A/N: This is the final chapter in this story!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
Chapter 25 – Good-byes
After Harry had fallen back asleep, Mrs. Weasley sent Lucy, Hermione, and Ron back to Gryffindor Tower to get some sleep in their own beds. Ron was the only one to complain, and Lucy and Hermione had to drag him out of the hospital wing. Lucy was dead on her feet, and as soon as she reached her bed, she fell asleep immediately.
The next morning, Lucy was still feeling worn out. She joined Hermione and Ron in the Great Hall for breakfast. She noticed that a lot of students were looking at them, but whenever she caught anyone's eye, they quickly looked away.
"I might be imagining it, but I think people are staring at us," Lucy said in a low voice to Hermione and Ron.
"You're not imagining it," Ron said, frowning. "I noticed it, too."
"I'm sure they're all wondering where Harry is," Hermione commented. "Nobody knows what happened last night—" She stopped abruptly, looking at the front of the hall.
Dumbledore had stood up from the head table. "I know a lot of you are wondering where Harry Potter is this morning," he said when the hall was quiet. "He spent the night in the hospital wing, and he will be released later today. I must insist that nobody question Harry about what happened last night. I assure you all that you will be more informed on the events from yesterday at a later date. In the meantime, I need to see the Weasleys, Lucy Jones, and Hermione Granger in the entrance hall in five minutes."
This time, Lucy knew that people were looking at them.
~LJ:D~
Five minutes later, Lucy, Hermione, and the Weasleys gathered in the entrance hall. There they found Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore waiting for them.
"I think we'll take this upstairs in my office," Dumbledore said.
He led the way up to his office in silence. Professor McGonagall was already in the room when they arrived.
"We have some things to discuss, but first—Molly, you wanted to ask me something?" Dumbledore prompted, sitting behind his desk.
"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said. "I was wondering if we could take Harry with us this summer, instead of him going back to his aunt's and uncle's house."
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "Unfortunately, Harry needs to go back to his aunt's and uncle's house, at least for a little while. I know that's not a satisfactory answer," he added, holding his hand up when Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to say something, "but you're just going to have to trust me about this."
Mrs. Weasley nodded silently.
"Now, onto another matter that has arisen," Dumbledore continued. "You all have to give me your word that you will not tell anyone about what I am going to tell you. Not even Harry."
Everyone nodded, although Lucy felt confused as to why they couldn't tell Harry about it.
"I am reorganizing the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore stated.
"What's the Order of the Phoenix?" Lucy asked immediately.
"It is a society that I helped form the last time that Lord Voldemort was powerful, to combat him," Dumbledore replied. "Sirius has offered me his family's old house in London as a headquarters. Over the summer, I'd like it if you all would help us out by making the house suitable for living in."
"Whatever you need us to do, we'll do it," Mrs. Weasley replied.
"Miss Granger, Miss Jones," Dumbledore said, turning to Lucy and Hermione, "I was wondering if you'd be willing to assist the Weasleys."
"Yes, of course," Lucy said immediately. Next to her, Hermione nodded vigorously.
"You realize I'm asking you to be away from your families for most of the summer?" Dumbledore asked.
"The Weasleys are my family," Lucy replied firmly.
"I just want to help any way I can," Hermione said. "I'm sure my parents will understand."
"That's settled, then," Dumbledore said. "The house should be ready about a week after term ends. Molly, I'll keep you and Arthur updated about it. That's all I needed to discuss with you. Lucy, Ron, Hermione—I daresay you'll want to go and visit Harry in the hospital wing. Stick close to him for this last week; he's going to need you."
After the meeting, Mrs. Weasley said her good-byes to her children, Lucy, and Hermione. She was pretty teary, and Fred and George hurried to assure their mother that they would see her in a little over a week.
~LJ:D~
Lucy, Ron, and Hermione went straight to the hospital wing, where Harry was awake and waiting for them. Madam Pomfrey released him a short time after they had arrived. The four of them went back to Gryffindor Tower.
When they entered the common room, everyone quieted when they saw Harry climb in after Ron. Nobody said anything to him, however, just as Dumbledore had asked.
"So, has anything interesting happened this morning?" Harry asked when they sat down in a corner of the common room.
"Dumbledore talked to the school at breakfast," Hermione reported. "He just told everyone to leave you alone and not ask you any questions about what happened."
"My mum had a meeting with Dumbledore after breakfast," Ron continued. "She asked him if you could come straight to us this summer, but he wants you to go back to the Dursleys, at least at first."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore said he had his reasons," Lucy said. "I suppose we've got to trust him, right?"
~LJ:D~
The remainder of the weekend consisted of Lucy, Hermione, Harry, and Ron relaxing around the castle and keeping to themselves. When the final week of term began, Lucy noticed that a lot of people were avoiding getting too close to Harry in the halls.
"What's the matter with everyone?" Lucy hissed to Harry in between classes.
"Nobody knows how Cedric died," Harry replied. "With what Rita Skeeter wrote, maybe everyone thinks I killed him."
Lucy frowned.
~LJ:D~
In the middle of the week, Lucy finally saw Jeremy again. He joined her in the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Hi," she said. "I've been really worried about you. Is everything all right?"
Jeremy sat down on the bench next to her. "I know what happened that night," he replied in a low voice. "Most of the Slytherins already know."
Up close, Lucy could see that he looked tired and distressed. She reached out with one hand and threaded her fingers into his hair. "I wish there was something I could do to help," she said quietly.
"I don't know what I'm going to do," Jeremy said. "I mean, I always knew my father was a Death Eater—I always knew that he believed that Muggleborns weren't worth a damn. I just never thought that You-Know-Who would return."
"I don't think anyone thought that he would come back," Lucy said hurriedly, rubbing his arm.
"I don't want to be a Death Eater," Jeremy said bitterly. "I don't want to be like my father… but I can't publicly defy him. Not while I'm still underage and living under his roof." He took a shaky breath. "I'm scared, Lucy," he whispered.
Lucy's heart hurt listening to him. "You—are not—your father," she stated firmly. "You don't have to be a Death Eater just because your father is one. You don't have to take You-Know-Who's side."
"I'm already in Slytherin," Jeremy mumbled. "Everyone's going to think that I'm going to follow along in my father's footsteps—"
"Jeremy, listen to me," Lucy said desperately. "You are a good person. Not only are you a good person, but you are your own person. You get to decide what you want to believe in. Listen, Dumbledore said something that night—the night he returned— it matters not what someone is born but what they grow to be. It doesn't matter who your parents are; it only matters who you decide to become."
"Do you believe that?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes, I do," Lucy said. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "I know that you are going to be a better person than your father. The Sorting Hat may have put you in Slytherin, but that does not mean you have to be exactly like him."
Jeremy smiled faintly. "How is it that you always make me feel better?" he asked.
"You wouldn't like me as much if I didn't," Lucy shot back.
Jeremy's smile faded, and he said, "You know, I don't know how my parents would react to me dating someone who's best mates with Harry Potter. I haven't told them about you, and I don't think I'm going to yet."
"I understand," Lucy replied. She sighed. "I'm going to miss you this summer. I don't know how often I'll be able to write, because we'll have to be careful in case our owls get intercepted."
"I'll miss you, too," Jeremy said. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I've got to get to class. I'll see you later, okay?"
Lucy nodded and watched him leave the Great Hall.
~LJ:D~
On Thursday, Lucy went with Hermione, Harry, and Ron to visit with Hagrid in place of going to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Since their teacher had turned out to be an imposter who ended up being Kissed by a dementor, that class had been cancelled for the last week of term.
"Who's that?" Hagrid yelled when they knocked on his front door. He opened it and saw the Gryffindors standing there. "Harry!" He pulled Harry into a hug. "Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh."
He invited them all into the cabin, and when they entered, they saw two huge cups sitting on his kitchen table.
"Bin havin' a cuppa with Olympe," Hagrid said, seeing them looking at the two cups. "She's jus' left."
"Who?" Ron asked.
"Madam Maxime, o' course!" Hagrid replied, grinning.
"You two made up, huh?" Lucy said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Dunno wha' yer talkin' about," Hagrid said. He busied himself with getting them some tea and cookies. When he had the refreshments made, he sat down with the others and looked at Harry. "Yeh all righ'?" he asked.
"Yeah," Harry replied.
"No, yer not," Hagrid said. "'Course yer not—but yeh will be." The others were silent, and Hagrid continued, "Knew he was goin' ter come back. Known it fer years, Harry. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll figh'. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. Tha's Dumbledore's plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried."
Lucy exchanged a glance with Hermione.
"No good sittin' an' worryin' abou' it," Hagrid continued. "Wha's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does. Dumbledore told me wha' yeh did, Harry." He looked proudly at Harry. "Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than tha'."
Harry smiled back, the first time he'd really smiled since before the third task. "What's Dumbledore asked you to do, Hagrid?" he asked. "He sent Professor McGonagall to ask you and Madam Maxime to meet him—that night."
"Got a little job fer me over the summer," Hagrid replied. "Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it. No, not even ter you lot. Olympe—Madam Maxime to yeh—migh' be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded."
"Is it to do with Voldemort?" Harry asked.
"Migh' be," Hagrid replied. "Now—who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin'—jokin'!" He chuckled at the looks of horror on their faces.
~LJ:D~
The last day of term had arrived. There was one last feast to attend that night. Before the feast, Lucy and Hermione were in their dormitory, packing up their trunks.
"So," Hermione said tentatively, "Harry mentioned that one of the Death Eaters's names was Whitlock."
"Yeah," Lucy sighed. "Jeremy's father is a Death Eater, like Malfoy's. Jeremy told me about it at the Yule Ball."
"What's he going to do?" Hermione asked.
"He's going to go home like everything is normal," Lucy replied. "There's not much else he can do. He can't really go against his parents. If they were to throw him out of their house, he'd have nowhere to go. He needs to keep himself safe."
"And how do you feel about it?" Hermione pressed.
"I'm—I'm scared for him," Lucy admitted. "When Bill pulled me aside at the third task, he mentioned that Death Eaters aren't above using their own children to get what they want. I just want Jeremy to stay safe, and I wish I could help him. I wish I could take him away from his house, so that he wouldn't have to make this choice."
"Do you think…?" Hermione trailed off, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"Do I think what?" Lucy prompted.
"Do you think there's a chance that Jeremy would want to become a Death Eater?" Hermione asked in a hushed tone.
Lucy paused for a moment, her heart aching at the thought of it. "I'd like to think that I know him well enough to say that he would never join them," she whispered, "but there's a tiny part of me that wonders.…"
Hermione nodded and didn't say anything more about it.
~LJ:D~
When it was time for the feast, Lucy and Hermione met Harry and Ron in the common room. They went down to the Great Hall together, and the first thing they noticed was that the hall wasn't decorated in the colors of the house that had won the House Cup. Instead, there were simple black drapes hanging from the walls.
Lucy sat down at the Gryffindor table with her friends and looked up at the staff table. The real Mad-Eye Moody was sitting at the table for the first time, and he seemed very jumpy. Karkaroff's chair was empty, and Lucy remembered that Snape said Karkaroff had fled. The rest of the teachers were there, along with Madam Maxime.
Professor Dumbledore stood up, and everyone turned their attention to him.
"The end of another year," Dumbledore said heavily, looking around at the students. His gaze stopped on the Hufflepuff table, and he said, "There is much I would like to say to you all tonight, but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand and raise your glasses… to Cedric Diggory."
Everyone stood and held their glasses up, murmuring, "Cedric Diggory." Lucy felt tears in her eyes, which she let fall silently. The students all sat down again.
"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguished Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore said. "He was a good and loyal friend. He was a hard worker. He valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."
The tension in the hall was thick as the students waited to hear what they'd been so anxious to find out.
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore stated in a firm voice.
The hall broke out in panicked whispers, and many students looked stunned. Lucy looked around, tears still sliding down her face. She locked eyes with Jeremy two tables over, and he looked upset, as well. Lucy wished that she could be sitting with him.
"The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this," Dumbledore continued. "It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so—either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies and that any attempt to pretend Cedric died as the result of an accident or some sort of blunder of his own is an insult to his memory.
"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore said. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."
People turned to Harry, who looked determinedly at Dumbledore.
"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore explained. "He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."
Dumbledore turned to Harry and raised his goblet. Everyone else followed suit, mumbling his name just as they had Cedric's.
"The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding," Dumbledore went on when everyone had settled back in their seats. "In the light of what has happened—of Lord Voldemort's return—such ties are more important than ever." His eyes swept over the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. "Every guest in this hall will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come.
"I say to you all, once again—in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
"It is my belief—and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken—that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you must make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good and kind and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
~LJ:D~
The next day, the Hogwarts students were all waiting in the entrance hall to go down to the Hogwarts Express. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were getting ready to leave, as well. Lucy was standing with Ron, Harry, and Hermione.
"'Arry!" a voice called. Fleur Delacour came running over to them. She stopped in front of Harry and said, "We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope. I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish."
"It's very good already," Ron cut in.
Fleur smiled, and Lucy and Hermione exchanged a look.
"Good-bye, 'Arry," Fleur said. "It 'az been a pleasure meeting you!" She turned and flounced away.
"Lucy!"
Lucy turned to see Jeremy pushing through the crowd to get to her. She rushed towards him, meeting him halfway. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.
"I promised Jake, Daphne, and Mary that I'd ride the train back with them," Jeremy murmured into her hair, "so I wanted to say good-bye now, in case I don't see you."
"I'm going to miss you," Lucy said, not wanting to let go of him.
"I'll miss you, too," he replied.
Lucy felt tears stinging her eyes, and she pulled away from him to wipe them away. "I'm sick of crying," she commented, frustrated.
Jeremy took her face in both of his hands and gently wiped the tears off her cheek with his thumb. "Everything will be okay," he said reassuringly. "I'll see you next fall."
"I'll try to write," Lucy promised. "I just don't know how much I'll be able to put into letters. You know, for safety.…"
"That's okay," Jeremy said. "I should catch up with the others. Good-bye, Lucy."
He lowered his lips onto hers, kissing her softly, before pulling away. He gave her a cheeky half-smile, and her heart melted. It was the same grin that he had given to her when he was eleven years old and they had met for the first time. Then he turned and left to rejoin his friends.
"Good-bye," Lucy whispered after him.
She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes once more before walking over to Hermione, Ron, and Harry. Hermione rubbed Lucy's arm, while Ron and Harry stood by awkwardly.
"Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," Ron commented, breaking the silence. "D'you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"
"Karkaroff did not steer," a voice said from behind them. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork." Krum had appeared, evidently to say good-bye to Hermione. "Could I have a vord?" he asked her.
"Oh—yes—all right," Hermione replied. She followed Krum through the crowd.
"You'd better hurry up!" Ron called. "The carriages'll be here in a minute!" He stood on his toes, trying to spy on Hermione and Krum, while Lucy and Harry watched for the carriages.
Hermione and Krum returned after only a few minutes.
"I liked Diggory," Krum said to Harry. "He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang—vith Karkaroff." He scowled.
"Have you got a new headmaster yet?" Harry asked.
Krum shrugged and shook Harry's hand. Then he shook Lucy's hand and then Ron's, much to Ron's surprise. Krum started to walk away.
"Can I have your autograph?" Ron blurted out.
Lucy and Hermione chuckled, noticing the carriages had just pulled up.
~LJ:D~
Once on the train home, Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got a compartment to themselves. For the first part of the trip, they talked about what had happened on the night of the third task and what Dumbledore's plans were.
The lunch trolley soon came around, and Lucy and Hermione both got some food to share between the four of them.
When they settled back into their compartment, Hermione pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet from her bag. Harry glanced at it warily.
"There's nothing in there," Hermione said. "You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me, Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."
"He'll never keep Rita quiet," Harry said. "Not on a story like this."
"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," Hermione replied. "As a matter of fact, Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," Hermione replied.
"How was she doing it?" Lucy prompted.
"And how did you find out?" Ron added.
"Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea, Harry," Hermione began.
"Did I?" Harry asked. "How?"
"Bugging," Hermione replied, smiling.
Ron pointed out, "But you said they didn't work—"
"Oh, not electronic bugs," Hermione said. "No, you see—Rita Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn—" Hermione pulled a glass jar out of her bag. "—into a beetle."
"You're kidding," Ron said. "You haven't—she's not—"
"Oh, yes, she is," Hermione said triumphantly. She held the jar up, so they could see the beetle sitting inside.
Ron, taking the jar and lifting it up to his eyes, breathed, "That's never—you're kidding—"
"No, I'm not," Hermione said happily. "I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears."
Lucy and Harry looked closer and saw that Hermione was right.
"Holy shit, Hermione," Ron said.
"There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madam Maxime about his mum!" Harry exclaimed.
"Exactly," Hermione said, "and Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year."
Ron began, "When we saw Malfoy under that tree—"
"He was talking to her, in his hand," Hermione finished. "He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid."
She took the jar back from Ron and continued, "I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London. I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people." She put the jar back into her bag.
The door of their compartment slid open.
"Very clever, Granger," Malfoy said. Crabbe and Goyle were behind him, as usual. "So," Malfoy began, taking a few steps into their compartment, "you caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal." He smirked. "Trying not to think about it, are we? Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"
"Get out," Harry said flatly.
"You've picked the losing side, Potter!" Malfoy taunted. "I warned you! I told you, you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train on the first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this! Too late now, Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well—second—Diggory was the f—"
The compartment was filled with shouting and loud bangs. Numerous spells had gone off, and Lucy had to blink a few times to see clearly through the haze.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were unconscious on the floor of the compartment. Lucy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all jumped up and cast a different hex at the group of boys, and by the looks of things, they weren't the only ones.
"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," Fred said, stepping into the compartment.
George followed. "Interesting effect," he commented, looking over Crabbe. "Who use the Furnunculus Curse?"
"Me," Harry said.
"Odd," George said. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here. They don't add much to the décor."
He, Ron, and Harry pushed the three Slytherins out into the corridor. Then they reentered the compartment and shut the door behind them.
"Exploding Snap, anyone?" Fred offered, pulling out his pack of cards.
~LJ:D~
They played through four games before Harry spoke up again. "Are you going to tell us, then?" he asked the twins. "Who were you blackmailing?"
"Oh," George said, frowning deeply. "That."
"It doesn't matter," Fred said. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."
"We've given up," George added.
The other four continued to ask them about it, and Fred finally held his hands up in defeat. "All right, all right, if you really want to know…" he said. "It was Ludo Bagman."
"Bagman?" Harry asked in surprise. "Are you saying he was involved in—?"
"Nah," George said, shaking his head. "Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."
"Well, what, then?" Ron pressed.
"You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup?" Fred asked. "About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"
"Yeah," Lucy answered for them all.
"Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots," Fred said.
"So?" Ron asked.
"So," Fred said, "it vanished, didn't it? By the next morning, it was fucking gone!"
"Well—it must have been an accident, mustn't it?" Hermione asked.
George let out a laugh. "Yeah, that's what we thought—at first," he said. "We thought if we just wrote to him and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up—but nothing doing. Ignored out letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."
"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," Fred continued. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."
"So, we asked for our money back," George said.
"He didn't refuse!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Right in one," Fred said.
"That was all your savings!" Ron said.
"Tell me about it," George said. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman, as well. Turns out, he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"
"How?" Harry asked.
"He put a bet on you, mate," Fred said. "Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins."
"So that's why he kept trying to help me win!" Harry said. "Well—I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"
"Nope," George said. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So, Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it—right after the third task." He heaved a sigh and then began to deal the cards out for another game of Exploding Snap.
~LJ:D~
Finally, the train was pulling into King's Cross. Lucy followed Hermione and Ron out of the compartment, climbing awkwardly over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still laying in the corridor.
When they got off the train, Lucy looked around. "Where's Harry?" she asked.
A minute later, Harry jumped down from the train, followed by the Weasley twins. Ginny met up with them at the barrier, and together they walked back into the Muggle world.
They found Mrs. Weasley, who gave them all very tight hugs. Harry's uncle was standing nearby, as well, looking as grumpy as he always did. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Lucy passed Harry around, saying their farewells.
"See you, Harry," Ron said, slapping Harry's shoulder.
"'Bye, Harry!" Hermione said, kissing Harry on the cheek.
Lucy pulled her brother into a tight hug. "We'll see you soon," she said. "I promise."
George and Fred muttered something to him, and Ginny said good-bye, as well. Then Harry was walking off to join his uncle.
"Come along, everyone," Mrs. Weasley said after they watched Harry leave. "We've got a lot of work to do this summer."
~LJ:D~
A/N: The conversation between Lucy and Jeremy is a very important one that needed to happen. He had to voice his fears, and Lucy had to hear them. Likewise, Lucy needs to voice her fears to Hermione later on, that there's a small part of her that's worried Jeremy will change at some point in the future.
And we've come to the end of yet another story. There will not be an upload on Wednesday or Friday this week, because I will be waiting until the weekend to upload and prep story number five. It's called Nowhere Kids, and I'll start posting it on Monday, June 17th. See you then!