Chapter 128: 3

"Hey, welcome back." I gave a weak wave to the blond boy, who seemed somehow paler than usual.

"...You really took a beating."

"Your aunt is truly terrifying."

When I joked, he lightly poked my forehead. Just from that, the world felt like it was spinning. Sinking into the hospital bed unable to brace myself, a slight urge to tease arose in me upon seeing Draco's panic, and I let out an exaggerated groan.

"Ah, how awful. I feel like that just finished me off. If you kill her patient, Madam Pomfrey will chase you to the ends of the earth."

"Stop it. That's not a joke—where is the aforementioned Madam Pomfrey?"

"She stepped out. Since absolutely everyone is asleep."

I rudely gestured next to me with my chin. The patients other than myself were completely fast asleep. Next to me is Harry. Opposite is Ron. Next to him is Neville, and on the other side is Hermione. Ginny and Luna had been discharged the day after the incident. —Meaning, for all intents and purposes, it is just the two of us right now.

Accurately reading the intent behind my words, Draco swiftly drew the curtains. Partitioning the space with the thin fabric and routinely casting a Silencing Charm, a makeshift briefing room was complete.

"Should I say, it's been a while? Did you enjoy some quality time with your father, Master Draco?"

"Shut up."

The forehead Draco had poked was now being stroked by Draco himself. His touch was like 'my' Ginny's when the children ran a fever. Was he comforted like this by Narcissa when he was young?

"...So Lucius is properly alive, then. Even though he's being treated as dead based entirely on the Death Eaters' testimonies. —Things worked out surprisingly well."

"...Yeah."

Draco nodded, looking somewhat absent-minded.

—It all started a year ago when he 'confessed' to me.

There was a reason he chose the station, where many Hogwarts students and their parents were present, as the stage. —It was a check. Draco was keeping them in check. The supporters of the Dark faction. And his own parents. He made it known that Draco Malfoy was interested in the Potter family.

However, the Malfoy family itself was closely aligned with the Dark faction. Therefore—Draco was able to secure a precarious 'neutral' position.

His attitude at Hogwarts also spurred this on. Many had seen the scene where Draco Malfoy confessed to Maria Potter. And yet, the two of them didn't seem close at all. They were rather distant, even. What on earth had happened? Which side was Draco Malfoy on...?

The confusion spread from the children to the parents, eventually dragging in the Dark faction itself.

He was the only son of the Malfoy family, their sponsor. He had to be treated with care. However, he was also a child who might be siding with the Potter family. If so, he had to be eliminated.

Draco masterfully utilized this 'ambiguity.' He avoided being targeted as a Death Eater, as well as being disposed of as a nuisance. It was a life-or-death gamble where a single misjudgment could invite his demise.

So, why did he walk such a dangerous tightrope? —It was solely for Lucius Malfoy.

As things stood, Lucius would be imprisoned in Azkaban following the failure of the operation in the Department of Mysteries. Because of this, the Malfoy family's authority within the Dark faction would plummet drastically, and as a result, his child Draco would be forced to clean up an unimaginable mess.

Draco desperately wanted to avoid that. The misfortune of his family. His own tragic end. —And so, he devised a single scenario.

A scenario in which a son thwarts the evil deeds of Lucius Malfoy with his own hands.

He would let Lucius succeed to a certain extent, making Voldemort trust him, and then Draco would strike Lucius down in the Department of Mysteries. If possible, he would make it look like he killed Lucius. Only by going that far would Lucius finally be freed.

There is no teamwork among the Death Eaters. They simply discard the useless, the injured, and the dead. Even the Ministry of Magic wouldn't have the spare resources to chase after a dead man, and even if he was captured and brought to trial, there would be plenty of room for extenuating circumstances given Draco's actions. No matter what, Lucius had to die at Draco's hands.

Once that was achieved, all that was left was to hide Lucius from the world until the time came. —This is where the Fidelius Charm and the Malfoy family's summer manor came into play. The only ones who knew the location of the manor were me, Draco, the estate's caretakers, and finally, Narcissa. By giving Draco a piece of paper with the address written in my handwriting beforehand, and having him take the incapacitated Lucius to the manor, the cage concealing the 'dead' Lucius was successfully completed.

Draco had kept such a grandiose plan hidden within himself and executed it all alone.

With absolutely no one to consult, save for Maria Potter—Draco Malfoy had pulled it off.

He even deceived Narcissa completely until he brought up the manor. He had no other choice. —Because Voldemort was an exceptionally skilled Legilimens. He couldn't afford to let his affection for Draco be ingrained in either of their minds. He had to thoroughly play the part of a son estranged from his parents.

"Just what kind of illusion did you cast? Don't tell me you seriously... fired the Killing Curse?"

"...Yeah."

Looking completely exhausted, Draco answered hesitantly.

"I used a Stunning Spell in sync with Bellatrix casting hers. That probably made it look to everyone else like I had also cast the Killing Curse."

"...You planned it that way, didn't you."

"Spot on. —I thought it was my chance. After that, just as we planned, I Apparated near the manor under the cover of the chaos. Once my father awoke, I handed him over to my mother, who was waiting there. I had my mother's help getting back to Hogwarts. With everything in such a chaotic state, no one even noticed I was gone, did they?"

"Except for Dumbledore."

"...I never counted that old man to begin with."

Acutely sensing Draco's aversion to Dumbledore, I let out a small chuckle. Neither of our voices held any real energy.

"...You used it. The light that killed Sirius."

"Yes."

Draco was looking down. He closed his eyes. He looked somewhat like a sinner awaiting his sentence.

"Draco."

I sat up. Taking my time to avoid moving my head, which had been rattled time and time again by Bellatrix's fists, I turned to face Draco.

"Draco."

"What."

Draco kept his eyes closed. ...I'm not going to hit you.

"—You did so well."

In an instant—his long, translucent eyelashes pushed upward, revealing eyes like the surface of a lake. His pupils wavered as if ripples were spreading within them.

"Maria."

"You did incredibly well. I only helped a tiny bit. You did it all yourself. —You saved Lucius."

"—N-no, I didn't, my father..."

Draco's voice trembled.

"My father... all this time, he..."

Draco was a skilled practitioner of Occlumency. That had been an unwavering truth since the time he was truly just a 'child.' If so—then Lucius's resolve to completely suppress his own heart must have been genuine as well.

"My father... he loved me."

"Yes."

"To keep His eyes from turning toward me—because I was nearly killed once before."

"That's right."

"He negotiated with Dumbledore—taking on a dangerous mission for my sake—just like Professor Snape—for me. He asked Dumbledore to watch over me..."

The words Dumbledore once told me— "I have already received the price that matches your courage."

The one who had paid that price was none other than Lucius Malfoy. Following in Professor Snape's footsteps, Lucius had protected his son's life as a spy.

"I was... loved by my father."

"Lucius loves you very much, Draco."

Lifting my arm, which protested with a sharp, unpleasant pain, I pulled Draco's head to my chest.

"You did so well, Draco. You're amazing. Your future will be bright. It's a future that you—that you grasped with your own two hands. You saved the people you love. ...You weak, spineless, cowardly Malfoy."

Draco's hands tightly gripped my pajamas. His arms wrapped around my back, squeezing without hesitation. His shoulders were trembling. The breath hitting my chest was shaking too. Slowly, the spot where his eyes pressed against me grew damp. Draco was crying, as if vomiting out the terror and loneliness he had harbored for a whole year.

"...ry, Harry."

"What is it, Draco."

"Harry..."

He called my name in a pathetic, tearful voice. I stroked his back like he was a child.

"Even... even someone like me... even I could, for someone—I could..."

"You saved Scorpius on that day, and you protected Lucius today. Nobody else did. Not even Harry Potter, of course. —It was you, Draco Malfoy."

Unsuppressible sobs brushed against my skin, clinging to the damp fabric. Draco bawled. Like a fifteen-year-old. Like a child. Living his other life, for the first time, Draco Malfoy cried in a way fitting for his age. Not with stifled tears, but crying out loud.

The fifteen-year-old Draco Malfoy was alive, right here.

It was the last night of the term. I couldn't bring myself to attend the End-of-Term Feast, so I locked myself in my dormitory, pretending to pack. With everyone safely discharged from the hospital and Umbridge gone, Hogwarts was cheerful and brimming with normalcy. Smiling in the midst of it all, I felt as fake as a puppet show.

Since I had technically kicked everyone out under the pretense of packing, I sluggishly began turning that lie into reality. I stuffed my clothes into my trunk, all crumpled up. I didn't care if my robes got wrinkled.

Suddenly, tangled in the bedsheets that had been crushed by my luggage into strange patterns, a small object tumbled out. It was a box that could fit in the palms of both hands.

"—Ah."

It was a Christmas present from Draco. A music box said to sing with the voices of the people you care about—

My mind completely distracted from packing, I wound the key out of habit. A clear, tinkling melody began to flow.

The first to start singing was, as expected, Harry. Was this really what my singing voice sounded like? —It felt strangely ticklish, and I let out a small laugh. Next was Ron. He was passionately belting out a Christmas song, completely off-key. Thinking of how typical that was of Ron, I smiled, noting that I definitely couldn't let him hear this. He might inadvertently end up sulking. Next was Hermione. With her beautiful, well-pitched voice, it reminded me of a church mass. After her came Ginny, Neville, Astoria, Luna... Surrounded by the voices of my various friends, my spirits slowly began to lift. I sat down on the bed, still scattered with quills and textbooks, and stroked the dear, amusing music box.

Then, just as the Christmas song was approaching its final phrase.

"───Ah."

That... voice.

Decorating Grimmauld Place in Christmas colors, humming as he placed the fir tree, hanging garlands that seemed somewhat heavily tinged with red here and there.

The voice... of him singing so happily.

"Ah, a—ah,"

He was singing. His voice was singing. He was humming, acting embarrassed and deliberately making it sound terrible, even though he would probably be incredibly good if he actually tried.

Tears pattered down onto the music box.

Even though that voice is no longer anywhere.

Even though he will never sing again.

Even though his voice is lost forever.

The singing voice.

"Ah, a—ah────ah."

Spilling out in large drops, overflowing. It wouldn't stop—it wouldn't stop—the singing wouldn't stop.

"Ah............ Aaaaaahhhh......!"

I clutched the music box desperately in my hands. I felt like if I didn't, it would disappear.

"Sirius."

I can't.

"Sirius."

As I thought, I can't do it.

"Sirius...!"

Curling up, I cradled the music box. I embraced his voice.

"Don't cry—don't grieve—that's... that's impossible. Sirius."

Because you're not here.

Because you are gone.

"Sirius."

The voice will never call me Maria again.