SALEM ᵈ ᵐᵃˡᶠᵒʸ

xxv. Peace

THERE was a quietness that unfolded as everyone took in Voldemort's unmoving body on the ground, as if several breaths were held in all at once.

Until someone screamed the biggest cheer and others followed in suit, and like a domino effect everyone in the Great Hall was cheering louder than the stadium at the Quidditch World Cup.

Unbeknownst to me, I also released a breath of my own; perhaps a breath that was filled with so much relief.

I watched as every one of my friends surrounded Harry and took turns giving him the praises, the thank you's—everything he deserved; because if it weren't for him. . .if it weren't for what we did, this feeling of freedom wouldn't have happened.

And—Merlin—hearing those cries, seeing those faces, it was enough to make me tear up because there was not a single ounce of lost hope to be found in them, reminding me that I was one of those faces.

I had lived and survived.

I am living and I survived.

Sniffling, I looked up at Draco, who was watching everyone with a solemn face. But it was light that shone in his eyes, brighter than I've seen it.

"Is it—is this real?" I asked him, my voice cracking and still wrapped in his arms.

He looked down at me and smiled the biggest one I've seen. "Yes," he laughed, unable to stop a tear from falling. "Yes, it's real. It's over."

Those two words clanged through me more than the shouts and cheers of everyone in the room; the words I've been dying to finally hear.

I let out a grateful sob and wrapped my arms around him, relishing in the moment as I silently cried whilst looking at the crowd once again.

Harry and I locked eyes from across the room. He was smiling before I even caught his eye, no judgement to be found in them. He nodded once, as if to say, "yes, this is real". I gave him a smile back.

Draco pulled away first, his face flushed with so much more clarity. Despite the bloody cuts and the dirt on his face, it had never looked more handsome—especially when he was grinning down at me with a hint of mischief.

No frown lines, no scowl, no heaviness lining his eyes; a face so beautiful, so different. But it was still Draco, all the same.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked softly.

Despite myself, I mentally snickered. Of course, you idiot.

But instead I said, "Always."

His award-winning smile was the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes and felt his soft lips on mine.

THE aftermath of the defeat still felt like a dream to me. I was in a daze as I walked around the Hall with Draco, before I lost him in the crowd as people and my friends came up to me with hugs and cheers.

With all the bustling activity of people cleaning up, tending to the injured and the fallen, the Great Hall had become as lively as how it usually was during lunch at school hours.

The context was just a bit different, though. Firstly, no one was eating, and secondly, there were dead bodies that lined the Entrance Hall in a respectful manner.

It was where I stared to now, wondering where they had put my dad. I didn't want to go while my mom went, didn't want to see his face like that again—I wasn't ready, not yet.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said quietly, seeing where my gaze was pinned.

"You don't have to be sorry for anything, B," I replied automatically.