Long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming, "Long live the look on your face"
And bring on all the pretenders
One day, we will be remembered

"Long Live"
Taylor Swift

LUCY:

Hermione and Ron still refused to speak to each other, but I was thankfully still on decent terms with both of them. Ron appreciated that I was trying to keep a closer eye on Crookshanks, and I had secretly confided to him that I believed Crookshanks was definitely responsible for the disappearance of Scabbers (the blood on the sheets didn't look like a fatal amount to me, but he remained unconvinced of that). Despite Hermione's continued hostility toward Ron, she admitted to me through tears after midnight that she really did feel awful that Scabbers had gone missing because of her cat, knowing how much he meant to Ron. But despite their friendliness toward me, their fury with each other made it impossible to be around them.

I woke up early the morning of the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. I was nervous, but not really for the match itself.

Harry's Firebolt virtually guaranteed a victory. That is, as long as the dementors didn't return. If they did... we might have problems.

After about six weeks of patronus lessons, Harry and I were certainly far better than we had been in January. But to my surprise, I was progressing much faster than Harry. I still hadn't produced a fully corporeal patronus, but my non-corporeal patronus was strong enough to actively push the dementor away from me. Harry's, on the other hand, formed only a thin shield, and he had to fight hard to keep it in one place. I knew he was frustrated with himself, and I wanted so badly to help, but he had built himself an internal barrier that I knew only he could tear down. So I remained at his side, encouraging him as well as I could and hoping for the best if the time came to use a patronus.

Harry was planning to wear a t-shirt under his robes so he could keep his wand on him. When he asked what I was planning to do, I turned into a blushing mess and said I'd just tuck it in my bra. For what it was worth, he turned bright red too, and we both got a good laugh out of it. I offered to loan him one if he wanted to keep his wand in a bra like me, but he said he'd pass. Imagine that.

I gave up on the idea of sleep around 6:30 and got out of bed, carefully tucking my wand into my bra, as I had told Harry I planned to do. By some miracle, I only had three chapters of reading homework left that weekend, so I grabbed my ancient runes textbook and made my way to the common room, curling up in the window seat to try to finish as much as possible.

I was halfway through the final chapter of reading when I heard someone coming down the stairs. I glanced up just as Harry walked into the room in a t-shirt and jeans, broom tucked under his arm and his wand sticking out of his pocket.

"Did you come down early to escape the crowds of broom admirers?" I teased.

He smiled and half-nodded. "Yeah, essentially." He came and leaned his broom against the wall before sliding into the window seat next to me, his back against the wall opposite mine.

"Godric, that looks so uncomfortable. We can move to the couch or something, you know."

"No, no, this is fine," he insisted, shifting so his legs were as straight as possible. "You get a better view of the grounds from here anyway."

"Can't argue with that." I tucked my photograph bookmark into the textbook and was about to close it, but Harry reached forward and stopped me. His hand was warm against my cold one, but he didn't seem to notice.

He grabbed the bookmark and smiled. "How old are you in this?" he chuckled.

"Seven," I replied, my face growing red. "My dad bought prank candles that year that never went out. Cedric's birthday gift to me when I turned twelve was a book from Zonko's with a bunch of random and useless spells that are really good for pranks, so he thought that picture would make a good bookmark."

"It certainly matches the theme," he agreed, smiling wider with each repetition of the picture. "This is hilarious. Watching Cedric's reaction is almost funnier."

I flipped in the window seat so we were shoulder-to-shoulder, our backs against the same wall. I watched as seven-year-old Lucy huffed and puffed, getting redder and redder in the face until the picture reset. In the background, Cedric's face morphed from confusion to sudden understanding to amusement. I found myself smiling, too. "I wish you could see my mum's face, too. She was the one holding the camera, trying incredibly hard not to laugh and give it all away."

"Did it work?"

"I tried for about a minute before realizing, so yeah, I'd say it worked. I can be quite stubborn when I'm convinced I'm doing the right thing."

"Yeah, you can be." He handed the picture back after watching it through one more time. I tucked it into my book, and thought about flipping around in the seat again, but I liked being shoulder-to-shoulder with Harry, even if my shoulder was actually quite a few centimeters below his. "Are you nervous for today?"

"A bit," I admitted. "I don't know how I'll balance two things at once. I want to play the best game I can and not worry about the dementors, but I'm scared that the dementors will sneak up on me and I won't be able to reach or use my wand in time."

"I guess that's one way I have it easier being Seeker. My only job is to look around."

"Sounds boring to me," I teased, "but to each his own, I suppose."

"The position kind of fell into my lap, if you've forgotten," he pointed out. "Not that I'm complaining, of course, but all I knew about Quidditch at the time was what Ron had told me on the train ride here."

"So you knew everything about Quidditch," I surmised.

"Yeah, I guess I did," he agreed. "But if I'd known I'd play it so soon, I might have taken some notes."

I laughed. "Fair enough."

"What form do you think your patronus will take?"

I considered this for a moment. "I'm not sure. I've thought about it a lot, but I don't know. Probably something small, like a mouse. What about you?"

"Well, if you think you'll get a mouse just because you're short, maybe I'll get a giraffe."

I bumped my shoulder against his playfully. "Shove off, Potter."

He laughed and bumped my shoulder back. "Not my fault you're small. If we're going off of personality, you'll probably get a bird of some sort."

I wrinkled my nose. "A bird?"

"I mean, you do love to fly. And you're something of a free spirit. You don't blindly follow Hermione, or Cedric, or anybody, really. You just stick to what you think is right and roll with it."

I pursed my lips. "A bird would be cool. Or, by that logic, maybe something like a hippogriff. Unless I'm too short for that."

Harry laughed. "Possibly. I just hope mine is something cool. A lion would be pretty neat. Or a wolf."

"Yeah, the lion would make sense. Gryffindor and all."

I cringed ever so slightly at the wolf idea. Professor Lupin had told me his patronus was a wolf, and I prayed that whatever my patronus was, it would be anything other than a wolf. He had assured me that the patronus matched one's personality rather than one's condition, so it would be unusual for us to share wolf patronuses, but I was still somewhat worried.

I glanced out the window at the blue sky. I wondered for a moment if my eyes really were that beautiful, beautiful color. I turned back to Harry with a grin. "You know, Potter, as long as we stay on our brooms today, I reckon we have a good chance against Ravenclaw."

He rolled his eyes. "See, when you put it like that, it seems like the easiest thing in the world, but we don't exactly have the best track record of that."

Then we laughed together, as if we were two perfectly normal thirteen-year-olds sharing a moment before a sports game.

Soon, Harry and his Firebolt were ushered down to breakfast by the other four boys from his dormitory. The twins and I followed, laughing at the adoring looks the broom was receiving left and right.

Cedric was the first person to come by the Gryffindor table that morning, and far from the last.

"That's a nice replacement for your Nimbus, Harry," he said, the awe apparent in his voice. "Can't wait to play you on it next year."

"Sorry, Ced, I don't think you stand a chance," I laughed.

"Oh, I know," Cedric replied, laughing as well. "But I'd rather lose to a Firebolt than to a Nimbus. Reckon even Dad would understand that."

Penelope Clearwater was next, followed by a number of other Ravenclaws. Just when I thought the buzz had died down, Malfoy sauntered over, smirking.

"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" he asked, studying the broom closely. Even Draco was impressed; that much was obvious.

"Yeah, reckon so," Harry replied

"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it? Shame it doesn't come with a parachute, in case you get too near a dementor. An extra parachute for Diggory would be nice, too, but I don't think her prototype is advanced enough for that."

Harry straightened up next to me and narrowed his eyes. "Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy. Then it could catch the Snitch for you."

The entire team busted up laughing, and the rest of breakfast passed in significantly higher spirits than before the last match. When the team made our way down to the changing tents, I made sure my wand was quick and easy to grab before taking a seat next to Harry on the benches.

"Ready?" I whispered in a voice only he could hear.

He nodded slightly. "I hope so. Are you?"

"I hope so."

Wood's speech was much shorter than usual. He even smiled as he said it. "You know what we've got to do. If we lose this match, we're out of the running, just fly like you did in practice yesterday, and we'll be okay!"

Harry and I walked out side-by-side, and I shot him one last "Good luck" glance before moving to stand between Angelina and Alicia. I smiled and waved at Cho, the only girl on the Ravenclaw team and the girl of Cedric's dreams, and she smiled and waved back. I didn't know her very well, at least not as well as Cedric, but she made him happy, and for that, I figured she must be pretty swell.

She glanced away, and I followed her gaze. Harry was looking at Cho as if he'd never seen a female before, and when she turned her smile to him, I watched the slightest hue of pink color his cheeks.

I was instantly angry. Cho was trying to distract him before the match! Just by being a girl! And it was working!

But just as soon as anger coursed through me, it died down to almost nothingness. She was a Ravenclaw, after all. She was clever. She was just trying to get every conceivable advantage she could over Harry on his superior broom. She didn't mean anything by it. She wasn't actually trying to flirt with him... right? But still, whatever the reason, I had to put a stop to it. We had a match to win.

"Hey, Potter!" I called.

He turned to look at me, his eyes slightly clouded. Stupid Cho and her brilliant mind games. "What?"

"Bring the lion out," I said with a grin.

He grinned back, his eyes clearing. "You too."

The team captains shook hands then, and we all climbed onto our brooms. I placed my hand on my chest, feeling one last time for my wand. It was there, and my happy memory was lingering in the back of my mind. I was going to use the Lake Tahoe campfire. The first time I really talked about patronuses. Licking melted marshmallow off my fingers, breathing the deep mountain air, watching as the sunset painted the sky and water alike shades of pink and purple as the golden sun dipped beneath the mountains. Cuddled up against Cedric against the chill. Feeling as if everything were perfect, in that moment. Yeah, I had my happy memory ready.

"On my whistle... three... two... one..."

I shot up into the air as the whistle sounded, letting Angelina and Alicia fight for the Quaffle and waiting below for them to drop it to me. When Alicia tossed it into my waiting arms, I shot off toward the Ravenclaw goal. I crossed Harry going the other direction, and I pulled up until I was level with the goal hoops. I sent the Quaffle flying through the hoop, scoring the first points on the first play of the game. I beamed when the crowd cheered. Oh yeah, this was what Quidditch was all about.

We pulled ahead early, soon up 80 to 0. We would have been up 90 to 0, but just as I was about to score, a Bludger slammed into my blind spot, and the Quaffle flew directly into a Ravenclaw Chaser's waiting arms, and the score became 80-10.

"Sorry, Cub!" Fred called. "Couldn't get to you in time! You good?"

"Yeah!" I shouted back. "At least my nose is still intact!"

Fred laughed and flew away just in time to save Angelina from the same Bludger.

Soon, the score was 80-30. The Snitch had been spotted a couple of times, but Cho was smart. No wonder Cedric loved her so much. From what little I could see, her goal was to fly in front of Harry every chance she got to force him to change direction. She would never actually catch the Snitch that way, but I realized she was planning to keep this up until Ravenclaw gained enough of a lead over us that Harry catching the Snitch meant we'd still lose. That realization lit a fire under my backside, and I scored another goal, making the score 90-30 for real. If Ravenclaw was trying to play the long game, I would show them the very best of me.

A sudden scream distracted me. I looked down at the field, and surely enough, three dementors had just stepped onto the grass.

I reached my hand into my robes. Lake Tahoe with Cedric. Sunset. S'mores. I drew my wand. Sand in my toes. Sun-kissed skin. Not a care in the world.

"Expecto patronum!" I shouted.

A massive silvery-white animal erupted from my wand, charging down the dementors. At the same time, a noncorporeal patronus from Harry's wand joined my corporeal patronus, and together we plowed the dark figures over. My patronus turned back to look up at me for a second before disappearing, and I smiled.

My patronus was a bear. A HUGE bear.

Madam Hooch's whistle sounded, and I whirled around. Harry had caught the Snitch!

I reached him first out of everyone on the team, slamming into him and throwing my arms around his neck.

"We did it," I whispered, my grip around him so tight I could feel us both shaking.

"We did," he said, tightening his hold on me.

We were broken apart by our teammates, all shouting about the Snitch and the patronuses and the victory. I was pulled out of the huddle by someone in a bright yellow sweater, and I hugged Cedric as he spun me in a circle.

"Did you see that?" I asked excitedly.

"Did I see that?" he repeated. "Of course I saw that! Lucy, you just pulled off the most incredible Patronus Charm I've ever seen!"

"You probably haven't seen that many," I replied, blushing, "but thanks. You know, you need to use a really happy memory to make it work, and I used that last night in Tahoe."

Cedric smiled. "That would be my memory, too."

"Go be with Cho," I said, pushing him away. "She played a really good game, her strategy was brilliant. I'm sure she's disappointed."

"Will do," he said, ruffling my hair one last time. "But it's not every day I get to see my thirteen-year-old sister make a giant bear explode from her wand."

I laughed as he disappeared into the crowd.

"I've never seen a bear before," an amused voice said in my ear. "That was a brilliant patronus, Lucy."

I beamed as I turned around to face Professor Lupin.

Harry came over to us, also beaming. "The dementors didn't affect me at all! I didn't feel a thing!"

"That would be because they --- er --- weren't dementors. Come and see."

Harry and I exchanged a glance and followed Professor Lupin through the crowd.

"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," he said, gesturing to the scene before us just outside the field.

Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint were all tangled in long black robes, trying desperately (and failing) to get out.

Professor McGonagall loomed over them, shouting more angrily than I'd ever heard her. "An unworthy trick! A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker and a Chaser! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"

Disbelief mingled with amusement for half a second before Harry and I both howled with laughter.

Ron joined us then, also laughing once he saw what had taken place, and promptly dragged us away, shouting, "Party in the common room!"

I tugged myself out of his grip. "I'll meet you up there!" I said, darting away before they could stop me. I made my way to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door.

The second it opened, I found myself being swooped into a bone-crushing hug. "Yeh won! And that patronus! Wow! Who knew you had it in yeh? Well, I did, of course, bu' still! That was impressive!"

"Thanks, Hagrid," I grunted as he set me down. "Now that the match is over, I'm here to help with Buckbeak."

"Oh no yer not," he said, grabbing me by the shoulders and turning me until I faced the castle. "Yer goin' to the party in the common room everyone's bin shoutin' about. Yeh've earned it."

"But Hagrid, are you sure?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck. "The trial's coming up really soon, and I-"

"Go enjoy the party," Hagrid said firmly. "Everythin' will still be here tomorrow."

"Alright," I relented. "See you tomorrow, Hagrid."

By the time I made my way back up to the common room, the music from Harry's mum's record player was already blaring, and I noticed Fred and George had already disappeared to go get Honeyduke's. A number of people stared as I walked across the room to Ron and Harry, whispering to each other about how Cedric Diggory's little sister had performed a real Patronus Charm, and the boys laughed when they saw how red my face was.

"That was bloody brilliant, Lucy!" Ron said, holding his hand up for a high five.

I somehow grew even more red in the face as I slapped my hand against his. "Thanks, I've been working on it."

"A bear," Harry said, grinning and shaking his head. "You thought it'd be a mouse, and then this massive bloody bear erupts out of your wand. Good Godric, Malfoy and his goons will be terrified of bears for the rest of their lives, I reckon."

I smiled. "That'd be nice. Maybe now Malfoy will leave me alone in Ancient Runes."

Ginny rushed over, Neville right behind her. "Lucy!" she exclaimed, flinging herself into my arms. "You were great! Well, I guess your pajamas make sense now."

"Reckon you could teach me how to do that, Lucy?" Neville asked. "I'd love to try that next time Malfoy comes after me."

"It's not easy," I replied. "Harry and I have been working with Professor Lupin every week since term started, and that was the first time I've actually done it properly. But sure, I'll teach you someday!"

A couple more people came by to talk to me, and by the time I was finally alone with the boys again, I sighed, fanning my flaming face with my hand.

"Don't like being the center of attention?" Harry asked teasingly.

"Not at all!" I replied. "I don't know how you handle it, Harry. I almost wish I hadn't been able to do that."

"What do you mean? Lu, that was incredible!"

I grinned. "Hence the 'almost.' Say, Ron, did Hermione watch the match?"

"Who knows? She might have just stayed here and worked the whole time."

"I'll ask," Harry said, making his way over to where she sat in the corner, head bent low over a book.

As he walked away, the twins entered with arms full of Honeyduke's sweets, and I rushed over to help them spread the bounty out across the common room tables.

"Do we have to start calling you Bear instead of Cub now?" George asked, tossing me a bottle of butterbeer.

I took a long sip before answering. "Bears can have cubs, too. You teased me about that once, remember? The first time I slept over at your house and wore my bear pajamas?"

"Ah yes, good times," Fred said, taking a swig from his own bottle. "You'll have to spend a lot of time at our house this summer, since your brother will be off being Golden Boy at St. Mungo's."

"He hates that nickname, so don't let him hear you call him that," I chuckled. "But yeah, I'd love to hang out more often, since we lost all of last summer."

"We could show you what we've been working on," George said in a low voice. "We've been... busy."

"And all this time, I thought you were studying for O.W.L.s," I remarked with a roll of my eyes.

"Really?" they asked in unison.

"Pfft, no. Since when do you study?"

"We've got a few people fooled," George said, gesturing toward Percy in the corner of the room, "but it takes a lot to fool you."

"So what have you been doing?"

"You'll see," Fred replied. "We don't want you helping us test everything until we've tested it ourselves, for safety purposes."

"Boys, I'm no stranger to danger."

"Hence why we want some for ourselves," George laughed. "You can't have all the fun! Trust us, you'll be the first to know once we're ready."

"Alright, alright," I relented. "But I'm holding you to that."

The slamming of a door behind me made me jump. I glanced over to where Harry had been talking to Hermione, but now Harry was standing alone with a look of confusion and concern on his face.

"I'll go see what's happened now," I sighed. "Catch you two later."

I made my way over to Harry and Ron.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Hermione got mad and stormed off," Ron muttered.

"I'll go make sure she's okay," I said. I started to walk away, but Harry grabbed my arm.

"Lucy, no, stay. She's busy working, she won't want to talk."

I sighed. "You're right. She'd just get mad at me for interrupting, most likely. I'll stay."

"Good," he said with a smile. "Because I think someone wants to talk to you."

Percy Weasley came over then and clapped a hand against my shoulder. "Lucy Diggory, you sure are full of surprises."

Harry laughed. "What have I always told you, Lu?"

Somehow, impossibly, my face got even hotter. "Trust me, I was just as surprised to see that bear as you were," I stammered. "I'd never actually been able to cast a corporeal patronus before."

"I've always wondered what my patronus will be, personally," he continued. "Professor Lupin is planning to begin teaching us the charm any day now. Do you have any advice that I could pass along to my peers?"

"Um, the best advice I could really give is to have your happy memory ready ahead of time. The sharper it is, the better, so maybe a more recent one would be best."

He smiled dreamily. "A more recent one, you say?"

I couldn't help but giggle. "I reckon snogging Penelope real well should do the trick."

Percy blinked, and scowled, then smiled sheepishly. "I reckon it would." He cleared his throat and straightened up. "Thanks for the advice, Lucy. I suppose I'll go, er, try to... well, you know."

He ducked away quickly, and Ron, Harry, and I burst into laughter. As we laughed, I spied a familiar head of red hair in the corner. I nudged Ron and Harry and gestured toward the corner. "The way Fred's snogging Angelina, you think they'd be able to cast patronuses the first try?"

That got us all laughing again, and we found it hard to stop laughing the rest of the night. Since I hadn't slept terribly well, I left the party around 11. Hermione was still up, looking rather sleepy but still studying. I perched myself on the foot of her bed and waved my hand in front of her face.

"Hi," she said distractedly, finally looking up from her book. "What's on your face?"

"Oh, Ginny and Dean teamed up to paint people's faces. Please tell me this actually looks like a bear, I didn't actually look in a mirror."

"It definitely does. Here." She passed me a mirror, and I could see for myself that my left cheek did in fact sport a bear in Gryffindor colors. "Why a bear? Why not a lion?"

I pursed my lips. "You weren't at the match, were you?"

"I'm sorry I missed it," she said softly. "I just had too much work. I still do, but I try to make time for you and I just couldn't this morning and-"

"Hey, Mione, it's okay," I assured her. I smiled. "Really, I'm not offended. But you missed quite a game, if I do say so myself."

"I heard we won. Was it by a lot?"

"It was by a decent amount," I said casually. "But you missed the best part."

"What? What did I miss?"

"I cast a patronus!" I squealed. "A real, corporeal, huge patronus! And it's a bear, which is why Dean painted this. Harry's face has a real Gryffindor lion. His patronus is still non-corporeal, but his was really impressive today too." I stopped to breathe, because I had said all of this in one go. "It wasn't even real dementors, which is simultaneously disappointing and hilarious. Disappointing because it wasn't real, but hilarious because it was Malfoy and three of his goons under the black robes. I fired off my patronus without even realizing!"

Hermione was smiling, really smiling, for the first time in a long time. "Now I'm really sorry I missed it!"

"I understand, it's okay. I know you've been working really hard lately."

She let out a frustrated sigh and rested her head in her hands. "Lucy, I'm so stressed."

I reached forward to rub her back reassuringly. "You're doing great, Hermione. Really, you are. I don't know how you're doing so well, to be quite honest, I know I'd be dying with your workload. Why don't you take the rest of tonight off? I know I for one am exhausted, and I reckon you are too."

She nodded. "Yeah," she admitted in a small voice. "I think I will."

"That's what I like to hear," I said with an affirming nod. I jumped off her bed and glanced down at the Quidditch robes I was still wearing. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a long-overdue shower, and proudly wear these-" I reached into my trunk and fished out my bear pajamas. "-pajamas tonight."

Hermione managed a grin as she stacked all of her books and began shuffling pieces of parchment. "Perfect. Lucy Diggory, a bear patronus. Who'd've thought?"

"Not me!" I declared, laughing.

It seemed like I had merely blinked before Hermione was shaking me awake. "Lucy, get up, something's wrong in the common room!"

The terror in her voice jarred me to action. I jumped out of bed and rushed down the stairs without even grabbing a dressing gown. I had a horrible feeling it had something to do with Sirius Black.

I pushed my way through the gathering crowd in the common until I found Harry, in the middle of the room with a very distraught-looking Ron and a very confused-looking Seamus, Dean, and Neville. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Before anyone could reply, Percy came down the stairs, looking rather tired and grumpy as he pinned his Head Boy badge to his pajamas. "Everyone back upstairs!"

Ron swallowed hard. "Perce... Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

The entire common room went silent. Nobody moved except Hermione, who pushed through the crowd until she was standing right behind me.

"Nonsense! You had too much to eat, Ron, had a nightmare." Despite what he said, Percy looked frightened.

"I'm telling you-"

Professor McGonagall burst into the room angrily. "Now, really, enough's enough! I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor! I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare-"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Professor McGonagall blinked. "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him! Ask him if he saw... if he saw..." He pointed at Sir Cadogan, hand trembling violently. Hermione pushed gently past me and took Ron's hand. He seemed too frightened to notice or care, really, but he didn't pull away, either.

Professor McGonagall turned toward the portrait. "Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" he replied cheerfully.

Everyone stiffened.

"You --- you did? But --- but the password!"

"He had 'em! Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall turned to face the room, and when she spoke, her voice shook with fury. "Which person... which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

I felt my heart drop as Neville slowly raised his hand. Ginny automatically moved to his side as the common room held its collective breath, waiting for Professor McGonagall's response.

"I will deal with you in the morning, Longbottom," she said after a pregnant pause, every word dripping with barely-restrained anger. "I must alert the Headmaster immediately."

With that, Professor McGonagall swooped from the room, and everyone began whispering and muttering at once.

"Take care of Neville, please, he needs someone and I need to help Harry and Ron," I whispered rapidly to Ginny.

She nodded and took Neville by the hand, leading him to a nearby couch. "It's okay, Neville," she was saying, "I understand how it feels, trust me... last year was horrible..."

I turned to face Harry and Ron, and it was hard to tell who was paler. Harry's eyes were glazed over --- not with tears, but with an emotion that was difficult to read. Ron seemed to become aware that Hermione was clinging to his hand and looking up at him with wide, worried eyes, but he didn't move away from her. Quite the opposite, he let her lead him to a chair in the corner of the common room, where he promptly collapsed and put his head in his hands. Hermione knelt in front of him and rubbed his knee, murmuring something unintelligible to him.

"She'll take care of him," I said, half to myself and half to Harry. He nodded, his eyes still glazed. "Come sit with me?"

It was more of a statement than a question, but Harry nodded and followed me to the window seat where we had been less than 24 hours prior anyway. We sat on opposite ends, our backs against opposite walls, and we held each other's gaze for a long moment before looking down, each lost in our own thoughts.

My thoughts wandered to Halloween night. I could have killed Sirius Black. But I didn't.

If I had... he never would have broken into Gryffindor tower again. Harry's parents would have been avenged. Neville wouldn't have to be so afraid anymore. Everyone would be safer.

But... could I kill someone? Even Sirius Black?

I didn't know. And that was what tore me up.

I shook myself out of my self-destructive stupor and tapped Harry's elbow with my stockinged foot. He snapped out of his daze too and met my eyes. For half a second, I thought I spied tears glittering in the green, but they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared.

"Hey," I said gently. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Got lucky, I s'pose," he mumbled.

"And I'm glad for it," I said again.

"Everyone's in danger because of me."

"No, everyone's in danger because Sirius Black is a deranged murderer who managed to escape Azkaban."

"He escaped to come after me."

"That's not your fault."

"I could solve the problem, though, if I just-"

I frowned and flipped around in the seat so we were shoulder-to-shoulder. "Don't talk like that, Harry." I sighed. "If you wanted to go after him to get revenge, I'd go with you. But I would never let you just give yourself up. You're worth so much more than that."

"Sorry, Lu, I don't know why I got so dark all of a sudden."

"You're scared," I said simply. "And it's okay. We all are."

"You seem to be doing alright."

I lifted a hand to show how badly it was shaking. "I appreciate your optimism, but I'm scared too, Harry. I don't want to lose you."

"I'd rather not be lost," he agreed with a weak smile. He sighed. "I guess one good thing will come out of this whole mess... for you, anyway."

"What good thing could possibly-"

Harry's half-grin gave way to a full one. "At least you don't have to worry about being the center of attention in the morning."

I swatted Harry's arm, then rested my head against his shoulder. "Shut up, Potter."

A/N: Hi, everyone! I really hoped you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope you like the lyrics at the beginning, too --- I was planning on saving that song for Chapter 48, but I thought it worked here for multiple reasons. First of all, this chapter is a lot more Harry-Lucy-centric than 48 will probably be, and I thought the lines about fighting dragons and "pretenders" was particularly appropriate since Draco (which means dragon) was pretending to be a dementor. (I have a stupid sense of humor, I can't help myself sometimes. 😂)

I did so much research for Lucy's patronus. I literally read every word I could find describing every single patronus. Here's the explanation for the bear patronus, and I hope you all see why I went with the bear in the end: "The bear is indicative of someone with a great reserve of patience and inner strength. Bears do often well in leadership roles, though are more than content alone, happily spending their time in reflection and contemplation. They are confident, stable people that others may gravitate to in trying times for stability and healing. Though their quiet nature and tendency to spend time away from the crowd can lead to others thinking they are stern or anti-social, bears are often friendly and curious, and can surprise even those that know them best with something they didn't think of. Brown bears are known to be the 'warriors' of the bear archetype, standing their ground and facing danger to protect others or do what they believe is right, not backing down no matter the danger."

Anyway, sorry for such a long note! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!