LUCY:

A sense of relieved disbelief defined the days after the full moon. The transformation had still taken a toll on my body, so I spent the better part of the next day resting, but I didn't feel defeated the same way I always had after full moons. I slept soundly, comforted by the love of my friends who'd held onto hope for me when I had abandoned it for myself.

Harry loved me in a way that defied all known laws of lycanthropy. It was indescribable.

If Ron and Hermione suspected that what Harry and I shared was more than just a profound bond of friendship, they didn't say so aloud, for which I was grateful. If anything, they were likely even more shocked than we were that it had worked, stunned into silence for fear of saying anything to change the dynamic that had reached through to my very soul and pulled me back to the surface of myself, somehow, miraculously, when I was in the throes of lycanthropy.

Once the initial shock wore off, though, there was work to be done. We still only had one Horcrux, and we had not yet come even close to destroying it. We just kept trying to brainstorm people and places worth investigating in the hopes of finding either another Horcrux or a way to destroy the one we had.

A couple of days after the full moon, Harry and Hermione went to London in search of the orphanage Tom Riddle had once, reluctantly, called home. I was allowed to wear the Horcrux for the first time in a week while they were gone, and Ron joined me outside to keep an eye out, since it was just the two of us. We were camping in the crevice of a cliff, and the sea was a nice change of pace from the woods. I looked forward to being able to take the Horcrux off so I could properly enjoy it.

After brooding and staring at the sea in silence for an unknown length of time, clutching the Horcrux in my hand, I realized I was likely being poor company and turned to Ron.

"So, er, what's on your mind?" I asked, in a feeble attempt to make conversation.

"Pirates," he replied.

I blinked. "What?"

"You know, pirates. Like we discussed all those months ago when we first heard about this Merlin-forsaken quest. We're proper Horcrux Hunting Pirates now, aren't we? All we're missing is a ship, I reckon."

"I wonder if the Death Eaters have thought to search the seas for us," I replied. "Might not be a bad idea to add the coast to our apparition rotation."

"Anyway, we need a ship, in order to be proper Horcrux Hunting Pirates. We could nick one the same way you and the twins nicked one last summer, when your were working on the Daydream Charm," Ron remarked. He frowned. "I can't believe I acquired yet another wicked scar, but it's not on my face, so I still haven't earned Order of Godric, first class."

I swatted his good arm. "Oi, you better hope it stays that way."

"I suppose George and Archie already have Order of Godric, first class, even though they don't even know what Horcruxes are yet," Ron groused.

"Hm, I suppose so."

I fell silent then, thinking about Archie, and George, and Henry, and Fred, and everyone at school. Fred and George had replied right away to my rushed message the night of the full moon, but I hadn't contacted them again since. I missed the companionship I'd managed to maintain with George and Fred during our stay at Grimmauld Place, but since camping afforded me a lot less privacy and introduced a lot more anxiety, I had only sent the one message, buried beneath my covers after the full moon while Harry, Ron, and Hermione were outside the tent making sure all of the wards had remained intact and no one had seen or heard the events of the transformation. I hoped they'd been able to get a hold of Luna somehow. i hoped they'd been able to tell Remus and Sloane somehow. Remus. Tonks. Sloane. Jabari. My anxiety spiked, thinking of all of the other people I'd forgotten in my initial mental list of people whose unknown fates worried me. I was supposed to be a protector, I was supposed to keep everyone I loved safe, but I had deserted everyone except Harry, and Hermione, and Ron —

I was so lost in thought that I didn't hear Ron talking until he waved his hand in front of my face.

"Oi. Are you there?" he asked loudly.

I blinked and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. Lost in thought."

"Is it too soon after the full moon for you to be wearing the locket?"

"No. I'm alright. I was just worrying about the fate of the world."

"Ah, that's fair. Worrying about the fate of the world won't do anything to help, though, so let's figure out the parameters for Order of Godric classes, shall we?"

"And how is that supposed to help?" I replied.

Ron shrugged. "Not every action you take has to be for the benefit of society as a whole. There's nothing wrong with taking a moment to enjoy the simple pleasures we find along the way to a better world."

"Wouldn't talking about Horcruxes be a more constructive use of the time we have right now?" I asked.

"Oh please, all of our conversations about Horcruxes have just gone in useless circles for weeks now," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We've earned a break from that. We're not going to come up with anything revolutionary by making the same points over and over. Come on, be silly with me, enjoy the simple pleasure of a conversation with a friend with an ocean view on a cloudy September day. What do you think a person needs in order to earn the coveted title of Order of Godric, first class? Other than a cool facial scar with an even cooler story, of course?"

I pursed my lips and started listing potential criteria, with the intent of just humoring Ron until he was cheered and I was allowed to return to my anxious brooding, but, before I knew it, we had a written list of all of the diagnostic criteria for all five classes of the Order of Godric for Horcrux Hunting Pirates, and we had just started sorting our family and friends into the categories when Harry and Hermione reappeared.

"Any luck?" I asked immediately.

Harry sighed. "No. The orphanage was demolished over a decade ago. It's just offices now."

"What have you two been doing?" Hermione's eyes were bright as she reached for the paper, but her face soon darkened. "Well, this is hardly productive."

"We can't all be heroes searching for nonexistent buildings," Ron sniped.

I wanted to protest, to defend both us and them, but the Horcrux seemingly tied my tongue in a knot. I found it hard to speak when I was wearing the locket. It was like it shrouded me in darkness, choking out all attempts at life and light that I would have otherwise managed. So I remained there in silence, the too-familiar sinking feeling of defeat creeping into my frame as my shoulders drooped and I curled in on myself.

"I don't know what you honestly expect us to do," Ron continued. "You don't let us go to London with you, you don't let us go out on food runs — "

"There's plenty of work still to do!" Hermione insisted in a high-pitched voice. "If you'd been bothered to take a real subject in school, Ronald, instead of wasting your time with Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, you would be able to help us translate all of the books written in Ancient Runes — "

"Or maybe you should stay here doing that and let me go do something that you'd deem 'productive' for once — "

I got to my feet abruptly and walked into the tent without a word, yanking my book from Dumbledore out of my bag and slamming it down on the table. I dropped onto the bench with a huff and wrenched the book open, determined to make myself useful in Hermione's eyes.

Harry followed me into the tent and sat down across from me.

"Hi," he said gently.

"Sorry, can't talk now, trying to be productive," I replied.

I could hear the smile in his voice even though I didn't look up from the book. "Silly argument, wasn't it?" When I didn't reply for several long seconds, Harry faltered. "Oh, you were being serious." When I once again offered him no reply, he rested his elbows on the table and cradled his head in his hands for a moment. "You're not even making a Sirius joke, you must be really upset. Lucy — " He reached across the table and rested a hand on top of mine. "Look at me, please."

As I did, involuntary tears rose to my eyes.

Harry's eyes flickered. "On second thought, I'll be right back."

He jumped to his feet and stormed out of the tent.

"HERMIONE, STOP IT!" he shouted.

I didn't get to hear whatever was said next, because I cast a silencing spell so I could focus on the task at hand. I wiped my tears with my sleeve and reached for my translation notes, dutifully being productive until I was interrupted an unknown amount of time later by the return of Ron.

"Hermione's just being Hermione," he said as he walked past me into the kitchen. "Have you eaten yet today?"

"I fail to see what that has to do with being productive," I replied, eyes still glued to the book before me.

"Eating enough food to fuel your mind and body has everything to do with being productive," Ron said. He emerged from the kitchen with two servings of leftover shepherd's pie and assumed the seat next to me, unceremoniously pushing my book and notes out of the way. When I started to protest, he shoved one of the bowls into my hands. "You can go back to work once you've eaten."

I could tell by the look on his face and the tone of his voice that he meant business, so I deflated with a shaky sigh and reluctantly shoved a bite into my mouth, though it was hard to swallow around the lump in my throat.

"Care to explain why Hermione's comments damn near sent you into a nervous breakdown?" Ron asked after a minute.

I shook my head.

Ron deftly removed the Horcrux from around my neck and put it on himself. "How about now?"

"Still no, not really," I whispered. "It's just..."

Ron waited, expectant, while I tried to gather my thoughts. It was easier to think straight without the Horcrux weighing me down, but it was still difficult trying to articulate one of my most deeply-rooted fears.

"I've always secretly worried that Hermione thinks I'm lazy," I admitted after a long moment. "It started when she made a comment all the way back in first year about what Cedric would say if he knew I wasn't paying attention in class, and the fear never really left. After all of the years I spent thinking I was a Hufflepuff, being sorted into Gryffindor chipped away at my confidence that I was a hard worker, and being friends with Hermione Granger — "

" — would only complicate the matter," Ron finished for me. "Sounds like you've spent far too much time comparing yourself to Cedric and Hermione."

I hesitated. "I guess."

"While I'm fully aware that this won't mean much coming from me of all people, I think you're a commendably hard worker," Ron said.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"You have to keep in mind that learning is Hermione's entire world," he continued. "Her life revolves around the pursuit of knowledge. All of this unknown and uncertainty must be killing her. She wants to learn, I know she does, she's driving herself crazy trying to find information that clearly does not want to be found, and understand something that clearly does not want to be understood. Her insatiable desire for knowledge is equal parts her saving grace and her fatal flaw."

"She's only trying to help," I said, in her defense.

Ron snorted. "Yeah, she is, but that doesn't mean she's actually helping. I appreciate her and all of her knowledge, Merlin knows I'd be lost without her, but her way of life is just not... well, you shouldn't try to copy her. It works well enough for her, but I don't think anyone else is built to live life the way she does. You have a good deal more going on in your life. Don't let the fact that she's jealous of your relative well-roundedness make you feel like you have to compete with her levels of so-called 'productivity.'"

"You think she's jealous of me?" I asked blankly. "Why on earth would she be jealous of me?"

"Who wouldn't be?" he replied. "You're a good student, and you're a good athlete, and you're good in a crisis, and you're good at magic, and you're a good friend and person. Hermione struggles with a lot of that. She's a really good student, and she's good at magic, and she's a fairly good friend and person, but don't even get me started on her skills on a broom — "

I giggled.

" — and she's awful under pressure. She does well enough on stressful exams, but she always panics in emergencies, it always takes her a minute to get her shit together when shit hits the fan. You, on the other hand, are well-rounded. If you were to become a poor student, you still have Quidditch going for you. Hermione... learning and knowledge are really all she has, outside of us. And even then, she's learned the hard way a couple of times that if she treats us in a way we don't appreciate, we're not going to stick around and endure it. You're better at the whole 'friendship' idea than she is, everyone knows that."

I sighed. "I love her, though."

"Oh, of course. I — you know I love her too. None of this is meant to be a critique of her, I love Hermione, but, well, she can be a bit much, and I don't appreciate the fact that she made you cry, and I wanted to see if I could help make you feel a bit better about her bout of insanity just now."

"It wasn't that insane," I said. "I do have this book, and I really ought to spend more time reading it."

"You've been plenty helpful keeping watch outside the tent. You've done nothing wrong. Nobody can be productive every hour of the day, especially not you, considering I just watched you turn into a wolf and back a couple days ago. Well, I... I didn't watch, necessarily, but you get the idea. Wait a minute, you're not trying to compensate for that, are you?"

"You're being very kind," I said in a small voice, "but you have to keep in mind that — well — everything about me is meant to compensate for the fact that I'm a werewolf. I've always tried to be good enough, despite."

"Well, stop trying to compensate for that. You contribute more than enough, in everything, but especially here, now, in our present predicament. You're the reason we've survived this long in the first place, Merlin only knows what those Death Eaters would have done to us on Tottenham Court Road if you hadn't been there."

"I guess," I whispered.

Ron stared at me for a long moment. "Would me saying Cedric would be proud of you make you feel better or worse?"

I shrugged. "Better, I guess. I just wish I could hear it from him, you know?"

"That's fair." Ron patted my shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Eat up, then go back to work if you must. I was having fun sorting people into the various classes, though, so I'd love to go back to that if the book can wait until tomorrow."

"You know... it can," I replied, offering Ron a smile.

He smiled back and pulled the parchment out of his pocket. "Excellent. So I was thinking about Ginny, and..."

When Hermione returned to the tent a while later and saw us working on our silly little pirate project, she didn't say anything negative about it. She didn't say anything positive about it, either, but I was grateful for the small improvement regardless.

The next day, we apparated back to the woods, and I busied myself inside the tent with the book from Dumbledore once again, working side-by-side with Hermione quite amiably. We didn't speak of the argument, and Harry never offered information about what exactly he'd said to Hermione after storming out of the tent, but I didn't much care. We were all still friends, doing our best, and that the best I dared hope for those days.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

The October full moon was far less of an ordeal than the September full moon had been.

I was a little nervous that what had happened in September was a fluke, but Harry was certain it would work again, and so were Ron and Hermione. I was a bit surprised by Hermione's confidence, and she was too.

"I know," she replied, shaking her head, "but Lucy, I saw it. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it either, but Harry saying your name was the catalyst for turning you back, I saw it."

So, when the time came to transform, I walked to the edge of the campsite again, and Ron had the Horcrux on again, and they all had their wands again, just in case, but Harry walked closer to me, crouching just a short distance away, looking at me so earnestly with his emerald eyes.

"It's going to be okay," he murmured. "I'm right here. We can do this."

I nodded, wanting so desperately to trust him, to trust myself, to trust that it would be okay, that his love would be strong enough again, that his love would always be strong enough. "We can do this."

"I wish I could hold you," he whispered in a voice only I would hear.

I nodded. I couldn't bring myself to speak. It would be nice to be held. It was a luxury I knew I'd never get to have, though, even with the discovery of something that would allow me to transform back so soon. I would still transform, which meant I would still have claws and teeth that could still hurt Harry, even for those couple of seconds. I'd never be able to be held.

I looked past Harry at Ron and Hermione, who were standing side-by-side, looking at me with sad eyes.

"Stun me if anything goes wrong," I called. "Don't hesitate."

They both nodded, and I looked back at Harry, whose eyes hadn't left me. I pulled my knees to my chest and closed my eyes, waiting.

When the pain swept over me, I screamed before I could stop myself, and kept screaming as it intensified. I kept screaming, and screaming, and screaming, and before I knew it, Harry's arms were around me and his forehead was pressed against mine.

"It's okay, it's over, it worked," he murmured.

I nodded to acknowledge I'd heard him, my entire body trembling and burning. Experiencing the transformation from human to wolf to human in such rapid succession was extraordinarily painful, even more so the second time, when I wasn't distracted by the shock of the fact that Harry saying my name had worked. I struggled to catch my breath, which was coming in choked sobs.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, pulling away from me slightly to see my face.

I nodded again. "Hurts."

"Get her inside," Hermione said in a shaky voice. "A bed will be more comfortable than the forest floor. The two of us will stay out here for a little while and make sure no one heard anything."

A couple of pitiful pained sounds escaped me as I got to my feet with Harry's help. Once I was upright, shooting pain stabbed through my chest, and I would have fallen back to the ground, dizziness and pain overcoming me, if Harry hadn't managed to catch me.

Harry trembled as he held me upright. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I whispered, straightening up despite the residual thorn in my chest and the way the world pitched around me.

Harry wasn't convinced and maneuvered me onto his back, which I didn't protest. Once we got back inside the tent, Harry hoisted me onto my bunk, which he somehow deemed an easier task than putting me on one of the bottom bunks. He perched himself next to me and let his feet dangle freely over the edge.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too," I whispered back.

Harry brushed my hair back from my face and felt my forehead in one motion. "How many blankets?"

"I don't know," I replied.

"Is something else wrong?"

I shook my head and shivered, pulling my blankets tighter into my aching chest.

Harry dismounted from the top bunk and set off in the direction of the pile of blankets on a chair that had been set aside for me, and I turned to face the wall of the tent, remembering that I ought to send a message to the twins saying I was okay. My rucksack lived in my bunk when I wasn't using it, so once Harry had piled a bunch of blankets on top of me and pressed a kiss to my temple and whispered good night before going back outside to tell Ron and Hermione I was asleep, I pulled the orb out of my pack without disturbing the blankets and ducked beneath my covers.

The orb glowed both purple and orange almost as soon as I'd touched it.

I'm okay, I tapped out.

We told Remus, Fred replied.

Sloane? I asked.

Found her only a couple days ago, she's deep in hiding with Jabari. He said he'd try it, but we offered our transformation room if they need it.

Pain pierced my chest again, but I tapped out a reply. It's not my fault they had to hide, is it?

No, George said. He didn't get caught destroying your files, he told us about that. No, he was worried that someone would come along to try to "recruit" Sloane the same way they tried with you.

I'm glad they got out of there before that could happen. Good night, boys. Love you.

Love you, Fred replied.

George followed shortly thereafter. Love you.

I tucked the orb away and closed my eyes, shivering and trying to massage out the ache in my chest. Once Harry returned, the knot loosened a bit, but I was still awake, so I rolled over to face him.

"Lu? Why aren't you asleep?" he asked.

I didn't answer entirely truthfully, not wanting to worry him. "If I told you I'm freezing even with all of these blankets, do you think you could come up with a solution to warm me up?"

"I reckon I could manage that," Harry said as he climbed up to my bunk without another second of hesitation. He shimmied under the covers with me, pressing his warm body up against my cold one. "Merlin, you are freezing. If Ron and Hermione dare to suggest we were up to anything scandalous, I'll laugh in their faces. You need this."

I grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm tight around me, grateful for the very-legitimate excuse to have him so close. My chest still ached, but the proximity of Harry, the fact that I was human enough to be held by him like that with the full moon still in the sky, made it bearable.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

The same routine happened with the November full moon. Harry nearby, Ron and Hermione behind him and armed just in case. Once I'd transformed and transformed back, Harry offered to help me back to the tent, but I shook my head, remembering the crushing chest pain and dizziness I'd experienced the month prior when I got up too fast.

"I just want to rest here for a bit," I panted.

"You'll freeze out here," Ron commented. "We can carry you back — "

"I'll bring blankets out here," Harry interrupted.

Hermione nodded. "I'll help. Ron, keep an eye on her. We'll be one second."

Ron crouched beside me, eyes squinted as he studied my face. "Yeah, you're very pale, I see why you don't want to get up quite yet. You alright?"

I nodded, and I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, an unfamiliar chittering sound interrupted me.

I didn't recognize the sound, which was highly unusual, because I considered myself something of an expert when it came to creatures both magical and non-magical. Much of my life had been spent in the woods, both as a werewolf and as a human, but I'd never heard that particular sound before.

"Help me up, please," I said to Ron, extending a hand.

He hauled me up, since his strength had almost returned to what it had been prior to his splinching, and I leaned heavily on him as I hobbled in the direction of the sound, the adrenaline in my veins drowning out the pain and fatigue I surely would have been feeling otherwise.

I pointed at a break in the trees ahead of us. "It's coming from that clearing."

"Should I fire a spell at it from here?" Ron asked.

"What? No! Ron, that's the Horcrux talking, come on, I have a good feeling about this, I think it's..." My voice trailed off as I realized what I must have been hearing. "I think it's..."

I broke away from Ron and dashed forward on violently-shaking legs, stopping at the edge of the clearing and dropping into a crouch as soon as I confirmed my suspicion.

It was mooncalves, dancing.

Tears shot to my eyes and I hurriedly blinked, not wanting to miss even one second of the miracle unfolding before me.

Ron jogged to keep up with me, and two extra sets of footsteps confirmed that Harry and Hermione had seen me run off and were right behind me.

A heavy blanket was draped over my shoulders, but I didn't dare look away.

"Mooncalves only emerge from their burrows to dance by the light of the full moon," I explained in a whisper, voice choked by tears. "I'd given up years ago on ever getting to see mooncalves dance, since they, naturally, are very shy and good at avoiding werewolves, but... here I am, human, watching something I'd never dreamed I would ever get to see for myself."

"Wicked," Harry whispered as he crouched beside me.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" I whispered.

"They look like dicks with blue eyes, Lucy," Ron said from behind me, earning him a swat from Hermione. "What?"

"It's just the Horcrux talking," I said with a soft laugh. "Come morning, you'll realize just how amazing this is and how incredible they are."

"Their movements are so complex," Hermione commented.

I nodded. "Isn't it remarkable?"

Harry shivered, so I tossed the blanket over him as well. His hand found mine, since our hands were hidden from view, and I squeezed tight, my awestruck excitement beyond words. I couldn't believe it. I was watching mooncalves dance by the light of the full moon, with human eyes, my human hand in Harry James Potter's hand. My heart in my chest was so full it was fit to burst.

I didn't return to the tent until I was so cold I was blue, and even then, Harry had to promise me that as soon as the war was over, we'd go find more mooncalves on another full moon, and we could stay and watch their dances all night long. I let him drag me away then, and I only barely remembered to send a quick message to the twins via the orb before I fell asleep, with a smile on my face and a song in the beat of my heart that I knew was keeping time with the mooncalves, still gleefully dancing only a short distance away from our tent.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

As November wore on, after the magical night with the mooncalves, the mood of our campsite steadily declined. We were desperate for something new, anything new. New information, new ideas, new directions to go, new places to search, new people to talk to.

Our wish was granted in an unexpected way one rainy night on a riverbank in Wales, when I heard voices outside the tent while we were eating dinner.

"Let's stop by the river, see if we can find something to eat," a man said.

Ron and Hermione were mid-argument — they always argued when either one was wearing the Horcrux, which Ron was — so I waved my hand in their direction sharply.

"Shut up, someone's outside," I hissed.

"I don't hear anything," Hermione said after a moment.

"They're getting closer," I whispered. "Listen."

"You cast the Muffliato charm over us, right, Hermione?" Harry asked in a low voice.

She nodded. "I did everything. Muffliato, Muggle-Repelling and Disillusionment Charms, all of it. They shouldn't be able to hear or see us, whoever they are."

"I can't tell what they're saying," Ron muttered.

Hermione fished through her bag and handed Extendable Ears to Ron and Harry before grabbing one for herself.

"There ought to be a few salmon in here, or d'you reckon it's too early in the season?" the same man asked.

"Only one way to find out," a very-familiar voice said. "ACCIO SALMON!"

I clapped a hand over my mouth, eyes sinking shut. It was Archie.

Henry, if you're there too, please say something, I begged silently as I fought the urge to jump to my feet and announce myself to the group. I knew it would be stupid to reveal myself like that, but Merlin, I was so glad to hear Archie's voice after so many weeks of worry.

"I'll get the fire going," a voice I recognized as belonging to Dean said. "Henry, d'you mind sheltering it from the rain?"

"Of course, I've got it," Henry replied.

I heaved a tremendous sigh of relief. Henry and Archie and Dean, they were all alive, they were all okay.

I opened my eyes again as we watched a fire spark to life on the other side of the tent. I got to my feet and crept forward despite the protests of the others, just so desperate to see my friends with my own eyes.

There was a larger group than I was expecting gathered around a fire, consisting of Henry, Archie, Dean, two older men, and two goblins. I studied Henry's face in the firelight as he watched the salmon cook. He looked exhausted, and sad, and scared, but trying not to show any of it, and he was thinner than he had been in August, and his curly hair was longer than it had been in years. Archie looked more or less the same, the scar across his face had healed a bit more in the months since I'd see him last and he didn't have any new ones, but there was a new wild fear in his eyes that I'd never seen before. Dean looked like Henry, like he was trying to be brave, but his true despair was written all over his face anyway.

I looked back at Henry. Something about his face seemed off. I wondered if he was sick, and, as if he'd heard me wondering, he turned his back to the group and coughed into his elbow several times.

Archie patted Henry on the shoulder. "Friendly reminder that my coat's yours if you want it."

"I'm alright," Henry said wearily, "but thanks."

Henry settled on the edge of the group, curling in on himself, politely refusing the offer of food when the salmon was ready.

I watched helplessly as Archie and Dean exchanged a concerned look. They must have decided not to press it, because they reached for food of their own and settled closer to the fire.

"Here, Griphook, Gornuk," the taller man said as he offered plates of salmon to the goblins, who were conversing in Gobbledegook in low voices.

"Thank you," they replied in unison in English.

"So, you three have been on the run how long?" the other man asked.

"I can't remember how many weeks it's been," the first man replied, lowering himself onto a rock and eating a large forkful of salmon. "Met up with Griphook in the first couple of days and joined forces with Gornuk not long after. Nice to have a bit of company. What made you leave, Ted?"

"Knew they were coming for me. Heard Death Eaters were in the area last week and decided I'd better run for it. Refused to register as a Muggle-born on principle, see, so I knew it was a matter of time, knew I'd have to leave in the end. My wife should be okay, she's pure-blood. And then I met Dean here, what, a few days ago, son?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah."

"Muggle-born, eh?" the first man asked.

"Not sure. My dad left my mum when I was a kid. I've got no proof he was a wizard, though," Dean said with a sigh. "Anyway, Henry and Archie here are school mates, we ran into each other this morning."

"We're not Muggle-borns, but we were investigating Cormack McLeod, who turned out to be a Death Eater, and got a little too close, and we've been on the run ever since," Archie explained.

"I've got to say, Dirk, I'm surprised to run into you," Ted piped up. "Pleased, but surprised. Word was you'd been caught."

"I was. I was halfway to Azkaban when I made a break for it, Stunned Dawlish, and nicked his broom. It was easier than you'd think; I don't reckon he's quite right at the moment. Might be Confunded. If so, I'd like to shake the hand of the witch or wizard who did it, probably saved my life."

Ted turned to the goblins then. "And where do you two fit in? I, er, had the impression the goblins were for You-Know-Who, on the whole."

"You had a false impression. We take no sides. This is a wizards' war," one of the goblins replied.

"How come you're in hiding, then?"

"I deemed it prudent. Having refused what I considered an impertinent request, I could see that my personal safety was in jeopardy," the other one said.

"What did they ask you to do?"

"Duties ill-befitting the dignity of my race. I am not a house-elf."

"What about you, Griphook?" Ted asked.

"Similar reasons. Gringotts is no longer under the sole control of my race. I recognize no wizarding master."

He then muttered something in Gobbledegook, making Gornuk chuckle.

"What's the joke?" Dean inquired.

"He said that there are things wizards don't recognize, either," Dirk explained.

Dean thought about this for a second. "I don't get it."

"I had my small revenge before I left," Griphook explained.

"Good man — goblin, I should say. Didn't manage to lock a Death Eater up in one of the old high-security vaults, I suppose?" Ted remarked.

"If I had, the sword would not have helped him break out!" Griphook said, which made Gornuk and Dirk both chuckle.

"I think a couple of us are still missing something here," Archie said.

"So is Severus Snape, though he does not know it!"

The goblins began howling with laughter then, and Dirk grinned at Ted as he explained.

"Didn't you hear about that, Ted? About the kids who tried to steal Gryffindor's sword out of Snape's office at Hogwarts?"

My blood ran cold. Tried implied failed. Ginny. It had to be Ginny, I just knew it was Ginny.

"Never heard a word. Not in the Prophet, was it?"

"Hardly. Griphook here told me, he heard about it from Bill Weasley, who works for the bank. One of the kids who tried to take the sword was Bill's younger sister."

Ted nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, God bless 'em. What did they think, that they'd be able to use the sword on You-Know-Who? Or on Snape himself?"

"Well, whatever they thought they were going to do with it, Snape decided the sword wasn't safe where it was. Couple of days later, once he'd got the say-so from You-Know-Who, I imagine, he sent it down to London to be kept in Gringotts instead."

"It's a fake!" Griphook declared with a loud laugh.

"The sword of Gryffindor?!"

"Oh yes. It is a copy — an excellent copy, it is true — but it was wizard-made. The original was forged centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armor possesses. Wherever the genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at Gringotts bank."

"I'm guessing you didn't bother to inform the Death Eaters of this?" Archie asked with a grin.

"I saw no reason to trouble them with the information," Griphook replied, making everyone except Henry laugh.

"When..." Henry croaked, leaning forward a bit. "When you say they tried to get the sword..."

Griphook waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, the children who tried to get the sword were punished, and cruelly."

"They're okay, though? I mean, the Weasleys don't need any more of their kids injured, do they?" Ted asked.

"They suffered no permanent injury, as far as I am aware," Griphook replied.

"Lucky for them. With Snape's track record I suppose we should just be glad they're still alive."

Dirk blinked. "You believe that story, then, do you, Ted? You believe Snape killed Dumbledore?"

"Of course I do. You're not going to sit there and tell me you think Potter had anything to do with it?"

"Hard to know what to believe these days," Dirk replied darkly.

"I know Harry Potter, and I reckon he's the real thing — the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it," Dean piped up.

"Yeah, there's a lot would like to believe he's that, son, me included. But where is he? Run for it, by the looks of things. You'd think, if he knew anything we don't, or had anything special going for him, he'd be out there now fighting, rallying resistance, instead of hiding. And you know, the Prophet made a pretty good case against him — "

Ted snorted. "The Prophet? You deserve to be lied to if you're still reading that muck, Dirk. You want the facts, try the Quibbler."

Dirk choked on his fish so hard Archie had to clear his throat with a lazy flick of his wand.

"The Quibbler?" Dirk managed after a moment. "That lunatic rag of Xeno Lovegood's?"

"It's not so lunatic these days. You want to give it a look. Xeno is printing all the stuff the Prophet's ignoring, not a single mention of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the last issue. How long they'll let him get away with it, mind, I don't know. But Xeno says, front page of every issue, that any wizard who's against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their number one priority."

"Hard to help a boy who's vanished off the face of the earth," Dirk muttered.

Ted shook his head. "Listen, the fact that they haven't caught him yet is one hell of an achievement. I'd take tips from him gladly; it's what we're trying to do, stay free, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, you've got a point there. With the whole of the Ministry and all their informers looking for him I'd have expected him to be caught by now. Mind, who's to say they haven't already caught and killed him without publicizing it?"

Ted frowned. "Ah, don't say that, Dirk."

"There's no way," Archie said. "Listen, I know Harry, and Lucy, who I'm assuming is with him. They're alive, I just know it. They're inseparable, and they're absolutely frightening to behold when they're in dangerous situations together. I'm sure they're doing just fine."

"I hope Ginny's alright," Dean murmured. "Right before they left, Lucy... she caught my eye and told me to look out for her. As you can see, I failed at that."

"Not your fault," Henry said. "She's going to be alright. She's a Weasley. They're a resilient lot."

"And so are we." Archie discarded his fish bones into the dirt. "Now, should we sleep here, or in the woods?"

"The woods are better cover," Dirk said.

The group started to pack up, and I jumped to my feet and rushed to my pack.

"Where are you going?" Hermione demanded.

"Henry's sick, couldn't you hear?" I asked. "He didn't eat, I watched. I know we don't have much but I — it's Henry, I have to try to help — "

"Lucy — " Harry started, but I shook my head and interrupted him.

"I'll be careful, I promise, and I'll come back as soon as I've shoved a couple of supplies into his pack, and I won't talk to anyone, okay? Please, it's Henry, and Archie, and Dean, and Mr. Tonks, and Bill's co-workers, I want to help, they don't even need to know it was me."

"Take the invisibility cloak, at the very least," Harry said.

Hermione sighed. "Harry's right. Lucy, do be careful."

"I will be." I shouldered my pack and grabbed the invisibility cloak off the table without looking at anyone. "I'll be back within the hour."

With that, I pulled my hood over my head and stepped into the rainy night, following the group at a distance until they set up a proper camp. I crouched behind a tree, secured the invisibility cloak around me, and reached into my bag for the orb, which I hadn't used since the full moon.

I clutched it tightly in both hands. "Please, boys, please, come quick, please..."

The orb glowed a minute later, bright purple.

I dropped it onto the muddy ground in my excitement and tapped out my news with a shaking finger.

Henry and Archie are alive.

George's reply was immediate. Thank Merlin. Details please?

They're on the run. They happened to stop for dinner right next to us, not that they knew it. They're alive. They're with Dean Thomas, and Ted Tonks, and someone named Dirk and two goblins.

George. Alive? Are they hurt?

Me. Not as far as I can tell. I'm going to leave a few supplies in Henry's bag. I'll leave a note. Anything you want me to pass along?

Fred. His dad and sister are okay. Archie's parents are alright, Cam too. Dean's family is okay. Andromeda and Tonks and Remus are okay as far as we know. Bill's looking out for the Cresswells as best he can. Ginny's looking out for Gretch at school.

Me. Is Ginny okay? Heard she got in trouble.

Fred. She did but she's okay. She's tough.

Me. How are the rest of you Weasleys?

George. Better now that we know that group is safe. We're okay. How are you lot doing?

Me. We're okay. I'll write the note and leave the supplies now. I'll contact you if our paths cross again.

George. Tell Henry I love him please.

Me. I will. Love you.

George. Love you too.

Fred. Love you too.

I stashed the orb back into my bag and scribbled a quick note.

Hi Henry,
   Our paths crossed and I couldn't just let you go without saying anything, even though I couldn't just say hi, for your safety. You-Know-Who can get into people's minds easily, and if he somehow got a hold of any of you and saw me, recently, in your minds... Merlin. I can't risk that. So here I am, in the hopes that a note will be okay.
   I've given you a few supplies. It's not much, I'm sorry, but I can tell you're sick and you didn't eat (sorry for spying, I wanted to say hi, but couldn't for the reasons I've already explained, I feel strange about it too) and I hope you find these rations more enjoyable and nutritious than fish. The salmon smelled good though, we will definitely go fishing before we leave tomorrow.
I let the twins know you're safe. They're safe. They told me to tell you your families are all safe too. George told me to tell you he loves you. We were all so worried about you. I'm so glad you're safe. Try to stay that way, yeah?
   Oh and by the way, as you can tell, you're all very exposed. Try to use silencing spells next time at the very least, yeah? And you should be using protective enchantments once you settle down for the night. Cave inimicum will hide you from view. Protego totalum is a good spell for general protection, which you should remember from your D.A. days. Be safe. Be smart. Stay alive, please. Please stay alive.
   I love you. I miss you. Whether or not you share this letter with anyone in your group is up to you, I trust your judgement, but if you do, please pass along our well wishes to whoever you tell too.
   We're doing our best. Please trust us. It's going to be okay. Hang in there. I hope you're all able to go home soon.
   I love you. I miss you. Feel better soon. Stay safe. Stay alive. You can do this. WE can do this.
      Love, Lucy

I bundled up the supplies and placed the note on top, then crept over to where Henry was sleeping fitfully on the edge of the group. I slipped my little bundle into his backpack and backed away as stealthily as I could. Before I left the area, I cast a number of protective enchantments around the little camp, looked one last time at Henry and Archie and Dean, and slipped away into the night back in the direction of my own campsite.