HP Midnight Light

- November 1982, 4 - Azkaban

The iron bars of Azkaban prison are cold and strong, even if they are rusty, they will never bend.

Sirius lost time.

At first he calculated the date from memory according to the sunrise and sunset.However, this method completely failed after he slept for a whole day and night on a certain day, and the isolated island where Azkaban is located is different from any corner in the world—the warmth has nothing to do with it here, and the gray sea is the same gray sky as far as the eye can see. , anyone who stays for a long time will at least be depressed if not crazy.It is said that the jailers of Azkaban are changed every year, which is not without reason.

After waking up from yet another nightmare, Sirius decided to find something to do for himself.He tore a strip of cloth from his robes and began mopping the rusted bars.

This is really stupid, but he is not willing to become a walking dead like this.

His work progressed extremely slowly, and an unknown amount of time passed. When Sirius tore off the last piece of fabric from the hem of the robe, the lower fifth of the first fence finally revealed its original appearance.The shiny black metal shone with a strange shimmer at dusk. Sirius stopped his movements and looked at the shimmer. It seemed to have touched the deepest strings in his dry heart, making him dullly aware that there was finally a chord in this world. There are still things that are alive and vivid.

—Is steel alive?of course not.

——But everything has life, everything lies in how to arouse their spirituality.

really weird.He thought that all the slightly positive emotions in his life had been eaten by the dementors for dinner, but at such a moment, such a cold fence touched his heart.Although he was not born to be used to being alone, but has he been reduced to the point of exchanging philosophy of life with a fence?

Sirius couldn't help but laugh out loud as he thought wildly.The slightly desolate laughter echoed inside and outside the tower, making it particularly infiltrating.Laughing and laughing, Sirius stopped suddenly again. He looked at the sea in the distance, and closed his eyes as if he couldn't look directly at its sternness.

As time went on, he spent less and less time awake and more and more time asleep.There's nothing wrong with falling asleep.Some people fall asleep, not because of sleepiness, but to escape from reality.

The scariest thing about this protracted war is that nothing seems to have happened, but everything has happened.It quietly and invisiblely turns the wheel of fate with one hand, moving people who don't know from one side of the chessboard to the other.Sirius, for example, was deeply lonely and had nothing. He came to Azkaban with a broken heart and a chill that would accompany him for life. Here is both punishment and escape. No matter how terrible it is, at least on this isolated island He was able to find his last solace in the oldest memories.

Like the countless sleepy days and nights in the past, Sirius saw James again. The 21-year-old James was sitting in the shade of a tree playing with the Snitch, with Hogwarts Castle behind him and the Black Lake in front of him.

"I said," James sighed, "if anything goes wrong with Lily, you will take care of Harry, right?" Before Sirius could answer, he smiled slyly, "If you dare to tell Harry Leigh speaks ill of me, and I promise to float into the house in the dead of night to settle accounts with you."

Sirius wanted to speak, but he couldn't make any sound.

"Try to get Moony a girlfriend by the way... well, I know he'd be the first one to be unhappy, but—" James shrugged, and easily reached out to grab the Snitch back, "he really needs love and concerned."

Sirius stared greedily at his friend's face, he was so at ease, so young, and as always, he liked to talk about serious topics in a funny tone.Sirius couldn't imagine what it would be like for James to die under the Killing Curse, and he was still unwilling to accept the fact that James would never be able to seriously make all kinds of jokes that weren't funny.

"And Peter." James frowned slightly, "Anyway, he's been behind us for so long—"

"Jaime!" Someone called Jaime's name in the distance, and the red-haired, green-eyed girl they both loved was trotting towards them from the castle hall.

James jumped up and gave Lily a big wave, grinning the same way James had when he was bouncing up and down the boys' dormitory excitedly after their first date.

"Hey Padfoot, did I tell you?" James turned to Sirius with a big smile, "Three coolest things I've done in my life: number one, being my parents' son; To sit in a box with you on the express train; the third is to form a family with Lily;”

Sirius heard his own voice: "I'm actually in front of Lily?"

"I've been changed twice, Padfoot. The second time it was Lily who made me less of an 'asshole', and you," James looked at him, "not just made me realize that not every Blake is an asshole , it's more about... believing."

Sirius looked at him confused.

"You'll understand one day, stupid Padfoot." James laughed happily, and he looked back at Lily. "She's waiting for me—promise me, you'll walk down, okay?"

Sirius didn't have time to answer, he watched James run towards Lily, they embraced tightly not far from him, Lily smiled and waved at him from a distance.He watched them walk away hand in hand, but he stayed where he was and couldn't do anything—

He tucked his head into his shoulders like a small animal shy of the cold, and rested his forehead on the railing. The dementors were unaware of this until the next morning when they opened the cell door to deliver breakfast. The breath of life in the cell was so weak that it could disappear at any time.

Prison guards are no strangers to this: Too many people never make it to the day they are released from prison, dying of depression, disease or despair.

As usual, they took the seriously ill prisoner to the basement, tied him to a bed with chains, and went about their business.

Tomorrow morning they will come again to check on the hapless creature.If he dies, they will notify the Ministry of Magic to bury his body in the graveyard behind the prison - life imprisonment means that there is no release after death; if his condition improves, then he will have to be released Send back to the cell.

He was dying, but he was still stubbornly resisting the final blow of death.Sirius' dream continued, he was on the bustling Platform Nine and Three Quarters, surrounded by unfamiliar or familiar faces.He looked around anxiously, trying to see everyone through the steam.

As if he had been waiting all his life--waiting for her coming--and for a split second he looked back and saw her: with the last bitter tears in her eyes, during the year they had lived together, he had Never have I seen her eyes so bright, so sad, so full of gratitude.

She didn't say anything, just looked at him so quietly from a distance not too far away, letting the tears keep falling.

The train's whistle whistled long and loudly.Sirius' heart beat violently——

"Hyatings," he cried with all the strength of his life, "Hyatings!"

It didn't help that, like Jaime, she was lost in a sea of ​​people in an instant.

There was silence, and amidst the chirping conversations of people on the platform and the gurgling water of waves crashing on the shore outside the prison, one could faintly hear a sad sigh.

It occurred to Sirius that long ago, on some cold winter nights, when they were out walking around, Hyacins would snuggle up in his arms, nuzzling his chest like a cat.

At that time he fantasized about a family, at that time he had everything, and the trivial happiness at that time seemed sharper than a dagger and colder than frost.

Sirius laughed in his semi-consciousness, and he woke up from his delusions laughing and coughing.The dream faded, and he was in the "ward" set up for dying patients in Azkaban. There was neither James and the sunny Hogwarts, nor the platform where Hyacinth and people came and went.

His dreams and laughter were separated at the same time.Sirius raised his hand and saw the shackles above, and he realized once again that something that cannot be lost and cannot be retrieved was lost in his life.

Sirius raised his hand to wipe away the cooling tears on his cheeks, and he calmly fell back on the pillow. He didn't think he was innocent, and he didn't expect to turn back time.He just felt that the pain in people's hearts is unspeakable, and many actions of people are helpless. Once they are understood in a lifetime, they will be lonely in a lifetime.

-May 5nd - Dumbledore's former home in Fertile Fields

"It's finally time to say goodbye." Dumbledore poured wine to everyone in the room himself.

Hagrid let out a loud sob, and he took a tablecloth-sized handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose.No one accused him of such impolite behavior, they quietly took their glasses of wine, each immersed in grief.

"To the Order of the Phoenix," said Dumbledore, toasting - and all did - he said evenly and sadly, "To James and Lily, for their prematurely ended youth."

"To Peter, for his courage that we have neglected for so long."

"To Fenwick, for his repeated advice."

"To Dorcas, for her inspiration and support for us."

"To Edgar, for the wonderful plan he has conceived."

"To the Prewett Brothers, for the brotherhood that will last forever."

"To Caradoc, for his bad jokes."

"To the McKinnon family for their tremendous service and sacrifice."

"To the Longbottoms, for their unchanging loyalty."

The surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix whispered the names of their comrades-in-arms one by one, and those who were alive in the past were either turned into white bones or walking dead.It is not easy for the living.Moody had been badly wounded in the hunt for the Death Eaters, Emmeline had lost her best friend, and Remus, he was almost as broke as he had been at Hogwarts years earlier.

"To all of us," said Dumbledore finally, a thin layer of tears welling up in his blue eyes, "to all of us who fought to the last minute against Voldemort and the Death Eaters."

The room was silent, save for the slight clink of glasses against the table.

"We lost so much in this war." Dumbledore wiped his eyes quickly, "Our children will remember the heroes who died for this, and they will also listen to Harry's legend grow up."

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room changed subtly.Almost everyone withdrew from their grief temporarily, and they all turned their eyes to Dumbledore.

"As you know, I have decided to give Harry to be raised by his Muggle aunt's family," said Dumbledore. "I know that there are countless people in the wizarding world who would like to adopt him and take care of him. But I have decided to keep this child away. Fame and fortune, growing up in a relatively peaceful world, knowing one’s other identity at the right time. I’m not asserting that fame and fortune will necessarily lead people astray, but I really don’t think it’s important for a young child to grow up from infancy It was right to just start accepting everything—not just the admiration and the awe, but the death of both parents and the truth behind it."

"Dumbledore," Emmeline asked suddenly, "when that child comes to our world, will you tell him the truth about the death of his parents? You will tell him that his parents are their most trusted friends , His godfather betrayed him?"

Dumbledore was silent for a while: "Maybe not then. But Harry will know sooner or later."

"He doesn't need to know!" Emmeline exclaimed excitedly, "The Dark Lord is gone, Black has entered Azkaban, why can't we make up a lie so that Harry doesn't know the... truth!" She tried her best I couldn't find a suitable word with all my strength, "Apart from making his fate more miserable, what's the use of letting him know?"

Dumbledore noticed Remus' pale face, and he gently raised his hand: "Harry is only a little over a year old, Emmeline, we still have nearly ten years to make the right choice."

Di Ge choked up and muttered to himself: "He betrayed them...why..."

"Because he's a dirty scum!"

"Emeline!" It was Remus who spoke this time. He was almost on the verge of falling, and his face was as pale as a dead man's. "It's all over."

- November 5th - Ministry of Magic

Hyacinth met Margaret again in the tenth courtroom.

They were all witnesses, and Margaret gave her a sideways glance as they passed.When Hyacins finished her statement and left the courtroom, she found Margaret waiting for her in the corridor.

"Before I came, I wondered if I would meet you." Margaret took the initiative to say hello.

Although the truth about Cornelia's death was not revealed in the newspapers, Hyacins was not sure if Margaret would have heard about it."The number of defendants is much smaller than I thought," she said tentatively.

"Naturally." Margaret nodded, "The Ministry of Magic has collected so much gold, so of course it knows what to do."

She surprised Hyacinth when she said it so bluntly: "Did Crouch just ignore it?"

"He's out of control." Margaret said calmly. "The Ministry of Magic has made an internal decision to transfer him to a quiet department."

This is actually not a surprise.Hyacins thought.

"It's all finally settled," said Margaret, walking side by side with Hyacinth to the entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic. "Do you have any special plans for the future?"

Hyacinth forced a smile, but did not speak.

"Smart people would not choose to take revenge in such a desperate way, Hyacinth." She said suddenly.Hyacinth raised her head in astonishment, and Margaret shook her head with pity in her eyes:

"you do not know any think."

"But I know that sometimes we need to make a little concession to fate." Margaret said, "If I was eager to settle accounts with Signus, I am afraid that I would not have the opportunity to stand on the witness stand to formally send him to Ahmedabad. Zkaban."

Cornelia's death meant the complete disintegration of the Death Eaters. The Ministry of Magic believed that there were no more remnants of the Dark Lord in the UK, so they decided to officially start the trial, and Signus, who had been imprisoned, would not be spared from being included in the list.

"If I had been more desperate, I'm afraid I wouldn't have to endure people calling me 'Mrs. Parkinson' now." Hyacinth retorted sharply.

Margaret sighed softly, "I'm sorry, Hyacinth."

"I don't need your sympathy." She looked elsewhere.

"I once saw you and Sirius sitting side by side on the hillside opposite the Whomping Willow. Although you were just talking, I suddenly felt envious as I was watching... It seems that you are destined not to just 'know' each other .”

Hyacinth provokes a sneer: "I'd rather not have this 'destiny' than be like this."

"Hyase..."

"Stop it, Margaret. You're not me, and you'll never be able to think what I think and feel what I feel."

Margaret was silent for a moment: "I have another presumptuous request: If we meet again in the future, please pretend that you never knew me."

"why?"

"The dark times are over," Margaret replied, "I don't want my daughter to be exposed to things that are too heavy for her."

"She will know sooner or later." Whether it's Margaret's last marriage, or the pain and suffering of their generation.

"At least I want her to have a peaceful and comfortable childhood." Margaret insisted, "She is my only daughter, and I will try my best to put all the good things in this world in front of her. "

Suddenly, Hyacinth guessed the identity of Violet's biological father.

"Then," Margaret nodded, "goodbye."

The author has something to say:

Note:

1. [The red-haired, green-eyed girl they all love]: Of course the love here is not love.

2. Judging from the death of Barty's mother in Azkaban, they probably won't treat the prisoners.

3. The places where Sirius dreamed of James and Hyacinth were symbolic places for his relationship with these two people.

4. [Prewett Brothers]: In order to avoid repetition and procrastination, I only wrote Gideon's death.It is assumed here that Molly and Arthur joined the Order of the Phoenix during the Second War.

5. Signus was initially sentenced to 13 years. After this trial, an additional 20 years were added and there was also lifelong surveillance by Auror. (For details, please refer to the extra episode of "Night of Dawn" Margaret)

6. What Margaret saw was long ago when Hyacinth showed Sirius her paintings.

7. Margaret hopes that Violet can grow up undisturbed (after all, her biological father is sensitive), so she doesn't want her daughter to have too much contact with others except her friend Narcissa's family (especially the Parkinson family Each has a story than the other).The "blueberry pie and cookies" mentioned in the last chapter is actually a hint that no matter how much Margaret doesn't want Violet to be involved in the Parkinson family's affairs, they eventually become friends fighting side by side.

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