The Great Hall was missing seven children at dinner on November 7, 1995.

Ron Weasley was on the Quidditch Pitch. Angelina had announced at lunch that the team would practice on Saturday, after the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match, and he needed to try to salvage what scraps of his confidence existed before then.

The sky was darkening, but night had not yet fallen.

Hermione Granger was sitting on her bed. She clutched a silver pocket watch in the same hand that had a mood ring, both halves of which were the same violent shade of blue-purple of a bruise, so severe it was almost black.

The bed to her left was empty, and it would remain that way all night long.

Fred Weasley was pacing back and forth in the common room. He cast occasional glances at the windows, at the pocket watch he was spinning in a circle by its chain, at his sister who was in the common room as well, at the fire roaring in the fireplace.

Ginny Weasley was standing in front of a window. She was completely still, completely silent, the way she'd learned to cope with every other horrible, unspeakable fact of her life from her family's poverty to her experiences in the Chamber of Secrets, because although she was a fire, a raging, roaring fire, even fires could be tamed to cinders from time to time.

The third fire in the group would not make an appearance until morning, but even then, she wouldn't be the same for a couple of days, and that weighed heavily on both children. Because they were all only children, after all.

George Weasley was bent over sketches and notes. His pocket watch was the paperweight holding one side of the roll of parchment down, and he checked it occasionally, but he was focused first and foremost on the Fever Fudge description before him, sprawled on the floor of his dormitory.

The morning would come, and it would bring her back perfectly fine, he had to believe that, but he wanted to see if he could figure out a way to take away the sting of the cold that plagued her for a couple of days after the moon had come and gone. Without the boils, of course.

Harry Potter was doing his best to breathe. He was a hypocrite, and he knew that, but it was just so hard to breathe not knowing what the night would bring, not knowing what the morning would bring, not knowing how she would emerge, when she would emerge, if she would emerge.

The night would be a long one, the same way the other two nights of knowing had been, but it was only the third. The third night he knew, the third night of utter sleeplessness, the third night of tossing and turning and trying to breathe. He was a hypocrite and he knew that, but it was just so hard to breathe sometimes.

Lucy was crying. The second she closed the door behind her, the door that separated her from everything and everyone else, she felt it. She felt the water tugging her under again. She felt the water fill her lungs again. Her last little flicker of joy from her flight the day before was swept out to sea. She wondered in the back of her mind if there was magic in the world strong enough to keep a fire burning underwater. She wondered in the back of her mind if she would be capable of that type of magic, if it did exist. She laughed, the sound bitter and harsh and broken and hopeless. Of course she wasn't.

A moment passed in silence, on all fronts.

All hands pointed to midnight. A soft tone, a single melancholy piano note, was emitted from the enchanted pocket watches.

One on the Quidditch Pitch.

One in the fifth-year girls' dormitories.

Two in the Gryffindor common room.

One in the seventh-year boys' dormitories.

One just across the hallway from the Room of Requirement.

Lucy screamed. The transformation had begun.

Harry groaned. The transformation must have begun.

George sighed. The transformation must have begun.

Ginny jumped. The transformation must have begun.

Fred halted. The transformation must have begun.

Hermione whimpered. The transformation must have begun.

Ron froze. The transformation must have begun. Surely enough, from where he was in the sky, he could see the first moonbeams coming over the horizon.

"Good luck, Lucy," he whispered.

~

LUCY:

Morning came. Finally, morning came.

I was exhausted. Everything hurt.

I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes.

Visions of the night flickered through my mind. Fighting the ropes. Trying to bite myself. Fighting the ropes. Trying to claw myself. Howling in outrage, practically begging the ropes to let me do something, anything. But the ropes seemed to know how quickly "something, anything" could become "anything and everything."

I was drowning. I was still drowning.

I was sinking. I was still sinking.

And that was okay. I didn't want to breathe. I wanted to sink into the soft ground and stay there forever. It would be easier, kinder, better. Easier than rising to my feet. Kinder than facing my friends again. Better than trying to fight a losing battle.

But the ground beneath me was becoming harder. Less comfortable.

I opened my eyes just a crack, and I was greeted by light. It had no discernable source, but it was there. A gentle, but persistent, glow.

What a paradox it was. And yet, not a paradox at all. The room was telling me it was time to rise from the ground, to stumble toward the light.

The ground was uncomfortable. The light was inviting.

Everything hurt, but nothing was broken. Everything hurt, but nothing was unbearable.

If I had one talent, though, it was bearing the unbearable.

I pushed myself to my feet. The ground was firm beneath me, no longer uncomfortably so. One foot in front of the other, I made my way to the door, stepping over ropes as I went.

I barely remembered to press my sleeve over my stinging nose as I opened the door and shut it rapidly behind me. Harry was there in an instant, shedding his coat and wrapping it around my shoulders.

Words escaped his mouth in a rapid stream almost too fast for me to comprehend. "Are you alright, Hospital Wing or dormitory, I hope the coat is warm, I slept with it on last night so it would hopefully be warmer than if I just grabbed it out of my trunk for you, are you alright, Hospital Wing or dormitory, is it just your nose?"

I blinked, having been distracted by how nice and warm the coat was. "Just the nose," I lied. I could feel the places on my body where the ropes had cut the deepest, but I would heal those on my own. I didn't want anyone ever finding out about those, Harry least of all. He didn't need another worry. Or... eleven more worries, I thought I counted. "This is really warm, thanks. Er, dormitory, I'm..." I blinked again, struggling to keep my eyes open and my thoughts straight. "I'm forgetting a question, aren't I?"

"Only the most important one," he said in a gentle yet fragile tone. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "Tired."

"Right." His hand found my forehead. "And freezing."

I nodded again, too tired at that point to say anything else.

My eyes kept sinking shut as we walked, which was annoying for me and concerning for Harry. When we climbed through the portrait hole, Ginny and the twins were already there.

"Hermione and Ron aren't back from patrol yet, so you're stuck with me this morning," Ginny said, jumping to her feet. "Fred, George, whoever, if you will."

George rose as well, crossing the room in a couple of long strides and throwing me over his shoulder.

"'M fine, 'm fine," I protested. "I can walk, Merlin's beard."

Harry grinned at me as George paid me no mind and started following Ginny in the direction of our dormitories.

"Harry, help," I groaned, reaching for him over George's shoulder.

He shook his head, grinning wider. "I was one stumble away from doing that myself."

I sighed in defeat and let myself fall limp against George, whose grip tightened as we climbed the stairs. Ginny slipped in first to make sure Lavender and Parvati were still asleep — which, thankfully, they were — before gesturing for George to sneak in. He dropped me onto my bed and slipped from the room with a mock salute as Ginny rifled through my trunk.

"This it?" she asked in a whisper, holding up the healing cream.

I nodded, rolling onto my side and curling into a ball.

"No, no, come on, up," Ginny said. She grabbed me by the hand and half-helped, half-dragged me to my feet. "Hermione told me what to do in case she and Ron didn't make it back in time, she said to get you out of the room and into the shower as soon as possible or else you'd fall asleep."

"Well, maybe I want to," I mumbled as she practically shoved me onto the counter next to the sink.

"As much as I'd love to indulge you in that, you've already missed a class this go around, and you can't do that too often without making Umbridge suspicious, and we need to be in her good graces to stay on the Quidditch team."

"Quidditch team," I echoed with a nod. "Practice. Saturday."

Ginny nodded as she started patting my nose with the cream. "How'd you do this?"

"Don't know." The lie slipped easily, too easily, from my lips. I blinked. "Ow."

"Yeah, sorry, I'm trying to be gentle," she said with a wince. "It looks like it hurts."

I nodded. "Hurts."

"Where else does it hurt?" Ginny asked, scanning me. "Are those bruises under your eyes, or just from lack of sleep?"

"Not bruises. Tired."

"I noticed. So where else does it hurt, Lucy?"

I shook my head. "Nowhere." I closed my eyes and rested my head in my hands. "Just tired."

"Lucy—" Ginny caught me by the shoulders. I hadn't even realized I was slipping. "Are you usually this tired? I know I've only been around for a couple of these, but—"

"'M fine," I said, shaking my head and digging my palms into my eyes for a moment. "Just tired. Shower and wideye potion should do the trick."

"Is that in your trunk, too?"

I blinked and lifted my head. I swore.

"I'll tell the boys to go get it while you shower," she said quickly. "Don't worry. You'll be just fine."

My breath trembled as I sighed. "Thanks, Ginny. No, I'm..." I blinked. "I lost my train of thought."

"Well, let me know when it pulls back in the station," Ginny replied with a small smile. "C'mon, the shower should help."

I sighed again as I nodded and landed on the tile floor with a thud. I managed to stay upright as the water cleared a couple of the cobwebs. I wasn't sure at first why I was so much more exhausted than usual, but when I saw the way the rope burns crisscrossed my skin, I realized I must have been fighting a lot more than I used to. I was working harder, not smarter. In October, I'd worked smarter and dislocated my shoulder as a result. My strategy had been brute force for November, and it had failed.

I hadn't even realized I had forgotten to grab my robes for the day until I stepped out of the shower and saw them in a pile nearby. Ginny was a lifesaver.

Hermione was back when I stepped into the dormitory, and I barely had time to register this fact before she was throwing herself at me.

"I'm so sorry, Peeves made a mess and I tried to fix it while Ron reported the incident to Professor McGonagall but Peeves found me before Ron got back and he dumped ink on me so Ron had to try to get it out of my hair but it was a horrible mess and—"

"It's okay, Mione, honest," I whispered, amused as I gently extracted myself from her grip. I hadn't gotten the chance to heal the rope burns yet, and she'd somehow managed to hug almost every single one.

"Ginny was right, you are exhausted," she said, taking in all at once my appearance. "Harry got the wideye potion, I'll be down there as soon as I can, I just need to make sure the ink didn't get anywhere else."

I wiped away a stray splotch on her chin with my thumb. "Good luck."

She released a small growl of frustration, grinned ruefully, and stomped off to take a shower. I turned to my bookbag and made sure I had everything I needed for the day then grabbed Harry's coat, which was still warm. Not as warm as Harry would be, but it was still sweet for him to think of that.

After healing my rope burns as best I could, I stumbled down the stairs to the common room and landed on the couch next to Harry. I moved closer and handed him his coat.

"Thanks for the loan," I said through a yawn as I wrapped my arms around him, "but you're warmer."

"Did you just call Harry hot?" Fred asked.

"Yes, and it's wonderful," I mumbled as Harry put an arm around me and rubbed his hand up and down my arm.

Harry shook with the effort of holding back his laughter. "I think your wideye potion will be even more wonderful, Lu."

"Nothing is more wonderful than you."

"Alright, c'mon, take the potion, you wouldn't be saying this if..." Harry tried to pry me off of him, but it was in vain. He was too wonderfully warm and wonderfully comforting and wonderfully wonderful. I just held on tighter. The sound of his laugh was wonderful, too. "Lucy, come on, you should drink this."

"In a minute," I insisted, making everyone laugh harder. I wasn't sure what was so funny. Harry was warm. I was cold. Why would I want to drink a potion when I could be warm instead?

"Yeah, I don't think she's ever been this tired after a full moon," George commented, gently but firmly pulling me off of Harry.

Ginny grabbed me from behind, and her warmth was nice, too. "Harry, shove the potion down her throat, I'll hold her down."

"Well, I'm not going to do that," he said. He held out a vial to me. "Here. This will help."

I reluctantly plucked it from his hand, closed my eyes, and downed the contents. It wasn't the first time, after all, that someone had handed me a potion after a full moon. The potion burned all the way down my throat, and I felt myself coming to life again bit by bit.

"Reckon that did the trick?" Fred asked.

The cobwebs began to slowly fall away, and when I opened my eyes again, I shook my head back and forth violently. "Merlin."

Ginny released me. "Alright, go back to Mr. Wonderful."

I blinked. Oh Merlin, what have I done? Do I play dumb or own up to it? I could probably get away with playing dumb, I wasn't really in my right mind... I mean, he IS wonderful but I never would have said that if I... "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, alright, she's back." Fred grabbed me by the arm and plopped me next to Harry, plopping himself between Ginny and me. "That was quite entertaining."

"Are you feeling alright?" Harry asked, looking at me uncertainly. "Did you hit your head or something?"

I combed back through my memories of the night. "No. Nothing to hit my head on in there."

"You still manage to cut your nose up, though."

"Occupational hazard," I said as lightheartedly as I could manage. I inched closer to Harry and curled up against him. "You're warm."

"Wonderfully so, one might say," George teased as he wedged himself between Fred and me. He rested his hand on my back, rubbing his thumb back and forth. "We'll 'practice' in here the next couple of nights, since it's so bloody cold outside and you'd just be looking at diagrams anyway."

"I, er..." I twisted a bit so I was looking up at Harry. "I actually think I'd be up for flying now."

While I hadn't explained the significance of this statement to the twins and Ginny, Harry had been there when I had nearly fallen. He knew what I meant.

His grip around me tightened a bit. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." I grinned. "It's what I did instead of going to Herbology, anyway."

Harry's eyes widened. "Insufferable git, you should have told me!"

"I did, just now," I replied. "Why, you want a ride?"

Whatever answer he offered was lost in the sound of the twins' uproarious laughter and the sound of Ginny's epiphany a moment later.

"What? What's so funny about— oh MERLIN, YOU TWO—"

So I walk alone down the darkest roads
'Cause I've always known how the story goes
When the curtain falls, I'll be wearing thin
Clawing at the walls as they're closing in
In this twisted plot I was destined for
I'm an astronaut on the ocean floor
So misunderstood 'till the bloody end
How I wish I could do it all again

It feels like I'm a lone survivor
Forgotten in a dark and deadly world
And on my own I walk alone
To see the sun again, I'd give anything
But life demands a final chapter
A story that we all must leave behind
It's do or die, and this is mine
The anthem of a bird with a broken wing

"Bird With a Broken Wing"
Owl City

~

I made it through the rest of the week without too many embarrassing sleep-deprived moments, though I did fall asleep on a cushion while Harry and I were talking after a D.A. meeting. I woke up an hour later to Harry practicing various (soundproof) shield charms big enough to cover both of us while Henry, Fred, and George fired spells at the shields to test their strength. Embarrassed as I was by the whole situation, it was nice to see Henry laughing with the twins, especially given the significance of Saturday.

Saturday morning was the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw Quidditch match. Henry's first match ever as Captain. Hufflepuff's first match in five years without Cedric as Seeker.

I promised Henry that I would go. He had assured me over and over that he understood if it would be too hard for me, but I insisted over and over and over again that I wouldn't miss it for the world. So, that morning, I donned one of Cedric's old Magpies jumpers. My hands trembled as I tied a yellow ribbon around my ponytail and drew a small 6 on my cheek. Cedric's number.

I sat at the Hufflepuff table that morning. I was going to sit next to Archie, but he shook his head and pointed across the table.

"Take your brother's spot. You've got his number on your cheek and his name on your back, after all."

My breath caught in my throat. "I — I shouldn't. A-And I only have Diggory on my back when I'm actually playing—"

"No one more qualified," Henry said with a shrug and a brave smile. "C'mon, Diggory, it's alright. We can share the burdens today, yeah?"

"Yeah," I replied, trying to keep the tremor from my voice as I sat next to Henry.

I was pleasantly surprised by how many people came to wish Henry good luck, from all of the houses. I was unpleasantly surprised by the number of glares I received from older Hufflepuffs for sitting in Cedric's spot.

"Don't let it bother you," Henry whispered when Zacharias Smith offered a particularly haughty sigh as he walked past me. "Everyone was the same way with me for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the year. Some people are still like that, truthfully, but..."

"But you're..." I turned to him. "Henry, you're doing a great job. All I ever hear in Herbology is how well you're handling everything."

"Susan and Hannah are kinder than most," he said with a shrug. "I stand by what I said. Sit here any time you want, because there's no one more qualified to sit here than you."

"Yeah, Lucy, it's not your fault that Hufflepuffs are loyal, first and foremost," Archie said. "To a fault sometimes — no offense, Henry, you know I love you, but it's true. You'll never make every Hufflepuff happy, even if you somehow became a Metamorphmagus overnight and become Cedric's twin in every conceivable way. Only one Cedric, and only one Lucy, and I happen to like it that way."

I felt my face heat. "Yeah, well, you're one of the only ones who does. Everyone would rather have two Cedrics."

"I don't think that's true," Henry commented. Before he could say anything further, though, a smaller female version of Henry ran up and hugged him from behind.

"Good luck today, Henry!" she exclaimed, laughing as she kissed his cheek. "Mum and Dad are here! Surprise!"

Henry choked on his pumpkin juice and set the goblet down. "They — they are?"

The girl giggled. "Yeah! Come on, come on, they want to see you before the match!"

"One second," Henry managed, downing the rest of his pumpkin juice. He coughed a couple of times and glanced at me. "Hey, Gretch, have you met Lucy yet?"

"Not officially," I said as I offered my most convincing smile. "You must be Henry's sister."

"Yup!" She nodded. "And you're Cedric's sister."

I nodded, smile faltering. "Yup."

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking my hand quickly and turning back to Henry. "Come on, Henry, come on, Mum and Dad are just outside!"

"Good luck!" I called after Henry as his sister dragged him by the hand through the Great Hall. I watched until the doors closed behind them, and I felt a swift kick under the table.

"Earth to Diggory," Archie said. "You okay?"

"Er, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

He rolled his eyes. "You're a horrible liar."

"Am I?" I asked, my voice sounding distant to my own ears. My head felt surprisingly light given how heavy my chest had gotten.

"One of the worst I've ever met," he replied matter-of-factly. "Do you still want to go to the match?"

"I promised Henry I would."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yes, I did."

Archie narrowed his blue-grey eyes at me. "You're not used to valuing your own well-being, are you?"

I narrowed my eyes right back. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He narrowed his eyes farther. "I think you know what I mean."

"Now you're the one not answering questions, Graye."

"I can be a social shape-shifter when I need to be," he replied, grinning at me and leaning back. "This conversation isn't over."

I glanced at Cam, who hadn't said a word for the entirety of the meal and was instead picking at her food. She glanced up at me when she felt my gaze, and to my surprise, her eyes were cold.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Fine," she replied, slamming her fork down and storming away.

Archie's face fell. "Oh, for the love of Merlin. Sorry, Diggory, I should go take care of that. Am I saving you a seat for the match or not?"

I hesitated. "I-I think I'll sit with Gryffindor this time. A group is going to support Henry."

"Alright. See you there, then!" With that, he jumped up and chased after Cam.

Since I no longer had shields from the Hufflepuff glares, I got up and slid between the twins at the Gryffindor table.

"You alright?" George asked.

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Fred echoed.

I slammed my head against the table in response, a tempest of emotions swirling in me.

George patted my back. "Yeah, I can't imagine today will be an easy one for anyone. It's alright, just let it out."

I lifted my head to slam it down again, but Fred slipped his hand between my forehead and the table.

"Not what he meant," Fred muttered. "Something a little less destructive, perhaps?"

I nodded, and his hand disappeared. I closed my eyes, lifted my head, took a deep breath, and tried to stop the world from spinning. I opened my eyes and was about to ask what time it was when Harry rose to his feet.

"Want to go get seats for everyone, Lu?" he asked.

Perfect timing as always, Potter.

I nodded. "Sounds good."

And just like that, we were heading out of the Great Hall and through the castle down to the Quidditch Pitch.

"So, you're flying again?" Harry asked as we stepped outside.

I nodded. "I was wandering instead of going to Herbology, and before I knew it, I was in the sky."

He laughed. "Sounds about right. You do seem to feel most at home in the sky."

"When my world hasn't been turned on its head, anyway," I muttered. "I suppose I just needed to grapple with it a bit and force it to fix itself."

"And you did."

"For now."

"You did it once. You can do it again, if you need to."

"I hope so."

Sensing he was getting nowhere with me, he switched the topic. "So what happened at the Hufflepuff table?"

"Henry's parents came, so he went to say hello before the match."

"I see. That isn't really what I meant, though."

"What did you mean, then?"

"You didn't look terribly happy over there, even before Henry left."

"Don't let it get to your head that I'm always happiest when I'm with you, Harry James, that's just an unfortunate coincidence."

Oh sweet Merlin, did I just admit that out loud?

If Harry thought anything of this, he didn't say so. He just smiled, mischievously. "Are you, now?"

"N-No, of course not. In fact, I am very often unhappy in the presence of insufferable gits such as yourself. It, er, it just so happens that a lot of my happiest moments in the past couple horrible months have been with you around, which is—"

"I'm happiest with you, too," he said, that smile still on his face.

I wondered for a second if it was truly mischievous or if I was just afraid to confront the reality that it might be sincere.

"Well, that's good, because it would be a shame if the two leaders of the D.A. were truly miserable in each other's company."

"Yes, it would be. It's much more fun to pretend to hate each other than to actually hate each other."

I nodded. "Exactly."

Why is my face so red?

I cleared my throat. "What happened at the Hufflepuff table is nothing new, it's just the same old 'Cedric was better' thing."

"That's not a fair comparison."

Not "That's not true." Not "I don't think so." But "That's not a fair comparison."

"You're right," I said with a shrug. "I couldn't possibly be as good as he—"

"I don't know if you understood me," he interrupted. "It's not a fair comparison because you're both great, and to put one of you over the other puts the other one down unfairly. If you're trying to carry the burden of his greatness as well as your own, you'll collapse under the weight of it all."

Anger, inexplicably, flared in me, but I hurriedly tampered it down. "I know I'll never be as great as he was, so maybe I shouldn't even waste my time trying."

"That's not what I—"

Before he could finish his thought, a familiar laugh, one I hadn't heard in a long time, reached my ears. I froze and whirled on my heel.

"Oli? OLI!"

Surely enough, the laugh belonged to Oliver Wood, who was talking excitedly to Angelina. He stopped and waved when he heard my shout, and he spun me around when I crash-landed against him with a hug.

"When the bloody hell did you get so tall?" he asked, setting me down as his jaw dropped.

"When the bloody hell did you start looking like that?" I asked, suddenly aware of how, well, muscular he had become after hugging him. Merlin, he was like a rock. I stood on my tiptoes to get closer to his eye level. "You are still Oliver Wood, right?"

"That's the name on the roster," Oliver replied with a grin and a shrug. He glanced over my shoulder and waved at Harry. "Potter!"

I huffed. "What, no comment asking about him getting tall?"

"I always knew he'd be tall, now you just have to wait for him to stop looking like a beanpole."

"Watch who you're calling a beanpole, Wood, I'd like to see you play Seeker," Harry chuckled.

"That's what Puddlemere wanted initially," he replied with a roll of his eyes. He flexed, intentionally dramatic about it as he did so. "This was the only way to prevent that tragic fate."

Harry shoved Oliver back, still laughing. "Oh, bugger off, Seeker isn't that bad. I bet I'd make a better Keeper than you would Seeker."

"Not important." Oliver waved him off and pointed at me as the four of us started walking down to the Pitch. "What is important, however, is how good of a Beater this Chaser makes."

"I suppose that's part of what tonight is for," I said. I turned to Angelina. "How'd you manage to book Oliver Wood, the star Keeper of the Puddlemere United reserve team?"

"What can I say," she replied with a wink, "when a man owes you one, he shows up."

"Owes you one?" Harry and I repeated, our interests piqued.

Oliver flushed. "Not now."

"So should I bring it up in front of the whole team later?" Angelina asked, clearly enjoying holding whatever it was over his head.

"Not then, either," he muttered.

Harry ventured a guess first. "Does it have something to do with... oh, bloody hell, what was her name?"

"Bloody hell, what was her name?" I echoed. "Oh! Willow? Does it have something to do with Willow?"

"How on earth did you know—" Oliver started, which was more than enough answer for all of us.

"Not Willow, but the girl he dated the next year! Holly! Oliver went to Lockhart for romance advice!" Angelina crowed, cackling already. "He had heard that Lockhart hosted a Valentine's event at Hogwarts a few years before this happened, so he thought he might have a couple of good tips! What he got instead was—"

"Blinded?" "A boneless arm?"

Harry and I guessed our respective Lockhart-related ailments at the same time, and all four of us busted up laughing.

"No, no," Oliver said, seizing control of his own story. "Worse. He asked Holly out on my behalf."

"OH NO!" I exclaimed. "No no no, that's horrible! Wait, so how does Angelina come in?"

"I was the one to convince her to give Oliver a chance anyway," she said. "Poor girl. Terribly shy, that one, completely mortified. Oliver promised to help me out of a pinch one day when I needed it, so I decided to call in the favor Sunday morning. It was a bit complicated getting approval, but we, er, tinkered with the wording of the request a bit to get him here today."

"Strictly speaking, I'm here to watch Henry Furls and Roger Davies as an agent of Puddlemere United, but I'm staying for the Gryffindor practice tonight," Oliver elaborated.

"Do you know if they even want to play Quidditch professionally?" I asked.

"Davies, definitely. Furls, I'm not so sure, but since he's a seventh-year, too, I figured I'd add him to my list of players I was watching to make it seem more legitimate."

"You do know Henry's a Keeper, right?"

"Oh, bloody hell, is he?"

I laughed. "If he plays well today, Wood..."

"If he plays well, I'll recommend him to every other team in the league," he chuckled.

"Bet you wish you'd taken the Seeker offer now, huh?" Harry piped up, and the four of us laughed again.

We saved seats for the rest of the Gryffindor team, who were all very excited to see Oliver. I was glad to have Oliver there as a distraction; the match was difficult for me to attend. Seeing yellow uniforms and knowing Cedric wasn't wearing one. Having to hear Lee Jordan introduce the new Seeker. I stood between Oliver and Harry. Oliver's running commentary was interesting, and when it wasn't interesting enough and I slipped into sorrow, Harry was right there to squeeze my hand.

One particularly funny interaction, however, happened after Henry had a miraculous save. As the crowd roared, I heard Ron call Oliver's name.

"Yeah?"

"I have a bit of an odd question for you," Ron stammered.

"Go for it."

"What was your first match as Keeper like? For Gryffindor?"

"I don't really remember. I took a Bludger to the head two minutes in."

Ron spluttered in disbelief. "Did Lucy—"

"No, I didn't!" I laughed. "I had no idea!"

"Did you actually take a Bludger to the head?" Ron asked.

"Sure did. Woke up in the Hospital Wing a week later."

"I told Ron his first match as Keeper couldn't have been the worst," I explained to Oliver.

He grinned and slapped Ron on the back. "I've got you beat, Weasley. I reckon I had the worst first match in the history of bad first matches."

With that, I returned my attention to the game. I hadn't spotted the Snitch yet, and it appeared that Cho and Ethan hadn't either.

"Do you see the Snitch?" I asked Harry.

He shook his head. "Not yet."

I followed his gaze. "Hard to spot the Snitch if you're too busy staring at Cho."

"I'm not," he mumbled, face flaming.

"Alright, sure."

I studied her form. She appeared to have retained nothing Cedric taught her. Her hands were overlapping on her broom as she zipped back and forth in the air, hovering occasionally. Her eyes roamed over the Pitch, but it didn't seem like she was actively looking for the Snitch. She was shaky. She was uncertain. She was playing the same way I had been terrified of playing. She was reminding me of part of why I had quit the team.

No wonder Harry was watching. The poor girl seemed to have no idea what she was doing.

I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and tell her that surely Cedric had taught her better. I wanted to get angry, I wanted to tell her to suck it up and play the game. Then I realized how ridiculous that was, when I had actively avoided the game altogether. At least Cho was trying. I hadn't even tried, and... the team fell apart. Surely it wasn't entirely my fault, but maybe if I had been there, I could have held Harry back, or George, or both...

I was jolted from my thoughts by Lee Jordan shouting into the microphone.

"SUMMERBY HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH, CHANG TRAILING BEHIND HIM — DAVIES WINDS UP FOR ONE MORE GOAL — FURLS BLOCKS IT, AND — AND SUMMERBY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! HUFFLEPUFF WINS!"

The stands erupted. Hufflepuff had won.

I pulled Cedric's jumper tighter around myself and looked up at the sky. An osprey was perched on one of the goal hoops, directly behind Henry.

"Harry," I said hoarsely, tugging on his sleeve.

"What is it, Lu?"

I pointed at the bird. Tears clogged my throat and blurred my vision.

Harry slipped his hand into mine and squeezed hard.

Neither of us spoke. We didn't need to.

Colin Creevey's camera flashed a couple rows below us.

I made a mental note to ask for the picture. Henry would want to see it.

~

"You ready for this?" Ginny asked as we pulled our protective pads on in the locker room.

"I hope so," I replied. "Are you?"

"I hope so. I think we are." She snorted. "My brothers are watching. We better be."

"Merlin, yeah, you're right. On one hand, we'll be roasted alive if we're rubbish. On the other, if we're rubbish and they keep interrupting practice, you might get to hear Oliver cuss them out."

"With his accent? Hmm, maybe we should be rubbish, just this once."

I laughed. "This is going to be our first time practicing together. Let's try to play well first. We might be rubbish anyway, but let's at least try."

"Deal." She swore. "I can't get my right arm guard tight enough with my left hand."

I reached over and tightened it. "That work?"

"Yes, but—" She reached over and tightened my left arm guard that I couldn't get tight enough with my right hand. "Now we're set."

I held up my left arm, and Ginny understood what I meant. Her right arm guard clacked against my left, and we grinned.

"Now we're set," I said.

"Wait, we should knock our bats together too."

"Ooh, yeah." We clacked our arm guards, then our bats, then grinned. "Now we're set."

She nodded. "Let's go."

We had planned it so we'd be fifteen minutes earlier than everyone else so we got a bit of time to practice alone with the twins offering feedback. Fred was standing in the middle of the Pitch with the box of Quidditch balls, and George was in the commentary box with his elbows resting on the barrier.

"Now presenting Gryffindor's newest Beaters... WEASLEY AND DIGGORY!" boomed George's magically-amplified voice.

"Shut it!" Ginny and I shouted at him in unison, making Fred laugh.

"What were we thinking?" he wondered aloud, shaking his head. "You two are in sync already. Alright, ready?"

"Only if she is," Ginny said as she climbed onto her broom.

"I'm ready, I'm ready." I kicked off into the sky, and she followed suit in the opposite direction of the Pitch. I tossed my bat back and forth a couple of times, getting used to its weight in my hand. I swung with my left arm, then my right, then my left, then my right. I rolled my head in a circle and shook out my arms. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

I can do this. I can do this.

Breathe. Just breathe.

"Ready?" Fred called.

"Ready!" Ginny and I responded.

As the Bludger rose into the air, George's voice — thankfully no longer magically amplified — came from my left.

"Rules 5 and 6!"

What were those? Right, be big, be bold, yes, even me.

I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin.

The Bludger headed toward Ginny first. I watched as the realization dawned on her. One second, panic. The next, determination. Rather than waiting for the Bludger to head her way, she headed toward it, angling her broom so she would get the strongest swing possible.

"Send it toward the target!" Fred shouted.

"What target?"

"THIS ONE!"

Out of Fred's wand shot a circle of flaming rope. Thinking quickly, Ginny adjusted her angle and sent the Bludger flying clean through it. Directly toward me.

But the target was moving higher, a little to the left.

I wanted to scream "I'm left-handed!" But I didn't. I couldn't. Bludgers didn't care.

I switched the bat to my right hand and aimed my broom below the Bludger a bit. If I swung the bat overhead, like I was throwing a Quaffle—

THWACK.

The bat make contact with the Bludger and sent it flying through the center of the circle.

It moved again for Ginny, suddenly dipping down and even farther to the left. She flew down to meet it again, and sent it through the circle. Not quite through the center, but through the circle.

The Bludger righted itself and started hurtling toward me. I watched the target, trying to figure out the best angle. But the target was moving toward me, and so was the Bludger, and I felt myself beginning to panic, in direct violation of Rule #9.

Do not panic. Ever.

I inhaled sharply, channeling my panic into anger. How dare the Bludger and the target make me feel panicked? I was a Beater, I had a bat.

THWACK.

I barely made it through the target, but I did. I did.

Over the course of the next ten minutes, the target got smaller, bit by bit. The Bludger moved faster, bit by bit. But we kept up, as best as we could. We never missed the target.

When Angelina appeared, Fred summoned and disenchanted the Bludger and vanished the burning rope. Ginny and I flew over to each other, both breathing hard.

"Nicely done, Weasley," I panted.

"Thanks, you too," she replied, gasping. "I thought I was going to miss that last one."

"I almost missed the second one." I pulled my wand out and sent a stream of water into my mouth. "I think we got better as we went, though."

"Bloody hell, I forgot my wand," she groaned.

"Open up. Aguamenti."

"Thanks." Ginny dragged her sleeve across her mouth. "Props to you for following Rule 7."

"What's Rule 7?" I asked, since the only one going through my mind had been Do not panic. Ever. Do not panic. Ever.

"Something about not getting distracted by cute boys in the stands."

I wrinkled my nose. "Who was going to distract me, George? Doesn't he have a thing for Alicia?"

"You know, I've always wondered that!" she exclaimed. "But no, did you not notice Harry?"

"Harry's here?" I asked, whirling around. Surely enough, at some point, he had joined George in the commentary box. Both boys had Omniculars dangling from their necks, and George was pointing to something on a diagram as Harry nodded along.

Ginny laughed. "You didn't notice. Unbelievable."

"I was a little busy trying to prevent death by Bludger," I pointed out, face flushing even more.

"Well, don't get all distracted now," she teased. "Forget I said anything."

"I don't fancy Harry anymore," I replied with a huff. "We're just friends. Besides, he fancies Cho and Cho seems to fancy him. I don't want to get in the way of that. Harry and I are fine just as we are, we've got enough going on with the D.A. and everything."

"Alright, alright," Ginny relented. Or at least, it seemed she was relenting. Her smirk, that classic Weasley-mischief look, seemed to suggest, however, that she would, in fact, bring this up every chance she got.

Fortunately, Oliver Wood arrived before anything else could happen, and practice was underway. Ginny and I practiced with only the one Bludger again, for the sake of safety and simplicity. Since we wouldn't have to actually work on aiming Bludgers at other people until our match against Hufflepuff in three months, our only goal was to keep the Bludger as far away from our players as possible.

Oliver spent a lot of time shouting tips to Ron as well as pointing out flaws in the Chaser formations. While Angelina knew the formations inside and out, having participated several times, having a Keeper as Captain had helped because of his unique vantage point. Angelina could look around while in formation, and she could watch a two-player formation, but having another set of well-trained eyes seemed to take a significant burden off her shoulders.

We practiced for hours. Hours. To the point where the twins and Harry left, ate dinner, came back, saw we were still practicing, and snuck down to the kitchens and brought food back so everyone could eat afterward. With a handful of warming charms to make sure the food would still be edible.

But quite frankly, I didn't mind the long practice, even though my arms ached from swinging and my core ached from twisting and my neck ached from swiveling. Gravity had fixed itself. I was one with the sky.

That being said, I was relieved when Angelina called us down. Ginny and I hovered on our brooms, not trusting our legs to support us if we touched the ground again. I shot more water into her mouth before sending some into my own. I couldn't hear a lot of Angelina's pep talk over the pounding in my ears and my own heavy breathing, but I could tell from the way her face was glowing that she was pleased with how everything had gone.

Our biggest remaining problem? We needed a Seeker.

"Keep an eye out for anyone with good reflexes," she said. "Honestly, at this point, any age, any size. Good eyesight is helpful, too, but if someone has a fast enough broom and fast enough reflexes, they can beat Cho Chang and Ethan Summerby to the Snitch. I'm guessing you all saw how slow they both were today?"

I winced as everyone nodded. Angelina dismissed us all then, but Oliver waved me down and gestured for Ginny to come too, so we flew over to where he was hanging upside down from his broom.

"One quick observation," he said, twiddling his thumbs. "Ron seemed rather concerned about the Bludger. He spent more time watching it than the Quaffle. I think he was just worried about you two being so new, and he wanted to be able to warn you if you were missing something and it looked like you'd get hurt, but obviously his focus should primarily be on the Quaffle."

I nodded. "I'm not terribly surprised. He's a bit protective of Ginny."

"And of Harry's girl— er, best friend," Ginny amended with no small amount of sarcasm.

I groaned internally. There it is. "We're not... no."

Oliver laughed. "You and Harry have always been very close, I could see it." He grew more serious. "I heard about what you two are doing, by the way, Martin told me about it earlier."

"You crashed the Hufflepuff party?" I asked with a laugh, not wanting to talk about something as important and stressful and real as Dumbledore's Army after so many hours of focusing on Quidditch and nothing but Quidditch. Quidditch, come to think of it, had always been my escape. Maybe that was part of why I'd felt so trapped when I didn't have it in my life.

"I had to! I had to talk to Henry!" He swung himself upright. "And my brother, of course, but Henry! Merlin, did you see that match? He was brilliant! I had to ask him if it was alright to put his name out there for more scouts, since, er—" He cleared his throat and finished in a mumble, "I'd like to keep my job with Puddlemere."

I laughed. "Fair enough. What did Henry say?"

"Turned bright red and stammered something about how that'd be alright if I really wanted to do something like that but he was working on a Ministry internship and so forth and so on. But a Keeper like that shouldn't be in the Ministry of all places, he was up against Roger bloody Davies and barely let in a single goal! The only ones he did let in were the ones where his Beaters couldn't get to the Bludger in time and he had to duck out of the way at the last second! Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you two, I should really talk to Angelina, so we can head down, but bloody hell, that one save where he used his broom to..."

I couldn't help but smile as Oliver continued gushing about Henry as we headed down. I heard a bit of Cedric in his pride, even through the thick Scottish accent.

"Lucy!" a voice shouted from behind me.

I spun toward the sound, mild annoyance surging in me. Now that practice was over, I was painfully aware of the fact that I was starving and I would not hesitate to chuck my bat at anyone who stood in the way between me and—

Harry was pointing.

I followed his finger.

Perched on top of a Gryffindor flag was an osprey.

The bird gave one piercing cry before flying through the center goal hoop and taking off into the night.

~

A/N: Hello, everyone! I'm so sorry this chapter is so late by my standards, but I hope you all enjoyed it regardless! I was swamped with work this week. Good news, I'm more on top of it than I have been the past couple of weeks, so hopefully I'm finally getting into the swing of things again! Bad news, I didn't start this update until about nine hours ago as a result of being on top of my other work. But here it is!

I hope you've all been doing as well as possible in this crazy world! I just wanted to take the time to remind you all that my messages are always open if you need to talk to someone. I've noticed a lot of people seem to be going through a hard time right now, so if you ever want to talk to someone who understands, please never hesitate to reach out. I love and appreciate you all so much, and I hope you know that.

Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to comment, I love hearing from you!

See you all on Saturday! I'm rather excited for that update, personally. I'm still more excited for Chapter 150, though, I cannot lie. I can't wait to share that one with you all.