Chapter 126: Maria Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 【End】
A roaring noise. Joining up with Harry and the others was easy. All I had to do was head toward the sound. Toward where Harry and the rest were fighting the Death Eaters—
"Maria!"
"—Sirius!"
It was almost a scream. Friends collapsed on the floor, brains strangling Ron, Professor Lupin working to free him. Members of the Order of the Phoenix. And—Sirius.
Sirius’s face brightened instantly, but I was in no mood to feel relieved.
I knew it—there was no way Sirius could stay quiet and sit still when "I" was in danger.
"Sirius..."
"Ah, thank goodness. Maria... Harry used the Two-Way Mirror to let us know you weren't there. What terrible injuries. Doing this to your face! Let me guess, your opponent was a woman?"
"It was Bellatrix. ...Sirius."
With unsteady steps, I stumbled into Sirius’s arms as he stood waiting with open arms. Professor Lupin had completely cleared away the brains coiled around Ron. Everyone seemed to be alive. Ginny, Luna, Hermione, Ron—and Cho. Breathing even a tiny sigh of relief made my chest ache painfully.
My lungs hurt—broken ribs. My head throbbed—blood loss. My eyes burned hot. —It’s your fault, Sirius.
"Are Harry and Neville ahead?"
"Probably. And also—"
"Draco, too, right?"
"...Yeah."
Sirius answered heavily. It was surely because he knew Lucius Malfoy was waiting up ahead.
—It’s alright. That’s why he came here.
"Sirius, promise me."
Overhearing a couple of Order members discussing staying behind in the Brain Room to look after the kids, I whispered to Sirius. Sirius, too, looked strangely solemn.
"—Do not, under any circumstances, shield me. Don't protect me."
Sirius nodded.
"—I understand."
It was an answer given with clear resolve.
"Promise me as well. Don't do anything reckless."
"That's... yeah."
"It's fine. I'll keep an eye on her."
It was Cho who spoke over my hesitation. She was smiling gracefully with a gentle grin.
"Yeah. I won't die."
As long as all of you are here, refusing to grant me "death"────
Leaving Emmeline Vance and Dedalus Diggle behind, we headed for the final chamber—the Death Chamber with that archway. When I punched away a Death Eater in our path as if he were merely in the way, Sirius burst into laughter. Dolohov, knocked out back in the Brain Room, hadn't had my wand on him. Harry had probably retrieved it. When I excused myself saying I had no choice, he laughed even louder. Combat is all about physical prowess first anyway, isn't it? If you ask me, witches and wizards rely far too much on their wands. —Just kidding.
"We need to wrap this up fast. Who knows how long McGonagall can hold them off..."
"Hold them off?"
"Our dear current Headmistress Umbridge, of course."
"Ah," I gave a wry smile. It seemed a clash with the centaurs was avoided this time. I wondered if Grawp was staying quiet as well.
Inside the chamber of the Veil, an all-out battle was under way. Tonks was facing off against her aunt Bellatrix, while Moody engaged two Death Eaters at once. Kingsley was taking on two as well. Professor Lupin was parrying attacks as best he could, trying to forge a path toward Tonks.
—Further back, I spotted two heads of strikingly, out-of-place beautiful blond hair. The Malfoys, father and son. Draco was pointing his wand at his father. Lucius, too, was pointing his wand at his son. Stripping away his emotionless doll-like mask, Lucius looked bewildered. Was it because of his son's unexpected skill, or... because of the eyes of his son, which held not a single trace of hesitation?
A battered Neville was lying collapsed at the foot of the archway's dais. When I rushed over, he was still breathing. His consciousness seemed intact, too.
"Neville, what about Harry's prophecy?"
"Ib broge... id's gone."
His nose was bent in a strange direction, blood pouring out profusely. Luckily, my own nose bone was intact, though we were a matching pair covered in blood. I managed to pull him up and drag Neville into a corner so he wouldn't get hit by stray spells.
—If that's the case... is there nothing protecting Harry right now? Without the prophecy, they have no reason to keep Harry alive. We have to finish this immediately.
"Maria... you're... you're bafe..."
"Does this look like a safe face to you? But I look healthier than you, at least."
Neville groaned as he tried to force a smile. Neville couldn't go on. I turned back to Cho, who was beside me.
"Can I leave Neville to you?"
"What are you going to do without a wand?"
"Just between us—I've got a little trick up my sleeve."
When I grinned mischievously, Cho shrugged her shoulders with a dramatic flair.
"I had a feeling. Are you sure I'm enough?"
"You're capable of Disarming me. From me, of all people. I'm not worried in the slightest."
"Whoa! What high praise!"
We shared a laugh amidst the crossfire. We both knew we were just putting on a brave face. Even so—it saved me.
I stood up. First, Harry. I had to reach Harry somehow. Knocking out an annoying Death Eater with a punch, I grabbed a random wand. Using Protego to thoroughly minimize damage, I picked my way across the chaotic terrain.
Would Dumbledore come? He should. He loves Harry. Even if the truth was a bond tied by utility, he undeniably felt affection for Harry Potter as an individual. He wouldn't make the blunder of losing him in a place like this. —He shouldn't. And yet...
Even he is human.
"Harry!"
When I shouted, Harry cut through everything and looked at me. He was completely battered, too. His glasses were barely hanging onto his nose. Standing on the precarious ground, he was enduring the raging storm of flashing spells almost on the front lines.
His green eyes wavered with relief. He looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment. Then, they blazed with rage.
"Maria—that's so terrible... Ah, damn it! Out of my way! Get back!"
With his free hand, Harry punched a Death Eater who lunged at him. He kicked him down for good measure, sending him tumbling off the dais. ...Wow, we really are the same deep down.
"Maria, wait there!"
Nodding at Harry's voice, I re-evaluated the battlefield. Bellatrix and Lucius were standing near each other. Draco was Lucius's only opponent. Lucius was Draco's only opponent. By tacit agreement, neither side seemed to interfere with the battle between father and son.
Tonks took a Stunning Spell and collapsed. Professor Lupin caught her, instantly tending to her wounds. Kingsley was still standing. Moody was down. Sirius—Sirius was—alive. Fighting with hot blood surging through his veins. He was far from the Veil. By no means was he in a position to be sucked in. Nobody was near the Veil. It's fine—we'll make it in time. We just have to hold out until Dumbledore gets here. Hurry—hurry—!
"Maria!"
"Harry!"
Screams ripped through the air from two directions. Right before my eyes, everything exploded. A massive blast erupted. Shielding my eyes with my arms on instinct, several sharp, weaponized fragments of the dais pierced my arms.
"Guh—Ugh—"
Falling to my knees, I opened my eyes slightly and saw a holly wand rolling a short distance away. "My" wand. Harry's wand. Why?
"Harryy!!"
It was Neville who screamed. I snapped my head up. I saw a small silhouette thrown off the dais. And then────Bellatrix aimed her wand at it.
No.
No────!
"Harry!!"
"—I won't let you!"
The girl grabbed my arm. My momentum abruptly killed, my knees buckled under me. A man ran right past me. A long-haired man. A slender man. Even covered in wounds, even haggard, a handsome man. "My"—godfather.
"────"
The man runs. He leaps out after Harry. He wraps his arms around Harry. Two bodies float in midair. The woman sneers. The wand────green.
The man laughed. The man who tried so hard to play the parent, to play the adult, to treat us like children—smiled like a child. Like he was looking at his best friend.
"Don't cry, Maria. —It's a promise."
"Avada Kedavra"
In a woman's voice.
The worst kind of green burned into my eyes.
To me, the green light was the clearest symbol of "Death" above all else.
Death by accident, death by fire, death by drowning, death by illness... No manner of death could rival that green flash. It was the very first "Death" I had ever witnessed in my life. The "Death" most deeply engraved upon me.
Without a shadow of a doubt────it was the color that thrust the truth of his death upon me.
The girl's hand let go. Harry is screaming. Sounds of Disapparition echo. Dumbledore raises his wand. Harry is screaming.
Accepting Sirius's death, "I" am screaming.
"Harry."
"Sirius... Sirius... No... It's a lie, right...?"
"Harry."
"Maria... I... it's my fault. Sirius died because of me, I... I..."
"That's right. —It's our fault."
I brushed away Harry's hand, which was shaking Sirius. Sirius was dead. Without leaving even a sliver of hope—he was completely dead.
"Maria."
"Go."
"Maria...?"
"That coward won't show his face unless you come out. Go with Dumbledore. I'll stay with Sirius."
"Maria—you—"
"Go, Harry Potter."
Harry looked at my face in dazed shock, then stood up. And he ran. I didn't follow. I stayed close to Sirius—to the dead Sirius.
The battlefield had shifted away from the Death Chamber, leaving behind only the groans of the Death Eaters bound by Dumbledore and the breathing of the fallen Order members.
"Maria."
A gentle voice. Tears welled in his eyes. At long last, he was left all alone.
"Maria, you don't have to hold it back. ...It's alright to cry."
I shifted my gaze back to Sirius. Sirius was dead.
"Sirius kept his promise."
"Maria...?"
"So—I have to keep mine, too."
Sirius embraced the green────and died.
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