(Hello my beautiful readers! I'm so sorry it's been waaaaay too long since I last updated this. I had some trouble deciding on certain things in this next part of my fanfic since I'm trying my hardest to balance Lucy and Harry's involvements in the main plot. The most challenging part here was definitely the first Dementor appearance scene as I had little to no idea how I was going to describe what Lucy would be feeling in that moment especially since with Lupin being on the train I realized I had to separate Lucy from Harry during this scene, but hopefully what I ended up doing, works just well enough. Anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter! I know it's kind of a long one, but I was determined to end this part with the Dementor Attack. I own nothing but my OC.)
...
"Harry! We should stop!" Lucy panted, calling out to her brother when they got as far as the park. Sitting down at the curb by the fence, she opened the cat basket and scooped up Athene who had been yowling pitifully since they ran out of the house.
With a heavy sigh, Harry sidled up next to her, dropping his trunk with a thud. "He's right. Uncle Vernon's right. They'll kick us out of Hogwarts for what we did to Aunt Marge! Where are we going to go, Lucy? Any ideas?" He threw up his hands in exasperation.
Lucy shrugged as she carefully cuddled Athene close to her. "I don't know. I wish I remembered the way back to Diagon Alley at least. Maybe then we could get a letter to Dumbledore or something." She frowned.
Harry started to nod before he gave his trunk a good kick. "What are we going to do, Lucy? There's no way we can go back home now after what we did to Marge..." He started to rage and Lucy made a grimace.
"I know. Uncle Vernon will beat us for sure." She shuddered involuntarily and hugged her cat closer to herself. Harry stopped pacing at that and sat down next to her on the curb.
"We'll go to Diagon Alley...We'll stay at the Leaky Cauldron until it's time for school and then we'll explain to Dumbledore together. He'll understand and I'm sure the Dursleys won't care. They've been wanting to be rid of us since day one." He said as confidently as he could muster although his heart was racing just as quickly as his sister's.
Lucy started to respond when she caught sight of something across the street and froze. Noticing the look on her face, Harry turned to follow her gaze and stopped when his gaze fell on the silhouette of what appeared to be a large black dog with glowing yellow eyes.
The dog began to growl, making Athene mew in distress again. Lucy started to back up ignoring the feel of the cat's claws digging through her sweater at the same moment Harry stood to his feet, moving to stand between the strange dog and his sister whilst pulling out his wand.
"Lumos" He whispered, causing the tip to light up just as the dark let out a loud bark which startled Harry at the same instant a bright pair of automobile headlights streaked across the night, blinding him temporarily and causing him to fall over his trunk in the confusion.
Lucy gasped and scrambled up to her feet, reaching for her own trunk at the same time a blue double decker bus pulled up. The door opened and a slightly scraggly looking young man in a conductor's uniform stumbled out, stifling a yawn before beginning to speak in a drawl.
"Welcome to the Night Bus. Emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evening." He read before casually putting away the worn piece of parchment he had been reading from.
Harry and Lucy exchanged quick glances with each other just as the conductor's gaze finally fell on them and he frowned.
"What are you doing down there?" He directed the question at Harry after quickly glancing at Lucy who was still clutching her frightened cat tightly in her arms.
Harry felt taken aback. "I fell over."
"Well what you fell over for?" The conductor almost demanded and Lucy stifled a snort of laughter.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Harry complained, looking bewildered as he clumsily attempted to get back on his feet.
"Well come on then, you two! Let's not wait for the grass to grow, eh?" Stan almost snapped as he finally began to climb down from the bus steps.
Nodding Lucy started to make her way towards the bus, dragging her trunk with Athene's travel basket still attached to it while Harry stepped cautiously around the side of the bus.
"Give that to me, Miss. Get on board now and find a seat if you can." Stan grabbed for Lucy's trunk, gesturing with his head towards the entrance of the bus. Lucy nodded and turned towards her brother's direction at almost the same time that Stan did.
"Harry?..."
"Oi!...What are you looking at?" Stan asked, peeking around the bus making Harry turn to face him.
He sighed and shook his head. "Nothing." It's gone. He looked at Lucy and she bit down on her lip.
"Well come on then! In! No no no! I got your things! You two! In!" Stan quickly shooed the twins and the Potters hurried to do as they were told, unable to keep from gaping once they had gotten on board the bus.
Instead of rows of seats, there were beds with a witch peacefully snoring in one of them and through the center where the staircase to the second level was located a little crystal chandelier was hung, glowing brightly in the otherwise dimly lit bus cabin.
Barely aware of the sounds of Stan struggling with their trunks while continuing to tell them to move in, Harry and Lucy began to explore, walking further towards the back of the bus until they reached two empty beds at the very back of the bus.
Stan followed them and pulling up a ticket machine from inside his jacket, he rang up two bus tickets before handing them to each of the twins.
Harry and Lucy started to examine their tickets when Stan suddenly hollered towards the front. "Take it away Ern!"
"Yes! Take it away Ern!" A heavily Jamaican accented voice responded from somewhere across and the bus and Lucy whipped around to find the source of the second voice when the bus suddenly lurched forward throwing both her and Harry onto the beds.
Stan stayed close by, scrutinizing them as if suspicious they might try some mischief while on the bus.
Harry sighed and struggled to pull himself upright despite the lurching movements of the bus. Lucy lay still for a moment longer out of shock.
"So...what did you two say your names were again?" Stan asked quietly and Harry furrowed his brows.
"We...didn't!" He gasped as the bus took another sharp turn right through the midnight traffic.
"Huh...well are you two related to each other or is it...?" Stan trailed off and Harry nodded his head, gasping when the bus lurched again nearly causing him to hit his head on a pole.
"We're brother and sister!...Twins actually!"
"Ah! Twins!...Well whereabouts are you both headed then?"
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut as the bus took another sharp turn, nearly colliding into a couple cars headed in the opposite direction in the attempt.
Harry grabbed onto the pole for balance. "The Leaky Cauldron!...That's in London!"
Stan smirked at that. "D'you hear that, Ern? The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London." He repeated, snickering as a shrunken head that Harry now noticed was the source of the second accented voice chortled back.
"The Leaky Cauldron? Oh! When you have their pea soup, make you sure you eat it before it eats you!" Harry turned to look down in Lucy's direction just as the shrunken head let out a loud high pitched cackle that somehow didn't wake up the snoozing witch.
Finally, Lucy managed to pull herself up into a sitting position on the bed and looked out in amazement at how fast everything was passing out the window.
"How is it no one's trying to catch us?...What about the muggles? Don't they see us?" She wondered aloud. Stan answered her with a scoff.
"Muggles? No, they don't see nothing, do they?" He exchanged another laugh with the shrunken head that hung by the silent driver.
Suddenly the bus lurched to a violent stop, throwing Harry forward into the glass in front of him, face first and knocking Lucy out of the bed.
Harry let out an "oomph" on the impact and Lucy grimaced as she checked to make sure Athene was still okay.
"Sorry about that, folks. Got a little old lady at 10 o clock. Shouldn't be more than a few." Stan apologized calmly and quite casually as Lucy slowly picked herself up from the floor while Harry peeled himself up from the window.
Not knowing how long the bus would stand still for, Lucy hurried over to where Stan had left her trunk and quickly shut Athene back into her basket, managing to get the lock in place just as the bus took off again at lightning speed, sending her and Harry sprawling once more.
This time, Harry managed to grab on to a pole to keep his balance while Lucy fell half on the bed again.
"Oww..." She moaned as the edge of the mattress rammed into her ribcage a bit.
"Careful, you'll want to stay in your seat for the whole ride there, Miss." Stan remarked and Lucy huffed, pulling herself up the rest of the way onto the bed.
Harry frowned, noticing the newspaper Stan had pulled from his jacket now.
"Who is that? That man on the front." He asked upon noticing the moving photo of a wild looking long haired man in a prisoner's uniform with the words "Escaped from Azkaban" printed in big letters over him on the headline.
Stan flipped the paper closed and studied the headline for a moment before looking back over at the Twins.
"Who is that? Who is...that is Sirius Black, that is! Don't tell me you two have never been hearin of Sirius Black?"
The twins shook their heads. "Sorry." Lucy shrugged.
Stan smirked at them. "Well then, you two are in for a treat. He's a murderer, he is. Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it."
Lucy felt an involuntary shiver race up her spine at that.
"Azkaban?"
"Azkaban Prison! Blimey, it's only the most heavily guarded wizard prison there is in our world! Built so that no one can ever escape!" Stan seemed almost gleeful as he told them.
Harry's expression turned confused. "Well then...how did he escape?"
"Well now, that's the question, isn't it? He's the first one that's done it!" Stan exclaimed, poking Harry in the chest as he spoke before lowering his voice to a whisper.
"See, he was a big supporter of...you know who." He inclined his head meaningfully and Harry and Lucy exchanged another look.
"Yeah, I reckon you've both at least heard of him?" Stan continued.
Both the twins nodded. "Yeah...him we've heard of." Harry muttered and turned face the window again just as the bus suddenly zoomed into the narrow space between two other double decker buses. These ones red and clearly just plain regular civilian London buses.
Harry groaned and Lucy let out a gasp as the bus began to squeeze itself, squeezing its passengers in the process. Surprisingly it didn't hurt, it just felt...squeezy.
Soon enough the Night Bus finished passing through between the other buses and re-inflated itself while continuing at break neck speed.
This time when the bus came to a stop, Stan pointed to the door, giving the Potters a meaningful look as he folded away his copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Here we are! The Leaky Cauldron." He announced just as the doors swung open. Harry and Lucy slowly started to pick themselves up again, moving to grab their trunks from where Stan had stored them when a familiar slightly hunched figure stepped up the bus steps, grinning widely when he saw the twins.
"Ah! Mr. and Miss Potter! At last." Lucy gave a half smile upon recognizing the little man. "Good evening, Mr. Tom." She said, relieved to be finally getting off the bus though she managed a polite smile and a thank you to Stan, Ern and the shrunken head too as she followed Harry out onto the sidewalk in front of the Inn.
Tom followed with their luggage trunks. "Just inside there, Potters. I'll bring you up some soup once we get you settled in your rooms." The innkeeper smiled, quickly ushering the twins into the Leaky Cauldron before taking out his wand, checking both ways up and down the street and giving it a little wave to silence the car alarm that had started wailing the moment the Night Bus had touched down.
Harry turned to check on Lucy as they stumbled into the main area of the inn where a few witches and wizards were enjoying or finishing up their meals and the servers were wiping up the unused tables.
In one corner a mop was wiping up under a table by itself while at another the chairs stacked themselves up on the tabletop.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked and Lucy shrugged. "As much as I can be. You?"
Harry nodded. "Same." He started to look around again when Tom suddenly reappared behind them, pushing them gently forwards towards the stairs that led to the lodging rooms.
"Right then. Almost forgot, you two are needed up at room 11 first. Right up here and then we'll get you two settled in for the night." Harry and Lucy cast confused glances at the magical innkeeper.
"Needed for what?" Harry asked, just as Tom opened a door at the top of the stairs revealing a good sized room with a desk, a single bed and some largely unoccupied bookshelves.
Standing behind the desk was a figure that made both the Twins' hearts stop.
Uh-oh! We're in trouble now. Lucy began to tremble again as Tom pushed them both into the room and the man turned to face them. She and Harry were face to face with none other than the Minister of Magic himself.
...
"As the Minister for Magic it is my duty to inform you both, dear Potters that earlier this evening, your Uncle's sister was located a little south of Sheffield stuck by a chimney shaft." The Minister began to speak, not moving from behind the desk right away as Tom began to pull the twins towards a set of armchair set on the right side of the room by a table that contained two covered plates.
"Oh, no thank you." Lucy and Harry tried to be polite as Tom tried to offer them various bits of snacks that were available on the table while the minister continued to speak, stating that the Accidental Magic Reversal Department had been successfully able to reverse what ever the Potters had done to her as well as erasing any memory she had of the entire incident.
"...so that's that, my young friends...and no harm done." The Minister finally strode across the room from the desk, a wide warm smile on his face as he extended his arms as if to wrap the twins in an embrace.
Lucy began to breathe a sigh of relief at the news though Harry still seemed a bit worried as Tom shuffled off to the side to open a dish of nuts.
Lucy managed a half smile. "Uh...well that's a relief, Sir. I must say." She said genuinely just as Tom cracked some nuts with a tremendous crunching sound.
Harry flinched in his direction briefly before refocusing on the Minister. "Umm...Minister?"
"Yes?" The Minister looked up quickly from the bowl of what appeared to be pea soup quickly at the boy's questioning tone and Lucy flinched when she thought she saw something move in the bowl.
"I...I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Understand? Why, what do you mean, Boy?" The Minister asked and Lucy turned to meet her brother's gaze.
"Well it's just...we broke the law. Underaged wizards and witches aren't allowed to use magic outside of school." Harry continued, surprised when the Minister let out a laugh.
"Oh come now, Harry! We don't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunts." Lucy let out a half stifled giggle at that while Tom let out a full on chortle. That is until the Minister silenced him with a slightly withering look.
"On the other hand...running away like that given the state of things, was very very irresponsible of you two." The Minister maintained his severe expression as he walked around to the back of Harry's armchair.
Lucy hung her head.
"The...state of things, Sir?" Harry asked curiously.
"We have a killer on the loose, Mr. Potter. Tis quite fortunate that neither you nor your sister were found by him." The Minister answered readily.
"Sirius Black, you mean. But what's he got to do with us?" Harry almost demanded. The Minister froze for a second before his expression melted back into easy laughter.
"Oh ho ho...nothing. Nothing of course! And after all, you are both safe! And that's what matters." He walked back around Harry's chair, giving the boy a hearty pat on the shoulder before sending a genial smile in Lucy's direction.
"And tomorrow you'll be on your way back to Hogwarts...Oh! And those are your new school books! One set for each of you. I took the liberty of having them brought here for you." Lucy's eyes immediately followed the Minister's arm to where two bound stacks of books were set side by side on the mantelpiece across the room from where they sat.
She felt a little trill in her heart at the sight of them and at the thought of finally going back to Hogwarts again in the morning. "Thank you, Sir."
"Yes, thank you." Harry chimed in after her and the Minister waved them off. "Nonsense. Now it's been a long night. Tom will show you both to your rooms. Goodnight." He went to sit back down at his desk while Tom almost yanked the twins up from their chairs and pulled back them back towards the door.
"I took the liberty of giving you the rooms with the connecting lavatory. I hope it'll be to your likings, Mr. Potter. Uh...Miss Potter." Tom addressed them both again after they climbed another flight of stairs.
Harry and Lucy both nodded their heads eagerly. "That's sounds great. Thank you." Harry thanked the old bartender and Tom answered with another happy grin.
"No trouble at all. Here we are. This one's for you, Harry. And Lucy you go next door." Tom quickly opened the door of the first room barely giving Harry a chance to peek inside before pushing him in once again.
"Right then. I'll leave you to it. Goodnight, Potters." Tom gave the twins a salute before walking off back down to the main level of the inn. The Twins watched him go before entering in to the room Harry was given.
Lucy pulled the door shut and moved to a door on the opposite wall which opened as she predicted into a connecting bathroom which had another door that led presumably in her room.
"It's...nice. Not as nice as our room back home, but...at least we get our own beds here." She said noting the tidy floors and bathroom fixtures.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I wonder how the Minister knew so fast what had happened though?...Or where we were?" He wondered half to himself as he dropped down on the bed and unbuckled the leather strap holding his new school books together.
Lucy shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe it was magic?" She turned back towards her brother and sighed when she noticed both Harry's trunk along with Hedwig in her cage seat aside one wall near an end table.
Harry nodded consideringly. "I guess."
"Well, I'm going to go over to my room and check on Athene. Poor thing is probably scared to death and ready to kill me after everything tonight." She sighed and tightened her jaw before walking through the bathroom.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "Just let her roam around and give her a few extra of those treats Hermione sent. She'll forgive you then." He said lightly and Lucy shot him a look. "We'll see. See you in the morning, Harry?" She asked and Harry nodded.
"Of course. Goodnight Lucy."
"Goodnight." With a nod, Lucy disappeared through the bathroom door to get to her suite, quietly shutting it behind her.
...
"Housekeeping!" Lucy started awake the next morning, a loud piercing roar making the room shake a bit and almost making her dive back under the covers until she heard Athene meowing from her basket across the room.
"Aww...Good morning, Thenie. Are you feeling any better today?" Slipping out of bed she padded across the floor and reach to pet the cat cautiously at first until Athene gently nudged at her palm with her nose then licked at a scratch Lucy had at the heel of her hand.
Lucy smiled relieved. "Oh Good! Here, have one more treat before breakfast. You deserve it after what you went through on that bus last night. I'm sorry about that again." Her smile faltered a bit as she reached to stroke the rest of her cat's fur while feeding her a treat with the other hand.
"Meow..." Clara squeaked before hopping down out of her basket and pausing to begin washing her front paws. Chuckling, Lucy stood to her feet as well and started to head for the door that led out to the main hall.
"Come on Thenie. Let's go see if Harry's awake and go down to eat. I'm starving." Her stomach let out a soft growl then and she instinctively reached to rub it with her hand just as Athene walked up to join her at the door just as Lucy opened it.
"Morning Lucy!" Harry greeted her cheerfully from where he was already standing in the hallway and Lucy returned the greeting with a smile. "Morning Harry! How's Hedwig?" She asked, knowing the owl was just as ruffled as Athene had been after their wild ride on the Night Bus.
Harry shrugged. "She's okay. And Thenie?" He looked down when he felt his sister's cat rub against his leg before wandering off down the hall. Lucy shook her head and moved to follow her.
"She's doing better. At least...she didn't scratch me again." Subconsciouly, Lucy rubbed at the scratch on her hand and Harry sighed.
"Well maybe she's perk up more when we get some breakfast. I wonder what Tom's got cooking up for this morning?" He wondered half to himself as he and Lucy began to walk towards the stairs.
"Hopefully something that isn't moving." Lucy murmured making Harry laugh softly until they both heard a set of familiar voices arguing from downstairs.
"I'm warning you, Hermione! Keep that bloody cat away from Scabbers or I'll turn him into a tea cozy!"
"He's a cat, Ron! What do you expect? It's in his nature! Besides you never had any problem with Lucy's cat."
"A cat? Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me. Besides Lucy's cat never tried to kill my rat!"
"Oh that's rich! Coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush. Isn't that right, Crookshanks?" Harry and Lucy exchanged smiles as they slowly came downstairs to where their two best friends were standing in the main tavern arguing with each other.
Ron noticed them first and his expression brightened up immediately though he was still holding his pet rat in a rather protective grip at his shoulder.
"Harry!...Lucy!" Hermione whirled around at the same moment, revealing a rather fluffy looking orange cat with a slightly squashy looking face that she was cuddling close to her.
"Guys!" Hermione beamed giving the cat she was holding a few more pets.
Lucy beamed back. "Hey guys! What are you doing here? When did you get a cat, Hermione?" She asked all at once. Hermione shrugged.
"A couple days ago when I got my books from Diagon Alley. I was going to get an owl like Harry, but when I saw Crookshanks I had to take him." Hermione bent to rub her cheek against the cat's fur before glancing back at Ron who seemed to be resisting the urge to say something.
"Also Ron's family just got back from a trip to Egypt. We all met here so we could catch the train to school together. What about you two? When did you get here, Lucy?" Hermione asked as if to quickly divert attention from her cat.
Harry shrugged. "Last night. And it's kind of a long story. Did you say Egypt?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, we won a prize for a special trip. Well Dad did anyway. We even made it into the Prophet." He beamed, fishing around in his pocket before pulling out a newspaper clipping.
Harry and Lucy gathered around together to look at it. "Wow...what was it like?" Harry asked. Ron shrugged while continuing to stroke Scabbers.
"Oh, it was brilliant. Loads of old stuff, like mummies, tombs. Even Scabbers here enjoyed himself." Ron chuckled and the Potter Twins joined in. Hermione gave him a pointed look.
"You know, the Egyptians used to worship cats."
"Yeah! Along with the dung beetle." Ron retorted sarcastically. Hermione opened her mouth to shoot another remark at him when two tall flame haired figures swooped in, skipping the last steps of the stairs with a unison whoop.
"Oi! You're not flashing that clipping around again, are you Ron?" George asked as Fred reached around to swipe the newspaper clipping from his younger brother's hands.
Ron clenched his jaw. "No, I haven't shown anyone. Just-."
"Oh no! Not a soul!" Fred cut him off. "Not unless you count Tom."
"The day maid." George chimed back in.
"The night maid."
"Cook."
"And the bloke who fixed the foilet." Fred smirked before sharing a chuckle with his twin. Lucy smothered snicker of her own, drawing the attention of the older Weasleys.
"Well! If it isn't our favorite fellow twins!" George beamed reaching to scoop Lucy into a hug at the same time that Fred hugged Harry.
"Favorite after us, of course!"
"Have you been getting my letters, Lulu?" George asked after setting Lucy back down on the ground.
Lucy nodded, chuckling a bit at the sound of the nickname the Weasley Twins had given her. "Yes. Thank you for them. For all your letters." She added quickly glancing back around at Ron and Hermione.
"They really helped me keep my chin up on really hard nights." She said sincerely, rubbing at her left arm and scuffing her toe against the floor as George smiled back at her.
"Well we're glad to hear it." Fred chimed in with a wide grin, about to give his twin a playful nudge when the rest of the Weasleys entered the tavern with Ginny scampering ahead to greet Harry with a light blush.
"Hello Lucy! Hi Harry!..." Ginny greeted, her eyes quickly swiveling from Lucy back to Harry again, her cheeks pink as she looked at him. Harry smiled back at her.
"Hey!" "Hiya Ginny!" The Potters returned the greeting almost simultaneously, perking up even more when they spotted the Weasley Matriarch coming over.
"Harry Dear! Lucy Darling, how good to see you both!" Molly gushed, pulling the both of them into an embrace at the same time.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."
"You as well, Mrs. Weasley."
"Now you both got everything you need?" Molly asked, looking from Harry to Lucy and back again with a serious and mothering look on her face.
"Yes." "Yes Ma'am."
"Yes? All your books and your all your clothes?"
"Yes, they're all upstairs." Harry reassured her as Lucy nodded her agreement with him. Another warm smile it Molly's expression.
"Good. How's about some breakfast then?" She proposed already moving to approach Tom at the bar while Mr. Weasley stepped up next.
"Well well! If it isn't Harry and Lucy Potter!" The Weasley Patriarch beamed and the Potter Twins grinned back at him.
"Good to see you, Mr. Weasley."
"You as well! I wonder...might have I word with you both?" Arthur inquired gently and the Potters exchanged quick glances before responding.
"Sure!"
"Great! This way then." Arthur quickly moved to lead the twins into a more secluded corner of the tavern before his tone and expression quickly took on a much more serious and even ominous tone.
"Now Potters...you must understand that some in the Ministry would strongly discourage me...from divulging what I'm about to reveal to the two of you...but I think you need to know the facts." He began and the Potters nodded in acknowledgment.
"You are both in danger. Grave danger." Arthur revealed, lowering his voice as afraid someone would hear.
Harry and Lucy glanced at each other again, this time nervously. "Has...has this anything to do with...?" Lucy began and trailed off when she felt a knot in her stomach.
"Sirius Black?" Harry picked up and finished the sentence for her.
Mr. Weasley nodded his head. "What do you two know about, Sirius Black?" He asked.
Lucy shrugged. "Only that he escaped Azkaban."
"And do you know why?" Mr. Weasley continued, his eyes flickering between the twins for a moment as he spoke.
"Thirteen years ago when you stopped..." Now it was Mr. Weasley's turn to stop and trail off as if he were afraid the next work he spoke would jinx him.
"V...Voldemort?" Harry tried only to be swiftly snapped at by the Weasley Patriarch causing Lucy to flinch a bit in surprise. "Don't say his name!"
"Sorry." Harry quickly apologized, hanging his head a bit as Mr. Weasley took a deep breath to compose himself.
"When you stopped You-Know-Who...Black lost everything. But to this day, he remains a faithful servant, and in his mind...you two are the only things that stand in the way...of You-Know-Who returning to power and that is why...he escaped from Azkaban. To find the both of you." Arthur finished his explanation and the twins nodded in understanding.
"And kill us." Arthur nodded his head. "Precisely. Now Harry, Lucy swear to me right now that whatever you may hear...neither of you will ever go looking for Black." He pressed a bit sternly though his plea only confused the Potter Twins.
"But Mr. Weasley...why would Harry and I go looking for someone who wants to kill us?" Lucy asked bewildered, causing Mr. Weasley's expression to freeze up for a moment before he suddenly smiled and shook his head in a dismissive manner.
"Oh of course you wouldn't, my dear it's just...I just wanted you both to be extra careful I suppose. Now, shall we rejoin the others?" He quickly waved his hand in a shooing away motion before walking around to lead the way back to the table where Hermione and the other Weasleys were already seated, sharing some toast with jam or butter.
Harry and Lucy still stared after him feeling a bit confused by his earlier warning.
Weird...why on earth would we ever go looking for someone like Sirius Black? Lucy wondered and Harry shook his head.
I've no idea, but I'm starved. He started to walk a little faster to one of the remaining seats at the table and plopped down in a chair between Ron and Hermione.
Lucy followed his example, slipping in between Ron and the Weasley Twins and quickly forgetting about Mr. Weasley's strange omnious words as she reached for a slice of toast.
...
"Boy! The train seems extra full this year." Ron exclaimed as he and his three friends strolled through a car, trying to find a compartment with enough room for them all.
Harry had to nod in agreement. "Maybe there's more first years than usual this year." Lucy hypothesized and Hermione shrugged, carefully cradling Crookshanks in her arms. "Maybe."
They stopped at the last compartment in the car and almost let out a sigh in unison when they noticed a slightly worn out looking man sleeping inside.
"Well, it's going to have to do." Hermione moved first, reaching to open the door. "I hope he doesn't mind if we share the cabin."
"Hang on!" Harry paused. "There's not enough room for all of us to sit in here with him." He pointed out and Hermione paused with the door slightly ajar.
Lucy sighed. "You guys go ahead and take it. I'll go see if the Patils will let me sit with them." She offered, causing Harry to shoot her a slight frown. "You sure?"
Biting her lip, Lucy nodded. "Positive. I'll see you at the feast." She turned walk back down the aisle way, briefly hearing Ron asking if she and Harry really blew up their aunt with magic as she searched for the compartment she thought she saw the Patil sisters occupying earlier.
"Hey Lu! You looking for a seat?" Lu jumped back a bit in surprise when a compartment door slid open and Fred Weasley stuck his head out with a wide welcoming grin.
"Uhh...yes. The train seems to be extra full today." She shrugged, looking down at her shoes briefly as Fred pushed open the door a little wider.
"Well come on then! We've got an extra seat for you right here. Right Georgie?" He glanced back at his twin who only smirked and patted the seat next to him.
Lucy hesitated for a second until an announcement came on stating that the train would be moving soon. With another shrug and a sigh, she quickly slipped into the compartment occupied by the Weasley Twins, sitting down next to George while Fred closed the door again.
"So...tell us Lucy. Is it true you and Harry accidentally turned your auntie into a balloon over dinner?" Fred asked, seating himself across from his twin and Lucy as George chimed in.
"Did the Minister of Magic really have to climb to the roof of a multi-story bakery to get her down?" "Boy that must have been a sight!" Lucy chuckled embarrassedly and averted her gaze to the floor.
"I uh...I'm not sure actually. I'm not even sure how we did it. See, Harry and I got a bit angry when our Aunt-." Suddenly the train pitched forward to a stop and Lucy let out a gasp as the lights flickered out.
George looked around bewilderedly. "We can't be there already, can we?" He asked and Fred shook his head. "No, we only just pulled out from the station." Getting up, he started to lean his head out of the compartment door when the train lurched again throwing him back into his seat.
"What was that?" Lucy exclaimed. George shook his head as Fred scrambled to get upright again. "Don't know. Maybe something's broken down?" He ventured as Fred pointed towards the window.
"Look! Is it just me or is something moving towards us out there?" He asked. Almost immediately George and Lucy shuffled closer towards the window.
"I don't see-." George started only to be cut off when the compartment tossed them again. This time Lucy bumped her head against the window pane.
"Oww!" She moaned, reaching to rub at the sore spot on her head when a chill suddenly filled the compartment, growing quickly colder until the glass on both sides of the compartment began to freeze over.
Clenching her teeth to keep from shivering, Lucy started to tuck her hands under the sleeves of her sweater when the door to the compartment slid open revealing a horrifying rotted hand that looked more like a claw.
Letting out a distressed mew, Athene tried to burrow under Lucy's sweater just as the claw moved further into the compartment revealing itself to be connected to a large black hooded shape which seemed to fixate on Lucy as it slipped inside.
Lucy started when she felt George grab her hand in a protective gesture, shifting his body a bit so that he was slightly in front of her now, but the hooded creature paid no notice to him or Fred.
Just as Lucy started to shrink away against the back corner of the compartment the horrible creature suddenly let out a howl that sounded half like an inhale before lunging towards her.
It was as if her blood were turning to ice directly in her veins or as if an unknown and unseen threat was looming nearby just about to strike. Suddenly, another growl drew the creature's attention and it suddenly turned away, whipping out of sight and sending one last chilling blast inside that made Lucy feel light-headed.
She felt as if the air had been suddenly sucked straight away out of her lungs leaving only a sick terrifying feeling inside. Black spots began swimming before her eyes and Lucy became faintly aware of what sounded like the shrill scream of a woman ringing from a distance.
The dizzy feeling intensified and she felt herself being lightly shaken before a pair of voices that sounded familiar yet muffled as if underwater called out her name.
As she turned towards the voices, she felt her eyes roll to the back of her head, barely catching a glimpse of Fred and George's concerned faces before it all went black and the woman's screams faded away into nothing.