We live and we die
Like fireworks
Our legacies hide
In the embers
May our stories catch fire
And burn bright enough
To catch God's eye
We live and we die

Like fireworks
We pull apart the dark
Compete against the stars
With all of our hearts
Till our temporary brilliance turns to ash
We pull apart the darkness while we can

LUCY:

"The Impediment Jinx is quite simple, but versatile," I said, twirling my wand in my fingers as I walked backwards away from the D.A. "As the name would suggest, it's most commonly used to slow something or someone down. For example..." I backed up until I bumped into the wall. "Ready, Harry?"

"Ready, Lucy!"

I grinned and charged toward him at full speed.

"Impedimenta!"

Suddenly, it was as if I had started trying to run through molasses. I strained against the jinx, but my legs refused to cooperate. Everyone laughed as Harry turned and bowed dramatically several times.

"It's important to note, though," I shouted just as the jinx gave way thirty seconds later, "IT'S TEMPORARY!"

I broke free and jumped like a monkey onto Harry's back. He didn't fall (that time, anyway — we had practiced this little trick with cushions the night prior, with less success) and instead bowed again, sending me sliding off onto the cushion directly in front of him.

"We are professionals," he said, "so try to refrain from attempting to tackle your partner for now, alright?"

"If I really wanted to tackle you, Potter, I would have," I said as I bounced to my feet.

"Yes, of course, if you say so. The effectiveness of Impediment Jinx depends on the size of the target; the smaller the target, the stronger the impediment. It can freeze a butterfly entirely, but against the creatures in the maze, it either did nothing or next to nothing. It was stunning that helped the most in those situations, but we'll save that for next week."

"Any questions?" When there were none, I grinned. "Alright, in that case, partner up!"

I counted heads as everyone split, just to make sure we had an even number. Oddly enough, though, someone was missing; we were one person short.

"Harry, who's not here?" I asked in an urgent whisper.

He swore under his breath. "Er... okay, Zacharias is here, that's good, he's the one whose absence would concern me most."

"Agreed. Er, who doesn't have a partner?"

"Neville," Harry answered a second later.

"So Henry's missing," I said. "That's odd. I hope he's alright. You can ask the older Hufflepuffs if they know where he is, I'll be Neville's partner."

Harry nodded, and we headed our separate ways.

I waved Neville down. "Hi, Nev! Henry isn't here, so you're stuck with me tonight!"

"Is he alright?" he asked.

"Harry's going to find out," I replied. "Until then, why don't you try to, er, impede me?"

Neville nodded and took a deep breath. "Impedimenta, right?"

"Exactly!"

"Are you going to run toward me, too?"

I laughed. "No, that was just for the sake of demonstration." I lowered my voice. "Between you and me, it took us about fifteen tries to get that right. A couple of times, he missed me and I couldn't slow down fast enough so I actually tackled him by accident."

"Good thing this room has cushions, then!"

I nodded. "Yeah, definitely! Alright, Neville, hit me with your best shot! I'll know if it worked."

His face hardened in determination as he pointed his wand at me. "Impedimenta!"

The effect wasn't as strong as the molasses-like resistance of Harry's spell, but I felt it. I tried to take a step forward, but my foot barely moved.

"Did I do it?" he asked nervously.

"You did!" I exclaimed. "I would, er, offer you a high-five, but..." I strained against the jinx for emphasis, and he laughed.

"What now?"

"We wait a few seconds." I smiled. "How have you been, Neville?"

"Henry told me how to get into the Hufflepuff common room, so I've been spending more time there lately! All of the plants in there... Merlin, it's great!"

"Definitely," I agreed with a nod. "How's your mimbulus mimbletonia?"

"It's doing well, thanks! I moved it to the Hufflepuff common room so it could get more sunlight, and it's been growing like mad!"

"That's great!" I felt the jinx fade, so I shook out my limbs. "Alright, Neville, go for it again."

"Don't you want a turn?" he asked.

I shook my head. "It's alright. This is your time to practice!"

Neville studied my face for a moment, as if searching for something. He apparently didn't find it, because he blinked and pointed his wand at me again. "Impedimenta!"

"Ooh, it's stronger already," I said, wiggling my toes for emphasis. "This is about all I can do."

"That's not much, but you weren't moving at all when Harry did it."

I frowned. "I thought I was moving just a little bit."

"You wish," Harry said as he came up behind me and rested his elbow on my shoulder. "Nicely done, Neville, she hates it when I do this."

"Yeah, because it's a reminder you're still taller than me," I huffed, wanting to shove him off but being completely frozen in place. "Any word on Henry?"

"Apparently Sprout wanted to talk to him after Herbology today and no one's seen him since," Harry replied. "He's alright, though, just busy."

"Alright. Well, as long as he's okay, that's all that matters."

"My thoughts exactly." Harry sighed and dropped his arm. "Well, since you two have the spell down, I should go check on the others since I'm flying solo tonight. Keep up the good work, Neville!"

As my luck would have it, the spell faded as soon as Harry was out of reach.

"I'll get him back for that later," I chuckled. "At least I'm tall enough that he can't rest his elbow on my head anymore, he and Ron used to do that from time to time."

"Reckon I'm tall enough to do that?" he asked with an uncharacteristically mischievous smile.

"I'd rather not find out," I said, "but if you get me stuck enough, I suppose I won't have much choice."

"Or you could use the Impediment Jinx on me. Your defense or my offense, doesn't make much difference."

"No, it's alright. This is your practice time, not mine."

"Alright. Impedimenta!"

I froze on the spot. "Nice one!"

"How have you been, Lucy?" he asked, mischief gone from his face.

I smiled, pretending not to notice. "Weren't you going to see if you were tall enough to use my head for an armrest?"

"Maybe next time. How have you been?"

I recalled with a rush why he probably was asking. The Cruciatus Curse was a common thread running from me to his parents.

"I've been alright," I said. When I realized he didn't believe that, I scrambled a bit to try to convince him. "Okay, maybe 'alright' is a bit of a stretch, but I've been doing a bit better. The shaking stopped a while back, as I'm sure you've noticed, and I, er, I'm on the Quidditch team again."

"Damn right you're on the Quidditch team again!" Ginny called from somewhere over my shoulder.

I laughed. "I'd turn around, Gin, but Neville really nailed his Impediment Jinx."

"Wish I could say the same for Michael," she replied, earning an amused "Hey!" from her boyfriend.

"You're on the Quidditch team again?" someone asked from over my other shoulder.

The jinx fell away, so I turned around to see Zacharias staring at me with an odd look on his face.

"Oh, er..." I felt my face beginning to burn as I became suddenly aware of all of the yellow ties around me. "Yeah, I am."

He furrowed his brow. "Moving on a bit fast, aren't you?"

"I... w-well, the team needed Beaters and a Seeker—"

"Yeah, I know, because the Weasley twins and Potter—"

"Aren't you still on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team?" I interrupted, voice shaking.

"Replacing one player was hard enough," Zacharias replied. "I didn't want to do that to Henry."

I exhaled a short burst of air, crossing my arms over my chest. "So are you upset with me for being on the team or not? I-I wasn't on the team for the first part of the year because... because it would have been too hard—"

"Everything is hard. Life is hard."

"Do you honestly think I don't know that?"

Zacharias stepped back. "Look, I know, I'm just saying—"

"What did I do wrong?" I pressed desperately. "First you thought me being on the team was me moving on too soon, now it sounds like you think I should have stayed on the team so Angelina didn't have to go to the trouble of replacing me—"

"You Gryffindors think the world revolves around you," he muttered, shaking his head and turning back around.

"I just — you didn't let me explain myself," I finished in a whisper.

I glanced around at the other Hufflepuffs, which I soon realized was a mistake. They were all looking at me with odd expressions on their faces. All looking at me with varying degrees of judgment and confusion and... and wistfulness. Zacharias had been smart. Loud enough to capture the attention of everyone in yellow around me. Quiet enough to hide under the shouts of "Impedimenta!" everyone else in the room not wearing yellow.

"Lucy?" Neville's soft voice asked from behind me.

I inhaled shakily, looking from Hufflepuff to Hufflepuff. "I'm sorry I'm not Cedric," I said just loud enough for everyone in yellow to hear, just quiet enough for everyone else to not hear. "I'm trying my best to be."

Archie's words from Saturday — "It's not your fault that Hufflepuffs are loyal, first and foremost... to a fault sometimes... you'll never make every Hufflepuff happy... only one Cedric, and only one Lucy..." — were ringing in my ears. Cedric was gone. Lucy was not. And I knew everyone around me in that moment would have given anything for it to be the other way around.

A gentle hand on my shoulder yanked me from the spiral. "Lucy?"

"I'm alright," I said, turning to face Neville with the most convincing neutral expression I could offer. "Let's try again."

"Lucy, they're — they're wrong. About you. You'll be a great Beater. M-Maybe they're just scared of losing to you in Quidditch in a couple of months."

In spite of myself, I smiled. "Thanks, Neville. Maybe that's it. Alright, let's go again."

"Do you want a turn? I wouldn't mind. You wouldn't hurt me."

You don't know that for certain.

And just like that, my defenses popped up. I forced all of my emotions away, back behind a dam, because if even a single part of the storm inside escaped its cage, I would make more of a mess than I had already made.

I glued my smile into place and shook my head. "Don't worry, I got plenty of practice with Harry." That was only partially true. I had practiced with Harry, yes, but I hadn't landed a single Impediment Jinx. I said the incantation, I moved my wand properly, but nothing. "Go for it, Neville."

He did. Again and again and again, Neville succeeded. I had already known that Neville was gaining confidence, but to see him so consistent made me ecstatic for him. He seemed ecstatic for himself, too, in a subdued and surprised way.

I held the storm back through the end of the meeting. I didn't meet the eyes of anyone in yellow, but I could still feel their stares. When the twins started the Disarming Charm game that had become tradition, I retreated to a corner with Harry and tried to tune out the shouting.

"Neville did well," I said, sending faint blue sparks out of my wand as I twirled it between my fingers. "How did everyone else do?"

"Everyone seemed to be getting the hang of it by the end. There was a lot of variety in strength and effectiveness, but everyone could at least slow the other person down a bit. I did see... okay, how are you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Sending out those sparks right now? You're not saying any incantations, you're not holding your wand properly, you're not even really focusing on it. How?"

"Oh. Er..." I blinked. How was I doing it? "I'm not sure."

"You are doing it, right? On purpose?"

"Yeah, I am." I think. "I don't usually use incantations for these types of spells, come to think of it."

"I know wandless magic exists, but..." He cocked his head, staring at my hands. "I've never seen someone doing that, exactly. Have you?"

"Not that I can remember," I replied with a shrug.

"If you focus, can you change the spell at all?"

"How so?"

"Can you make the sparks red?"

"I can try." I stared at the wand, willing the sparks to turn red. A couple of scarlet sparks slipped out, but it was still a steady stream of blue. "Guess not. Anyway, do you think we should do the Impediment Jinx again next time just to make sure everyone has it, or should we move on?"

"We can probably move on. I reckon Henry knows the Impediment Jinx, the older Hufflepuffs all had it from the beginning."

I nodded silently. The sparks from my wand became more intense, traitorous indicators of the storm of sadness swelling inside me, so I tucked my wand away just as Ginny dropped onto a cushion with a huff next to us.

"They all teamed up against me since I won last time, and the time before that," she complained.

"How rude," I said with a laugh.

"When are you two going to play with us?"

"Now that would just be unfair," Harry replied.

"That's a complicated way of saying you're afraid of losing."

Harry laughed. "Oh, shove off."

"So what's the plan for next time?" Ginny asked, twisting my cushion around so she could braid my hair as we talked.

"Waddiwasi," Harry replied. "A specialty of Professor Lupin's. We just need to figure out what we're going to use for projectiles, since bubblegum could get a bit sticky."

Harry and I swapped projectile ideas with occasional input from Ginny until the three of us were the only ones left in the room.

I rose to my feet and drew my wand again. "I'm going to stay and blow off a bit of steam, but I'll meet you in the common room in a couple of minutes."

"What's wrong?" they asked in unison.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I just want a bit of practice."

"Well, so do I," Ginny said. "I'll stay."

"I'll duel you, Ginny," Harry offered.

"Ooh, you're going down, Potter."

"Sure, sure."

As they continued to banter, I made my way to the opposite corner of the room and appraised the dummy in front of me. The backs of my eyes burned, the looks of the Hufflepuffs having been seared into my memory.

Burning. Searing. Burning fire, searing heat.

"Incendio," I hissed.

Fire arced through the air and attacked the dummy like a whip.

"Bombarda, confringo, bombarda maxima, incendio."

The spells poured from my mouth as fire shot from my wand, twin torrents of turmoil. I was naïve enough to think maybe fire could chase away the storm brewing inside, as if fire could ever triumph over water, as if fire ever stood a chance when the unforgiving tides of fate decided to advance. I was naïve, I was a fool, I was incalcitrant, I was a mess, but somehow, in that moment, I was both fire and storm. I didn't know if the fire was bolstering the storm or if the storm was bolstering the fire, but somehow, in that moment, they were raging together.

"Holy Helga Hufflepuff," I heard Ginny whisper. I doubted she knew I could hear her over the sound of the firestorm, so I didn't acknowledge it. I just kept going. "Did you know she could do that?"

"When she lets herself," Harry murmured back.

"When she lets herself? Why wouldn't she let herself? She's incredible."

"She's afraid."

Okay, that's enough, this conversation can't continue.

"Aguamenti," I said, drenching the dummy even though the fire would have faded on its own. Perhaps it was some sort of test. Was the fire strong enough to resist? Was I strong enough to resist?

The fire was extinguished with a hiss.

I swallowed hard and turned back to Harry and Ginny, forcing a smile. "Who won?"

"Harry," Ginny said.

"Well, I don't see any broken bones, so that's good," I commented. I was about to suggest we head back to the common room when the door opened. I lifted my wand defensively, but it was only Henry.

"Oh, perfect, you're still here," he said, eyes locked on me. "I need to borrow you for a moment. I swear it's nothing bad," he added quickly, "but I've been working on something for the past couple of hours and I need a second opinion before I tell Professor Sprout it's ready. Do you mind?"

I glanced at Harry and Ginny; all three of us were clearly confused by Henry's request, but we all trusted him. "I don't mind," I replied with a shrug. "See you two in the common room."

I followed Henry into the corridor.

"Sorry, I know it's late," he said, lighting his wand so we could navigate the darkness. "I'm sorry for missing the meeting too, I promise I wouldn't have if this hadn't been so important."

"It's alright, Henry, I trust you. I heard Professor Sprout kept you after Herbology?"

"Yeah, she did. The project is in her office."

I was often a fast walker, but that night, Henry was even faster. His hand was tight around his wand, trembling a bit as we hurried all the way down to Professor Sprout's office behind the greenhouses.

Henry hesitated at the door. "I'll let you see for yourself, so you're not, er, influenced to be overly nice just because I'm standing there. I want your honest opinion."

"Er, alright," I said with a nod. Henry was acting odd, but not in a sinister way. It looked like he was trying hard not to smile. I trusted him, but, well... I wanted to be absolutely sure. "Umbridge isn't on the other side, is she?"

"Oh, no," he replied, laughing breathlessly. "No, no, not at all. I promise, I would never do that to you. Trust me, this is good, you'll — you'll see what I mean."

I offered a small smile. "Alright. I trust you. But if the twins put you up to a prank or something—"

Henry laughed for real at that. "No, it's not a prank, just go in, trust me."

"Alright, alright." I opened the door and slipped inside, still not fully convinced Henry was innocent. He had been spending a lot of time with the twins as of late. Henry shut the door behind me, and I turned around, about to tell him he was the worst prank accomplice I had ever met, but a voice behind me stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Lucy?"

I couldn't breathe. I didn't dare breathe. It was impossible. There was no way...

Finally, I turned. There, propped up in a chair, was a portrait of Cedric.

May we live and die
A valorous life
May we write it all down
In cursive light
So we pray we were made
In the image of a figure eight
May we live and die

"Cedric," I breathed, sprinting over to him. "You're — you're —" I swallowed hard. "How?"

"I'm going to say now that I'm not going to be exactly the same," he said. "Portraits are better when, well, the actual person spends time talking to the portrait and whatnot. But Henry and Professor Sprout have been with me for a while, and I'm doing my best to catch up. Henry wanted you to be the first person to see me before I head to the Hufflepuff common room, since you knew me better than anyone."

I nodded. I fought the tears back as well as I could as I tried to wrap my head around it all. "S-So you don't remember everything? Only what Henry and Professor Sprout have told you?"

"Right. But if you tell me anything, Lucy, I promise I'll do my best to remember it."

Henry Furls, you nailed this. That's exactly what Cedric would have said.

"Lu," I said, choking on the nickname. "You called me Lu sometimes, like a nickname."

He smiled. "Sounds good to me, Lu."

I inhaled shakily, smiling back as a couple of tears slipped down my cheeks. "Oh Merlin, I've missed you. There's so much to tell you, so much I—" I drew another shaky breath. "Sorry. I should try not to overwhelm you, since you don't know everything."

"Hey, it's alright. I won't be overwhelmed. It seems like you are, though, so maybe sharing the burden a bit will make it easier to carry."

HENRY FURLS, YOU NAILED THIS, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT CEDRIC WOULD HAVE SAID.

"It really is you," I whispered. "Merlin."

A thought occurred to me. Henry didn't know I was a werewolf. Chances were, Cedric didn't either. I doubted Professor Sprout would have wanted to mention it.

I bit my lip. I didn't know if I wanted to tell him. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted him to know, and I didn't know if that was on the list.

Portrait Cedric was as observant as Cedric had been, though. "What's wrong, Lu?"

"Nothing, nothing," I said, wiping my tears with my sleeve. "There's just so much I want to say, and I don't know where to start or how much you know and I want to do this right and..."

"Hey, this is new to me too," he chuckled. "We can figure it out together, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed. I scrubbed at my cheeks again. "I love you so much."

"Now that I know." Cedric smiled. "I love you too."

I giggled, fresh tears coming to my eyes. "That's all you really need to know, when it comes down to it. Everyone loves you."

"I've heard that quite a bit," he said; I laughed as the portrait actually blushed. "Honestly, I've heard more than enough about me for one day. I'd rather hear about you, about us. Henry filled me in on Quidditch, but he said you didn't play in the Gryffindor match. What happened, was something wrong?"

"Funny you should mention that, actually." I pulled a chair over and curled up in it. "Er, I suppose I should start from the beginning. We played Quidditch a lot as kids, a lot. Mum and Dad didn't let us wander in the woods or anything like that, so we spent time flying instead. And, er, after you died, I didn't feel much like playing anymore without you." I glanced up at the portrait, waiting for a gentle reprimand, but no such thing happened. He was merely watching me, nodding to show he was listening. I reminded myself that it wasn't actually Cedric, not yet anyway, and continued. "But in the last Gryffindor match, there was, er, there was a fight. Do you remember Fred and George, and Harry?"

"Henry mentioned those three," Cedric said with a nod. "Told me a lot about those three, actually. He said you're their friend, too."

Heat flooded my face as I wondered what Henry might have possibly said about Harry in particular. "Er... did he say anything else?"

Apparently feeling cheeky, Cedric grinned. "Anything else you'd like to say?"

"I don't fancy any of those boys, if that's what you're trying to suggest," I replied with a small grin of my own. "Did Henry say otherwise?"

"Not outright, no. He did say you and Harry are best friends, and something about this was quite funny."

I huffed. "Of course it was. Anyway, there was a fight, and Umbridge kicked those three off the team, so we needed two Beaters and a Seeker. We still need a Seeker, but Ginny Weasley and I are the new Beaters. Fred and George are teaching us how to play."

"That's great! I think you'd make a great Beater. Henry told me a bit about Ginny too, he said the two of you are shaping up to be smaller versions of the twins."

"Well, Henry can shove off," I said with a laugh, "but he's not the only one with that opinion."

"Which one of you would be which twin?" Cedric inquired.

I gnawed on my lower lip. "I don't know. I'll get back to you on that."

"Alright. Why did you say it was funny that I mentioned Quidditch?"

"Oh, that." My face flooded with heat again. "It's just, er, tonight, someone in your house said something about how it seemed like I was moving on too soon to play Quidditch again, but it also seemed like he thought I never should have stopped playing in the first place." I froze. I could ask Cedric what he thought. Or, well, Portrait Cedric. I had to keep reminding myself he wasn't actually Cedric. But, at the same time, I wanted his advice. "What do you think I should do? Should I play Beater, or am I moving on too fast?"

"Do you still love Quidditch?"

I nodded. "It sort of helps me feel closer to you," I whispered, remembering the osprey that had appeared at the end of practice. "When I wasn't playing, I felt far away from you. A-And maybe I needed that for a while, maybe I wasn't ready to confront my own grief yet, but... but I want to feel close to you again."

"I'm not the same, but I'm here. And I'm there, too. I'll be wherever you look for me, Lu."

I nodded again, tears clogging my throat. "Do you remember your patronus, Cedric?"

"I don't. What's a patronus?"

I swallowed hard. "That's another part of, well, us. I taught you the Patronus Charm. I learned it a couple of years ago, Professor Lupin taught me how to do it. He taught Harry, too. A patronus is..." I searched for the word. "It's happiness embodied. You turn your happiest memories into a magical force that can protect you from a dementor, which is like sorrow embodied. If you have a really strong happy memory, your patronus can take the form of an animal."

"Did mine?" he asked. I was taken aback by the wonder in his voice, the genuine curiosity. The innocence. The Cedric before me wasn't the real Cedric, and I was becoming more and more aware of that, but that was alright. I could tell him about the world in all of its beauty. He didn't need to know about the darkness, about the pain. Maybe a day would come that I would want to tell him about that as well, but for that night, I wanted to tell him about every beautiful part of the world he left behind, every beautiful part of the world he would get to know again.

"It did. Merlin, it was beautiful. It was an osprey, which is a type of bird. I-I never got the chance to take a picture of your patronus, but I can show you a picture of the real animal. I-I know someone who took a picture of one recently. I'll bring it to show you sometime."

"Wow, that's really neat! Does your patronus take the form of an animal, too?"

I nodded. "Mine is a bear. I used it for the first time in a Quidditch match, and it wasn't even against real dementors! It was Draco Malfoy and a couple of his goons pretending to be dementors. But the patronus? That was real."

"You said something about needing a happy memory for it?"

"Yeah, you have to focus really hard on a happy memory to make it work."

"What memory did you use, Lu? Was I there for it?"

Tears pricked the backs of my eyes yet again. "Yeah, you were. Y-You're there in all of my happiest memories."

So I told him. I told him about the memory I used that day, our last night in Tahoe with the Richardsons. I told him about the other happy memories I tried before that one, the ones that were strong but not quite strong enough. Riding on the Jet Ski with him. Baking for Christmas with Tuck running between our legs. I told him about Tuck and promised to bring him to the Hufflepuff common room to show Cedric sometime. Then I told Cedric all about the memories he tried when he learned the Patronus Charm. Cedric kissing Cho at the Quidditch World Cup when he asked her, finally, to be his girlfriend. Being sorted into Hufflepuff, then Henry being sorted into Hufflepuff as well. I left out the memory about entering the Tournament. I wanted to focus on the beauty instead, even if just for the night. He deserved that.

I told him in as much detail as possible about the happy memory that finally produced the patronus. I told him about the Quidditch match we played for his birthday and did my best to describe everything about it from the game itself and all of the people involved to the sunset that painted the whole world golden as we returned to the castle. By the time the story was done, sleep was tugging down on my eyelids, and Cedric, observant as ever, didn't miss it.

I started crying again as we said good night, but I promised to head down to the Hufflepuff common room soon, once everyone else had gotten a chance to talk to him. As I rose from the chair and returned it to its original place in the room, I couldn't help but shiver a bit. The office was cold because it was November and it was made of glass, but beyond that, I realized never again would I be able to hug him after a conversation. The absence of the heat seemed even colder than the chill in the air. But, for that night, I focused on the beauty. For that night, I wanted to believe in all of the good the world still had to offer me.

The fire in spite of the storm. The storm that couldn't extinguish the fire.

"I love you, Cedric," I said with the brightest smile I could possibly manage.

"I love you too, Lu," he replied. His smile was equally radiant.

Like fireworks
We pull apart the dark
Compete against the stars
With all of our hearts
Till our temporary brilliance turns to ash
We pull apart the darkness while we can

When I returned to the common room, Harry was the only other person there. He was twirling his wand in his fingers, staring at it intently as if trying to recreate the sparks I was producing earlier, but he stopped abruptly when he saw me slip through the portrait hole.

"Hey," he said, folding up the Marauder's Map, which had been spread out across the floor. "Sorry, I just got worried when you were gone a while. Are you alright?"

I nodded, despite the tears gathering in my eyes.

Harry rose to his feet. "Lucy?"

"I..." I swallowed hard. "D-Did the map say I was alone in Professor Sprout's office?"

"Yeah, it did. Henry was outside, with someone named Badeea? I've never seen her name before."

I nodded. "Y-Yeah, he was. The map was wrong, though, I wasn't alone."

"I don't think the map's ever been wrong, Lu..." he said uncertainly.

"Does the map account for portraits?"

Harry froze.

"I-I was talking to Cedric."

He blinked. "Y-You were?"

I nodded, a small smile beginning to form. "Badeea was the one who painted the portrait. Henry wanted me to talk to Cedric before putting the portrait in the Hufflepuff common room tonight, to make sure it was good. A-And it was."

"That's — that's not at all what I was expecting you to say," he admitted, but he immediately beamed. "But that's brilliant!" When I didn't reply, tears still filling my eyes, his smile faltered. "What's wrong?"

"Th-There was just one thing missing," I said. Before he could ask what that was, I launched myself at Harry, wrapping my arms around him and holding as tightly as possible. I buried my face against his neck, a couple of tears escaping my eyes. Harry held me back, warm and present and fully Harry. Cedric's portrait would never be fully Cedric. I couldn't afford to let myself believe that. I couldn't afford to let myself lose Harry, either. "Our conversations always ended with a hug, and portraits can't exactly do that."

In the days that followed, I had a bit of grappling to do. The portrait was moved into the Hufflepuff common room overnight, so by breakfast the next day, it was all anyone could talk about. Some people were beyond excited. Others were apprehensive. Afraid of growing attached, perhaps.

As for me, I was a bit of both. I understood in the back of my mind that Cedric, the real Cedric, was dead and gone. Never again on this earth would he exist again in all of his fullness. In spite of this, though, I figured there was no harm in learning to love the portrait, too, until my brother and I met again properly.

True to my word, I slipped off to the Hufflepuff common room during dinner one night a couple days later, and I talked to Cedric again, this time telling him all about how I had successfully started hitting Bludgers at moving targets and promising to bring Tuck the next time I visited. I left just as dinner was finishing, and I managed to catch Harry by himself in a corridor on his way to the common room.

"How was that?" he asked with a grin.

I dried my cheeks, smiling back. "It was good. Just one thing missing."

This time, he was prepared for the ferocity of my hug. Rather than allowing myself to dwell in the magic that had been found even in death, I inhaled deeply, trying to ground myself once again in the magic of life. Harry was all of that. He was the sweetness of Chocolate Frogs and the grass of the Quidditch Pitch and the smoke of the common room fireplace and every other wonderful part of life as I had come to know it, with or without Cedric.

Every other wonderful part of life that was worth the fight.

I released him and grinned. "Do you want to head to the Room of Requirement? We still need to figure out what projectiles to use tomorrow night."

"Sounds good," he replied.

And so we headed in the direction of the Room of Requirement, side by side.

There was life still, there was fire still, and those were worth the fight. With or without Cedric.

Like fireworks
We pull apart the dark
Compete against the stars
With all of our hearts
Till our temporary brilliance turns to ash
We pull apart the darkness while we can

"In the Embers"
Sleeping At Last