"This is mental," Maia kept repeating.

She would close her eyes almost instinctively every time they passed someone they hadn't yet seen: they had bothered to keep hidden for hours that they had returned to Hogwarts, and now that they had to leave the Room of Requirement, it was practically impossible for them to they would not recognize them. Blonde hair, almost white, accompanied by a boy with jet-colored hair, emerald green eyes and a lightning bolt scar adorning his forehead. Who were they trying to fool?

They crossed the corridors with their heads bowed, trying not to make more noise than usual or to make eye contact with anyone they did not trust, because the slightest sign of suspicion could lead to discovery.

"It was you who insisted on coming with me," Harry breathed out. "Stop saying that."

Maia gave him a sideways glance. "You know why I hate group tasks? Because I know no one will do a better job than me. I'd rather do it myself and alone than do it with people whose skills I don't trust," she whispered with anger in her voice. "So, yeah, you thank me later for wanting to save you."

"Nothing's going to happen," the Gryffindor reassured her. "They're calling all students to find us, but if we just keep our heads down they won't even realize," Harry rolled his eyes knowing Maia's gaze was still on him. "I won't act up. I know what's in danger if we fail. Don't worry."

When they reached the Great Hall, Maia couldn't help but swallow hard, and beside her, Harry let out a great sigh. It was now or never. The Slytherin took one last look at the boy, who returned the gesture, and then pulled away from him. Students were beginning to be sorted by houses, and while Harry had found it a bit easier to find a Gryffindor tie, Maia's task of finding a Slytherin garment had been a bit tougher.

However, someone shouted that they were in the Room of Requirement, and that if everyone asked for it hard enough, surely the castle would help them. This is how Maia ended up with a black robe and a green and white tie around her neck.

She looked around for a familiar face. Not that she expected to see all those who had once been her companions there around her, welcoming her with open arms, especially after everything that had happened, but she did confess to herself that familiar eyes would have slowed down the rate at which her heart was going.

A feeling of disgust ran through her stomach when she saw the Carrow siblings standing where the table she had smashed months earlier once were. She swallowed hard when he saw Snape appear, for it could only mean one thing: this was serious, the search for Harry and Maia was more serious than they had expected.

Suddenly, a hand slipped into hers. Maia's first instinct was to pull away, just in case it was a mistake, but when she felt the hardness and warmth of skin she was able to recognize it. She glanced to her right surreptitiously, and Eden's kind eyes looked back at her.

She felt her heart leap out of her chest for moments. "I missed you," he mouthed.

The Slytherin was about to return the words to her friend, but Snape's voice boomed. "It's come to my attention that earlier this evening Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade. Now, should anyone, student or staff, attempt to aid Mr. Potter, they will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression. Furthermore, any person found to have knowledge of these events who fails to come forward will be treated as equally guilty," the now headmaster was walking through the gap left by the students from the different houses. They seemed as confused by the appearance of Harry Potter as they were scared by the consequences that this could bring. "If anyone here has any knowledge of Mr. Potter's movements this evening, I invite them to step forward now."

Gasps. Whispers. Maia could almost guess whose footsteps were heard next. If Snape didn't curse him, she would do it herself. Couldn't he hide his enormous desire for prominence and be quiet sometime?

"It seems, despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, headmaster," Harry spat.

The students all turned when the door to the Great Hall opened, causing Maia to forget to pretend for a moment and let herself be carried away. She opened her mouth when she saw Granger and Weasley appear, holding hands, along with other people she knew made up the Order of the Phoenix.

Eden gave her a confused look, to which she replied with a shrug. "A bit sassy, ​​the chosen one," muttered the Slytherin.

Maia was no longer listening to Harry. Her gaze had traveled straight to Snape, who was watching the scene with an impassive gesture, but Maia knew he was going to great lengths to hide and not hurt Harry, who was always doing his best to derail his plans. Anger was evident in his white face, his nostrils were swollen and his lips parted.

"How dare you stand where he stood?" Shouted Harry, furious as never before. "Tell them how it happened that night! Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you, and killed him. Tell them."

The Slytherin knew that Snape wouldn't take that humiliation much longer, and she knew it was her time to act. She stepped out of the line she was lined up in, and she could hear more gasps and screams, which were overshadowed by the tension of the moment when they would have made her proud in another instant.

"Don't you dare," Maia warned, her wand pointed in the direction of Snape, who was looking at her in apparent confusion. "If you want to hurt him, it'll be over my dead body."

"Gladly," butted in Alecto and Amycus. "You filthy traitor."

"You will not harm my students!" McGonagall ran to their help.

"Are you sure, professor?" Maia smirked. "I could take them both with my eyes closed."

This only fueled the fire that burned inside the two Death Eaters. They had been overtaken by a teenage girl, by a girl who would end up being a traitor to their cause, and they needed to see her pay for what she had done with her own hands. Before the two siblings could cast spells on her, Snape raised his wand and McGonagall took it upon herself to protect the three of them.

Harry and Maia stood on her side, aware that it was a fight that could not be theirs, but always on the alert in case the head of Gryffindor needed help. Finally Snape deflected a spell that was going for him but ended up hitting the two Death Eaters, who collapsed to the ground like two dead weights. The three of them, along with the other students, watched closely as Snape seemed to cast a spell. Applause was only heard when the now headmaster escaped through the window, breaking the glass and leaving his two allies lying there.

However, the joy of the moment was rather short-lived. Maia began to notice a well-known tingling in the palm of her hand, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Her eyes went to Harry, in order to verify that the same thing was happening to her —although with the slight hope that the boy was safe, because it would suppose something very different from what the girl had in mind. She saw the Gryffindor fall to the ground, leaning on the stairs, his gaze lost and a look of confusion on his face that did not go unnoticed by anyone present.

Her head began to spin, and her mind began to be aware of what was happening: Voldemort had found them. As she predicted, the voice of the Dark Lord began to be heard throughout the room, not just in their heads.

"I know that many of you will want to fight. Some of you may even think that to fight is wise. But this is folly. Give me Harry Potter and Maia Malfoy. Do this and none shall be harmed. Give them to me and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. Give them to me and you will be rewarded. You have one hour."

Panic began to spread. There were several screams in the room, which the older ones took care of calming down. The crowd began to carefully observe each movement of the two undesirables, seriously reconsidering if it was the best thing to fight or if, on the contrary, they should save their lives in exchange for those of the two adolescents.

The first to approach was Eden. Maia's eyes widened a little —the impertinent but unavoidable doubt that anyone would want to get away from her crackled in her heart— but the boy simply lifted her off the ground, dusted her cloak, and returned the wand that had been left to her. fallen after loss of balance. "If you want to get her, you'll have to get me, too."

After the Slytherin's gesture —which Maia greatly appreciated— the next to approach were the members of the Order and Ginny, protecting the two students with their bodies. To the surprise of both, no one pointed out them publicly, but they could see in the eyes of many the fear and desire they had to leave that place.

"Please, Mr. Filch, escort those students who are not of age and also those who do not wish to fight tonight to their Common Rooms. Ah, also the Slytherins. The rest of you, if you may, follow me," McGonagall announced to the students. Then she glanced at the two newcomers. "It's good to see you two again. Do whatever you need to do."

Maia's heart was kicking hard against her chest, so much so that it seemed like it was going to leak out of her mouth at any moment. She was convinced that Eden could feel her heart hammering against his own chest the instant he squeezed her into his arms. Maia struggled to return the show of affection, but Eden lifted her up and her own nerves did not allow her to express herself clearly. "Always so timely, Mai."

The blonde smiled through the tears that threatened to escape and grabbed his face. "I'm so glad you're okay. You don't know how many times I've thought of you, how you would be, while I was away."

"After I heard what happened to you, I expected the worst. But you're the strongest person I know, a part of me always knew you were alright," Eden hugged her once again. "It's great to have you back."

Maia's face changed. "Do you know anything of Draco? Do you know if he's...?"

"He's fine. He came back after Easter, just without you. I just knew something had changed the moment I saw his face. This is not your fault, Maia."

"He's here, isn't he? He's going to fight."

"Maia..."

"We have to go," Ron approached the two of them, Hufflepuff's cup in his hands.

Eden understood immediately and looked at Maia. "You go. I'll look for him. Everything will be alright, Maia. Trust me," the Slytherin kissed her head and ran away.

"You go ahead and destroy it. Use a fang from the chamber; Potter will open it. I'll look for you once I finish what I've got to do," Maia stated, not even caring about what the other three had to say.

Harry and Hermione nodded, more to themselves than Maia, and headed out of the dining room, while Ron lingered further behind, his blue gaze scrutinizing the gray of the Slytherin.

"I'm sorry," whispered Maia, her eyes closing. "I'm going to break her heart tonight."

"She might seem young and innocent, but she knows more than we know. Just do what you have to do; she'll understand soon enough."

"Good luck," Maia muttered through her teeth, and when Ron understood the reference he winked at her.

Maia felt incredibly bad about being forced to turn her back on Ginny right now, but she also felt like she had something to prioritize right now, and that was Draco. She didn't see the redhead anywhere where she went, so the pressure in her chest eased, feeling less guilty than if she had had to look her in the eye and tell her the truth.

Because the truth was, she had played on Ginny Weasley's feelings and expectations as if they were a child's toy. There was no such future that she had promised so much that night on the beach; there were not all those moments they had imagined in their heads, taking care of Teddy, teaching him what magic was, Quidditch and the story of his parents. There was no future in which Maia Malfoy was still alive, in which both girls could stay together for eternity.

Oh, how many times had she wished for this moment so that she could finally save her brother from all the hardship he had endured. More than once she had thought of happily giving her life for him, because nothing tied her to this world if Draco was not there, but she had not expected to find another reason to keep clinging to life. Because having Draco and Ginny in her life weren't compatible; for one she wanted to live a long life but for the other she was willing to die that very night.

She thought of all those moments that Bellatrix had told her to suppress her feelings and how she had achieved it countless times, but now there was only a deep pain in her heart that he could not hide. Her chest was puffing up, on the verge of sobbing and shedding tears, and she was terribly tired. She didn't know if she could take that facet of being a strong person who never broke down anymore, not when everything around her was so disastrous.

She stepped out into the courtyard not without difficulty, as she encountered huge figures vanishing from their positions as castle guards and landing beside her. She kept running until she found Minerva McGonagall, who was commanding the stone knights to protect Hogwarts, and Molly Weasley.

"Malfoy!" The teacher screamed when she saw her appear. However, Maia raised her wand and began to imitate the protective spells. The courtyard floor rumbled loudly as the Slytherin articulated her spells, and loud roars rang out as the red beams from her wand made the invisible castle defense cloak more powerful. At this, Minerva gulped. "I thought I was being very clear when I told Filch to lead Slytherins to the dungeons."

"Not a chance, professor," Maia gasped through the noise. "After the war, you can put me on detention whenever you wish to, but now I'm staying."

It was definitely not the answer the Gryffindor head had expected. She smiled slightly at the young woman's statements, and shared a knowing look with the Weasley matriarch.

"Why are you doing this?" Wanted to know Molly, even though she already knew the answer.

"Love, Mrs. Weasley," Maia seemed even happy to be able to say that. "I don't know how much time this will work, professor, I'd say about half an hour more, which I'd ​​assume it's more than what you planned. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Stay alive, miss Malfoy. I want to see you in those detentions you mentioned before," smiled McGonagall.

Maia nodded with a small grin that tried to be a smile, but was unsuccessful. She knew she had wasted some of her precious time helping the two women, but it was somehow comforting to know that it had been for a good cause. If Draco was in the castle, that would only have bought time for him to be safe.

Time stopped.

Maia felt faint; here the burning in her chest returned again. It hurt like never before, but far from lamenting that pain, it almost made her happy. Her connection with Voldemort was getting stronger because there were fewer and fewer objects with a part of her soul. If her calculations didn't fail —and the girl really hoped they didn't— there were only three beings left tied to the Dark Lord: his snake, Harry Potter, and herself.

Recurring chest pain spread to her head, and as it seemed to explode in pain, she began to hear a voice whispering in her head: Don't do it, or they'll die. It was Voldemort, who had already discovered her true intentions hours ago and was trying to threaten to kill her family. However, she knew she planned to do it sooner or later, and that constant whisper in Parseltongue in her mind was not going to prevent her from developing the plan that had been in her mind for a long time.

"Maia!" A voice screamed for her. However, her efforts to identify it were in vain, a ringing occupied her ears and she seemed to lose her vision progressively. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

It was Neville Longbottom. She denied that she was badly injured, so the boy, whose voice no longer trembled when he spoke to her, helped her up.

"Oh, never been better, Longbottom," she said, leaning against the wall and concentrating on breathing and not seeing black dots. "Do you know by chance where Snape is?"

"Heard he's in the Astronomy Tower, but I've been too busy to check. Why?"

Maia smiled slightly. "Because the moment I find him, this war is closer to an end," Maia took a deep breath. She had long dreamed of ending the suffering, but now that she was about to get what she wanted, it was when things were most difficult for her. "Oh, and Neville? I believe you're a great son, friend and a true Gryffindor. It's been a pleasure to share this horrible year with you."

"Malfoy? Sounds like you're saying goodbye."

"Might as well do it in peace, shall I? We'll see each other again, I'm sure. Take care."

She allowed herself a few moments, closing her eyes tightly to hold back the tears. Who would have thought months ago that saying goodbye to Neville Longbottom would affect her in this way?

She took a deep breath with the same goal in her head: to find Draco. She assumed that from the pain she had felt minutes ago, the Hufflepuff cup had been destroyed, so they were closer to finishing it all. She walked through the corridors with more haste than calm, against the current of the students who were struggling to stay calm and to reinforce positions that were likely to be attacked the most frequently.

Everywhere she went he saw members of the Order, like Kingsley —who seemed to be everywhere— or the Weasley twins, as well as many others she didn't know personally, but there was no sign of Remus or Tonks. A new concern was added to the many she already had: where would Teddy be? Maia was comforted to think that she would be at his Aunt Andromeda's house, away from all that mess, waving his plump little arms in his longing to see his parents again.

Her world stopped once more.

Gray eyes collided with gray eyes.

Maia's legs moved as fast as they could, almost without permission. Draco was stunned, as if he was seeing a ghost. Blaise and Crabbe turned to see what was holding up their friend, and they watched as the Slytherin slowly approached his sister.

"Draco," the girl let out on a sigh.

The boy looked paler than usual. "You're alive."

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Maia repeated, tears threatening to escape once more. "I didn't want this to happen, I just wanted you to be safe."

Maia felt that, despite the short physical distance, she was very far from her brother, whose gaze she had not yet been able to decipher. "You really went with them? Why?"

"It's a long story, Draco. But I promise everything I did was to keep you safe. You know what I am, you know since mother told me, I know you do. And you also know I have to die in order to destroy him once and for all."

"But why would you want to do that? If you keep alive the horcrux in you, the Dark Lord will live, and we won't have to worry about anything anymore."

"Because, Draco, I don't want to live in a world where you're sacrificing yourself for me. You've kept me alive for years, I wanted you to have a real life, one in which you don't have to be afraid of anything anymore. I want you to live," Maia wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "And that can't happen as long as I'm here."

Draco blinked and two fresh tears fell from his eyes. "You had no right to do that. You didn't even ask for my opinion, we could've figured something out. Together. But you decided to go away and without me. You really thought I'd be happier in a world where I didn't have to be a Death Eater but having to remind myself that I'm the reason you'd be dead? I'd take this mark a million times if that meant having you with me."

His sister took him by the cheeks. "A lot of people will be better off this way. Please, don't think of me as selfish. I just wanted you to be okay. Please..."

"Stupefy!" Someone yelled behind them, breaking the moment they were sharing.

Crabbe was raising his wand in the direction of the end of the hall, where the Gryffindor trio came running from. Harry did his best to defend them from the attack, and it was Hermione who returned the spell.

"Not! Leave them alone!" Maia interceded, raising her hands. "They are not going to hurt you."

"You're everything I have, Maia," Draco's voice trembled. "Please, don't go tonight. If you go, he'll kill you. Please."

Draco wrapped his sister in a hug for what seemed like the first time in a long time. They looked into each other's eyes again after that. "I'll meet you at midnight here, okay? Everything will be alright. Now leave. You know you can't be seen with me, or he'll be angry."

Somewhat more relieved by his sister's promise, Draco nodded, and with the same gesture he addressed Blaise and Crabbe at the same moment that Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived.

"It's done, right?"

"Snape's dead."

Maia's face fell. "What?"

Harry nodded quickly, nervous. "He's killed him. Well, his snake. He was working with Dumbledore all this time. He was in love with my mother, he was trying to protect me all this time."

Maia thought that it was not a good time to confess that she knew everything and had been part of that same plan for almost two years. However, her entire plan had fallen apart. Snape knew who she was, what she was, and she knew that he would have been the only person with the guts to kill the horcrux within her... without resorting to Lord Voldemort's ignorance. The only option left was to turn herself in, along with Harry, so that Voldemort could kill them.

A crash interrupted her thoughts. Ron covered Hermione with his own body when a piece of the column fell next to them. Harry looked around, flustered, but Maia understood everything instantly. "They're here. The Death Eaters have entered the castle. Hold them off with the Order while I go look for Eden."

"Don't let Voldemort into your mind. He'll play every trick he can to get you."

Maia remembered those words as she ran off to the opposite side of the three friends. Hogwarts was no longer safe: the columns began to shake, the bricks flew from one side to the other while the Death Eaters destroyed everything in their path. She had to draw her wand and fight alongside several students on numerous occasions, including some of them covering the backs of McGonagall or Slughorn, who gave her a look of gratitude and infinite sadness.

Her heart sank every time she saw an injury or, even worse, when she saw a body lying on the ground, although she did not know who the victim was. A great fury ran through her every time she thought of all that barbarism.

A chill ran down her spine when she heard a shriek. "My dear niece!"

Bellatrix Lestrange was right there behind her when Maia decided to turn around. The smile that had so characterized her childhood, full of terror and lust for blood, was presented to her. She expected a spell, maybe a curse, but she only found that smile, and Maia thought she would have preferred a crucio to a silence.

"Maia!"

Eden ran to her aid on her right, and when he was aware of the Death Eater's presence, he raised his wand. "Expell—"

Bellatrix stopped the simple spell with a wave of her wand. Maia watched in horror as Eden's wand flew through the air, just like him moments later. The boy fell to the ground with a thud, not a word left his lips.

"Eden—"

The blonde ran to her friend's side, who was lying on the ground. Her lips began to tremble when she saw the blood trickling from his ear, mouth and chest. A large cut ran from his left shoulder to his stomach, and Maia's mind flashed memories of when it happened to her.

Her hands were shaking.

Again, stained with blood, but this time not hers.

She looked up, where Bellatrix's smile only made it widen. "Oops," and disappeared.

Eden's uniform was filling with blood as Maia struggled to pack the wound in the best way she knew how. The boy's eyes were open but the blonde didn't really know where they were going.

"Maia..."

"Shh," she urged. "Don't speak. I'll clean this up and then we'll go to Madam Pomfrey, okay?"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I... pressured you into... helping Draco."

Maia collapsed in that very instant. She sobbed like a little girl, she cried like she had never cried. She knew she had to stay strong for Eden, but she couldn't avoid the spasms that seized her chest, or the deep pain she felt in her heart. Her best friend was dying and she couldn't do anything about it.

"No, no. This is not your fault. You've been so kind to me, even when I didn't deserve it, even when I deserved to be left alone, you were always by my side. Stay with me, please. I'll call for help."

Eden's narrowed eyes caught a glimpse of a white creature emerge from Maia's wand. "You know how... to cast a patronus. You did well. Keep fighting. I'm so... proud of you."

Maia clung to Eden's chest as if her life depended on it. She wanted to protect him, she wanted to save him, she wanted to heal that wound that was taking his life little by little before her eyes. There were so many feelings inside her that it was difficult for her to think straight.

Suddenly Eden's breath stopped hitting her on the neck. A discomfited Maia quickly separated from him and stroked his face. "No, no. Come on. Wake up. Wake up, Eden. Don't, please. Please," as soon as she realized he had closed her eyes forever, the air left her chest.

She stayed with him for a while longer, making up for the time that he couldn't stay with her. She hugged him calmly, trying to get him to leave with as much peace as possible. She didn't care about the students running here and there, she just cared about being with Eden a little more.

But Eden was dead. The boy she had loved the most along with her own brother in her life was dead, and it was all her fault. It was she who had exposed him to so much danger, it was she who had rebelled against everything and everyone. And now she was alone, with her best friend's blood all over her clothes and her face and a feeling of irreparable sadness in her heart.

She got up and the tears were no longer coming out. She turned when she saw Madam Pomfrey and two other nurses arrive, alerted by the Patronus and horrified by what was before them. Maia knew that if she took one last look at Eden's body she would never want to be separated from him.

Only rage lived in her body. She had gotten tired of crying, her tears were in vain because they only denoted sadness, they did not heal or save lives. She heard voices in the background, as if they weren't talking to her, but a familiar figure approached little by little, and took her face in her hands when she saw her bloody and with a lost look.

"Maia? Can you hear me? Hey, are you okay?" Tonks brushed the sweaty locks from her forehead, and that's when the blonde was able to focus her gaze on her cousin's. "Where is this blood coming from?"

"He's dead," Maia muttered; not even she heard herself.

"Who, sweetheart? Tell me."

"She killed him. Bellatrix killed Eden. She killed him in front of me and I did nothing."

Tonks began to worry. Her cousin's face was beginning to cool, her voice was nothing more than a whisper and her eyes were looking at her but not seeing her.

Maia felt that familiar tingling in the palm of her hand, but this time was different. There was no pain preceding it, no burning in her chest, just a tingle. She looked down at the palms of her hands, covered in dried blood, and saw Tonks walk away from her.

"Maia, what is happening?"

"What?"

The dark-haired girl —that night— pointed to his eyes. "Your eyes are red," she interrupted herself when she felt a tremor on the ground where they stood. The stone began to crack, and a breeze that turned violent shook her clothes. She raised her voice: "What is happening?!"

Maia was confused, but mostly furious. She had seen Bellatrix's face, her sarcastic smile, her mocking expression, her wrist movement, her non-verbal spell with which she had made Eden bleed to death in front of her. Those lifeless brown eyes would remain forever in the blonde's mind, who couldn't think of anything other than revenge.

"Tonks! What is that?"

"Arthur! I don't know what is happening. Maia's eyes turned red and then—"

A terrifying scream chilled their blood. What had started with a soft sigh of air had turned into a sudden blizzard, the slight tremor now causing even the columns to vibrate on the ground. Everyone who passed by stared in amazement, barely remembering what was happening around them. The deafening scream came from Maia's throat, as did the wind, as well as what could be classified as an earthquake for everyone around. Her fists were clenched and her face was looking up at the roof of the castle.

Suddenly, she was silent. She looked down at Tonks, who shifted in her position, awkward and surprised: her cousin's eyes were still red.

"Bellatrix killed him, so she will pay for it."