In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 4: Nebula

Chapter 181: Just Hold On Tight

LUCY:

A chaotic April followed the departure of the twins. While there were a number of people determined to finish what the twins had started, that job fell primarily to Ginny and me. When we returned to our dormitories after filling Umbridge's office with fireworks that day, we discovered large stashes of Dungbombs, Stinkpellets, and Skiving Snackboxes under both of our beds with identical notes in Fred's handwriting reading Raise hell. Don't get caught. See you soon. Going to bed that night, I discovered enough hypothermia candies in my pillowcase to get me through the rest of the school year with notes from both boys telling me to be safe and that they were looking forward to spending the summer with me.

Ginny and I got busy the very next day, slipping reliable people candies left and right with whispered "Use it wisely"s and "Have fun"s. The movement gained its own momentum from there — every time Umbridge set foot in a classroom, several of the students in the room would suddenly grow very ill. Not one person spilled the secret. Nearly every student in the school seemed to be suffering from Umbridge-itis.

Peeves was extremely helpful. He didn't have to go to any classes, so he caused trouble all day long in one form or another, and at night, he always created disruptions on the opposite side of the castle so we could rig whatever we wanted while Filch, Umbridge, and the Inquisitorial Squad were distracted.

A chaotic May started with the full moon, which had a couple more complications than it usually had. The first problem was that prefects no longer monitored the halls; that job had fallen to the Inquisitorial Squad, so Ginny and I knew we couldn't risk getting hurt for fear of causing a scene coming back to the castle, a scene that the Inquisitorial Squad would see instead of Ron and Hermione. That created another problem in and of itself — since Ginny and I wouldn't be at dinner, we had to find someone else to rig that night's prank somewhere in the castle so no one would connect the dots and figure out we had been the ones setting up fireworks and trick steps all along. Harry jumped at the chance to help, though, and Ginny was able to convince Luna to help, so Ginny snuck a dozen Dungbombs to Harry's dormitory while I taught Luna the charm I had invented that would make sure the Dungbombs would only go off if a Slytherin or Umbridge or Filch passed it.

Fortunately, the full moon was devoid of any injuries. When Ginny and I made our way to Hagrid's hut, though, we found that we weren't the only ones there. Harry rushed over to hug me as soon as we closed the door behind us and passed me a wideye potion as he pulled away. Behind him were Ron and Hermione, both looking half-asleep and somewhat disgruntled.

"What's everyone doing here?" Ginny asked through a yawn as she accepted the wideye potion that had been in Harry's other hand.

"I asked Harry ter bring Ron an' Hermione down here with 'im when he brought the potion," Hagrid explained. "I, er, I s'pose I should fill the three of yeh in. Ginny an' Lucy already know everything since they found — well, the best way ter explain is for yeh to follow me."

"D'you want me to come too, Hagrid?" I asked, having figured out that he wanted to introduce the other three to Grawp. "I could help."

Hagrid shook his head. "No, no, yeh look exhausted. You an' Ginny run up to the castle now, the las' thing we need is Umbridge somehow findin' yeh in the forest lookin' that tired after a full moon. The others can tell yeh what I said later."

I opened my mouth to argue again, but Ginny reached forward and shoved the wideye potion in my hand up to my mouth to silence me. "Hagrid's right. We should go before it gets much lighter outside."

Reluctantly, I agreed, and Ginny and I made our way to the castle as the others made their way to the forest. They were back by the time I returned to the common room after getting ready for the day, and Harry turned to face me from his spot on the couch where he was apparently deep in conversation with Ron and Hermione.