Lucy Snape and the Final Battle (Book Seven)

Levi's Bookshop

Chapter 15: Levi's Bookshop

Lucy set up camp in that very same forest a few hours later. She made herself a makeshift tent out of a large piece of canvas she had stored in her handbag, then crafted a fire out of stray logs she collected with a wave of her wand and lit them exactly the same way. She rubbed her hands together in a feeble attempt to get warm, all the while looking down at the piece of paper she had tucked safely underneath one boot.

...The Tale as such continues to be present in everyday —

This was the first clue she'd come across since her first year in Hogwarts where they'd found the first half of the tale that had started this whole mess in the first place. Now Lucy finally had an answer to her question but finding this one piece of paper had created a whole new batch of questions. The most intriguing being why had Lucy found a piece of paper after viewing a memory she'd never been able to recall before?

She sighed, folded up the piece of paper and tucked it into her coat. The sound of wolves howling made her retreat inside her tent and find her way into an uneasy sleep. Her dreams tainted by the echoes of her forgotten past.

*

Meanwhile at Godrics hollow, Snape and Shona had found themselves a pub nearby to waste away the evening, pouring over a map with a butterbeer each, trying to work out where to head next. The low din of the pub and the hive of activity distracted Snape from the task at hand and, as always, Lucy was on his mind. The thought had crossed his mind that she could be dead but he couldn't think that way, he had to believe she was still out there sulking. So it was no wonder he couldn't even start a conversation with Shona even if he set aside his anger towards her over their earlier conversation.

"I'm sorry."

Shona had slammed down her pint glass at the same time as she spoke so it took Snape a moment to realise what she had said.

She didn't meet his eyes. "For earlier. I know you want to find her but you can't keep thinking up impossible situations."

He wanted to argue but knew better than to split up the gifted once more so they were completely all alone. "You're right. I need to remain logical." He tapped the side of his glass with his fingers and then their eyes locked. "If you were Lucy where would you go?"

"I'd go and get some action with Matt," Shona shrugged. "Those two are obsessed with each other."

"McGuire," he snarled. "Where would she have gone? What would she be doing?"

Shona pursed her lips for a moment and looked down at the map splayed out in front of her as if that were going to give her the answers of Lucy's location. "What if she's searching for something?"

"What would she be searching for? This is no time to search..." Snape took a swig of his beer and then recoiled.

Shona grabbed her backpack and rummaged around before slamming an ancient book on the desk. Even where it was closed you could see the pages sloping to reveal a large chunk had been torn out. It was the Tale of the Knights.

"You think...?" Snape's voice trailed off as he looked at Shona, all the while his hands reached out to take the book.

Shona nodded in both confirmation of his question and in agreement that he could pick the book up. Snape opened up the book to the very last page before it had been maimed:

As the years went by, the tale slowly died out, humans willing to forget the tale of the knights. No stories were told at the fire over the frost moon, and after some years only the elderly fear in their hearts. Merlin grew old and so did his friend...eventually Merlin lay dying in his bed, and no one would come to greet the man, Merlin not the famous name it —