In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter LXXIV: It All Comes Undone

Slowly, then all at once
A single loose thread
And it all comes undone

"Sorrow"
Sleeping At Last

LUCY:

I couldn't breathe.

I found myself on the edge of the Black Lake, the same place I had screamed at the sky Saturday night. This time, though, the sun was shining.

How could the sun show its face after the world had ended?

I crumpled to my knees.

The fact that there would be another funeral on July 1 was inconsequential. The first part of letting go had already passed.

I couldn't breathe.

When I lifted my hands to my throat in an attempt to claw away grief's chokehold, I found myself not wanting to fight it. So instead, I buried my head in my hands and coughed, a weak protest against my own insignificance.

Who was I to think anything I could say would be good enough to memorialize my brother?

I felt a tear course down my cheek, the only outward indicator of the torrential rainstorm brewing inside. I watched as this tear dripped onto my robes, and as the robes absorbed the drop, leaving only a darkened patch in its wake.

The fact that I could hear Harry's voice calling my name in the distance was inconsequential. The second part of letting go was still in front of me.

I couldn't breathe.

This is not black and white
There are no clear solutions
I'm just trying to get it right
And in spite of all I should've done
If I cannot break your fall
I'll pick you up right off the ground
If you felt invisible, I won't let you feel that now

"Invisible"
Linkin Park

HARRY:

I skidded to a stop and knelt beside Lucy. She didn't seem to have heard my shouts, didn't seem to know I was there, so I said her name again, this time much more quietly.

"Lucy."

She rubbed a hand against the side of her neck, breathing heavily. But she had gotten to the Black Lake much sooner than I had, so I knew it wasn't from running. She was breaking down.

What do I do?

What would Cedric do?

I reached forward and tucked a lock of hair away from her face. She always, always, always had it braided. Maybe she felt suffocated by having it down and in her way-

Suffocated. She felt suffocated.

I removed her hand from her neck and held it loosely in my own.

"Don't do that, Lu," I said softly. "Let yourself breathe."

I received a tiny response. She squeezed my hand ever so slightly.

I nodded encouragingly. This felt closer to the right thing to do. "Squeeze harder if you need to. Just breathe."

I looked over her shoulder to make sure nobody had followed me. As far as I could see, we were alone.

"Do you want me to go get somebody else?" I asked quietly. "Mione, Ginny, the twins?"