Summary: Seamus has become consumed with finding a good luck charm to change his current state.

A/N: This story is a companion to Luck of the Irish, but you don't really need to have read that. All you need to know is that Seamus is experiencing a bout of bad luck and Lucy is a Canadian witch visiting the area. Though reading the other storey sure wouldn't hurt!

Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable content. All belongs to its rightful owners.

My Good Luck Charm

I've been lucky. I'll be lucky again.

~Bette Davis

He walked down the crowded street with his hands in his pocket. The sense of defeat was quickly beginning to overwhelm him. That was the third day in a row that he walked the streets, looking for something, anything that could help. However, no matter where he looked, what he searched for, he hadn't found even the smallest hint of a solution.

'This is Diagon Alley' he'd cried to the heavens. It was the largest wizard shopping district in all of Britain! If he couldn't find a good luck charm potent enough to change the ebb and flow of his life here, in Diagon Alley, then he was almost certain he wouldn't be able to find it anywhere. At least not anywhere easily accessible to him. There be something in some far off country, but that wasn't a feasible option for him.

Feeling the weight of dejection at the enormity and increasing impossibility of the situation, Seamus Finnigan hung his head low and slowly pushed his way through the crowd of witches and wizards out enjoying their weekend shopping.

With his head down, he had run into several people. All had grunted or yelled profanities at him, upset at his lack of attention and apologizing. But the defeat he was feeling made him not care about the feelings of the people around him. He was looking at a future of eternal bad luck; a few angry strangers just didn't seem like that big of a deal.

"Seamus?" a voice called out shortly after he'd impacted a diminutive form. With all previous encounters, even those when people had yelled and screamed at him, Seamus had simply kept walking, kept pushing his way through the crowd. However, when someone he'd collided with called him out by name, Seamus' progress was almost immediately arrested. A little cautiously, Seamus turned to look down at the shorter individual whom had called out his name.

The individual was a young woman, no taller than 5' 2". Her hair was a reddish-brown colour and cut fairly short. What was that style called? A bill? A bob? Seams couldn't remember. As she looked up at him she gingerly rubbed her shoulder. Probably the spot that had contacted Seamus' lower bicep. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar, but Seamus couldn't quite place where he knew her.

Instead of saying anything, Seamus just stared down at her, hoping that this somewhat-mystery woman would fill in some of the blanks. Instead several seconds of awkward silence passed between them: Seamus staring at the woman, and the woman gently rubbing her obviously sore shoulder. Finally, Seamus couldn't take it any more.

"Umm, sorry about, you know, bumping into you. I'm a little, ah, a little distracted," Seamus sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, raising his head from staring at her to looking over her to into the crowd that was milling around Diagon Alley.

"It's fine. I, myself, can get distracted by life and not pay attention to where I am going. I was just more surprised at seeing you, a familiar face, here of all places." The woman then smiled up at him, though the bright toothy grin slowly slipped as she took in Seamus' expression.

"You don't remember who I am, do you?" she asked, a little disheartened. Seamus continued to rub his neck sheepishly.

"Not exactly. You look really familiar. I just can't place why or from where I know you." He felt like a jerk, like a large arse, for having to admit this. But, there wasn't any other way out of the situation.

"Well, I'm sure the why is because the first thing I did when I met you was pinch you. And the where was a small pub in the Irish country side." The woman then smiled up mischievously at Seamus, obviously enjoying the little game she created. She was expecting Seamus to guess who she was based on the few hints she was giving him.

Seamus stifled a groan. He should have been expecting this difficulty. It was right in the vein of the rest of the bad luck, difficulties, and problems he'd been experiencing for the past few months. Why should this moment be any different than all the other moments?

'Okay, Seamus,' he coached himself, 'think. Which American recently pinched my in a bar in Ireland?'

'Not American,' a small voice in his head responded.

'That's right!' Seamus internally exclaimed. A smile crossed his face at the sudden realisation; a moment of good luck that had led to his answer.

"It's Lucy, right? You're travelling from Canada and you pinched me on St. Patrick's Day because I wasn't wearing green!" He smiled triumphantly at having remembered and connected all that information.

"Good for you! You remembered it all!" Lucy spoke, her tone a combination of joking and patronizing. To top it all off, she slowly clapped her hands. Seamus' joy deflated as Lucy's response once again reminded him of his substantial amount of bad luck. It was in the right vain that any joy or triumph Seamus felt would be short-lived and almost immediately followed by something that would bring him right down.

"Well," Seamus spoke, his tone once again depressed, "I should be off. Got lots to do today." He then turned and tried to move around Lucy and continue down the way he'd been heading previously. However, before he could even take one single step forward, Lucy moved to block his way.

"I've got nothing to do today. I was mostly just wandering around through the streets, seeing what was around. Maybe I could tag along and you could show me around Diagon Alley and wherever else you plan to go." Lucy looked up at him with large, puppy dog-like eyes.

"I'm mostly just running typical errands. I'm looking for –something that is proving to be quite difficult. I'm afraid I won't be a very good tour guide," Seamus persuaded, hoping he could get Lucy to change her mind about tagging along, and avoid him having to turn her down.

"What are you looking for? Maybe I can help?" Lucy pleaded, looking up hopefully at Seamus. Lucy's continued persistence was just one other thing he added to his large and rapidly growing list of grievances, poor luck, and misadventures.

He quickly came to the realization that he now faced a choice. He could continue to try and persuade Lucy not to come along with him, he could flat out deny her permission, or he could allow her to come along with him. Doing a quick assessment, Seamus realised which of those was his best option.

"I'm looking for a good luck charm, but no one who you'd think should carry them do actually carry them." Seamus muttered his response, a little embarrassed about all of it. Lucy was quiet for several seconds, a contemplative look on her face. It was obvious that, despite Seamus' attempts to hide what he was doing, Lucy had heard him, and was thinking about something.

"I may have an idea!" she suddenly exclaimed, before grabbing Seamus' hand and pulling him through the crowd.

Whatever Lucy's idea was, and Seamus was not at all clear on what exactly that had been, it hadn't panned out. She dragged him to nearly a dozen stores, several of which he'd already checked out himself, and not a single one had even the smallest hint of something to improve his luck.

The apothecary did not know, beside liquid luck, of any potion that could long-term improve his luck. There wasn't a book at Flourish and Blotts with any potential remedies. Even several of the small specialty shops on the Alley were of no help.

After their string of failures, Lucy had then suggested they get ice cream and regroup. Seamus was a little apprehensive; getting ice cream presented him with a myriad possibilities for his bad luck to present itself. The store could be closed. They could not have any flavour he wanted. The flavour he chose could be bad, rancid. He could not have enough money for his selection. Finally, he could get the perfect ice cream only to have it drop into him or the ground. It was a lot of things and made Seamus very reticent about the whole situation.

However, before Seamus could protest, Lucy had once again grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd. There seemed to be less people on the street this time because, as he was dragged through the people, he didn't come into contact with any of them. Any people that were in his way moved at the last minute or Lucy suddenly skilfully manoeuvred him out of the way.

They arrived at the ice cream shop, now run by a beaming recent Hogwarts graduated who had taken over after the –ah- untimely death of Mr. Fortescue. It was so dead Seamus initially believed it was closed. That fact wouldn't have come as a shock to Seamus; what happened next did.

Lucy, not even hesitating, pushed open the door. A small bell chimed, indicating their entrance, and the continually beaming graduate appeared from some back room. So, not closed. Well, that was one potentially bad luck thing down. Half a million still to go.

"Hello there! You just missed the rush! A few minutes ago we had a line out the door and like a twenty minute wait just to order. Must be your lucky day. What can I get you?" Seamus stood there, stunned. He never had good luck. Well, as least not recently. They should have been stuck in that out-the-door line, not just missing it.

Strange.

Seamus ordered his ice cream, got the flavour he wanted, and had nothing wrong with it. He found a few extra galleons in his pocket, enough to pay for his, as well as Lucy's ice cream. The pair then found a clean seat not too in the sun but with a good view of the street, and began to eat the ice cream. He then finished his ice cream, eating the chocolate and orange creamsicle cone without getting even the smallest drop on him.

As he finished the cone, and wiped a few crumbs from his mouth, Seamus sat back, utterly astonished by it all. Everything he thought could go wrong, expected to go wrong, hadn't. his lick, it would seem, had turned.

"You okay, Seamus?" Lucy asked. She was giving him a concerned look. Seamus having just realised his new situation must have displayed his combination of shock, awe, joy, confusion, and doubt that he had been feeling. The mixture of emotions must have created a strange expression on his face, which had raised Lucy's concerns.

"Fine. Just, ah, just thinking about life," Seamus responded, looking away from Lucy. It wasn't quite a lie, but the omission of certain facts made Seamus as uncomfortable as if it had been a lie. Seamus had been thinking about life, about the very recent change his life had undergone. And, he'd been thinking about a possible cause for that recent change.

He had yet to find a good luck charm in any store along Diagon Alley. Nothing else in his life had changed, and he wasn't willing to believe that his terrible luck, luck he'd been experiencing for several months, just turned without any outside influence.

So that left one thing. the one new recent change. And the thing that was making him feel so awkward and uncomfortable he couldn't even look at Lucy.

Lucy.

She'd been the change. Could she be the cause of his good luck? One thing was certain, Seamus wasn't going to let her out of his sight until he knew for sure.

"Well," he spoke casually, as he stood from the table, "shall we continue on? I think there may be a few shops we've overlooked." Lucy nodded in response before, once again, pulling Seamus back onto the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. Seamus allowed himself to be drug along, and he didn't collide with a single person or thing as he went.

The end