In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter XLIII: The Temporary Truce

LUCY:

The rest of January and the entirety of February passed in a hazy blur of classes, Buckbeak research, patronus lessons, and Quidditch practices. Even the full moons passed without incident. It was easy to hide everything when Hermione and Hagrid were the only people I talked to outside of class (with the weekly exception of Professor Lupin and Harry, but even then, Professor Lupin had the same secret and Harry never felt too great after the lessons, either --- the dementors always affected him more than me).

March brought the first change to that. Because, after all, Ron's birthday was March 1.

He and Hermione still weren't talking, but I joined forces with his siblings and Harry to make the day as special as possible.

His birthday was a Tuesday, meaning we couldn't be as obnoxious all day as we would have been on a Saturday or Sunday, but we still did the best we could to make the day fun for everyone after the stressful year we'd had with the threat of Sirius Black hanging over our heads.

As soon as classes were over, Ginny, Harry, and I challenged Ron to a wizard's chess tournament. Since he won every single game, we reckoned he had a good time. This distraction gave the twins enough time to rush down to Honeyduke's and return with the sweets we all contributed money toward, much like Cedric's birthday the year before. Unlike Cedric's birthday, however, we had a small common room party instead of a courtyard picnic. We all also brought down our Chocolate Frog cards to compare and trade.

Harry inched closer to me and smiled. "I think you're holding out on us, Lu. Where's your special edition card?" he asked in a voice only I could hear.

I swatted his arm and fought the blush trying to crawl into my cheeks. "Shut it, Potter," I hissed. "If you must know, it's on the back page, and I'm not flipping to that page for a very specific reason."

"Just thought you might want to share, since we're all in a birthday mood..." he said innocently. "And since yours is in only... hm... two months and-"

I swatted his arm harder, blushing furiously. "Harry!"

"Problem, you two?" Fred asked with a smirk.

"Not yet," I said, shooting Harry a playful glare. He tried to return the gesture, but we both broke down laughing after half a second.

Once we stopped laughing, I noticed Ron looking at Hermione, who sat in the corner of the common room with her head bent low over a book. I moved closer to him and bumped his shoulder with mine.

"Want me to see if she's in the mood for chocolate?" I asked softly.

Ron looked down at his hands, which each contained a Chocolate Frog. "I was just thinking about doing it myself, actually."

"Go for it," I said. "She misses you."

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "You think so?"

I nodded. "Ron, I reckon I know her better than she does sometimes. She misses having you around. Look, right now. See how her hands are shaking?"

"Yeah?"

"Her hands don't shake when she's around you. You calm her down just by being there."

"But after what she did to Harry, after the year he's had-"

"I know," I interrupted. "Trust me, I know. But right now, she needs you more than he does. Harry's having a great time. I know you'll be happier celebrating your birthday if she's a part of it, even if it's only just for today."

We both glanced back. Harry was reaching for a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and smirking at the group of us. His eyes landed on me, and he smiled.