HARRY:

At breakfast before we left for Hogsmeade, an owl landed on Lucy's shoulder and dropped a letter onto her lap. She jolted visibly, but as soon as fear flickered across her eyes, it was replaced by the same vacant, haunted expression that had lived in the blue ever since the day after Hermione's birthday.

"Romulus?" she asked, a flicker of confusion disappearing as soon as it appeared. "If you're here, that means..."

The twins exchanged a look as Lucy slit the envelope and drew out a long letter. She scanned the words, biting her lower lip harder and harder as she neared the bottom of the page. Fred and George read over her shoulder, exchanging another look at the end of it.

Lucy folded the letter back into thirds and glanced between the twins. "Are either of you any good at extension charms?"

"Extension ch-?" Hermione shook her head. "Lucy, those are-"

"Terribly tricky and ridiculously risky? Indeed!" George finished.

"So yes, of course we are, they're fascinating! Want us to help you pack?" Fred asked. He sounded upbeat enough, but he and George exchanged a third look loaded with meaning.

It was suddenly impossible to breathe.

"Pack?" I managed, looking at Lucy, whose face was a perfect blank save the haunted look in her eyes, which, again, was nothing new. "You're not- Malfoy didn't-"

Lucy shook her head. "No, n-no, he didn't, it's not- here, this will clear it up." She passed me the letter and turned to the twins. "Which one of you is better at it?"

"Me, of course," they said in unison.

Lucy should have laughed. It was funny. But whatever ghost was holding her captive hadn't let her laugh for nearly two weeks. "Alright, you can both come, I don't need too much for only three days."

"Three-?" I started to ask, but Lucy gestured at the letter with her chin.

"That's all I know," she said in a small voice. "I... I just found out."

"It makes sense, though," George said.

Lucy looked for a second as if she'd disagree, but she bit her lip instead and rose to her feet. The twins followed her out of the Great Hall, and Hermione wrenched the letter from my hands.

She skimmed it quickly, then sighed with relief. "I was afraid it was something horrible," she said, passing the parchment to me. Ron read over my shoulder.

Dear Lucy,
   I'm terribly sorry for the short notice, but the Order deemed it necessary to keep you as safe as possible. At noon today, meet me at the Hogsmeade train station. A number of your peers and professors have expressed concern in regards to your apparent lack of ability to do magic, and it's been decided that St. Mungo's should run a couple of tests to attempt to determine the cause and remedy the problem, if possible. It's been complicated trying to get clearance for you to leave school, but we figure that once you're gone, there's nothing that horrible woman Professor Umbridge High Inquisitor Umbridge that horrible woman can do about it. You'll be back at school by dinner on Tuesday, assuming everything goes according to plan.
   Again, I'm sorry for the lack of notice and your lack of involvement. It's been difficult trying to coordinate all of this in a way that wouldn't land anyone in trouble, but I assure you that everyone has your best interests at heart. I'll see you at noon.
      Best regards, Remus Lupin

My heart pounded. My head was spinning.

Lucy? St. Mungo's? Tests? Three days?

I was obviously relieved that the Order had heard and decided to do something to try to fix whatever was wrong with Lucy, but, well, I wanted to be there to help if I could. I knew that the healers at St. Mungo's were obviously far more competent than I would be, but what if she needed me while she was there? What if she had a nightmare and she was all alone? What if there was a loud bang and she panicked and they didn't know that the best way to help was to make sure she didn't feel suffocated and help her focus on something else?

What if what happened in July happened to her again? And I couldn't help... again?

Ron sucked in a breath between his teeth. "At least she'll be back by the full moon," he said softly.

Hermione and I whipped our heads to face him in perfect unison, both shocked.

He blinked. "What?" When neither of us could find a reply, he smiled uneasily. "Oh. Well, Gin was doing Astronomy homework that night Lucy went home in August. The twins wouldn't let her out of their sight for three days after that. And then when she disappeared again in September on a full moon, we guessed she was, well, you know. Did we guess correctly? Neither of us have mentioned it to her."

Hermione nodded after a moment. "I'm not surprised you noticed the twins hovering. They didn't hide it well. Lucy wouldn't tell me what happened for a reason."

"What happened?" I asked, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. "At the time, I just thought they were hovering because she didn't sleep well after being home. Obviously now I know what was going on, but... what happened? Did something go wrong?"

"According to George, she almost died," Hermione replied delicately.

"What?" Ron and I burst out in unison.

"Shut up!" she hissed. "We don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves right now. Anyway, er, a cabinet landed on her in wolf form, and she transformed back with a number of badly-broken ribs. It was apparently quite frightening. It even rattled Fred, who is never rattled by anything. Not Lucy so much, though, she seemed completely unfazed, which they both thought was odd."

If my head was spinning before, it was a full-blown tornado after that onslaught of information. Suddenly not hungry, I folded the letter with shaking hands.

"I'm going to go see if she needs help packing," I muttered, clumsily rising from the table. "Wouldn't want her to forget anything."

I hurried from the Hall without looking back. My feet led the way to the Gryffindor Tower, and I managed to say the password without even really thinking about it. Lucy was watching with fascination as Fred pulled the tiny backpack down over his head, around his shoulders, all the way down to his knees.

"I think it worked," he announced with a muffled voice.

"I agree," she replied. "Thanks, boys, now I don't have to carry a suitcase around all day." Her eyes met mine as she yanked the backpack off of Fred's upper body. "Impressive, isn't it?"

I nodded, smiling a bit at the twins. "Brilliant, really. You two have a product that uses that one?"

"Not a working one," Fred replied with a suppressed laugh. George looked equal parts amused and sheepish.

"Must be quite the product, based on that reaction," I remarked sarcastically. I glanced at Lucy, growing serious. "D'you want some help packing?"

She looked for a second as if she'd say no, the way she always did when someone offered help, but this time she shrugged. "If you want to help, sure."

The twins headed back down to the Great Hall, and I followed Lucy up to her dormitory.

"I don't need too much," she said as she closed the door behind us. "Just a couple of nights."

Her voice was light, but forcibly so. She didn't look at me as she tossed the backpack onto her unmade bed and stared at it. For a second, something intense flickered across her face, but it disappeared. Normally I wouldn't pry, not wanting to make her feel embarrassed or uncomfortable, but, well, I wasn't going to see her for a while. And we were alone. And I wanted to help.

"Are you alright, Lu?" I asked gently. I walked forward and slid the letter into her bag, turning to get a better look at her face. Tears were filling her eyes. I lowered myself onto her bed, and she sank down beside me.

"St. Mungo's is where Cedric was," she said after a moment. "I-I didn't want to go in August because- because- but now, I- I-" She sighed shakily. "Sorry. Very eloquent of me."

"Merlin, I don't need eloquent." I huffed a weak laugh. "Just say what you want to say."

Just three words, spoken in a voice that was tired of crying.

"I miss him."

Lucy leaned back until she was flat on her bed, and she pressed her fists to her eyes. I laid back too and rested my hands one on top of the other on my stomach. A long minute passed in silence.

"I've never been at St. Mungo's without Cedric," she said. "He... he always wanted to go with me."

"You've been before?" I asked.

She nodded. "Quite a bit. More so when I was younger, I haven't been since I started Hogwarts, but I... I never went without Cedric. The only time I was alone there was when I was transformed because it wouldn't have been safe, but he was always there right after. He..." Her voice faded, and she laid her hands flat against her face. "I miss him." She sat up suddenly. "Bloody hell, the dogs."

"I can feed Tuck and Fang," I offered, somewhat startled by her rapid turnaround.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"No, of course not. I'll take good care of them."

Lucy nodded. "I know you will. Thank you."

With that, she pushed herself to her feet, and I followed suit. Helping her pack was easy enough. She didn't say anything further about Cedric, and I didn't want to push my luck, so we worked together in comfortable silence except for my occasional "You alright?" and her soft "I don't know" followed by a sniffle.

Once we were done, I glanced her way only to find she was already looking at me. Searching.

"You alright?" I asked again.

"Are you?"

I blinked. Why on earth is SHE asking ME if I'M alright? I blinked again. "Er, Lu, I'm not the one who hasn't done proper magic in nearly two weeks."

"I did heal Ron's hand, but I know what you mean," she said, her gaze not wavering. What is she looking for? "You didn't answer my question. What's bothering you?"

Normally, I would have said nothing. But something about her in that moment seemed to suck the truth right out of me. "Last time we weren't together, you..."

"Oh."

Lucy crossed the room in an instant, throwing her arms around me.

A bit of the anxious knot in my stomach loosened as I let my cheek rest against the top of her head. Just like it had been the night she came back. But I couldn't shake the feeling that if I let her go, she'd disappear forever. Just like I had felt the night she came back.

An hour later, we were on our way to Hogsmeade. Lucy had her small backpack hanging from her shoulders, and I'll admit I was walking closer to her than usual. My anxiety was a tightly-coiled spring in the pit of my stomach. Still, I tried not to show it, for Lucy's sake.

"Where are we going, anyway, The Three Broomsticks?" I asked.

"Oh, no. No, it's always packed and really noisy. I've told the others to meet us in the Hog's Head, that other pub not on the main road. I think it's a bit, you know, dodgy. But students don't normally go in there, so I don't think we'll be overheard."

I nodded and led the way inside once we reached the pub.

I understood at once why Hagrid wasn't unnerved by the fact that the bloke who pawned off the dragon egg our first year hadn't once lowered his hood. Everyone there had their face hidden in some way, shape, or form. Lucy beside me immediately put her hood up too, her whole body going rigid.

"I don't know about this, Hermione," I said immediately, half-stepping in front of Lucy out of instinct. I scanned the pub for any sign of someone who might want to hurt Lucy. One particularly suspicious witch caught my eye. "Has it occurred to you Umbridge might be under that?" Or Rose?

"Umbridge is shorter than that woman. And anyway, even if Umbridge does come in here there's nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, because I've double- and triple-checked the school rules. We're not out-of-bounds; I specifically asked Professor Flitwick whether students were allowed to come in the Hog's Head, and he said yes, but he advised me strongly to bring our own glasses. And I've looked up everything I can think of about study groups and homework groups and they're definitely allowed. I just don't think it's a good idea if we parade what we're doing."

"No, especially as it's not exactly a homework group you're planning, is it?"

Hermione turned slightly pink, and I offered a sarcastic grin.

"I'm going to go save that large table in the back," Lucy said in a voice so quiet and strained I almost missed it. "I'm not thirsty."

Before I could follow, the barman emerged. "What?"

"Four- wait, no, three butterbeers, please," Hermione said.

"Six Sickles," he replied, slamming three rather dirty bottles on the counter.

"I'll get them." I set the silver on the counter, not missing the way the barman's eyes found my scar. The three of us made our way over to Lucy.

"Reckon you had the right idea, Lucy," Ron said with a small smile as he gestured toward the fingerprints on his dusty bottle of butterbeer.

"Mum went undercover here a fair amount," she replied in the same quiet, strained voice, as if she were afraid of being heard. "Never got anything stronger than butterbeer so her senses would still be sharp. You'll want to use your sleeve to wipe off the neck of the bottle. She, er, got quite sick the one time she didn't." The three of us automatically did as she recommended, and Lucy looked mildly amused. "You should all be fine, but you can never be too careful."

"Is that why you've got your hood up?" Hermione asked.

Lucy nodded, her eyes scanning the room.

"If you think you recognize anyone, we can leave," I said quietly.

"I think someone recognizing me would be the problem." She shuddered. "I didn't see too many faces, it was dark and I... er, well, I was a little too distracted to really notice faces."

She fell silent just as a man whose face was hidden behind moldy bandages anyway knocked on the counter to signal he wanted another beverage, one that smoked as if it was on fire.

Ron brightened. "You know what? We could order anything we liked in here, I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn't care. I've always wanted to try firewhisky-"

"You are a prefect!" Hermione hissed.

"Oh... yeah." Ron's face fell.

"Wouldn't mind some myself," Lucy muttered, prompting snorts of laughter from Ron and me and a stern look from Hermione.

"So who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?" I asked to change the topic again.

Hermione glanced at her watch, then at the door. "Just a couple of people. I told them to be here about now and I'm sure they all know where it is — oh look, this might be them now."

Surely enough, people rushed in. My jaw dropped.

I turned to Hermione in shock. "A couple of people? A couple of people?"

"Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular! Ron, do you want to pull up some more chairs?"

"What have you been telling people, Hermione? What are they expecting?"

"I've told you, they just want to hear what you two have got to say, you especially, Harry. You don't have to do anything yet, I'll speak to them first."

Lucy retreated deeper into her hood, and I took a swig of butterbeer to try to steel my nerves.

I held the bottle out to her. "You sure you don't want any?"

"Not enough alcohol," she replied simply.

"I'll ever understand how you manage to be funny in moments like this," I said as I laughed.

She turned just far enough so I could see her curious eyes glinting in the depths of her hood. "What do you mean?"

"It's not a bad thing," I added. "But, say, before I headed into the tent for the first task, the last thing you said to me was 'Nine minutes, you hear me?'"

"Yes, well," she stammered, "I had to make sure you remembered our agreement. And it worked, didn't it?"

"Like a charm."

She looked pleased with herself for half a second before turning toward Neville, who had just taken the seat across from us. Cho and her friend sat nearby, and despite the sip of butterbeer, I found my mouth had gone rather dry.

Once everyone was seated, the meeting began.

Hermione's voice was rather squeaky. "Er, well — er — hi. Well, you know why you're here. Er, well, Harry here had the idea — I mean I had the idea — that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts — and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us, because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts. I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands. A-And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just theory but the real spells-"

"You want to pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. too though, I bet?" Michael Corner, a Ravenclaw I thought, interrupted.

"Of course I do! But I want more than that, I want to be properly trained in Defense because... because... because Lord Voldemort's back."

A shock wave went around the table at the name, but once it quieted again, everyone's eyes returned to me.

"Well... that's the plan anyway," Hermione finished. "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to-"

"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" a boy I recognized as a Hufflepuff Quidditch player asked.

"Well, Dumbledore believes it-"

"You mean, Dumbledore believes him." He looked pointedly at me.

"And who are you?" Ron asked.

"Zacharias Smith, and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back."

I realized all at once that Lucy and I were both somewhat correct about everyone's intentions. They were here for Cedric, yes, but they were here because of me, too. I was the one who had been there when he died. Most of the people there, I reckoned, had only wanted to hear me tell my own story.

Hermione huffed. "Look, that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about-"

I shook my head and interrupted. "It's okay, Hermione." I met the eyes of this Zacharias Smith unflinchingly. "What makes me say You-Know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you don't believe me, and I'm not wasting a morning trying to convince anyone."

"All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know-"

"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you. I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, alright? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out," I snapped.

I glared at Hermione. She was the one who'd gotten me into this situation, after all, and I had the irrational, angry, paranoid feeling that she had done this all on purpose, trying to make me out to be a freak-

A girl sitting near Zacharias piped up suddenly. "Is it true that you can produce a patronus?"

The question sent a ripple around the table.

I nodded. "Yeah. I can. Lucy can, too, but I reckon quite a few of you knew that already, since she did in the Quidditch match two years ago."

"But you can produce a corporeal patronus too?" the girl pressed.

I nodded again, looking at her with a more critical eye. "Er, you don't know Madam Bones, do you?"

She smiled. "She's my auntie. I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So, is it really true? You make a stag patronus?"

"Yes, I can."

Lee Jordan's eyebrows shot up. "Blimey, Harry! I never knew that!"

Fred laughed. "Mum told Ron not to spread it around. She said you got enough attention as it was."

"She's not wrong," I retorted with a huff, prompting a couple of laughs.

Terry Boot had a question next. "And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office? That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year."

"Er, yeah, I did, yeah."

"And in our first year, he saved the Philosopher's Stone from You-Know-Who," Neville piped up.

Cho was next to speak. "And that's not to mention all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year, getting past dragons and merpeople and acromantulas and things."

"Look, I-I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but I had a lot of help with all that-"

"Not with the dragon, you didn't! That was a seriously cool bit of flying!" Michael protested.

"I wouldn't have had the idea in the first place if Lucy and I hadn't spent the Saturday before flying around-"

"And nobody helped you get rid of those dementors this summer," Susan added.

"No, no, okay, I know I did bits of it without help, but if Professor Lupin hadn't taught Lucy and me the charm for it our third year... look, the point I'm trying to make is-"

"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" Zacharias Smith asked accusingly.

Before I could respond, Ron fired back, "Here's an idea, why don't you shut your mouth?"

Zacharias had the decency to flush a bit in embarrassment. "Well, we've all turned up to learn from him, and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it."

"That's not what he said," Fred snapped.

George grabbed something long and sharp and metallic from his Zonko's bag. "Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?"

"Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this," Fred added with a falsely bright smile.

"Look, even if you think I'm a nutter, Lucy can do all of this too," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back in my seat so she was a bit more visible to the group. "She produced a corporeal patronus before I did, you've all seen she's brilliant on a broom, and I fought off the dementors over summer, sure, but she-" I stopped myself before I said anything about what happened to her over summer, but nobody seemed to notice.

Lucy had lowered her hood.

She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, tracing a pattern with her finger so she didn't have to meet anyone's eyes. "I know I'm not Cedric and I'm not Harry, but I'm doing my best and... well, it's been hard. Unbelievably hard." She exhaled sharply. "You have no idea how hard it was just getting out of bed this morning, knowing this would happen. I knew you'd all want to pester Harry about what happened to Cedric, and I can't blame you, I would want to know too if I didn't already, but I do and-" She sighed. "Look, knowing or not knowing exactly what happened that horrible night doesn't change the fact that he's gone." Her voice broke on the last word. "A-And it doesn't change the fact that Voldemort's back, either. The truth doesn't care what you believe or don't believe."

She clenched her healed-over hand into a fist, and I must not tell lies became clear even through the other stray scars from her shaky handwriting.

I laid my scarred fist down too, right next to hers. I must not tell lies. I must not tell lies.

I glanced around the table as if daring someone to say something bad back to Lucy. Everyone was silent.

"I miss Cedric, and I know you all do too," Lucy said quietly, finally looking up from the table. "But we... we can't change what happened. We can, however, do our best to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else, and I want to help with that if I can."

"Me too," I added. And for the first time in a long time, Lucy smiled at me. Just the tiniest bit, just for the tiniest fraction of a second, but it was there. I saw it. I saw it. I smiled back, just a bit, just for a second.

"So are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry and Lucy?" Hermione asked after a moment.

A murmur of assent swept over the table.

Hermione smiled, looking rather relieved. "Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week-"

"Hang on, we need to make sure this doesn't clash with our Quidditch practice," Angelina interjected.

"Nor with ours!" Cho and Zacharias burst out.

Hermione bit back a groan with considerable effort. "I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone, but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters-"

"Well said! Personally I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our O.W.L.s coming up!" Ernie declared. "I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher upon us at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells-"

"We think the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts is that she's got some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilize us against the Ministry," Hermione said.

A hush fell around the table.

Luna spoke next. "Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army."

I cocked my head. "What?"

"Yes, he's got an army of heliopaths," Luna said with a nod.

Hermione furrowed her brow. "No, he hasn't."

"Yes, he has."

"What are heliopaths?" Neville inquired.

Luna seemed rather pleased that he asked. "They're spirits of fire. Great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of-"

"They don't exist, Neville," Hermione sighed.

"Oh yes they do!" Luna replied furiously.

"I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?"

"There are plenty of eyewitness accounts, just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you-"

"Hem, hem." Everyone looked around in a panic before realizing the Umbridge impersonator was only Ginny, who looked rather pleased with herself. "Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and get Defense lessons?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, yes, we were, you're right."

"Well, once a week sounds cool, as long as-"

"Yes, yes, Quidditch. Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet."

A couple of people threw out suggestions, but none quite fit the bill.

"Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere. We'll send a message round to everybody when we've got a time and a place for the first meeting." Hermione shuffled through her bag and produced a quill and parchment. "I-I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge — or anybody else — what we're up to."

Lucy reached forward and scribbled her name on the list. I followed suit. Then Fred, then George. George tried to pass it to Zacharias, but he didn't take it.

"Er... well, I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is," he mumbled.

Ernie shifted uncomfortably, staring at the list without signing. "I, er, well, we are prefects! And if this list was found... well, I mean to say, you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out-"

"You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year," I said dryly.

"I — yes, yes, I do believe that, it's just..."

"Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?" Hermione asked with a cold glare.

"No. No, of course not. I — yes, of course I'll sign."

"Here, I'll do it first," Henry said, his first words of the meeting. He reached forward and signed the parchment with a flourish.

The girl next to him, who I thought might be another Hufflepuff prefect, signed it too. Ernie signed it next. One by one, everyone at the table signed the parchment. Once it was signed and Hermione had stowed the parchment away, the crowd began to disperse.

Cho smiled and waved as she left, and I think I returned the gesture, though I was rather flustered and not thinking clearly.

Lucy pulled her hood over her head again and checked her watch as the last people left. "I should start heading to the station. I'll see you all... well, on Tuesday, I reckon."

"Oh please," Hermione huffed. "You're not walking alone."

"It's okay, really, I-I-"

"We're going with you," I insisted. Lucy didn't protest again.

"Well, I think that went quite well," Hermione chirped as the four of us headed out of the pub.

"That Zacharias bloke's a wart," Ron muttered.

Hermione sighed. "I don't like him much either, but he overheard me talking to Ernie and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table and he seemed really interested in coming, so what could I say? But the more people the better really — I mean, Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have come if he hadn't been going out with Ginny-"

Ron choked on the butterbeer he had just sipped. "He's WHAT? She's going out with — my sister's going — what d'you mean, Michael Corner?"

"Well, that's why he and his friends came, I think — well, they're obviously interested in learning defense, but if Ginny hadn't told Michael what was going on-"

"When did this — when did she-?"

"They met at the Yule Ball and they got together at the end of last year."

"Which one was Michael Corner?"

"The dark one."

"I didn't like him. But, wait, I thought Ginny fancied Harry!"

"Ginny used to fancy Harry, but she gave up on him years ago. Not that she doesn't like you, of course, Harry, she just moved on."

I nodded. "Alright. Wait, so that's why she talks now? She never used to talk in front of me."

"Exactly!" Hermione exclaimed, delighted I had made the connection.

Ron still looked rather upset, but he relaxed once we reached the station. Professor Lupin was there on a bench, and he grinned as he saw us approaching. The anxiety in the pit of my stomach had gotten worse as we walked over, but I felt a bit better seeing him.

Lucy will be fine. Professor Lupin won't let anything happen to her.

We talked for a bit, seeing as the train wasn't set to leave for another fifteen minutes. Lucy hovered close to me, and I could almost tangibly feel the anxiety radiating off of her, too.

The train gave a warning whistle, and Professor Lupin offered a grin that manage to mask his worry. "Well, we really should be off. Don't worry, I'll return your friend to you shortly, hopefully in good working condition."

Lucy blushed as Ron and Hermione laughed a bit. Professor Lupin climbed onto the train as Ron pulled her in for a quick hug, then Hermione. I held her tightly for a moment longer than the other two had.

"I'll always come back," she said with perfect seriousness, as if she knew already that I needed to hear it. Then her tone changed. "You'll be here still, right? Not going to try to break me out?"

"Lucy, again with the out-of-pocket humor in moments I'm not expecting it," I chuckled as I reluctantly let her go.

"I know, I know, I'm insufferable." The briefest twinkle of mischief, amusement, then gone.

I pretended not to notice any of it. "Just shut up and come back in one piece, Lu."

"I'll do my best," she said with a nod. "See you Tuesday."

With that, Lucy spun on her heel and hurried onto the train. The three of us waved until it disappeared from sight.