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the autumn chill that wakes me up, you loved the amber skies so much
≪•◦ ──── ❈ ──── ◦•≫
The day Harry is to leave the hospital finally arrives.
It's a bittersweet one, he thinks to himself. He's welcoming back his life and friends and career, almost ready to be normal once again.
But he's also saying goodbye to everything within the hospital.
Harry likes to think of himself as a changed person — he is no longer the same as he used to be.
He's currently finishing up the last of his packing, shoving in shirts and pants by hand to fit into his trunk. His room seems bare without the picture frame of Lily and James beaming at him or the handwritten letters from Hermione and Ron over the years.
A nurse pops her head in just as he's finishing up, "You have a visitor."
Harry's heart races.
Theo Nott walks past the nurse and into the room, lowering Harry's excitement. He had been expecting to see Serafina walk in with that soft expression of hers, utterly convinced.
"Sorry I'm such a disappointment." Theo chuckles as he flops onto his bed.
"No-no... you aren't." Harry sighs, rubbing his temples, "I was just-"
"Expecting for her." he finishes simply, "That's understandable."
"You can't even tell me why she broke things off so suddenly?" Harry miserably mumbles, picking off the lint of his sweater.
"I'm sorry, mate." Theo shakes his head sympathetically, smiling sadly, "I would if I could, but I'm respecting her wishes."
"Did I do something wrong?" he blurts.
"Guilty conscious, eh?"
"Piss off."
Theo chuckles with amusement, but it fades in all seriousness. He sits up on the bed and stretches his legs out in front of him, letting his toes repeatedly tap against each other through his shoes.
"Serafina's been at this hospital for a long time." Theo begins quietly, "I think you already know she's not just any patient. She can't afford to let anyone get too close — it's only more luggage to be lost when-"
He pauses then shakes his head, murmuring a haste never mind. Harry decides not to push to matter.
"Anyhow," resumes Theo, "The moral of the story is that her breaking things off before they progress is the best option for both of you. I think she does care for you, it's quite obvious from the way she meets your eyes and how her face brightens up. Along with all that other cliché shit, but she just can't let you into her heart."
Harry sighs in defeat, but nods slowly, "Well... can you do me a favor at least?"
He rummages through his desk drawer for a familiar piece of parchment, which had been creased into even fourths. His name seals the material in jet black ink, along with a small heart which rests beside the intricate calligraphy.
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Harry hands the letter to Theo, who respectfully places it into his pocket.
"I'll make sure she gets it." he smiles wearily, "Listen, mate, I'm sorry I can't tell you more. I promise that you do mean a lot to her, and she really cares for you. You're like her third half."
"Third half?"
"I'm the second, of course." Theo grins cluelessly, standing from the bed.
The joy on his face disappears faster than the wind.
For a moment, Harry expects for him to resume the reign of laughter and joy as if that pause never happened. His heart aches for normality to flood into the sable space between them, but he knows he can never catch a break.
Theo's eyes bulges out of their sockets as his hand goes up to his chest, clenching the fabric of his shirt. His knees meet the hard tiles of the floor, his feet giving out beneath him. It seems to happen all too quickly; his skin pales and becomes translucent, his gasps gradually morph into faint wheezes, and his pure heart fades into a shade of death.
Harry collapses onto the floor beside Theo as he yells so loud for a nurse that he feels his vocal chords snapping. Strong arms pulls him back as his environment blurs, a vignette framing the corners of his vision.
He watched several nurses and Healers tend to Theo, struggling against his restrainers to dart forward to his friend. He ignores the crowd that had formed outside the door to his room, feeling as if his skin had been stripped from him. This leaves him exposed for the world to see yet another person Harry Potter loses.
His heart plummets as the nurses and Healers finally put an end to their efforts.
They retract their hands from Theo's chest to conclude the compressions, dismissively waving aside the wands held out for potential assistance. Harry remains motionless as he watches the world move on around him, but he still is in the moment.
Theo's eyes were now closed, appearing peaceful as if he were napping on a beach. Oh, what it must feel like to savor the sun solstice on the sandy beach, in contrast to the crepuscular clove Harry dives deeper into.
It had all happened so fast. Too fast.
Harry sits on the floor, staring at Theo's lifeless body across from him. Right when he had found the end of a tunnel, an avalanche caught up.
He dismisses the comforting hands on his shoulder attempting to ease him out of his room, his room.
Like a magnetic force, Harry's weary eyes are drawn to the entrance of his door, where Serafina Wilde stood, witnessing the sorrow farewell of her dearest friend.
