Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
Chapter 10 – A Long Week
Lucy had been correct in assuming that the news of Harry's outburst would quickly spread through the school. As Lucy, Hermione, and Ron walked down the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table, they could hear the whispers passing the story around.
A few minutes after they sat down, Harry joined them, taking the place beside Hermione. They began to eat in silence, listening to the murmurs around them. Harry sat very rigidly on the bench.
"He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered—"
"He reckons he dueled with You-Know-Who—"
"Come off it—"
"Who does he think he's kidding?"
"Pur-lease—"
"What I don't get," Harry said when they were nearly done with dinner, dropping his knife and fork to the table, "is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them—"
"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did," Hermione said. "Oh, let's get out of here." She also put her knife and fork down.
Lucy and Ron followed suit, although Ron looked disheartened. The four of them stood and left the Great Hall, the eyes of nearly the entire student body following them out.
"What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Harry asked as they climbed the marble staircase.
"Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened," Hermione said.
"What do you mean?" Harry demanded.
"Well, none of us saw what happened in the maze," Lucy explained. "You just appeared out of nowhere with Cedric's body. Most of us didn't even realize there was anything wrong at first. When we found out that Cedric was dead, I'm sure everyone thought that there had been some kind of accident during the task."
"We just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back, killed Cedric, and fought you," Hermione finished.
"Which is the God damn truth!" Harry exclaimed heatedly.
"I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?" Hermione sighed. "It's just that, before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!"
A few minutes later, they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and Hermione gave the password. They climbed into a fairly empty common room; most people were still at dinner. The four fifth-years took a seat in front of the fire. They were silent for a few moments.
"How can Dumbledore have let this happen?" Hermione exclaimed, and Lucy, Harry, and Ron jumped at her sudden anger. She slammed her fists on the arms of her chair and cried, "How can he let that terrible woman teach us? And in our O.W.L. year, too!"
"Well, we've never had great Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?" Harry asked.
"Remus was pretty good," Lucy argued.
"But you know what it's like," Harry continued. "Hagrid's told us. Nobody wants the job; they say it's jinxed."
"I can't believe she's trying to get people to spy for her," Ron said. "Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You-Know-Who's back?"
"Of course she's here to spy on us all," Hermione said. "It's very obvious. Why else would Fudge have wanted her to come?"
"Don't start arguing again," Lucy said swiftly as Ron opened his mouth. She didn't want Harry to lose his temper.
"Let's just do that homework and get it out of the way," Harry suggested, giving Lucy a grateful glance.
So, they all collected their homework and returned to their seats in front of the fire.
"Shall we do Snape's stuff first?" Ron suggested. He dipped his quill in his ink and began to write on a piece of parchment. "The properties—of moonstone—and its uses—in potion-making—" Then he looked at Hermione and asked, "So, what are the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making?"
Hermione, however, was staring across the common room. Fred, George, and their friend Lee Jordan were sitting in a corner, surrounded by what seemed to be a group of first-years. The first-years were all chewing something.
"No, I'm sorry," Hermione said, getting her feet. "They've gone too far. Come on, Ron."
"I—what?" Ron asked, looking horrified. "No—come on, Hermione—we can't tell them off for giving out sweets—"
"You know perfectly well that those are bits of Nosebleed Nougat," Hermione snapped, "or—or Puking Pastilles, or—"
Suddenly, each of the first-years slumped back into their chairs, as though they had fallen asleep.
"Fainting Fancies?" Lucy suggested.
There were other students who were watching the twins and Lee, and they were laughing. Fred and George, each holding a clipboard, were examining the first-years closely. Hermione stomped over to them, and Ron stood up as though he was going to follow.
He hesitated. "She's got it under control," he muttered before dropping back into his seat.
"That's enough!" Hermione said as she neared the twins, who looked up at her. "I told you this morning that you can't test your rubbish on students!"
"We're paying them!" Fred said.
"I don't care!" Hermione said. "It could be dangerous!"
"Bullshit," Fred scoffed.
"Calm down, Hermione," Lee cut in. "They're fine." He was sticking a purple-colored sweet into the mouths of the first-years.
"Yeah, look, they're coming 'round now," George said, nodding satisfactorily.
The first-years were beginning to stir, many of them looking stunned about what had just happened.
"Feel all right?" George asked one of the girls.
"I-I think so," the girl replied.
"Excellent," Fred said, but Hermione swiftly grabbed the clipboard and the bag of sweets from his hands.
"It is NOT excellent!" she cried.
"'Course it is," Fred insisted, sounding annoyed. "They're alive, aren't they?"
"You can't do this," Hermione said. "What if you made one of them really ill?"
"We're not going to make them ill," Fred explained impatiently. "We've already tested them all on ourselves. This is just to see if everyone reacts the same—"
"If you don't stop doing it," Hermione started, "I'm going to—"
"Put us in detention?" Fred interrupted.
"Make us write lines?" George added mockingly.
People who were watching began to laugh, but Hermione glared angrily at them, her hands on her hips. "No," she said, "but I will write to your mother."
Fred and George stopped laughing at once. "You wouldn't," George said.
"Oh, yes, I would," Hermione replied. "I can't stop you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not giving them to first-years." She glared at them for a moment longer before shoving the clipboard and bag of sweets back into Fred's hands.
Turning on her heel, she marched back over to where Lucy, Harry, and Ron were sitting. "Thank you for your support, Ron," she said testily.
"You handled it fine by yourself," Ron replied, not looking at her.
Hermione sighed and stared down at her homework for a minute. "Oh, it's no good," she said. "I can't concentrate now. I'm going to bed." She opened her bag and pulled out what looked like two woolen hats, placing them on the table in front of the fire. Then she spread some balled-up bits of parchment and old quills around them.
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing?" Ron asked.
"They're hats, for house-elves," Hermione replied, putting her homework back into her bag. "I did them over the summer. I'm a really slow knitter without magic, but now I'm back at school, I should be able to make lots more."
"You're leaving out hats for the house-elves?" Ron repeated, as though he couldn't believe what Hermione was saying. "And you're covering them up with rubbish first?"
"Yes," Hermione said.
"That's not on," Ron said, shaking his head. "You're trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You're trying to set them free when they might not want to be free!"
"Of course they want to be free!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't you dare touch those hats, Ron!" Then she turned and left for the girls' staircase.
Once she was gone, Ron immediately leaned forward and brushed the trash away from the hats. "They should at least see what they're picking up," he reasoned.
"I don't think that Hermione can set the house-elves free," Lucy said, frowning at the hats. "I mean, the house-elves won't go near the clothes, but I'm pretty sure only Dumbledore would be able to free them."
Ron and Harry shrugged, and Ron looked at his Potions essay. "There's no point trying to finish this now," he sighed. "I can't do it without Hermione. I haven't got a clue what you're supposed to do with moonstone. Have you?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm going to bed, too," he said and stood up, gathering his things. He left for the boys' staircase, leaving Lucy and Ron in the common room.
"So, do you know anything about moonstone?" Ron asked.
Lucy flipped her Potions book open and turned to the chapter that discussed moonstones. Ron groaned and sat back in his chair.
"Well, if you don't want my help, you can go to bed, too," Lucy said, glaring at him.
"No, I need to get this homework done," Ron muttered.
"Well, it's not due until Thursday," Lucy said. "You don't have to get it done tonight."
"I need to get some of it done tonight," Ron insisted. "I have a—thing to do tomorrow."
"A thing?" Lucy repeated, raising an eyebrow at him. "What thing?"
"It's not a big deal," Ron mumbled, blushing slightly.
"Come on, Ron—you can tell me," Lucy said, nudging his shoulder.
"You know what? I think I will go up to bed," he said hurriedly. He put his books back into his bag and left for the boys' dormitory after a quick farewell.
Now that Lucy was alone, she was able to concentrate on her Potions essay. It took a while to stretch the essay to twelve inches of parchment, but after an hour, she had managed to finish it.
When she was done, she sat back in her armchair, glancing around the common room. Everyone else was hanging out with their friends, laughing and smiling, but for some reason, Lucy felt disconnected from all of them. There were a lot of them who didn't believe Harry, and Lucy couldn't wait for them to realize how wrong they were.
Quietly, she gathered her school things up, put them all in her bag, and left for the girls' staircase.
~LJ:NK~
The next morning, Lucy and Hermione met Harry and Ron in the common room before heading downstairs for breakfast. It was a dreary day outside again, with rain clattering against the windows of the castle. When they reached the Great Hall, they saw that Hagrid had still not returned.
"On the plus side, no Snape today," Ron pointed out as they sat at the Gryffindor table.
"Maybe not, but we have Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology this afternoon," Lucy said. "Hopefully the rain will let up before then."
The four fifth-years began to fill their plates.
"What are you so happy about?" Ron asked suddenly, staring at Hermione.
"The hats have gone," Hermione replied. "Seems the house-elves do want freedom, after all."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Ron replied. "They might not count as clothes. They didn't look anything like hats to me—more like woolly bladders."
"Ron!" Lucy snapped.
"Well, it's true!" Ron said, piling some more bacon on his plate.
~LJ:NK~
The rest of their meal passed silently, with Hermione refusing to speak to Ron. When they were finished, they headed off for their first Charms class of the year. Lucy walked with Hermione ahead of the boys.
"Are you okay, 'Mione?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because Ron is being an ass," Lucy answered, chuckling.
"I suppose so," Hermione said, "but he grew up in the Wizarding world. He's had this prejudice against house-elves ingrained in him since the day he was born. I can't expect him to realize right away that it's wrong."
"Well, I guess you're right about that," Lucy said, "but that doesn't mean he needs to go around insulting your knit hats!"
"They definitely weren't the best hats I've ever knitted, though," Hermione admitted. "Now that we're back at Hogwarts, I'll be able to use magic to make them better."
~LJ:NK~
They reached the Charms classroom a few minutes later. The Gryffindors all filed in and sat down. Tiny Professor Flitwick sat on his pile of books at the front of the room, beaming around at the students, and began the class with a speech about the importance of the O.W.L. exams.
"What you must remember," he said, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. In the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"
The rest of the lesson was spent on reviewing the Summoning Charm, and Professor Flitwick let them go at the end of class with a large amount of homework. The fifth-years then proceeded to Transfiguration, complaining the whole time about their Charms homework.
Professor McGonagall also began her class with a lecture about the O.W.L.s "You cannot pass an O.W.L. without serious application, practice, and study," she began. "I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration, as long as they put in the work."
At the table next to Lucy, Neville let out a soft noise of disbelief.
"Yes, you too, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall added, glancing at him. "There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So… today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T. level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L."
They took a few notes on Vanishing Spells before they were each given a snail on which to practice. Hermione was successful on her third attempt, and Professor McGonagall granted her ten points to Gryffindor. By the end of class, Lucy had managed to make her snail vanish, as well, although she was not awarded any points. Professor McGonagall told the class to practice the spell before class the following day.
~LJ:NK~
At the end of class, Ron said to the girls, "Harry and I are going to head up to the library to work on some of this homework. Do you want to come with us?"
"No," Hermione said simply, slinging her bag over her shoulder and leaving the classroom.
"What's up with her?" Ron asked, staring after her.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "We're going to go down to lunch," she said, also throwing her bag over her shoulder. "We'll see you in Care of Magical Creatures." She hurried from the room and caught up with Hermione. "Still punishing Ron, I see?" she teased.
"If he thinks he can be rude to me and then expect me to help him with his homework, he's got another thing coming," Hermione replied.
Lucy grinned. "Good for you, Hermione," she said. "Speaking of homework, though, do you want to work on Arithmancy during lunch? I would love to get some of this stuff done."
Hermione agreed, and they spent their lunch hour finishing their Arithmancy homework.
~LJ:NK~
At the end of lunch, Lucy and Hermione left the Great Hall. In the entrance hall, a shout stopped them.
"Lucy!" Jeremy was rushing over to join them, grinning and accompanied by Daphne.
"Hi," Lucy said. "Hi, Daphne."
"Afternoon," Daphne said, smiling at Lucy and Hermione. "Ready to be outside for an hour?"
"At least it's stopped raining," Lucy said, shrugging.
The four students left the castle and walked across the lawn towards Hagrid's hut. Professor Grubbly-Plank was standing a few feet away from Hagrid's cabin. Next to her was a long table covered in what looked like twigs.
Lucy, Hermione, Jeremy, and Daphne were the first to arrive, followed closely by the rest of the Gryffindor fifth-years. A moment later, the rest of the Slytherins had arrived, as well, being led by Malfoy. They were all giggling and looking pointedly at Harry, who was doing his best to ignore them.
"Everyone here?" Professor Grubbly-Plank asked, calling the class to order. "Let's crack on, then—who can tell me what these things are called?"
Hermione immediately rose her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Malfoy jumping up and down, mocking Hermione's eagerness. Lucy had to take hold of Jeremy's hand to keep herself from reaching for her wand, and Jeremy soothingly stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. Pansy Parkinson laughed loudly at Malfoy's act, but her laugh quickly turned into a scream of surprise as the twigs jumped up, revealing themselves to be alive.
"Ooooooh!" Lavender and Parvati exclaimed.
"Kindly keep your voices down, girls!" Professor Grubbly-Plank said, throwing a handful of what looked like brown rice in front of the twig-creatures to eat. "So—anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"
"Bowtruckles," Hermione replied. "They're tree-guardians—they usually live in wand-trees."
"Five points for Gryffindor," Professor Grubbly-Plank said, and Lucy quickly squeezed Hermione's elbow. "Yes, these are bowtruckles, and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"
"Wood lice," Hermione answered, "but fairy eggs if they can get them."
"Good girl, take another five points," Professor Grubbly-Plank said. "So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered, they will gouge out human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs."
"No kidding," Lucy breathed, and Jeremy gently squeezed her hand.
"So, if you'd like to gather closer," Professor Grubbly-Plank continued. "Take a few wood lice and a bowtruckle—I have enough here for one between three—you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body parts labeled, to be turned in at the beginning of our next lesson."
Hermione, although still upset with Ron, agreed to partner up with him and Harry, while Lucy went with Jeremy and Daphne. They took one of the bowtruckles and a handful of wood lice and then found a spot near Hermione, Ron, and Harry to do their work.
Drawing the bowtruckle turned out to be a bit more difficult than Lucy had expected. The creature didn't seem to want to stay still for more than a few seconds. Daphne was the first one finished, and she laid back in the grass as Lucy and Jeremy struggled to draw it. Lucy glanced over to her other friends and saw them huddled close together, whispering to each other.
Then Malfoy spoke up loudly from nearby, saying, "Yes, Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know. It sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on substandard teaching in this place. So even if that over-grown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straight away."
"OUCH!" Harry gasped, and Lucy looked over to see him holding his hand up, which was dripping blood.
"You all right?" Lucy called over to him.
"Yeah," Harry replied, looking slightly embarrassed.
Hermione handed him a handkerchief from her bag, and he wrapped up his hand.
~LJ:NK~
When the bell rang, Lucy said good-bye to Jeremy and Daphne and joined Hermione, Harry, and Ron. "What the hell was all that during class?" she asked immediately.
Harry quickly relayed what Malfoy had said to him about Hagrid. "If he calls Hagrid a moron one more fucking time—" Harry glared after the group of Slytherins heading back up to the castle.
"Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy," Hermione warned. "Don't forget, he's a prefect now. He could make life difficult for you—"
"Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?" Harry quipped, causing Ron to laugh and Lucy to snort.
Hermione frowned and said nothing more.
They slowly followed their Gryffindor classmates to their last class of the day, which was Herbology in the greenhouses.
"I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all," Harry said after a few minutes of silence. "And don't say that Grubbly-Plank woman's a better teacher!" he added, looking at Hermione.
"I wasn't going to," Hermione said evenly.
"Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid," Harry finished.
As they came to the greenhouses, they met up with the fifth-year Hufflepuffs, who would be in class with them. They passed one of the greenhouses just as the door opened, and a group of fourth-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws came out.
"Hi!" Ginny said as she walked passed with some of her friends.
"Hi, Ginny," Lucy and Hermione said at the same time.
The rest of the fourth-years filed out, followed slowly by Luna Lovegood. She looked up, saw Harry, and changed direction mid-step to walk over to him. "I believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name is back, and I believe you fought him and escaped from him," Luna said immediately.
"Er—right," Harry replied, looking startled.
Lucy glared over at Lavender and Parvati, who were pointing at Luna's radish earrings and giggling.
"You can laugh," Luna said, thinking that they were laughing at her statement rather than her wardrobe, "but people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
"Well, they were right, weren't they?" Hermione spoke up. "There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
Luna ignored her, turned on her heel, and strutted away. Most of the other fifth-years were laughing at the girl's peculiar behavior.
"D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?" Harry asked Hermione irritably as they entered the greenhouse they would be working in that day.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry. You can do better than her," Hermione replied scathingly, and Lucy looked at her in surprise. "Ginny's told me all about her. Apparently, she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler."
"Come on, Hermione—that's not fair," Lucy said. "Just because she's a bit eccentric—"
They were interrupted by the arrival of Ernie Macmillan, a fifth-year Hufflepuff, who began loudly, "I want you to know, Potter, that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred percent. My family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I."
"Er—thanks very much, Ernie," Harry replied.
"Lay off the weirdos part next time, though, eh, Ernie?" Lucy asked, frowning at his choice of words.
~LJ:NK~
Professor Sprout entered the greenhouse a few minutes later, calling for their attention. She also began her class with a speech about the O.W.L. exams, which the fifth-years were getting quite tired of hearing about.
At the end of another difficult lesson, Professor Sprout gave them an essay for homework, and they all left the greenhouse feeling exhausted.
"I have my first detention tonight," Harry moaned as they made their way up the lawn. "I need to get something to eat; mind going straight to the Great Hall, so I can have some dinner?"
Lucy, Hermione, and Ron agreed. They had made it just inside the Great Hall when a yell from behind them made them stop.
"Oy, Potter!" Turning, they saw Angelina Johnson stomping over to Harry, looking very upset.
"What now?" Harry asked.
"I'll tell you what now," Angelina said, poking him in the chest as she stopped in front of him. "How come you landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"
"What?" Harry asked. "Why—?" His eyes widened, and he said, "Oh, yeah, Keeper tryouts!"
"Now he remembers!" Angelina cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team and find someone who fit in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch specifically? Now you've decided you're not going to fucking be there!"
"I didn't decide not to be there!" Harry insisted. "I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about Voldemort—"
"Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off on Friday," Angelina said. "I don't care how the hell you do it! Tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like! Just make sure you're there!" She turned and left.
"You know what?" Harry said as he and his friends walked down to the Gryffindor table. "I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because she seems to be channeling his spirit."
"What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" Ron asked as they sat down.
"Less than zero," Harry replied, piling some food onto his plate. "Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something. I dunno.… I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realize we've got to write three essays, practice Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a countercharm for Flitwick, finish the bowtruckle drawing, and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?"
Ron was looking at the ceiling. "And it looks like it's going to rain," he complained.
"What's that got to do with our homework?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing," Ron replied quickly.
~LJ:NK~
After dinner, they all went back up to the common room. Harry went to wash up and then said good-bye to his friends before leaving for his detention. Ron quickly excused himself, as well, muttering about having something else to do, leaving Lucy and Hermione to do their homework together.
Lucy and Hermione spent the rest of the evening in the common room, finishing their homework together. Ron eventually rejoined them, looking tired and wet.
"Where have you been?" Lucy asked. "And why are you soaking wet?"
"It was raining," Ron replied vaguely.
"Why were you outside?" Hermione asked.
Ron shook his head, refusing to answer them. He disappeared up the boys' staircase and didn't come back down.
It was nearly midnight when Lucy and Hermione decided to go up to bed, even though Harry still hadn't returned from his detention.
"I hope that horrible woman doesn't keep him too late," Lucy said as she and Hermione climbed into their beds. "He's not going to have any time to finish his homework at this rate."
Then the girls bid each other good night and went to sleep.
~LJ:NK~
The next morning, Lucy and Hermione went down to the common room and found Harry and Ron sitting at a table together, trying to come up with ideas for their dream diary for Divination. The girls ended up going down to breakfast without the boys.
In the Great Hall, Jeremy joined Lucy and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. "Good morning," he said, pressing a kiss against the side of Lucy's head as he sat down. "Where are Ron and Harry?"
"Well, Harry had detention last night with that Umbridge woman," Lucy replied, "and Ron was off doing who knows what. So they're upstairs in the common room trying to finish their Divination homework."
"I see," Jeremy said. "The homework load has been quite heavy this year."
"It's not too bad if you can manage your time properly," Hermione commented.
"Or, in Harry's case, if you can learn to control your temper," Lucy said. Jeremy looked at her questioningly, and she asked, "Don't tell me you didn't hear about his outburst in Umbridge's class?"
"No, I heard about it," Jeremy replied. "I just didn't realize that it was a regular thing."
"It has been this year," Lucy said, frowning.
"It must be really hard to have most of the Wizarding world calling him a nutter and not believing him," Jeremy said. He stabbed at his egg with extra force. "I wish I could help," he added quietly.
"You believe us," Lucy said, putting her hand on his arm. "That's more than enough help right now."
"Of course I believe you," Jeremy said, "but I have proof other than Harry's testimony. Except if I were to talk about it, I could put my mother in serious danger."
"It's okay," Lucy said soothingly. She knew that Jeremy had been struggling since You-Know-Who had returned.
"We should probably get going to class," Hermione said, checking her watch.
The three of them finished up their breakfast.
"I'll catch up with you in a minute," Lucy said to Hermione as they stood up.
Hermione nodded and walked towards the entrance hall. Lucy turned to Jeremy, who gave her a small smile.
"Don't worry about me," he said before Lucy could say anything. "I just need to keep my head low about all of this."
"That's kind of hard to do when you're friends with us," Lucy said, "but I understand. You need to stay safe."
Jeremy tucked some of Lucy's hair back behind her ear. "We should get going to class," he said. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Lucy nodded, and Jeremy briefly kissed her. There were some hoots and whistles from people around them, and Lucy rolled her eyes. She and Jeremy parted ways in the entrance hall, and Lucy hurried to catch up with Hermione.
"Is everything all right?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," Lucy replied. "He's just been under a bit of stress since You-Know-Who returned, but he'll be okay."
Hermione nodded, and the girls separated as Hermione went off to Ancient Runes and Lucy went to Muggle Studies.
~LJ:NK~
When Lucy met up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione again, she and Hermione hurried to ask Harry how his detention had gone.
"It was fine," he mumbled. "She just had me doing lines."
"Well, that's not too bad, is it?" Hermione said soothingly.
"She had you there for a long time, considering you were just doing lines," Lucy said, frowning. "Did you ask her if you could have Friday off?"
"She said I couldn't, of course," Harry replied. "Angelina's going to kill me."
Hermione began, "Well, if you would just learn to keep your temper—"
"I know, Hermione," Harry interrupted irritably. "I can't go back and change what happened now, though, can I?"
~LJ:NK~
After another long and stressful day, along with another large load of homework, Lucy, Hermione, Harry, and Ron went down to the Great Hall for dinner. Angelina cornered Harry once more, and she was very unhappy to hear that Harry was unable to get out of detention on Friday.
"I'm not impressed with your attitude, Potter," Angelina glowered. "I expect that players who wish to remain on the team put their training before any other commitments." Then she stomped away.
"I'm in detention!" Harry exclaimed loudly at her back. "D'you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that old toad or playing Quidditch?"
"At least it's only lines," Hermione said as Harry sat back down at the Gryffindor table. "It's not as if it's a dreadful punishment, really.…"
Harry looked as though he was going to say something, but he decided against it and nodded instead.
"I can't believe how much homework we've got," Ron whined.
"Well, why didn't you do any last night?" Hermione asked.
"Where were you, anyway?" Lucy added.
"I was—I fancied a walk," Ron replied, not looking at either girl.
~LJ:NK~
The next couple days passed in a very similar manner. While Lucy and Hermione were keeping up with their homework, Harry still had detentions to do, and Ron was never in the common room in the evenings.
Friday night finally arrived, and the Gryffindor common room was buzzing about the Quidditch tryouts. Lucy and Hermione were tucked away in a corner, doing some homework, when the portrait hole opened, and the Quidditch team flooded in with cases of butterbeer.
"C'mon, everyone, we're celebrating!" Fred announced, holding up the butterbeer. "My little brother Ron has just been made Keeper!"
Lucy and Hermione exchanged a surprised glance before jumping up and hurrying over to their friend.
"You tried out for Keeper?" Hermione asked. "Is that why you haven't been in the common room all week?"
"Yeah," Ron replied, blushing slightly.
"Why didn't you tell us that you were planning on trying out?" Lucy asked, happy for her friend but a little irritated that he had felt the need to keep it a secret.
"I didn't want you to make fun of me," Ron insisted.
Fred then passed the three of them bottles of butterbeer, and they touched bottles before taking a swig.
The party, though low-key, went on into the night. Lucy sat with Hermione for a while, until Hermione fell asleep in her chair. Fred and George took the opportunity to test some more of their Skiving Snackboxes on willing first-years.
The portrait hole opened again, and Lucy saw Harry step into the common room, looking a bit pale. Before she could go over to him, Ron had lurched across the room.
"Harry, I did it!" he said. "I'm in! I'm Keeper!"
"What? Oh—brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, trying to look excited.
Lucy stared suspiciously at him, looking him up and down to try and figure out why he looked so shaken up. Her eyes stopped on his hand, which looked like it was bleeding.
"Have a butterbeer," Ron said, handing him a bottle. "I can't believe it—where's Hermione gone?"
"She's there," Fred said, pointing over to the chair Hermione was slumped in.
"Well, she said she was pleased when I told her," Ron said.
Lucy joined them. "Of course she's pleased," she said.
"Let her sleep," George added.
"Come here, Ron," Katie Bell, one of the Gryffindor Chasers, called from the other side of the room. "Let's see if Oliver's old robes fit you. We can take off his name and put yours on instead.…"
Ron walked over to them, and Lucy turned to Harry to ask about his hand. Before she could speak, however, Angelina came up to them.
"Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter," she said to Harry. "It's stressful, this managing lark. You know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes." She paused and then continued, "Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous. I think, with a bit of training, he'll be all right, though. He comes from a family of good Quidditch players. I'm banking on him turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed today, to be honest. Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper both flew better this evening, but… Hooper's a real whiner—he's always moaning about something or other—and Vicky's involved in all sorts of societies. She admitted herself that if training clashed with her Charm Club, she'd put Charms first.
"Anyway, we're having a practice session at two o'clock tomorrow, so just make sure you're there this time. Oh, and do me a favor—help Ron as much as you can, okay?" Harry nodded, and Angelina left again.
"Harry, is something wrong with your hand?" Lucy asked finally, pointing at his hand.
"Come over here," Harry replied, gesturing at her to follow him. He went over to where Hermione was sitting.
Hermione woke up when Harry put his bag onto the table. "Oh, Harry, it's you…" she said. "Good about Ron, isn't it? I'm just so—so—so tired. I was up until one o'clock making more hats. They're disappearing like mad!"
"Great," Harry said. "Listen—Hermione—Lucy—I was just up in Umbridge's office, and she touched my arm.…" He proceeded to explain how he had felt a pain in his scar when she had touched him.
"So you're worried that You-Know-Who's controlling her like he controlled Quirrell?" Lucy asked when he'd finished.
"Well, it's a possibility, isn't it?" Harry replied in a low voice.
"I suppose so," Hermione said, "but I don't think he can be possessing her the way he possessed Quirrell. I mean, he's properly alive again, now, isn't he? He's got his own body—he wouldn't need to share someone else's. He could have her under the Imperius Curse, I suppose.…" There was a moment of silence before Hermione added, "But last year, your scar hurt when nobody was touching you, and didn't Dumbledore say it had to do with what You-Know-Who was feeling at the time? I mean, maybe this hasn't got anything to do with Umbridge at all. Maybe it's just a coincidence it happened while you were with her."
"She's evil," Harry said. "Twisted."
"She's horrible, yes," Lucy agreed.
Hermione, sounding hesitant, said, "Harry—I think you ought to tell Dumbledore your scar hurt."
"I'm not bothering him with this," Harry said firmly. "Like you just said, it's not a big deal. It's been hurting on and off all summer—it was just a bit worse tonight, that's all—"
"Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore would want to be bothered by this," Lucy said.
"Yeah, that's the only bit of me Dumbledore cares about, isn't it? My scar?" Harry asked bitterly.
"Don't say that!" Hermione gasped. "It's not true!"
"I think I'll write Sirius about it," Harry suggested. "Just to see what he thinks—"
"Harry, you can't put something like that in a letter!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't you remember? Moody told us to be careful what we put in writing! We just can't guarantee owls aren't being intercepted anymore!"
"All right, all right! I won't tell him, then!" Harry huffed. He stood up. "I'm going to bed. Tell Ron what happened for me, will you?"
"Oh, no," Hermione said. "If you're going, that means I can go without being rude, too. I'm absolutely exhausted, and I want to make some more hats tomorrow. Listen, you can help me, if you like. It's quite fun, and I'm getting better. I can do patterns and bobbles and all sorts of things now."
"Er—no, I don't think I will, thanks," Harry replied awkwardly. "Er—not tomorrow. I've got loads of homework to do.… Lucy, will you tell Ron?"
"Yeah, I can," Lucy replied, "but—what's wrong with your hand?"
Harry didn't answer her; he just picked up his bag and left for the boys' staircase, leaving Hermione and Lucy to stare after him.
~LJ:NK~