In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter XVIII: Already Brave Enough

A white flag waves in the dark between my head and my heart
My armor falls apart
As if I could let myself be seen, even deeply known
Like I was already brave enough to let go

"Five"
Sleeping At Last

LUCY:

For as much joy Norbert brought to my life, his absence left me feeling hollow.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville were shunned by nearly everyone. Ron and I were practically the only ones who talked to them; even Fred and George clammed up during meals when they were around, eventually moving away to sit with other people altogether. Ron often studied with Harry and Hermione in the library. The library was too uncomfortable for Neville most of the time; I brought him to my Quidditch hideout instead, where at least he could escape the glares for a little while.

When Hermione stopped answering questions in class, I began to raise my hand more and more. Harry offered to quit the Quidditch team, which Skye immediately shot down, but everyone on the team referred to him as "the Seeker" rather than Harry. My pleas to treat my friends like people fell on deaf ears, but I tried anyway.

"Lucy, you don't have to burn all of your bridges," Harry said one day as we returned from practice.

I grinned. "Was that a dragon joke?"

He laughed a little. "No, I was being serious. I mean, it wasn't you who got caught. It wasn't you who left the Invisibility Cloak at the top of the astronomy tower. You were the one who saved it from being seen by Dumbledore and McGonagall, after all. People have no reason to shun you the way they have, and you shouldn't be burning bridges just because we were stupid."

"I'm not the one burning bridges, they are. And you weren't stupid, accidents happen even when we try to do the right thing. I'm going to stand by you, and Hermione, and Neville, and so is Ron. If everyone thinks that's the wrong decision, why should I care? I know the truth about what happened that night, so why would I join everyone else in shunning you?"

"I just don't understand why I'm worth it," he admitted. "You and the twins, you were so close, but now they don't even sit with you because you're sitting with us."

"They'll come around. Until they do, I'm more than happy to be your friend, Harry. You did the right thing at the end of the day and you can't convince me otherwise."

He relented after that, and seemed to come out of his shell a bit around me. Hermione, however, had retreated so far into herself it was impossible to talk to her unless it was a brief exchange about what we were studying. Every time I tried to talk to her about something else and reassure her everything would work out, it was as if my words bounced off of an invisible shielding charm. She didn't really speak to me until a week before the full moon when Hedwig dropped a note in my lap.

"Harry, Hedwig must be confused," I said with half a laugh, passing him the folded piece of parchment.

He shook his head and handed it back to me. "No, it's for you. See?" Surely enough, "FOR LUCY" was scrawled on the underside of the note.

I scanned the note quickly, and felt the blood drain from my face.

"Lucy, what is it?" Hermione asked, fixing me with her best mind-reading stare.

"Hagrid wants to talk to me." I swallowed. "Meet you in our dorm afterwards?"

Hermione nodded, and I headed down to his hut. As nice as it was to feel the sun streaming through Hagrid's windows, it was yet another reminder that Norbert was gone.