Chapter Four! (Sorry Lorcan hasn't been in much... or at all. I promise I'll get him in here eventually. Just wait until fourth year!) Anyway, this one's a bit more upbeat than the last, so that's a good thing, because I stink a angst.
Quickly, it was summer and Lucy was home with her flowers. She had missed the daffodils' bloom, since it happened in spring. She was sad about that but hardly let it dampen her spirits. She had to fix up the garden a lot, since it was chock full of weeds and her perennials weren't very, well, perennial anymore. Lucy bought all new flowers with her savings and replanted her garden.
Mrs. Pecker wasn't there anymore. Lucy's father had deemed her services unnecessary now that Molly was sixteen and Lucy thirteen. They did, however, spend a lot of time at the Burrow, as Percy was still a bit wary of leaving his daughters completely unsupervised.
There were always at least a couple of their other cousins at the Burrow when Lucy and Molly visited. Lucy felt a bit uncomfortable around them, as she had for a few years now. She just felt so dull and nondescript around all of their vibrant personalities. She was just the friendless flower girl next to their fire and charisma and passion.
Sometimes she would play with them but mostly she just worked in Grandma Molly's garden or listened to her grandparents talk. They were actually interesting to listen to, unlike most people. Perhaps it was because they were old enough to know the meaninglessness of surface chatter. Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur actually talked about things. Whether it be Muggle contraptions or a new recipe, they spoke about things that actually mattered to them, and that was eternally interesting to Lucy.
One day, though, while Lucy was in the kitchen with Grandpa Arthur, listening to him explain how eckeltricity worked, Louis came in and said, "Sorry, Granddad, but can I borrow Lucy from you?"
Grandpa Arthur nodded amiably, waving them off. Lucy was confused. Why did Louis want to talk to her? He was going to be a seventh year when they went back to Hogwarts. What could he possibly want with her?
Louis wiped his hands on his jeans. Were they sweating? He was nervous? "So, you like flowers, right?" he asked.
Lucy nodded, wondering where this was going.
"And you grow them at home?"
She gave the affirmative again.
Louis looked down at her. "Would you maybe be able to make me a bouquet? With lilies?"
Lucy grinned. He wanted flowers. He wanted her flowers. For some reason that made her really happy. "Sure. But why?"
Louis sighed. "Livia McNeal. You know, with the shiny hair? Lilies are her favorite flower."
That would explain the nervousness. Louis was such a romantic. She didn't really know why he was stressing about this. He could probably get any girl he wanted. But she agreed, telling him to come home with her today and she'd make him his bouquet.
That afternoon, back in her own garden, Lucy asked, "So, what kind of lilies do you want? I've got some asiatics, daylilies, aurelians, trumpets, even some stargazers." She gestured to the different variations all around the garden.
Louis blinked. "There are that many? Geez, Lucy, how do you know all of this?"
She smiled, proud of her garden. "Actually there are nine main divisions of lilies. I haven't even got half of what's available."
"Wow. Well, I like the bright yellow ones. Daylilies, were they? And the stargazers are really nice, too. Thanks so much for doing this, Lucy. Your garden's really pretty, you know." He looked around appreciatively.
Lucy went to get her clippers. She'd actually been meaning to deadhead some of the lilies, so at least the blooms would go to good use. "Oh, it's not my garden," she corrected. "It's mom's. But she'd be glad that you like it. Do you want anything else in with the lilies?" she asked, turning back to Louis with the clippers.
He was staring at her sadly. She looked down. People always got like this when she mentioned her mother. Lucy was actually pretty good with the grief, except on the anniversary of her mom's death each year.
She turned away from Louis, continuing her train of thought, "I think some lantana and baby's breath would look nice, don't you?"
"Yeah," Louis answered, seeming to go back to normal. "You're probably better at this than I am, anyway. Whatever you think."
She grinned, choosing her blooms carefully and gathering them together. "Let me go see if Molly's got any ribbons, okay?" she asked, and ran inside. A few minutes later, she returned with a pale yellow satiny ribbon and tied it around the arranged flowers. "There you are," she said, handing him the bouquet. "Knock her dead."
Louis thanked her again and rushed inside to floo away, likely to Livia's house.
Lucy was pleased with her work. She had liked using her flowers to make people happy. It was… fun. She turned back to her garden and told her flowers about her new happiness. The dormant daffodils gave her their pleasure in her joy. They were proud of her. She smiled, and then discovered that one of her roses had a case of black spot and went to get the plant medicine.
The next morning, Louis flooed to her house, found her in the garden, and pulled her into a hug, spinning her around. "It worked! She said she'd go out with me! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lucy!"
Lucy rolled her eyes at his antics, knowing full well that Livia would have gone out with Louis if he had showed up at her house with weeds in place of flowers.
But she was happy. She had found a friend in her older cousin and she grew more at ease around the rest of her family. Lucy only ever wanted real friends.
The rest of the summer passed in a blur and soon it was time to start school again. Molly was a prefect, so Lucy went off to sit with the other Hufflepuff third years. Louis popped his head into her compartment to introduce her to Livia (who really did have very shiny brown hair) amid sighs from the younger girls.
"He's really your cousin, Lucy?" Ally asked. "You're so lucky!"
Lucy held back a fit of laughs. Louis truly could have any girl he wanted.
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