Chapter 98: 2-4
The incident occurred after dinner. As expected, hiding me in the girls' dormitories was out of the question. Escorted by Lily—who looked understandably dejected—we were heading towards the seventh floor when I caught sight of something through the window. I immediately started running, dragging Draco along with me. Hearing my footsteps, a startled Lily chased after me.
"Harry? What's wrong?"
Deciding that getting separated would be a bad move, I took Lily's hand again. Picturing the layout of the Marauder's Map in my mind, I chose a path away from prying eyes.
I saw them. ──Ah, just as I thought.
"──Sev!"
Cowardly, in the depths of the covered corridor leading from the courtyard to the school grounds—a spot hidden from view, surrounded by trees and walls—James Potter stood pointing his wand at a boy in green robes. Sirius was leaning against the wall with a smirk, Pettigrew was watching with glittering eyes, entirely ready for the show, and Professor Lupin looked up at the night moon as if it were none of his business.
"You boys──doing something this ridiculous again!"
"Ah... Evans. Your timing is always terrible. We're not bullying him or anything. Just playing together."
"Don't toy with me! Together? You mean you're playing with him, don't you?! Seeing cowards like you lot who pick on the weak makes my skin crawl!"
"──I am not weak!!"
The boy, who had been knocked onto his backside and dirtied his robes, flared up in rage. Lily looked taken aback, and everyone's attention turned to the boy──a young Severus Snape. Especially──
"Oi, Snivellus? Who do you think you're shouting at?"
James whipped his wand upward. With a sharp crack, a flash of light shot down at the boy's feet, scorching his trousers.
"Potter!!"
"Too soft, James. Putting on the gentleman act just because Evans is here?"
"Well, you see, mate. Unlike a handsome chap like you who gets girls flocking just by standing around, us ordinary folks have to make painstaking efforts for the girl we like."
"Heh, look who's talking."
"Potter, try doing anything else to Sev. I'll hex you."
It became a standoff: James pointing his wand at young Snape, and Lily pointing hers at James. I hurriedly fumbled through my own pockets──wait. When I looked at Draco, he was raising both hands and shaking his head. Our wands were gone──?
Turning my eyes back to the front, Sirius was pointing his wand at Lily.
"Whoa, hold on there, my friend Sirius. You know Evans is the girl of my dreams, right?"
"Jamie is more important to me than Evans, after all."
"Wow, is my virtue in danger?"
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop joking around! I am serious. Come on, Sev? Come over here. I'll walk you back to your common room."
At Lily's kind yet fiercely proud concern──Whew. It was Sirius who let out a mocking whistle. Snape must have found it utterly unbearable and humiliating. Clenching his teeth, he stood up, turned his back even on Lily, and bolted.
"Sev!"
"Slytherin's resident brooder sure is impatient. ──At least take a parting gift with you!"
Once again, James took aim at Snape──
"Expelliarmus!"
James's wand flew. ──Right into my hand. Lily stared blankly at her hand, her wand now gone from it, and every single gaze converged on me. Pettigrew, who had been darting his eyes around like a rat, and Professor Lupin, who had just been standing a step back watching—everyone. ──I couldn't bear to watch any longer.
"──I see? So you're the invisible man. ──Harry Potter?"
In utter shock, Lily and I looked at James at the same time. Why──how did Dad know my──?
"Come on──come here, Harry."
James spread his arms. Smiling gently──just like a father.
"No, Harry!"
Lily's voice sounded distant, as if separated by a thick curtain. ──I found myself enclosed within James Potter's arms.
"Good boy, Harry. Now... let me get a good look at your face."
James cupped my cheeks with both hands. And then.
"Ugh!?"
──My dad was strangling me.
"──What do you think you're doing?! Stop it, stop it right now! James Potter!!"
"Wow, this is amazing. He's got actual body heat, and his pained expression is perfect. It's like he's truly alive."
"Potter! Let Harry go!"
At Lily's scream, James released me as casually as if tossing away a toy he'd grown bored of. However, James snatched his wand back, and the tip of Sirius's wand shifted from Lily to me.
"...Potter, you will regret this. Absolutely. Just try laying another finger on Harry. You're the one who will regret it to death later."
"Oh? Is that so, Harry?"
Once again, one of James's hands reached for my neck. Stroking my throat, it traced up to rest against my cheek. ──I was completely paralyzed.
My dad was trying to hurt me. Sirius was pointing his wand at me. The two people I loved so much──were looking at me as an enemy.
"Potter!"
"So? What on earth are you? Why did you go so far as to use my Cloak just to stay by Evans's side?"
"That has nothing to do with you."
"How could it not? Look at this face, it's creepy. Evans, I'm saying this because I care about you. Because look──my face with your eyes, it's like he's our child or something."
"Don't say such sickening things!"
"See? Exactly. In other words, this is just someone's malice meant to mock us. Dark Magic. You're being tricked, just like with that Snivellus. That's why I stepped in to save you like this."
My parents' voices struck my brain from left and right. Creepy? Sickening? Am I──not wanted by my dad and mom?
"No, you're wrong. You don't act for my sake. You simply do it because you don't like it. You treat me like a possession──and that's why you can't tolerate anything you dislike being near your 'princess' without your permission."
"It's not because you care about me. If you truly cared about me──you would never ignore my words like this!"
My arm was pulled by thin air. I was drawn back to Lily's side in an unnatural posture. ──It was Draco.
"Your 'love'──is thinner and emptier than a single sheet of parchment! The only thing you love is yourself trying to woo a cold Lily Evans!"
Lily, not even noticing me, whipped her glossy hair around as she thoroughly condemned James.
"If you care about me──you should listen to my words and act for my sake!!"
──How arrogant. Both my father and my mother.
"Lily."
"Ah──oh, Harry. Are you alright? Really, what a horrible thing to do... Come, let's go now. It's okay, I will protect you."
Lily gently took the wand, and Draco threw the Cloak back over me. As I stood dazed, Draco pulled me along, following after Lily.
My dad and his friends─none of them pursued Harry Potter.
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