In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 206: Danced in the Night

LUCY:

Thursday morning dawned spectacularly clear — a perfect day to head up to visit Grawp in his mountain cave. I had overslept a bit, so by the time I got down to breakfast, everyone was already there and the mail had already been delivered.

I glanced at Hermione, who was flipping through the Prophet with a furrowed brow.

"Anyone we know dead?" Ron asked, trying and failing to hide his anxious tone.

"No," she answered, "but there have been more dementor attacks... oh, and an arrest."

Harry nodded approvingly. "Excellent, who?"

"'Stanley Shunpike, conductor on the popular Wizarding conveyance the Knight Bus, has been arrested on suspicion of Death Eater activity. Mr. Shunpike, 21, was taken into custody late last night after a raid on his Clapham home...'"

Harry blinked. "Stan Shunpike, a Death Eater? No way!"

"He might have been put under the Imperius Curse. You never can tell," Ron said with a shrug.

Hermione shook her head. "It doesn't look like it. It says here he was arrested after he was overheard talking about the Death Eaters' secret plans in a pub. If he was under the Imperius Curse, he'd hardly stand around gossiping about their plans, would he?"

"It sounds like he was trying to make out he knew more than he did. Isn't he the one who claimed he was going to become Minister of Magic when he was trying to chat up those veela?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, that's him." Harry sighed. "I dunno what they're playing at, taking Stan seriously."

"They probably want to look as though they're doing something. People are terrified — you know the Patil twins' parents want them to go home? And Eloise Midgen has already been withdrawn. Her mother picked her up last night." Hermione flipped to another page of the paper, and her face went white. "Oh. That would explain it."

"What happened?" I asked, feeling faint all of a sudden.

"Her father was killed."

I bit down very hard on my lower lip to stop myself from reacting out loud. Nobody, not even Harry, knew that I had known him, in a way. He was the only reason I knew about my family. He was the one who had given me all of the tools to build a bridge to home, and just like that, he was gone. I'd never even gotten a chance to properly meet him, let alone thank him. He was just gone, just like that.

"I'm going to head down to Herbology early," I said, voice trembling violently. "I — I'm sure Hannah and Susan will be upset. I should try to help, if I can."

"Are you alright, Lu?" Harry asked.

I nodded as I started walking away, but my nod wasn't convincing, because Harry appeared at my side as soon as we left the Great Hall.

"What's the matter, Lu?" he whispered.

I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak, and started walking faster.

Harry matched my pace easily, since his legs were much longer. "Lucy, it's alright, everyone we know and love is safe as far as we know, and — "

"As far as we know," I choked out, bitter and angry and hating the war and hating the world and just wanting to go home. Wherever home was. Whoever home was.

As soon as the chill morning air hit my face, I couldn't stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks. I tugged Harry off to the side, out of sight of any prying eyes, and began to cry quietly.

His arms automatically went around me and pulled me tight, and he stroked my hair as he whispered "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay" over and over. I didn't cry for long, and I didn't cry that hard, because there was simply too much emptiness to fuel my tears. Too much left unsaid. Too much left unknown.