In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter XCIX: Together

LUCY:

Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I pushed through the crowd, keeping my head low so no one would see. A hand on my shoulder stopped me at the base of the stairs.

"Hey," Harry said gently. "Together, remember?"

I nodded, taking a deep breath to try to calm myself. "Sorry. Just... just angry, then... then..."

"I know," he replied. "C'mon. Let's go to the common room."

"Together," I said.

Harry nodded. "Together."

We climbed the stairs side-by-side in silence. I made a mental list of what I had to do before class in the morning in an effort to stop myself from crying.

Bring Tuck down to Hagrid's hut.

Even without Hagrid, he couldn't stay in the dormitory.

Make sure someone's been feeding Fang.

I was sure someone had been. But I had to see for myself. I would take responsibility for him until Hagrid was back from... wherever he was. I opened my mouth to ask Harry, but the tears I had been trying to fight remained stuck in my throat and didn't allow me to speak. I closed my mouth and kept listing.

Make sure Angelina got my letter. She's Quidditch Captain now. Just like Cedric guessed she would be.

I took another deep breath and forced the tears away.

Check in with Madam Pomfrey.

She had sent me a letter saying I should have gone to St. Mungo's but that she would offer what relief she could — if any — for the shaking.

And most importantly, don't fall apart.

Eventually, we reached the portrait hole, only to realize neither of us had asked Ron or Hermione for the password.

"Brilliant," I whispered with a resigned sigh.

"No password, no entrance," the Fat Lady said, and I nodded.

"Wait, Lucy, Harry, I know it!" Neville ran up to us, his plant still clutched in his arms. "Guess what it is? I'm actually going to be able to remember it for once! Mimbulus mimbletonia!"

"Correct!" the Fat Lady announced, and the three of us climbed into the common room.

"Thanks, Neville, that's a great password," I said, inspecting the plant more closely. "I wonder if all of the passwords will be Herbology-themed this year."

"That would be great!" he exclaimed with a wide smile. "Hey, Lucy, do you want to head down to the greenhouses with me on Saturday? Professor Sprout told me to invite you, too, when she sent a letter asking me over summer."

I nodded, trying to find a smile for the sweet boy looking at me so earnestly. "Sure, Neville, that'd be great."

His smile grew even wider, and he waved. "I'd give you a hug, but I'd rather not spray stinksap all over the common room by accident. So you get a good night wave instead. Good night!"

"Night, Neville," I called after him as he hurried up the stairs to his dormitory. I turned to Harry, who was looking at me with a searching expression. I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well... g'night, Harry. I... I doubt Prefect Granger would let you... you know..."

He nodded. "I was just thinking the same thing. But I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"

"Yeah," I replied. I bit my lip. "I have a couple of things to do, early, but I'll be there at breakfast."

"Ah, right, Tuck. Oh!" He dropped his voice to almost a whisper. "Hagrid. He wouldn't tell us what it was, and he told us we weren't supposed to tell you about it at all, but, well..."

I felt as if ice water had been dumped over my head.

He must have gone to talk to the giants.

The way Professor Lupin was talking to the werewolves.

The way the Death Eaters had tried to talk to me.

I pushed my emotions away and nodded. "I get it. It's fine." I swallowed hard. "Thanks for telling me. G'night, Harry."

"G'night, Lu," he said.

I made my way up to my dormitory, pushing down on my emotions harder and harder and harder, further and further and further away.

I didn't want to feel anything at all for a nice long while.

Feeling was exhausting.