Chapter 147: 3
I hear a voice.
—The bleeding has stopped, but it will leave a scar. Poor thing. As if she isn't covered in scars already. Such a large one, too... and on a girl.
I hear a voice.
—If she was under the Imperius Curse, using Veritaserum wouldn't do any good, as she wouldn't have any awareness of it anyway...
—Snape is a remarkably skilled wizard. Memory modification is child's play to him.
I hear a voice.
—I'm sorry. Maria... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's my fault... Please, wake up. I'm begging you.
—I know I told you to survive... but that doesn't mean it's okay to get so badly hurt as long as you live. You're far too reckless for your own good, it’s troubling.
—Honestly, you're at death's door the second I take my eyes off you. ...I suppose that's why everyone becomes so infatuated with you. Cedric was the same, wasn't he.
I hear a voice.
—I won't forgive him. I won't forgive that man. I'll never forgive the person who hurt my sister like this.
—Hermione will cry if you're not here. ...Wake up already.
I hear a voice.
—He just can't shake off that hero complex, no matter how much time passes. ...Harry, that is.
I hear a voice.
"—It's not like I do it because I want to."
"Sleeping Beauty finally awakens."
I glared up at the boy who was playfully, heavily laced with sarcasm, stroking the space between my eyebrows. Just that simple movement made every part of my body creak. It was a familiar ceiling. And a familiar, beautiful face. He didn't seem to have any noticeable injuries. Today, too, he had that infuriatingly pale, vampire-like complexion that suited his sneers so perfectly.
"...Did anyone die?"
"No one died. Just that one of the Weasleys got a little medal carved into his face, that's all."
"Ah, yeah. I bet it made him look even more handsome. He was already handsome to begin with."
I thought of Bill and smiled vaguely. Fleur had probably shown her fierce love for Bill once again, leaving Mother Molly speechless. Probably... Tonks, too.
"What about Dumbledore?"
"The funeral will be held in a few days. He will sleep alongside the Elder Wand. —He's bowed out of the fight."
"That's not fair."
"Too right."
I nodded along, my mind still hazy and half-asleep. In the end, Snape didn't take the Elder Wand. ...Honestly, what a terrible villain.
"—And the phoenix?"
"...It sang a beautiful song."
Just from that, I knew he had left. The phoenix departed Hogwarts along with Dumbledore. ...All I can do is hope that, one day, I can cross paths with that beautiful bird again.
"How's Harry doing?"
"You were the one most critically injured. He went back to his normal routine ages ago."
Draco snorted. I forced myself to sit up, my muscles, bones, and skin all feeling as though they were burning and screaming in agony. Draco was casually tossing an apple—presumably a get-well gift for me—playing with it to amuse himself.
"Maria."
"Yeah."
The apple rolled onto the bed.
"—You fought hard."
"────"
Something welled up in my chest. It rose to my throat. I bit my lip. A rationality thinner than paper held it back.
"You did so well, Harry."
Hah—my breath trembled. So, I stopped breathing altogether. My whole body stiffened; there was no way I could resist. Thump—the sound of being alive. An unfair warmth stroked my back.
".........Draco."
"What is it, Harry?"
"Draco..."
It should have hurt. It should have been painful. But as if my body had entirely abandoned its sense of pain for this single moment, I hugged Draco back with everything I had.
"Draco... Draco..."
"Yeah."
"Draco... I fought so hard."
"I know."
"I've been trying so hard, for so long."
"I know that better than anyone."
"The truth is, I felt like breaking—the truth is, I almost gave up."
"I see."
"But, I don't want to. That's... the same as dying. I don't want to die."
"No one wants to die."
"Not like this—without gaining anything, without leaving anything behind—I don't want to die!"
I wanted to carve into myself, carve into Maria, and turn us into countless wounds. I wanted to engrave Maria's scars into the deepest abyss of the world. I wanted to become an eternal scar────upon the ones I love.
"It's so frustrating—I can't forgive it—I refuse to die without accomplishing anything!"
"Maria."
"I—that's why—"
"Maria."
Maria cried. She cried an ugly cry. She clung to the chest of the boy I had once hated so much and cried. She clung to the very boy whom I had once left covered in wounds by my own hands. She sobbed and wailed. She cried from bitter frustration.
There was no way I wanted to die. —Not when we are so fiercely alive.
Dumbledore's funeral was held. The students, gathered in the Great Hall for breakfast, were clad in mourning robes and steeped in sorrow; among them, Theodore Nott was nowhere to be seen. And—neither were the Greengrass sisters. Led by the Heads of Houses and Professor McGonagall, who was now Headmistress, the students made their way to the lake. The white marble tomb where Dumbledore rested was bathed evenly in the summer sunlight, maddeningly beautiful.On that day, the world was overflowing with a blessed light.
I spotted the Hog's Head barman—Aberforth Dumbledore—among the attendees, and couldn't help but stare at him. The old man watched without looking away even once as his only remaining flesh and blood was enveloped in the funeral flames. The Aberforth I watched kept his eyes on Albus Dumbledore until the very end.
—Somewhere, a phoenix let out a sharp, high-pitched cry.
Once the funeral was over, the students were to board the Hogwarts Express and be sent back to their families immediately. Naturally, we too needed to temporarily return to the Dursleys, reverting to their care as our foster family. Because Ron and Hermione had Prefect duties, I was alone in a compartment with Harry, gently stroking him as he slept. From here on out, Harry would embark on a grueling journey with his best friends to hunt down the Horcruxes. There was only one Horcrux left for Harry to obtain—until then, all I can do is...
"I doubt this will make for a good lullaby, but..."
Come to think of it, there was no present this year. Muttering pointlessly, I opened the golden music box. A patchwork Christmas song swam through the empty compartment containing just the two of us. Harry sang, passing it to Ron, followed by Hermione and Ginny, then Luna and Neville, Astoria────Sirius.
While stroking Harry, I listened closely to the voices of the people I loved.
...Ah, yeah. Right. I knew that.
"...Huh?"
"You can keep sleeping."
I chuckled at Harry, who sat up with sleep-heavy eyes. With one hand, I closed the music box as the song finished. I had taken his glasses off while he slept, but without realizing it, he made the motion to push up his frames, which made me laugh even harder, my shoulders shaking.
"Is it just you, Maria?"
"Hm?"
"Just now──────I thought I heard Draco's voice."
After putting the music box away into its small case, I covered Harry's eyes as he rested on my lap.
"It's just your imagination."
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