June. Conversations
BALI. POOL IN THE HOTEL. MORNING
- I never thought that my son was such an idiot.
- Did the Death Eater as a son suit you more?
- Is this a choice of two options?
- Say thank you, dad, that there is at least one of these. When I took the mark, I didn't have it at all.
Draco dives into the water, swims to the edge of the pool and back, and only then emerges for a breath of air.
- Have you thought about Narcissus? How will she survive this?
- She lied straight to the face of the Dark... Fuck, to Voldemort! She will survive anything.
- And now you want to devalue her sacrifice in order to return and rot in Azkaban?
- I just want my life back. It was always solved by someone else. Mom begged you to send me to Hogwarts. The fucking hat assigned me to Slytherin. You brought Death Eaters into our lives. Fucking Riddle chose the design of my tattoo. From now on, I will make decisions about my life myself.
- Your decisions are stupid.
- Well, like father, like son.
ENGLAND. THE GARDEN OF THE WEASLEY HOUSE. EVENING
- When was the last time you came to your store?
- I tried, yesterday. I Walked down Diagon Alley and saw the sign "Weasleys' Wheezes".
- AND?
- Weasleys... plural.
George takes a sip from the bottle.
- I can...
- No. You can not. No one can.
Ron takes a sip of firewhisky.
- You are not alone. I lost him too. All family lost him.
- This is different. Fred and I were Weasleys inside Weasleys. Family within a family. You have lost one of the family. And I lost all of mine.
The door screeched with rusty hinges. Ron tried to hide behind a stunted bush. George, with a practiced movement, turned firewhisky into butterbeer. Molly's gaze swept around the garden and stopped at a lone bottle standing between the guys.
- Are you two getting drunk again?
- No, — said George.
- This is George, — said Ron at the same time.
- Dinner is in five minutes.
AUSTRALIA. MR GRANGER'S OFFICE. DAY
- How many more times do I have to apologize? I'll do it, just tell me the amount.
- Hermione.
- No, seriously? How many times do I have to apologize to you? How many to mom? How many to both of you?
- What do you want to achieve with an apology? Forgiveness? But you are not guilty. You saved our lives.
- But you still... stay?
- Yes.
- Is this a sort of punishment?
- Hermione, in adult life we deal with the consequences of our actions, not with punishments and rewards. The last year is the only past your mother and I have. It's not easy to emigrate at 40, but since we've lived through it, it's senseless to go back.
SCOTLAND. HOGWARTS. DIRECTOR'S OFFICE. EVENING
- If all the good people in the world come to an agreement and kill all the bad people, then the number of bad people will not change, and the number of good ones will decrease. How do you like the paradox, colleague?
- No, it's unbearable. Indeed, Potter managed to take revenge on me for all the school years by insisting that my portrait be hung in the directorate.
- Severus, don't be stuffy. Let's discuss.
- Yes, yes, you are right, militant good turns into evil, and you should have turned your right cheek to Riddle and give up the director's place in his favor. Although no, it should have been done even earlier, with Grindelwald.
- It's not interesting... Okay, let's keep it simple: why didn't any of his supporters change their point of view after Tom's first fall?
- What about me?
- Don't play the fool, I'm serious.
- Perhaps the atmosphere of Azkaban is not very conducive to correction.
- And those who remained at large?
- Ressentiment.
- Excellent. I would even say "ten points to Slytherin". Speaking of Slytherin...
Minerva McGonagall furiously slammed the folio she was trying to read unsuccessfully.
- Dear professors, am I disturbing you???
If images could peek out of the portraits, Snape and Dumbledore would look at each other with the same expression - "did you know she was here all this time?"