In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 243: Stay With Me, Stay With Me

HARRY:

I wasn't sure when exactly I dropped off to sleep, because my dreams were frighteningly reminiscent of the reality I'd just endured. I was back in the cave, and the Inferi were charging at me, coming to take me away, to drag me down into the frigid depths, but rather than wearing the faces of men and women and children I did not know, they all wore familiar faces. Dozens of Mums, dozens of Dads, dozens of Cedrics, dozens of Siriuses, dozens of Dumbledores. I didn't even bother trying to run. They carried me off, and only once I was underwater could I see that a younger version of Lucy was down there too, her hair in two braids floating around her, her eyes closed, her face deathly pale, all of her liveliness gone. Snape was there too, pointing his wand at her, and I could see the distinctive white flash of sectumsempra moving toward Lucy in slow motion. Only then did I begin to fight, pushing against the people holding me. Lucy. I needed to save Lucy.

The dream disappeared suddenly, and Lucy, alive and well, was there, holding my wrists together in front of me.

"It's okay, it's okay," she was whispering. "It's just a dream, you're just having a nightmare."

"Sorry," I panted, relaxing down against the bed with a sigh. "What happened?"

"You started flailing, so I grabbed you before you hurt yourself or flopped out of bed," Lucy replied as she released me.

Horror swept over me. "I could have hit you."

"It would have been an accident, if you had," she said, "but I highly doubt that would have happened. I had you pinned in record time, if I do say so myself. Besides, I share a bed with Ginny a couple times a month. She starts swinging at anyone who wakes her up. I'm well-practiced when it comes to dodging, too."

"Sorry for waking you," I whispered.

"Don't be. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Lucy — I forgot to tell you, in the rush of everything — Snape is the Half-Blood Prince. It's his fault, it's all his fault."

Lucy sighed. "I'm not terribly surprised."

"You don't seem terribly upset either," I said slowly.

"It doesn't change anything about what happened," she replied, sighing again. "It's nice to know the truth, though. Speaking of, it's morning now. Do you want to go back to sleep, or do you want to fetch Ron and Hermione and talk about what happened last night?"

"I don't particularly fancy the idea of risking another nightmare," I muttered. I looked at Lucy for a long moment, once again giddy about how good she looked in my old Quidditch jumper with the hood pulled over her head, a couple of still-damp flyaway hairs stuck to her forehead, her sky-blue eyes particularly bright in the warm glow of the sunshine turning the curtains around us a vibrant shade of scarlet. "I don't particularly fancy the idea of leaving bed, either, though, not when you're here with me as my girlfriend for the first time."

Lucy blushed. "I wouldn't mind lingering here a while longer."

"Me neither," I replied earnestly.

Lucy closed her eyes and moved closer to me, pulling the blankets up to her chin. I pressed a kiss to her forehead and ran my thumb along her jaw. She smiled at the touch, though she didn't open her eyes. Soon enough, she was sleeping, but I didn't want to fall asleep again. I just wanted to hold Lucy and let myself take what joy I could in the fact that she was alive and she loved me. I never wanted to take either of those facts for granted ever again.

In time, Lucy woke up again, and she asked if I was ready to talk to Ron and Hermione about the cave.

I pushed myself up on an elbow and shook my head. "I don't — want to talk about the cave with anyone but you. I'll share the note from R.A.B. with Hermione, but... the things I saw there... the things I had to do..."