In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 4: Nebula

Chapter 198: Nothing Good Starts in a Getaway Car

A/N: Hi everyone, just wanted to talk about this chapter a little bit before I actually get into it. As a word of warning, it's dark. (It starts lighthearted and happy, so please just enjoy that part of it, but as a whole, it's a dark chapter.) I don't think it's darkER than anything I've written before, necessarily, but it is a different kind of dark and as such has a couple of trigger warnings. (Spoilers ahead, obviously, but please keep reading if you are someone who might need the TWs.) I want to say right away that nothing actually happens, but there is a brief scene where SA is attempted. Again, the character in question escapes before anything like that happens, but if you are at all sensitive to that topic, you can stop reading when they start running to the Leaky Cauldron and start reading again when Lucy shouts "WEASLEYS' WIZARD WHEEZES!" There is an important revelation between those two moments, but it will be mentioned again, so you're not missing anything if you skip that part.

Thank you all for trusting me to lead you through this story. I promise I will handle everything in this chapter as delicately as possible while not shying away from the realities of what this war could mean for each and every character with Dumbledore at the helm. This chapter is dark, but I promise light is coming, and soon. Everything will be okay as soon as the next chapter, rest assured.

Well, without further ado, Chapter 198. Buckle up, folks.

🩵💛❤️💜

LUCY:

"This song again?" Fred protested.

I grinned impishly as I cranked the volume up. "Aw, come on, you love this song and you know it."

"I know I do!" George piped up. "C'mon, Cub, take the second verse!"

"I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it's truu-uue," I sang, hopping up onto the counter, wielding a whisk as a microphone. "And I don't want to spend my whole life just waiting for you. Now I don't want you back for the weekend, not back for a daa-aay, oh no no. I said baby, I just want you back, and I want you to staa-aay, oh yeah. I'M WALKING ON SUNSHINE!"

George joined me then. "WHOO-OOA!"

I tossed my head back and laughed as George leaned in and started shout-singing into his twin's ear. I jumped off the counter to assault Fred's other ear.

"I'M WALKING ON SUNSHINE, WHOO-OOA. I'M WALKING ON SUNSHINE, WHOOOO-OOOOA. AND DON'T IT FEEL GOOD!"

Fred made a loud sound of protest, clamping his hands over his ears, and George and I busted up laughing too hard to keep singing.

"I don't know why you're protesting so much, Freddie, this was on your Walkman," I pointed out.

"I'm protesting because it's the only song you've played since you saw Harry on Saturday!" Fred whined. "Which was a cloudy day, remember? There was no sunshine to walk on."

"Has it really correlated with seeing Harry?" George asked with a laugh. "I didn't even realize! That's brilliant."

"Oh, shut up, that's irrelevant, I've just suddenly remembered how much fun this song is," I replied.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, okay. Did he say anything Saturday night about the Daydream Charms? Did he say he looooves you?"

"Nope, nothing like that, your grand plan backfired." I hopped back onto the counter and started swinging my feet. "He just said they were nice and it looked like we had fun."

"Yes, well, you've been playing this song about knowing someone's in love with you for the past three days, so forgive me for thinking Harry finally cleaned his glasses," Fred retorted.