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Chapter 55 - Chapter 55 We Are Here

[After that night, Sanguini became determined to save this girl.]

[This decision made him cast aside his inferiority complex about being a vampire and forget the prejudice and discrimination the world held against him.]

[I helped him. I couldn't just stand by and watch my friend lose this chance at happiness.]

[We hatched a small plan. For two wizards, making a Muggle who was already neglected by her family disappear from society in name only wasn't a difficult task.]

[Seizing a chance opportunity, we stole a batch of Draught of Living Death brewed by Hogwarts' Potions Professor, Severus Snape.]

[Sangini confessed everything to Patty. He promised this half-crippled Muggle girl that he would take her back to that place… her fairytale-like homeland.]

[…]

[The worst possible outcome unfolded. Neither Sanguini nor I had anticipated that the potion we stole wasn't an ordinary Draught of Living Death… and that Patty's family was no ordinary Muggles.]

[The Ministry of Magic learned of the incident, and we had no way to wake Patty. Sanguini was nearly driven to despair. I, too, was in despair. Those days passed in a haze of fear, and we didn't know how we endured each agonizing day and night.]

[Until that day, we saw the Aurors organize an antidote team and come to Badminton Estate. Among them was a notorious figure according to rumors and was also a big shot we had offended.]

[Severus Snape. He followed the Aurors to the estate and examined Patty's condition. At that moment, Sanguini and I were terrified. He must have realized that the missing potion was the cause of all this. We feared he would uncover our involvement.]

[And it was then that Sanguini could no longer wait. He had promised that girl, and he intended to keep his word… even if it meant being torn apart, even if it meant being sucked dry by Dementors, he would recklessly press on!]

[He went mad. So did I. To this day, I still can't recall how I mustered the courage to encourage him and join him in this madness. If we wanted to save Patty and take her away, we needed someone capable of brewing the antidote to agree to help us.]

[So, we kidnapped Snape's student… a 9-year-old boy named Dudley.]

[…]

[Snape woke us from our delusion. He made us understand what true despair was. Though we were all wizards, the gap between our abilities was like that of a dragon towering over a flobberworm. We didn't even have the chance to look up before being crushed underfoot.]

[I was completely desperate. As I hung there, I began reflecting on my failed life, planning to end myself before being thrown into Azkaban to spare myself further torment.]

[Sanguini is still pleading, I had known him for five years and lived with him for over two, but I had never seen him care so deeply for someone, even more than his own life.]

[Snape learned everything from Sanguini. This Hogwarts professor with a dark past, who was so often described as rigid, bitter, and unpleasant by many, calmly laid out what would happen if we were handed over to the Ministry.]

[And then, he spoke the words Sanguini and I would never forget for the rest of our lives:]

["But it would be different if I joined in!" No one could fathom the shock that surged through our hearts at that moment.]

[If not for our recklessness, we would never have had the chance to interact with someone like him in this lifetime. Yet now, despite us stealing his potion and kidnapping his student, he stood before us with such magnanimity, such firm kindness, and told us he was willing to help.]

[…]

[I am willing to repent at any time for my own wretchedness and shamelessness. Because I could never be so selfless and kind, I doubted Snape's motives for helping us.]

[But during the journey as he led Sanguini, Patty, and me in our escape, everything he did left me ashamed of my own suspicions.]

[I had never met a wizard so witty, so gentlemanly, so patient, so kind. He faced everything with a calm smile, so confident and unshaken by slander. It made me even more unable to comprehend how the Wizarding World's rumors about him, so starkly opposite to the truth, had ever spread.]

[Snape bore all the blame, drew the Aurors' pursuit onto himself, and taught us everything we needed to do next… until we finally reached the land Sanguini had promised Patty.]

[…]

[This place was no longer the fairytale land Patty and Sanguini had once described, but with Snape around, you'd never have the chance to feel disappointment.]

[Even though we were on the run, no period of my life had ever been as joyful and fulfilling as these past few days.]

[We began working with our own hands to restore everything here. Even if the world wasn't so beautiful, we could still create blooming flower fields and a windmill that turned under the morning sun.]

[No matter what the future held, at least for now, we were moving forward for love.]

[Alright, it's getting late. I lied to them and told them the manuscript was already finished. But in truth, I'm still missing the final part, struggling to find the right words to describe this grand escape.]

[Maybe there's no need for flowery language. Listen, lads, all I want to say is that I'm currently frying steaks and baking cookies, preparing a lunch that will satisfy my best friends… Sanguini, Mr. Snape, Dudley, and Patty, who still hasn't spoken a word to us yet.]

[After that, Mr. Snape quietly told me that, on such an important day, Sanguini needed proper attire to match the occasion. This afternoon, we're heading to Diagon Alley to get him fitted for a proper suit.]

[If I keep going, you might start calling me long-winded. And if you're wondering why this damned liar still hasn't finished writing the ending…]

[What I want to say is, dear readers, what I've written isn't some fictional tale. It's what I'm experiencing right now, at this very moment.]

[If you're truly so curious about how this story ends, why not come and see for yourself?]

[We're right here.]

[Yes, at the very moment you're reading this newspaper, Sanguini is in the place he promised, waking the one he could never bear to lose.]

[A farm called McKinley, in the southeastern Cotswolds.]

The night breeze swept through the white tulip fields, and under the combined glow of moonlight and starlight, the sacred, fairy-like blossoms unfurled in their most beautiful moment.

Patty's long lashes fluttered. It was as if she had only been asleep, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw the young vampire holding her in his arms.

She stared blankly at Sanguini, breathing in the valley-like fragrance of the flowers.

Sanguini didn't speak. He only smiled, his expression radiant with love as he welcomed the awakening of his one and only girl.

Patty looked around… the clear, pristine night sky, as if washed clean by rain, the red windmill whose blades turned lazily in the evening breeze, and the tulip fields they stood in, now in full bloom!

Her eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string.

It is unknown when it started, but there was a constant popping sound began to ring out, and countless figures on broomsticks streaked across the night sky.

But none of it disturbed the couple in the center of the flower field.

Sanguini reached out to wipe the tears from Patty's face somewhat helplessly, and he said softly, "I did it, Patty. I kept my promise. I brought you back here."

"And... Dudley kept asking me something before we left. He's been asking this whole time, and today, I finally answered him. Now, I want to tell you too."

Patty sobbed uncontrollably, nodding vigorously to show she was listening… really, truly listening.

"I love you. Will you be my wife?"

Sanguini poured every ounce of his strength into those words, his declaration unwavering.

Patty didn't say anything. She just stared at the young man in front of her, then kissed him without hesitation!

It is unknown when, but hundreds of people had gathered around them. Cheers, screams, applause erupted all at once, and countless camera flashes lit up the night.

And at that very moment, as the furious Head of the Auror Office arrived with his team-

Severus and Worple at the edge of the flower field threw down their wands, and Harry also obediently threw down the hoe in his hand.

"We surrender!"

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