In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 228: I Know Places

LUCY:

As soon as George and Henry left, I downed the sleeping potion on my nightstand and drifted off without giving Harry and Ron the chance to talk to me. The worst of the pain had passed, it didn't hurt to breathe anymore and my arm felt like an arm again instead of just glass shards trapped in a prison of flesh, but I was still in more pain than I wanted to admit.

When I opened my eyes next, it was because I was being shaken awake.

"Merlin, Cub, what was in that sleeping potion?" George asked when I finally forced my eyes open.

I blinked a couple of times and tried to remember where I was and why. When I realized I was in the Hospital Wing, I wondered why George was there waking me up, because George had left, but George was there, and I was quite happy about that, but why was he there at all and why did he have such a strange expression on his face?

"Hi," I said, trying to push myself up to a sitting position. Something about this was alarming, because George put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. Harry appeared at my left side and offered a helping hand the rest of the way up. "Hi." I blinked again. "Why?"

"Apparently Madam Pomfrey figured out an extra-strength sleeping potion for Lucy," Harry explained to George. "She wasn't exactly supposed to drink it all at once, hence why she's so disoriented."

George shook his head, grinning. "And here I was worrying she had a concussion that got missed somehow. Sorry for waking you up, Cub, I didn't realize it would be difficult and then I got concerned when it was difficult." He glanced over his shoulder before casting a quick silencing spell and holding up a bag. "I brought you schnitzel from — "

"I love you," I interrupted, suddenly feeling much more awake. I tried to reach my hands out for it, willfully ignoring the way the right half of my body was aching, but the thick bandages on my right arm stopped me. "Bloody hell. You know what, I can eat it one-handed, just be a human shield so Madam Pomfrey doesn't see."

"How much time do you need?" Harry asked. "I can keep her busy."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Busy how?"

"I want to know how exactly to brew that potion, it would come in handy around the full moon. Maybe I could use that as an excuse to be friendly with Slughorn," he added meaningfully.

"Right, yes, good idea. I don't think I'll need much time at all because it smells amazing and I'm starving."

Harry smiled. "Excellent. I'll be back!"

With that, he started walking toward her office. George glanced over in Ron's direction, looking nervous.

"What's the matter, Georgie?" I asked.

He shook his head, shuffling through the bag. "I put an Undetectable Extension Charm on it to smuggle this in, so it's deep. One second. Aha, there it is. Here, and, er, well, there's a plastic fork and knife in here but you only have one hand, so..."

"Thank you, I love you," I said as I started attacking the schnitzel. "I can just use the fork to cut it, don't worry. I've never been so happy to be left-handed." George smiled, but there was something more to it. Something I didn't recognize, something I'd never seen on his face before. "Okay, what's on your mind?"

"Henry," he replied breathlessly.

"Well, you were just with him," I pointed out, teasing.

George nodded. And he kept nodding. And nodding. And nodding. And nodding. His eyes widened. And widened. And widened. And widened. And widened. When he smiled, I dropped the fork.