Lucy sighed as she sat down on the park bench, Harry in her arms. It had been two days since they had left the warehouse, and while his leg was noticeably healing, he still had trouble standing. Gently, the diclonius set Harry down on the bench, and gingerly touched the bows she had found in the warehouse and used to conceal her horns.

"So, Harry...How is your leg feeling today?" She asked. Harry looked at her, then decided to give standing another go. Slowly, the little black haired boy climbed to his feet...and stood perfectly straight.

Lucy's eyes widened and she smiled.

"Excellent! Can you walk?" Harry looked at her, then tentatively took a step forward...No pain! He was able to walk again! He looked to Lucy with a wide smile. The diclonius returned the smile. "Good. I couldn't carry you around forever." She said as she stood and ruffled his hair. The little boy smiled at his caretaker, and she smiled back...then they heard a low rumbling sound. The two looked into the cloudy sky. Lucy frowned. 'A storm is coming...' "...Come, Harry. We'd best find shelter...There's going to be a storm, and I don't want you to get sick." Harry's eyes widened nervously at the word 'storm', but he immediately calmed down after Lucy grabbed his hand and smiled at him. "Don't let go of my hand, alright?" She ordered gently. Harry nodded, and the diclonius led him off.

Dumbledore's office...

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he remembered the other staff members' reactions to the news. Snape had looked surprised. Sprout had wasted no time in tearing into him for his mistake. Flitwick had solemnly looked at the floor the entire meeting. Hagrid had broken down completely and bawled like a baby.

The elderly wizard dreaded to see how the wizarding world would react to the loss of their saviour...

But this was not something he couldn't tell them...

With Lucy and Harry...

Lucy internally cursed as she felt a few raindrops. The storm was starting and she hadn't been able to find anywhere to stay! She felt the trembling of Harry's little hand as the thunder got louder, and felt him press his body against her side. She turned to look at him, and her gaze softened when she saw him trembling against her side. The diclonius smiled as she gently took the child into her arms once more. Harry looked at her in surprise, but when a particularly loud bang from the thunder was heard, he almost immediately buried his face into her chest and whimpered in fear.

Lucy grit her teeth at Harry's fear, now more determined than ever to get him out of the storm. She quickly ran, eyes scanning the environment for a lapse from the storm. She found what she was looking for in a large shed in someone's backyard. Quickly, she hopped the fence and made a beline for the shed.

The married couple that lived in the house containing the shed happened to be looking out the window. They blinked in surprise when they saw a red-haired woman carrying a small child run into their shed. The couple exchanged glances.

"What...just happened?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think those two ran into our shed to escape the storm, dear." The woman replied. The man frowned.

"Did it really have to be our shed? Don't they have a home they could go to or something?" The two exchanged glances. "...That shed won't keep them from getting wet...Think we should let them in?" The man's wife smiled at him.

"You are a saint." She said before kissing her husband's cheek. The man chuckled.

"So you keep telling me." And with that, he put on a raincoat and went out to the shed.

Inside the shed...

Lucy sighed with relief as she leaned against the wall of the shed and sat down, Harry curled in her arms, clinging tightly to her. She frowned down at the little boy and scratched the top of his head.

"Harry? Are you afraid of storms?" She internally facepalmed at her question. Of course he was afraid of storms! It was written right there in his body language...The way he cringed every time the sound of thunder was heard...The way he had his scrawny arms wrapped tightly around her...The way he was whimpering... Harry's current state upset Lucy greatly. As the boy nodded in response to her question, she unhesitatingly moved him so that his head was rested comfortably against her chest and stroked the back of his head.

Harry's whimpering gradually ceased at the feeling of Lucy's fingers stroking his messy black hair and the soothing sound of the diclonius's heartbeat. Soon enough, the boy became completely oblivious to most of his surroundings. To him, the only sound he heard was the sound of Lucy's beating heart. In his viewpoint, Lucy was the only thing in the room. With a content smile, Harry quickly fell into yet another deep slumber.

Lucy felt an intense warmth in her heart looking at how quickly Harry had calmed down when she held him... Her smile quickly turned to an expression of shock as the door to the shed slowly creaked open. Lucy snapped her head to the door to see a middle aged man with chocolate brown hair and a pair of thin wiry glasses looking at her. A few moments went by. Lucy was tensed, ready to run at any provocation...

"Uh...Hey there...Name's Mike...Mike Stevenson..." He greeted. Lucy blinked and looked at him untrustingly. "So...why're you and your kid there hiding in our shed?" Lucy stared at him for a few moments, as if daring him to try something.

"...We have nowhere else to go." She said bluntly, hoping he would leave.

"Oh...Geez, sorry to hear that, ma'am." Lucy raised a brow at this.

"...Thank you, I suppose..." She replied, unsure of whether he was trustworthy or not.

"Well, if you really have nowhere else to go, I guess you two could...stay with me and Susan for a while." Lucy's expression became confused.

"...What?"

"Uh...Yeah, you can come inside our house if you really want. Shed's gonna start leaking any second now anyway..." Lucy looked up at the ceiling of the shed, and sure enough, water was beginning to drip in. She glared at Mike.

"...All right...But if you do anything to hurt either of us, I will not hesitate to strike back in self defence." She warned. Mike chuckled nervously at the coldness in her gaze.

"N-Noted..." He stuttered. "Now c'mon. I brought an umbrella, so we can get the kid in without the rain waking him up." Lucy approached the man, still tense, and looked at him as he opened the umbrella over her head, then began to walk towards the house, the young man walking behind her.

Little did Lucy know, this was the beginning of her regaining her faith in humanity...