In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter I: Something Bittersweet About Dusk

There had always been something bittersweet about dusk for me. I perched myself on a rock on the edge of the forest, watching as the golden August sun dipped lower and lower and eventually disappeared behind the hills. I closed my eyes and felt the weight of the precious moment between sunset and moonrise envelop me.

We hadn't been able to afford my medicine again that month. My older brother had outgrown his robes, I needed a set of my own, and we had to buy two sets of schoolbooks instead of one, leaving no money left for me. Cedric had tried to insist that his robes were still big enough for one more year, but Dad just patted him on the back and praised his selflessness. So there I found myself, temporarily suspended between the parallel realities of day and night, sitting on a rock on the edge of a forest close to (but far enough from) home.

I released the breath I hadn't realized I was holding, opening my eyes just as the last rays of the sun disappeared.

~

I tried to focus on the weight of his hand on my shoulder as my brother and I navigated the crowded King's Cross station. The weight of his hand on my shoulder, the presence of Cedric, was far more comforting than the hordes of people swarming around us, far more comforting than the knowledge that my whole life was about to change, and certainly far more comforting than the gash on my leg that had still not fully healed. I was trying not to limp, trying my absolute hardest, but my sock pulled the wrong way on the cut every time I took a step.

"There it is, Lucy," Cedric said in my ear, gesturing with his chin at the wall separating Platform 9 from Platform 10. "That's where we go."

Our goodbye with Mum and Dad was difficult, but it was behind us. Ahead lay the barrier between my past and my future, and it was my older brother who would help me cross it. Seemed fitting, I thought, for many reasons.

"We need to make sure no one's watching," he whispered, his eyes shining with excitement as he tried to hide his smile. "Then we'll run through together."

"Will you hold my hand?" I asked, feeling more and more anxious the closer we grew to the wall.

He immediately grabbed my hand in response. "Absolutely."

My eyes darted back and forth. Muggle men in suits with briefcases and Muggle women in dresses with sleek handbags hurried back and forth, their eyes straying little from the paths laid out before them in the foot traffic patterns. The coast was clear --- no one paid two children in typical Muggle school clothes any mind.

"On the count of three," Cedric said, squeezing my hand. I squeezed back, my stomach flipping. "One... two... three!"

I held my breath and closed my eyes, running with all I was worth. I waited for an impact that never came. Instead, warm sunlight greeted me when I opened my eyes. A cherry red train stood tall and proud over the crowd of children and parents and owls and toads, "HOGWARTS EXPRESS" emblazoned on the front in golden letters.

"Oh, look, there are the Weasleys!" he exclaimed. "Do you want to go say hi?"

I nodded, releasing his hand and following his lead through the packed platform. But just as we were about to get there, a loud whistle blew, and the redheaded boys clambered on. Cedric and I followed suit.

"Oy, Fred, look who it is!"

"The Diggorys made it after all!"

Cedric smiled. "Our mum didn't want to say goodbye to both of us this year."

"We can tell. You still have lipstick on your cheek." Cedric's sleeve immediately flew to his face, drawing laughter from the twins and a giggle from Ron. "Just kidding, old chap. Good to see you. Do you want to go with us to see Lee's tarantula?"