear open in harry's heart and pain would bleed over his entire being. his insides felt cold, and all he could do was tremble with no signs of stopping.

finally, with a breaking voice, audrey spoke. "harry?"

she was whispering. she was afraid that her words would shatter everything around them, but in retrospect, they already were. harry sniffled and removed his head from his hands, eyes puffy and red as he looked to the love of his life. agony was present of every single piece of him, and it absolutely tore apart audrey's heart.

"you know i love you, harry." audrey stroked his wet cheek with her thumb, wiping tears off of his face while she tried to even the tone in her voice. she wanted him to be calm, she wanted to calm him down, but she knew that she couldn't. not right now, not anymore. she swallowed the heavy lump in her throat.

"i love you, aud." harry choked, taking her hand in his and pulling it away from his face. he bit his lip as the pain continued to spread. he felt his heart pounding against his ribcage, and he feared it would break his bones. the room felt smaller, and he couldn't seem to breathe. all he could see was audrey. the entire room was spinning, except for her.

she was clear as day.

harry took her head in his hands and tenderly pressed his lips to hers, tears rolling down his cheeks, and he repeated this multiple times. he let all of the memories they had together flooded back into his head, all the way to when he first met her and took a polaroid of her in her dark brown scrunchie. he carried it in his wallet, and he probably wouldn't stop.

after they had collected all of audrey's things and taken it down to the taxi that waited for her, harry kissed her one last time, savoring the taste of vanilla chapstick and the smell of coconut body oil. his chest felt cold, and his heart stopped beating.

as he waved goodbye, tears cascading down his cheeks, he smiled. he knew he would see her, again, and the pain that he felt in his chest didn't really bother him, anymore.

it actually made him happy.