In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 230: I Feel Like Superman

HARRY:

Wednesday morning before breakfast, I found myself sprawled on the floor of the Gryffindor common room with Lucy and Ginny on either side of me, discussing how many photographs they could cram into the envelope while I skimmed the note Lucy had already written.

To the residents of 93 Diagon Alley —

Those of us here at Hogwarts would like to extend our sincerest apologies for the fact that you were not around to witness the masterful marvels of magical mischief that transpired yesterday. In the absence of the beloved Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley and their current accomplices Mr. Furls and Mr. Graye, a small trio banded together to attempt to achieve a feat worthy of such a noble holiday as the first of April. We'd like to extend our congratulations and well wishes to Gred and Forge, who are now nineteen years of age and therefore ancient. Without further ado, please enjoy the attached pictures. Our only regret is that not even magical photographs are capable of capturing sound; you would have loved to hear the laughter ringing through the halls all day yesterday.

"Lu, this is brilliant, but you forgot to sign it," I pointed out.

"I was waiting for you two to sign it first," she replied without looking away from the photographs. "I think we should put the one of ginger Snape on top. It's sure to be a hit among all four boys, since they all hate Snape and you, Ginny, hero of the day, charmed his hair Weasley red."

"Fine by me!" Ginny said, slapping it on top of the stack. "I think we should have the picture of the 'Fuck Umbridge' fireworks in the Great Hall on the bottom, save the best for last."

Lucy pressed her thumb over her mouth, deep in thought. "Maybe we could put the photographs in chronological order, then, since we started the day with the charm that turned everyone's robes purple and orange the second they set foot in the Great Hall. Snape would be the second picture, since you hit him with the charm while he was distracted by the fact that everyone was laughing at his reaction to his robes turning WWW colors."

"Chronological order makes sense to me," Ginny agreed with a nod as she started sorting through photographs.

"I'm so glad you were able to use the camera I got you for Christmas two years ago in such a noble way," Lucy commented with a happy sigh and a dazzling smile my direction.

I smiled back. "Yeah, well, I'm so glad you were able to use your supplies from the twins in such a noble way. It's great to see something from the Triwizard Tournament make people happy instead of..." My voice trailed off as I realized what I'd said.

Lucy and Ginny both stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at me.

"I never once thought about the winnings," Lucy said softly as understanding dawned on her face, "or really wondered how they got off the ground in terms of production. I never asked." She turned to Ginny. "Did you know?"

Ginny shook her head. "The twins never explained how they got the money to get started. I just assumed it was something illegal so I didn't ask."

"Ah, well, no, not illegal." I rubbed the back of my neck, face flaming. I glanced at Lucy. "I offered the winnings to your parents, and they refused, so I more or less cornered the twins at the end of the train ride back to London and, er, made sure they couldn't refuse."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at me. "How?"

"I told them to buy Ron new dress robes. You remember how awful his were at the Yule Ball, don't you?"

"Out with it, Potter, there's more, what else did you say?" Ginny asked.

I sifted through pictures until I found one where Lucy could be seen laughing, then held it up. "I asked for this." I tossed it into their stack. "I told them to make Lucy laugh again, and they've succeeded a million times over. Anyway — " I reached for the note and slid it over to Lucy. "Sign this. First. It was your idea, after all."