As this dusty road now settles and I see what lay before
Every tear that held a broken dream is now shattered on the floor
And now bursting forth in splendor are the blossoms of second tries
Because dreams that bear the mark of love are dreams that never die

Sometimes life can feel so unkind
Sorrow won't define me
So just reminds my soul, my soul

My eyes are open
My heart is beating
My lungs are full
And my body's breathing
I'm moving forward

I found my freedom
I know this sorrow
I know the heartache
I know with fear comes a tragic heartbreak
Well, I'm moving forward
I found my freedom
I found the life that gave the reason to love

"Moving Forward"
Colony House

~

HENRY:

The sun had already set by the time I left the Quidditch Pitch. I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or cry or both, or shout or scream or both. I settled for spinning in a little circle, sighing heavily, and beginning my trek up to the castle. I was expecting everyone to be in the Great Hall for dinner, so I was more than a little surprised when I rounded the final corner and walked straight into someone.

"Merlin, sorry!" I said. I blinked. "George? What are you doing here?"

"Well, Furls, I do go to school here," he replied with a stupid grin. "Same as you, last I checked. Now if you were to see me in Ilvermorny and ask what I was doing there, your question would be perfectly reasonable, but seeing as we both find ourselves in the school we currently attend, I find your question to be a rather odd one."

I laughed. "You're insufferable. I was just asking why you aren't at dinner."

"I figured I'd take advantage of the toad's absence from her office and drop a bit of this in her tea kettle." George held up a small blue candy. "Don't worry, it won't kill her, we just thought we'd test our hypothermia candy on someone other than ourselves. Want to join me?"

"Sure, I don't see why not." The two of us fell into step together, hurrying directly up to her office. "Speaking of 'we,' where's Fred?"

"He's, er, a bit busy with Angelina at the moment, so I offered to do this myself. Nice to have the company, though."

"Nice to be had. What exactly is your plan for the hypothermia candy? Is it the antidote for the Fever Fudge?"

George shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Nah, the other half of the Fever Fudge just neutralizes the fever, it doesn't actually have the power to decrease body temperature in and of itself. This one is something of a passion project."

"Just to prove you could?"

"Something like that. Ideally, it would help with natural fevers."

"Unintentional ones, you mean?"

"Yeah, exactly. Dear Professor Umbridge looked a little red in the face after the match today. I'm just a concerned student trying to help out a bit, you know?"

I laughed. "Right. That can be our story if we get caught."

George grinned at me, mischief twinkling in his eyes. "We won't get caught. C'mon."

We jogged in silence all the way to her office. I reached for the doorknob, but George shot his hand out to stop me.

"She's got all kinds of protective charms," he whispered. "Allow me."

I pulled my hand back and watched as George drew his wand and worked it around the door in a complicated pattern, muttering spells with a look of utmost concentration on his face.

He turned to me with a somewhat shy smile. "What?"

"I'm just impressed," I replied. "How did you know how to do all of that?"

"She adds a couple new protective spells every time we break in, but Fred and I have a lot of experience getting into places we aren't supposed to get into. Go on, you have the honors of opening the door."

I rolled my eyes as I twisted the knob.

"Sweet Merlin," George said when we stepped inside. "You know, I don't hate the color pink, but this is just revolting."

"Yeah, agreed. Her kettle's over there, let's drop it in and go."

I lifted the lid while George plopped the blue candy in. We waited a couple of seconds to make sure nothing exploded or start screaming, then ducked out of the office. George did the protective charms again, and the two of us darted away, not stopping until we were a safe distance away.

"Pranking is as easy as that?" I asked.

"Oh no, not usually," he replied. "It's a highly complex art form, full of danger and deception. Each prank presents its own set of challenges based on the location and the audience."

"Really? This one seemed rather simple."

"Well, that's what happens when you're with an expert such as myself." George grinned, then grew serious and shrugged. "Like I said, this is more of a passion project than a prank. Just testing a product. Oh, and by the way, you played really well today. I love Ron and Oliver and all, but you're easily the best Keeper Hogwarts has seen in quite a while." As if startled by his own seriousness, he grinned again. "It's not your fault you lost, it's only because Fred and I got to train the best new Beaters Hogwarts has seen since we were forcefully retired."

I huffed, grinning in spite of myself. "Thanks, mate, I did my best."

"Your best is great! Hey, wait a minute, why weren't you at dinner? I was executing my brilliant scheme, but you never explained what you were doing."

Heat began to flood my face. "Oh, I — well..."

"Go on, spit it out," George said teasingly. "Don't be shy. I don't bite."

"I, er, might have been talking to a couple of people from various professional Quidditch teams," I mumbled sheepishly.

"Oh, were you?" I glanced at George, who was looking at me with amused curiosity. "I don't know why you look so embarrassed, Henry, that's wicked!"

I nodded, face growing hotter and hotter the longer he looked at me.

George slowed to a stop and crossed his arms. He quirked an eyebrow as a grin spread across his face.

"I get the feeling there's more to the story than that," he said.

I tugged at my collar, smiling in spite of myself. "I might have agreed to play for one of the teams."

"Might have?"

"And it might have been the Montrose Magpies."

"Mate, that's wicked!" George said, slapping me on the shoulder as we started walking again. "Merlin, why the hell didn't you say anything sooner? Here I am, rambling about our candy and here you are, a Magpie! That's wicked!"

"I haven't signed the contract yet, but... yeah." I cleared my throat. "Thanks. It's... wild. I was cornered by a couple of people after the match, and everyone was fairly excited about what they'd seen, but I've been a Magpies fan forever, and Cedric was too, and it just... felt right."

"I'm excited for you, mate, really! You deserve it! Cedric would be bloody proud of you. Who else knows?"

"Right now? Just you."

"WHAT! Okay, come on, we have to go tell someone else! Reckon your housemates will be back from dinner yet?"

"No, but — actually, that's perfect. I'll head down to the common room. You can come with me, if you want."

George looked a bit like Christmas had come early. "Sure thing."

"Am I going to regret this?" I asked, unnerved by the look of excitement on his face.

"No, no, you won't." He grinned. "Lead the way, Mr. Magpie."

"Call me that again and I'll hex you."

George laughed, the sound ringing through the empty hall. I hurried through the corridors with him following closely behind, and when I tapped out the rhythm on the barrel, he looked as if he'd explode from happiness.

"We knew the barrels were involved!" he crowed.

I turned to face him and groaned. "You mean to tell me you've been trying to break into our common room for years, and I just showed you how to do it?"

"Yes and yes! Am I the first Gryffindor to ever — oh, never mind, hi Lucy!"

I whirled around at the same time as Lucy.

Cedric's portrait waved at me over her shoulder. "Hi, Henry! She was just telling me about how well you played!"

I smiled. "Well, she should have been telling you about how well she played."

"Well, I can tell him about that after you make your announcement," George said, waving and walking closer. "Hi, Cedric! It's been a while. Name's George Weasley, in case you need the reminder, and I'm the handsomer of the two of us twins."

Cedric grinned. "I've heard a lot about you, but I don't think I've heard that last bit before. Bring Fred around sometime and I'll give you my professional opinion."

"Lucy, I'm ashamed of you! You haven't told your brother how devilishly handsome I am?"

"I've been a bit too busy complaining about you, sorry," she retorted with a roll of her eyes. She glanced at me. "Announcement?"

I felt myself blushing again. "Er, yeah." I cleared my throat. "So, er, there were scouts at the match today, and, er, I agreed to play for the Magpies."

"HENRY, THAT'S AMAZING!" Lucy shouted, jumping up and hugging me.

"Thanks," I said breathlessly. "I didn't think — well, Oliver mentioned scouts somewhat vaguely in November, and then I played with a few of his teammates over holiday, but I never dreamed — yeah, it is amazing." I looked at Cedric. He was grinning from ear to ear, looking incredibly proud. I swallowed. "Have I mentioned that we first bonded over the Montrose Magpies being our favorite Quidditch team?"

"Sure do," he replied, smile widening. "That's incredible, Henry, I'm so excited for you!"

"Have you signed a contract yet?" Lucy asked. "Do you know what number you are? When's your first practice?"

"They're sending it via owl tomorrow morning, I'm not sure yet, and sometime in July."

Lucy flushed. "Sorry. I'm just really excited for you. I'm sure your whole team was, too."

"They don't know yet, actually, I bumped into this idiot first," I said as I gestured at George. "He asked if I wanted to drop something into the PVT's tea while she was at dinner, so I said yes. That being said, I'm a bit hungry, does anyone want to head to the Great Hall with me?"

"Sure!" She turned to her brother's portrait. "I'll come back later this week, Hermione arranged an Ancient Runes study session for the two of us and the Hufflepuffs in our class and we're meeting in here."

"Hey, George, come back and brag about Lucy sometime, will you?" the portrait asked.

George laughed. "You bet, and I'll bring Fred so you can officially declare that I'm the better-looking twin."

I told Ced I'd be back in a bit, and we headed out. Once we were on our way to the Great Hall, Lucy turned to me.

"What was it you dropped in her tea?" she asked. "I'm quite familiar with the range of options."

"A hypothermia one," I said.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at George. "I haven't heard of this one."

"It's new," he replied with a dismissive shrug. "Harry's idea. Speaking of, where did he end up?"

If he was trying to distract her, it worked, but perhaps not in the way he was hoping. She bit her lower lip. "I offered to bring him with me, but he, er, didn't want to come." She glanced at me. "He still blames himself for everything. He's getting better, I think, but..." She sighed. "Now that I'm starting to feel better again, I'm starting to realize just how much everyone else was impacted too. Now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm realizing just how many other people are in the tunnel with me."

"We're getting through it together," I said. "You were tossed in the deep end, that's for sure, if you'll allow the mixing of metaphors."

"Mixing metaphors? Henry Furls, you're a crazy man!" George piped up. "Don't worry, Cub, Harry will come around. He seemed plenty happy today watching you crush it on the Pitch."

Lucy flushed. "Well, that's nice. You two should still be playing, though, Fred too."

"Harry'll get his chance once the PVT is gone. And hey, we're doing fine, we have our hands full anyway."

"Making hypothermia candies?"

"Perhaps."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Have you tried leaving one in a cave for a week in August? Sure did the trick for me."

"Oh, shut up." George swatted her arm. "Don't joke about that."

I turned to face her, surprised. She had generally alluded to something happening over summer a couple of times in the past, but this was the first time I'd heard about the incident in any amount of detail. Lucy looked for a second as if she regretted saying anything, but she sighed and offered me a sad grin.

"Don't look so concerned, Henry, I'm alright," she said. "There was a bit of a situation after my parents died, but I got out alright. I'll tell you the whole story sometime, but it's altogether unfit for such a wonderful day as this." Her smile lost its sadness, and she raised her eyebrows. "It's not every day my brother's best friend gets signed to play for our favorite Quidditch team."

"And—" George added with a grin that seemed a bit forced. He had paled considerably after Lucy's little "joke," but I could tell he was trying not to show it. "—it's not every day I get a prefect to help me prank a teacher."

"I hope to see her show up in three coats tomorrow morning," I said with a laugh.

With that, we arrived in the Great Hall, and I headed to the Hufflepuff table while Lucy and George joined a lonely-looking Neville at the Gryffindor table.

"Hey, mate, where have you been?" Martin asked as I sat down next to him. "We were about to start a search party for you."

I fought to keep my face neutral as a number of people turned to me. The whole team was there, all looking at me. Gretch was there too, a smile on her face as if she knew what I was about to say.

I glanced at the Gryffindor table. George bloody Weasley was looking straight at me, a ridiculous smirk on his face. He nodded once, then returned to his conversation.

"I was talking to the scouts," I said, a bit of pride swelling in me for the first time. "And, well, I accepted the Montrose Magpies offer."

~

I did notice the next morning that darling Professor Umbridge was actually wearing four coats at breakfast. The hypothermia candy had been extremely effective.

Word spread throughout the school overnight. I was the first Hogwarts student that year to be officially recruited, and when the owl entered the Great Hall on Sunday morning bearing a fancy envelope, a cheer went up through the Great Hall. The attention was killing me, but I was immensely relieved that it was all so positive. I had been terrified that people would disapprove, that they would treat me with the same general apprehension and scorn they directed toward Lucy.

It was so positive, really, I couldn't help but feel a bit suffocated by it all. Everywhere I turned on Sunday, someone was congratulating me, slapping me on the back, telling me Cedric would be proud of me. My dad's excited Howler arrived at lunch, and my mom's "I'm sorry about that, but he insisted, I'm very proud of you too!" letter arrived at dinner. After dinner was the party the entirety of Hufflepuff insisted upon throwing for me. I smiled and laughed in all of the right places, but as the night dragged on, the grief inside me continued to grow. Fortunately, I had rounds that night, so I was able to gracefully duck out of the party sooner than I would have otherwise.

Emily and I decided to patrol separately that night, and it was wandering in the corridors by myself I was finally able to sift through the complex web of emotions surrounding my decision to join the Magpies.

I was obviously stoked. I had loved the Magpies my whole life, but I had never in my wildest dreams thought I might actually play for my favorite team. But I had a badge in my pocket with the Magpies logo and my name on it, and within six months, I'd be wearing Magpies robes with my name on my back. It was thrilling to say the least.

But it was hard, too. Knowing Cedric would be proud of me but never get to see me play. Knowing Cedric should have been the first person I told and not George, knowing Cedric should have been the first person who hugged me and not Lucy. I didn't have anything against either one, and I was so glad to have both George and Lucy in my life, but they weren't Cedric. No one would ever be Cedric. Not even the portrait was Cedric, though it was certainly nice to have around when I just needed to hear his voice.

I'd heard many voices that day, but never once had I really stopped to listen to my own.

As I walked through the castle, I remembered. I remembered the times I had with Cedric, and the times I had after Cedric. I passed the Charms classroom and remembered the time I had done my Cheering Charm too well and Cedric couldn't stop laughing throughout the entirety of Potions, but I also remembered the time Fred scribbled a venomous tentacula in his notes while Umbridge was inspecting the class.I passed the Divination and remembered the time Professor Trelawney predicted Cedric's death and we laughed it off, but I also remembered the time Professor Trelawney predicted that Hufflepuff would win our first match without Cedric and we actually did. I passed the library and remembered our late-night O.W.L. study sessions, but I also remembered my N.E.W.T. study sessions with Martin. I passed the Transfiguration classroom and remembered every time Cedric was first to master a new skill and then would help everyone else with it, but I also remembered the way everyone tried helping each other in his absence.

We were moving on. There was no way to go back. We were bringing Cedric with us in little ways, but we were still moving forward.

I was tempted to resist. I was tempted to let myself wander back to that night, that horrible night.

I decided that could wait.

Saying yes to the Montrose Magpies was a big step forward. Arguably my first big step forward. I wasn't sure if I was ready yet, but I decided I would do my best to be excited anyway.

I pulled the badge out of my pocket and pressed it to the right side of my chest, opposite the Hufflepuff badge on my robes. I extinguished my wand for a moment and muttered a couple of sewing spells to attach the badge, then muttered a "Lumos!" so I could see how it looked.

To my surprise, it didn't look out of place. It had taken time for me to get used to the prefect badge on my robes, but the Magpies one just seemed to fit. It looked like it belonged there.

I was moving forward, onto the next big adventure. I realized that night that moving forward didn't have to mean leaving Cedric behind. I could carry him with me.

In the other pocket of my robes was a picture, given to me by Colin Creevey. It was from our fourth year, before everything with the Chamber of Secrets had started. Cedric and I were sitting under our favorite tree, and we certainly intended to study, but our textbooks lay abandoned around us as we lunged forward for the Snitch whizzing around our heads. He caught it nearly every time, but right before the picture looped, I managed to grab it first. The look of pride — not surprise, pride, the "I knew you could do it" look — on Cedric's face made me emotional every time. It was one of my favorite pictures of the two of us, and I carried it everywhere. I would continue to carry it with me wherever I went next.

Cedric would stay with me, even as I was moving forward.

~

A/N: HI EVERYONE! I'm sure you were all looking forward to seeing what happened with Lucy and Harry after Chapter 168, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Chapter 170 will be from Harry's perspective, rest assured. We hadn't heard from our boy Henry in a while, and this is 100 chapters after ~that chapter~ so I figured it would be nice to use this song in this chapter and all that. Everyone's moving forward, and I highly recommend actually listening to this song instead of just reading the lyrics at the beginning if you feel like it. :)

Just as a heads up, I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Friday! I'm hoping to still publish Chapter 170 on Saturday, but I apologize in advance if it's a couple of days late. My surgery will be a bit more complicated than a lot of wisdom teeth surgeries, so I'm not entirely sure how quick my recovery will be. Ideally, though, you all hear from me on Saturday since it's Harry's birthday!

Anyway, thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I hope to see you all on Saturday, but if not, I hope you all have a grand old time celebrating Harry's birthday however you see fit. Have a great rest of your week!