Chapter 160: 5-1
It was painted in soft, cream-colored hues. Carved with floral motifs, it made any beholder assume that the room's occupant must be a delicate, lovely girl, much like a flower herself. Yet, it was a heartless cage, glossed over in every corner with shallow affection and a facade of happiness.
Had we been ordinary children, we might never have noticed. We wouldn't have realized that this door alone—was sealed from the outside with a Locking Charm.
Deepest within the second floor. She was there, tucked away like a precious, hidden treasure.
"Astoria."
"No way..."
Seeing the girl lying on the bed, her eyes closed and her soft hair fanned out across the sheets—I finally understood. Only upon standing here did I truly feel Draco's terror as if it were my own.
She was dead.
The corpse-like girl looked up at the intruders with vacant eyes.
"Why..."
"Harry and I have quite a collection of sneaky magical objects at our disposal."
"Why..."
"Honestly, they're mostly borderline illegal, so we're less like heroes coming to rescue a captive princess and more like a band of thieves."
"Why..."
"Listen, Astoria—are you..."
"Why... Why?!"
The corpse breathed again. Emotion returned to the lifeless doll.
"I'm going to die! I'm going to die, you know?! Why?! It's cruel—so cruel—I'm already dead! I am already dead!"
"Astoria."
"I'm... not even truly alive."
"You are alive."
Draco was the first to reach out and touch her as she sat up, her hair wildly disheveled. He embraced the girl he loved with reckless abandon, as if to check her body heat, as if trying to anchor her tearing soul to this world.
"You are here."
"..."
"Because you are so warm. ...I know what you feel like when you are cold. I know a 'you' that even you do not know. Therefore, I can say this with absolute certainty: Astoria Greengrass is alive, right here."
"I..."
Pale, trembling fingers wrapped around the back of the man holding her. She clung to him, confirming his existence, ensuring he wasn't a phantom. Her eyes, holding a soft glimmer of light, then turned to fix upon the other intruder.
"This is the most dream-like nightmare I have ever had."
"It's not a dream."
I knelt and cupped her cheeks in both my hands. ...She was warm. I couldn't feel relieved until I touched her to confirm it—the sleeping girl had abandoned life. She was willingly marching toward death. ...Even though she was trembling. Even though she was on the verge of tears.
"We won't let anyone say that you can only live in dreams."
A single tear slipped loose, flicked away by her long eyelashes. That solitary drop was absorbed into the ribbon at her chest, vanishing like sea foam.
"Truly...?"
"Yes."
"Is it you, Maria?"
"It's your Maria."
"Brother Draco?"
"Indeed, it is your Brother Draco."
"I... I..."
We simultaneously grabbed her hand, which was wandering in the air out of hesitation. Exchanging a glance with Draco, I gave a wide, mischievous grin.
""We've come to kidnap you, Sleeping Beauty.""
"..."
Astoria's eyes snapped wide open. Reflecting our figures in her round irises, she was undoubtedly the Astoria we knew, wearing a deeply human expression. Clumsy, almost laughably earnest, hardworking, and occasionally showing an adorable, age-appropriate bashful smile—a cute, ordinary girl. Astoria was just a girl.
That is why I knew—Astoria's shackles were still chaining her to her coffin.
"I... I am sorry. And thank you, I am truly happy. So, please, you must run away."
"—Can't you come with us?"
"No. I cannot go with you two."
"Why? —Why are you letting yourself be killed?"
This was the core of every problem surrounding her and Draco. The time had come to declare checkmate on the truth we had been chasing.
"What are they—what is your family trying to make you do? What exactly are you being sacrificed for?"
Astoria... smiled.
"My blood."
Blood.
"It seems they need my blood. By extension, my very body itself—they wish to carve me up and study my curse."
"..."
—Ah. How utterly merciless.
Finally, the pieces connected. Compared to the 'last time', her circumstances had drastically changed. Her value. Her life and its tragic end. Where did things go wrong? —From the very beginning.
From the exact moment Astoria Greengrass was born with a Blood Curse, her fate had sunk its fangs into her, continuously pumping her full of lethal venom.
"Those who bear a Blood Curse are exceedingly rare, after all. Yes, you could say I am a precious specimen."
"How could... something like that be allowed—"
"It is allowed. In the new world being built by You-Know-Who."
I clenched my fists tightly. What coursed through my veins alongside my blood was pure, unadulterated rage. Directed at Voldemort, and—at Astoria herself.
"Why—why don't you run? Why don't you fight back?! Why won't you ask for help?!"
Even though he is right here. Even though the man who continues to struggle to grasp your hand is right beside you. He loves you. He wants you to live. —That was all Draco Malfoy had ever prayed for.
"I hated it."
Her voice was faint. Yet, it possessed a clear, unyielding core.
"I hated this blood. I hated this body. I cursed my own curse. I resented and despised myself, trying to kill off the parts I deemed unnecessary. I was the one—who rejected and loathed myself most of all."
Astoria Greengrass absolutely hated Astoria Greengrass.
"And yet—it was desired. The very blood that everyone around me, my family, and even I despised and detested, was suddenly needed. My individual self was dismissed as worthless, and of all things, my most repulsive aspect was acknowledged. I wonder why... but just because of that... I thought it was fine to just die."
"......"
"They are incredibly desperate. I can feel it. Naturally, there are those who merely wish to toy with me out of morbid curiosity. But He..."
He, she said. Astoria spoke of the very entity trying to kill her with a voice full of pity.
"He probably wants to save someone. Surely, someone who lived with a curse—just like me."
"Astoria..."
"It was the first time for me. To have this blood, which everyone abhorred, actually desired. ...Someone saw value in the 'me' that I had abandoned. That is all there is to it."
An empty smile. Hearing the girl's confession, the man's eyes slowly widened. A cold light dwelled within them. His icy eyes began to burn with heat.
"Furthermore... furthermore, how fortunate am I? The people I love most have come to visit me, even at the edge of the grave. You have granted this dying shell the honor of touching you both once again. ...That is more than enough."
"Astoria."
Faced with this heartless girl who showed not a single ounce of regret behind her empty words, Draco's rationality snapped with a sudden pop.
"Astoria—sometimes, you are an absolute genius when it comes to pissing me off. In that particular talent alone, you even surpass Maria."
"...Brother Draco?"
"The first time you were desired? The first time you were acknowledged? ...When have I ever shunned your curse?"
"......"
"Have I ever treated your curse like a flaw? Have I ever rejected you for it?"
A raging fire roared beneath his ice. I thought his fury would melt through at any second and swallow the girl whole. Bearing the full brunt of it, Astoria froze, utterly and profoundly human.
"You seem to have a terrible habit of pushing away the things that are most important to you—so I will repeat this as many times as it takes, persistently and tenaciously."
His true nature was that of a snake. Cunning, and willing to use any means necessary to achieve his goals. For that sake, he could be boundlessly cruel. ...Once he caught something and loved it, he would never let it go, no matter what.
"I love you."
It was the first time in my life I had ever heard words of love—of pure ego—so intensely selfish and boiled down to sheer desire.
"Draco Malfoy loves everything about Astoria Greengrass."
"—Ah,"
Her stubbornness crumbled and fell from Astoria's eyes once more in steady drops. The defenseless girl behind the mask was about to be laid bare before an angry snake with its jaws wide open. ...See? You're caught.
"Your eyes, your ears, your nose, your lips, your hair, your fingers, your skin, your voice, your heart—even the curse you hate so much, I love it all."
"I..."
"I desire you. I cherish you. I will bear your burdens."
"Wait."
"Now, Astoria. Make your decision based on profit, like a true Slytherin. Will you live out your future with the man who loves everything about you more than anyone else in the world, or will you commit a loveless double suicide with people who only want the parts of yourself you despise? —Which of these brings you happiness?"
Astoria immediately darted her shaken gaze toward me, seeking an escape. But sadly for her—I was this man's accomplice. For an innocent Eve caught in the serpent's gaze, all escape routes had long since vanished.
"Astoria, don't you think it's unfair to throw a tantrum and demand that others desire you? —Why don't you try desiring something for a change?"
"Maria..."
"Astoria... What do you want to do?"
Round and round, we shattered the feigned composure of a girl cornered by love. Only then could her true feelings be seen. We dragged out the voiceless screams from behind the tall, thick walls she had built.
"Even if I live... I won't be of any use."
"Yeah."
"I will be a burden forever."
"Maybe so."
"I'll cost a lot of money."
"For a Malfoy, there is no problem more trivial than that."
"This body of mine will not last long."
"Then I have all the more reason never to let you go."
"I... I..."
And so, stripped bare of her defenses, Astoria answered.
"I want to live. I don't want to die."
—Finally, we got our little girl back.
"Let's live." "Together."
"Ah—"
I swept Astoria up from the bed into my arms. What a fragile body. She was lighter than Hermione... perhaps even lighter than Ginny. With a frame like this, standing on sheer willpower alone, it was a miracle she hadn't completely collapsed. How dare they turn our lady into a guinea pig for their own selfish greed. I swear, I will make them pay for this.
"W-Wait, Maria."
"...Maria."
"I can't help it, can I? I need you to take the vanguard. Put your petty jealousy aside for now and use my wand to clear the path for us."
"Tch. Just this once."
"We are not princes, but thieves—right?"
"Maria, Maria, please listen."
Astoria's hand, wrapped around my neck, tapped weakly against my back, so we both looked at her.
"I... cannot move from here."
"I know. That's why I'm carrying you—"
"That is not what I mean. —I am chained."
At the end of Astoria's pointing finger were her legs extending from her nightgown, and her ankle wrapped in something resembling white ivy. Ironically, the white chains looked fleetingly beautiful against her pale, bluish skin.
"Is that all? In times like this, Eman—"
"Wait, Maria. It's better not to use magic. A skilled wizard will be able to track the Trace. In cases like this, we do it the Muggle way."
Interrupting me as I was about to cast Emancipare wandlessly, Draco used Sirius's knife to cut the ivy. A sense of déjà vu. —Ah, I see. So that's how it is.
"...? What's with that grin? It's creepy."
"I was just thinking about how you two are thoroughly alike, like parent and child. And this face is meant to be looked at, even when grinning. After all, I'm a beauty who looks just like my mother."
Exchanging banter, I readjusted my grip and lifted the newly freed Astoria once more. Just like a certain night in the past, Astoria heavily entrusted her entire weight to me. But unlike that night, I could see her face clearly.
"Maria—thank you."
"You're welcome, Astoria."
"Brother Draco... please, forgive me."
"For everything."
Having stolen away a precious treasure who lived so helplessly clumsily, we ran.
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