In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 4: Nebula

Chapter 188: When the Wolves Come Out

LUCY:

I'll admit I cried watching Henry depart alone in his boat.

I hid myself in the trees, Harry standing behind me with a reassuring hand on my shoulder as the tears coursed down my cheeks. Once he reached the other shore, though, I pulled myself together.

I had talked to Professor McGonagall the day after I had pieced together that Henry and George had something going on and asked if the twins could attend the graduation as guests rather than as graduates, and she readily agreed. I sent a letter to the joke shop right away, a massive smile on my face. Ginny had mentioned to me that George had been the one to heal Henry in the Department of Mysteries, and I had noticed somewhere in the back of my mind how close together they were standing when I had arrived in Professor McGonagall's office. And Fred deserved to be there to support Angelina too, of course.

It was perfect, really, because the twins being back at school for the morning gave us the chance to talk about summer in more detail, since they'd been living on their own for a couple of months at that point and had a better idea of what summer would look like. So, once I'd stopped crying and dried my face, I started heading to the castle with Harry. The twins said they'd wait for me in one of the secret passages, so the three of us squeezed ourselves into the dark and put up a couple of silencing spells just to be safe.

They explained the basics, starting with how the moons would go. They said they had constructed a special room with a lot of help from Remus and Alastor, so it would be perfectly safe. I was nervous about it all, but they assured me repeatedly that they had taken every possible precaution and that this was the best way of going about it. They quickly distracted me, though, with talk of working in the shop and everything that would entail. Once I had been satisfactorily debriefed, we all got to our feet.

"See you in a matter of hours, Cub!" Fred chirped as he swept me up into his second bone-crushing hug of the day. The instant he had seen me that morning, he had rushed forward and hugged me tight as he apologized over and over again for not being able to see me after the whole Department of Mysteries ordeal because he was helping the Order. I had assured him it was okay, but he clearly still regretted the way everything had worked out, as evidenced by the way he drummed his fingers against my knee throughout the entire graduation ceremony and hugged me so fiercely, as if he was touching me to remind himself that I was there and I was okay.

As rattled as Fred was by the whole ordeal, George was even more so. He hugged me much more gently, held me longer, let go more reluctantly. He smiled, though, brave as he knew how. "See you soon, Cub."

I grinned, genuine excitement fueling the atrophied muscles the action required. "Can't wait."

When the twins had departed, I found Harry again, and we made our way back to our hill for one last time that school year. We didn't say anything, just enjoying the peace and quiet, and the company.

The last night at school ended the same way it always did: the two of us, the last ones awake, in front of the common room fireplace.

It was even later than usual — on our way down to the feast, we saw that Luna was looking for possessions that her fellow Ravenclaws had stolen over the course of the year. She insisted that she didn't want help, but Harry and I didn't particularly want to go to the feast, so the three of us searched the castle until found everything. Luna was perfect company, really. She seemed to think that the voices in the veil we heard at the Department of Mysteries belonged to the people we had loved and lost.

"D'you think Luna's right?" I asked. "About the veil?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Everything about that place was strange. I doubt anyone knows."