LUCY:

Upon waking up on Monday morning, I just rolled over and closed my eyes again. I didn't fall asleep again, with the full moon being on Saturday, but the thought of getting up was almost too much to handle. It wasn't until Lavender and Parvati had left the room and Hermione came back up to see what was taking so long that I finally dragged myself out of bed, but I really would have liked to just stay there all day and not have to face anything or anyone.

I slid between the twins and managed a bit of breakfast before heading to Care of Magical Creatures a bit on the early side. I never liked taking too long at meals, because then people stared, and when people stared, I felt like crying, and when I felt like crying, I would leave before I could actually start crying, which only made more people stare. Harry didn't mind leaving early, either, so the two of us left with fifteen minutes still before class.

"Let's see how Professor Grubbly-Plank's first lesson goes," Harry said as we left the castle.

I sighed. "I had forgotten. Merlin, I miss Hagrid."

"Me too," he replied.

As we approached, Professor Grubbly-Plank waved me over. "Lucy Diggory?"

I nodded. "Yes, Professor, that's me."

"Would you mind helping me briefly? I've heard you've got a knack for creatures."

"I can help, Professor," I said, ears burning with embarrassment. At least she knows me for that and not for being the poor girl who lost her brother... oh, who am I kidding, she knows me for that too, she's just being nice. I passed Harry my bookbag and hurried around behind Hagrid's hut, where there were a number of small crates of bowtruckles.

"I'm going to have Harry help me set up a table in front, if you wouldn't mind bringing these around a few at a time."

"Of course. I've always liked bowtruckles."

"Oh, that reminds me. The Headmaster mentioned that you've helped Hagrid tend to the creatures in the past. I understand it's your O.W.L. year, but Professor Dumbledore seemed to think you would benefit from having something you enjoy while you're not playing Quidditch, so if you'd like to ."

My entire face flushed red at that point. "I would like to help. But I... well, I would ask how he knew all of that, since I haven't spoken to him at all yet this term, but I'm not terribly surprised he does."

"He does have a way!" she said with a laugh as she disappeared to set up the table.

I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and removed the lid from one of the crates. A number of bowtruckles climbed up into my hands, so I carried them out to the table Professor Grubbly-Plank had conjured. I rested my hands down, one still bandaged to hide the scar from Umbridge, both shaking, and the bowtruckles hopped off. Well, all except one, who climbed up my arm and perched herself on my shoulder.

"Alright, Daffy, you can be my partner today," I said. I winced as she gave my ponytail a curious yank. "Yeah, that's new. D'you like it?"

She yanked it again in response before using it as a rope to swing to my other shoulder.

Harry laughed, having watched the entire interaction with an expression somewhere between amusement and amazement.

I offered a small shrug and smile in return. "Glad we could amuse you."

"I am in fact very amused. Are there more?"

I nodded, and the two of us brought the rest of the bowtruckles to the table just as the rest of the class arrived. Draco made a comment I couldn't hear as he walked up with his typical crew, and they all laughed, looking at Harry.

"Just ignore them," I muttered, waving at Neville, who was clearly amused by the bowtruckle still using my ponytail to swing from shoulder to shoulder.

Professor Grubbly-Plank clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Everyone here? Let's crack on then — who can tell me what these things are called? Miss Granger?"

"Bowtruckles. They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

"Five points for Gryffindor. Yes, these are bowtruckles and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Wood lice. But fairy eggs if they can get them."

"Good girl, take another five points. So whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will gouge out human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few wood lice and a bowtruckle — I have enough here for one between three or four — you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body parts labeled by the end of the lesson."

"Alright, down you go," I said, gently removing Daffy from my shoulder and setting her down on the ground as Ron and Hermione joined me.

Harry made his way over a minute later. "I asked her where Hagrid was," he said in a whisper, "and Malfoy overheard. He made a comment about Hagrid messing with something too big for him. Do you think he knows...?"

Hermione shook her head. "Dumbledore would know if something had happened to Hagrid. It's just playing into Malfoy's hands to look worried, it tells him we don't know exactly what's going on. We've got to ignore him, Harry. Here, hold the bowtruckle for a moment, just so I can draw its face."

Harry scooped her off the ground and held her up for Hermione. Unfortunately, Malfoy's voice carried well.

"Yes, Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know, and it sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on substandard teaching in this place. So even if that overgrown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straight away."

Harry dropped Daffy with a yelp; he hadn't realized he was squeezing her in his anger.

"Honestly," I muttered, reaching forward and catching her just before she hit the grass. I drew my wand with my other hand and pointed it at the two long gashes across the back of Harry's hand, the result of Daffy clawing him in protest. "Episkey." I stowed my wand again and held Daffy up. "You're alright. I can hold you now, my hands are shaking too much to try to draw you anyway."

"Thanks," Harry said sheepishly, wiping his bloodied hand on his robes.

"I would have done the same," I replied under my breath. I shook my head, anger swelling up in me.

"Don't you lash out, too," Hermione warned.

"Wouldn't dream of it, just wishful thinking," I retorted, irritated by her tone of voice. Harry bit back a smile and started sketching as I held Daffy out.

"You did almost attack him on the train."

"And fortunately for him, he left before I could make good on my threat."

"You should still be careful-"

"Hermione," Ron interrupted with a laugh, "you're the one who punched him third year, so don't you start on Lucy."

"I didn't punch him, I slapped him," she huffed, cheeks flushing even though she did look rather pleased with herself.

"The difference being?"

Hermione scowled at Malfoy. "He's not even worth the respect that comes with being punched. A slap seems like more of an insult, don't you think?"

The boys and I had to bite our lips to try to restrain our laughter. She was right.

Though the mood was temporarily improved, as we left, Malfoy made another comment that set Harry off.

"If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time..." Harry said, shaking his head.

"Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you," Hermione sighed.

"Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?"

Ron laughed, Hermione frowned, and I clapped my hand over my mouth, completely torn between amusement and horror. Harry seemed to like my reaction the best and raised his eyebrows at me, grinning.

I shook my head and lowered my hand from my mouth. "Unbelievable, Potter, just unbelievable."

Behind me, in the softest whisper, I heard someone say, "Yeah, he's been saying a lot of unbelievable stuff lately."

I whirled around to see Seamus had just whispered to Lavender, who was in the middle of nodding her agreement. I felt as if I'd been struck across the face. I looked back and forth between the two of them, too shocked to be properly angry.

"I believe Harry," I said. My voice trembled as I fought to hold back my tears. I turned on my heel and hurried forward, crossing my arms as I bowed my head against the chill wind.

Harry was right behind me. "What just happened?" he asked, resting his hand on my arm gently.

I wrenched my arm away. "Seamus doesn't believe you?"

"No. We had a bit of a row about it the first night of term."

I clenched my jaw and shook my head. "Unbelievable."

Ron and Hermione hurried forward to catch up then, and we reached the greenhouses shortly thereafter.

Ginny emerged with a smile, Luna just behind her. Luna immediately hurried toward Harry, eyes wide.

"I believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and I believe you fought him and escaped from him."

I relaxed my shoulders slightly, which I hadn't even realized were nearly to my ears with pent-up tension.

Harry nodded. "Er — right."

Parvati and Lavender were laughing, and Luna puffed her chest indignantly. "You can laugh! But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"

"Well, they were right, weren't they? There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack," Hermione said.

Luna glared at Hermione for a second before following after Ginny.

I exhaled sharply through my nose.

Harry seemed similarly peeved. "D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her. Ginny's told me all about her, apparently she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler."

I slammed my bookbag down once we were in class. "I don't know what all Ginny's told you about her, but Luna's one of the sweetest people I've ever met and I could care less what she believes or doesn't believe about magical creatures. She believes Harry. Those people are in short supply."

Before Hermione could respond to my angry outburst, Ernie Macmillan made his way over to us.

"I want you to know, Potter, that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred percent. My family has always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I."

"Er — thanks, Ernie," Harry said, looking relieved.

I had half a mind to reprimand Ernie for calling Luna a weirdo, but like Harry said, the last thing I wanted to do was offend someone who believed him. Besides, Seamus and Lavender had finally stopped laughing. I stared at them for a second longer before pulling my gloves on and going to stand with Neville and his Hufflepuff friends, since I was still irritated with Hermione.

Professor Sprout's O.W.L. lecture was the closest to being encouraging rather than terrifying, but it still sent me into an anxious frenzy.

Cedric had spent nearly every waking minute studying for his O.W.L.s and received perfect marks.

I have to make perfect marks, too. Just like Cedric.

But Cedric hadn't been a werewolf. There hadn't been a law written punishing those who hired him.

Cedric knew exactly who he wanted to be. He had always known exactly who he wanted to be.

Without Cedric... where does that leave me?

Without Cedric... what future do I have?

And then, just like that, my anger crumbled like a cliff into the sea, and I dropped my head to hide the tears that clouded my vision. Professor Sprout released us to our screechsnap plants after a couple more minutes, and I forced my emotions away and tried to focus.

Neville's excited explanation of the plant to the rest of us was a nice enough distraction from the sense of hopelessness swelling inside me, and I might have actually been alright if Hannah Abbott hadn't changed the topic five minutes to the end of class.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" she asked. "You've been awfully quiet."

I nodded, glancing at her briefly before bowing my head again. "Sorry. I'm alright."

"Are you really?" Susan Bones asked. "It's okay, you know. We all miss him very much, but we know you must miss him the most."

I nodded again, a lump of tears clogging my throat. I swallowed hard and pushed the fertilizer into the pot with renewed vigor. "Yeah. I miss him a lot."

"Did you hear that Ethan Summerby is playing Seeker now?" Zacharias Smith inquired. "Henry had tryouts after the Gryffindor practice Saturday morning."

"I hadn't heard," I replied. I was fighting to keep my voice even and losing badly. "I-I haven't talked to Henry since the train ride here, when I gave him Ced-" I swallowed hard. "When I gave him my brother's plans for last year's season, before it was canceled. H-How's Henry doing?"

"He's a good Captain," he said. "It's neat that he's using your brother's plans. Inseparable, Cedric and Henry were."

I nodded. "Yeah. They were."

"He's a good prefect too," Susan said. "It's just... not the same."

"Right," I replied, my voice finally breaking. I hurriedly dragged my sleeve across my face to try to ward off the rapidly-approaching tears.

When the bell rang, I tried to get my gloves off, but my shaking hands didn't allow me to get a good enough grip.

"Here," Neville said. He pinched the middle fingers of both gloves. "Try pulling now."

The gloves slid off easily this time.

"Thanks." My face burned red. "I-I hate being like this."

"It'll get better soon," he replied.

I nodded. "Right."

"No, really." I glanced up and met his eyes. He nodded. "It will. Get better soon, I mean."

"I believe you" was what I said. But I didn't believe it in the slightest.

How can it ever get better without Cedric?

HENRY:

Instead of heading to the Great Hall for lunch, I made my way to the tree under which Cedric and I had spent so many cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons and evenings that were somewhere in between.

I drew my stack of letters from my bookbag with a violently trembling hand. After the one I had written on the first of August, I had found myself unable to stop writing. The thought of him never reading those letters continued to bring me no small amount of pain, but in a sense, it was liberating, too.

After all, it wasn't the first time I'd written a letter to Cedric he was never going to read.

One by one, I pushed the letters through a crack in the hollow part of the trunk, listening as each envelope fluttered to the earth below. I only had one left in my hand when I heard footsteps crunching through the leaves. I jumped, but I relaxed when I saw it was Lucy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said quietly. "I-I just... I saw what you were doing and I..."

"It's okay, you didn't scare me," I replied, pushing the last letter through and pulling my bag closer to me so she could sit. "Have you been writing to him, too?"

She nodded. She lowered herself to the ground and stared at the crack in the trunk. "That's a good spot. I still have all of my letters. I'm not quite sure what I want to do with mine."

"That's alright. You don't have to do anything with them, necessarily. It's alright if you want to hold onto them."

"Okay," she said with another nod. She tore her eyes away from the tree and glanced at me. "How has it been for you? Everything?"

I couldn't bring myself to keep her gaze. Though her eyes were blue and Cedric's were grey, I saw too much of him in her eyes. They looked at people the exact same way. Only, now, Lucy's eyes were far more broken than Cedric's had ever been. And that was the main part of what made it so difficult to look at her.

"I'd be lying if I said I was handling it all well," I admitted finally.

"I just came from Herbology, and the Hufflepuffs told me you've been doing a great job so far. But... I understand. Doing something well and handling it well are different."

I nodded. "Very different."

A moment of silence passed before Lucy whispered, in a voice so soft I almost missed it, "I don't know what to do without him, Henry."

"I don't either," I heard my voice say before I could stop myself.

"I know I have to keep doing my best," she continued in the same whisper, "but what am I supposed to do now? He brought out the best in everyone, and I-I don't know what to do without him around to bring out the best in me. D-Do you know what I mean?"

I brought myself to meet the intensity of her gaze again. Her eyes shone with tears, but there was something still so brave yet vulnerable about the honesty in the way she looked at me. It allowed me to be honest right back.

"I feel the same exact way."

She nodded, looking down and ripping out a chunk of grass with shaking fingers. "It's a horrible feeling, isn't it?"

"It is," I agreed after a moment. "And I know in my head he wouldn't want me to feel this way. I know in my head that he wouldn't want me, or you, or any of us, really, to try to be like him. But at the same time... the world seems so much darker without him in it, so I want to try to be that same light. E-Even though I know it'll never be the same."

"Exactly."

Silence fell again, and I leaned my back against the tree, letting myself get lost in my own head for a moment.

That very spot had become both hallowed and haunted.

"I should probably go," Lucy said after a couple of minutes. "I told my friends I wouldn't be gone too long. But thank you for talking to me, Henry."

"Of course, Lucy. I'm always here if you need anything, anything at all. I know I'm not him, but... I'm trying to be."

Her eyes were equally woeful and wistful as she looked at me one last time. "You were right, you know. Cedric would want you to find your own light, rather than trying to recreate his."

With that, she pushed herself to her feet and headed in the direction of the castle with her head bowed.

Hot tears pricked the backs of my eyes as I watched her leave. She was really the closest person to Cedric I had left. I buried my head in my hands.

If there's any light left in me, he would be the only one who could find it and bring it to the surface, I thought to myself.

LUCY:

I scrubbed my cheeks just before entering the Great Hall to try to hide any evidence I'd been crying. Leaving Henry had been a lot harder than I had expected. He was really the closest person to Cedric I had left. I slid between the twins and immediately drained an entire goblet of water to chase away the last of the tears.

"Everything alright, Cub?" George asked.

I nodded. "Just figured I should check in with Henry. I'm not sure if anyone else has."

"We can start doing that in the classes we have with him," Fred offered. "I can't imagine it's easy for him, prefect and Quidditch Captain both."

"Yeah." I reached for a sandwich and immediately took a bite so I wouldn't have to talk anymore. Fortunately, there wasn't much time left in the lunch period, so soon enough, I was heading to Ancient Runes with Hermione. Professor Babbling hadn't arrived yet, but we took our seats anyway. We had just gotten out our books when I heard a sinister voice over my shoulder.

"Your second detention with Professor Umbridge is tonight at five o'clock in her office. Don't be late."

I shot about two feet into the air. Malfoy. I turned around, confused. "W-What? I already served my detention with her, last Friday. She only assigned the one."

He puffed out his chest, emphasizing his prefect badge. "When I told her about how you attacked me on the train, she seemed to think you needed another detention to try to keep your dangerous temper in check."

"Attack you? She didn't attack you!" Hermione protested.

"It's fine, it's fine," I said quickly, swatting her to shut her up. The last thing I wanted was to get her a detention with Umbridge too for defending me. "I'll go to her office tonight at five and clear this up. She surely won't give me detention once she knows the truth."

Draco smirked. "Just remember that you must not tell lies. Tell me, does your new wand have a unicorn hair core still?"

He didn't give me a chance to respond before going to sit in his new seat, next to Michael Corner. I felt panic, raw and visceral, rising up inside of me. I was stuck between my past in the caves and my future in Umbridge's detention again.

Malfoy must know. Why else would he use that specific phrase about not telling lies? Why else would he ask about my new wand core?

What does he know? What does he know?

"Lucy?" Hermione asked, touching my arm to draw me back to the present.

I jumped, turning back around so I faced the front of the room again.

"It'll be alright," she said slowly. "Like you said... you can just go explain to her what really happened. Do you want me to go with you, as a witness?"

I shook my head. "I-I don't want to risk getting you in trouble, too."

"Okay. Well, even if she doesn't listen and gives you detention anyway, at least it's only lines."

"Y-Yeah. Only lines." I tried to take a deep breath, but it felt as if my lungs had been replaced by a dark hole. I was dizzy.

As darkness danced across my vision, I felt as if I was slipping back through time. The darkness reminded me so much of the caves.

The broken trust.

The broken wand.

And me, broken, on the ground.

Hermione swore under her breath suddenly and gripped my arm. "I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing, you look as if you're going to faint."

I shook my head. "'M fine. I just... 'm just a little dizzy." I rested my head on the table, closed my eyes, and stayed there until the world stopped spinning.

A/N: Hi, everybody! I'm sorry if the last two chapters were too short or boring. I ended up being happy with them, but after chapters like 81 or 100, I just... didn't feel that great about how they turned out. If I'm being honest, I was planning to post both 106 and 107 last Saturday, then this one on Wednesday, but for whatever reason, I was really depressed and low on motivation this week so getting through school was all I could bring myself to do. BUT I'm coming out of my funk, I wrote 18 pages in 7 hours today, and I'm already super excited to write about Harry's first (knowing) full moon experience in Chapter 110! Thank you for sticking with me even when it's boring, and I'm sorry again if Chapters 106 and 107 were unsatisfying. Hopefully these two chapters make up for it!

Oh yeah... did I mention I double-posted today? Click through to read Chapter 109! 😁

Thanks for reading, love yooooou!