LUCY:

January passed in a hazy blur. Having Quidditch back in my life meant that more of my evenings were filled with practice, which meant that more of my nights were filled with homework, which meant that more of my mornings started with "Lucy, you really have to get up now if you don't want to be late to class," which meant that more of my afternoons included the phrase "Maybe you should take a nap before practice" (which of course I never did). On nights Harry had Occlumency, we blew off steam afterward in the Room of Requirement with a duel, and from time to time on nights he didn't, one or both of us would head there with Neville for a while. Our D.A. meetings consisted of shield charms, making sure everyone was as strong with those as possible before we started using actual dueling spells against each other.

Before I knew it, the full moon was two days away. I had decided not to take wolfsbane for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I hated it. I hated how much sicker it made me than the typical pre-full moon symptoms, I hated how careful and secretive I had to be about taking it, I hated how it put Hagrid at risk — especially with Umbridge around — to harbor it for me. I hated how it impacted my Quidditch-playing ability, too; with practices getting more intense by the day in preparation for the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match, I couldn't afford to be sloppy in practice because I wasn't feeling well. And we reasoned well enough that now that I had Ginny, I would be safe in the forest even without wolfsbane, where we had plenty of room to run and explore without the risk of running into anything or anyone as long as we were careful.

So, Friday afternoon, instead of rushing down to Hagrid's to get wolfsbane before practice started, I was sitting under a tree quite a bit of distance away from the castle with my History of Magic book in my lap and my Walkman headphones around my neck. The solitude and cold was refreshing, but the former of the two didn't last. Over the sound of "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel, I heard the sound of uncertain footsteps crunching through the snow. I didn't need to peek around the tree to know it was Harry — he was the only person with the ways, means, and madness to come after me in this weather.

"Hey you, I thought you had your date tonight," I said without looking up from my book as soon as he was in earshot.

He didn't ask how I knew it was him, just walked faster until he was in front of me. "Yeah, I do."

Something about his tone was off, so I glanced up. He was wearing a bright orange Chudley Cannons beanie in addition to a bulky maroon coat over his robes, making him look a bit like a fwooper. The embarrassed flush in his cheeks in addition to the anxious way he had crossed his arms really completed the look.

I tossed my book aside, jumped up, and yanked the beanie off his head before he could even think about trying to stop me. I immediately understood why he looked the way he did — his hair was sticking in no fewer than sixteen different directions, locked into place by hair gel.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "How did you manage to find a Muggle car wash on the grounds of Hogwarts to do your hair, Potter?"

"Is it really that bad?" he asked with a groan.

I winced. "Yes."

Harry swore. "What am I going to do? I was hoping you'd reassure me it wasn't that bad."

"I wish I could, but it is that bad."

Harry swore again, dragging his hand down his face.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, let me see what I can do."

I practically shoved him to the ground and extracted my wand from my pocket. His hair was always messy, but it was always in a careless, effortless, shapeless sort of way that made it endearing. It was just part of what made Harry Harry. But whatever gel he had used had effectively eliminated the careless, effortless, shapeless mess of Harry's hair and had instead turned it into a sharp-angled nightmare that looked rather like someone had used a permanent sticking charm to attach black stalactites and stalagmites to his head.

"Merlin, Potter, what kind of Muggle superglue did you get all over your comb?" I asked as I intensified the stream of water shooting from my wand.

"Seamus suggested I try his hair gel," he muttered. "Reckon he did it on purpose to try to ruin my date? He still doesn't believe me about... everything."

I sighed. "Merlin only knows. Not important, I suppose."

Slowly, slowly, his hair started to return to normal as I scrubbed out whatever it was Seamus had given Harry. I muttered Lavender's favorite hair-drying spell once I was sure all of the gunk was gone.

"Thanks, Lucy, you're a lifesaver," he said with a sigh.

"Of course." I lowered myself to the ground next to him and looked at him askance. "Why did you want to comb your hair anyway?"

"To make it look nicer. I know it backfired, truly backfired, but—" He sighed again. "Worth a shot."

"There's nothing wrong with the way it is now," I said, "honest."

Harry nodded, but I could tell he was far from convinced.

I wanted to keep assuring him, but I didn't want to go too far. He had a girlfriend, after all, and a date fast approaching. I settled for reaching over and running my fingers through his hair, realizing for the first time just how soft it was. I didn't mention this, though, and just grinned at him instead and assured him he'd be fine as long as he wasn't late.

"You actually helped fix his hair?" Ginny asked incredulously half an hour later as we tightened each other's arm guards. "If he had come to me, I would have laughed in his face and handed him a bigger beanie."

"Which is exactly why he came to me, I reckon," I replied. "Yes, of course I helped fix his hair. It's entirely possible Seamus did it on purpose, I couldn't let Seamus ruin Harry's date."

"If Harry's head looking as spiky as a knarl's would ruin a date, I don't have much faith in Cho's idea of what makes a good date."

I sighed. "I don't know if it would have ruined the date, but you're right. Now come on." We clacked together our arm guards, then our bats. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm ready to beat a Bludger or two."

That practice was the best I had ever experienced. When I had been a Chaser, practices before a full moon were the worst. Having to listen and brace myself for shouted-out formation patterns made my head spin, actually flying in those formations was overwhelming, and my shaky hands made Quaffles difficult to hold and even harder to catch. My hands always trembled before the full moon, but that didn't matter when I was holding a bat instead of a Quaffle. Every swing of my bat was more powerful than it had ever been before. The restless, burning energy that coursed through my body made me stronger, not weaker. My eyes being sharper than usual allowed me to better predict the Bludger's path, and if I really focused, I could hear a Bludger whistling around me even before I could locate it visually.

"All this and Harry isn't even here," Ginny remarked at one point as I sped past her in pursuit of a Bludger.

I laughed as I smacked it away from Katie and turned back to face her. "This show is all for you, Weasley. Try keeping up, would you?"

"Every time I try to go after a Bludger, you get there first!"

"And whose fault is that?" I asked as I zipped past her again.

"Not mine!"

Practice was over altogether too soon. I still had that fire coursing through my veins; having an outlet that was constructive rather than destructive was nice, so nice. Too soon, Ginny and I were heading up to the castle for dinner. On our way, though, we bumped into Cho and Harry, who were on their way to the Great Hall as well. Before any of us could say anything in greeting, another voice stopped us all in our tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?"

We whirled around just as Anthony Rickett, Hufflepuff Beater and one of Cedric's closest friends aside from Henry, marched over to us.

"What does it look like? We're hungry and going to dinner to try to remedy that," Ginny answered, narrowing her eyes at him.

He blinked. "Not you." He turned to Cho. "You. Did Cedric mean so little to you that you're just going to turn around and date someone else the next chance you get? You can't do that!"

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. As Cho's eyes filled with tears, I stomped forward and glared up at him.

"Leave her alone," I snapped.

"You were his sister! You know as well as anyone how much he loved her! Doesn't it bother you? Why are you defending her?"

"I'm defending her because she doesn't need to hear the disgusting opinions of people like you! Who she dates or doesn't date is none of your concern and none of your business!"

"I bet Cedric is rolling in his grave right now," he muttered. "Listening to his sister defend this traitor. I know I'm not the only person who feels this way."

"You're right, you're not," I said. "You're just the first to make the mistake of saying something awful within earshot of me. Did you think I would back you up?"

"Yes. I did. You're just as big a traitor to your brother as she is."

I reached for my wand, but before I could do anything, Harry shot his hand out and grabbed my wrist.

"Don't," he said, glaring up at Rickett too. "He's not worth it."

"But he deserves it," I protested as I tried to wrench my hand free.

Harry gamely held onto my wrist. "Lucy, don't."

"Fine." I shook myself free and turned to look at Cho, whose eyes were wide and still glistening with tears. "I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this. You don't deserve it. I hope you know Cedric would never think that low of you and he'd be furious if he knew his so-called friends were treating you like this."

I flashed a rude gesture in his face and stormed off all the way back to the Quidditch Pitch, too upset to be properly hungry even though the full moon was only two days away. I was out there by myself whacking both Bludgers around long after dark when I got a dim beam of wandlight approaching. A couple of minutes later, I glanced over at the commentary box to see Harry's glasses glinting in the moonlight. I wrestled the Bludgers into their box and flew up to the commentary box.

Rather than dismounting to sit with him, I stood on my broom in a surfing-like position and maneuvered myself back and forth rhythmically.

"Should have let me hex him," I said.

"And let you get detention with Umbridge for the next week? Right before a full moon during which you would be suspiciously absent from said detention? I don't think so."

I faltered, nearly falling before saving myself. "I hadn't thought of that. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Also, don't fall."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I won't." To prove my point, I did a lap around the Pitch standing on my broom, adding in the occasional 360° loop for good measure. When I reached the commentary box again, I lowered myself onto my broom and opted to hang upside down from it instead. "See? I won't fall."

"Broom surfing is a new trick for you," he commented. "I don't remember you ever doing it before."

"Ginny taught me. Once you get your broom back, I can teach you. Anyway, how was your date? Better than the first one?"

Harry grimaced. "It would have been better if the Tornados hadn't been playing the Magpies. All she could talk about was that the Magpies were Cedric's favorite team, and she got all misty-eyed every time Alasdair Maddock was mentioned."

"He was Cedric's favorite player," I explained. "I'm sorry, Harry, that plus the unpleasantry at the end of it all doesn't make it sound like a very fun date."

"At least my hair was alright," he said with a small smile. "Thanks again for fixing it."

"That's what friends are for," I replied, shrugging.

"They're also for this, I believe." Harry chucked an apple at me, which I snatched from midair with ease. "Ginny was going to get Dobby to send more food up to your dormitory since you decided to skip dinner two nights before you-know-what, but I figured you could use a snack for the trip up to the castle."

"You figured correctly," I said as I crunched into the apple. "Thanks, Potter."

He grinned. "You fixed my hair, I brought you an apple. Friendship in a nutshell, isn't it?"

"That's the only kind of friendship I want, at least," I replied, laughing. "What a day this shaped up to be."

"What a day indeed."

~

When the time came to head down to the forest, Harry joined Ginny and Lucy. Lucy made him swear he'd head up to the castle as fast as possible after saying goodbye — she told him it was just so he wouldn't attract more attention than necessary, but even more than that, she didn't want him to hear her screams. It had been bad enough seeing Ginny crying because of the screams, to see Harry have the same reaction would break her entirely.

She had hidden away all day on Sunday. Lucy felt that it was homicidal on her part and suicidal on Ginny's to willingly go into the forest together again, but it was far too late to change anyone's minds. She couldn't bring herself to look at Ginny's brothers, afraid she'd see fear in their eyes. She couldn't bring herself to look at Hermione or Harry either, knowing they'd be worried about her being in the forest without wolfsbane. So instead, she feigned sleep all day and blamed the dare candy for being effective when the time came to head down to the Merlin-forsaken forest.

Lucy didn't say a word the whole way down. On the edge of the forest, she turned to Harry. "You should head on up now," she said in a voice little more than a whisper. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She started to turn back, to head into the forest, but Harry suddenly caught her up in a hug, holding tighter than he ever had before a full moon. She felt him trembling, she heard his nervous breathing, but she didn't see him mouth the words "Please keep her safe" to Ginny and she didn't see Ginny mouth the words "I will" back to Harry.

He let go and jogged off in the direction of the castle, and Lucy turned to Ginny.

"Transform as soon as I go in, but don't follow until it's over. You — You shouldn't see that. If I'd known—"

"I've already seen it," Ginny interrupted, "but I'll wait since that's what you want." She pounced on her friend, holding nearly as tight as Harry and trembling twice as much. "I'll see you soon. I love you."

"I love you too," Lucy whispered. She gently broke free and tore off into the forest at a dead sprint. She ran and ran and ran and ran until the first wave of overwhelming pain knocked her to the ground. Her own horrific scream pierced the night, so loud she thought her ears would burst, and after a couple more screams, Lucy lost herself to the wolf.

The wolf heard something approaching, but it was in too much pain to open its eyes. Something nudged its head, and when it was finally able to begin to take in its surroundings, it realized there was a white horse nervously pawing the ground nearby. The wolf jumped to its feet and lunged forward, snarling, but the horse stood its ground. The horse wasn't afraid.

Intrigued, confused, taken aback and somewhat touched by this behavior, the wolf appraised the horse with a kinder eye. The horse seemed to be a friend rather than foe or food.

Food. The wolf lifted its nose, searching the air for something, anything to eat, but a most unusual scent caught its attention instead. It immediately spun around and darted away in pursuit of it, only vaguely aware of the horse on its heels. It ran until it reached the source of the scent, a most unusual creature. It was massive, and seemingly asleep. The wolf turned to the horse, wondering if it had any idea what the creature was, but the horse offered a gesture that looked like a shrug and backed a couple of steps away.

The wolf turned back to the creature, though, and crept closer. It would figure out who it was and why it was there, whatever it was.

~

I was launched back to reality by the sound of my own screams. As soon as the pain dwindled and I was left gasping and choking back sobs, Ginny was there, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Shh, shh, you're okay," she whispered as she dropped to her knees beside me. She lowered her forehead to mine for a moment before sitting back up and scanning my whole body for injuries. "You're bloody lucky you weren't killed. What were you thinking?"

"I..." I closed my eyes and searched my memories of the night. Oh, Merlin. That was a giant. An actual giant. "We need to talk to Hagrid."

Ginny nodded, scrubbing away the tears on her cheeks. "We do. And fast, before Harry comes." She rested a hand on my forehead. "Merlin, you're freezing, we need to get you inside."

She started to reach for my wrist to check my pulse, but I swatted her away.

"I'm alright," I mumbled. "C'mon. Inside sounds good. Can you help me up?"

Ginny rose to her feet and extended a hand. I hauled myself to my feet with her help, and we staggered to Hagrid's hut as fast as our shaky legs would carry us.

He let us in as soon as we knocked. I immediately collapsed onto the sofa, still heaving for breath, as Tuck and Fang greeted us with thunderous barking.

"Hagrid, who was that?" I managed after a moment.

Hagrid's eyes widened. "Who's who? What?"

"Hagrid, we don't have time for that, Harry will be here any moment," Ginny said desperately. "Please, who was that?"

"Did he hurt yeh?" he asked, his voice rough with panic. "He jus' don't know his own strength yet—"

"We're alright, we're alright," I interrupted. "He's the reason you've got all of those cuts and bruises, I'm guessing?"

Hagrid sighed and landed hard on the chair behind him. "Yes, but please, don' — don' tell anyone, I had ter bring him back, they were bullyin' him fer bein' small an' I couldn' leave him, he's — he's my brother!" With that, he buried his head in his hands and choked out a sob.

"Oh, Hagrid," I said, jumping up and rushing over to him. "It's alright. I understand, I understand."

Ginny rushed to his other side and laid her hand on his shoulder. "We won't tell anyone, we promise."

"I'm jus' so worried abou' him," Hagrid continued. "Tha' awful woman put me on probation an' I'm sure I'll get the sack any day now an' he'll be all alone an' then—"

I froze. "Hagrid, Hagrid, wait, probation?"

"I wasn't surprised, given that the inspection didn' go well at all, but I — Grawp, he... he can get his own food an' all, but it's company he needs. If I go, if she sends me away—"

"You won't go," I said fiercely, "not if we can help it, but if that does somehow happen, we can keep Grawp company." I stiffened, hearing snow crunching just outside. "Harry's coming."

I launched myself back onto the couch and let my eyes sink shut while Ginny hurried over and curled up with me. Seconds later, Harry knocked, and Hagrid let him in.

I could hear the smile in Harry's voice when he spoke. "I knew stopping at the Hospital Wing on the way down and bringing the wideye potion would be worth the couple extra minutes."

"Yeah, they jus' came right in an' fell asleep," Hagrid lied with a chuckle.

"I'm not asleep," Ginny mumbled in protest. She held a hand out. "The wideye potion would be nice though."

Harry's footsteps creaked over to us, and he passed her the vial. She rolled off of me onto the ground and rested her head against the sofa as she choked down a couple mouthfuls of potion.

"Yeh know, maybe Lucy should stay down here a bit longer," Hagrid said. "We shouldn' wake someone who looks so peaceful. I'll send her up in a few minutes."

I bit back a laugh with no small amount of effort. I was reeling from the onslaught of information, but I supposed I was exhausted enough to not have any of it showing on my face. Harry agreed, and he left for the castle with Ginny.

As soon as the door closed behind the two, I opened my eyes and pushed myself to a sitting position.

"Sorry yeh had to find out like this," Hagrid said softly. "I didn' want ter keep a secret like this from you of all people, but with Umbridge here breathin' down yer neck, yeh didn' need one more thing ter worry about. When yeh didn' see him last month, I was glad, but—"

"Hagrid, it's alright, I understand. Your secret is safe with Ginny and me, I promise. He didn't hurt us at all, I was just — well, I wasn't, but the wolf... you know what I mean — the wolf was just curious since it's never seen a giant before. I think Ginny realized what was going on, but she didn't leave. We played with him for quite a while, actually, I think he might have even had fun."

Hagrid smiled. "Really?"

I nodded. "Really. Ginny chased me around a bit, and he seemed to think that was pretty funny. Sometime I'll play with him for real, like this. I'll just, er, be careful." I squinted to see Hagrid's face better. "You really ought to start trying to heal those, Hagrid."

"Bu' if the injuries go away, he won' realize that it's not nice ter hurt people," he said. "I don' mind, they're worth it for family."

I was too tired to try to argue, so I merely nodded. "It's different when it's your own flesh and blood."

"Exactly! I don' have me dad or me mum anymore, so Grawpy means the world ter me!" Hagrid froze suddenly, and his face fell. "Oh, I — I'm sorry, Lucy, I didn' mean ter—"

"It's alright," I interrupted. I had tried not to let any emotion show on my face, but enough of it had gotten past my internal shield. "I understand, really I do." With no small amount of effort, I pushed myself to my feet and lifted the wideye potion from the table, downing it all as fast as I could. "I should head up to the castle to shower before class, but I mean it, your secret's safe with me the same way mine's safe with you."

"We gotta stick together, we do," he said, clapping me on the back. "Yer a good kid, Lucy Diggory. Yeh know that, right?"

I grinned. "I try to be."

With that, I stashed the empty glass into my robes pocket and hurried through the snow all the way up to the castle.

I almost hexed one of Cedric's best friends into oblivion for criticizing Cho's decision to date the boy I fancy, Hagrid's half-brother is living in the Forbidden Forest... never a dull moment at Hogwarts, that's for sure.

~

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for falling off the face of the earth for a while there. Life sucks right now, if I'm being honest, but writing helps. Thank you all for being patient with me!

Well, I didn't want to throw my entire writing schedule off just because I missed a Saturday, so enjoy this double update! See you all on Saturday with Chapter 165! Harry and Lucy both going to have quite a bit to tell Cedric by the end of Chapter 164.