Chapter 92: 2
The Ministry of Magic did not report Voldemort’s return, just like "last time." However, the situation was much better compared to "last time." Most people actually believed the truth Harry had spoken.
It might also largely be because we caught Skeeter before she could write ridiculous articles about him—gossip like, Is The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, Mentally Unstable? Even if it’s utter nonsense, the manipulation of public perception through the press is nothing to scoff at. I know that all too well.
At the End-of-Term Feast in the Great Hall, a memorial was held for Cedric. Everyone raised their goblets and prayed for the kind soul that had been lost. And then, they trembled at Dumbledore’s announcement.
Lord Voldemort had returned.
"Miss Potter."
As the students carried their trunks, each eager to return to their families after a tumultuous year, a frail voice—belonging to a girl who was usually graceful yet dignified—called out to stop me.
"...Yes, Miss Chang."
The exotic, beautiful girl, whose eyes and nose were tinged a painful red, bit her lip and glared at me.
"Let me—talk to you. Do you have a moment?"
"Maria, let's go."
"It's fine. Shall we go somewhere else?"
"Maria!"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry—who had been pulling my hand and walking with a steady pace—all looked back at me with concern. ...My best friends and my younger brother are truly so kind.
"I'm okay. I'll make it back in time for the carriages. ...Will you wait for me?"
"Of course."
"Maria, I'll come with you."
"You shouldn't interrupt a chat between girls, Harry."
When I teased him with words borrowed from my Ginny and my daughter Lily, Harry furrowed his brows, looking even more worried.
"...I'll be fine."
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to the forehead of my younger brother, who had faint dark circles under his eyes.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. —Shall we go?"
Cho continued to bite her lip.
"—How did he die?"
Walking until we reached a spot where we could see the greenhouses and Hagrid's hut, Cho finally opened her mouth. Her voice was quiet.
"He protected me."
"—!"
I heard her sharp intake of breath.
"We were running toward the Portkey back to Hogwarts. The three of us. We were all desperate, not looking behind us. Someone's Killing Curse was closing in on me. But I didn't notice it. —Cedric did. And he took the curse in my place."
Smack—a dry sound erupted right by my ear. A moment later, heat blossomed on my cheek.
"You—if only you—you should have—"
Cho couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
What a pitiful person. Precisely because she is so inherently good, she cannot even thoroughly condemn the girl she hates.
She should have just said it. —That it should have been me who died.
"...Did he say anything about me? At the very end, to me?"
"There was no time for that. ...It was instantaneous."
As if clutching the hand she had just used to strike my cheek, the poor girl who had been robbed of her lover shed a single tear.
"But,"
I recalled the night of the Yule Ball—which now felt like something from a distant past, back when we had no way of knowing it would end like this.
"He said that—after graduation, he wanted to invite you to his home... to introduce you to his parents."
Cho finally covered her face and collapsed in a burst of tears. I instinctively reached out a hand to her, but pulled it back into a tight fist, and walked away from the spot.
I, the one who took Cedric away from her, have no right to comfort her.
In front of the carriages, the familiar trio was standing around restlessly. Catching sight of me, Harry was the first to rush over.
"Maria! Your cheek..."
"My goodness! Did she slap you? How awful—that Cho girl... Does she think she's the only one suffering? Seeing a death right in front of—I'm sorry. But you've been through so much more, Maria—"
"Stop, Hermione. ...Please, stop."
I climbed into the carriage, letting Harry's hands guide me as I leaned against his shoulder. Closing my eyes, the image of Cho and Cedric's beautiful dance and brilliant smiles at the ball came to mind. —It could never be retrieved.
"Cho has every right to hit me, to blame me, and to resent me. And I—I have the right to be hated by her."
I had robbed her of her beloved, and of their future.
The carriage pulled by the Thestrals began to move. Harry must be able to see them now, too. Without saying a word about it, I looked up at Hogwarts Castle as it retreated from the window frame.
There had been no turning back for a long time.
Sirius was waiting for us at King's Cross Station. Professor Lupin was there with him, too. Finding it curious, I tilted my head in confusion as Harry and I ran over to them.
"Sirius, why are you here?"
"Ah, not so fast, Maria. Before asking questions, there's something you need to say."
I met Harry's eyes, tilting my head even more. Professor Lupin watched over us with the sort of look one gives children struggling to solve a riddle.
"—Welcome back. Harry, Maria."
My eyes widened as he bent his tall frame and opened his arms. Ah—
""—We're home! Sirius!""
The arms and chest that caught us two fourteen-year-olds were more reassuring than anything else in the world.
"...But, seriously, why are you here?"
Peeking over the shoulder of Sirius, who was squeezing us almost to the point of suffocation, I looked up at Professor Lupin.
"It means the two of you don't need to return to your aunt and uncle's house anymore," he explained.
My jaw dropped. Harry had the exact same expression on his face.
"Does that mean... does that mean—!"
"Yes. —Let's live together, my children."
The path ahead, which had been filled with nothing but gloom, suddenly felt like it had burst wide open with light.
While Sirius and Professor Lupin took our trunks and discussed how we would travel home, someone tapped me on the shoulder. —It was Draco.
Draco smiled coolly, and glancing past him, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy standing there. His mother was watching her son with a tense expression. —Lucius was staring at me with emotionless eyes.
"Draco...?"
Noticing the interaction, Sirius and Professor Lupin also looked toward the couple with a hint of caution. Harry was bewildered. And I, too, was confused.
Considering it was obvious that Lucius belonged to the Dark faction—making contact with me right in front of him like this... This isn't like you, Draco Malfoy.
"Draco, what is this..."
"If I were considering your feelings—now probably isn't the time to say this."
Draco took my hand. Narrowing his eyes, he gently stroked my cheek.
"Draco...?"
"But, as you well know, I am a cunning Slytherin."
Draco smiled. His eyes, the color of melting ice somewhere between blue and gray, were beautiful.
"I love you."
A new wave of turbulence was about to begin.
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