Home Sweet Home ch.29 (Patreon)

"What took you so long?"

Astoria was waiting by his bike, looking appropriately annoyed. Harry hugged her, wondering if this was the embrace he wanted to give Daphne.

"Sorry," he said. "She’s really broken up about what happened to Delilah."

"She’s probably just playing on your emotions to throw you off balance," Astoria said. "We just yelled at her for shoplifting."

"That would only work until the next time she tried to blackmail us. It wouldn’t make sense."

"That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t do it anyway," Astoria said. "Daphne can be so weird."

"Maybe. I’m not sure I agree, but I’ll drop it." He sighed. "Let’s go. Let’s head home."

They made good time and definitely took a more direct route than the bus, which they saw turning down a side street along the way. Harry was ready to relax and see where the rest of the day would take him. He wasn’t prepared to find a police car parked in their driveway, pulled up right to the garage door.

"Damn it," he muttered.

Astoria shot him a worried look, but she didn’t say anything. Harry parked his bike in the garage after maneuvering around the police car and headed inside. The first thing he saw was his mother, sitting on the couch and looking serious and deeply concerned. A police officer stood nearby with a notepad, looking in Harry’s direction.

"Are you Harry Salinth?" the officer asked.

"Yes."

"I’m Officer Barnes," the officer said. "I called you earlier about the items you returned to TJ Maxx without a receipt."

"Harry," his mother said. "What’s going on?"

He shook his head. She looked so disappointed it hit him emotionally. She must have come home early from work, still wearing her therapist’s pencil skirt and white blouse, looking beautiful, professional, and worried.

"You stole those clothes, Harry?" the officer asked.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," he replied. He wanted to buy time, a chance to think if nothing else.

"It appears you transferred the store credit to your sister’s account," the officer said. "How was she involved?"

He took a breath and let it out slowly. "She wasn’t. I panicked when I realized they wouldn’t give me cash. I know she shops there, so I thought I’d give her the credit and see if I could get the money from her later."

"You’re saying she didn’t know?"

He shook his head. "She wasn’t involved at all. And yes, I stole the clothes. No one suspects a guy of stealing from a store like that."

"Harry!" Bellatrix pressed her hand to her chest. "I... can’t believe this."

"I’ll need to take him to the station for processing," the officer said. "At full price, the clothes you stole may exceed the felony threshold. It may seem like just shoplifting, no big deal, but you’ve committed a serious crime. Are you sure you don’t want to tell me more about how this happened?"

He thought of the recording of Daphne. Should he turn her in? Was it inevitable?

"I already confessed," he said, shrugging. "What more can I say?"The police officer put handcuffs on him, which felt unnecessary, especially the way he tightened them until Harry could feel them digging into his wrists. His mother and Astoria whispered to each other in hushed voices, likely with his mother trying to find out if Astoria knew anything about this. Harry hoped Astoria would follow his lead.

The officer led Harry out the front door just as Daphne arrived home. She froze mid-step, staring at him with an expression that screamed guilt. He looked at her as seriously as he could, hoping she would understand his message and keep her mouth shut. Now that he was trying to protect her, both of them would likely end up with criminal charges if she confessed out of guilt.

Throughout his childhood, Harry had passed by the Surrey police station hundreds, if not thousands of times, but he had never been inside. He was photographed, fingerprinted, and left in an interrogation room, not a cell. Eventually, a detective in plain clothes came in and questioned him in more detail.

Very detailed. Harry was convinced the detective had an idea of what really happened. He kept waiting for the surveillance footage to be revealed, but that never came. He realized that the only evidence they had was proof that he returned items reported as stolen. They needed him to implicate Daphne, and he wasn’t going to do that.

He spent hours in that room, most of them sitting alone. Boredom was a powerful weapon, but his resolve was like a brick wall. He said nothing, and when they finally told him his mother was there to pick him up, it was close to ten at night. Bellatrix had the same worried and troubled expression as they got into her car.

"Why did you do it, Harry?" she asked.

Her disappointment cut deeper than anything the detective had tried against him. "I don’t have a good answer. I just did it. I’m sorry."

"Oh, sweetheart." She sighed, placing her hands on the steering wheel even though she hadn’t started the car. "You’ll be able to plead to a misdemeanor. They’ll want you to do community service. I want you to talk to someone. A therapist. It doesn’t have to be me."

"It can be you," he said. "Maybe it would be better if it were you."

He wondered if there was a way to tell her the truth without involving Daphne. She didn’t necessarily need to know that it was her daughter who stole the clothes and not some fictitious friend he could make up.

"I know it was stupid," he said.

"Good." Bellatrix sighed. "You could have just come to me if you needed money for something. I just don’t understand."

"I wish I could explain it. At least I won’t do it again."

"Tell me the whole story, Harry. Please?"

"I did it for someone I care about. It was stupid. I know."

"I guess I’m relieved that you seem remorseful," she said. "Do I need to worry about you being charged with any other undiscovered crimes in the near future?"

"Well, there was that body I dumped in the river."

Bellatrix shot him a mocking look as the car stopped at a red light. "That’s not funny."

"It was a one-time mistake. I promise."

The rest of the ride home was silent. Harry yawned as he got out of the car.

"Are Daphne and Astoria asleep?" he asked.

"I don’t know. I’ve been at the police station all day."

"You have?"

"Except for when I stepped out to get something to eat." Her face brightened as she reached into the back seat for a fast-food bag. "I almost forgot. Chicken and fries. I wasn’t sure if you’d want a cold burger."

"Thanks."

He heated up the food and ate it in the kitchen. His mother kept him company but didn’t say much, and he almost felt like he was being watched by her instead of the detective. He hugged her as he prepared to go to his room.

"I love you," he said. "I promise this isn’t the start of a self-destructive spiral."

"It better not be." She hugged him tightly. "Get some sleep."