I'm Coming For You, Draco Malfoy!

The First Hint of Change

A memorial was erected for the Fallen Fifty in town square in the middle of Hogsmeade. Many had wanted the memorial at Hogwarts itself but Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister for Magic, argued that if it was in Hogsmeade then anyone could visit it at any time.

It was a simple black marble obelisk but each corner looked to be held up by a black marble lion, badger, snake, and eagle to represent the unity of all who had died; to revere those who had died. It did not matter who they were or what their background, all were equal in death. The names of the Fallen Fifty who had died during the battle had their names engraved in the stone base. There was an eternal flame at its pinnacle.

On Friday 15th May 1998, two weeks after the war, Harry Potter unveiled it and gave a short but poignant speech in front of the thousands of mourners and well-wishers who descended on Hogsmeade that day.

It was the only public speech Harry made after the war but, when I read it afterwards, I admit to being surprised.

I first read the full speech, printed verbatim, while in Azkaban.

Azkaban was, allegedly, a different place without the Dementors. Not that I was allowed contact with any other inmates so we could swap stories and nor could the dark lonely isolation in the damp cell be described as a picnic in a rose garden. The loneliness and the cries of madmen in the shadows were enough to drive anyone into despair with the resignation that life was futile and without a future. Yes, for many of the occupants, despite the Dementors' absence, the damage had already been inflicted. But Harry made me promise I wouldn't forget and I could still feel his hand laid over my beating heart, I could still feel his warmth and I tried not to give up hope.

The Dementors had been replaced by proper guards and the one who looked after the wing I was held in was relatively human. He was also was a gossip and had heard on the grapevine stories of my volatile relationship with Harry, and that we'd saved each other's lives, and that I'd kissed him in the courtyard after the battle.

'So, you know Harry Potter?' He would ask me regularly.

And I would tell him fragments of my story and exaggerate my own traumas to gain small favours. Sometimes, I wasn't sure if he just wanted gossip on our Saviour or if he'd be called as a character witness at my trial. I developed a fairly shrewd idea it was the latter and admit to playing to that too.

'I suppose you regret it all, do you?' the guard asked one day.

'I certainly wish I'd played it differently that first day on the train. Things might have been very different between us. But I don't suppose my father would have allowed a friendship between us anyway. In the end, I had little choice. My father well and truly pushed me down that route and by the sixth year... I felt like it was all too late; I was too afraid for my mother's life to go to Harry and I didn't trust Albus Dumbledore. Hell, I couldn't even risk talking to my own mother about my doubts. That's how much we were all caught in the web.'

'I must have been difficult...' said the guard thoughtfully. 'So, is Harry Potter gay?'

I raised an eyebrow, 'I don't think so. I just...' I didn't know what I 'just', apart from I just wanted to kiss him.

I guess, in the end, the guard must have felt some sympathy for me as he brought me news of what was happening in the outside world. And it was him who gave me his copy of the Daily Prophet so I could read and reread the article by the dim light of my cell's small barred-window.

The speech was printed in full in every paper and it was heartfelt, passionate, and unexpectedly eloquent. Harry's message was persuasive and had the potential to have great impact across the Wizarding World. So long as they actually listened. For me, it was so powerful because it stood for everything that the Dark Lord didn't. More than anything, it hit home. It stood for a new and better future. It stood for hope and it put the onus on everyone, myself included, to fight for a more positive, inclusive, and equal Magical World.