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Author's Note: "Crime of Passion" is now available in Spanish! Go to my profile for more details.
Thank you all for your reviews! Sorry for not updating for a long time, I got a huge writer's block…
Chapter 17: 24th July 2004
24th of July 2004
Diary,
Today is probably the worst day of my life… okay, the second worst day of my life, after the day Julia died.
Today is the day we send William to the orphanage.
I woke up in this morning and I felt like I didn't sleep at all. I wanted to eat one of Fred and George's inventions, so that I would end up sick. Then I would not need to bring William to the orphanage.
There was silence around me. Hermione had her back facing me as she slept (at least, I thought she was sleeping). All I could hear was the clock ticking on my bed.
I didn't know how long I had been awake on my bed, it was like a long while before I heard William crying in his crib.
I got up. So did Hermione, who got up in just a second. I guess she herself didn't sleep either.
I went downstairs and started to make breakfast while Hermione took care of William.
I did everything as slow as I could, so that we could bring William to the orphanage in a later time. When breakfast was finished, I went upstairs to get Hermione.
Hermione was patting William gently as she rocked and fed him. I called her but she didn't respond. She acted like she was in a trance.
It is a heartbreaking sight. I didn't know what to do back then. I went to her and sat down beside her. Hermione didn't even acknowledge that I was there. I looked at our baby. William was drinking his milk and… looking at me at the same time.
That pair of innocent eyes made me wanted to cry.
And the memory of seeing it right now brings tears to my eyes.
That little guy hadn't a clue of what's going on. He didn't know that we would send him to an orphanage. He just spent his morning like any other baby while his parents looked as if he's going to die.
After breakfast, I was about to clean up the table when Hermione offered to help. She asked me to play with William instead.
So I did. I went upstairs and brought our baby out of the crib. William doesn't know how to say 'Dada' or 'Mama' yet, but when I played with him, I really hope that he could.
I just want to hear him call me 'Dada', just once.
I spent the whole morning, walking around the house with William in my arms. I now understand why Hermione doesn't want to put William down. It's wonderful to have your flesh and blood in your arms.
Afternoon came and it's time for us to go to the orphanage. I put William down unwillingly and changed his clothes. I packed his things while Hermione packed her own stuff in her trunk.
When everything was done, I stared at the crib for a while before I removed it with my wand.
Taking the crib away from my room makes a huge difference, its absence simply proves that William doesn't live here anymore.
At the orphanage, the matron asked us whether we wanted to reconsider of putting William in the orphanage.
For a moment, I thought of saying yes. I wanted to turn around and just leave with my girlfriend and my son.
Suddenly, a thought came into my head. I thought of me, Hermione and William playing in the playground, freely. There're no reporters following us. We played like one happy family.
And I thought, if putting William in the orphanage for a period of time could exchange a lifetime of happiness and freedom for the three of us, I would do it.
So I told the matron that we would put William in the orphanage for a time being and we would go back for him as soon as we were able to.
That's a promise I made to myself. I will go back for William, even if it does kill me to.
Hermione handed William to the matron and she took out the shell necklace that was somewhat similar to mine and hers. She placed it around our son's neck and she kissed him on the forehead.
Then she dashed out of the door.
I quickly said to the matron, "Please take care of him. We must be off."
The matron nodded. I looked at William and gave him a pat on the head. "Bye, little guy. Mummy and I will come back soon."
Then I left.
I ran around the orphanage to look for Hermione and I found her, squatting down outside the walls of the orphanage, crying.
Seeing her like that wasn't easy. It broke my heart. I don't really understand exactly how a mother feels when her baby is taken away from her, but as a father, it's upsetting to have your son taken away from you.
I squatted down as well and Hermione just leaned on my shoulder and continued to cry.
"We will be reunited again, I promise," I whispered as I rubbed Hermione's back to calm her down.
"No, it is me who should be promising you," said Hermione weakly and shifted back to look at me.
"Huh?"
Hermione swallowed and stared at me with determination. "I'm going to tell Ron when I get home. I will get a divorce."
Hermione went home by herself today. I myself hung around The Three Broomsticks for a while before I went home.
When I got home and sat on the sofa, I felt that something was amiss.
Then I realised what's going on.
The house is too quiet.
That's because Hermione and William are gone.
My "family" is gone. I'm now a single man living alone in a house once more.
I sat back on my sofa and closed my eyes. The house sure looks lonely without Hermione and William around.
I miss Hermione and William already. I hope they will be able to come back to this house soon.
Harry
William closed the diary and got up. He looked around the house. Suddenly, he felt that he had lived in the house for his entire life.
Walking into the kitchen slowly, William looked at the quiet place and tried to imagine himself as a baby, having a meal with his parents.
But he failed, William had no idea what he himself looked like when he was a few weeks old, he had no photos of himself…
Wait a minute.
William remembered his father writing about having photo albums. However, Harry didn't mention anything about their whereabouts in his diary.
Immediately, William went to search for the photo albums. He searched every single drawers and cupboards on the first floor before he rushed up to the second floor.
He went to his father's bedroom and opened the first drawer that he saw.
And there they were, the photo albums, all placed neatly in the drawer.
Carrying them out as if they were precious gems, William sat on the bed and flipped open the first album.
The photos were old, but William could still make out who's who in the album. His father certainly wasn't joking when he wrote that the photos were enough to fill an entire wall. There were so many of them!
William smiled as he looked at the photos of himself. He couldn't imagine that his parents would take so many of them…
William flipped to another page and his smile faded.
It's a photo of him and his parents.
Harry and Hermione looked proud and happy in the photo. Both of them were holding William between them. It was a beautiful family portrait.
William ran his fingers along the photo, directly on his parents' faces.
When this family took the photo, none of the members knew that they would be separated forever in just a few months' time.
A drop of tear landed on the photo. William wished that he could go back in time and see his parents.
Then he could call them Mum and Dad, just like what his father wanted.
