LUCY:

I let go of George and then jumped into Fred's arms without stopping to catch my breath. He started spinning me around, as he always did, holding on a little tighter than usual, the same way George had.

The second he set me down, I reached for Henry and squeezed as hard as I could.

"I went to you last because I wanted to hug you longest and I know the twins are impatient," I said breathlessly as I continued holding onto him.

"Aw," he replied, sounding touched.

I released Henry after a long moment and grinned at the three of them. "Hi," I panted. "Hi hi hi."

"You good, Cub?" Fred asked.

"Yes, I am excellent, why do you ask?" I spotted bushy brown hair and a ball of purple fuzz in my peripheral vision, so I abruptly turned and cupped my hands over my mouth. "Have a good Christmas, Hermione!"

"You too, Lucy!" she replied with a small but sincere smile before disappearing in the crowd, Wangle on her shoulder.

When I turned back to the others, George was cocking his head at me. "Wait, she's not coming with us?"

"Oh Merlin, no, but I'll tell you the full story later, not here, not now, we had a small Christmas celebration last night just the two of us," I said. "Anyway, hi, I missed you!"

A small bark behind me got my attention, and I turned to see Harry holding my backpack in one hand and Tuck's carrier in the other.

"Thank you, Harry, you're the best," I said with a smile as I shouldered my backpack and scooped Tuck out of his carrier. I kissed Tuck on the head. "I know, I'm sorry I left in such a hurry, I just had to say hello to my other favorite boys. You understand, don't you, Tuck?"

He licked my face in forgiveness, and I turned back to my other favorite boys with a smile. George was looking at Tuck with wariness that I could tell he was trying to hide, but more notably than that, Henry was looking at George with concern. My smile widened — either George had told Henry that he was afraid of dogs, or Henry had figured it out for himself, and I wasn't sure which one was sweeter.

"Don't worry, Georgie, he's staying at the Burrow, so you won't have to see much of him. Hagrid just insisted that I should get to spend this Christmas with him, because it's been a few years since I've been able to do that. I'll keep him away from you, don't worry." I sighed happily. "Anyway, hi, I've missed you, have I mentioned that already? Hi. Harry, say hi."

Harry stepped up beside me, and I could hear the smile in his voice without even looking at him. "Hi. Your siblings should be here momentarily. Lucy just sprinted off the train in a mad dash to greet you and left us in her dust. Tuck was eager to catch up with her, so they insisted I chase after her and bring him along."

"You are good at chasing after our Cub," George commented.

"Could be better, though," Fred grumbled.

Before anyone else could respond, we were joined by Gretch, Ginny, Ron, and Neville, three of whom were sporting pygmy puffs on their shoulders.

"Hi, Henry!" Gretch said brightly, holding out her pygmy puff to show him. "This is Schubert! I named him after Franz Schubert because I thought they looked similar."

Henry tossed his head back and laughed. "Oh Merlin, you're right! He does look like Schubert!"

I glanced at George, who was watching Henry laugh with an undeniably fond expression on his face. I looked at Fred, who was already looking at me with a knowing smirk. I raised my eyebrows at him in silent question, and he shook his head, so my jaw dropped incredulously. He held his hands up in surrender. I shrugged and smiled, then glanced at Ginny to see if she'd noticed the same thing I had. She was already looking at me, with a strange expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" I mouthed at her.

She nodded before quickly looking away from me.

I then glanced at Fred, and it was his turn to shrug.

"Here, I'll hold Schubert," George said to Gretch, holding his hands out. "You ought to hug your brother, he missed you terribly."

It was then Henry's turn to look at George with undeniable fondness for a second before securing Gretch in his arms and closing his eyes.

"Schubert, huh?" Fred asked, glancing at Neville. "Is your pygmy puff named after someone too?"

Neville shook his head. "Nope. Or at least I hope not. This is Kerfuffle, the official mascot of this year's sixth-year Gryffindor boys."

"Neville's taking their mascot, Kerfuffle, for the holiday, and Hermione's taking our mascot, Wangle," I explained. "Cam's is named after a Shakespeare character, Orlando, and Professor McGonagall named hers Azalea after the flower."

"You gave one to McGonagall?" George asked incredulously as he handed Schubert back to Gretch.

I smiled sheepishly. "Yes, yes I did."

"How have you been, mate?" Neville asked as he hugged Henry.

"Been better." Henry pulled away, careful not to knock Kerfuffle, and shrugged. "Been worse. And you?"

Neville shrugged. "Same here, I suppose. Sorry to cut this so short, but I see my gran waving at me impatiently, so I should go."

"Wait!" I hugged Neville tightly. "Have a good Christmas, Nev. Don't be a wallflower at any parties without me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he chuckled. "Have a good Christmas, Lucy. Have a good Christmas, everyone!"

Everyone called various farewells to Neville as he disappeared, and the commotion finally allowed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to find us. After hugging Henry and Gretch one last time, I let myself be whisked away. Before I knew it, my backpack was stashed in Ginny's room and I was curled up in an armchair with Tuck on my lap, George Weasley sitting across from me, talking to me so enthusiastically that he was completely unbothered by the proximity of Tuck.

"I don't know how much Henry has been telling you in his letters, but Cub, we had the best night last night! Well, not the best night, we went on an Order mission and Fred and Archie ended up fighting a Muggle in a nightclub, but after our mission, I brought Henry back to the flat for pasta night, because he just got back from a tournament yesterday and he seemed excited when I mentioned that it was pasta night. He laughed, Cub, I made him laugh! I was wearing a Benny hat, and he snatched it off when I mentioned that I was feeling warm, and I let slip that I was only wearing it to hide my messy hair from him, and he laughed! And then I just kept making him laugh, I was truly on a roll as the Muggles say, it was great, he hasn't laughed like that in months. It's been a rough couple of months, as I'm sure you had already gathered, but he laughed last night, Cub, a lot, he really laughed. It's just so good to see him happy again, I've missed his smile and I've missed his laugh. I understand why he's sad and why he's scared, but, Merlin, I just want to make him happy. Speaking of making him happy, I finished his Christmas gift the other night! Henry's a brilliant piano player, did you know? Archie knew before I did, somehow, and he brought me to a pub to watch Henry play, the night Henry's mum died, before we knew she had died, of course. He's a brilliant piano player, brilliant. It made him so happy that night, I could tell. The past couple months, I just kept remembering how happy he looked that night, sitting at the piano in that pub, and I've just wanted to see him that happy again. Anyway, later that night, after he found out his mum had died and we were together in Grimmauld Place, he started playing the old Black family piano, but those pricks cursed it to attack someone who played a wrong note, and he must have hit a wrong note because it cut the back of his hand. Not badly, I was able to heal it right up, but oh, it made me so angry. He hasn't played the piano since that night, not any piano, anywhere. I don't know if he's ready to play it yet, but whenever he is, I fixed the piano in Grimmauld Place, I found a way to reverse the curse so anyone can play it without worrying about getting hurt. I tested it myself, quite a bit, plunking out these awful attempts at music until it stopped trying to attack me. I'm not trying to rush him into playing piano again, I know healing takes time, I know you weren't ready to play Quidditch again for a few months after Cedric died, but I want Henry to have a piano he can play whenever he is ready, because I saw firsthand how happy it made him that night in the pub. I don't know if it will ever make him that happy again, I know it will never be the same without his mum, but, well, I thought I would give him the opportunity to play again, at least. I just want him to be happy. And I want him to play piano again, he's so bloody talented, did you know he played piano?"

He stopped to breathe then, looking at me with a wide smile on his face.

I grinned. "I did know, actually, but thank you for all of the detail. I'm so glad he's doing better. So, am I going to get to hear about the Order mission?"

"I suppose if you wanted, you could be around when we tell Remus about it — "

"Remus?!" I interrupted, instantly sitting up straighter. "He's back, then? He's alright?"

"He's due back tonight. Archie and Tonks and a couple others are waiting at Grimmauld Place for him as we speak. I'm guessing you'd like to see him sooner than later?"

I hugged Tuck tighter and nodded.

"What is it, Cub?" George asked softly.

"I just need to know he's okay," I whispered. "And — well — he said he'd come back with answers for me, about my magic, about our magic."

George leaned back in his chair and studied me for a long moment. "Your magic has always amazed me, you know. Fred too. So why do you look so unsure of yourself as you say that?"

"My magic has always scared me," I confessed.

"It's never scared me, or anyone else for that matter. Your magic saved you, Lucy."

"My magic has hurt people, George."

"Yeah, Death Eaters. I think it's fair to say they more than deserved it."

"I guess, but — "

"Don't 'but' me, Cub, they deserved it — "

"But what if someone else gets hurt who doesn't deserve it? You weren't there that night a year ago when I caused a thunderstorm and started a fire and — and Harry was right there and I didn't even realize it, what if I had hurt him?"

"You didn't hurt him, so there's no need for 'what if's."

"I guess, but I could have."

"You didn't." George bit his lip and fell silent for a moment, just staring at me. "If you could learn to see yourself the way those of us who love you see you, Cub, you'd never think anything like this ever again."

I felt silent and looked down at the floor. Thinking of Harry, and all the times he'd said something similar, and all the times I'd ignored him. Thinking of Cedric, and the way he'd loved me. Thinking of Claire, and my parents, and the way they'd loved me. Thinking of everyone else in my life who loved me, in their own unique ways.

"You know I love you, right, Lucy?"

I glanced back up at George and nodded. "I love you too."

"I know." He got up and crossed the room, resting a hand on my shoulder and kissing the top of my head. "You look flushed, and I know you're not the biggest fan of the hypothermia candies, so let's go see who we can rally for a snowball fight, yeah?"

Predictably, everyone wanted to join the snowball fight, so I teamed up with Ginny and Harry against Ron and Fred and George. In time, the teams dissolved, and our snowball fight became a free-for-all. We pelted each other with snow, pretending that we were the carefree kids we used to be, until a voice from the window caught our attention.

"Come inside before you turn into icicles, please!" Mrs. Weasley called.

"Coming, Mum!" George called back two seconds before he dropped a handful of snow down my back.

I yelped. "Merlin, that's cold!"

"It is snow," Ron quipped.

I reached down and grabbed a handful of snow to sling at him. "Piss off."

He only laughed and walked faster toward the house.

Harry stepped up beside me and leaned in close to study my face. I looked at him questioningly, but rather than explaining himself, he gestured for me to stop and bent down to scoop up a handful of snow in each of his gloved hands.

"You still look flushed," he said quietly as he pressed his snow-covered hands to my cheeks. "Figured I should try to cool you down one last time before we head in. In a — er — gentler way than George did."

"Oi! I was trying to help too, Potter!" George protested.

"It helped, it helped, thanks, George," I replied, very aware of how close Harry and I were standing and just how intimately he was holding my face. Harry, you sly little rascal. "This feels good too. Thank you."

Harry offered me a self-satisfied smile. I pressed my own hands over his, just for a second, before his slipped away leaving mine holding the snow. He then turned and hurried to catch up to Ron, leaving me behind with Fred and Ginny and George.

"Did you see that?" Ginny hissed. "Did you see that?"

Fred replied first. "Sure did."

"Did he clean his glasses?" George wondered aloud.

"No," I lied. "Come on, don't read too much into it, he's just trying to help."

"Well then, bloody hell, I want to help that way too," Ginny muttered, scooping up her own snow and pressing her hands to my cheeks, squishing them together playfully. "What a lovely little Lucy snow sandwich you are!"

I shook my head and pulled myself free, laughing. "You're all insufferable. I'm alright, really — " Over Ginny's shoulder, I spotted a familiar frame silhouetted in the door frame and gasped. "Remus."

"Back as promised!" he called. "All in one piece, and before Christmas. The clown prank shall remain a mystery."

"I've never been so glad to not know something," I said as I rushed forward to hug him, as gently as I could while still making sure that he knew just how much I had missed him and how worried I had been.

"So what did you think of David Bowie?" Remus asked as he straightened up and smiled.

I smiled right back. "Your continued contribution to my education was appreciated."

"There'll be more I can offer you another day, about magic," he said meaningfully. "Until then, Molly's cooking smells lovely as always, and I do believe one Archie Graye is very excited to see you."

"What's this about you beating Slytherin in Quidditch?" Archie's indignant voice squawked from inside right on cue.

I grinned as I walked past Remus into the house and eagerly joined Harry in recapping our match for Archie, who was so excited to see me that he picked me up and spun me in a circle, Fred-style; he'd clearly been spending too much time with the twins. No, not too much, that was impossible — he had clearly been spending the perfect amount of time with the twins.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

Remus Lupin was a very busy man once he got back, reporting everything he could to the Order and getting filled in on all of the happenings he had missed, so I didn't see much of him after that first night. I didn't mind, though — I'd been waiting years for answers about my magic, so I knew I would survive waiting a little while longer.

The night before the full moon, after dinner, I slipped away to Ginny's room and opened the window and removed the screen so I could sit on the windowsill and enjoy the frigid night air.

As expected, the door opened only a couple minutes later, and it was Harry's footsteps that walked in.

"I'm leaving the door open so we can't be accused of anything scandalous," he whispered in a voice only I'd be able to hear.

I nodded to show I'd heard him, even though I didn't turn around. "Hi, Harry."

"Hi, Lucy." The crunch of a wrapper behind me informed me that he'd brought me a hypothermia candy. "How are you?"

"Believe it or not, I'm angry about the fact that the full moon is on Christmas Eve," I muttered sarcastically. I sighed, then said in a more serious voice, "I guess I'm alright. How are you?"

"I'm angry about it too, but... I've just been downstairs talking to our friends and your excellent cookie-baking skills came up, and, well, we all know that you're never able to sleep much, if at all, this night of the cycle anyway, so Ginny asked Mrs. Weasley if we could stay up all night baking cookies, and she said yes. I brought you one of these to help combat the inevitable heat generated by so many bodies in a small place lit by candles where baking is happening." He held his hand out in my peripheral vision. "Are you in, Lu?"

"Of course." I smiled as I turned to face him and jumped off the windowsill onto the floor. "You are the best and I love you."

"Lucy — " Harry stammered as his face flared red.

"Relax, love, no one's around," I said softly, accepting the candy from his hand. I then grabbed his hand and tugged him to me, meeting in the middle with a quick kiss before I started replacing Ginny's screen. The room was silent as I closed the window, and when I turned to Harry, I saw that he was watching me with wide eyes. "Merlin, Harry, it's not like I've never kissed you before."

Harry shook his head, dazed, smiling. "I'm never going to get used to it. I never want to get used to it. It's just — you're so — the best."

"It's just I'm so the best?" I teased.

"Please just let me try to compliment you," he replied sheepishly.

I kissed his cheek en route to the door. "I appreciate it, love. Let's go bake cookies."

Downstairs, Fred and George were bickering over which Christmas album to play on the record player that they'd retrieved from their flat while Ron and Ginny were bickering over which types of cookies to make. My arrival in the kitchen stopped the bickering at once.

"Would the music bother you, Cub?" George asked.

I shook my head. "No, it's alright, we need the ambience."

"What kind of cookies were you thinking, Lucy? You're the expert after all," Ron said.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Whatever you all want to make. Fred's favorite are white chocolate macadamia nut, and George's are chocolate chip — "

"How on earth did you know that? I've never told anyone that!" George interjected.

"Because you always eat the most of those," I replied. "Anyway, maybe we should just make a batch of everyone's favorites." I glanced at Harry. "What are your favorite cookies?"

To my surprise, Harry flushed bright red. "I don't know if you know how to make them, it's okay."

"What? I've made so many cookies in the past couple of years, surely I've made your favorite at least once?"

"Not as far as I know. It's okay, though, your cookies are always the best — "

"Well, we're fixing this tonight," I announced. "What are your favorite cookies?"

"Er — anything you bake is still my favorite, but — oatmeal raisin," he said quietly.

His answer prompted loud indignant squawks from everyone else in the room, but I studied him closely for a long moment. There was more to that story — I would get it out of him later.

I turned around to look at the Weasleys. "Do you even have raisins?"

"Henry loves raisins, actually, so yes," Fred replied, wrinkling his nose. "I don't know where they are, though. George is in charge of maintaining our raisin stash for Henry."

"I'll fetch those!" George said. "I'm sure you'll be able to figure a recipe out. Shouldn't be too different from those oatmeal chocolate chip cookies you made over summer."

I nodded. "You're right." I looked at Harry and smiled. "Let's see what we can do."

Fred fired up the record player, and a woman's voice soon filled the kitchen. We ultimately decided to work in pairs, since six people trying to bake a single batch of cookies was a tad excessive. Ginny and Fred started on the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies while Ron started on the chocolate chip cookies. George joined Ron once he returned with the raisins, and Harry and I set to work on the oatmeal raisin cookies that he claimed were his favorite. Tuck was an eager assistant — "assistant" meaning that he was eager to lick up anything that we happened to drop.

"So, oatmeal raisin?" I asked in a voice softer than the music once everyone else was busy, watching Harry's reaction carefully.

He nodded and turned red again. "Yeah. I know it's an unpopular opinion."

"They have to be someone's favorite," I said. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Yeah, exactly, they have to be someone's favorite," Harry whispered, eyes wide as he looked at me, begging me to understand. "I figured they might as well be mine, because they were the only ones left whenever the Dursleys had a social function involving cookies. I eventually convinced myself they were my favorite, like it was my little secret that I actually enjoyed the cookies they'd reluctantly let me take because they didn't like them."

"Oh," I whispered. Sadness surged in me. I wanted nothing more than to reach for his hand, hold on tight, pull him into me in a hug, hold on tight, kiss him for good measure, but I couldn't. Too many eyes, too many ears, even there, even in the closest place to home we'd ever known, there was too much danger still around us.

Harry shrugged. "It's alright."

"Don't say that, please," I replied. "You deserved better." I sighed. "We're going to make these oatmeal raisin cookies, but we are going to make others, too. You'll always get first pick of the cookies, for the rest of your life, I'll make sure of it."

Harry smiled at me, the expression so full of love and fondness I had to look quickly away, for the sake of anyone else who might have been looking, too.

"Oi, Diggory, quick question, what's the ratio of white chocolate chips to macadamia nuts?" Ginny called.

"Equal parts, unless someone really favors one over the other," I responded. I cleared my throat, the question successfully breaking me from my sad trance. I glanced at Harry, something suddenly occurring to me. "Hey, wait a minute, today's the 23rd, and here we are, baking again. Did you do that on purpose?"

"It wasn't exactly an accident," he replied, smile widening as he shrugged.

"WAIT!" There was a loud crash as George dropped the bowl he was holding. "Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, LUCY, YOUR BIRTHDAY! YOU SAID HARRY BAKED COOKIES WITH YOU ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!"

Fred gasped. "WAIT, YOU'RE RIGHT! AND IT WAS BETWEEN WHEN WE LEFT AND WHEN SUMMER STARTED!"

"And it was a Wednesday or a Thursday," George continued. "Hold on." He rushed over to the wall where a calendar was hanging and flipped through the months rapidly, Fred peering over his shoulder. "AHA! MAY!"

I groaned loudly. "DAMN!"

Harry patted my shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry, there's only so much they'll be able to do this year, since they won't be at school."

"Oh, but she's turning 17," Fred commented with a mischievous waggle of his eyebrows. "That's no ordinary birthday. We're going to have to find a way to do something truly remarkable."

I sighed. "Merlin help me."

Everyone laughed at my comment, and I started laughing too after a second. I couldn't believe I'd slipped up like that after so many years of guarding my birthday secret with my life, but I supposed I had dragged it out long enough. While our first batch of cookies was in the oven, I retrieved my Chocolate Frog card from Cedric from my bag, and the twins were obsessed.

"Oh Merlin, this picture is adorable!" Fred gushed. "Cedric took it?"

I nodded. "Definitely. I didn't smile like that for my parents, trust me."

"Ever been tempted to bring back those bangs?" George asked teasingly.

"Absolutely not," I replied. "The missing front teeth, on the other hand — "

George shook his head. "Nope, no way, we've trained you to be a better Beater than that. Your teeth are staying exactly the way they are right now."

"Flip it over, there's more on the back," Ron said.

"Ooh!" George flipped it over enthusiastically and read it aloud. "'Lucy Diggory was born May 23, 1980. Lucy is Cedric Diggory's favorite sister and Susan and Amos Diggory's favorite daughter. She plays as a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and has loved to fly since the day she was born. Her other talents include being remarkably brave and resilient in the midst of hardship and kind to everyone she meets. Her adventures are far from over — in fact, they have only just begun — but this witch will surely go far in life, because she has no shortage of heart and nerve.' Aw, Cub."

My face felt as if it would burn to a crisp. "It was my birthday gift from second year. Cedric made it, in case that wasn't obvious."

"The part about your adventures was a tad on the nose," Fred commented.

"That it was," I agreed. "I knew it even then. Anyway, er, I figured I'd show you, since you know my birthday now. Congratulations, I suppose. Anyway, what cookies should we bake next?"

Our next round of cookies consisted of gingerbread and sugar cookies. I worked with Fred on the gingerbread while Ginny worked with George on the sugar cookies and Harry and Ron worked on making as much frosting as possible in as many different colors as they could. Once all of the cookies were baked and cooled, we set to work on decorating the cookies — and each other. I ended up with sparkly red frosting on the tip of my nose from Harry, an orange frosting mustache from Ron, a yellow frosting star on my forehead from George, two blue frosting stripes under my eyes from Ginny, and a purple frosting beard from Fred.

Around two in the morning, we all washed up and the twins headed back to their flat, since they needed to be well-rested to try to keep up with me the next night. I tried to tell the others that they could turn in as well, but they adamantly refused. I finally accepted their determination to stay up with me and suggested a chess tournament, which was quite brilliant on my part — Ron fell asleep in an armchair while I was playing Ginny, and Ginny fell asleep on the floor while I was playing Harry.

"G'night, Ginny," I whispered as I draped a thick blanket over her sleeping form.

"How kind of them to leave the sofa open for us," Harry commented, smiling.

I snorted. "Yeah."

We lowered ourselves down quietly next to each other — I had been using my wandless magic as little as possible, so I didn't cast a silencing spell, meaning we needed to be quiet — and watched the sleeping Weasleys for a long moment before snuggling closer. Tuck jumped up beside me and rested his head on my lap, looking up at me adoringly. I smiled at him and kissed the top of his head.

"Sweet dreams, boy," I whispered.

Harry draped his arm around my shoulders gently. "How are you doing, Lu?"

I shook my head and buried my head against him.

"I know, I'm sorry." Harry rested the back of his hand against my forehead. "You're still really warm. Do you want a hypothermia candy? I have more."

I shook my head again.

"Alright. Do you just want to sit here in silence, then?"

I nodded. "Together."

"We can sit here in silence together," he whispered, rubbing his thumb back and forth against my shoulder. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We're safe here, right now. Nothing's going to hurt us. You know that, right?"

I nodded again.

"Good."

With that, Harry fell silent, and the only sound in the room was the sound of four people breathing. Harry fell asleep after about fifteen minutes, and to my surprise, I felt myself growing sleepy too. My last thought before I let myself drift off was of Harry, and just how beautiful it was that I had him in that moment, after everything.

Our first Christmas together had been mysterious. An invisibility cloak and an ancient runes book and mirrors that served as gateways to our families, though I hadn't even known it at the time.

Our second Christmas together had been uncertain. A suspicious Firebolt and a supposed killer on the loose, with a secret set of vials in my trunk containing the only link to the Everlins that I'd ever had.

Our third Christmas together had been fleeting. Fleeting glances, fleeting touches, and George Weasley of all people orchestrating our first dance, the longest interaction we had that day.

Our fourth Christmas together had been tempestuous. Harry and his miraculous recreation of our diaries was my lifeboat throughout all of the storms I had to endure that day, from the hospital to the boggart.

Our fifth Christmas together would be spent together, as soon as the sun rose. Secretly together, but that was enough for me. Despite everything, through everything, we'd found our way to each other, together, at last.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

I was the first one awake the next morning, fortunately. I carefully extracted myself out from under Harry's arm, scooped Tuck up, and slipped away and up the stairs to Ginny's room. I wanted everyone to have their Christmas gifts ready to open the following morning, so I crept around leaving everyone's gifts on their beds, Tuck following close behind, tail wagging eagerly, happy to be included. I packed myself an overnight bag once I was done, then I brushed my teeth to get rid of the sugary stickiness clinging to my mouth from the taste-testing from the cookie-baking adventures the previous night before heading back downstairs.

George was already there, coffee mug in hand as he leaned against a kitchen counter.

"Morning, Cub," he said, lifting his mug in greeting. "And good morning, Sir Tuck, my canine companion. The silencing spell has already been erected for you, meaning we will not be disturbed in here neither will we disturb anyone else."

"Morning, Georgie. What a lovely greeting," I replied with a soft laugh.

I had only just lowered myself into a chair at the kitchen table with the door burst open and Harry appeared, wide-eyed and frantic. He relaxed the second he saw me, though, and he hurried over to hug me gently from behind.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" I asked.

He nodded, sighing shakily. "A bit, but it's alright."

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to disturb you. You'll need the sleep."

"It's alright, Lu, it's alright." Tuck whimpered and jumped up in an attempt to get Harry's attention, making him laugh as he released me to go scratch Tuck behind the ears. "Good morning, Tuck. Do you want to sleep with me tonight, or with Ginny?"

"Actually, could he stay with us tonight?" George asked.

Harry's head snapped up. "Oh, sorry, I didn't even see you there, hi George."

"Maybe your glasses need cleaning, Potter," he replied with a cheeky grin.

"You want Tuck with us tonight?" I asked before either boy could say anything else. "George, I thought you weren't a dog person."

George snorted. "Dearest Cub, I am, by definition, now a dog person."

I rolled my eyes. "An Animagus joke, how clever. My point was that I was already planning on leaving him here with the others so that he doesn't bother you, I can just see him tomorrow morning, it's okay."

"Cub, you misunderstand me. I want him to stay with us tonight. He could keep Henry company, and I could play with him, dog to dog. It'd work wonders for my silly childhood fear of dogs, and then Henry wouldn't be alone tonight."

"Henry's coming tonight?" I asked, shoulders involuntarily tensing. "But — it's — it's Christmas Eve, why is he — "

"Breathe," Harry interrupted.

I complied, stopping to take a breath, then looked to George for an answer.

"Gretch and their dad made last-minute plans to spend Christmas with their cousins in America, because being home this year was just too difficult. They're taking a Portkey out today and coming back the day before New Year's Eve. Henry can't go because his absolute prick of a Quidditch manager scheduled practice for every day this week except tomorrow, so he's going to spend Christmas with us."

"Okay." I nodded. "I understand. I — I can't imagine ever trying to celebrate Christmas in a place where Cedric used to be. I was just — I was worried he was only coming because of me, which sounds selfish now that I say it out loud — "

"No, Lucy, it's okay," George said softly. "I understand. Sorry for not explaining right off the bat."

Harry grinned at me before looking at George. "A Beater joke? That's almost as clever as the Animagus joke."

"Anyway," I interjected, "yeah, of course we can bring Tuck. He's well-behaved, I swear, he wouldn't wreck anything."

"I know, Cub, don't worry. Tuck will be a fun little surprise for Henry, when he gets back from practice. D'you want to head over with me now? Looks like you're ready."

"I reckon your sister would kill me if I didn't say goodbye before leaving, so I'll go do that," I said, rising from the table.

"Not goodbye. You'll see her tomorrow," Harry corrected, gently but firmly, "but yes, she would kill you, so you should go do that."

"Watch out for her flailing limbs when you wake her up," George warned with a smirk.

I nodded. "Yeah, don't worry, I'm an expert when it comes to dodging her at this point. I'll be back."

I ducked into the room where she was still sound asleep on the floor and woke her gently, careful not to wake Ron too.

"Gin, I'm heading out now," I whispered, shaking her shoulder. "Figured I'd come say goodbye — er, see you later, I mean."

Her eyes opened immediately. "Right. Full moon." She scrambled to a sitting position and hugged me tightly. "Don't you dare not come back to me, Lucy Diggory."

"I'll be back in less than 24 hours' time," I assured her, patting her back.

"I'm serious, if anything happens to you, I am committing arson, I will burn the joke shop to the ground with the twins inside."

I sighed. "Oh Ginevra, you know how flattered I am when you threaten violence on my behalf."

"Damn right." She squeezed me harder for a second before letting go. "Be safe, Lucy, please."

"I will be."

"You better be."

"I will be," I repeated, getting to my feet and heading back to the kitchen, Ginny on my heels.

Ginny repeated her threat to George, who nodded solemnly and hugged her to calm her down. Harry hugged me for a long moment, whispering in a voice only I could hear that he loved me and he'd see me soon. With that, George and I Flooed over to the shop, my bag and my dog in tow.

"Welcome back, Cub," George said with a grand sweeping gesture. "Your room is just the same as you left it. You can spend the day wherever you wish doing whatever you wish, and we will come fetch you once the sun begins to set. The shop is closed today, so if you need anything at all, just shout for me or for Fred — or for Henry, any time after 2:30 — and we'll be there."

I smiled. "Thanks. It is good to be back, even though I obviously wish it was for a different reason."

"We all share the same sentiment, trust me. How would you like to spend your day today, Cub? If you just want to hide in the dark and the silence, that's perfectly understandable, but if you'd like to be entertained, we can certainly do that too."

"I want to spend the day with you," I replied. "And Fred, and Henry. I'll always have other full moons, but I won't always have you three all in the same place as me."

"How would you feel about saying hello to your pygmy puff friends while we wait for Fred to wake up and Henry to get back from practice?"

I gasped. "Merlin, yes! Can I?"

"Of course," George said with a chuckle, setting my bag down on the kitchen table and heading for the door that led downstairs. "Just follow me. They're going to be so happy to see you!"

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

As the moon replaced the sun in the sky, behind the clouds, Lucy's pygmy puff friends were downstairs, distressed by the horrific screams they heard upstairs. There were no silencing spells in place, so that Henry and George and Fred could communicate back and forth through the door in the Morse code they had learned. Tuck was firmly planted in Henry's lap, and it was hard to say who was comforting who as the unmistakable sound of Lucy in pain made both the boy and the dog want to cry. George was standing behind Lucy, screwing his eyes shut, because he could never bring himself to watch the transformation. Fred was in front of Lucy, eyes screwed shut as well, because he could never watch the transformation either.

Nobody could ever watch the transformation.

Even the most clinical wizards at St. Mungo's always looked away.

Even the most knowledge-hungry magical creatures experts looked away.

Even the most hardened Death Eaters always looked away.

Even the most courageous Gryffindors, the most curious Ravenclaws, the most calloused Slytherins, the most compassionate Hufflepuffs, they always looked away.

In another part of the country, Harry Potter was filling his diary with kind words for Lucy to read whenever she next opened hers.

In another part of the country, Ron Weasley was clutching the pocket watch in his hand and glaring out the window at the full moon he knew was just behind the clouds.

In another part of the country, Hermione Granger was wrapping the Gryffindor scarf Lucy had given her around her shoulders to protect her from the biting December cold.

In another part of the country, Ginny Weasley was flying and cursing lycanthropy with every foul word she knew.

And in another part of the world, Claire Everlin was jerking awake.