BLIND SIGHT - drarry

Ch. twentyfive

Harry went home.

He couldn't think of anything else to do. He wrote the letter in one great rush, practically vomiting his feelings onto the page, and then mailed it off without rereading it. He spent the rest of the week-end in his hotel room, watching telly and ordering things from room service that he couldn't bring himself to eat. He thought about going to the beach, or visiting some tourist attraction, but he just didn't feel like it. The purpose of this visit was to see Draco and he'd done that. There was nothing else to do.

On Monday morning he decided to go home, to England. There was no epiphany, no big realization. He hadn't gotten a response from Draco and after everything that had happened... Well, he couldn't count on ever getting a reply.

He had to let the blond make his own decision, and Harry knew if he stayed in Hawaii he would be tempted to go to Draco again, to try and convince the other man to take him back. And that wouldn't be fair. Any decision Draco made had to be his alone. Harry said his piece, the next move was Draco's and Harry would respect that.

Harry packed his belongings, paid his bill, and made his way to the airport. He thought taking the Muggle route home would give him more time to think and he was right, but it was too much time.

Harry kept going over the few moments where he had interacted with Draco. Between the time he got to the blond's apartment and the time he left it must have spanned no more than fifteen minutes. And nothing in that period gave Harry any inkling of hope.

He tried to turn his attention to the in-flight movie but it was some lame comedy set in the 80's and it didn't hold his attention. A few hours into the flight he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Harry was woken by a gentle nudge to his shoulder. He blinked blearily at the beaming smile of the flight attendant.

"We'll be landing soon sir, please return your seat to an upright position and gather your things."

Harry nodded, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He adjusted his chair and folded the jacket that he had laid over his lap. Looking around his seat he gathered up the rubbish left from his mid-flight snack, and pulled the book he had been reading from where it had fallen by his feet.

His ears popped as the plane settled into the tarmac, rolling to a stop along the runway. Through the window Harry could see the airport and he unsnapped his seatbelt.

Hermione was waiting at the gate for him, Ron at his side, tall on his crutches. Harry saw that some of the passers by were giving his friends odd looks, whether it was due to the crutches or the way the empty sleeve of Hermione's jumper was pinned up he wasn't sure. It bothered him, it had always bothered him, but as Hermione never complained and Ron would eventually be off of the crutches Harry didn't say anything.

"Hey mate, how did it go," Ron asked as Harry walked up to them.

"It went as well as can be expected I guess."

Hermione looked at him with sympathetic eyes, "I'm sorry, Harry. I know what you were expecting from that visit."

Harry laughed and it grated in his throat. He wiped a hand over his eyes, they felt suspiciously damp, and said, "Do you? I didn't even know what I was expecting."

Ron moved closer and patted Harry on the back. Harry looked at his friend, hoping for some optimism, some kind of encouragement, but Ron only looked uncomfortable. "What will be, will be, eh?"

"Right then," Hermione said, "Let's get your luggage and get out of here."

With that she turned and marched off, every line of her posture reminding Harry of the girl he first met on the Hogwarts Express. Fighting back a lump in his throat he turned to Ron, seeing that his friend had a sheen of tears in his eyes. Harry cleared his throat roughly a few times until he had Ron's attention, and then grinned. "Think I should tell her I don't have any luggage?"