Chapter 136: 2-2
"Oh, is it just you, Ron?"
When I went down to the Great Hall for dinner, I could only see the back of one of the usually inseparable trio. The tallest, red-haired one. A very familiar back. Since becoming Maria, the height difference between us has grown even more. ...Not that I'm frustrated about it or anything.
"Harry is with Snape, and Hermione is at a candied dinner party with the Slug Club. If it weren't for his prior engagement with Snape, Harry would've been a Slug too."
I shrugged and sat down next to a thoroughly sulking Ron. In short, his best friends had been snatched away by old Sluggy before he even got here. His sister was nowhere to be seen, either. Neville had come to the Great Hall with Seamus.
"Well then, looks like us supporting characters will just have to fancy up our own dinner together?"
"As if Maria is a supporting character."
"Neither are you, Ron."
I grabbed some chicken from nearby and exchanged a grin with the redhead beside me. Ron's mood wasn't as bad as I thought. It seemed my presence—as someone who, like him, hadn't caught Slughorn's eye—meant a lot to him. At least enough for him to fetch me three treacle tarts from far down the table. Keep it a secret from Harry, his blue eyes narrowed just like his twin brothers' as he told me.
"That old man really has no eye for talent. To think he wouldn't invite our Gryffindor princess."
"Exactly. He made a terrible mistake tonight. Letting our brilliant Keeper slip away."
We chuckled mischievously together. —I love this easy back-and-forth with him. With Ron alone, no matter our relationship, I can just be myself. I can fight with him as equals and tell him that I like him. Whether I am Harry or Maria, my state of mind remains the same. That is—I can't even express how much of a salvation that is for me.
"Let's get ahead on our homework while they're gone and make them jealous."
"Sounds good. Though Harry's probably the only one who'll be jealous."
"Harry is spending s-w-e-e-t time with Snape—what's that?"
My next words were drowned out by the noise. A scream pierced through the cheerful chatter, coming from the Slytherin table. At the center of the commotion and green robes was a very familiar head of blond hair.
"Draco?"
Pansy, clinging to Draco's robes, was pointing hysterically at something. It was a snake. A furious, massive snake was slithering up over the chairs.
Why was there a snake in the Great Hall? And why were they making such a fuss over a mere snake, the very symbol of Slytherin house?
"Nobody move."
The doors to the Great Hall opened, and Professor Snape appeared with Harry in tow. Snape swept his dark, glaring eyes over the entire Slytherin table, then waved his wand at the snake.
"Vipera Evanesca."
It was the same spell used to vanish the snake Malfoy had once conjured.
—Which meant someone had intentionally summoned that snake here.
"Maria!"
"Harry!"
I welcomed Harry, who had run over to the Gryffindor table on the complete opposite side, distancing himself from the uproar. Harry was looking at the Slytherin table with the same suspicious eyes as Professor Snape.
"Harry, what about the snake?"
"Yeah... It was saying, 'Who is the enemy? I'll bite them to death.' —I think that snake is venomous. It said one bite would do it. Its fangs are highly toxic."
I digested the information that only Harry could provide.
That's why no one could get close to it—what glaringly obvious "malice." As if a snake that looked like it belonged in the Forbidden Forest would just happen to wander into the Great Hall by chance.
But still—who, whom, and for what purpose?
Malfoy isn't a Death Eater. This time around, Malfoy has no reason to target Dumbledore. In fact, Dumbledore is currently away from Hogwarts—was that what they were aiming for?
"Good thing Hagrid isn't here. We might've been forced to babysit the cute little venomous snake."
I inadvertently burst out laughing at Ron's sarcasm, which suddenly caught my ear from beside me. My fleeting concentration was stolen in an instant by my best friend. Harry, who had shifted his gaze back from the now-settled Slytherin table to the feast in front of him, smirked as well.
"I think Grawp would make a better playmate for it than us."
The three of us looked at each other and snickered with the faces of mischievous brats.
"—Ah! Maria!"
Suddenly, Harry's eyes flew wide open.
"—I always tell you, you're only allowed two treacle tarts!"
"...So he says, Maria."
"You blew it, Ron."
Escaping from a fuming Harry, I poked Ron's back. I fully utilized Ron's tall frame while I had the chance. Ron jokingly exaggerated his movements, alternately provoking and soothing Harry.
This relationship between Maria and Ron—it isn't bad at all.
"Do you need a snake repellent?" I dramatically waved my wand at my partner, who still looked unconvinced. To me, his scowl was far more familiar than his smile, but whatever worked, Draco relaxed his shoulders and let out a somewhat goofy laugh.
"Jokes aside, though... Was that thing targeting you?"
Draco hesitated, but shook his head.
"That snake didn't come straight at me. It was threatening everything in its sight."
"Yeah... Harry said something similar."
I recalled his Parseltongue translation at dinner. 'Who is the enemy?' —The snake's tone made its hostility clear, but its target was undecided.
"To be frank, we have countless reasons to be attacked. Both of us."
"If I'm being resented, then naturally, you're being resented too."
"Honestly, if it's Death Eater related, I think 'Potter' is far more popular... but I don't know."
I sat down. I tried resting my head against the shoulder beside me. I was accepted as a matter of course. ...Perhaps, this spot belongs to Astoria. The person next to him shouldn't be Pansy, but Astoria. —And yet.
"About Astoria."
"Yeah."
"She slipped away from me too."
"I see."
It was a quiet voice. It felt like it could vanish into the lake.
"Could she possibly be even more stubborn than Harry?"
"You mean more stubborn than you. You hit the nail on the head."
"My head hurts."
I, too, made a goofy face and loosened my lips.
—But, he won't give up. The greedy, arrogant, ends-justify-the-means Slytherin Malfoy. I know the depth of the love he directs toward his family. He loves them enough to storm into 'my' house—despite us being sworn enemies—for the sake of his child.
"...Is it true that you like me?"
"It's true."
It was the umpteenth clumsy confirmation. Draco never wavered when answering. It was always just me who wavered. Malfoy, who had struggled relentlessly through the darkness to survive, knows how to discard things in order to gain others. Hence, he has no hesitation. He does not hesitate to make choices.
Even though I, who want everything, and he are so completely different—it really is crazy. To think Draco Malfoy likes Harry Potter.
"For example—"
Draco spoke as if posing a riddle.
"For example, if I and your Ginny were falling off a cliff, who would you save? In this scenario, we don't have wands. Like Muggles, we can only use our own arms."
I didn't hesitate, either.
"Ginny. You can stand up even without my help. ...In the end, I could never consider just you as my number one. Harry is important. Ginny is important. Ron and Hermione—if I could ever meet 'my' Ron and Hermione, I would drop you completely and run straight to them."
I couldn't look at Draco's face. I would rather he just despise me. That's what I thought.
"—Are you still okay with that?"
Draco Malfoy?
"What's the point of bringing that up now?"
He scoffed. With a deeply hateful look. With the face of the Malfoy I used to despise. And with the face of Draco, Maria's partner.
"That's exactly what makes you Harry Potter. As if I could ever beat your Granger and Weasley. I've been bitterly jealous for far too long. Of the bond between you three. I accepted that a long time ago—I know it's an impossible pipe dream to hope to become your number one now. That is just how closely—I've been watching you."
Even now, he is watching me. He knows that 'your' eyes are emerald. He knows that your eyes are hazel.
"I'm the same. Whether it's you or Astoria—I have absolutely no intention of letting either of you slip away."
He intertwined his fingers with mine, one by one. His touch was like a snake's. The man in front of me felt far more formidable than the venomous snake I saw in the Great Hall. —In the past, he was a simple, foolish, and helplessly spoiled brat like Dudley. Who could have ever imagined that a world existed where our past selves could hold hands like this and smile at each other with such relief? Even Dumbledore or Merlin would surely be baffled.
"Even though we aren't each other's number one, we still say we like each other."
"Makes us a perfect match, doesn't it?"
"Maybe so."
We pressed our foreheads together as he whispered.
"—For example, if Astoria and I were about to fall off a cliff... who would you save?"
I felt a warmth touch my forehead. How annoying—the fact that I don't hate your body heat.
"Astoria, of course."
At the answer given, I smiled with relief from the bottom of my heart.
Ah, thank goodness—you don't need Maria.
Harry stopped his finger on a certain page of Advanced Potion-Making, which had completely become a habit. This book was interesting. It had thoroughly captivated Harry, who usually had little interest in the act of reading. The Half-Blood Prince's notes were so delicate, meticulous, and amusing that they made Hermione jealous. Harry no longer had any intention of letting go of the Prince's book—and because of that, he noticed it.
"Harry. I'm still against this. Look at this Liberacorpus. This... we know this one. Look, Ron, don't you remember? The night of the Quidditch World Cup?"
"I know."
"Right? The Death Eaters used this spell to... those poor Muggles—Harry?"
"I know this one—'Muffliato'."
Harry's finger traced the letters. He traced over the smudged ink in the corner. Hermione's brown eyes followed his finger in bewilderment.
"Harry? What do you mean?"
"This is it. The one Maria always uses. Maria—knows Muffliato."
Silence filled the space between the three of them. Six eyes fixated on a single word.
"That's one of the Prince's invented spells too, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"...Since when did Maria...?"
"I don't know. —Since so long ago that I can't even tell."
"That's... strange, isn't it?"
"........."
"Well, it being Maria, it's a bit late to call her suspicious or strange now, but..."
Hermione and Ron gently stole glances at their best friend. Harry remained staring intently at the textbook.
Now more than ever, Harry Potter was unable to let go of the Half-Blood Prince's book.
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