梅洛普被这话刺伤了，两行泪顺着半透明的脸颊溅落在地，遂即消失得无影无踪。她急切地向汤姆又走了一步。

“N…No, my darling. I wanted to see you. I want to see you more than anyone else in the world.”不……不，我的宝贝。我想见你。我想见你，超过世界上任何其他人。

她再次试探着伸出手臂，想摸摸自己的儿子。

“I…I loved you… I love you. More than anyone in the world.”我……我爱你……我仍旧爱你。比世界上任何人都多。

但梅洛普的手被她儿子愤怒地一把挥了开。灰白的透明手臂消散成烟云，过了片刻才重新聚拢到一起。

“You liar! You loved him! And me? I was just…an unintended……consequence.” 你撒谎！你爱的是他！我只不过是……是个预期外的……后果。

泪水刺痛着双眼。汤姆不住地摇头。他像个孩子一般缩在办公桌后面，为了稳住声音里的颤抖，嗓调轻了下来。

“No, mother. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have chosen death.”不，母亲。如果你爱我，你当时就不会选择去死。

梅洛普惊慌地摇着头，“No…no, my darling boy! The choice was never between you and death, my darling. I wanted to live…to live, for you. But in that moment…I…I couldn’t use any magic. My strength was gone… My will, shattered. I wanted to stay, to hold you, to kiss you, but I was too weak. I thought…I thought you would be better off without me…just like how every person I know would be better without me.”不……不，我的宝贝！我的选择从来都不在你和死亡之间，我的宝贝。我是想活下去的……为了你活下去。可是那一刻……我……我无法使用任何魔法。我的力量已经枯竭……我的意志，彻底崩溃。我想留下来，想抱着你，想亲亲你，但我太虚弱了。我以为……我以为没有我，你会过得更好……就像我认识的每一个人，没有我都会更好一样。

她的声音在颤抖，灰白的手臂再次向前伸去，却再次被汤姆冷冷地躲开。

男孩儿眼神冰冷，泪水早已被熊熊燃烧的愤怒蒸发殆尽，唇边只余一个讥讽的笑。

“You can keep lying to me, mother. You can keep lying to me all you want! But I have gone to Little Hangleton. I’ve talked to Morfin Gaunt. You were not a Squib. You could’ve used ma