In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 223: I'm Yours

HARRY:

The day before school started back up, the Ministry set up a system that would allow students to Floo to Hogwarts so we all got there as safely and efficiently as possible. Since the shop was always closed on Sundays anyway, the twins came to see us off. Lucy was delighted by the fact that she had one more chance to sit wedged between Fred and George for a meal, the same way she had for the better part of five years at school, before leaving. Her smile was bright, brighter it had been over summer when she had to say goodbye to the twins.

I felt no small amount of pride in the fact that I was the reason for that — we did make the most of being at school, thanks to the Room of Requirement. We had no such equivalent at the Burrow. We were both looking forward to having that level of privacy (privacy being a relative term) again soon.

"You ought to go first, Harry," Fred piped up. "Then Lucy."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at me. "Harry James Potter, if you end up in Knockturn Alley again, I swear to Merlin — "

"I forgot about that," I said, chuckling. "I won't, I won't."

"Wait, Lucy, how did you end up there that day?" Ron asked.

"Following my dad," she replied with a snort.

Ron blinked. "What on earth was he doing in Knockturn Alley?"

"My dad was full of surprises," Lucy said, sending a flat look my way. "Anyway, go ahead, Harry, I'll be right behind you."

Mrs. Weasley pulled me into a tight embrace, crying. "Promise me you'll look after yourself and stay out of trouble."

"I always do, Mrs. Weasley. I like a quiet life, you know me," I said, to try to make her feel better.

It must have worked, because she laughed softly as she let me go. With that, I stepped into the fireplace with my trunk and shouted my intended destination. A short Floo later, I landed in Professor McGonagall's office.

"Good afternoon, Potter," she said with only a brief glance at me. "Try not to get too much ash on the carpet."

"Of course, Professor," I replied as I hurried out of the way so Lucy could come through.

It was Ron who appeared next, however. He grinned knowingly at the concerned confusion that was surely written all over my face.

"She's on her way," he said, coming to stand next to me, "don't worry."

Ginny arrived a couple seconds later, looking put out. "She practically shoved me through next. She just doesn't want the rest of us to see her cry saying goodbye to the twins."

"How are your older brothers doing, Weasleys?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Percy's been a prat, but the others are doing well enough," Ron replied with a shrug. "Bill's getting married this summer so he's happy, the joke shop is wildly successful so Fred and George are happy, and Charlie's surrounded by dragons so he's happy."

Lucy appeared, holding Tuck tightly against her chest, before Professor McGonagall could respond. Her eyelashes were damp, but her smile was still bright.

"Good afternoon, Professor," she said cheerfully. "It must be alarming to have students dropping into your office fireplace unexpectedly."

Professor McGonagall chuckled. "A bit, but it's worth it to know that everyone is getting here safely. How were the holidays at the Burrow?"

"A bit more eventful than I think any of us would have preferred, but I've never been one to complain about good company and good food, in that order, and we had both." Lucy's smile widened when she spotted Azalea the pygmy puff perched dutifully on Professor McGonagall's desk. "Did you and Azalea have a good holiday?"