In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 214: Hoping, Dreaming, Dying

LUCY:

Since Fred had sent me a letter earlier in the week saying that Jae Kim was still more than willing to exchange Honeyduke's sweets for whatever I could find in the Gryffindor common room sofa cushions, I changed out of my Quidditch robes and made my way up to the castle in record time. It was odd, going by myself without Tweedledee and Tweedledum for company, but I found the one-eyed witch statue without any difficulty and followed the passage all the way to the base of Honeyduke's.

I released the Snitch from my pocket — the twins had given it to me over summer, pre-loaded with a few Galleons in case the sofa cushions weren't as bountiful as they once were — and hid in the shadows while it bounced against the trap door.

After about a minute, the trap door opened slightly.

"Who is it?" a voice called.

I stepped forward to confirm that the voice belonged to Jae before replying. "It's me, Lucy Diggory. The twins passed the torch this year and Fred told me you were still willing to do business with Gryffindor house?"

"Ah, that's right! Alright, I'll be down there in a bit!"

A couple minutes later, the trap door opened wide, and Jae dropped down into the tunnel, two bags in hand.

"I take it you won?" he asked with a friendly smile.

I nodded. "We weren't sure if we would, being down a player, but Dennis Creevey was excellent."

"Oh, was that student who got cursed last week a Gryffindor Quidditch player?"

"Yeah," I replied with a sigh. "I'm surprised we still had the match at all, to be honest with you. I was half-hoping the professors would postpone it until she was back, out of respect or something, but — here we are." I managed a smile. "I guess you just need to carry on as best you can and cling to what makes you happy even when the world's turned upside down. I think everyone was happy today, aside from the Slytherins of course. We won by two hundred and fifty points."

"I'm always happy when Slytherin loses. Thank you for making my day with that news." Jae grinned at me as he started lifting himself back through the trap door. "Watch out for yourself, Lucy Diggory."

"You too," I called back as he disappeared.

I hurried back to the castle with the candy and butterbeer in tow, making a mental note to ask Ginny to accompany me after we won the match against Hufflepuff. She'd need to know the routine for her seventh year anyway, once I'd graduated.

I was welcomed to the party with loud cheers from the people closest to the portrait hole, and I flashed an embarrassed smile at the crowd as I started dropping handfuls of sweets onto every flat surface I could find.

"Brilliant match, Lucy!" Neville said as he rushed over to me. "Here, I can help set the butterbeers out!"

"Thank you! On both counts," I replied, my smile turning more genuine.

He grew serious as we started filling a table with bottles of butterbeer. "Zacharias was out of line. I'm sorry you had to put up with that."

"It's alright, it didn't bother me as much as it apparently bothered Ginny," I said with a shrug. "The way she crashed into the commentary booth was funny, though. I don't suppose he's going to want the job anymore after that."

"Merlin, I hope not. For what it's worth, I've never liked Zacharias, and that's coming from someone who spends more time in the Hufflepuff common room these days than his own."

I glanced over at Neville, trying to gauge his facial expression. "Have you heard anything from Hannah?"

"No. I sent her a long letter, but I haven't heard anything back yet. It's okay, though, I understand."