In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter CLXXXVI: The Courage of Stars

A/N: Hi everyone! Really quick, before I get into this, I wanted to tell you all what chapters I consulted while writing this one. I know it's been a really long time, and if I, the author, have had to re-acquaint myself with this story, I'm sure you all do too. I will do my best to include enough detail in each chapter that a re-read is not necessary (because this story is so very long) but I'll include a list of relevant chapters at the beginning of the next few updates for anyone who's interested in the little details I'm including from chapters past. I do want to post a chapter-by-chapter summary of the story too, but for now, here are the chapters I re-read in writing this one, in chronological order:

Chapter 183 (Harry and Lucy's Department of Mysteries POV)Chapters 69-74 (Cedric's death and its immediate aftermath)Chapters 81, 82, 84, and 87 (Lucy's kidnapping and escape)Chapter 57 (the last couple of pages specifically; Lucy telling Cedric about the first task)Chapter 148 (Cedric's portrait is introduced)Chapter 106 (Lucy and Neville work together in the greenhouses)Chapter 177 (the Lucy and Hermione fallout)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Thank you for all of the love on the last update, your support means the world. Without any further ado, enjoy!

~

You taught me the courage of stars before you left
How light carries on endlessly, even after death
With shortness of breath
You explained the infinite
And how rare and beautiful it is to even exist

I couldn't help but ask for you to say it all again
I tried to write it down, but I could never find a pen
I'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
That the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes

"Saturn"
Sleeping At Last

~

LUCY:

I talked to Harry first.

I must have been really asleep, I thought to myself as my senses returned to me one by one.

I was warm.

I could taste blood on my tongue.

I was tucked snugly in bed.

I could smell blood in the air, but there was something that smelled like home in the air too.

I was in the dark.

I could hear the sound of someone else breathing.

I wasn't alone.

I could feel someone's hand in mine.

My eyes snapped open. I wasn't alone. I could feel someone's hand in mine. I wasn't alone.

That someone was Harry. He was beginning to stir as well, so I drank in the sight of him for as long as I could before his eyes opened.

His adorably messy dark hair was making abstract art on the pillowcase. We were in the same bed. He had reached for me in his sleep. We were in the same bed. His hand, with a couple of ink smudges, was intertwined with mine, which had a couple of ink smudges too. We were in the same damn bed.

I couldn't remember how it had happened, and I didn't have time to try to figure it out before his eyes opened.

His mouth dropped open, and he groped for his glasses in the dark with his free hand, and once he had pushed his glasses onto his face he blinked several times before he managed to speak. "Hi."