Draco pushed open the hospital wing’s door and helped Maria in. The silence was also heavy in the room, and Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Tonks, Lupin and McGonagall sat at Neville’s and a red head’s bedside. By the look on their faces, it was clear they already knew about what had happened. Madam Pomfrey suddenly came into sight.
"Oh dear," the nurse uttered feebly as she saw Draco clutching a battered up Maria.
Everyone turned around at once before freezing sceptically. The newly-arrived pair also stopped in their tracks, uncertain; Draco wasn’t quite sure of how they considered him now due to his cooperation in the night’s dreadful events.
Harry, of all people, nodded to Draco. His gesture showed tolerance, but no more. The pair then walked the rest of the way under the blank stares of the people already seated as Madam Pomfrey hurried to help Maria.
"I’m fine, thank you," the young witch insisted stubbornly.
The nurse still managed to conjure a chair and push it under the exhausted and sore Maria. Draco, who was standing, remained slightly behind as everyone’s scrutinizing gaze was on him. He shifted uncomfortably, lowering his head shamefully while his audience awaited his speech; for someone who had never shown shame before in public, he certainly produced a grand effect. He breathed deeply and clenched his fists tightly, more annoyed than anything at the sight of their gaping faces.
"There’s nothing to say," he finally voiced obstinately.
The crowd was deceived as several sighed.
"How about sorry?" Ron spat spitefully.
"Ron, please-" Hermione intervened.
"No, Hermione! He’s a bloody liar!" Ron cried out angrily.
"He is not!" Maria snapped, feeling Ron had gone a tad too far in his convictions.
"Please-" Lupin tried passively.
"Just because he snogged you doesn’t mean you have to defend him!" Ron accused harshly.
"What?" Maria shrieked, offended.
"Ron!" Hermione shouted.
"You don’t even know-"
"Please-" Lupin tried again.
"-what you’re talking about!" Maria replied.
"He’s the reason Dumbledore’s dead!" Ron shouted.
"Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall called strictly.
"I defend him because he did the right thing!"
"PLEASE!" Lupin said, louder this time.
All eyes turned to him; Maria and Ron’s were fiery.
"Ron," Lupin addressed, looking more tiresome than ever, "we are all shocked, and I understand your brother doesn’t better things; but Draco deserves the right to speak for himself."
"So you believe him then?" Ron retorted, thinking everyone had lost their minds.
"I cannot say that I do; not yet, for that matter," Lupin answered, his patience shortening, "but he-"
"I believe him."
This time, all eyes darted towards Harry. He acknowledged their gazes yet bore a strangely serene expression. Draco, who had been following the whole argument standing in the back, stopped breathing at once. It was, to say the least, one of the last things they had expected.
"Dumbledore believed him," Harry justified, turning on his chair to face a stunned Draco.
Everyone mimicked him and Draco felt awfully scrutinized as they all eyed him expectantly.
"But then again," McGonagall started, not without a certain reluctance, "he did trust Snape."
"I say let him speak," Tonks encouraged.
Draco glanced towards Maria, who nodded briefly. He sighed silently, not moving in closer, and he told them everything. He started with the task Voldemort had given him because of his father and explained ‘the plan’, Maria sometimes adding a few words. Then, together, he and Harry were able to recall more or less exactly the scene at the top of the Astronomy Tower. There was a long silence once they had finished; everyone was consumed by their own thoughts. Ron was, ironically, the first to break it:
"Blimey…"
He had spoken on behalf of everyone. Maria frowned.
"Wait a second," Maria started, "you said that Dumbledore said you were not to blame. To who exactly? Draco or Harry?"
"I think he meant it for the both of us actually," Harry responded.
Hermione seemed to grasp Maria’s line of thought.
"But, Malfoy, you said Dumbledore refused your wand, right?"
He nodded, distant.
"Are you trying to say Dumbledore wanted all the blame on him?" Tonks inquired tentatively.
"This is really strange," Maria continued, "but judging by the way Harry and Draco recounted it, it sounded as though he wasn’t even frightened, or surprised by Snape’s sudden appearance."
"Do you think he, well, knew about it?" Hermione tried.
"Professor Dumbledore knew very well that Snape was a Death Eater and a double-agent, but he always defended him," McGonagall explained with a bitter sound to her voice.
"He once told me he had an iron-clad reason to trust him," Harry divulged, fury burning in his eyes, "Snape fooled him."
"That’s not what I meant," Hermione intervened, "I meant; do you think it was... possibly... somehow, arranged?"
"I talked to Dumbledore three times this year, privately," Maria added, "about the issue at hand. He knew about everything from the very start; he told me we were on the right track and that Draco had all the help he needed. He knew Death Eater’s would invade the school; he knew they would try to kill him yet he still returned, taking the care to immobilize Harry so he wouldn’t intervene."
"And on the Tower," Hermione pressed, continuing for Maria, "Harry said Dumbledore told Malfoy he had kept his secret to protect him."
"From what?" Tonks asked.
"I was to be murdered, along with my relatives, if I failed," Draco answered almost placidly, in a detached way.
They all gaped at him, startled. That certainly explained a lot, like why he had been so dishevelled and absent all year.
"What if it wasn’t all just bad coincidence?" Hermione concluded.
Everyone was thinking hard now. It made some sense; a number of the little clues they had led to that conclusion, but the others were more confusing and much was left to interpretation. Nonetheless, it was a theory worthy of serious reflection.
"This is foolish," McGonagall concluded, "I am sure there were other ways in which Professor Dumbledore could have managed saving young Malfoy’s faith; other ways that didn’t involve such sacrifice. He would never have gone running into such a foolish death; he would have persisted until the very end."
"But you said it yourself, Professor," Hermione replied, "he would never have-"
"Enough!" McGonagall commanded authoritatively, "there is no need for elaborated schemes; the past cannot be undone. However, if there is one thing I might add, it’s that we can all do Dumbledore some justice by believing Mr. Malfoy. Now if you will excuse us, I would like to talk to Mr. Potter in my office."
McGonagall rose to her feet, followed by Harry who had been expecting this and they left the hospital wing.
"Sorry, Ron, ‘bout-"
"Yeah…"
Ron looked down, a bit embarrassed by his earlier behaviour. ‘He needn’t be that way,’ Maria thought to herself; she understood him very well. An awkward atmosphere suddenly settled in the hospital wing. It seemed like Draco was an intruder, not meant to be there. He himself felt oddly out of place; he had spent so many years cursing these people, it was queer having to cohabit with them so peacefully. Yet, they accepted his presence without further protestations. It was a most uncomfortable situation.
"I’m proud of you, cousin," Tonks said, breaking the unwieldy silence.
The eyes of those who were unaware of Draco and Tonks relation doubled in size while Lupin and Maria smiled. Tonks then motioned to him to join them, but he remained rooted on the spot. Sitting in the present company was probably one of the last things he would have wanted.
"What are you considering doing, Draco?" Lupin asked with a most serious expression, shortly after Tonks’ comment.
That question was inevitable, and even though Draco had been expecting it, he had still hoped the silence would stretch on. He was thinking, eyebrows furrowed, carefully deciding what to say. If only Maria hadn’t been there, he would have told them to ‘sod off’; but she was, and he somehow felt compelled to tell the truth.
"We can help you," Lupin added, seeing as he was taking so long. "We can hide you, protect you-"
Draco gave a sour, dry laugh that made everyone jump in their seats.
"No one can ‘hide’ from the Dark Lord and you all know it," Draco said with a grave voice and an amused smirk. "Yet you have no idea the true power, the infinite skill he possesses. Once he’s mad, nothing can get in his way."
"Spoken like a true follower," taunted Ron.
"Curiously, I’m sure your Potter friend would have said the same thing."
"It is indeed, not the first time we hear that," Lupin said with a sigh, "what will you do then?"
Draco’s smirk slowly faded as he was once again immerged in his thoughts. During this lingering silence, Madam Pomfrey went over to Maria and dabbed a green potion onto her ruptured and swollen cheek. The young witch winced as the potion stung painfully and healed her skin.
"I’m going back," Draco announced determinedly, "it’s the only thing left to do."
Maria cringed, but this time it wasn’t because of the pain in her cheek; it was because of the pain that came from acknowledging such a decision.
"It is your choice Draco, but considering your implication in tonight’s events, it is most unwise to meddle with this information right under Voldemort’s nose," Lupin argued. "As accomplished a Legilimens as he is, he is bound to find out sooner or later."
"I have to go back," Draco insisted
"Hiding is undoubtedly the safer alternative," Lupin tried once more, hoping Draco would see reason.
"Unless he forgot about everything," Luna suggested in a hushed, dreamy voice.
It seemed as though Maria was the only one to have heard Luna’s reply. She found it to be of a very pertinent importance; she frowned slightly as her mind started racing…
"I am going back," Draco attested firmly before continuing in a milder voice, "I have to. I have to make sure whether or not I truly belong there."
Everyone sunk back in their chairs; they all at once seemed to understand that it was a necessary choice. None of them asked how Draco expected this ‘test’ to turn out because they dreaded his answer. They had disliked him very much – and still didn’t think too well of him – but the thought of him joining them was nonetheless rejoicing, for it meant that not all villains were actually evil. They could simply wish for the best.
"Are you saying that, even after everything you’ve done this year, you’re not convinced?" said Hermione, who still didn’t understand how the choice between good and bad could be so difficult. ‘Gryffindors...’ Draco thought.
"I haven’t done much," he replied.
"Haven’t done much?" Tonks retorted, aghast. "You’ve proved a great deal! You betrayed Voldemort for the sake of someone else, putting your own life in danger! You’re the living proof that there is still hope, that Voldemort can be overcome!"
"But I failed!" Draco spat, his voice growing louder. "I failed the only thing I’ve ever tried doing for myself! Failed!"
Everyone was silent and stared at their feet. The death of Dumbledore was indeed a terrible loss.
"So what? You still did it!" Tonks reasoned, certain that he was, after all, a good person.
Draco twitched; yes he had done it, but why? Because Dumbledore deserved to live, that’s why. Because the Dark Lord was only but the darkest remains of what had once been a man troubled by his own past, thirsty for revenge and his version of justice. ‘Because I just don’t give a damn about that man’s battle with his own world,’ Draco thought.
Suddenly, the hospital wing’s door opened brusquely to let a herd of red haired wizards in. Everyone jumped to their feet and Maria seized the opportunity to slide out of the room. However, Draco noticed her and swiftly followed her into the corridor.
"Where are you going?"
‘Stay,’ was what he really had meant. Maria turned around; she looked positively exhausted and her hair, which was tied up in a long ponytail, was impossibly matted and filthy. Draco too didn’t look too healthy himself. In spite of the surrounding darkness and her grim appearance, her eyes were still magnificently bright. The sight blew some life back into him.
"I have to go to the library; check on something," she answered vaguely.
They both stood there, not moving and gazing upon the other as a sense of powerlessness took over their already weak bodies. They were slipping away from each other, and even though all they wanted was to be with the other, they were letting it happen: perhaps it would make things a bit easier once school was over. So they remained in silence, acknowledging their weakness, yet trying to overcome it. Maria breathed in sharply and turned once more to walk away as Draco watched her, his heart terribly hollow. Reality was sinking in; they had to move on.