In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 4: Nebula

Chapter 178: Clouds In My Coffee

HARRY:

One of the many traits of Lucy's I had always admired was the way she was steadfast when she knew she was right. She could be flexible, too. Almost always, she just opted to go with the flow. I understood later that this was her way of trying to not stand out so no one would suspect her secret, but before I knew her secret, I'd always just reasoned to myself that she stood up for what mattered to her and let others take the lead with everything else.

She knew she was right about Marietta. Marietta mattered to her. So Lucy made her stand.

It started when she stormed out of the common room. I wanted to follow her just to make sure no one else would try, but Ginny went after her instead and I figured that would be alright. I realized too late that the twins had disappeared, too. I truthfully just wanted to find Lucy and get her alone and just be whatever she needed me to be, but I knew that if I showed up while she was still with the Weasleys, I wouldn't see the real Lucy. I'd just see the version of herself she wanted the Weasleys to see, and that would get me nowhere.

So, instead of heading up to my dormitory or heading out after her, I landed on the sofa with a textbook to review while I waited. Lucy would come back eventually, and when she did, she'd find me right there, waiting for her. Eventually, though, my eyelids grew heavy, and I dropped off to sleep.

"Harry," a soft voice whispered. "Harry."

I was gently shaken awake, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I was in the common room or why Lucy was the one waking me up.

The sight of tear tracks on her cheeks, though, snapped me back to reality.

"Lucy." I jumped up and pulled her close.

She practically went limp in my arms, too tired to even hug me back. I didn't mind, though. I would be whatever she needed me to be.

"What are we going to do?" she asked in a weak voice after a long minute.

"About what?"

Lucy shrugged. "All of this."

I glanced at my watch. "Well, first, you're going to go to bed, because neither of us will come up with any brilliant ideas at five o'clock in the morning."

"I'm not going up to my dormitory," she muttered. "Were you awake when Ginny came back, by any chance?"

"Nope, sorry. She must have slipped by while I was asleep."

Lucy slipped free of my arms and dried her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. "At least we got to teach everyone patronuses."

I nodded, feeling the weight of everything hit me all over again. "We did the best we could with the time we had."

"I don't think this is the last of Dumbledore's Army." She straightened up. "I think when the time comes, we'll all stand together again."

"I sure hope so."

"Even Marietta," she went on, a fevered glint in her eyes. "I'm going to fix it. I'm going to help. I can't let Hermione get away with — " Her voice cracked, and tears shone in her eyes for a second, but she forced it all away. "I'm not going to let Hermione get away with weaponizing ugliness. There's enough figurative ugliness in the world without making it literal."

I nodded, creating space for her to keep going if she wanted. Like over summer, however, her anger crumbled into sadness.

"Anyway," she said as tears filled her eyes again, "you're right. We should both try to get a bit of sleep. I'm sure tomorrow's going to be a hellstorm."

Little did we know how right she'd be. When I found myself in the common room again a few short hours later, I found a new poster on the notice board.

by order of