July 31
Queenie had a very long dream.
In her dream, she was a medieval noblewoman, beautiful and captivating, yet possessing a wild spirit. However, her marriage was not of her own choosing; her parents wanted her to marry a naval officer. Initially, she disliked the arranged marriage, but he was not only young and promising but also passionate and handsome, constantly appealing to her tastes and sense of humor. Naturally, sparks of love ignited between them. One day, the naval fleet discovered a mysterious cave containing vast treasures, but a few days after their return, the officer's best friend suddenly died, and he vowed to catch the killer. Strangely, his friend miraculously revived. Over the next two days, three more people died in the town, and terrifyingly, these people also reappeared before everyone's eyes. Rumors spread throughout the town, until the fifth person was attacked, and the killer was finally discovered: the legendary, long-lost sea monster! The officer volunteered to lead the fleet to the mysterious cave to slay the monster. Her parents, however, now wanted to postpone their arranged wedding, fearing he might never return. Unwilling to wait at home for her lover's return, she escaped her home's guards the night after the fleet left, spending a fortune to rent a ship and follow the navy to Dongxue.
The dream abruptly ended there. Queenie slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in imagining the ending of the story.
"Queenie? Queenie?"
She was supposed to be imagining the ending, but the first image that popped into her mind was that of a young, promising, enthusiastic, and handsome naval officer—oh, he had a Harry Potter-like face.
"Queenie? Queenie!"
Their first meeting was in the courtyard outside the church, where they talked under a yew tree. The sergeant's eyes were even greener and brighter than the leaves of the yew tree.
"Kreacher! What happened to Queenie? Are you sure you only used a Stunning Charm? You didn't use the wrong one? Did you say 'collapse'?"
"Foolish... Perhaps you should know that house-elves don't need to chant spells to use magic!"
When you're under the yew tree, you'll naturally talk about life, death, and eternity. He said the soul is a ship, and death is like sailing into uncharted waters. She asked if death is an adventure. He said yes, death is an adventure.
“Harry, don’t worry, I can see Queenie’s chest rising and falling, she’s still alive.”
"...Of course she's still alive! Queenie? Darling? Don't scare me!"
Queenie's eyes finally moved, and the solidified honey color began to flow.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and rushed over to hug her tightly.
“Oh Queenie!” Harry cried, trembling, choked with sobs, his voice warm.
It seems Harry's adventure has come to an end.
Queenie's throat felt a little dry, and she swallowed lightly. "Who are you?"
Harry's sniffing motion abruptly stopped. "Kreacher! You still say you didn't use the Forgetfulness Charm?!"
Even the elderly house-elf showed a rare expression of fear, with the white fur in its ears standing on end.
Fortunately, Queenie was just teasing him on purpose.
They sat down at the coffee table in the living room.
Same location, same four people.
After the honest words faded, the room seemed to be silenced. Harry kept glancing towards the door, desperately hoping Sirius would come and break the silence.
Queenie slowly ate two pies that Kreacher had served, drank a glass of pumpkin juice, and wiped her mouth—Ron watched her actions, seemingly also wanting to try Kreacher's cooking, but held back under Hermione's stern glare—her gaze silently swept over the three of them, "So the Order of the Phoenix just defeated Voldemort fifteen hours ago, and you were all involved."
"Hmm..." It was so calm, even calmer than the Black Lake at Hogwarts. Harry couldn't tell what she was feeling, but perhaps, just like the Black Lake, when you look at the shimmering surface, you never know when the giant squid sleeping deep in the lake will suddenly awaken.
Harry mustered the last vestiges of courage he had after last night's battle, "Honey, I just didn't want you to worry... but look, we did it! We won!"
Queenie nodded understandingly. "If it doesn't work out, I'll become the Queenie I was a year ago, the one who hadn't met Harry, right, Mr. Savior?"
He couldn't say no, because that was one of his plans—though he didn't really want it to be implemented.
Harry shifted his position slightly, gave Hermione a wink, and received a peek at the back of Hermione's fluffy head in return.
"..." He licked his lips, "If you want to get angry, I—"
“Oh, I didn’t mean to get angry.” Queenie’s answer surprised Harry. “I’ve always known you’re Mr. Potter, the liar.”
Harry was on pins and needles; he sensed that Queenie might want to settle both old and new scores at once.
Ron tried to smooth things over for his friend, "Strictly speaking, it wasn't a lie, just a little bit of concealment—ouch!"
"You weren't helping!" Hermione scolded in a low voice.
“That makes sense.” Queenie was unusually easy to talk to. She looked Harry up and down. “But I didn’t expect you to be so strong?” One of the two people next to her had bandages on his wrist and neck, and the other had his arm in a sling, while Harry looked completely unharmed.
"Because Voldemort won't let anyone touch Harry, he's going to come himself, and we'll have to fight the Death Eaters—ouch!" Hermione didn't avoid his wound this time.
Queenie looked terrified, and Harry immediately explained, "Because I have the Invisibility Cloak, Voldemort can't find me." He couldn't very well say that Ron was right, and that Voldemort would only use the Avada Kedavra spell against him, which wouldn't cause any wounds—they had deliberately omitted the Horcrux part from their confession.
Queenie knew they hadn't told her the whole truth, but they were back safe and sound, and she could ask them later.
"Where is Kreacher?"
Harry immediately called Kreacher's name, and the latter reluctantly appeared in the living room. "The brainless half-breed master summoned Kreacher, and Kreacher didn't want to respond, but he couldn't disobey."
Queenie ignored its complaints and said gently, "Mr. Kreacher, could you please bring the cake over?"
Kreacher glanced at her and then disappeared.
Seeing Kreacher, Hermione suddenly remembered the pile of magical defensive items it had brought to Hogwarts last night. "Queenie, those things of yours came in very handy. How did you know we—well, we could use them?"
"I don't know, I just have a feeling you're doing something dangerous."
Speaking of this, Ron couldn't hold back anymore, "You were a huge help! Fred didn't want to wear those necklaces and rings, saying they looked like little girl stuff and would damage his image. His mother slapped him before he obediently put them on. If it weren't for those 'little girl things,' he would have been hit squarely by the Explosion Curse!"
Queenie breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."
With a snap, Kreacher appeared with the cake, and they all crowded around, staring intently at the cake on the table.
To avoid wasting ingredients, Queenie made small cakes, only four inches in size. She opened the box and said, "While you were gone—" Harry shrank back, "—I've been learning this. It may not taste very good yet, but you have to say it's delicious."
Happy birthday, Harry.
Merlin's beard... he almost never heard Queenie say those words again.
"It's a bit small, but it's enough for each of us to have a bite."
Hermione conjured a candle and stuck it into the cake. They sang "Happy Birthday" together and waited for Harry to make a wish.
This made Harry a little giddy. Voldemort had failed, he had survived, and Queenie showed no signs of being angry enough to want to break up. He couldn't help but wonder if the effects of Felix Felicis hadn't worn off yet, so he greedily made a wish—
I hope every day from now on will be as lucky as today.
He opened his eyes and looked first in Queenie's direction. She was looking at him too, and then smiled softly.
Harry's wavering heart was drawn to her smile, and he eagerly moved closer to her. Queenie reached out and stroked his chin.
"I'm sorry..." Harry apologized nervously.
Queenie leaned in, her soft lips less than three inches from his. "Remember what you said? If you keep making me happy, I'll stay your girlfriend forever?"
"I'm sorry..." he apologized again, but the truth is that if he had another chance, he would still make the same choice.
"Harry, I'm so glad you're safe and sound."
Merlin, his previous analogy was wrong. How could he forget that the giant squid was a gentle and friendly creature that students would tickle?
Harry's eyes welled up, but he maturely held back his tears. However, his trembling voice betrayed him, "Queenie, I love you."
Queenie tilted her head. "Of course you are, otherwise wouldn't I be at a disadvantage?"
"Ron! Stop!"
Hermione's shout disrupted the young couple's mood. Harry turned around, paused for a moment, and said, "You—"
“Queenie said one bite each,” Ron said, forking a large piece of cake. “It tastes amazing!”
"Uh, thank you, I'm glad you like it."
"Merlin's beard, there's no food he doesn't like!"
Harry belatedly realized that only half of the birthday cake Queenie had made for him was left, and he angrily jumped up and wrestled with Ron, scattering cake crumbs and cream everywhere.
Hermione took a deep breath, "These boys..."
Queenie nodded in agreement and cut Hermione a piece of cake.
"Thank you," Hermione said softly. "I also owe you an apology."
“I should thank you for being with Harry,” Queenie said earnestly. “He really is a savior, isn’t he? But you didn’t have to bear this burden.” She was completely sincere; the fact that they were still injured despite being protected by magical protective gear spoke volumes about the danger, and they were even students younger than her.
“Oh, it’s nothing, we’re friends…” Hermione took a bite of cake, the sweet cream flavor relaxing her. Fifteen hours ago, she would never have imagined that she would be sitting here eating cake. “Mrs. Weasley is very grateful to you. In view of the fact that your magical defense items saved Fred’s life, she would like to invite you to the Burrow tonight, you know, Harry’s birthday party, and to celebrate our hard-won victory.”
Queenie glanced at the two boys, whose faces were flushed, and winked happily, "I'll go."
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