Chapter 66: 3

"—And then, the Dementors came and surrounded us."

"And then, four Patronuses... yes! Four of them appeared. Out of nowhere. Two stags and two does. I know one of the does was me. The others... was that stag you, Professor Dumbledore?"

Harry and Ron rattled on in their excitement. The report continued with Hermione occasionally adding details or correcting them. The children had firmly agreed not to mention the Time-Turner.

"Hmm, well now—what do you think, Maria?"

Dumbledore, who undoubtedly had his own thoughts regarding the Patronuses, let his eyes twinkle, peering over his half-moon spectacles.

It seemed the children, having had their hands full with the Dementors, didn't know who had cast which Patronus. Even Professor Snape wouldn't want us—especially Harry—to know the meaning behind the doe Patronus, and since Hermione had faithfully kept our secret promise, I simply smiled, intending to keep my mouth shut as well.

"—I thought perhaps you had come to our aid, Professor Dumbledore. After all, you sent Fawkes the phoenix to us during the Basilisk incident."

Professor Snape's gaze was piercing. Sirius's gaze was piercing, too. At this point, it was nothing but a game of deception with no real answer.

"If that is what you think, Maria, then it must be so."

Dumbledore put on a good-natured expression and chuckled with amusement.

"Now then, Cornelius. You have heard the children's story. Our brave students have provided us with undeniable proof. ...I trust you will be withdrawing from Hogwarts, taking your Dementors with you?"

Stroking the still-unconscious rat, Peter Pettigrew, the blue eyes that turned toward Fudge looked to me like the gleam of an executioner's blade. ...Surely, this man, too, must have been one of those who knew of Sirius's false imprisonment yet did nothing.

"But—but, Dumbledore. The matter of the false charge—very well, I concede that. An unjust sentence was passed upon Mr. Sirius Black. It was a failure on the Ministry of Magic's part. —However! I won't have you say everything was unjust. The fact remains—being an unregistered Animagus is against the law!"

"Oh, quite right. Now, I would like to ask you something, Minister. Is failing to register as an Animagus truly such a heinous crime that it warrants twelve years in Azkaban?"

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes intensified. Fudge, on the receiving end of that direct gaze, must have felt his blood run cold.

"I suppose we could also count his escape from Azkaban as a crime. —Even so, twelve years in Azkaban... I cannot fathom that it is a crime severe enough to pointlessly steal twelve years of a young, valuable man's life."

Dumbledore was smiling softly. The only people here who probably felt a chill from that smile were me, Draco, Professor Snape, and Fudge. I wondered just how merciful he must have appeared in the eyes of the children.

As a result, Fudge, yielding to the pressure of Dumbledore's smile, promised a reinvestigation and a retrial. He left the Headmaster's office in a huff, taking Pettigrew with him. Professor McGonagall followed him out, and Professor Snape exited only after glaring at Sirius with the utmost hatred. Draco led Ron and Hermione away, leaving me with a meaningful glance, and Dumbledore retreated to another room with Fawkes, saying, "Now then, it's feeding time."

Left behind in the room that had been full of people just moments ago were only the godfather and the Potter siblings.

"...Er... Fudge will probably continue to complain after this... but essentially, I am a free man. It's thanks to you two. I am grateful."

""Yeah.""

"So, I'm a free man. Naturally, my rights will be restored—and my residence, too."

""Yeah.""

"Therefore—well—unless I'm mistaken—you two are not in a good environment. ...Isn't that right, Maria?"

"I might have mentioned something like that to a certain black dog I was fond of."

"...And so. I am your godfather. Frankly speaking, I have both status and money. Raising two children is nothing to me. ...Do you understand what this means?"

""Sirius.""

Harry and I each took one of Sirius's hands. It was the hand of a living human being. How incredibly precious that was.

""Say it clearly.""

Sirius caught his breath—and with slightly trembling lips, gave us those words.

"Would you like to... come and live with me?"

Harry and I threw ourselves at Sirius at the same time. Sirius hugged us tightly, as if completely forgetting his own strength.

"Sirius, Sirius, we love you. My—Harry's godfather."

"Right, he's my godfather..."

Harry sniffled and looked up at Sirius. Sirius clumsily stroked the hair that looked exactly like our father's.

"...Hey, Sirius. Do I have a godfather, too?"

I found myself asking. Even though I had thought I didn't need a clear answer to this question.

"...No, the one who named you was Lily."

"What..."

"Looking at your hair—she said it was a wish. That through you... they might one day make amends. James seemed to have mixed feelings about it, though. —Maria, your name is... a name of hope and prayer."

Overlapping with Sirius's arm, Harry's hand rested on my shoulder. Enveloped by the hands of two family members.

Ah, so that was it—Mum. My name was wished for.

In that case—if I keep running away forever, I won't be able to face you, will I?

"Thank you, Sirius. Just knowing that... I feel like I can love 'Maria'."

"Hm? You use strange phrasing sometimes, Maria."

"That's just Maria. She's a bit odd. Cute, right?"

"Cheeky little brother."

"I'm the older brother, aren't I?"

We messed around, dragging Sirius into it. Two thirteen-year-olds were no trouble at all for Sirius, who had recovered more muscle mass than 'last time', and he hoisted us both up together. Like toddlers cradled in their father's arms, we reverted to being children from the bottom of our hearts and burst into laughter.

"Hey, Maria."

Harry pressed his lips gently to my ear.

"Secrets?" Sirius flashed a boyish grin, showing his teeth.

"Maria, you really love Sirius, don't you? I've come to like him, too. —I'm sorry for saying terrible things. Sirius... isn't crazy at all."

"...Yeah."

I nuzzled into Harry's hand on my cheek. The crack that should have been mended long ago—now, finally, felt truly sealed.

When I left the Headmaster's office with Sirius and Harry, Draco and my two best friends were waiting in the corridor. Ron and Hermione rushed over to Harry—completely forgetting that Ron's leg was broken since there was no pain, no less—while Draco took my hand.

"—Are you alright?"

I nodded.

"...Understood."

Just like that, Draco swept me up into a bridal carry. He casually cast a Hover Charm to remove the weight, ever the tactician. —Wait, no, hold on. What are you doing?

"Draco?"

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? Lucius's boy."

"Please forgive the rudeness of leaving without a formal greeting, Cousin Sirius."

"Malfoy? —Where are you planning to take Maria?"

"Maria is at her limit. I'll leave Harry to you lot. Weasley, hurry up and go to the hospital wing. My thanks, Mr. Crookshanks. Cousin Sirius, Minister Fudge mentioned he will be waiting for you in the drawing room with the Headmaster. —Good day."

Ignoring all the voices trying to stop him, Draco carried me up the stairs. I limply surrendered myself to his arms.

"...I thought I nodded to your 'Are you alright?'"

"You have some nerve saying that with a face like that. You look like you're going to collapse in three steps."

Draco spat out. Conversation ceased between us.

Before long, we paced back and forth three times in a certain corridor. A door materialized in the wall. —The Room of Requirement. The room where we had hidden a Horcrux once upon a time.

I was carefully set down on a sofa, and Draco stood before me.

"Now, spit it out. —Harry."

I instinctively looked down.

"...How do you always know?"

"Because that's what I'm here for."

"...That's not fair."

"Astoria used to say that too."

I grabbed my face, messing up my red hair.

"...I've done it."

"Yeah."

"Sirius is free."

"He is."

"I made it so. —This time, the future will change."

"I'm sure it will."

"There's—there's no turning back now!"

My chest tightened, no, my head ached, no, my eyes burned—feeling like my whole body was falling apart, I hugged myself with trembling arms.

"Even though I told Albus and Scorpius they mustn't do it! Even though I let my father and mother die that day! I was able to do that! —And yet, I rewrote it! Out of ego! Out of self-satisfaction!"

"Harry."

"Ah, despise me. I am a fool. I thought I'd be fine with it. And yet—now, of all times, I'm absolutely terrified."

"Harry, breathe."

"Sirius laughed. It wasn't a dark laugh. He's been liberated. He will move forward into a future I don't know. There will be a Sirius I don't know. —No one knows what happens anymore."

"Harry."

"We──── can't escape."

Suddenly, I noticed a warmth enveloping me that wasn't my own. Draco—that Malfoy who always tried to be overly aristocratic—was kneeling just to rub my back. He was dirtying his robes for me.

"Exactly. From the very beginning—Maria, no one knows the future of this world where you exist. That's all there is to it. Because this isn't a past reached by using a Time-Turner."

"Draco."

"You're just standing in the same place as everyone else now."

"...Is that, so."

"Therefore—Maria."

His eyes, a shade between blue and grey, were so fiercely intense it felt like being burned by ice.

"You are the one who will create the future."

Watched over by those ice-grey eyes, behind my drooping eyelids, I thought:

Ah, that is──── terrifying.

The boy, carrying the girl, was speaking to a portrait the size of a door. The girl was sleeping as if dead. Her naturally healthy but milky-white skin instantly made her look like a doll simply by lacking the visible rise and fall of breath. Her exquisite facial features only spurred this impression.

"My Lady. My apologies, but if there are any Gryffindor students left in the common room—"

"—Malfoy?"

Before the boy, Draco Malfoy, could finish his request, the portrait door swung open. Gryffindor's pride and joy, the brilliant witch who was also the sleeping girl's roommate and best friend—Hermione Granger—peeked her head out.

"You're still awake."

"I was waiting for Maria. ...I was wondering what I'd do if she didn't come back until morning."

With a wave of her wand, she levitated the sleeping girl deep into the common room. Draco figured she'd probably be laid down on a sofa or something similar.

"Thanks for your trouble, Malfoy. You and Harry are the only ones Maria lets her guard down this much around."

"...That's not true."

"It is. Maria truly trusts you, Malfoy."

Hermione smiled, masking the slight ache of loneliness in her chest. And then—she gasped at the expression Draco wore.

"I am merely a substitute. ──For you lot."

The way he narrowed his eyes without showing a shred of emotion—was beautiful in an artificial way.

"Serves you right."

In this world—you lot can't even lay a finger on her.

The next day, the Marauder's Map and Invisibility Cloak were returned to Harry, and the communication parchment was returned to me. Professor Snape apparently checked them for Dark Arts using every method he had, but naturally, nothing would turn up when they weren't being used. After all, these aren't the sorts of things that think for themselves when you can't even see where they keep their brains.

Having survived their exams and been relieved of the gloomy Dementor guard, the students were in high spirits for the summer holidays. Everyone believed that the murderous Sirius Black had been captured. Little did they know that the meaning of "captured" was the exact opposite of what they thought.

However, in stark contrast to the cheerfulness around me, I was so out of it that Hermione had to scold me five times a day. After releasing the Bowtruckle I'd taken care of back into the Forbidden Forest, I visited Professor Lupin's office to retrieve my confiscated items, only to notice he was packing up all his belongings. As expected, Professor Lupin would be resigning after just one year. Damn Voldemort and his troublesome grudges.

Furthermore, until Sirius's retrial was definitively settled, our new life was put on hold. In other words, another summer holiday spent at the Dursleys' was approaching. Harry seemed quite fed up with this prospect as well.

On the final day of our third year, sitting next to Harry on the Hogwarts Express, I opened the window to a fluffball I saw fluttering outside. The fluffball tumbled right in. —It was Pigwidgeon, as he would later be known.

Taking the letter the tiny owl was holding in its beak, Harry broke into a huge grin as he read its contents. It mentioned the Firebolt, just like last time; casually added something about a sealed box—with a postscript asking to let him send something more feminine next time—expressed a desire to give the tiny owl to Ron; and then─

"Maria, starting next year, we can go to Hogsmeade openly!"

Holding up the Hogsmeade permission slip signed by his godfather, Harry was so thrilled he looked ready to jump for joy.

For Harry, his very first letter from Sirius had become the greatest present of all.

Watching my hyperactive little brother, the tiny owl, and a slightly sulky Hedwig, I thought of the platinum-blonde boy who wasn't here with us.

I pray that the conclusion of this world—the future we are about to create—will be a better one.