Chapter Eleven: "…Protect the Guilty."

Ollie was snoring obnoxiously, his head using his open History of Magic book as a pillow. Lucy looked up from her side of the table directly across from him to find a growing puddle of drool threatening to drown the book in saliva. Lucy recoiled in disgust, before reaching over and flicking him on the ear. Ollie snored on. Letting her eye twitch a couple of times Lucy decided to take a more attention getting approach. But where would she find a Bohemian Bruiser plant in the school Greenhouse? She glanced around the common room before deciding to leave Ollie to his sleep; after all, there was a match tomorrow morning. Maybe he would get to play.

For now, she had an important meeting to attend.

She left Grimalkin to watch over napping Ollie and walked for the portrait hole. It was a long walk down the stairs. After a long time of stair dissention, Lucy was in the fourth floor corridor. She checked her letter again and began to count suits of armor and look for the tapestry of Rowena Ravenclaw that was across the hall from the meeting room.

Ten suits of armor later, Lucy found herself examining the Rowena tapestry with a careful, curious eye. It was made with a careful attention to detail and excessive use of the color blue. Lucy looked across the hall and walked to the small wooden door and knocked on it softly. She stepped back as the door creaked open.

Lucy's mouth opened and closed like a fish, she was unable to form words or coherent sentences as she looked at the boy in front of her. He was very tall and thin with his brown hair parted carefully to the side. A shiny head boy badge pinned to the front of his robes, Victoire was head girl this year so he was definitely her counterpart. He had a fair face with a straight nose and doe brown eyes. Lucy blushed fiercely as Augustus Grand peered down at her and opened his mouth; he had a lovely voice. "And you are?"

"Uh…" Her mouth continued to move with no sound escaping.

"I need your name."

Damn, what did people call her again?

"Um… L-Lucy." It was mumbled and hardly comprehensible to Augustus who then asked her to repeat herself. "Lucy…"

"Ah, Magdalene says good things about you, come on in." He held the door open for her and Lucy walked through looking up at him shyly. He was handsome.

There was a small group of students sitting at desks in the unused classroom. Magdalene was sitting on the desk in the front of the classroom looking a little more worn then she had been. When she saw Lucy she smiled widely and got off the desk to give her a hug. "Find us alright?"

"Easily," Magdalene lead Lucy to a seat in the front and took position at the front of the class.

"Now that everyone is here, I would like to introduce you to someone who will be joining our little gatherings." Magdalene motioned to Lucy who shrunk down in her seat as all of the eyes trained on her. "This is Lucy Weasley, and we are all quite happy to have her with us."

There were murmurs of "Hello Lucy", before Magdalene began to speak again.

"Now I've been doing some research in the restricted section the past few months and if anyone needs to know the origin of lesser known curses from the dark ages please let me know…"

While Magdalene's lecture was informative, Lucy only heard segments of it as she glanced across the aisle at Augustus Grand who was listening intently to Magdalene's speech.

Oo0Oo0

The following morning, Adelaide woke Lucy by pulling away the covers and shouting about a quidditch match against Slytherin before running downstairs to the common room. Lucy sat up and rolled off the journal that she had fallen asleep reading, it had somehow wound up under her back and accidently shoved Grimalkin off the bed as she did so. Grimalkin gave a hiss of protest as he landed on the floor and took refuge under the bed. Lucy put her head down and looked under her bed from above to come eye to eye with her displeased kitten that fluffed himself up to twice his normal size and hissed again. Spoiled thing.

Lucy glared at Grimalkin and picked up the journal and closed it, cringing at the folded pages. Placing it in the rucksack at the foot of her bed, as she placed her feet on the floor and reached for her glasses which were laying out on the floor in pieces, Lucy repaired them quickly and placed them on her face, finally able to see that the common room was empty of her dormmates. She stretched, yawned and cracked her neck, before walking over to her trunk to dig out her Saturday robes.

She was soon dressed with her Grimalkin in far better temper inside her bag with the journal, and on her way downstairs, to the common room; she proceeded up to the boys second year boys dormitory to toss Ollie out of his bed with a flick of her wand. Laughing at his obvious displeasure, she rushed back down to the common room and stepped out of the portrait and began her descent down the grand staircase. There was a big match between Gryffindor and Slytherin today. Lute, Aubrey and Lucy had made plans to go early and get good seats. Lucy normally hid in the library and read during the games, she was not going to support her biased team, but today's match had been all people had talked about for weeks in the common room which had made eavesdropping difficult and rather dull. Though, she did want to see Imogen's house get beat badly, Ollie said the team was fantastic. They had beaten Hufflepuff earlier in the year, but had lost to Ravenclaw by only two hundred points. If they won this match they would go to the finals.

Ignoring the glares the Gryffindors' and Slytherins' were giving on another from their tables. Lucy sat down next to the plate of bacon and opened the diary to try and read the next entry as she reached out to grab four pieces; she found her hand touching the wood grain of the table. She removed her gaze from the diary and found Slattery holding the plate of bacon and looking at Lucy with a devious smile.

"Sorry Lacy, my players need the energy more than the spectators so they get first pick." He held the plate just out of her reach as he passed it over to the rest of the team on Lucy's left.

"The name is Lucy you git, get it right." Slattery turned and looked at Lucy with a malicious look in his eyes. Lucy glared back, holding his gaze, hoping he would have the usual reaction and look away from her. He rolled his eyes and had a seat, glancing at Lucy every so often.

Lucy flipped through the shorter and duller entries of Sullivan's journal, recording who went where and when they patrolled and some reports from the Potterwatch station. She heard Slattery laughing over something James had said and looked up to see someone passing him the orange juice. Lucy focused on it intently, Slattery was not special, he was a bully and it would serve him right if he fell off his broom. The bottom of the glass orange juice pitcher grew cloudy and suddenly cracked spilling all over Slattery's lap. He jumped up with an unmanly yelp. Lucy hid a smirk behind her hand and waited for Ollie to come down, she managed to keep some food from the Quidditch team first string and save it for Ollie.

It was a few more minutes before Ollie plodded into the Great Hall looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. His smile was wide and he took a seat next to Lucy who immediately dumped the food she had saved on his plate. Ollie began to eat ravenously. He stopped chewing long enough speak, being polite enough not to talk with his mouth full. "Good morning."

"The same to you. How did you sleep?"

"Fine, until someone threw me out of bed." He glared for a moment before he began to laugh. "Thank you for waking me up by the way, I don't think I would have woken up otherwise."

"I thought you might want to get up, there is a Quidditch match today." Lucy reached into her bag to pet Grimalkin.

Ollie straightened in his seat and fixed Lucy with a bright smile, "You're going to the match today!" He leaned closer to her, "Really?"

Lucy nodded; Ollie's smile seemed to grow wider. "Aubrey and Lute left early to get us good seats."

"That's good; it should be a good match." He smile faltered for a moment, "Even if I don't get to play."

"You'll get to, I know it."

Oo0Oo0

Lucy pushed her way through the gathering crowd and shouted Lute's name, who stood up immediately to point to the seat she and Aubrey had saved for her. "Pardon me. 'Scuse me!" She stepped on an older student's foot as she made her way through the crowd and took her seat. Grimalkin sitting contently in her bag poking his head out occasionally to hiss at those who got to close.

Lute held out a small pocketsized spyglass to Lucy, "You'll be able to see the match better." Lucy put it to her ey for the rest of the match.

A voice from the speakers caught Lucy's attention, "Welcome to the match you have all been waiting for, Gyffindor versus Slytherin. And here come the Slytherins," Lucy blocked her out as hisses and boos sounded from those around her, Lucy watched as green blurs circled the pitch. "Keeper Merric Murray, the seeker Ian Fairbairn," Lucy knew him, he was a History of Magic fanatic and got fantastic grades. They were in the same year and was a student Lucy could not complain about. "And last but not least the Chasers Natalie McPhee, Holden Collar, and Arcturus Birch."

"And here come the Gryffindor's led by Captain Slattery," A musical voice proclaimed from the box above where the three of them were sitting. There was a cheer from the stands that shook Lucy's insides with its volume and intensity. The seven players rose into the air and did a lap around the pitch. "With his chasers Weasley, Weasley, and Potter!" The crowds erupted at the sound of the famous surnames. "Your Seeker, the rookie Janie Munson! And last bit not least the Beaters Gladys Floyd, and Bleddyn 'Bleedin' Yates!" The crowd went wild hooting, hollering and stamping their feet. "And I am your Quidditch commentator Leah Jordan." Leah had a musical speaking voice as she began to cover the rules for the match and advertise her father's radio show.

The two teams gathered and Madam Hooch blew the whistle and threw the quaffle into the air. The six chasers attacked it before Slytherin took off for the Gryffindor goalposts. Slattery caught the quaffle and threw it to James who took off down the pitch passing to Fred as he went. Fred dove down towards the ground pulling out of the dive to pass to Dominique who went of the goal post dodging bludgers as she went.

Aubrey and Lute would periodically clutch Lucy's arms in excitement as Gryffindor grew closer to the goalposts and would scream in her ears as their team scored. Dominique did a loop in the air after successfully accomplishing this feat before soaring off down the pitch. Slattery watched her with a love stuck stare and was nearly hit by a bludger.

Lucy laughed as Slattery came back to himself and began to pay more attention to the game as it moved to his side of the pitch. Lucy peered down the rows to find Victoire doing some rather wild encouragement of the team. She and her friends had the best seat as a group of boys was sitting at their feet appearing to have given up their seats for her glamorous cousin.

The game continued with Munson and Fairbairn occasionally going into dives for the snitch, but neither one catching it. Lucy had nearly shouted herself hoarse as Gryffindor began to catch up to Slytherin's lead.

James reached out to catch the quaffle with one hand while still clutching his broom with the other. As the red ball brushed his fingertips, there was a whoosh and the sound of splintering wood. Lucy's eyes widened in horror as James spun out into the center of the pitch on half of his broom, the front still clutched tightly in his hands. There was an instant of realization from the crowd and a grey blur hit James solidly in the stomach, successfully knocking him off his broom.

There was a loud gasp that shook the stands as James was fell to the ground with his broken broom in his hands. Lucy stood with Lute and Aubrey clutching her arms as she gripped the railing and watched in horror as Fred flew in to try and grab him unsuccessfully and her cousin hit the ground. The game stopped as Leah Jordan began shouting about the Slytherin beaters dirty play.

"What just happened?" Lucy exclaimed.

"The beaters tag teamed him," Lute said, anger evident on her face. "One broke his broom, the other knocked him off!"

"I think that second bludger was an accident Lute." Aubrey squeaked, shaking hard enough to make Lucy's arm tremble independently of the rest of her body.

James unconscious body was removed from the pitch and Slattery called for a time out. The six Gryffindor players gathered on the ground, a couple shaking visibly. Lucy looked through her telescope to get a better view of Ollie was leaning forward looking at his meeting teammates, his body tense and ready to move at a moment's notice.

Lucy allowed herself a smile of satisfaction. Slattery had no choice, Ollie was the only understudy and it would be difficult to beat Slytherin with two chasers. She turned back to the meeting team and found a rather loud argument brewing between Slattery and Dominique. She looked closer and realized Dominique's features had a slightly birdlike look to them. She wondered if Dominique could throw fireballs. Slattery looked terrified and motioned for Ollie to come over. Ollie jumped up and his friends began to cheer.

"It looks like Captain Slattery's calling for his alternate Ollie Wood; he seems quite a bit more excited than usual. Understandable as he has been on that bench the entire season waiting to be called to duty." Leah Jordan commentated, "Shame he had to play after such a dirty play by the Slytherin beaters."

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry Headmistress, got carried away."

It was another thirty seconds of rapid strategizing before the Gryffindor team mounted their brooms and took to the air. Both Dominique and Fred took the penalty shots, both were blocked by Merric Murray, and the game began again.

"Go Ollie, go!" Lucy shouted as she jumped up and down with Lute and Aubrey shouting words of encouragement as Ollie zipped by on his broomstick and waved at them. Lucy watched as Ollie caught the quaffle with both hands and took off down the pitch. He suddenly pulled into a dive and let go of the quaffle on the way down. Dominique moved in to snatch it up and throw it to Fred who was flying over head. Fred dodged a bludger and passed the quaffle to Ollie who scored.

Te game continued on and Ollie continued to lead in Gryffindor's recovery. As he was about to take his seventh shot at the hoop, there was a scream from Leah Jordan, "MUNSON GOT IT! The match in over. Gyffindor wins!"

The crowd went wild. Lucy had fully lost her voice by the end and had settled for being hugged by an ecstatic Lute and Aubrey. As the crowd began to split, Lucy watched her house team take a victory lap before landing to get changed, and noticed something odd. A small dark haired boy a few rows beneath her looking around confusedly, he turned and Lucy realized that it was Albus. Lucy met his eyes and he gave her no sign of acknowledgement.

"Albus!" Lucy shouted down to her cousin, he began to walk off with the rest of the crowd. Lucy called again, louder this time. "Albus, up here!" He was lost in the herd of students. "What's with that?" She looked at Lute and Aubrey who had stepped away from her to observe.

"Maybe he didn't hear you Lu," Lute said as she looked at the crowd that had swallowed Albus. "I've never seen him without Rose and Scorpius before. That's weird."

Lucy's mouth tightened, "Let's head to the library. Ollie said he would meet us there later."

Aubrey nodded and he and Lute took off down the steps with Lucy following behind them.

Oo0Oo0

Lucy had stayed late at the library to finish an essay for History of Magic. After her friends went back to the common room, Ollie had tried to stay with her but Lucy told him to go enjoy the celebration party, make sure Grimalkin got back to the tower and to get some sleep. Aubrey was having minimal success in locating the book about the resistance groups from the war, even with help from Lute. He had been hiding from bullies when he had first seen it and the whole incident was one blur. After her friends left Lucy found herself turning back to the diary instead to the essay, even as Lucy was chased out of the library for the evening she was unable to quit reading it.

Today, we had a couple of people show up on the edges of our grounds, Trench Coat, Romeo, the Casanova and I caught them. I was with them because I just needed to get away for a while and rumors of a wand stash within our borders had caught my attention. I don't entirely trust this band of weirdoes and there are a few others who feel the same way. They saved us all, but we are all still not sure why we are all still here and the cabin here is filling steadily. Trench Coat calls it Haven. Rather fitting. Trench Coat's a rather nice young man who doesn't look old enough to shave, but is well liked and respected by the people within Haven's walls. I'm sure if there's anything unusual going on around here he knows nothing about it.

A part of our barrier had slipped, Trench says that trying to protect this many people in one area can upset a basic shield charm like this one. As he was about to repair it a couple of men jumped out of the bushes with their wands drawn.

"Who are you?" One snarled as he pointed is wand at Trench Coat who was unable to draw his in turn. "If you're one of those bloody Snatchers I'll blow you to bits."

I have no idea why I this. "We're mudbloods." The Poet looked like he was ready to piss himself; Casanova was giving me a look I could not read.

"You're muggleborns?"The man said, his expression surprised.

"What did you think we were, Death Eaters?" Trench Coat's sarcasm just flew over his head.

Lucy laughed; she liked this Trench Coat bloke. She imagined he must have all kinds of stories to tell about the war. He may have gone on to continue heroics as some sort of law enforcement official after the war. Maybe he was still working in the department? It would be some time before Lucy could find out, but if she could go to work with her dad one day over the summer, she could slip off to ask one of her uncle's in the Auror department.

They joined our little group on our way back to Haven. Charming fellows with stories from the outside more recent then many of ours, they had a radio with them and we all spent the evening listening to a secret station called Potterwatch. We laughed until tears rolled down our faces and it all felt strange. The first real dose of humor we had felt in so long.

Lucy stopped reading as she nearly walked into a suit of armor which turned its head to look down at her. Lucy smiled at it sheepishly before turning the page and sitting on the nearby steps to read the next entry. Sullivan's handwriting was sloppier and there were spatters on ink on the page. Lucy hunched over the book and read on.

Haven has a small room in the back where Trench Coat and the other leaders meet to discuss personal matters and plan. They have been meeting more the past couple of days. Today a tall blond man swung by looking tense and nervous. The Bride escorted him to the room and left with the other three leaders to go outside. After they were out of the way, I listened at the door. The two voices were muffled, but I could make out the sounds.

It was the old man speaking, "How did you get somebody in the Minister's office?"

It was a new voice that replied, "Call him Pimpernel, he came with the place and trust me, this is good information straight from the thestral's mouth." There was a pause, "He's my agent, and you can't have him."

"If he's yours he's mine by extension. I thought you said they were weeding out sympathizers in the top tiers?"

"Occlumency, he wants out but there's no way to do so without endangering a number of people. He's smart, but I worry about him occasionally."

"If he has emotional problems, drop him. I don't need anybody cracking when things get worse."

A loud shuffling and he sound of wood tapping on wood. "He won't crack, he's got some good people watching him and he's a damn good actor. He's got Yaxley and his dog Randall watching him like a hawk, that is concerning." The visitor paused. "I may not be around to help him much longer. We may be joining up sooner than anticipated."

"Adamina too? Will your boy be coming with you?"

"We've already moved him in with his Godfather, Edmund's a good man and if things go wrong he'll take care of Cappie."The man's voice cracked but he snapped back quickly. "Ada and I are ready to move in at a moment's notice."

Lucy gasped; it could not be her uncle. But it seemed to be. Her Uncle Cappie was an orphan who Gramps had provided a home after the war, what happened to his godfather Edmund to cause those events?

There was a sound of understanding from the old man, "You two know what to do, just arrive in one piece. And I wanted to ask about those portkeys you were working on to get some of these people out, it's getting a little crowded here and they're getting restless."

"I know you can make them, but you have very good wards here and for maximum efficiency your wards would need to be temporarily lowered. I recommend having a small temporary opening in some distinctive place and flying them out on brooms, I'm sure your people can do something to accomplish that."

"I know just who to ask."

The door swung open and smacked me in the face. My eyes were watering as I was dragged into the room. The drunk was looking at me with a cool gaze while the blond man pushed me into a chair and put some ice on my head. I thought they were both going to do me harm for quite some time. They were looking at me as if I had grown another head.

"He's heard a lot, and I don't want to obliviate him; I may have other uses for him." The old man said this with a warped expression that fills me with horror of what's to come.

Lucy stood and walked up the stairs and down the corridor. Sullivan seemed to have gotten himself into trouble with his nosing about. What did the old man plan to do with him? She wanted to read on but it was almost time for curfew, she would read more when she got to bed.

As she ascended the steps there was a crowd gathered, talking and shouting. Lucy glowered at their backs, they were in her way. She squared her shoulders preparing to push her way through the crowd. But why were they all standing there. Lucy changed direction and walked into the middle of the crowd for a better view. It was a strange thing to be written on the wall, it took her a moment to realize it was written in blood. The words made Lucy forget her desire to read the diary.

Those who protect the guilty must pay the price

Author's Note: I've got to finish my college speech on chocolate pie. No joke. And then make the darn thing, I've never made one before, should be fun.

Lucy's got a crush, I find this amusing and kind of adorable. Ollie's quidditch glory. Albus is getting stranger.