Piece of Your Heart ✔️

Chapter 13

Harry had slept horribly. He thought after the amazing day he'd had yesterday with Draco he'd be okay. The nightmares just wouldn't quit. He'd given up on sleep, and after checking on Draco who appeared to be sleeping peacefully, he finished developing the photos from earlier in the day, and then developed the ones they had taken just a few hours ago.

In Harry's mind, 3am was the perfect time to be productive. The boys had settled down early, each returning to their own separate rooms around 10pm as they had dozed off on the couch together.

Harry had quickly fallen back to sleep, but instead of the light peaceful sleep that overtook him when he was laying in Draco's lap, he was restless and terrified. Drenched in sweat, he had thrown off the T-shirt he had changed into before heading back to bed. The cold air on his damp skin helped ground him.

Harry wished he could stop seeing the bodies in his dreams. Sometimes he just wanted to be obliviated, blissfully unaware like Lockhart became. But no, it would be so much harder to forget and be left with an even deeper chasm of emptiness.

With his wand as his only light source, Harry ventured into his backyard. He rarely came out here, and he was hit by the sorry state that it was in. Walking back inside, he grabbed a pen and a notepad and began writing notes of what needed to be done.

The garden could be beautiful with enough love and care. Neville would definitely be contacted about that. The once proud fountain was cracked and decayed. Grass grew taller than Harry's waist in some spots and was barren in others.

By the time Harry was done, there was a list 5 pages long of things to do. And that was just the outside. The inside would receive the same treatment later in the week. When sleep evaded him, Harry needed something to work through to keep his mind preoccupied. Tonight he had a lot that he needed to forget.

Next on his agenda was a list of household items he needed. Picture frames, wall hooks, maybe some paint for the walls. Harry didn't want to change too much as this was Sirius's home, but both men clearly lacked basic housekeeping skills.

Harry swore that no matter what, he would leave Sirius's room untouched.

He slowly entered each room of the house, noting down improvements to be made. There was a smaller room right off the kitchen that had been a storage room. After carefully checking it for the presence of dark magic and finding nothing, Harry had a brilliant idea.

This could be a perfect potions room for Draco. The other man had mentioned this was the line of work he was interested in. Harry wanted to support Draco as much as he could while he was here.

Sentenced to a year of house arrest, Harry wasn't sure how things would progress. He suspected Draco would be getting off early as long as he kept his nose clean. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that Draco was a changed man.

Cleaning this room up when he couldn't sleep would be Harry's surprise for Draco. The thought excited him greatly. Tonight, Harry would begin to dust.

As the morning sky turned pink, Harry was dust covered but feeling very proud of himself. He grabbed his camera, and set out to sit on the roof and watch the sun rise. He captured many beautiful photos.

"If only Draco was here to see this with me.", he sighed.

The garden was truly a sorry sight in the early morning sunlight. Harry set off to take before photos so that he would have a reference point. As the sun finally rose, Harry was exhausted.

Placing his camera with his many note sheets, Harry headed off to take a quick shower and hopefully head back to sleep. Praying for a few hours of peaceful sleep, Harry collapsed back into his bed.