In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter XXXIV: Anywhere Your Dreams Can Take You

A new day you can go
You can do anything you wanna
It's your place, wing low, go high
Anywhere you wanna
You can reach for the moon
Anywhere your dreams can take you
Go astray, fade away

"Yesterday"
Imagine Dragons

LUCY:

The feast felt like a fever dream, and for all I know, it might have been --- the full moon was less than a week away and my birthday gift from Cedric was in the chest at the foot of my bed in my dormitory. Everyone was in their pajamas except for those who had just been brought back with Mandrake juice and those of us who had just come back from the Chamber itself, though I did use a couple of charms to clean the blood and slime from our robes. Hermione asked question after question about everything she had missed; Harry and Ron answered most of the questions, because quite frankly, I was eager to forget this awful year as soon as possible.

A little after one in the morning, Ginny entered the Great Hall. I jumped up to give her a proper hug, and her brothers all piled on top of the two of us. I tried to convince her to sit between me and Harry, but she blushed bright red and firmly plopped herself between Hermione and me and refused to move.

We stopped talking about the Chamber once Ginny appeared, not wanting to risk upsetting her anymore, but free of Riddle's hold on her, she seemed nearly as vibrant as ever. She was especially happy when final exams were cancelled and when Gryffindor won the House Cup again.

I was excited, too, don't get me wrong, but the several sleepless, anxious nights of the past couple months had finally seemed to catch up with me. The bright lights and loud talking all around me made my head pound, and I was about to leave when Hermione switched seats with Ginny and clutched my hand.

"Look at me," she said.

I turned my head and gave her a confused look. She studied my face for about five seconds before narrowing her eyes. "What?" I asked.

"Where'd you get that cut on your forehead?"

"Down in the Chamber," I said. "It's where the rock hit me."

"Did anything else happen while I was gone?"

I shook my head and offered a grin. "No more sleepwalking incidents," I said loudly, to dispel any suspicion. As much as I appreciated Hermione's concern that something had gone wrong on a full moon, she hadn't exactly been subtle.

Harry huffed, and I turned to face him. "Yeah, because you never slept," he remarked with a grin.

"You didn't?" Hermione inquired, narrowing her eyes further.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "I-"

I was spared from answering by the doors to the Great Hall opening with a bang. Everyone whirled their heads to see who it was.

"Hagrid!" I exclaimed, bouncing up and sprinting to the door. I threw my arms around him (or at least as much as I could, given the fact that he was massive and I was tiny) and held on tight as he clapped my back violently.

I pulled away and beamed up at him. "Hagrid, Aragog's family was incredible! I've never seen anything like it! I'd love to go back sometime."

"Speak for yourself," Ron said from behind me as he and Harry and Hermione rushed up to Hagrid. He thumped their backs too, sending them crashing into me. The entire room cheered as Hagrid returned to the table at the front of the room, making the huge man turn a bright red as he helped himself to a sandwich. I turned to my friends with a smile.