mirrorball

chapter twenty

"Oh," croaked Clara. Her smile was gone. The pair sat in silence for a moment as Clara tried to wrap her mind around Dobby being gone. He was such a sweet soul. His kindness was so effortless and it surrounded everything he did. Clara didn't know anyone else who had that kind of effect. Clara held back her tears and said, "Um, a-and then?"

"Then we brought you here and Fleur's been taking care of you. She's actually pretty good at this healing stuff, which is good because... Clara it was really bad. You er- well I don't know if you've seen but you've got bruises all over your neck and your chest. Your wrist is..." Harry paused and looked down at Clara's bandaged arm. She picked it up lightly off of his chest and looked at it. He sighed and pulled it back to his chest, holding it carefully and rubbing circles on the bandage with his thumb.

"What does it say?" whispered Clara.

"What?"

"What does it say?" she asked again, louder. 

With sorrowful eyes, Harry said: "It says traitor. It's underlined too. That was the deepest cut. Fleur had trouble mending it fully so it might still be tender." Clara nodded, tears prickling her eyes. Harry moved his hand from her wrist to her face and wiped one of the tears that had fallen. "Hey, it doesn't mean anything, you know that. You are not a traitor. You are brave and smart and talented and and-"

"I know," said Clara quietly, putting her hand on top of Harry's and moving it back down. "It's okay."

Harry nodded. Clara closed her eyes and pushed her head back on to Harry's chest. There was a few moments of peaceful silence before Harry started talking again. "Fleur says that Bellatrix used the Cruciatus curse so long it started messing with your insides, so that was all messed up." Harry started, but his voice faltered as he took a deep breath. "It was-"

Clara opened her eyes and lifted her head again. A sob fell out of Harry's mouth and a few tears were falling down his cheeks. "Fleur told us that you might not make it." Harry tightened his arms around Clara as he let a few more sobs out. Clara took his face in her hands and put her forehead on his.

"Harry..."

"I thought I lost you, Clara." cried Harry. "Like, really, actually lost you. I thought that you were going to die and I couldn't even remember what the last thing I said to you was. I probably yelled at you or insulted you. I just couldn't stop thinking that... that you were going to die thinking that I hated you or something!"

"It's o-"

"No," said Harry, pulling back from Clara slightly so she could see his entire face. "Don't say it's okay because it's not. I should've never acted like that. I was being completely self-centered and stupid. For ages I've been acting like a total idiot and I've been treating you like crap and that is not okay." Harry sighed and shifted his body further away from Clara. "I know there's no amount of apologies to make up for how I acted, but I really am sorry. I was so completely out of line. I was just jealous and bitter over nothing! It was absolutely ridiculous and I will spend every day of my life making it up to you because... because it's the right thing to do. And because I love you," said Harry, lowering his voice a bit, "I love you, Clara, and I am so so sorry."

Harry looked down at her before laying his head back against the bed and closing his eyes. Clara moved closer to him, letting her body find its place on his. She played with the edge of his collar for a moment as she mulled over his apology in her head. 

"Harry?" asked Clara. Harry opened his eyes and tilted his head down to look at Clara. She cupped his face and pressed her lips on his. "Thank you."

Harry smiled at her and moved a piece of her hair out of her face. His hand came to a rest under her chin. He moved his lips close to hers and his eyes flicked from her eyes to her lips. "Can I?" he whispered, pulling Clara closer to him. She nodded. Harry's lips met hers softly as they kissed. It seemed to last an eternity, this one, simple kiss.