Bound by Pages | larry

thirty-three

Harry was pacing up and down the school hallway. At the back of his mind, he was probably aware that the hallways were quickly clearing up, leaving him and Jaqueline alone in the empty school, but that didn't matter to him. 

"Think Harry think! Dammit," mumbled to himself. He didn't care who might have seen his obsessive pacing, or his yelling at himself. He just needed to know where Louis was, and if he safe. Knowing his father, the latter was probably not true.

"Harry stop," Jaqueline gently rested her hand on the shoulder of the distressed boy.

He wanted to yell at her, tell her that she didn't understand. He was about to, but then he took one look into her eyes and realized that she did. She did understand. As much as Harry was blaming himself for letting this happen, Jaqueline must have felt just as guilty, more even. 

Harry didn't realize he was crying until a tear dripped off of his jawline and landed on the speckled hallway floor. He sniffled and quickly wiped his eyes, ignoring the pitying look he assumed Jaqueline was giving him. 

Harry took a deep breath. "I don't get it. My dad works all day. I don't see when he would have the time to set up something like this."

"Does he go anywhere quiet? Or a bit off the radar?" Jaqueline tried to stay calm, but Harry could tell she was frantic. "Anywhere that he might have taken Louis?"

"The only place he goes is his work. Any other time, he's at hom- OH!" It suddenly clicked in Harry's head. The moving of boxes. Clearing the basement. It all made so much sense. 

"What is it?"

"The basement of my house." Harry paused. "It was an old bomb shelter during the war. It's encased in concrete all around."

"You think he might be there?" Jaqueline stood up straighter. She seemed relatively hopeful for the current situation. 

Harry nodded. "Just last week, my dad seemed pretty desperate to clear it out." 

He ran down the hallway, swinging around the corner to the front door. He heard a second pair of footsteps chase after him. He furrowed his eyebrows, quickly stopping and turning around. Bad idea. An entire body came crashing right into him, knocking him backwards, but he managed to keep his balance. The same could not be said for Jaqueline.

"Harry, what the fuck?" she exclaimed from her position on the floor.

"Sorry," Harry apologized sheepishly. He offered out a hand to help Jaqueline up. "I just didn't realize you were coming."

"Don't be silly, of course I am." She made an effort to smooth out her flannel pyjama pants, wiping off the dirt. "Now are we going or not?"

"Right, of course." Harry smiled sadly, then continued to run down the street, to his house.

He quietly opened the door, hoping not to catch the attention of anyone who was home. He quickly glanced to the side where the coat hooks were. There were no keys hanging, which meant his father wasn't home. A good sign. 

He ran as fast as he could, weaving around the glass table to reach the door to the basement. He yanked on the doorknob, twisting it as hard as he could. It was locked. 

He was suddenly crying again. He didn't know what was happening to him. He was just so scared and so frustrated. He wasn't usually like this. He felt so insignificant and so emotionally unstable. Harry absolutely hated this feeling. 

"Move over," Jaqueline demanded. Harry complied. He wasn't about to argue with that tone. 

She reached her hand into her hair, grabbing various parts of her messy bun until she felt a metal object. She pulled out the bobby pin to quickly, tugging out some hair with it. She winced, but continued on, biting one end of the clip and bending the other end away from it. She shoved it into the lock and the door clicked open, leaving Harry staring in awe.