Quick Disclaimer:

Any bolded lines are directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone and not my own words. As much as I would prefer not to take anything straight from the book, I do want my story to stay as close to cannon as possible and so I believe taking a few lines here and there during overlapping scenes adds to the story. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy!

PS - Chapter 6

"Oh, hello, darling," Minerva said with a smile when the door of her office opened and Lucy walked in. She was sitting at her desk with Dumbledore sitting across from her.

"Hello, Mum. Hello, Uncle Albus," Lucy said, giving them both a small smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting a meeting."

"No, that is all right, my dear," Dumbledore said, motioning for Lucy to come in. "We were just discussing the events of last night. We had quite an exciting Halloween."

"Oh, did you?" Lucy walked into the office, closing the door behind her, and walked over to the desk. She sat down beside Dumbledore in front of the desk. "What happened?"

"It was during the Halloween feast," Minerva said. "We were eating when suddenly -"

Just then the door opened, cutting Minerva off. They all looked over to see Severus Snape, a tall man with long greasy black hair and a very large nose, standing in the doorway looking very annoyed. Though, Lucy did not think she had ever seen this man looking anything but annoyed.

"Severus, hello," Minerva said, frowning a little. "I do usually ask that people knock before entering my office. As I'm sure I have told you many times before."

"My apologies, Minerva," Snape muttered, not sounding very convincing. "Dumbledore, I've been looking for you. We were supposed to have our meeting now."

"Meeting? I do not recall scheduling a meeting with you for this time, Severus," Dumbledore said. He looked over at Lucy and gave her a smile. "I would, of course, never schedule a meeting over one of Lucy's visits. Especially now that she comes so sparingly."

Snape's frown deepened.

"It's all right if you have to go, Uncle Albus. It sounds quite important," Lucy said with a smile. "I'm sorry I'm not able to come up to Hogwarts more often. Hopefully I'll have more time to come up soon."

"What is this meeting about, Severus?"

"How a troll was able to get into the castle last night."

"A troll got in?" Lucy asked with wide eyes.

Minerva nodded. "That's what I was going to tell you."

"But aren't trolls dead stupid. They can barely figure out how to open a door. How could one possibly get through Hogwarts security?"

"Exactly," Snape said, crossing his arms. "Someone must have let it in."

"And who would do a thing like that?" Minerva asked, furrowing her brow. "Trolls may have limited cognitive abilities but they can still be quite dangerous especially for children who have yet to be trained to deal with them. Who would let a troll into a school?"

"Someone trying to get something they would be willing to kill children for."

Minerva looked over at Dumbledore. "Has anyone -"

Dumbledore shook his head a little. "No one knows of the stone's presence in the school except for us, Pomona, Filius, Quirinus, and Nicolas himself. No one made an attempt at getting the stone during the feast."

"No one that we caught," Snape muttered.

"What exactly happened?" Lucy asked.

Snape took a deep breath and let his arms drop to his side. He stepped further into the office, moving quite awkwardly on his left leg, and closed the door behind him before speaking again.

"Quirrell announced the presence of a troll in the castle and there was pandemonium. Enough to cause a big enough distraction for someone who were to attempt to get the stone."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "As much as I agree that Quirinus's handling of the situation was very poor, I do not believe that he did it on purpose, Severus. I know you have been very suspicious of Quirinus since he arrived here, for reasons I will never understand, but, I mean, look at him. Do you really believe he of all people have the... wherewithal to carry out such a plot?"

"I, unlike you, Minerva, do not buy this - this jumpy, jittery act."

"Well, we were able to calm the students down quite quickly," Dumbledore said, "And I did check on the stone again after you did, Severus, to find nothing out of order. If the troll was part of a plot to obtain the stone, it did not work."

"But does it not make you a little suspicious, Dumbledore?" Snape asked angrily. "We are tasked with protecting this ridiculous object and someone seems to be after it. Things like this, whether it is an attempt at the stone or not, should be taken seriously!"

"I actually agree with Professor Snape," Lucy said, making Snape raise an eyebrow at her. "Even if it wasn't Professor Quirrell, the timing does seem a bit dodgy to me. Maybe it was someone after the stone."

"This situation is being taken seriously," Minerva said. "We are looking into how it was possible this troll could have gotten out into the castle. It nearly killed three students. Of course we're taking this seriously."

Lucy's eyes widened. "What?"

"Miss Granger," Snape muttered, "In all her wisdom, decided to take on a full size troll all on her own and Mr. Potter decided to play the hero. Dragging his dimwitted sidekick alone with him, of course."

"Sidekick?"

"Weasley."

Lucy frowned. "Ron is not a dimwit and he's not Harry's sidekick. He's a very nice boy and you shouldn't talk about him like that."

"And I very much doubt that Hermione Granger actually decided to take on the troll on her own," Minerva said. "She's not stupid. I think she just took the blame for her friends."

"She seems to think she knows everything. I wouldn't put it past her to think herself capable of dealing with a mountain troll on her own."

"Again, she is not stupid and she has proven herself quite the stickler for the rules already. She would not have gone after the troll herself, especially when instructed to go back to her dormitory. I do not know what happened exactly but I do not believe that story."

"Then Potter dragged both of them along."

"No. I do not believe that either."

"It's something James Potter would have done."

"It may have escaped your notice, Severus," Minerva said, lips thinning and nostrils flaring, "that, though Harry may look a lot like James, he is not James."

"Whatever the reason," Dumbledore said, deciding to step in and stop this back and forth, "It is very lucky that they were able to get away safely."

"With basic, rudimentary wand tricks no less," Minerva muttered.

"Yes. We will take this situation very seriously and it will not happen again. We are running an internal investigation now to determine how the troll was able to get so far into the castle and I assure you, Severus, whoever was responsible for this will be held accountable."

"And I assure you, Headmaster, that the person who was responsible for letting the troll in was after the stone," Snape said. "I believe that person was Quirrell and I would appreciate your time in meeting with me now."

Dumbledore sighed but nodded. "Yes, Severus. We can go back to my office then." He stood up and gave Lucy another smile. "I am sorry, Lucy. If I don't see you before you leave, goodbye and have a nice rest of your day."

Lucy smiled. "Thank you, Uncle Albus. I will try to come back up as soon as I can. Hopefully my work will slow down soon and we can continue our monthly chess matches."

"I would very much like that. Will I see you at dinner, Minerva?"

Minerva shook her head. "Not tonight. Lucy and I will be eating in my rooms. I'll see you tomorrow, Albus."

Dumbledore nodded. He said one last goodbye before following Snape out of the office.

When the door closed behind them, Lucy pulled her chair a little closer to the desk and looked back at her mother. "I think Snape is right. I think someone may be after the stone."

"Do you also believe it's Quirinus?" Minerva asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know. I don't know much about Professor Quirrell. I haven't had much of a chance to talk to him so I can't say anything about that but you have to admit the timing is a bit suspicious. A big feast where everyone would be in the Great Hall. Something happens that would cause the students to get all excited and busy the teachers trying to calm them all down and get them organized again. It's a good distraction for someone who may want to try to get to the stone."

Minerva sighed. She leaned back in her chair and nodded a bit. "Maybe. It may have been a distraction but it equally could have been a prank gone wrong or something like that as well. Very few people know that the stone is hidden here and of those people, I have a hard time believing any of them would try to steal it."

"That is true. Not many people know that it is the stone that is hidden on the third floor but all of Hogwarts knows that there is something hidden up there. Maybe it wasn't anything malicious as someone trying to live forever. Maybe it was someone stupid trying to figure out what it is that's up there."

"That is a possibility," Minerva said with a nod. "We'll know more after the internal investigation is over and proceed accordingly then."

Lucy nodded.

"So, tell me something happier, love. How was your Halloween? Do anything exciting?"

Lucy sighed and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair as well. "Not really. Anne and Mitch invited us to go to a Halloween party with them but I wasn't really feeling up to it. I told Tonks she could go without me but she didn't want to so we just stayed in and watched scary movies and ate way too much popcorn."

"Oh? But I thought you had been working on your costume all month."

Lucy shrugged.

Minerva sighed. "Why don't we go inside."

Lucy nodded. She pushed herself up to her feet and waiting for Minerva.

Minerva stood up too, pulled the torch behind her desk to open the hidden door into her private quarters, and motioned for Lucy to follow her in. She walked inside and Lucy followed after her. They walked into a sitting room. Minerva walked over and sat down on the couch. She looked over at Lucy, patting the couch beside her. Lucy sighed, walked over, and sat down. She knew what her mother wanted to talk about.

"Who's Hermione Granger?" Lucy asked quickly to try and avoid the inevitable.

"Oh, she's a lovely girl. One of the new first years. She's a Muggleborn and very bright. I think she's already read all of her textbooks before she even got here. Reminds me a lot of someone else."

"Sounds like a total nerd."

Minerva smiled. "The person she reminds me of is also quite a nerd. Very smart. And capable. And very beautiful too."

Lucy didn't say anything.

Minerva sighed. "I've noticed that Enchantress hasn't been spotted since the fire."

Again Lucy didn't respond.

"Darling," Minerva said softy. She put an arm around Lucy and Lucy turned to wrap her arms around her, resting her head on Minerva's chest. Minerva sighed again and ran her fingers through her hair. "I never wanted you to start this Enchantress mess. I wasn't fully onboard."

"I know," Lucy whispered.

"But I don't think that you should stop just because you're worried that you're not strong enough or fast enough to handle this. You've done such great work as Enchantress and I'm so proud of you for that. You saved one hundred and ninety eight people in the Westmount building, not to mention all those other people you saved before then. That's a lot of people."

Lucy didn't look up. She closed her eyes and kept her head down on Minerva's chest. "B-but it wasn't everyone."

"I know, love, but -"

"I l-looked up the - the articles on the fire and s-saw who the people were who - who died." She took a deep breath. "Four adults and eight children. Two of the kids were only three years old."

"Lucy -"

Lucy pulled away a little very quickly and looked up at Minerva finally. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes again but she did her best to stop them. She was so weak. She had cried so much this past week.

"Ami, I did everything. I did everything I was supposed to do. I - I used the Bubble-Head Charm to make sure everyone could breath. I threw water on the fire. I reinforced the beams... with steel! I... I reinforced the beams... I - and the building collapsed anyways! It wasn't supposed to do that... it wasn't supposed to collapse... I reinforced the beams!"

Minerva pulled her close again and Lucy cried into her chest.

"I reinforced the beams."

"I know, my love, I know. It's not your fault. I saw the footage. The beams stayed up. It was the wood around it that fell. That wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done to stop that."

"I - I saved myself," Lucy whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. "Th-there were three people still - still alive when I j-jumped. I - I should have stayed! I should have done more!"

"No. No, Lucy, no. If you didn't jump when you had then you may have been killed too. You did everything you could, darling. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control. You do what you can and you do your best. You can't control everything but you can control how you deal with it. And I've seen you deal with so much and come out the other side again. This will be no different. It just takes some time."

"Uncle - Uncle Raj said that he thought that Peggy Carter and Captain America p-probably both sat and th-thought about all the people they weren't able to save too."

"I'm sure they have. It's not easy but it wasn't their fault and it's not yours either."

"I - I know, like logically, that it's not my fault. I d-didn't start the fire or - or make the building fall but - but it still feels like it's my f-fault. It still feels like I let those p-people die."

Minerva sighed and ran her fingers through Lucy's hair as she sobbed again. Minerva held her as she cried for a little while. When Lucy had finally calmed down a little, she spoke again.

"During the war, Dorcas felt the exact same way after her first mission that ended with casualties. She felt like it was her fault, even though it was not."

Lucy looked up at her mother and Minerva gave her a little smile. She reached up and wiped the tears off Lucy's cheek.

"She said the same things. She did everything she was supposed to do. She fought as hard as she could and she had barely gotten out in time as well. She cried and mourned for those that were lost, just like you're doing. Dorcas would be very proud of what you did, Lucy. Even if you weren't able to save everyone, you saved everyone you could. You made a huge difference in those people's lives and they will be forever grateful for that."

"It's - it's still hard, Mum."

"I know, darling. This type of work is not easy and I think you have to make a choice now. You can continue on with your Enchantress work or you can decide that it's not for you. Both options are respectable and you'll have to decide which is best for you, but I do think I already know which option you'll choose."

"And which one is that?"

Minerva smiled. "The same one Dorcas picked. She got up and she kept going because she knew that there was still more work to be done, still more people left to save. The same things I think you know. The same thing I think you'll do."

"I've never not saved someone before."

"I know."

Lucy didn't respond for a little while. She wiped the tears away from her cheeks and leaned closer to Minerva again. Minerva kissed the top of her head.

"There is still more work to be done," she whispered finally. "Still more people left to save."

Minerva smiled.

"I think I'm going to keep being Enchantress."

"I'm glad."

"I thought you wouldn't be."

"Maybe I'm coming around to Enchantress. She does good work, what can I say."

Lucy smiled. "She tries to."

"I still worry though, my love. I still want you to be safe. Don't do anything stupid, please."

"Of course. When have I ever done anything stupid?"

"Never once," Minerva said with a smile. She kissed Lucy's forehead again. "I love you, Lucy. I want you to stay safe."

"I love you too, Mum. Please don't get eaten by a troll."

Minerva laughed and shook her head. "I think I'll be okay."

Lucy smiled.

They sat on the couch talking for a little while longer before finally getting up and getting washed up for dinner. Having dinner with her mother definitely made Lucy feel a little better. Coming up to Hogwarts always made her feel better. She should definitely come up a lot more.

As the days went by, Minerva found more reports in the Daily Prophet and Muggle papers of more Enchantress sightings. She smiled to herself a little as she read an article in the Prophet describing Lucy's latest excursion.

"Enchantress," mumbled Snape from beside her at the Teacher's table in the Great Hall. He was looking at the blurry photograph of a figure standing on the edge of a building. "What an idiotic name."

"It's not the best. I'm sure she's not too thrilled about it either."

"Dubbed by the Muggle news?"

"Yes, I think so."

"And you agree with what she's doing?"

"Helping people? I would think so."

"Breaking international law."

Minerva looked at him. "Well, no, that is not ideal."

"She does magic and she has not been caught by the detection spell. That is quite peculiar."

"Will you now be making theories on who this Enchantress is? Tired of stalking poor Quirinus?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "Poor Quirinus. He really does have all you fooled."

Minerva sighed and folded her newspaper back up. "You've really done a number on him, Severus. He's very afraid of you. Won't even stay in the same room as you if he could avoid it."

"He's scared because he's worried I've figured him out. If he wasn't guilty, why would he be so frightened?"

"Oh Severus, I would be horrified if you started stalking me down the hall and prying into my personal life. I'm not guilty of anything but you have to admit, you are quite frightening sometimes."

"How is it my fault if his... constitution is lacking?"

"You know he gets nervous. You could not try to exacerbate it."

Snape grumbled something Minerva didn't quite catch but she chose not to say anything. Instead she turned back to her paper and smiled a little again as she read about Lucy's continued evasion of the Auror's and Fudge's continued frustration. Snape noticed this.

"You seem quite amused by this woman."

Minerva raised an eyebrow at him. "Your meaning?"

Snape shrugged.

Minerva looked back at the paper and smiled again. "Fudge is not happy. I do find that quite amusing."

Snape rolled his eyes. "Quite petty, Minerva."

"Oh, shut up, Severus. Now off with you. Let me enjoy my breakfast in peace."

Snape stood up. He grabbed Minerva's paper from her hands and walked away. Minerva glared at him and he looked back, giving her a small smirk and daring her to say something.

Minerva rolled her eyes and turned back to her toast. "I am surrounded by children."

...

Lucy slowly got her confidence back yet again. She started acting more and more like herself and Raj and Tonks were very happy. Tonks wished she would talk to her about what had gotten her so down while she was gone but Lucy avoided the topic or gave very uninformative answers whenever she asked. She was glad that Lucy was feeling better, she just wished what exactly was bothering her to begin with.

"Are you excited?" Lucy asked, flopping down on the couch and leaning into Tonks with a bowl of popcorn.

"Hmm? About?" Tonks asked, wrapping her arm around her and grabbing a handful of popcorn.

"The wedding! What else?."

"Oh, right! I completely forgot, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see Anne in her dress and be able to dance with you on the dancefloor! Oh, we haven't gone dancing in so long, love. I'm sorry I've been so busy."

"That's all right. Maybe we could try to plan at least one night a month that you can take off and we can go out."

"That's a good idea. Until then, I think the wedding will be fun."

"I think so too. You and Anne have worked so hard on this. I can't wait for the stress of it to be off of both of you."

"Oh, yes. They're going to Italy afterwards. Tonks, we should go to Italy."

Tonks smiled. "Oh man, we should. After all that work just preparing for those exams, I'm ready for a break."

"Do you still feel nervous about your results?"

Tonks shrugged. "I was but it's been a while now and I'm trying to just relax and not get to worked up until the fourteenth."

Lucy nodded and took her hand. "I have faith. You will be the greatest Auror this world has ever seen!"

Tonks laughed. "If I become an Auror."

"You will and then I'll brag all about my badass Auror girlfriend to everyone who will listen!"

"I think everyone at your work is going to be so annoyed by me before they even meet me," Tonks said with a smile, leaning down and kissing her cheek.

"Then I'll fire them and hire more people who can appreciate how amazing you are."

Tonks laughed. "All right. Well, I'm pretty sure everyone in the Auror Office already know how amazing you are but if I get a position there, no one will ever stop hearing about you."

Lucy smiled. "Moody will get very annoyed very quickly."

"He's just upset that you turned down the job and didn't come to the exams with me. I wish you could have come. We could have... broken in my Auror room."

Lucy laughed. "Is that the only reason you wanted me to come to your exams?"

"How could they really expect me to stay away from you for three whole days!"

"It's not like we've ever been apart before."

Tonks smiled. "Yes, but I hate it every time we are. Don't go to work anymore. Stay home with me always."

"Oh, I wish."

"Is work what got you so upset before?"

Lucy's smile faded and she sighed. "It's hard sometimes, Tonks. Sometimes... sometimes things happen that are out of your control and I think I have trouble letting go sometimes."

Tonks nodded. "It is hard. Do you feel a little better now?"

"I do. I think things are getting better now. I think I'll be okay now."

"I'm glad. And you know, if it's someone at work who's being an arsehole then you just let me know and I'll come down there and punch a bitch for you."

Lucy smiled. "Of course. I will let you know. I would definitely love to see that."

Tonks smiled. She grabbed the bowl of popcorn in Lucy's lap and set it down on the coffee table. She wrapped her arms around Lucy and pulled her close. "Now come here and let me kiss you."

Lucy laughed and moved up beside her as Tonks laid back. She wrapped her arms around Tonks's neck and kissed her.

"So much for our movie."

Tonks smiled. "This is more interesting."

Saturday, November 7th 2009

One Whitehall Place was decorated to the nines. White drapes and yellow lights hung from the ceiling and rows of black chairs filled the room. White podiums sat between each row with a vase of white and light pink flowers in them. People in long dresses and fancy updos sat in the chairs waiting excitedly for the bride. An altar was decorated at the front of the hall where Mitchell Bradford stood in a nice black suit. His brown hair was combed to one side and there was huge smile on his face. His hands were clasped together so tightly that they were turning white. His best man gave his shoulder a quick squeeze to help calm him down.

"Lucy and Anne organized all of this," Tonks whispered to Nina sitting beside her. "They did a really good job, huh?"

"They did," Nina said with smile. "Oh, I'm so happy for Anne! I love weddings so much and I haven't gotten a chance to go to one in so long!"

Minerva smiled. "Yes, weddings are lovely and they did a very good job. Did you see Lucy's dress?"

Tonks laughed. "The lightest colour I think she's ever worn. I could barely believe it when she changed into it earlier today when she was getting ready. She had to come here so early to make sure everything was being set up properly."

"I'll bet Anne picked that colour just so Lucy would have to wear it," Nina said, shaking her head and smiling. "She knows the power she has on her special day and she's taking full advantage of it."

"Of course," Minerva said. "I commend Anne for doing the impossible."

Tonks smiled. She was so excited for the ceremony to be over so she would finally get a chance to dance with her girlfriend. It had been a while since they had gotten a chance to go out dancing with Lucy so busy with work and planning this wedding. They'd have fun at this wedding and then hopefully when it was over they would get more time together.

Music started playing and the bridesmaids and ushers started walking down the aisle and taking their places by the alter. Tonks waited eagerly and finally Lucy walked out alone, holding a bouquet of roses. She looked beautiful in her light pink dress. Her hair was half up and half down and her makeup looked wonderful. Lucy caught Tonks's eyes and gave her a smile as she walked down the aisle. Tonks gave her a quick thumbs up, making her smile even more.

Lucy got to the front and took her spot at the altar before looking back. The ringer bearer walked in, followed by the flower girl, and finally Anne. It felt like magic filled the air the moment Anne walked into the room with her arm in her father's. She looked absolutely gorgeous. Her hair was down in elegant curls covered slightly by a white veil. Her white wedding dress was sleeveless with a lace bodice that went into a flowy skirt. Edward Bradford had a huge smile on his face and tears in his eyes as he gave his daughter away. Anne gave him a hug before stepping up to the altar. She handed Lucy her bouquet and took Mitch's hands in hers.

The ceremony began and all throughout it Lucy couldn't stop smiling. Anne and Mitch had written their own vows and they were beautiful. Lucy couldn't help but tearing up herself at some points.

"Anne Linwood, I have loved you from the moment I met you and I promise to keep loving you unconditionally for the rest of my days. You put one hundred percent of yourself in everything you do and your strength and intelligence inspire me..."

"Mitchell Bradford, you are the kindest man I have ever met. I love the way you make me feel just by walking into the room and the way your laugh makes my heart skip a beat. I promise to love you and cherish you for the rest of my life..."

The ceremony continued and finally the officiant said, "Do you Mitchell Bradford accept Anne Linwood to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Mitch looked at Anne with all the love in the world. His eyes were watering a little bit but he was still smiling. "I do."

"Do you Anne Linwood accept Mitchell Bradford to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," Anne said.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the officiant said. "You may kiss the bride."

Mitch put his hands on Anne's cheeks, pulled her close and kissing her lips. After the kiss the procession walked back out of the room. The guests were moved over to the tables for dinner. They ate dinner and soon people were up dancing.

Lucy hurried over to the table where Minerva, Nina and Tonks were sitting, grabbed Tonks, and pulled her up to the dancefloor with her as well. Tonks laughed and danced with her girlfriend. They danced as upbeat music played and soon Lucy pulled Nina up with them as well. She tried to get Minerva up as well but Minerva refused.

"Have fun, love. I'm fine," Minerva said, giving Lucy a smile. She was honestly ready to leave but she didn't want to interrupt Nina's fun.

"Fine but I will come back later and I will get you to dance."

"I would suggest you not waste your time."

Lucy smiled. "It won't be a waste once you're on the dancefloor."

Minerva smiled and shook her head. "Go dance, love. You deserve a nice break."

Lucy hurried back to the dancefloor and pulled Tonks over to dance with her.

Soon a slow song started to play and Lucy and Tonks were swaying with their arms around each other. Nina decided it was time for her to go and walked back over to Minerva. She smiled and sat down.

She had only been sitting for a few seconds when she heard, "Hi, do you want to dance?"

Nina looked over to see a young man standing in front of her with his hand extended. She gave him a polite smile. "No, thank you. I'm not one for slow dancing. Sorry."

The man sighed but nodded, walking away.

Minerva smiled. "So popular, Nina."

Nina looked over at the dancefloor and sighed. "I miss Daniel."

Minerva sighed. "I know, love." She reached out and took Nina's hand. "It's always hard when he's gone."

Nina sighed and nodded. "Shall we get going then? I think Tonks and Lucy will probably be here for a while until Mitch and Anne leave as well."

Minerva nodded. "Yes, we can go. I'll just let Lucy and Tonks know and say one last congratulations to Anne and Mitch first."

Nina nodded.

They both got up and got ready to leave. Lucy and Tonks said goodbye to both Nina and Minerva before going back to slow dancing together.

"This is really nice. I definitely needed this," Lucy whispered in Tonks's ear as she rested her head on her shoulder.

"Me too," Tonks said with a smile. "This is really nice."

Sunday, November 8th 2009

Lucy hummed happily to herself as she flipped through her magazine. She was still feeling elated from the wedding last night. Lucy was in a very good mood. She had talked to Anne, who was very happy in Italy, this morning and was now lounging on a couch in the Hogwarts staffroom waiting for her mother.

The door opened suddenly and Lucy looked up. It was not Minerva. Instead Snape walked into the staffroom making Lucy's smile faltered a little bit. She still hated being alone with him. It always made her feel like she was still a child, scared of the towering, perpetually angry man.

"Oh, hello, Professor Snape."

"Collins," Snape muttered as he limped to the couches and tossed a book onto the table.

Lucy looked down and saw that it was Quidditch Through the Ages. She looked down at his legs. He was avoiding putting too much weight on his left foot. "What happened to your leg?"

Before he could respond, the door of the staffroom opened again and in walked Filch, the Caretaker. As if one greasy man wasn't enough. Filch didn't like Lucy very much and she didn't like he very much either. He was holding up a roll of bandages as he walked briskly over to Snape.

"Here are the bandages you asked for, Professor Snape."

Snape put his foot up on the table and moved his robes up around the knee to reveal a wad of bloody bandages. Lucy's eyes widened as she watched him take the bandages off to reveal a huge gash on his leg. She quickly sat up properly and moved things aside so he wouldn't get blood on them.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Bloody Cerberus on the third floor," Snape grumbled. "Get me something to clean this!"

Lucy stood up, raced to the kitchenette and grabbed some towels. She wet them and brought them back to Snape. He grabbed one and started wiping his leg quite violently. He winced with every wipe and Lucy shook her head.

"Stop." She snatched the towel back and leaned down to do it herself much more gently. "You're going to make it worse that way."

He glared at her as she cleaned the blood off his leg but didn't say anything. The wound looked quite fresh and was bleeding a lot.

"How did this happen? Why were you up in the third floor?"

"Stopping Quirrell from getting in there!"

"Quirrell?"

"I've told you. I've told all of you. He's the one who let the troll in. I know he did. He went up there and I went to stop him."

"Wait, you're still talking about Halloween? This happened last week and it still looks like this?"

"Hasn't healed a bit," Flinch grumbled.

"Cerberus salvia makes magic useless," Snape muttered. "Once it wears off the injury will start to heal itself or magic can be used to close it."

"So, you think Quirrell let in the troll and went up," Lucy said.

"Yes! Aren't you listening?"

"But why? Why would he want -" she stopped and eyed Filch for a second - "whatever is up there? Why would he be after it?"

Snape doesn't respond. He reached down and grabbed the towel from her. He snatched the bandages from Filch, tossed the bloody cloth into his hands, and started unrolling them. Filch made a face down at the towel. He reached down and started wrapping up his leg again. He winced suddenly and growled.

"Aurgh! Blasted thing! How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Lucy moved back a bit and crossed her arms as she watched him roughly bandage himself. "Well, I suppose that's the point."

Snape shot her a glare.

"They were thought to guard the gates of the Underworld after all. Dogs of Hades himself and all that."

"Are you quite -" Suddenly Snape looked behind Lucy at the door. "POTTER!"

Lucy looked back and saw Harry's head poking in through the door watching them.

Harry gulped. "I just wondered if I could have my book back."

"GET OUT! OUT!"

Harry closed the door quickly and Snape grumbled about annoying, thickheaded children as he turned back to his leg. Lucy looked down at the book that Snape had thrown on the table earlier. She picked it up.

"Is this Harry's?"

Snape nodded as he continued to talk about how much like James, Harry was. Filch was agreeing with him as he ranted.

"They're all the same," he muttered as Lucy turned and made her way towards the door without them really noticing or caring. "All the idiot students. They're much to interested in themselves to realize there are others around them."

Didn't they make a great pair? Lucy thought to herself with a shake of her head. She walked out of the staffroom and sped up to catch up with Harry a few corridors over.

"Harry!"

Harry looked back with wide eyes and a horrified expression. His concern faded away when he saw it was only Lucy. He gave her a small smile as she walked over. "Oh, hey, Lucy."

Lucy held up the book she had taken from Snape. "Were you looking for this?"

"Oh, yes! Thank you," Harry said, taking the book from her. He looked down at it for a second before looking back up at her with a worried look on his face. "Ah, sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have opened the door. I was knocking but I guess you guys didn't hear me. I just wanted my book back. Especially for tonight and all."

"That's all right. Don't worry too much about Snape. He can be really scary sometimes. I mean, he scares me a little still too, but he's not going to do anything to you."

"Right... ah, well, what happened to his leg? It looked quite bad."

Lucy shrugged. "Something about the the third floor. You're not supposed to go up there. That's why."

"Why'd Snape go up there then?"

"Oh, he goes up there all the time. Someone has to go check up on things and make sure everything's all right. Make sure there aren't any bodies of students to toss out into the lake or something."

Harry's eyes widened.

Lucy smiled. "I'm joking. I don't think anyone's actually died at Hogwarts since like my mum was in school. So, that was a very long time ago."

"Oh." Harry thought for a second before taking a breath and asked, "Do you know what they're keeping up there, Lucy?"

"I don't actually. It happens from time to time. Hogwarts houses a lot of old magical objects that would be unsafe elsewhere. They mostly aren't anything too crazy."

"Then why would this one have so much protection around it?"

"I'm not sure. It could just be that the previous owner had some extra protection that he wanted around his object. I'm sure soon they'll find a better place for this object and it'll be moved again."

"Hmm..."

"Well, you should probably get going. Your match is soon, isn't it? You should get ready."

Harry nodded. He was a little disappointed that Lucy wasn't going to give her any real information. He wasn't quite sure how much he believed that she didn't know what was actually up on the third floor. She was Minerva McGonagall's daughter after all.

"All right. Thank you for coming out to see my first match. You really didn't have to do that."

Lucy smiled. "Of course I would come out. I said that I would, didn't I? Besides, I've heard that you give Charlie Weasley a run for his money and I really want to see for myself so I can more accurately make fun of Charlie."

Harry laughed. "Okay. Still, thanks. I don't think my aunt and uncle would come all this way just to watch one of my Quidditch matches."

"Really? Why not? I love going out to Quidditch games. They're so fun. You know, Britain's set to host the Quidditch World Cup for the first time in thirty years, I think my mum said, in a couple years. Mum and I are planning on going."

"Wow, really? I didn't know Professor McGonagall was such a big Quidditch fan."

"Oh, yeah, she loves Quidditch. She was a chaser on the Gryffindor team when she was in school. She's really excited to see you play too. She has a lot of hope that with you on the team, they'll finally give Slytherin a run for their money."

Harry smiled. "Well, I'll try my best."

"Of course. I'll see you soon, Harry."

"Bye, Lucy!"

Lucy turned and headed back towards the staffroom where Filch and Snape were still ranting about nosey students. She looked at the bandages on Snape's leg and sighed. As she walked back to the couch she had been sitting on before, she said, "Those are much too tight. You're going to cut off blood circulation to your foot."

Snape glared at her but leaned down to fix his bandages.

Lucy picked up her magazine and flopped down on the couch again, trying her best to ignore them as they kept grumbling angrily. Once he finished bandaging up his leg, Snape left the staffroom, thankfully taking Filch with him. Lucy watched them go over the top of her magazine before rolling her eyes and kicking her legs up on the coffee table. It seemed that there was never a quiet day at Hogwarts.

The door opened again eventually but this time it was Minerva who walked in. She smiled at Lucy as she walked over to the couch. "Hello, my darling. Sorry, I'm late. How are you doing?"

"Hello, Mum," Lucy said, kicking her legs off the couch and sitting up properly. She set her magazine down on the coffee table. "That's okay. I'm doing all right. Though it has been quite an eventful day just sitting here in the staffroom waiting for you."

Minerva sat down on the couch beside. "Oh, has it?"

"Oh yes. Professor Snape managed to get his leg sliced up by Fluffy on the third floor and was in here changing his bandages very angrily."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "You know what, I'm starting to think he deserves it. He's been absolutely insufferable lately and is completely terrifying Quirinus. As if we weren't already worried that he wouldn't make it through the year."

"It's hard to have to work in an environment where people single you out for no reason. I know that."

Minerva sighed and looked back at her. "Work's still hard?"

Lucy shrugged. "It's getting a bit better. Engineering's still acting up. Harrold doesn't want to listen to me and he's quite angry that I've made him hire women."

"Oh, how dare you."

"I know. It's an absolute atrocity."

Minerva smiled. "Well, hopefully it will get better soon, love. I know it's tough but I believe you can get through it and prove yourself to these people."

Lucy nodded a little.

"Shall we go down to the pitch?"

Lucy nodded again and they stood up. They walked out of the staffroom and through the hallways out toward the Quidditch pitch. Lucy could felt the excitement through the halls as they walked by students also going out to the pitch. Quidditch days where always some of the most exciting days at Hogwarts. Floods of red and green filled the halls as students came out to support their chosen teams.

"So, you bought Harry a Nimbus Two Thousand," Lucy said, sitting down on the bench beside Minerva when they finally made it up to the teacher's booth.

"Yes, well, he needed a broom."

"And of course, she had to buy him the best broom on the market," Sprout said with a smile. She was sitting on Lucy's other side. "A bit unfair, I must say. She is stacking her team."

"I am not," Minerva said, sending Sprout a look. "A broom does not make the player, Pomona. A great broom in the hands of a poor flier is no advantage to anyone. If this broom gives Potter any advantage, it is because he is a skilled flier and understands how to use it to his advantage."

"Mmhmm."

"May I just say," Lucy piped up, "I was never bought a broom."

Sprout laughed and Minerva gave her a look.

"I would have loved to buy you a broom but you never asked for one. The only time you ever fly is at your Nani's house during family Quidditch games."

"Maybe I would have flown more if I had a broom."

Minerva smiled. She looked over at Sprout. "Though, she is a natural. A chaser. Always a chaser, just like her mother. I swear, Pomona, if I had had both her and Charlie Weasley on my team I would have had that cup sitting in my office all of the last previous six years."

"Then maybe my mother would have loved me," Lucy mumbled.

"And bought you a broom," Sprout said with a laugh.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "You two are ridiculous."

"You really did break her heart when you chose not to come to Hogwarts, didn't you, Lucy?" Sprout said.

"Apparently. The first in a long line of disappointments, I'm sure."

"Don't say that. I'm not disappointed in anything you've done," Minerva said with a frown. "Would I have liked for you to come to Hogwarts and follow in your mother's footsteps? Of course. That doesn't mean that I'm not proud of you for getting into Oxford, darling."

Lucy smiled. "I know, Mum. Don't worry."

Just then Lee Jordan, a young thirteen year old boy with long dreadlocks and dark skin, hurried over in front of them and into the commentary booth beside Minerva. "Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Lucy! Hey! How are you guys?"

"Jordan," Minerva said. "We are all right. We'll try to keep it clean this year, won't we?"

Lee smiled innocently. "Of course, Professor. Wouldn't want to jeopardize my position as commentator for next year."

Lucy smiled. "Hello, Lee. How was your summer?"

"It was good! It was good! Hey, did you hear that they announced who would be hosting the next World Cup?"

"Yes, I did! It's quite exciting."

"Britain's not hosted the World Cup in thirty years," Sprout said. "It is very exciting."

"Will you be going, Professor?" Lee asked.

"We'll see," Sprout said. "It's still three years away."

"We're going to go," Lucy said with a smile. "Mum promised. We always go. We went to the finals in Argentina the summer before the last and Belgium four years before that."

"Oh, wow, that's awesome," Lee said. "I wish my parents were as big fans of Quidditch as you are, Professor. They wouldn't take me down all the way to Belgium or Argentina just for Quidditch. Hopefully I'll be able to go to one of the matches here in Britain though."

"It's nice it falls in the summer so we can all actually go," Minerva said. "Though now we'll have to see if Lucy will be able to take time off work now."

Lucy smiled. "I'm definitely getting off work for that. Did you see Harry's Nimbus, Lee? Thought you might be excited about that."

"I haven't seen it yet but I am! It'll be awesome to see how well that broom flies! Harry made a good choice for his first broom."

Minerva smiled and Sprout grumbled a little.

Lucy laughed. She heard cheers and looked out on at the pitch to see the teams starting to walk out into the middle of the pitch, Gryffindor dressed in scarlet robes and Slytherin in green. Madam Hooch was waiting for them. She had Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor team captain, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team captain, shake hands. Every mounted their brooms and, with a blow on Hooch's whistle, the teams were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too -"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor," Lee said with a laugh.

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "I don't understand why you like watching games so much, Mum. It seems you spend more time controlling Lee than actually watching the match."

"I don't understand why you've kept him after last year," Sprout said with a smile.

Lee put his hand over the microphone and leaned away from it to say, "She loves my charm and my extraordinary wit!"

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Get back to commentating, Jordan."

Lee smiled and turned back to the game. He continued to commentate as the quidditch players flew quickly through the air. Lucy smiled as she watched the Gryffindor seekers, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet, fly across the field towards the Slytherin's end.

"Alicia Spinnet is quite the flier," she said. "Haven't seen her fly before."

"She's new," Minerva said. "Made the team this year. She's a lovely girl and has improved immensely over the summer. Last year she was only a reserve."

"Flint's improved too. He flies a lot smoother than he did last year.'

"I think he's learned to be a little lighter on his broom," Sprout said.

Lucy watched Flint intercept a pass from Angelina towards Katie and move quickly through the field. He covered the ground the girls had quickly.

"Still doesn't like to pass though it seems."

Flint made it to the other end of the pitch and was about to score when Oliver came racing up to catch the Quaffle before it went through the middle ring. Cheers erupted from the Gryffindor side of the stands. Gryffindor was back in control of the Quaffle. They played back and forth for a little while, the beaters getting involved every so often. Katie got hit in the back of the head by a bludger sent her by one of the Slytherin beaters. Either Fred or George Weasley, sent another back hitting Pucey, one of the Slytherin chasers.

Finally Angelina got her hands on the quaffle and Gryffindor advanced across the pitch. Angelina took a shot and -

"GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" Lee cried into the mic, barely audible over the cheers of Gryffindor fans around the pitch.

"I'm liking how this is going already," Minerva said happily.

"As much as I do not want Severus to win again this year," Sprout muttered, "I am starting to think that Minerva winning will be worse. I am very conflicted on who to cheer for."

Lucy smiled. "It's a shame Tonks isn't here. She would understand."

"How is Miss Tonks doing?"

"Oh, she's good. She had her Auror exams and now we're just waiting on the results. She very much appreciates the reference letter you wrote her. Thank you, Professor."

Sprout smiled. "Of course. I think she would make a wonderful Auror."

They turned their attention back to the match as they continued yet again. The snitch was spotted once but it seemed to be evading both seekers so far. Flint fouled and Katie scored another goal on the penalty. The game continued and Slytherin scored a goal as well.

"Um," Lucy said suddenly, "Something seems to be wrong with Harry's broom."

"What?" Minerva asked with a frown. She looked up and around quickly until she found Harry zigzagging through the air as if his broom was trying to buck him off. Her eyes widened. "What!"

Fred and George flew over quickly and tried to grab him but anytime they got too close, Harry's broom zoomed up higher into the air. They abandoned that plan and circled under him instead so they could grab him if he dropped.

"What is going on?" Sprout asked.

"I have no idea," Minerva said. She looked around quickly. "Where is Rolanda? She should be stopping the match. Something's wrong."

Flint scored another five goals while no one was paying attention. Everyone was too busy worrying about what was going on with Harry's broom. The broom bucked and jerked violently. Harry could barely hold on. Everyone gasped suddenly as he was finally knocked over, hanging in the air by one hand still gripping the broom. It continued to jerk and vibrate to try and throw him off completely.

Suddenly there was a yelp from behind them. Quirrell was pushed over and Snape was up stomping on his robes. Lucy's eyes widened. "What's happened?"

"Fire," Professor Flitwick who had been sitting beside Snape squeaked as he got up and moved away from Snape. He pulled out his wand and conjured a jet of water to put out the fire on Snape's robes before it could spread.

"Where - how..." Minerva had no idea what to say.

Snape looked around quickly, checking under the bleachers but finding nothing. "I have no idea! Where the f-"

"Look, Potter's broom is fine now!" Sprout said.

They all turned back to see Harry pulling himself back up onto his now calm broom. Then suddenly he was flying directly down towards the ground at great speeds. Minerva let out a little shriek and grabbed Lucy's arm when he flew past them. Lucy winced and moved closer to the edge of the stands to watch him go.

Harry clapped his hand over his mouth suddenly and pulled up quickly before he hit the ground at full speed. He stumbled, fell off his broom, and hit the ground on all fours. He coughed and sputtered a little before finally a small gold ball fell out of his mouth. He grabbed it and waved it over his head excitedly.

"It's... it's over?" Sprout asked.

"He's got the snitch," Lucy said.

Minerva let Lucy's arm go and leaned over the edge of the stands to get a better look.

"HARRY POTTER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Lee bellowed, still excited despite all the confusion. "GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

Minerva flopped back down on her seat and ran her fingers through her hair quickly, a look of pure confusion on her face. "I - I don't understand."

"I think your team's won, Mum."

Gryffindor was cheering, Marcus Flint was shouting about fouls and cheating, Lee was still shouting about Gryffindor's victory, and Snape was inspecting the damage on his cloak. Minerva sat utterly confused through all of this.

"Well, that was an interesting match," Lucy said, sitting back down beside her mother and giving her a smile. "Congratulations."

Minerva looked over at her. "Have I bought a defective broom?"

Lucy shrugged. "Maybe it's okay that you never bought me a broom."

Minerva gave her a shove and got back up, leaving the teacher's bleachers quickly. Lucy smiled and hurried after her.

Author's Note:

Hello, hello. I realize I have made you all wait a very long time for this update and I am very sorry. School's just been super busy so I didn't have very much time to write. I hope you like this chapter and I hope that I can make more regular updates from now on. Thank you so much for reading and please leave me a comment telling me what you think!