"I'm so sorry." She managed as her silent tears stained his shirt, "I wanted to do what was right. I never meant to hurt you."
He spun on her so suddenly that Sara stumbled back a step with a sharp intake of breath.
His voice was thunderous, his eyes angry and injured. "Then why did you do it?!" He shouted, "Did I not matter in the end? Did you really think turning your back on me, leaving me with nothing but a cold apology was the right thing to do?"
"That's not how it was!" She cried, her hands cradled her face, her shoulders slumped. "I couldn't go on! Didn't Nikolae show you what I had become? What good was I to you? To anybody?" She paused as Harry's eyes softened, "You said you died inside that night. I was already dead. The blackness that consumed me consumed my faith as well. Harry, I've never known such despair! If it wasn't for Nikolae..." She turned away in painful frustration. He could never understand.
"Did you no longer love me? Do you love me now?"
"You know I do. You were there last night. I thought I'd made my feelings for you very clear."
Harry's anger melted away at the mention of the night and just as quickly his arms were around her and she buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I thought my life was over, I thought I could never be happy again, but then he made me see that I couldn't be happy because I wasn't with you."
"You're home now. That's all that matters. Yes, I'm angry, but these things take time I guess. It would be foolish for us to think things could go right back to normal."
"I tried to tell you."
"I know, but at that moment I didn't want to listen. We'll get through it all. Just don't leave again."
"I promise you Harry," She lifted her tear stained face to look him in the eye; "I'll never leave you."
He pulled her closer and hugged her to his chest. He hated it when she cried, especially when it was because of him, but there was no rain today. Not a drop. In fact, the sun was shining brightly down on them.
"Come on." He said and took her hand, "Let's go inside."
* * *
"It's beautiful, Harry." Sara whispered as she stepped through the tall glass doors that led into the courtyard. "It's like a painting."
Harry removed the spell that had frosted the glass of every surrounding window, which he'd cast while Sara was admiring the lobby. He wanted to show her the rest of the house first, and save this for the grand finale. Harry smiled as he watched her, standing stock still, gazing around in delighted wonder, her fingers touching the Fortificus Charm.
Sara wanted to cry with the beauty of it all. The emerald velvet grass, littered with flower petals stirring in the breeze, dozens of trees alive with tiny purple blooms, violets everywhere and pinkish moonlight roses nestled amid purple flowers of every description. Little tufts of blue forget-me-nots vied with dark green vines for ground cover and added a glorious touch of cool to the warmth of the gardens.
In the corners were the mythical and fictional statues she'd had carved from fine Italian marble and scattered here and there were the intricate benches she'd sent, cut from the same material. In the center, like a pinnacle to the rest, was the fountain she had dreamed of for many years. Frodo Baggins, her favorite storybook hero, stood steadfast and noble upon his pedestal, surrounded by jets of water tinkling like chimes into the pool below. The Ring on a chain around his neck, cloak cast over one shoulder, his soft curls frozen forever in stone. One brave hand rested meaningfully on the hilt of his sword, Sting. Frodo's eyes were directed upward, toward Mount Doom perhaps, or some formidable foe soon to be defeated.
The Girl in the Tower Chap 26
Start from the beginning
