Silence filled the room.
If the silence before had come from fear,
then the silence now was pure, utter, incredulous stupefaction.
Ginny froze too.
She looked at Neville before her, at his face flushed with nerves, and his eyes filled with sincerity and courage.
She had never expected anyone to walk up to her at a moment like this.
And that someone was Neville.
Instinctively, her gaze drifted a short distance away.
Toward the black-haired boy still sitting in the armchair, looking bewildered.
Harry Potter.
That glance was fleeting, so quick it was like a Golden Snitch that could not be caught.
But Harry saw it.
He saw an exceedingly complicated emotion flash through Ginny's eyes for an instant.
What was that?
Was it a question?
Was it expectation?
Or... a final farewell he could not understand?
He did not know.
He simply sat there in a daze, like an outsider.
Ginny quickly withdrew her gaze.
That trace of complicated emotion vanished without a trace, as though it had never appeared.
She looked at Neville again.
Then the frost that anger had formed over her face slowly melted.
A sincere, warm smile, without the slightest impurity, blossomed on her lips.
That smile was so bright it made even the flames in the fireplace pale.
"Of course, Neville."
Her voice was crisp and decisive, carrying a reassuring strength.
"It would be my pleasure."
With that, she gave Neville a gentle nod.
Then she did not look at anyone again.
She turned, holding that thick book, and went up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
Tap, tap, tap.
Those clear footsteps announced the end of this farce.
They also announced the passing of an old era.
Harry sat rooted to the spot, feeling as though his brain had become a mass of