Lucy Riddle and the Boy Who Lived

The Rant

Chapter Seventeen

When Lucy saw Umbridge again the next day, and the usual routine happened, nothing happened. Everything was . . . decent. Harry had stood up, and Umbridge shouted at him, but when Lucy gave Umbridge her two cents, nothing was said.

"You are arrogant and naïve to believe that Voldemort will not come back. And to believe that the Ministry of Magic will be able to protect us is ludicrous! He is the most powerful wizard in the entire world! It'd be illogical to believe he'd be dead forever. The only person who the Dark Lord fears is Albus Dumbledore, but you lot sent him away. Even then, Dumbledore is too frail to defeat the most powerful wizard!" Lucy ranted. "You and the Ministry of Magic should take a page from my book, because I know the ultimate weapon to defeating the Dark Lord. And you lot aren't in it."

Umbridge did not say a word. She only placed a Silencio spell on the class and continued reading, only pointing to the black chalkboard that contained their lesson plan for the hour.

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Surprisingly, Lucy was alone in the library after lunch. Hermione did not suggest for anyone to go. Lucy merely had some . . . work to do. The Golden Trio had classes to attend to anyway.

Lucy tried to find some important information on her family. Voldemort was a subject she couldn't help but be intrigued by. Why is it that no one — except for Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Dolohov — had known Lucy was born? Even they didn't know who her birth mother was. Lucy had a twinge of hope that she'd be able to meet her biological mum one day. To thank her or to just hug her, she didn't know. All she wanted to know was her history.

She searched. Lucy didn't dare ask anyone for help, knowing they'd ask her questions she didn't want to answer. She did receive a suspicious look from the librarian. Lucy had tried to get into the Restricted Section more than once.

Never know, Lucy thought. Papa Voldie and Mum might be somewhere in those books.

Lucy never stopped searching. She looked through every book she could find about great dark wizards; she even studied Hogwarts, A History, a book she sworn never to read in spite of Hermione (No one will tell Hermione that).

There were really good pieces of information in Hogwarts, A History. Voldemort used to attend this school and was in Slytherin. He was a great student. Lucy remembered seeing a trophy with the name Tom Riddle engraved on it when she was in detention with Filch.

But he inflicted so much pain and misery on all wizards. People were terrified of him and were killed with those blood-stained hands . . . and Lucy couldn't help but disappointed. How could such a being be so cruel?

When it started to get dark and Madam Pince was getting antsy, Lucy was forced to abandon her studies and eat dinner. She made a silent promise to return and continue her mission.

There were questions that still needed to be answered. Questions like: Who is my biological mum? Would I be like my father, a cold-blooded monster who would kill to get what he wanted?

Once she sat down besides Hermione, she filled up her plate. She dug into her meal. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were in a deep conversation to which they all agreed to discuss later tonight ("Lucy, you better not sleep before midnight!" Hermione threatened. "We have some important business to talk about.")

Fred flung a piece of mash potato onto her nose. Lucy gasped as she crossed her eyes to take a good look at the white substance. She took a spoonful of her own and threw it at her man, only to watch him catch it successfully into his mouth. Lucy cursed and casted a wordless Body-Bind curse on him, throwing another spoonful of mash potatoes at him.

Lucy watched, from right across of her, with great amusement for the whole duration of dinner at George feeding little ole Fred like a baby. Since Lucy wouldn't remove the Body-Bind curse, Fred was forced to be embarrassed. But, of course, Fred wouldn't let Lucy off the hook that easily.

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Fred cornered her on her way to the Gryffindor girl's dormitory. He had grabbed her wrist and whisked her off into his shared room on the other side of the common room. Fred made sure the door was locked before twirling his princess around. Lucy giggled and nearly made the two crash onto the ground since her foot got caught on her robe.

Fred gently grabbed her face and brushed his lips against her own. Lucy let out a soft sigh and leaned in to give him a big kiss but instead she felt the wall touch her mouth. She opened her eyes, only to look around to see Fred with an amused smile on his face, his arms across his chest.

"Having fun with the wall, love?" Fred chuckled.

She shook her head with a laugh. "You got me. I'll be off now, Fred. Gotta caught some sleep for the new day."

Lucy opened the door. She was about to step out when Fred suddenly said, "What, no goodnight kiss?"

She looked over her shoulder and sent an air kiss his way. "That's all you'll be getting today, seeing you didn't want to kiss me earlier."

He groaned but caught the kiss with his hand anyway, bringing his fist to his lips with a cunning smile. "You won't be able to resist me any longer."

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When the clock struck midnight, Hermione shook Lucy awake, gesturing for her to follow. Lucy obliged. She knew it had to do with the scheduled discussion with Golden Trio.

She spotted a silhouette of two figures in front of the fireplace. There was no doubt it was Harry and Ron. Ron was trying to form a dog using the shadows while Harry was trying to help him do it. Hermione on the other hand was ready to step on his fingers.

"Boys, get your heads straight! Be serious for an hour," she scolded.

"I will not be Sirius. He's my godfather for goodness sakes," Harry teased.

Hermione slapped Harry's arm.

"So what's up?" Lucy whispered. "Why are we out here so late?"

"Well," Harry began, "I have this . . . okay, so I have this connection with Voldemort" — cue the shivering — "and I can feel his strong emotions. If he's really happy or mad, my scar will start to burn. Also if he's near."

"Has it burned recently?"

"Yeah, actually, I felt it this morning. Voldemort's no where close to Hogwarts. He's all the way across the world — oh, I can see in his mind sometimes, by the way. It's a blessing and a curse. Don't want to be the boss man, no offense Lucy."

"None taken; I barely know him."

"Just be careful, okay? We don't know what he'll do if he sees you. You're his daughter, but that was then. Now . . . we don't know his reaction. He may have placed you in caring, safe hands, but his are not safe nor caring. Just — be careful with whatever you do. We don't want you to get hurt."