HARRY:

The second I realized Lucy wasn't in the kitchen anymore, I ducked out of the room to find her.

"It's best if she's never alone."

I checked her room first. Not there.

Then mine. Not there, either. But her textbook was gone.

I raced down the stairs, anxiety pressing in on me from all sides. Where was she?

I made a beeline for the living room. As I hurried toward the closed door, there was a loud crack on the other side of it that sent me into a dead sprint.

Someone had apparated.

I nearly pulled the door off its hinges with how violently I opened it, terrified that I would find another empty room, terrified someone had just taken Lucy away again.

But Lucy was sitting there on the couch, breathing hard, staring across the room with a somewhat shocked expression on her pale face.

"Are you okay?" I asked, frozen with one hand on the doorknob still and my other hand supporting my weight on the doorframe.

She blinked, her wild eyes finding mine for a second before looking back at where she had just been staring. "I just... I just threw that book across the room."

I followed her gaze. Surely enough, her textbook was lying on the ground up against the opposite wall.

I'll admit my first thought was Damn. Lucy has a hell of an arm.

The living room was one of the largest in the house. She must have thrown the book — the incredibly heavy Potions textbook — thirty feet, maybe more.

I looked back at Lucy in wonder.

I'd always wondered what it would look like to see her actually let her anger go. I had seen it flash in her eyes for years. Lockhart. Snape. Malfoy, both Draco and Lucius. I had seen it flash in her eyes, I had seen the ring glow scarlet and guessed reasonably enough that it meant she was angry, but I had never really seen her lose control.

My second thought was Damn. I can't believe I missed that.

But as soon as I had the thought, tears filled Lucy's eyes.

"Harry, I'm losing control," she said.

And just like that, everything crashed down.

I had the presence of mind to close the door behind me as I rushed over to where she was.

She buried her face in her hands and cried for the first time.

I didn't try to get her to stop crying. I didn't try to say anything to make it better.

I knew the release was good for her. I knew there was nothing I could have said.

So I just held her through the storm.

LUCY:

The hurricane I had thrown up into the stars, the emotions I had shoved away time and time again, had hunted me down at last.

I cried chronologically.

First I cried for Cedric. For the halls he would never get to walk. For the friends he would never get to meet. For the life he would never get to see.

Second I cried for Mum. She had only wanted to help. She had only wanted to stop others from feeling the same pain our family suffered. She had only wanted to try to stop the war before it even started.

Third I cried for Dad. He lost everything when Cedric didn't come back from the graveyard alive. He lost everything when Cedric didn't get to make him proud ever again. He lost everything when Cedric didn't have a future anymore.

Then I cried for myself. For the way I had been cast out at sea with nothing to hold me above the water. I had only wanted to help Cedric make his own decision, not Dad's. I lost everything when Cedric was left with no choice but to ask Harry to take care of me since he no longer could.

I was drowning. I was drowning in my own tears, I was drowning in my own darkness, I was drowning in myself.

Just when I thought it would be easiest to just succumb and let the current of sorrow wash over my head and take me completely, Harry shifted a bit and adjusted his arms around my shoulders.

"I'm here," he said quietly. "I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere without you, Lu."

A small tingle of the magic I had felt earlier, when I held my new wand for the first time, pulsed through me. Like a red-and-gold patronus, I could feel sparks, subtle but present, coming to life in the middle of the hole in my chest.

Suddenly, I was aware of the warmth of Harry, the steady beat of his heart beneath my ear and the gentle weight of his arms around me.

Suddenly, I was aware of the distant sound of Tuck's happy barking, of my friends' laughter in the kitchen.

After a moment, the sparks fizzled out.

But they had been there. For a moment.

HARRY:

Slowly, slowly, Lucy's tears stopped. Slowly, slowly, her heartbroken cries turned into choked whimpers. Slowly, slowly, the storm passed.

She didn't move. She didn't speak. She just remained with her head against my chest and her hands over her face. I deliberately took deep breaths for her to mirror, which she did.

I knew there would be other storms. But for the night, the storm had passed.

After a minute or so of silence, I rubbed my thumb against her shoulder.

"Alright, Lu. Good thing, bad thing."

Lucy sat up and pulled away to give me a confused look. "What?"

I offered her a small smile. "We have a whole summer to catch up on. You probably don't remember every day, because I certainly don't, but let's see what we can do."

"Harry, I..."

"I can start," I volunteered, shifting on the couch so we were facing each other. I pushed my glasses up on my nose. "Good thing, we go back to Hogwarts tomorrow. Bad thing, I have no idea why Dumbledore didn't make us prefects."

She sighed shakily, staring at her hands. "Right. Um... well, good thing, I didn't punch a hole in the wall when I threw the book. Bad thing, I threw the book then cried all over you for... for however long that was."

"Well, I consider that a good thing, because I would rather be here and able to do this-" I reached forward and wiped a rogue tear with my thumb. "-than realize later that you needed me and I wasn't there. But it's a bad thing that you needed to cry in the first place, because I miss seeing you happy."

"Good thing, having Tuck around makes me happy, and I get to bring him with me to Hogwarts," she said with a small smile. The smile faded slightly. "Bad thing, I can't keep him in my dormitory, but at least he'll be with Fang in Hagrid's hut."

"Do they make invisibility cloaks for dogs? Because if they do-"

"Don't tempt me like that," Lucy muttered. "Prefect Hermione wouldn't stand for it, and Crookshanks would definitely tattle to her if I somehow managed to keep it a secret at first."

I laughed. "Bad thing, that cat can be a menace. Good thing, at least Hermione acknowledges it from time to time now instead of defending Crookshanks every single time we offered, er, constructive criticism."

"Good thing, Hermione reminded me about summer homework, because I honestly would have forgotten about it otherwise." She cast a sidelong glance across the room. "Bad thing, I threw the book without finishing the last page."

I started to get up to grab the book for her, but she reached out to stop me. "No no, it's okay." She swallowed hard. A number of emotions flickered across her eyes in rapid succession, but she forced them all away and her expression softened. "I don't want to... to... it's fine."

I felt a pang in my chest when I realized how badly her outstretched hand still shook. She blushed and pulled it away, realizing too, but I had already seen. I glanced up at her. "Lucy, are you going to be alright at school?" I reached forward and took her hand gently. Even secure in mine, it trembled.

"Doesn't make much difference, does it?" she asked with a humorless laugh, glancing away. "The Hogwarts Express will pull out of the station tomorrow at 11 whether I'm ready or not. It doesn't matter if I'm going to be alright or not."

I twisted my hand so our fingers intertwined. "It matters to me."

Lucy's blue eyes met mine, but instead of her seeing into my soul, it seemed like she was trying to give me a chance to see into hers. I could see that something broken lay just beneath the surface. For a moment, I was terrified that the brokenness in her eyes would never leave.

But I knew Lucy.

I knew Lucy, the girl who had helped Hagrid raise a dragon our first year.

I knew Lucy, the girl who had jumped first into the Chamber of Secrets our second year.

I knew Lucy, the girl who had produced her first corporeal patronus during a Quidditch match our third year.

I knew Lucy, the girl who had somehow managed to support Cedric and me equally and fiercely during the tournament our fourth year.

For a moment, I had been terrified that Lucy would never be okay again.

But I knew Lucy.

And I knew that she would never be the same after everything that had happened.

But I knew Lucy. And I knew that she would be okay anyway.

LUCY:

I dropped my guard the moment I let myself meet Harry's eyes, our fingers intertwined, Harry's steady ones so warm around my trembling ones.

I had always known I was safest with Harry.

But in that moment, I knew that now matter how much I was shaking, I was steadiest when I was with Harry, too.

I didn't have any intelligent response I could offer in exchange for "It matters to me." So instead, I inched closer to him and guided his arm around my shoulders, hoping he would know what to do next.

HARRY:

I pulled Lucy back into my chest automatically, and she curled up against me.

"Merlin, I'm so tired," she whispered.

"I know," I replied, wishing I had a more intelligent response I could offer. But... well, it was true. She was exhausted, and rightly so.

"Did you finish packing?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"Just curious." She stifled a yawn, and I stifled a laugh.

"Did you finish packing?"

"Everything except the book on the floor over there."

I couldn't stifle my laugh this time. "Right. That makes sense."

"I need to remember to pack my dog, too," Lucy said sleepily. "Never had to bring him to Hogwarts before."

"Pack your dog?" I repeated, laughing again.

"You know what I mean," she mumbled. "D'you think he'd like a basket, or does he seem like more of a suitcase boy?"

"I think we should figure this out in the morning," I said in a soft voice.

She didn't say anything else. She was sound asleep within thirty seconds.

A couple minutes later, I heard voices in the hallway, calling my name and Lucy's.

I hurriedly covered her ears and whisper-shouted, "Shut up, she's asleep!"

The door to the living room creaked open slowly, and Ron and Hermione's faces appeared.

"We were wondering where you two had run off to," Hermione whispered accusingly.

"The twins thought you were off snogging," Ron added with an amused grin.

I scoffed. "For Merlin's sake, no!"

"What were you doing then?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I realized she wasn't in the kitchen, so I went to find her." I gestured with my chin over at the book on the floor. "I was in the hallway when I heard that hit the wall."

Their eyes widened.

"Did she throw it?" Hermione wondered. "Like the quill?"

I nodded.

"That's a good deal more impressive than the quill, though," Ron whispered. "Bloody hell."

I nodded. "Anyway, then she cried it out, we talked a bit, and then she just..." I gestured at the girl sleeping in my arms.

Ron pursed his lips and nodded. "I see. Well, we'll leave you to it and tell everyone not to wander over here." He grabbed the book, and he glanced over at Lucy incredulously. "Bloody hell, she threw it from there?"

"She's not a Chaser for nothing," I whispered with a small smile, remembering all of the miraculous goals I had seen her land over the years.

Well, I thought to myself as Ron and Hermione slipped from the room, the delinquency plan was a good backup, but the Order doesn't have a Quidditch team yet. So it's good we're going back to Hogwarts for that reason, if nothing else.

A/N: Hello! I changed my plans!

I was going to publish 93 at midnight, then 94 on Wednesday, but then I had an idea yesterday afternoon that threw that plan out the window. So I wrote 93 between the hours of 9 PM and 1 AM, then wrote this one as soon as I woke up this morning. So... surprise! I hope you all enjoyed!

See you all Wednesday with Chapter 95! Thank you for reading! Love yoooou!