Chapter 13: Aftereffects

"Professor!" the three still amazed teenagers yelled, running after Dumbledore. "Professor!"

Mara still felt the power running through her veins as she told the headmaster what had happened. He could see it in her face. Her very expression tells volumes, he thought.

"I see." Dumbledore looked at them all. Harry still seemed mildly shocked. Draco was looking at Mara with admiration. They're both quite right in their reactions, in Dumbledore's eyes. Mara was grinning. The adrenaline rush from that surge of sheer power must be outstanding, he thought. "Mara, Harry, Draco, you are all powerful, clever, and brave. You proved this again today. You all seem a bit… amazed at this all. Do you have any questions for me, or just to get out there?"

"I do, Professor." Mara's dark blue eyes glittered with knowledge. "My tutor… has he ever taught here?"

"Yes. He was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher one year. Sad, isn't it, how we lose them so quickly?"

"I knew it! Professor, was that spell I described made for me?"

"Yes, it was. Remus worked quite hard on that one." The headmaster smiled. "He was as soft-hearted for you as he was for Harry."

"Where is he now?"

"That's not important. What is important is that we take you to the Hospital Wing. One of those Death Eaters may have harmed you."

Harry was in great shock about finding out Lupin had been Mara's tutor. Nothing else was wrong with any of them. Madam Pomfrey told Mara that the abundance of that power would keep her energized for quite some time.

"It should wear off just before midnight, I believe," she told her. Mara's eyes were shining brightly and Mara felt like bouncing off the walls. She didn't want it to go away. She wanted to feel this great forever!

Long after the celebratory feast where Dumbledore had announced to the whole school that they were heroes, and long after every other Gryffindor had gone to bed, Mara laid staring up at the common room ceiling, listening to the fire crackle and thinking.

She thought back to the conversation with Hermione just a week ago. It had seemed so long ago… Who to choose? She decided to use the wand again. "Harry," she spelled out in the same gold, scratchy letters. Underneath, she willed it to write, "Kind, sweet, caring, understanding…" Then she added Draco's name in the special script parallel to Harry's name. Under Draco, she could not even think what to write. It shocked her. Why was she with Draco? Was it for a shield, so she could keep a distance from Harry? She shook her head. That wasn't it. It must be… because the train? That feeling of comfort she had found… was that why she had held on to the relationship?

Before she got up, she erased all the words except for Harry. Under that she put, "My answer." A moment later, she erased those three words, too.

As she crept up the stairs quietly into the dorm, she noticed Hermione not all the way asleep, either. She gestured to her friend to come back down with her.

"I couldn't get over what you did earlier—all three of you."

"I don't think Harry or Draco has either. I know I'm still pretty pumped. Madam Pomfrey said it would start winding down soon."

"Yeah. Did you want to talk again?"

Mara smiled. "You and Harry both always know what I'm thinking, don't you?"

"Of course! We're you're friends, aren't we?"

"Oh, yeah, we are!" She almost bit her tongue, thinking about what she was about to say.

"So, what did you want to talk about? Is it about the Harry versus Draco thing again?"

"Kind of." She glanced at the air that had held those scratchily written gold letters. "I've found my answer, actually. I think."

"What would that be?" Hermione spoke patiently but she was truly anxious.

"I think I have to break up with Draco. I realized I wasn't in the relationship for him or me, but for… the comfort of feeling like I could have someone to turn to when the world seems so wrong."

"And then you discovered all those feelings for Harry…"

"Yeah. And how he understands me so… completely."

"That's sweet." Hermione smiled. "I'm glad you sorted it out. Um, Mara?"

"What?" She sounded absent-minded. She had been thinking about Harry again.

"When are you going to talk to them?"

"Oh." She hadn't thought that far. Then she said decidedly, "Tomorrow."

"Good. I bet Harry will be so happy."

"Oh God."

"What? What did I say?"

"Harry probably either will think I'm… I don't know! I feel like I'm such a switch-and-go person now. What if I imagined Harry liking me?"

"I highly doubt that. When he first saw you kiss Draco…" Hermione shook her head. "He barely spoke for two weeks. I remember when Ron and I finally figured out why… I'd just told him I knew Draco was after you as soon as he saw you on the train. I wish I could just go back and fix it all… tell you how he had treated us… and have Harry say how much he liked you, even then."

"He's told you that he likes me?"

"No. But I've been friends with Harry ever since we got here, pretty much. I've never seen him so intense about anyone ever."

Mara stared at the floor. "I'm going to talk to him after I talk to Draco. Tomorrow."