৫৪তম অধ্যায়: শাফিক দম্পতি

“I understand how you feel,” Lena sighed. “But Father’s concerns are also understandable. After all, a marriage between the Malfoy family and the Parkinson family benefits both sides.”

“Understand? I don't understand at all!”

Draco suddenly raised his voice, his tone filled with dissatisfaction and anger. “If Father suddenly decided to marry you off to... Theodore... No, Blaise! Would you be willing?”

Lena was choked by his words and momentarily lost for words. She glared at him, a trace of helplessness in her tone. “Leave me out of this, Draco. I’m a girl; Father won’t put that much pressure and burden on me.”

Draco was silent for a moment, then muttered in a low voice, “You’ll definitely be the next one anyway.”

Lena let go of his hand and stood up. Her gaze swept across Draco’s somewhat childish yet troubled face. She felt a twinge of heartache, but mostly a sense of helplessness. She knew that a few words from her wouldn't solve Draco’s troubles.

“If you're really this worried, why not try the advice I gave Blaise?” She blinked, her tone carrying a hint of mischief.

(For details, please refer to the opening feast.)

Thinking of Draco’s disheveled hair, Lena couldn't help but laugh out loud. “Hahaha, I’m not talking to you anymore, I’m going for a walk in the garden.”

Laughing, she cast a warming charm on herself and turned toward the door.

Draco watched her retreating figure, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent. He lowered his head, staring at the thoroughly stirred mess of a cake, and murmured softly, “I just hope... one day I can marry the girl I love.”

His voice was very soft, almost blown away by the wind in the air. Lena didn't hear him; she had already walked out of the hall and headed toward the garden. The winter sunshine spilled over her, while Draco still sat there with a chaotic mind.

Lena walked in the snow for a little while when a tiny gray speck suddenly appeared in the blank white sky. The gray speck grew larger and larger, as if it were hurtling directly toward her!

Before Lena could react, it was already too late. That grayish-brown owl slammed right into her head.

She covered her head and stood up. Not far away in the snow was a small pit, where the grayish-brown owl had crashed down. It struggled to its feet, still gripping a package tightly in its beak without letting go.

“The Weasleys’?”

Lena’s name was written on the package. Unwrapping it, she discovered it was actually a bag of homemade fudge. Tucked into the tear of the wrapping paper was a slip of paper with just a few simple words: “Merry Christmas, George Weasley.”

Suddenly, she didn't feel much like eating it.

On the day of return to school, Lena packed her luggage and boarded the train with Draco.

“Lena!”

“Oh, hey, Hermione.”

Draco gave Hermione a displeased look at the doorway, let out a soft hump, turned his head, and said nothing.

Lena put down her pomelo, stood up, closed the compartment door, and walked outside.

“Did you have a good holiday?”

“Very good, thank you for the gift, I love it! It's just too expensive!” Hermione lowered her voice. “And the book you recommended I read—I found information about Nicolas Flamel in it. I can't wait to go tell Harry and the others right away!”

Lena waved her hand. “I didn't expect to be able to help you guys. Don't mention the gift.”

“Oh, and Lena, Mum and Dad said they hope you can come visit our house sometime!”

“Alright, I definitely will!”

After arriving at the station, Hermione hurried off the train. Walking into the Slytherin common room, many students were still discussing their holiday experiences with friends. The usually sparsely populated common room was now filled with small, clustered groups.

Lena scanned the surroundings, not seeing the figures of the other few, which was expected; after all, they had never liked noisy scenes.

After greeting Draco, Lena dragged her suitcase toward the girls' dormitory.

“Lena, you're too slow! Leaving me all alone in the dorm.”

Pansy’s words and a hug arrived simultaneously for Lena as she just stepped through the door.

“By the way, where are the other two gentlemen?”

Pansy lay sprawling on the bed, lazily dangling her feet. “Theodore should have returned to his dorm long ago, though I haven't seen hide nor hair of him.”

“As for Blaise, after we walked into the Slytherin common room, he hurriedly dropped the line, ‘I'm going to sleep,’ and left.”

“Well, it seems everyone’s life is colorful and busy, minding their own business.”

Lena made a casual remark and continued folding her clothes. As for Blaise catching an Animagus, she would just have to find another opportunity to question him. However, she had a bad feeling that he wouldn't be willing to tell her the truth at all.

After dinner, Lena started wandering around Hogwarts again, but she bumped into Dumbledore around a corner. He walked into a classroom Lena had never noticed before. Casting a disillusionment charm on herself, she followed him in.

This was probably an abandoned classroom, piled high with clutter.

Dumbledore was standing in front of a mirror, looking expressionlessly at its surface.

Carved across the top of the mirror was a line of text: *Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi*.

Read backward, the sentence was: *I show not your face but your heart's desire*.

Which meant, "I show not your face, but your heart's desire."

A strong sense of dissonance welled up in her heart.

“I know you're here, come out.”

The person standing in place turned his head and looked in her direction. Lena smiled silently and ended the disillusionment charm.

When Lena’s figure appeared before his eyes, he smiled knowingly.

“I knew it would be you.”

Lena glanced at him without speaking, walking straight to his side.

“This is the Mirror of Erised. It allows you to see the deepest desires of your heart.”

Dumbledore raised his wrinkled hand and brushed it against the surface of the mirror. The light of the mirror reflected off his half-moon spectacles, making it impossible for Lena to read his expression.

Lena also raised her hand and touched the mirror. Inside the mirror, a woman stood behind her, smiling and waving directly at her.

If that woman truly existed, Lena should have been able to touch her; how close they were in the mirror, yet what Lena touched was only air.

That woman and the others existed only within the mirror.

She was a very beautiful woman with features and eyes similar to Lena's. She wore a smile while simultaneously weeping.

Standing beside her was a tall, lean, dark-haired man who was reaching out to embrace her.

The man’s appearance actually bore a striking resemblance to the second-year Shafiq.

Lena was slightly dazed, her voice trembling, almost shattering in the air.

“Who are they?”

Though she already had the answer in her heart, she still looked at Dumbledore, who stood silently beside her. The people in the mirror did not speak, only wearing that sorrowful expression.

Lena lowered her gaze. Perhaps the moonlight shining through the windowpanes into this dark room made her figure appear even more slender, fragile, and sorrowful.

She stood in front of the mirror for a long time. The figures in the mirror never faded away, and she simply remained standing there.

Until a voice came from beside her, “Lena, perhaps you’d like to come to my office for a cup of tea? Professor McGonagall brought me some fine tea leaves the other day, and I think you might like the taste.”