(New update. I feel so bad that I'm so slow at this, but to all of my readers who are still here. Thanks for your feedback and for taking the time to read this. I hope I can finish this fanfic one of these days. I own nothing but my OC.)
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"Potter! Gryffindor Quidditch practice is this afternoon at two. Tell your sister for me will you? Be sure she's there on time." Oliver stopped by Harry's section of the Gryffindor Table glancing around briefly before heading back to where his friends were sitting.
Harry nodded his head. "I will." He poked his fork into his potato salad just as Fred and George took the seats on his right.
"Speaking of Lu, where is she? Didn't she have class with you last period?" Ron turned to look at Hermione who sighed and scratched her head.
"She's skipping lunch to help Neville with the charms homework. Poor duffer needs any help he can get since he nearly singed Professor Flitwick's whiskers during the last class."
Ron tried to stifle a snicker at that. "Oh yeah. Remember his face?" He did his best imitation of the dwarf Charms Professor. "Oh My! Perhaps more flick and less swish next time eh Mr. Longbottom?"
Harry, Fred and George laughed with him while Hermione shot them a stern look. "What's so funny?" Lucy asked suddenly appearing and popping into the empty seat between Hermione and Harry.
"Oh nothing. Just wondering if you've still got all your hairs on your head." Fred joked grinning at her as the younger girl reached to ladle some potato casserole onto her plate.
"Oi forget her hair Mate. Look at her face." George pointed out making Lucy's cheeks flush underneath the greenish grime and soot on her face.
"Lucy! What happened?" Hermione exclaimed, concern flashing through her bright brown eyes as Lucy hastily tried to cover her face with her hair.
"Nothing really." Lucy ducked her head to avoid everyone's stares. "Neville just had a misfire while we were practicing the Lumos charm and accidentally set fire to my collar." Her cheeks turned red as she carved herself a bit of roast beef from another platter.
"He tried to put it out with water and ended up summoning slug ooze."
"Yuck!" Ron looked sick.
"Shouldn't you let Madam Pomfrey look at you? We have Quidditch Practice today and you're a starting chaser." Harry frowned studying his sister's face.
Lucy shook her head. "I wasn't hurt Harry. Really. The stain just won't come off is all." She wrinkled her nose and took a first bite of her food.
"And it smells." Hermione grimaced.
"Yeah you might want to get it off before Quidditch today." Ron added with a nod.
"Don't fancy Wood would be pleased with you wearing Slytherin's colors to practice." Fred and George joked laughing at their own jibe. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Why don't you try grime-be-gone, Lucy? I've got some in my trunk. I use it on my books but it's supposed to be gentle enough for skin." She offered. "I'll lend it to you after lunch."
Lucy offered her a slight yet grateful smile at the offer. "Thank you Hermione." Her cheeks still colored slightly as she spooned another scoop of food into her mouth.
"Speaking of grime, where's Neville?" Ron started to ask when a loud bang resounded through Great Hall causing everyone to hush and whirl towards the main entrance of the Great Hall simultaneously.
"Lucy!...I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do it!" Neville clattered into the room, his own robes smeared causing Lucy to flush a deep shade of red when the hall when silent.
"Quick! I'll lend you the Grime-Be-Gone now." Hermione seized her friend by the hand and pulled her towards one of the side doors usually only used by one of the professors or the custodian.
Without answering, Lucy ambled along after her.
...
"Ouch!...Ow! You're rubbing too hard." Lucy complained as Hermione dabbed at her face with a paper towel moistened with water and grime-be-gone.
"Sorry. This grime isn't coming off as easily I expected." Hermione frowned dabbing at a stubborn spot on Lucy's cheek again just as a bell in the school clock tower rang.
"Here." Sighing, she quickly handed her friend the bottle of grime-be-gone along with the wet towel.
"See if you can get the rest off. I'll go get your broomstick and Quidditch robe so you won't be late for practice." Lucy nodded and smiled appreciatively at Hermione.
"Thanks Hermione. I really owe you." She said sincerely. Hermione smiled back then hurried out of the girls bathroom, leaving Lucy alone to finish cleaning her face.
When she heard the bathroom door open again a few minutes later she turned expecting to see her best friend with her Quidditch things.
Instead a younger girl in Gryffindor's robes with long ginger red hair ran in rubbing her eyes with a clenched fist before running into an open stall.
Lucy recognized Ron's younger sister Ginny and started to greet her when the stall door slammed.
Odd...Lucy frowned forgetting about her face for a second when she heard what sounded like suppressed sniffles coming from the stall. I wonder what's happened to her?
"Ginny?" She put down the towel and cleaning solution and started to make her way to the stall where the youngest Weasley was hiding. "Ginny are you okay?" She asked when Hermione burst back into the bathroom clumsily carrying Lucy's Quidditch things in her arms.
"Lucy come on! Oliver Wood caught me on my way back! You need to hurry and get to practice!" Hermione insisted shoving everything towards Lucy who barely managed to catch everything.
"But...all right." Lucy conceded knowing Hermione was right about Oliver Wood and that there wasn't anything she could do for Ginny right now if she wanted to be alone.
Promising herself to find her later, Lucy quickly carried her robes and pads to another empty stall and shut herself in.
...
"Ah Potter! Nice of you to finally join us. You all right there?" Wood inquired as Lucy hurried to catch up with the Gryffindor Quidditch team her broom dragging along the ground behind her and her robes flapping in the air as she ran.
"S-s-sorry...I got something on face during lunch." Lucy panting and turning a bright shade of red, stuttered an explanation. A couple of the girls on the team giggled softly at this while Harry gave her a sympathetic look.
Hermione sighed and swept quickly past the team to join Ron at the benches.
"Yes well, get someone to catch you up on the first half of my pep talk later." Oliver shrugged before turning to resume leading the team out to practice.
"As I was saying, I spent my entire summer devising new strategies. We are going to practice harder and earlier every week before our first match which we...What? Oh I don't believe this!" Oliver's tone changed suddenly as they stepped out into the sunshine and he noticed a group of students in green quidditch uniforms heading towards the pitch from the opposite direction.
Slytherin Team! What do they think they're doing here? Lucy wondered to herself and Harry shrugged in response as Oliver marched up to the Slytherin Team's Captain who Lucy and Harry remembered was called Flint, Marcus Flint.
"Here now Flint! I've got the pitch reserved for Gryffindor today! You're going to have to bugger off!" He snapped as he fixed the other boy with a stern stare.
The Slytherin Team Captain was not at all phased or intimidated. "Easy Wood. I've got a note from Professor Snape explaining things." He responded cooly grinning nastily as he held out a small folded piece of parchment.
Lucy shuddered both in fear and repulsion when she saw his false and broken teeth and remembered how dirty he had played during her first Qudditch game last year.
"Have it your way." Pursing his lips Oliver took the parchment, unfolded it and read what was inside silently while the rest of his team waited to see what would happen.
By straining on her toes to look over his shoulder, Lucy barely made out the first half of Professor Snape's note.
"He's given Slytherin team special permission to practice today, on account of...something. I can't see the rest!" She whispered just loud enough for her teammates to hear.
Harry started to scowl at that. "But he can't do that! Madam Hooch already let US reserve the pitch!...Can he?" He turned to meet Lucy's gaze first before looking over the indignant looks of his other teammates.
"Bloody Git..." The Weasley Twins muttered simulataneously under their breath.
"So I see." Wood, having finished appraising the note looked back up to meet his opponent's eyes again. "You have a new seeker to train. Who is it?"
At his question, Marcus motioned behind him with his arm and almost on command his team members shifted to the side until only one member was left standing in the middle.
Both Potters gaped and Lucy nearly dropped her broom when she realized who it was. Draco Malfoy?
"Malfoy?" Harry voiced his sister's surprise as well as those of his other teammates. Draco smirked at his recognition. "That's right Potter, and that's not all that's new this year." He sneered swinging the handle of his new broomstick over his right shoulder.
Then Lucy realized that every person on the Slytherin Team had the same broom. "Hey those are Nimbus 2001s!" Ron exclaimed as he and Hermione came to see what the commotion was about. "Where did you get those?" He gaped at Malfoy.
Marcus Flint smirked. "They were gifts from Malfoy's Father. The newest model. They're an improvement on the 2000." He directed this last statement towards the Potters. Lucy averted her gaze.
"No way." Ron's eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze on the Slytherin Team Captain. Draco nodded his head. "You see Weasley, unlike some my Father can afford the best. Where did you get that wand? The garbage tin?" He laughed at his own joke.
Harry and Lucy started to lunge towards him. "Well at least no one on the Gryffindor Team had to buy their way in." Hermione spoke up first with a toss of her curly head. "They all got in on pure talent."
Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell looked impressed by Hermione's daring while Fred and George exchanged glances that were both awed and amused. Even Oliver looked impressed until Malfoy's grin turned into a sour dark scowl and he rounded on Hermione.
"I don't believe anyone's asked your opinion...you filthy little mudblood." He spat shocking not only the members of Gryffindor House, but even some of his own teammates as well.
Lucy and Harry however were a bit confused in addition to their indignance at Draco's rudeness.
What's a mudblood? Lucy asked. Harry shook his head. I don't know, but it doesn't sound good. He responded knowing he was right as he listened to the tense whispers of those around him.
Fred and George even looked ready to pulverize Malfoy which surprised Lucy since they were usually so easy going and full of fun.
"You'll pay for that one Malfoy!" Ron's glare nearly matched the one on Draco's face. Lucy saw him reaching for his wand and panicked, but she was too late to warn him.
"Eat slugs!" Ron whipped out his wand which was still only held together by a band of spello tape and gave it a flick.
A burst of green colored magic started to spring from the wand, but before the spell could hit its target it rebounded on itself and flew back into its unfortunate caster sending him flying a few centimeters across the field.
"Ron!" Hermione ran after him and the rest of Gryffindor team followed while Malfoy and the members of Slytherin Team chortled with laughter.
"Are you okay Ron?" Hermione asked, her worry only growing when she saw how green Ron was.
Ron only moaned in response. "Say something!" Lucy insisted though in a minute she wished she'd kept quiet. Everyone groaned in disgust as Ron gagged and threw up a big fat slimy slug into the grass.
Lucy put a hand over her own mouth and turned away from the sight afraid she might vomit herself if she watched any longer.
Just then someone rushed by her very quickly nearly stepping on her foot and blinding her with a camera flash.
"Wow! Can you turn it around now Harry? Sorry Lucy." Colin Creevey the excitable Gryffindor first year who always tried to get a seat by Harry now during meals asked as he fixed his idol with a bright eager stare.
Ron threw up another slug as Harry and Hermione tried to help him back to his feet. "No Colin! Get out of the way! He's sick!" Harry hastily nudged the younger boy aside just as a third slug joined its brothers on the grass much to the disgust of the others.
Hermione grimaced at the sight. "What do we do now?" She asked looking to Harry as Lucy bent to retrieve Ron's wand, careful not to touch any of the slugs. Colin's camera continued to flash away.
"We'll take him to Hagrid." Harry nodded across the field. "He'll know what to do." He turned to lead Ron away from the pitch.
...
"Well! This calls for specialized equipment." Hagrid cheerfully brought a large bucket for Ron who retched again spitting out another slug. Harry grimaced in disgust.
"Ugh!...Isn't there anything you can do for him, Hagrid?" He asked looking to his giant friend. Hagrid shook his head. "Fraid not. Nothing really to do except wait till it stops." He sat down on a large wooden chair across from the boys looking grim.
Hermione sighed and turned her head away as if to block out the scene, but Lucy who was sitting next to her noticed that she seemed more sad and angry than disgusted.
This reminded of her of the strange word Draco had called her friend earlier and Lucy started to ask if Hermione knew what it meant and why it was upsetting her when Hagrid got to it first.
"Now then...who was Ron tryin to curse anyway? And why?" The kindly gamekeeper asked looking from Ron to Harry then to the girls.
"It was Malfoy." Harry explained exchanging glances with Lucy before continuing. "He called Hermione a..." Here he stopped, trailing off midsentece as he looked towards Hermione.
"...He called her a...a mudblood." Lucy finished not missing the way Hermione flinched slightly at re-uttering of that word. "I-I don't know what it means, but...everyone seemed really shocked when he said it."
She looked to see that Hagrid was as shocked as her Gryffindor Teammates had been. "He did not!...Not that!" He breathed as if they were discussing a crime. The most horrible crime in all the wizarding and non wizarding world.
"What do you mean?" Harry looked even more confused than before. "What does mudblood mean?" He asked innocently though Hermione suddenly stomped to her feet at the question.
"It means dirty blood!" She snapped, her face red with tears she was fighting against as she strolled to the nearby window in Hagrid's hut.
"Mudblood is a really foul name for someone with two muggle parents! Someone from outside the original wizard families!...Someone like me." Hermione finally lost the battle with her tears and began to weep. "It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation."
Lucy stood and tried to comfort her. "That's awful." She murmured, now realizing why everyone had been so shocked and feeling her own anger bubble up again.
How dare he?...How dare Malfoy call Hermione such a vile name!
"Urghh...It's disgusting!" Ron whimpered as he threw up another slug. "Horrible." Harry agreed. Hagrid nodded his head.
"It is indeed. But you see, there are certain witches and wizards out there, like the Malfoy family who think they're better than everyone else because they're what they call pureblood. Descended straight down from the old wizarding families." He explained.
Harry felt his own indignance ignite. "But that can't be right? Can it Hagrid?" He asked. The old giant shook his head.
"No Harry. In fact it's codswallop to boot! Dirty blood!" He snorted the word as if it were the most ridiculous concept in the world. "Why there isn't hardly a wizard or witch alive now who isn't halfblood or less."
Hermione sniffled a bit then and Lucy grabbed a table napkin from Hagrid's table to offer to her. Hermione smiled gratefully and accepted the rough tissue.
"And more to the point, they've yet to come up with a spell or charm that our Hermione can't do." Hagrid continued. Lucy nodded her head in agreement.
"He's right. You're the best in our class. I may have had two wizard parents, but I wouldn't have passed Potions last year if you hadn't helped me study and practice my brewing." She spoke sincerely and softly hoping her words would be enough to make Hermione feel better.
"If anyone's got dirty blood around here, it's Malfoy."
Lucy was rewarded when Hermione smiled a little brighter at her. "That a girl, Hermione." Hagrid was reassuring as he smiled kindly at the girl. "Lucy's right. Don't you give it one more thought after today. Not one more thought."
...
"Miss Potter, once again Besoars would go before Dragon liver would it not?" Snape drawled, not looking up from the stack of essays he was grading while Lucy served her first detention with him in the Potions Lab.
Lucy ducked her head and tried not to stutter as she responded to her Professor. Of all the places and Professors she could have been assigned for detention, she had to get stuck sorting ingredients for Professor Snape again.
"Sorry Sir. Yes Sir." Deftly Lucy shuffled a couple bottles in the middle of the classroom potions cabinet knocking over a vial that was slightly taller than the others in her haste to fix her mistake.
"And careful with that fire fern juice, Miss Potter. It can burn through the flesh clear to the bone within seconds if exposed to the bare skin."
This time Snape looked up from his work and stared at the girl who was determinedly avoiding his gaze with narrowed eyes. "We wouldn't want any unfortunate accidents to occur here now would we?" He asked in a slightly ominous tone of voice.
Lucy swallowed audibly at the warning, but before she could respond she was suddenly aware of a strange voice floating towards the classroom through the corridor.
Was it the Bloody Baron? The young second year wondered as the voice so soft at first she thought she hadn't heard it, whispered in an eerie way and grew steadily louder.
Kill...Kill...Kill! The voice grew louder and Lucy gasped in fright dropping the bottle she had been holding in her hand.
"Miss Potter!" Snape's tone turned sharp as the glass shattered against the stone floor by Lucy's feet. Lucy flinched and looked down shaking at the remains of the lakeworm guts.
"S-s-sorry Professor. I was just startled by the voice-."
"Voice?" Snape's eyes narrowed even more until they were only just slits. "What voice?" He asked in a tone that told Lucy he was suspicious as he stood from his chair.
"A...voice...I thought maybe it was the Bloody Baron, but..." Lucy tried to explain, but her courage failed her under the cold and calculating stare of her Potions Professor.
"I see...Perhaps then it would be prudent for you to spend an additional day in detention Miss Potter, replenishing my lost store of lakeworm gut? Especially since my third years are in need of it for their next class assignment. Ten Points will be taken from Gryffindor House..." Snape motioned at the ruined ingredient on the floor making his robes swish.
"...for your lack of focus. Dispose of the ruined sample and then report to the Great Hall for dinner at once. You're done here tonight." He snapped stalking away, presumably to go to the Great Hall himself.
Lucy nodded and swallowed again speaking in an almost inaudible voice before going to the cupboard where she knew Professor Snape kept a mop and broom. "Yes Professor."
Snatching up a broom, Lucy tried to work fast not wanting to linger in the gloomy dungeon classroom alone any longer than necessary.
Then just as she finished cleaning up, the chilling voice spoke again this time a bit louder and with a hiss.
Terrified Lucy quickly shoved the broom back into the cupboard and slammed it shut before running from the potions lab.
The voice seemed to grow louder and more insistent as she ran as if it was following her. As if it were...after her.
Shoving her hand into her robe pocket, Lucy wrapped her fingers around her wand and ran faster until she rounded a corner and nearly stepped on her cat Athene who mewed in surprise.
"Thenie!..What are you doing down here?" Lucy gasped as she barely managed to skid to a halt in time. "You're supposed to be upstairs in the common room!"
"Mew!" Athene responded twitching her tail before turning to trot away down the hall that led towards the main girls and boys lavatories.
As she got within ten feet away from her mistress, she stopped and turned her head fixing her soft glowing blue eyes on Lucy as if to beckon the girl to follow her.
"Lucy!" Harry came upon her before Lucy could go after her cat. Hermione and a considerably less green Ron appeared around the opposite corner. Lucy faced her brother with wide eyes.
"Harry! I think one of the ghosts has gone off the bat! I heard him down in the dungeon! It sounded like it wanted to hurt someone!" She blurted out shaking as she recalled the chilling nature of the voice she had heard.
Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances. "I...don't think any of the ghosts are able to hurt anyone Lucy. It's beyond their scope and physical property." Hermione shook her head, trying to be practical as usual.
Harry however was staring at Lucy in the way he always did when they were thinking the same thing. "So...you heard it too then. You heard the voice?"
Lucy started to nod. "Voice? What voice?" Ron interrupted. Harry started to respond when he heard it. Lucy flinched and looked around herself as the same eerie voice from before floated around the hall.
Kiiill!..Kiiiiiiill!... It hissed.
"It's moving!" Harry realized as the voice faded away. Athene scampered back towards the group and rubbed against the children's legs mewing before running back down the corridor.
Ron let out a yelp when she ran over his foot.
"It's going to kill!" Lucy realized with a shudder. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly I think you two have been in detention too long-."
"Meow!" Athene began to yowl. Finally the four second years took notice to her. "What's your bloody cat on about?" Ron wondered just as Athene took off running further down the corridor.
Lucy ran after her. "Athene come back!" "Lucy!" Harry followed with the others close behind. By the time Lucy had caught up with her pet, they were far from the Great Hall in a dimly lit corridor where various classrooms and the main girls and boys lavatories were located.
Athene sat down by the door of the girls bathroom staring up at the ceiling in a meanigful way while twitching her tail nervously. Lucy stopped running when her feet splashed into a large puddle on the floor.
"Ugh! Yuck! Looks like a burst sewer pipe!" Ron grimaced wrinkling his nose as he came to a splashing halt behind Harry and Lucy who started to stoop to pick up her cat when her Brother grabbed her by the arm.
"Lucy...look!" He pointed up to where Athene was staring. Lucy gasped and clamped both hands over her mouth stumbling backwards in her horror when she realized what Athene had discovered.
Tied by her tail to the lamp post next to the girls' bathroom was Mr. Filch's old cat Mrs Norris. Her paws were splayed in a strange twisted way as if she had somehow been frozen in mid struggle with someone.
Or something. Lucy gulped as her eyes traveled down from the frozen cat to the wall behind her where something appeared to have been written.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware?" Hermione read furrowing her brow as Ron took a step closer to the wall to get a better look. "It's in red." Lucy whimpered, though she had no love or affection for Mr. Filch or his cat.
No one deserved this.
"No." Hermione shook her head, her lip quivering ever so slightly as she studied the writing on the wall. "It's written in blood."
...
(So I hope you liked it. Don't worry we'll get to the Neville and Ginny things soon :) )
