Interlude [h.s]

ten

"How's it going now?"

Alouette lets out a sigh. "A bit better than before, thankfully. But I'm not where I'd like to be yet."

There's truth in her words, even though she feels a bit guilty. She's perfectly on time if she considers the extent of the task she was given, but she isn't that happy with it. She wants to know more about Harry, to find out more about him, and she won't be able to do it with the little time she has.

She knows it's a bad choice to get close to him and that she shouldn't waste her time like that, but she can't help it. She feels different when she talks to him, he's the most intriguing person she's ever met, and she isn't ready to let him go so quickly.

Nathan nods. "Is there anything I can do to help? If you need me to come up with another way to make you meet Harry, say so and I'll do my best."

"There's no need," she replies, "the issue isn't encountering him anymore."

"Then what's wrong?" He asks, sounding a bit confused, and she sighs again.

She knows that if she wants to get something back she has to tell him a little lie. "He's very closed off and relies on Evie a lot," she explains, and nothing is incorrect about that. "It will take a lot longer to get to a point where he trusts me with his schedule."

"You have a little over a month, still."

"I fear it may not be enough. If the Revolution wants this job to be done right, I need more time."

Nathan hums. "How long?"

"Two more weeks for now."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Alouette replies. "I should go, now. It's still early, I wouldn't want to get caught down here."

Nathan asked to meet her at half past midnight, a bit earlier than usual, to get some more information on her progress before leaving to go back to the Revolution. He does so once every few weeks, to be able to fill them in on what's going on without the dangers of getting caught associated with letters, emails and phone calls.

She knows it won't be long before someone inevitably comes down or up the stairs and sees them there.

"Goodbye," he tells her, similarly aware of the danger. "By the way, I think this is yours. You forgot it at the Revolution, it arrived today," he adds, taking a book out of his coat and handing it to her.

Alouette's eyes widen a bit when she recognises it as her father's book and she takes it from him. "Thank you so much," she replies, and then she finally parts ways with the guard, going up the stairs.

As soon as she gets to the first of the upper floors she decides to take the lift, feeling a little too exhausted to even consider walking up ten or more sets of stairs.

She walks down the corridor quickly, not wanting to risk being caught by anyone, taking a deep breath only when she steps into the lift and presses the button corresponding to her floor.

Unfortunately, though, things don't go as smoothly as she planned.

The doors of the lift open three floors below, and Alouette finds herself face to face with a very angered Harry.

He storms inside and she holds her breath, side-glancing at him as he punches in the correct floor number. His demeanour is harsh and his jaw is tense, a dark look into his usually light green irises.

He looks livid, feral even, like he's about to explode and break something. He's terrifying, and Alouette hopes she isn't the cause of his fury.

The doors close, and they're suddenly alone.