HARRY:

"Harry," someone murmured. "Harry, I'm sorry, but you really should wake up, we need to talk."

I fumbled for my glasses on my nightstand, but someone placed the frames gently in my hand.

"Oh, hi Lu," I whispered. I realized once my eyes adjusted that she looked distressed, and that Ginny was with her too. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I know it's the middle of the night, but Katie's been taken to St. Mungo's," she replied.

"Oh no. That's awful."

Lucy nodded. "Professor McGonagall told Leanne who told me — "

"And me, by extension," Ginny interrupted, "because I was with Lucy, and I realized that Katie being gone means we're down a Chaser on Saturday."

"What?" Ron asked, sitting up in bed. "What happened to Katie?"

"She went to St. Mungo's," Lucy answered.

"Meaning Dennis needs to play in her place on Saturday," Ginny added.

Ron whistled. "Blimey."

"Anyway, co-captains, what are we going to do?" Ginny asked.

Lucy shook her head. "I just — I know Dennis is our reserve player, but we're playing Slytherin and I don't want him getting hurt. They play so rough, and I — well, no offense, Harry, but I assumed he'd be replacing you if he ever had to replace someone, because — you're you, and you're a bit — accident-prone."

"We all assumed that Dennis would be replacing you, no offense, Harry," Ginny said. "But now what? I'm with Lucy, I'd hate for Dennis to get hurt — "

"Lucy? Ginny? What are you doing in here? And what's this about Dennis getting hurt?" yet another voice interjected.

Lucy winced. "Sorry, Dean, didn't mean to wake you. Katie's been taken to St. Mungo's, meaning Dennis is going to have to play as a Chaser on Saturday, and I'm just worried about putting a third-year in a match against Slytherin for his first match as a Chaser. He's been playing well as a Chaser in practice, it's just — I don't know."

"Er, Lucy, you started playing as a Chaser your second year," Ron pointed out.

I sighed. "That's true, Ron, but I understand her concern. Her track record for getting hurt in games is worse than mine."

"It is not!" she protested.

"Yes it is! You broke your nose and went blind in your first match as Chaser."

"You broke your arm in that same match and had to grow the bones back."

"You fell off your broom in your first match as a third-year."

"You fell from higher in that same match."

"In our last match third year, you got grabbed around the neck and you got hit in the head with a Beater's bat and you got hit with Bludgers on four separate occasions."

Lucy cocked her head. "You remember all of that?"

"Yes! It was very concerning!"

"Aw, Potter, I didn't realize you cared so much about little old me."

"Well, yeah, of course! I always have!" Lucy's eyes widened as she blushed, and I realized too late what I'd said in front of several of our friends. I tried to play it off by crossing my arms over my chest playfully. "Especially when it proves my point. Your track record for getting hurt in Quidditch matches is worse than mine, and I just proved it."

"You were right, Ginny, they really do bicker like an old married couple," Dean said in a stage whisper.

"They really do," Ginny agreed. "Anyway, brilliant, Harry, you've proven your point, but what does that mean for the team?"

"The team? Oh! Right. Damn, the team." I looked at Lucy and sought wisdom in those sky blue eyes of hers for a long moment before speaking again. "Well, no offense to Gred and Forge, but you didn't have you protecting you then. Nobody on Gryffindor has gotten hurt at all in the two matches you two have played as Beaters." I glanced at Ginny for a moment before turning my attention back to Lucy. "I know you both would do a damn good job of protecting Dennis. He'd be the safest person in the whole bloody wizarding world if you two teamed up to protect him."

"But what about the rest of you?" Lucy asked. "There are six other people I have to protect — "

"Five," Ginny muttered.

"Six," Lucy insisted.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Fine. Lucy and I both have six other people to protect, Harry."

"Well, if it came down to protecting me or protecting Dennis, I'd rather have you protect Dennis," Dean piped up. "He's not quite as small as you were when you were his age, Lucy — no offense — but he's not much bigger and I think we all want him to be protected as much as possible."

"I agree," Ron said.

I nodded. "Me too. I can't speak for Demelza, obviously, but I'm sure she'd feel the same way. But since I can't speak for her and I don't want to assume, what if we had you two plan on protecting the Chasers as much as possible and leaving Ron and me to fend for ourselves?"

"Right, that makes sense, we don't want Dennis to be our only Chaser," Ginny said with a thoughtful nod.

"And again, nobody on Gryffindor has gotten hurt in the two matches you two have played as Beaters," I repeated. "Fred and George were great, but Ginny, Lucy, you two are better." Lucy, however, still looked lost in thought. I waved my hand in front of her face. "Earth to my co-captain. What's on your mind?"

Lucy shook her head. "Sorry, it's — it's nothing."

"Lu — "

"We can figure everything out on Tuesday," she said. "I'll see if Dennis wants to spend extra time with me on the Pitch for a bit of one-on-one Chaser coaching without everyone else there. Or maybe — " She turned to glance at Ginny, who narrowed her eyes.

"What?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

Lucy shook her head again, crossing her arms as she looked down shyly. "Sorry, just thinking."

"Aw, come on, we can't have that," Ron teased. "It's too late at night for thinking. Don't worry about it tonight, Lucy. The match is still six days away."

"Ron's right, we have plenty of time to figure it out as a team," Dean agreed.

Ginny poked Lucy in the arm. "Yeah, this isn't on you to solve. For one, you're a co-captain. For two, this impacts all of us, so it's not up to just you co-captains to figure out how to make this work. Obviously we all want to win, especially against Slytherin. We're going to figure this out, together, as a team, like Dean said."

"I think everyone else already said anything worth saying, so I'm just going to say I agree with everything they just said and give it my co-captain seal of approval," I said with a shrug.

Lucy looked up and nodded, offering a weak smile. "Right. You're all right. Thanks."

"Go get some rest, Lucy," I said gently.

"Let this be tomorrow's problem to solve," Ron added.

"For once, I agree with my brother, so come on," Ginny said as she grabbed Lucy by the arm and started guiding her toward the door. "Good night, boys!"

Lucy waved over her shoulder as they disappeared, and we all called a quiet "Good night!"

"How did you remember all of the times Lucy's gotten hurt in a Quidditch match?" Ron asked.

"I care about her," I replied as my face burned, "obviously." I removed my glasses and turned my back to Ron and Dean as I laid back down. "Good night."

I could have sworn I heard Ron chuckle to himself. Or maybe it was the rustling of his sheets. Either way, I stifled a groan and buried myself deeper in blankets.

Bloody hell. I'd been paying very close attention to Lucy for a very long time.

I wasn't sure when I dropped off to sleep again, but it was still dark outside when I next opened my eyes.

"Harry, wake up, we can't find Lucy," someone hissed, violently shaking my shoulder.

I shot up to a sitting position immediately, fumbling for my glasses. "What do you mean you can't find Lucy?" I asked as Ginny and Hermione came into focus in front of me.

"She's not in her dormitory and she's not in the common room, so we need the Map," Ginny explained.

"I'm sure she's okay, it's just — alarming," Hermione said.

I nodded to show I understood as I jumped out of bed and grabbed my invisibility cloak and the Map and my wand, gesturing for the girls to follow me down to the common room. I spread the Marauder's Map out on the nearest table and pressed my wand tip to it.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The parchment came to life, and we bowed our heads together searching for Lucy's name.

"Is that her?" Hermione pointed to a dot wandering along a seemingly-random corridor. "No, it can't be, wouldn't it say Lucy Diggory?"

I nodded. "It's her, she's always shown up as 'Lucy,' no last name."

"Why is that?" Ginny asked.

"Hell if I know, I didn't make the Map, guess we'll just have to ask Remus sometime," I snapped. I wasn't in the mood to try to lie my way around their questions. Lucy had never shown up with a last name because technically she had two that were equally truthful, she was as much Cedric's sister as she was Claire's sister. "Come on, the cloak should be big enough for the four of us still, let's go."

With no small amount of jostling, I managed to cover all three of us, and we set off into the castle in search of Lucy.

"I don't know what she was thinking," Hermione whispered. "This is so dangerous! Especially after what happened yesterday, wandering around the castle at night is just ridiculous. I don't know what she was thinking."

"She wasn't thinking, that's the problem, she must be upset about something, too upset to be thinking rationally," Ginny whispered back.

I sighed. "Shut up, both of you, let's just focus on getting her back to the common room without getting caught, then we can worry about the 'why.'"

They nodded, and we proceeded in silence. We had nearly reached the corridor where we had seen her name when we heard a shout.

"You there!"

We stopped dead in our tracks, not even daring to breathe as a ghost — Nearly Headless Nick, I realized — drifted our direction. He drifted right past us, however, and floated around the corner.

"Wait! Child! Stop! It's not safe to wander the castle at night these days!"

Without speaking to each other, those of us under the invisibility cloak moved as one, chasing Nearly Headless Nick. Surely enough, as we peeked around the corner, Lucy was turning to face Nick. She looked right past him, though, staring off into space even though she had turned her body to face him.

She cocked her head, her face oddly blank. "Hm?"

"What do you think you're doing?" Nick asked.

"Doing?"

"Yes, doing. What do you think you're doing?"

"Looking," Lucy replied in an airy tone, her face still expressionless.

Nick huffed. "Looking for what, may I ask?"

"Pieces of myself. They've been misplaced."

"You must be a Ravenclaw. Please, drop the riddles and go back to your dormitory. It's not safe to wander the castle at night these days."

Lucy merely blinked. "A bright pink swim ring. Misplaced somewhere."

"Oh, Merlin's beard." Nearly Headless Nick suddenly chuckled. "A sleepwalker."

"No, it's Skywalker," Lucy said. "Cinnamon rolls. Apollo and Daffy, short for Daffodil. Golf balls for Golden Snitches. A tree turned net, and a trampoline. A tree turned into a net, and a trampoline, both magical in their own ways. All misplaced. A few lost forever. I want to go home."

A small breath punched out of me involuntarily, and Lucy blinked again. Something like alarm flickered across her face for a split second before her face returned to eerie neutrality.

Nearly Headless Nick turned around. "Is someone there?"

I slipped out from underneath the invisibility cloak and jogged forward. "Oh, Lucy, there you are!" I glanced at Nearly Headless Nick with what I hoped was a somewhat-exasperated smile. "Sleepwalking again?"

"Yes, indeed she is," Nick said with a chuckle. "I take it you are her boyfriend?"

"I — er — no, just her friend. Her roommates said she — er — wasn't in her bed, so they told me, I have a penchant for finding her when she sleepwalks. I can take it from here, thanks Nick. Come on, Lucy, let's get you back to bed."

Lucy merely blinked again. "Home. What is home? Who is home? Where do I go?"

"Back to your dormitory with your friend Harry here," Nick said.

"Harry," Lucy repeated, her face softening into a smile as she continued to stare straight ahead.

"Yeah, Lu, it's me. C'mon, er — follow me?"

Nick chuckled as he continued drifting along down the corridor. "Good luck and good night, Harry and Lucy."

Once he disappeared from view, Hermione and Ginny yanked off the invisibility cloak and joined Lucy and me.

"She hasn't done this in ages," Hermione muttered. "I genuinely can't remember the last time this happened."

"How do we get her back?" Ginny asked.

"It's best not to wake a sleepwalker, but it might honestly just be better to wake her up so we can all go under the invisibility cloak together instead of just trying to coax her back to Gryffindor Tower," Hermione said.

I nodded. "Alright." I reached forward for Lucy's hand, slowly, gently. "Lucy. Wake up."

Lucy didn't give any indication that she had registered my presence. She just kept staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. It was eerie.

Ginny grabbed Lucy's other hand and wiggled it back and forth. "Luuuucy. You're sleepwalking again. Wake up."

"Lucy, don't make me get you wet," Hermione said, drawing her wand and pointing it at Lucy's face. Ginny and I both glanced at Hermione incredulously, and she sighed. "It's the only thing that used to wake her up when we were younger. Come on, Lucy, wake up, you have five seconds before I spray you with water from my wand. Five — four — "

Lucy suddenly blinked hard and staggered backwards, and she would have toppled over if Ginny and I hadn't been holding her hands. We lunged forward in unison and caught her, and she blinked several times in rapid succession.

"What the hell?" she asked, her words slurring slightly.

"Good morning," Ginny replied. "You were sleepwalking. Come on, we need to get back to the common room, Nick already caught you."

Lucy let us pull her under the invisibility cloak, and she led us back to Gryffindor Tower without bumping into anyone. Once we were safely in the common room, we all turned to face Lucy, who turned bright red.

"Sorry for worrying you," she said quietly.

"Hey, no, don't be, it's okay," I assured her. "You were sleepwalking, it's not your fault. Are you okay?"

She nodded, not saying anything else.

"You were talking too," Hermione commented after a moment. "Saying — well, it sounded like you were talking about your childhood."

Lucy's blush darkened as she looked down at her toes. Once again, she was silent.

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, Ginny pounced on Lucy in a hug. Hermione and I exchanged a brief look of surprise, then we both put our arms around Lucy too.

"I think we should all head to bed," I suggested softly.

Lucy shot me a grateful look and nodded. "Yeah. I'll — er — try to stay there this time."

We all chuckled as we headed our separate ways.

I crawled back into bed with a quiet sigh. Lucy's words haunted me.

"Looking. Pieces of myself. They've been misplaced."

I spent more time tossing and turning than I spent sleeping, and I gave up on the idea of sleep altogether once I realized it was getting light outside. I checked the Map to find that Lucy was in the common room, in her window seat. I made my way downstairs, not even bothering to change out of my pajamas.

"Hi love," she said without looking away from the window, lowering the Walkman headphones from her ears.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked incredulously.

Lucy glanced over then. "You walk on the balls of your feet. You've learned to tiptoe without actually tiptoeing. You walk more quietly than anyone I've ever known."

"Oh," I managed after a moment.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking out the window again.

"Why?"

"Because you had to learn to be quiet."

I crossed the room and crawled into the window seat across from her. "Love, is anyone else awake?"

"I don't hear anything."

"Good." I reached forward and intertwined my fingers with hers. "I love you."

"I love you too." Tears welled up in her eyes, and she rested her forehead against our hands. "Sorry."

I squeezed her hands. "Please don't apologize. What's wrong, love?"

"I feel so woefully incompetent, I haven't played Chaser in ages and now I have to try to teach Dennis everything I know so he can stay alive in a match against Slytherin in six days, and it's just so unfair, and — "

"Lucy, this isn't your responsibility, we have two other competent Chasers who can help him. You're not the only Beater, either."

"I know that, logically, it's just — " She looked up at me. "I don't know why I'm panicking so much about this. I don't know why the stakes feel so high. I guess I'm just... scared of losing someone else. It — I just — I've gotten used to the idea that I have a target on my back, and I've unfortunately had to cope with the fact that you have a target on yours, but that's nothing terribly new. But Katie — Katie's just Katie. And Cedric — " She glanced out the window again. "I want to protect everyone. But I can't."

I sighed. "I understand."

Lucy echoed my sigh. "I know you do."

Silence fell then. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was just... heavy.

"I'm glad I have you," Lucy said, offering me a small yet brave smile.

"I'm glad I have you," I said, returning her smile.

"I'm glad we have a little alone time."

"So am I."

"I'm not feeling particularly chatty, no offense."

"It's okay, me neither."

"I want to forget the world."

"So do I."

"Music?"

"Sure."

Lucy pushed a couple of buttons on the Walkman, and music started playing quietly. She rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. I let myself just look at her. It was so rare that I was just allowed to look at her without worrying about anyone else noticing, without worrying about Lucy noticing and thinking she didn't deserve the love in my eyes. I made the most of the opportunity, tracing the features of her face.

After a couple of songs, she opened her eyes, those beautiful sky blue eyes, to look at me.

"I'm scared that I'm not good enough of a Chaser to teach Dennis," she confessed in a whisper.

I snorted, smiling as I did so. "Bloody hell. Lucy, I mean this in the most loving way possible, shut it." I rose to my feet and tugged her up as well. "I'm going to go get dressed in real clothes, and then we are going to the Quidditch Pitch until you remember that you're the best Chaser Hogwarts has ever seen."

"But I — "

"I said, lovingly — " I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her hard. " — shut it."

She blushed, blinking rapidly, too stunned to say anything.

I grinned. "Now you've got the right idea."

Lucy boldly stepped forward and popped to her tiptoes to kiss me herself. "Meet you on the Quidditch Pitch, Potter."

In the end, Lucy was feeling like herself again in about seven minutes. Ginny joined us within the hour, and she further boosted Lucy's confidence. At lunch, Lucy offered to help Dennis prepare for the match on Saturday, and he eagerly accepted. Ginny and I joined Lucy and Dennis on the Pitch, and we stayed there all afternoon.

When the sun began to set, Lucy let the Quaffle fall to the grass.

"Let's call it a day! You're doing brilliantly!" Lucy shouted, holding her hand up for a high five.

He zipped past her, slapping her hand on the way before turning a loop. "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it! Bloody hell, I'm going to be a Chaser!"

"And a damn good one at that!" she agreed loudly.

Ginny leaned over and whispered in my ear, "She's the best."

"Oh, I know." I nodded emphatically, smiling and waving at Lucy as she smiled and waved at me. "Trust me, I know."

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

Lucy's high spirits proved to be limited to the Quidditch Pitch. When she was on a broom, she felt ready to fight the world and win. The second she was back on the ground, though, the weight of the world returned to her shoulders. I tried to do what I could, but the only classes we had together on Monday were DADA and Potions, so I didn't get much of a chance to talk to her. Tuesday started with Herbology, though, so I swore to myself I'd try to make the most of it, especially since it was one of Lucy's favorite classes.

"I'm so glad we have Quidditch practice tonight," I said in a low voice. "It means I get to dodge another Slug Club party."

"Oh, the last one was quite fun, really. I mean, he drones on about famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he's so well-connected, but he gave us some really nice food and he introduced us to Gwenog Jones," Hermione replied.

Ron's jaw dropped. "Gwenog Jones? The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?"

"That's right. Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself, but don't tell Ginny I said that, she worships her."

I glanced at Lucy — I thought for sure the name Gwenog Jones would get a reaction out of her — but she was at least pretending to be focused on the Snargaluff plant in front of her.

"Anyway, the reason I mentioned that at all is that Slughorn's going to have a Christmas party, Harry," Hermione continued, "and there's no way you'll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you can come."

"And this is another party just for Slughorn's favorites, is it?" Ron snapped before I got the chance to reply.

"Just for the Slug Club, yes," Hermione replied.

Ron squeezed the Snargaluff pod in his hand so hard it shot out of his hands.

I volunteered myself for the job of retrieving it immediately, not wanting to witness another altercation between Ron and Hermione because of the Slug Club. Unfortunately for me, however, they were still sniping back and forth by the time I got back.

"Look, I didn't make up the name 'Slug Club,' that's just always been what it's called — "

"'Slug Club.' It's pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your party. Why don't you try hooking up with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug — "

"We're allowed to bring guests, and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"

Ron was silent for a long moment, before inquiring quietly, "You were going to ask me?"

"Yes, but obviously if you'd rather I 'hooked up with McLaggen' — "

Suddenly, Lucy reached down, grabbed her bag, and marched over to the station where Neville, Hannah, and Susan were working.

"Lucy, wait, what are you — " I called after her, but she paid me no mind.

Ron, Hermione, and I all watched as she made a comment that made the other three laugh. She said something else we couldn't hear, and Neville nodded in response, so she started helping with their Snargaluff plant.

"I wouldn't rather you hooked up with McLaggen," Ron said quietly.

Hermione didn't respond, and we continued working in awkward silence, at a much slower pace without Lucy and her green thumb.

Near the end of the period, a young Ravenclaw student I didn't recognize opened the door to the greenhouse and rushed inside.

"Professor Sprout!" he called.

"Oh, hello Samuel!" Professor Sprout replied, taking off her gloves and meeting him at the door.

"Samuel?" Hannah asked. She turned around and gazed at the boy curiously. "What are you doing here?"

"I — er — Professor Flitwick sent me," he explained, pushing his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes. "He said someone's here to talk to us."

A hush fell over the classroom, all eyes on Hannah, who had gone suddenly pale.

Professor Sprout's voice trembled when she spoke again. "You can pack up then, Hannah. I'm sure Neville, Susan, and Lucy are capable of collecting the last of the pods." She cleared her throat and looked around at everyone pointedly. "Back to work, everyone!"

My gaze lingered on Hannah for another moment before I looked at Lucy. She, Neville, and Susan had all leaned in closer to Hannah, and though I couldn't make out any of the words that were being said, I could guess well enough. I reckoned that Samuel was her brother, which could only mean one thing: someone in Hannah's family had died.

The rest of the period after Hannah left was subdued. As soon as the bell rang, Lucy rejoined the three of us, shoulders slumping.

"Hannah's half-blood," she explained in a voice little more than a pained whisper. "Neville and Susan reckon it was her mum, and I don't disagree. I just want this to be over."

Without another word, she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and stalked up to the castle alone, not once slowing down or looking back no matter how many times we called her name. She didn't say a word in Potions, nor in Charms, nor at lunch or dinner. By the time Quidditch practice was upon us, Lucy had been silent for several hours.

"D'you want me to do the talking during practice?" I asked in the locker room.

"Yes please, if you don't mind," she replied without missing a beat.

"I take it you're tired of Ron and Hermione's bickering too?"

Lucy sighed heavily. "Yeah. I'm tired of just about everything at this point." She managed a small smile. "Not you, though. Never you."

She didn't get the chance to elaborate before Ron and Dean entered the locker room, but I was glad she had at least said something. I did my best to encourage the team before we officially started practice, and Lucy did offer a few bracing words too, but truthfully, it was the worst practice of the whole term so far.

The problem wasn't Dennis, though — it was Ron.

The longer practice continued, the more nervous he got, and the more nervous he got, the less control he had, which resulted in him punching Demelza in the face by accident.

Lucy and I flew over to the pair as fast as we could, Lucy already reaching for her wand.

"I can heal it up!" she called. "C'mere, Demelza, it'll be okay."

Ron looked as if he could cry. "It was an accident, I'm sorry, Demelza, really sorry! I just — "

"Panicked," Ginny finished for him, the rebuke in her tone clear.

"She's going to be okay," I started to say, but Ginny interrupted me.

"Bloody hell, Ron, you prat, look at the state of her!"

"Lucy's already fixed it, and don't call him a prat, Ginny," I interjected. "You're not captain of this team — "

"Well, you and Lucy seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should!" she replied with an exasperated huff.

"Yeah, yeah, alright, very funny," I said. I did truthfully find her comment quite funny, but for Ron's benefit, I forced myself not to laugh.

"Let's keep going!" Lucy called. "Everything's alright now, I healed her busted lip! Let's have a great last fifteen minutes!"

Unfortunately, nothing improved in the last fifteen minutes, though Ron refrained from injuring anyone else. When practice ended, Lucy smiled and lied through her teeth, telling everyone that it had been a good practice and we were going to flatten Slytherin. I seconded her statement, and everyone seemed to believe us except for Ginny and Ron.

"I played like a sack of dragon dung," Ron muttered when he was alone with just Lucy and me in the locker room.

I shook my head. "No, you didn't."

"Not at all," Lucy echoed. "We're all rattled because of everything that's happened in the past week."

"You're the best Keeper we tried out, Ron. Your only problem is nerves," I said.

Lucy nodded emphatically, and the two of us took turns offering Ron encouragement all the way up to the castle. We had nearly reached the common room when we stumbled upon Ginny and Dean with their lips glued together.

"Oi!" Ron shouted, face contorting in anger.

Ginny pulled away from Dean with a huff. "What?"

"I don't want to find my own sister snogging people in public!"

"This was a deserted corridor until you came butting in!"

Dean gently tugged on Ginny's hand, looking embarrassed. "Er — c'mon, let's head to the common room — "

"You go! I want a word with my dear brother!"

Dean left in a hurry, and Ginny fixed Ron with her best glare.

"Right, let's get this straight once and for all!" she shouted, hands on her hips. "It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron — "

"Yeah, it is! D'you think I want people saying my sister's a — "

Ginny whipped her wand out and pointed it at him. "A what? A what, exactly?"

"He doesn't mean anything, Ginny," I said, stepping forward to try to break up the fight.

"Oh yes he does! Just because he's never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he's ever had is from our Auntie Muriel — "

"Shut your mouth!" Ron yelled.

"No, I will not! I've seen you with Phlegm, hoping she'll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her, it's pathetic! News flash, Ron, everyone thinks she's one of the most beautiful women to ever exist, but you don't see the rest of us fawning over her, do you? No! If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn't mind so much that everyone else does it! And I mean everyone else, Ron, including Hermione Granger, she snogged Viktor Krum!"

Ron pulled his wand out. I jumped in between them, but he merely kept shouting as if I wasn't there.

"You don't know what you're talking about! Just because I don't do it in public — "

Ginny let out a disbelieving cackle. "Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?"

A massive Shield Charm cracked into place, separating Ginny and Ron. The spells they had both fired bounced off of the shield and ricocheted into the castle floor harmlessly.

"Enough," Lucy said, lowering her wand with a shaking hand. "Please, just — stop. That's enough. We have enough people firing spells at us out there." She jerked her chin toward the nearest window. "We don't need to start firing spells at each other in here too. You two are brother and sister — " Her voice cracked on the last word, and tears glimmered in her eyes for a second before she blinked and they disappeared. "You're family. You love each other. Start fucking acting like it."

Lucy marched past the three of us in the same direction as Dean, swatting my hand away when I reached for her and ignoring Ginny when she called her name.

A stunned silence settled over the three of us as she disappeared around the corner.

"Harry, mate, is she okay?" Ron asked after a long moment. "She just keeps — storming off today."

"If you two are done attacking each other, I'm going to go try to talk to her," I grit out.

"I'll go with you," they said in unison.

I shook my head. "No. Not tonight, neither of you. Now I'm going to go try to talk to her, and you two are going to be nice to each other around Lucy, even if it's just an act, okay?"

They both mumbled their agreement, so I started jogging after Lucy. She was fast, though, and by the time I got to the common room, a concerned-looking Neville reported that Lucy had gone directly to her dormitory without saying a word to anyone else. Unfortunately, her roommates were nowhere to be found, so I had no one that would be willing to let me up. I had half a mind to go back down to the Quidditch Pitch and get my broom and go tap on her window until she agreed to talk to me, but she had swatted my hand away. If she wanted space, I'd let her have it, as much as it killed me to know she was hurting all alone.

No, not alone. She had Hermione, and Lavender, and Parvati, and Wangle the pygmy puff.

I suddenly found myself fighting a smile. Wangle the pygmy puff. It was almost as ridiculous a name as Kerfuffle.

With that, I started climbing the stairs to my own dormitory to play with Kerfuffle until the world felt just a little less unbearable, hoping that Lucy was doing the same with Wangle. It worked for me. I hoped it worked for Lucy too.

Lucy was quiet, even by her standards, in the days that followed — she didn't want to talk to anyone about the events of Tuesday, not even me — but she didn't storm off again, which seemed like a good sign. Ron was perfectly polite to Hermione and Ginny, forced though it was, and they were perfectly polite to him too. Quidditch practice on Thursday went a bit better than it did on Tuesday, for which we were all grateful.

Friday night, however, Ron and I had just finished brushing our teeth when he sighed heavily.

"I know you and Lucy don't have any time to find another Keeper, so I'll play tomorrow, but if we lose, and we will, I'm taking myself off the team."

I blinked. "What? Ron, no, you're a good Keeper — "

"I punched Demelza on Tuesday."

"Accidents happen!"

He leveled me with an unimpressed look.

I sighed. "Okay, yes, that was bad, but you didn't do it again yesterday! Come on, Ron, please. You can save anything when you're on form. You just have a mental problem."

"Are you calling me mental?" he asked.

"No, I — no. Look." I sighed. "I know Lucy's better at the whole 'words of encouragement' part of being Quidditch Captain, but she's not here, so you're stuck with me. You just get in your head and tell yourself that you can't do it. With that kind of attitude, it's no wonder that you play a little sloppy under pressure. Set higher expectations and meet those. You have the skills, you just need the confidence."

"Thanks, Harry," Ron muttered, "but where the hell am I supposed to find 'confidence' before the match tomorrow?"

With that, he sulkily made his way to bed and pulled the curtains shut.

I sighed again, wondering the exact same. Where could Ron find confidence before the match?

And then it dawned on me. He had the skills — he just needed to believe in himself.

A little deception for the greater good never hurt anyone, anyway, right?

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

"You seem chipper this morning," Lucy commented as I settled across from her at the breakfast table the next morning.

I grinned. "Beautiful day to beat Slytherin!"

"That it is, Harry James, that it is." She glanced at Ron. "You seem significantly less chipper, King Weasley."

He snorted. "Yeah, well, we'll see if they're singing that today. I doubt it."

"I don't." Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Kindly extract your head from your ass, Ron. You are good enough, damn it. We chose you — "

"I'm resigning after we lose today," Ron interrupted.

"That won't be necessary."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, actually, I do..." Lucy's voice trailed off. She had just realized I had a vial in one hand and Ron's pumpkin juice in the other.

I made a show of putting the goblet in front of Ron and the vial in my pocket.

"Interesting," she said.

"What's interesting?" Ron asked, looking at the goblet warily.

"Don't drink that!" Hermione said.

"Why not?" Ron demanded.

Hermione looked at me. "You put something in that drink."

"Excuse me?" I asked innocently.

"You heard me. I saw you. You just tipped something into Ron's drink. It — Merlin, Harry!" Hermione hissed. "That was your liquid luck, from Slughorn!"

Ron reached for the goblet and immediately drained the contents of it.

Lucy looked at me and offered me one single nod to show that she understood that I hadn't actually put it in his goblet.

"Well, I've already eaten, so I'm going to head down to the locker room," Lucy said, giving Ron a bright smile. "I think today's going to be a good day, I really do. See you boys in a bit!"

Ron's spirits considerably brighter, he devoured a good amount of breakfast, and I did the same before we made our way down to the locker room. Conditions were perfect. Lucy was right — it was going to be a good day.

Ginny greeted us with a wide smile. "Conditions look ideal, and guess what? That Slytherin Chaser Vaisey took a Bludger in the head yesterday during their practice, and he's too sore to play! And even better than that — Malfoy's gone off sick too!"

"What? He's ill? What's wrong with him?" I asked.

"No idea, but it's great for us! They're playing Harper instead; he's in my year and he's an idiot!"

"Don't you dare let this distract you, Harry," Lucy said, crossing her arms and leaning up against the locker next to mine. "We can discuss implications later. For now, we just need to focus on the match, yes?"

"Yes, yes, of course," I replied.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Harry."

"Later." I nodded. "Implications later. Match now. Yes."

Apparently satisfied, she nodded back at me. "Can I give the pre-match speech today?"

"Of course, co-captain."

She smiled, so I smiled.

When the time came to gather everyone and deliver the speech, Lucy jumped up onto a bench and tossed her Beater's bat back and forth between her hands effortlessly. It shouldn't have been as attractive as it was, but it really was attractive.

"Hi everyone," she said, her voice clear and confident. "Listen, I know everything is awful right now. Katie should be here with us. We shouldn't have to all keep our wands stashed in our Quidditch robes just in case someone tries to attack Hogwarts while we're playing. It's not fair that there are people who want us dead. It's not fair, none of it, but we're still here anyway. I want you to take all of your feelings — the fear, the anger, the sorrow, and the hope that persists anyway — and I want you to channel all of that into a damn good Quidditch match today, okay? I know there's nothing we can do right now to save the world, but we can let Quidditch save us from giving in to despair. We're more than survivors; we are victors. Let's show everyone that Gryffindor refuses to be defeated. Who's with me?"

A loud shout of approval erupted from the team, and Lucy grinned.

"That's what I thought. Let's have the best damn match of the year. For Katie. For us."

And with that, we marched out onto the Pitch, ready to take the world by storm.

The match itself was a smashing success for us, despite what Zacharias Smith's irritating commentary would have led anyone to believe.

"Well, there they go, and I think we're all surprised to see the team that Harry Potter put together this year. What? She's a captain too? Well, anyway, as I was saying, many thought, given Ronald Weasley's patchy performance as Keeper last year, that he might be off the team, but of course, a close personal friendship with the captain — yeah, yeah, co-captains — does help. Oh, and here comes Slytherin's first attempt scoring a goal, it's Urquhart streaking down the Pitch and — and Weasley saves it, well, he's bound to get lucky sometimes, I suppose."

"Shut him up!" I shouted at Ginny as she zipped past me in pursuit of a Bludger.

She laughed loudly. "I will, don't worry!"

I grinned, satisfied, and turned my attention to Lucy. Her long brown braid streamed behind her as she pummeled Bludger after Bludger away from all of us, not just the Chasers. Soon, we were up fifty points, and Dennis had even scored once. I heard a rousing chorus of "Weasley is Our King" start in the stands, and as the match progressed, Ron started conducting the crowd whenever the Quaffle was on the opposite side of the Pitch. Soon, we were a hundred points up.

I really only had eyes for Lucy, though. She was relentless in her defense of us. Her protection was flawless. But that wasn't good enough for Zacharias.

"A Bludger's hurtling toward young Dennis Creevey, looks like Lucy's not going to get there in time — ah, she gets lucky again. Her Quidditch career continues to mystify us all. We all fondly remember Cedric, of course, and we miss him every day. I wonder if he'd be proud of his sister, or if — Ronald Weasley saves another shot from Slytherin — I wonder if Cedric would be — Ginny Weasley sends a Bludger toward Harper and hits her mark — I wonder if Cedric would be — Dean Thomas scores another ten points for Gryffindor — I think Cedric would — Lucy sends the Bludger in the direction of Harper, but misses — Cedric wouldn't have missed, had he played Beater."

"Come on, come on, where's the Snitch, let me end this match," I mumbled through gritted teeth, scanning the air for any sign of it.

Before I could spot it though, someone crashed into me.

"Your blood traitor pal thinks he's something special today, doesn't he?" Harper taunted.

Unfortunately for me, Madam Hooch's back was turned, so she missed the very-intentional collision. I sighed, watching as Harper zoomed away.

So, it seemed, had Zacharias. "And I think Harper of Slytherin's seen the Snitch! Yes, he's certainly seen something Potter hasn't!"

I huffed, but then I actually looked, and — oh no, he HAS seen it.

I shot forward, flying with everything I had, pushing my broom from Sirius to its limit.

But Harper was closer, and he was reaching for it.

I was in earshot, though.

"Oi, Harper, how much did Malfoy pay you to come on instead of him?" I shouted.

Harper, in his shock, missed the Snitch.

I snatched it out of the air and held it high.

The crowd went wild. I soared upward to the level of the rest of the team, where we all exchanged high fives and slaps on the back.

All except for one — Ginny barreled right past us and crashed directly into the commentary booth.

Ginny smiled and shrugged. "Oops, sorry, forgot to brake!"

With that, she joined the rest of the team, looking quite proud of herself.

"I shut him up," she reported with a giggle.

I clapped her on the shoulder appreciatively. "Well done!" I turned to Lucy. "You too, Lucy, you were brilliant, you both were." But especially you. Merlin, especially you.

"I'm so sorry I missed Harper," Lucy said, looking near tears, "I don't know how I missed that shot. Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine, I promise. You were brilliant, Lucy, brilliant."

"Thanks, Harry." Lucy blushed bright red. "So, er, how'd you know Malfoy paid off Harper?"

"Lucky guess. I guess Malfoy has a habit of paying people to do his dirty work."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Guess so. I'll meet you in the common room for the party!"

"See you there," I said with a smile that she returned.

I watched her fly down to the locker room, smile still on my face.

"You love her."

I turned to see that Ron and Ginny were both staring at me knowingly.

I cleared my throat. "Er — what?"

"Ginny's right, you really do," Ron said.

"Everyone does," I replied.

"Yes, but — not the way you do."

I glanced at Ginny, who shrugged.

"I'd fly into a commentary box for her any day of the week," she said. "You would, too. If you'd been playing Beater today, Zacharias would have a Bludger-shaped hole in his face."

"When I said 'shut him up,' I meant you should just hit a Bludger at him, you didn't have to crash your broom — "

"I know. I thought crashing into him would make more of a statement."

I laughed. "It was brilliant. Anyway, let's go. We have a victory party to attend and you — " I poked Ron in the chest. " — are staying on this team, sir."

"Guess so," he replied, turning almost as red as our Quidditch robes.

Ron and I were the last ones in the locker room, but just before we left, Hermione entered.

"I want a word with you, Harry. You shouldn't have done it. You heard Slughorn, it's illegal."

"What are you going to do, turn us in?" Ron asked defensively.

I raised my eyebrows. "What are we talking about?"

"You know perfectly well what we're talking about! You spiked Ron's juice with lucky potion at breakfast! Felix Felicis!" Hermione shouted.

I shook my head. "No, I didn't."

"Yes you did, Harry, and that's why everything went right, there were Slytherin players missing and Ron saved everything!"

I grinned and pulled out the completely-full vial of Felix Felicis. "No, really! I didn't put it in! I wanted Ron to think I'd done it, so I faked it when I knew you and Lucy were looking. Ron, you saved everything because you felt lucky. You did it all yourself."

"There really wasn't anything in my pumpkin juice? But the weather's good, and Vaisey couldn't play. I honestly haven't been given lucky potion?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Nope! Look, it's entirely full. Lucy can confirm it. I didn't tell her about my plan ahead of time, but she figured it out with those heightened senses of hers."

"Huh. Brilliant." Ron blinked once, then whirled on Hermione. "'You added Felix Felicis to Ron's juice this morning, that's why he saved everything!' See! I can save goals without help, Hermione!"

Hermione's eyes widened in horror. "I never said you couldn't — Ron, you thought you'd been given it too!"

Ron stormed away without another word.

I swallowed hard. I had not been expecting my plan to backfire so spectacularly.

"I — er — shall we go up to the party, then?" I managed after an awkwardly long pause.

"You go! I'm sick of Ron at the moment, I don't know what I was supposed to — ugh!"

And just like that, she stormed away too, and I was alone in the locker room.

I sighed. I'd been sighing a lot that week.

It had been a long seven days, but we had done it. We had won, and there was a Quidditch party waiting for me in the common room.

Lucy was waiting for me in the common room.

With a smile, I slammed my locker shut and started heading to the castle, humming one of the songs I had heard with Lucy on Sunday morning. Ron and Hermione could have their issues — as long as I had my Lucy, even in secret, nothing could keep me down for long.