So keep your head up, princess, before your crown falls
Now these voices in your head will be your downfall
I know it gets so hard but you don't got far to go
Keep your head up, princess, it's a long road
And the path leads right to where they won't go
I know it hurts right now but I know you'll make it home

"Keep Your Head Up, Princess"
Anson Seabra

LUCY:

Because I spent every hour of daylight working on Buckbeak's case (which was rapidly approaching), I found myself staying up until one or two or even three in the morning doing homework. After Sirius Black's attack on Ron, I started doing my homework in the common room instead of my dormitory, keeping my wand right next to me at all times. I knew I didn't stand a chance against Sirius Black if he returned and wanted a fight, but I hoped that I could give everyone else enough time to protect themselves if I raised an alarm. But for all of my efforts, I knew there had to be something more that I could do to help.

I had the idea exactly seven days before the full moon --- it was perfect.

So, after classes on Monday, I found myself heading down to Hagrid's hut as I always did, but this time, there was a large silver goblet waiting for me on his kitchen table.

It had been nearly impossible to convince Cedric to let me take wolfsbane so I could patrol the Forbidden Forest on full moons, but I refused to take no for an answer. Having Dumbledore agree to my idea almost immediately was helpful, too --- what prefect wanted to disagree with the Headmaster? Not my brother, that was for sure.

Besides, I argued, I wanted to do everything I could to protect Harry. While a werewolf would naturally try to bite any human in sight, it would be easier to target Sirius Black if I was fully aware of myself. If nothing else, the sight of a werewolf would hopefully frighten him away and deter him from trying to get into the castle.

Every night that week, I would drink wolfsbane potion before Hagrid walked me back up to the castle for the night. On Thursday, a notice appeared on the Gryffindor bulletin board announcing a Hogsmeade trip the following Saturday. I tried to slip up to my dormitory without being seen, feeling rather terrible after my fourth night of wolfsbane, but Ron caught my eye and motioned me over to where they were sitting.

"Hogsmeade, next weekend! What d'you reckon?" he asked in a low voice.

"Well, Filch hasn't done anything about the passage into Honeydukes," Harry replied, glancing at me.

"Harry!" Hermione said sharply, shifting a massive pile of books to glower at him. "Harry, if you go into Hogsmeade again, I'll tell Professor McGonagall about that map!"

"Can you hear someone talking, Harry?" Ron inquired, refusing to turn around.

"Ron, how can you let him go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you! I mean it, I'll tell-"

"So now you're trying to get Harry expelled, Hermione? Haven't you done enough damage this year?"

Before she could reply, Crookshanks jumped into her lap, and she cast one scared look at Ron before darting away to the girls' dormitories, clutching her cat to her chest.

Ron carried on as if nothing had happened. "So how about it? Come on, last time we went you didn't see anything. You haven't even been inside Zonko's yet!"

"Okay. But I'm taking the Invisibility Cloak this time." Harry glanced at me. "What do you think, Lu? You want to come with me?"

Harry's not asking you to Hogsmeade in that way, I told myself, he's just asking if you want to go with him since you technically aren't allowed to go either.

But my face refused to listen to my mind's very sound reasoning and grew bright red anyway. "Sorry, Harry, I can't."

He grinned. "Scared of getting caught?"

I blushed even more fiercely and shook my head. "No, it's not that, I'd trust you with the Invisibility Cloak. I just promised Hagrid I'd look after the magical creatures since he and Buckbeak will be in London that Saturday."

"Saturday? Like, next Saturday?"

I nodded. "The trial is next Friday, but Hagrid is planning to stay the two nights afterward in London so Beaky isn't overwhelmed by too much travel at once. Speaking of, I should probably go work on homework, sorry. I'll see you in the morning."

I rose to my feet a little too quickly, stumbling a bit as dizziness threatened to overtake me. Harry's hand shot out for mine.

"You alright?" he asked.

I met his concerned eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"Maybe you should get some sleep instead of doing homework," Ron said slowly. "You look-"

"I'm alright, really," I lied. "I have a lot of homework tonight. I can't afford to crash until it's done."

"If you're sure," Harry said, releasing my hand reluctantly. "Be sure you do get some sleep, yeah? No more all-nighters like last year?"

I laughed. "No more all-nighters. Trust me, I'll sleep a lot better when Buckbeak's case is over. See you tomorrow!"

I grabbed Hermione's abandoned books on my way up to the dormitory. I was prepared to dump them all over her bed with a flourish, making a comment about how it was a miracle she hadn't broken her back yet from carrying so much stuff all the time, but when I opened the dormitory door, Hermione was sprawled across her bed sound asleep, Crookshanks sitting at the foot of her bed like a guard. I gently stacked her books on the trunk at the foot of her bed and pulled a blanket over her sleeping form, careful not to disturb her.

I still had no idea how she was getting to all of her classes and balancing all her work, but she was, somehow. I didn't ask questions (mostly because I never got very far when I tried), but I did try to help in subtle ways, from organizing her parchment by subject when she wasn't looking or replacing her almost-empty inkwells with my own full ones. I knew it didn't make much of a difference, but I liked to think it made her life at least a little easier.

After a quick shower, I grabbed my own mountain of homework and made my way back down to the common room. The only other people in there were the twins, who lit up when they saw me.

"We have something to show you!" Fred said excitedly. "We think we got something to actually work!"

I eagerly dumped my books in a corner and rushed over to them. "What do you mean, you got something to work?"

"Well... we've been working on, erm, products," George explained.

"Seriously, Cub, some of the prank shops in Egypt were just incredible."

"So we were inspired. We've tried to copy some products, with limited success, but this idea right here is entirely our own." He held up two small pouches, one purple and one orange. "Truth or dare gummies."

"Truth or dare gummies," I repeated. "Okay. How do they work?"

"If you choose truth, you eat one of the gummies out of the purple pouch. It has a microscopic amount of veritaserum that guarantees a truthful answer. If you choose dare, you eat one of the gummies out of the orange pouch. It's charmed with... well, let's just say you have to do the dare no matter what."

Fred held up a stack of what looked like playing cards. "Of course, we included some suggestions of our own, but it's up to the person playing if they want to use these or not. The purple side is truth questions, the orange side is dares. So, Cub, what'll it be?"

"I'll go after you two go," I said with a laugh. "I want to know what I'm getting myself into here."

"Fair enough!" George declared, popping one of the purple gummies into his mouth. "One truth card, Freddie."

Fred cleared his throat dramatically before reading the card aloud. "'When was the last time you sang in the shower, and what song was it?'"

"Three days ago. 'Do the Hippogriff' by the Weird Sisters." The words poured out of George's mouth so rapidly it seemed he was just as surprised as Fred and I were. He blinked as we laughed and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I reckon these work."

"It's one of their better songs, at least," I said, chuckling. "You could have said 'This is the Night.' Godric, Lavender never stops listening to that song. It's the worst."

"Couldn't agree more. My turn," Fred said, reaching for an orange gummy and passing me the deck of cards. "Hit me."

"Oh, Merlin." I began giggling before I even finished reading the card. "You're going to hate me for this. 'Slap yourself as hard as you can across the face.'"

Fred did so without hesitation, then blinked and winced. "Bloody hell, I'm stronger than I realized."

"Or maybe your pain tolerance is lower than you realized," George pointed out. "I mean, if you slap yourself and it hurts, does it make you strong or weak?"

"It makes you stupid," I said, laughing.

"Alright, Cub, your turn. Truth or dare?"

I buried my face in my hands. "I don't know!"

"You could always do both," Fred said.

I shook my head. "No way. Not tonight, at least. I still have homework. But... well, I guess I'll do truth. One round."

"Not what I was expecting you to pick, but a welcome surprise nonetheless!" George declared, holding out the purple pouch.

I chewed it slowly, wondering what I had just done.

I hope I don't have to my werewolf secret, or my family secret, or... WHY DID I CHOOSE TRUTH?

Before I could panic further, Fred had drawn a card. "Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?"

"I do at home," I said, the words leaving me in a rush. I blinked, snapping out of it. "Did I really just admit that?"

The twins laughed and nodded. I turned bright red.

"You'll love to hear that it's a stuffed bear," I continued, wanting to explain myself a little better. "My patronus makes a lot of sense, the more I think about it."

"That's actually really cool to know," George said with a shrug. "Why only at home, though?"

"Because I'm a bloody Gryffindor," I muttered. "If I were a Hufflepuff, I might actually sleep with it still, but big, brave Gryffindors shouldn't sleep with stuffed animals."

"Tell that to Percy," Fred snickered.

"You're kidding!" I exclaimed. "Percy?"

"We can't confirm it, but... we have reason to suspect he does."

I shook my head. "Well, that's the best thing I've heard all day. I should probably get to homework before I completely bare my soul to you buffoons, but bloody hell, boys, I'm so proud of you. You're brilliant. Reckon we could play again sometime?"

"Oh, definitely," George said with a nod. "There's a lot of soul-baring still to do."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm doing dare next time, trust me. See you at breakfast."

"Bye, Cub!" they chorused as they disappeared up the stairs to their dormitory.

I was up until 2:30 that night doing homework. Friday night, I couldn't sleep even after finishing my homework, so I was up until about 4. I barely survived Quidditch practice on Saturday and promptly crashed on Hagrid's couch for three hours afterwards. When I woke up, I researched until sunset, took my potion, and skipped dinner altogether because of how sick to my stomach I felt. Sunday followed the same pattern, but Sunday night, I abandoned the idea of sleep around midnight and went sleepwalking around the castle against my better judgement. Harry was right --- no security had been added to the witch statue.

Monday morning was awful. As always, the sun was too bright and everything was too loud and I wanted nothing more than to shut myself in a dark room and pace back and forth until nightfall. But I managed to make it through the day without falling apart and found myself on the edge of the Forbidden Forest when sunset came for me.

I patrolled the perimeter of the forest all night long, looking for any sign of Sirius Black, or of the Grim I encountered on Halloween. I found no sign of either of them, but it felt good to be out and doing something to help rather than just hoping for the best. I made my way to the entrance of the forest just before sunrise and curled up behind a tree, waiting to transform back.

My howls of pain soon gave way to screams, and I had two legs again within a minute. I pushed myself to my feet, leaning against the tree for support, and hurried toward the castle. Cedric met me halfway, and I let myself sink into his arms.

"I didn't see anything," I murmured, half-asleep as my adrenaline wore off more and more. "Everyone's safe, right? I didn't miss him?"

"Everyone's alright," he assured me. "Everyone except you, anyway. Let's get you inside."

"I'm alright," I lied, "just a little tired."

My claim of being "just a little tired" turned into falling asleep halfway through Defense Against the Dark Arts when my wideye potion wore off. Hermione kicked me under the table, and I jerked back awake, praying no one had noticed. For what it was worth, Professor Lupin looked a bit on the tired side, too, but wolfsbane didn't poison him the way it did me. And he hadn't spent the entire night patrolling the Forbidden Forest.

"You took wolfsbane this month, didn't you?" Hermione asked in a nearly-inaudible whisper.

"How'd you know?" I whispered back.

She gave me a look that seemed to mean, Oh please, I know my best friend. "Just sleep tonight, won't you?"

I lied. "Of course I will."

I ended up sleeping very little that week. I did the bare minimum on my homework, instead spending every waking moment preparing Hagrid for the trial, writing out note cards he could keep with him and helping him put together the best outfit possible (which was surprisingly difficult --- I made a mental note to get him a real tie for Christmas).

I couldn't sleep on Friday night, even though I had snuck down to his hut at daybreak to wish him luck and pet Buckbeak for what I hoped wasn't the last time. I kept my typical vigil in the common room, sitting in the window seat and keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of an owl. I eventually fell asleep as the sun was rising, until I was shaken awake by the twins.

"If you're heading down to Hogsmeade, you might want to go while the sun is still up," Fred joked.

"I'm not going," I replied, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "You two have fun, though."

"We still need to take you on a Zonko's trip," George said. "In the meantime, your bed is probably more comfortable than where you are now. You look awful, Cub."

"I know. But I'm helping Hagrid with the creatures while he's in London, so I ought to head down and take care of that." I tried and failed to stifle a massive yawn. "Thanks for waking me up, though."

"Sleep once you're back, yeah?"

I nodded. "Sounds wonderful, trust me. Have fun in Hogsmeade! And keep Harry out of trouble if you can, will you?"

They saluted in sync and disappeared from the common room. I headed up to my dormitory and splashed some cold water in my face before heading down to the magical creatures reserve. I moved like a zombie through each habitat at first, barely remembering to give the troll in the cave three steaks instead of two and barely managing to fight off the army of nifflers that tried to steal the mood ring off my finger.

Being out in the sunshine seemed to break me from my sleepy stupor, though, and the more I woke up, the more worried I became for Hagrid and Buckbeak. I hadn't heard back from them yet, and the anxiety was killing me. I didn't want to go to bed until I'd heard back, because I knew whenever I did fall asleep, I'd sleep for a long time and it would take a lot to wake me up.

So, naturally, I wandered to Professor Lupin's office.

His door was slightly ajar already, so I shyly opened it a bit further. "Professor Lupin?"

"Ah, Lucy Diggory!" he said with a smile. "Come on in!"

I smiled back and closed the door behind me. "Hi, Professor. Mind if I drop in for a bit?"

"Of course not. Would you like some tea?"

"I'm alright, but thank you."

"To what do I owe the pleasure? Isn't today a Hogsmeade day?"

I nodded. "I'm technically not allowed to go. My parents signed my form, but they don't want me going until Sirius Black is caught."

"Rightfully so," he remarked, pouring himself a cup of tea. "How are you, Lucy?"

"Alright, I suppose," I replied, taking a seat at a desk and anxiously bouncing a leg up and down. "I'm waiting for news about Buckbeak's trial. I'm guessing you've heard about that whole ordeal?"

He nodded. "I did. Hagrid spoke very highly of you --- said you've been very helpful."

I blushed. "It's the least I could do. I love creatures, possibly to a fault."

"Is that a trait you've inherited that from your father?"

I glanced down at the desk, tracing a scratched-in Golden Snitch with my finger. I managed a chuckle. "Would you like the long answer, or the short answer?"

"Whichever you'd like to share," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"Would you believe me if I told you the circumstances of my transformation were... incredibly complicated?"

"I've gathered that sense," he said with a nod.

"Well... I've now seen the memory in its entirety. And as it turns out, I'm not who I think I am." I took a deep breath and began talking. I told Professor Lupin everything about the night I was transformed, and about being an American Muggle-born after all, and about my conversations with Dumbledore. He listened intently, asking questions and offering reassurance in all the right places. When I was through with my story, he sat forward in his desk and massaged his temples.

"Well, thank you for trusting me with all of that, Lucy. I can imagine it was difficult."

"Not really," I admitted in a small voice. "I thought... well, I thought you might understand more than most other people."

"Who else knows?"

"Just Cedric and Professor Dumbledore-"

Professor Snape's voice suddenly filled the room. "Lupin! I want a word!"

I jumped about a meter in the air. "What in Merlin's name-"

"It's alright, Lucy," he said, approaching the fire. He knelt down in front of it, calling, "All due respect, Severus, but I'm with a student right now,."

"All due respect, Professor-" I could see Snape's sinister scowl even without seeing his face. "But a particular Mr. Potter has something here I'd like you to see, as an... expert on Dark Magic."

I felt my stomach drop. "Harry would never-"

"Just a moment, Severus." Professor Lupin turned his face away from the fire to meet my eyes. "I know. Don't worry. You're welcome to stay if you'd like, this should only take a moment. I reckon the grindylow could use a snack in the meantime." He turned back to the fire and promptly stepped into the fire and swirled out of sight.

I did as Professor Lupin recommended and reached for the bag of creature food beneath the grindylow's tank. I summoned a desk with my wand and stood on top of it to reach the opening at the top, and dropped three large pellets into the tank, watching as the water demon cut each pellet into five even pieces before eating them one after the other.

Professor Lupin entered the room a couple minutes later, looking grim and mildly angry. I jumped when I saw that he had the Marauder's Map clutched in his hand.

"Is that what Professor Snape thought had Dark Magic?" I asked.

Professor Lupin looked surprised for half a second, as if he'd forgotten I was there, but he recovered quickly and nodded. "I don't know how Harry came across such a thing, but he should have handed it in straight away."

"Why do you think so, Professor? Is it dangerous?"

"In the wrong hands, certainly."

"In Harry's?"

He sighed. "Possibly. With Sirius Black on the loose, I can take no chances." He studied the map for a moment then glanced up at me. "Given how close you are to Harry, I'm sure you know what this is?"

I nodded reluctantly. "I do. I know it's not dangerous, Professor."

"I know you would use it responsibly. As for Harry... he is still just a thirteen-year-old boy. I was one once upon a time, and I know their --- er --- capacity for poor decisions, even with the most harmless of intentions." He managed a small chuckle. "The creators of this map made a lot of poor decisions, thirteen years old and otherwise."

"So you know it's a map? Did you know them, Professor, the creators?"

"We've met, yes," he said casually, eyes wandering back to the piece of parchment in his hand.

My eyes widened. "Wait a minute... Moony! Are you Moony?"

Before he could reply, a tap at the window attracted our attention. Malachi was flapping his wings just outside the window, something clutched in his talons. I rushed over, taking the soggy parchment from him and letting him settle on my shoulder.

Dear Lucy,
   We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed. Beaky has enjoyed London. I won't forget all the help you gave us.
      Hagrid

My hands shook violently. "It's from Hagrid," I explained, voice also shaking as I felt the blood drain from my face. "They lost. Buckbeak is going to be... killed." My voice cracked on the last word. I took a deep breath to steady myself and reached up to stroke the owl nuzzling his head against mine. "Thanks for delivering that, Malachi. You can go to the Owlery now. That's a long flight."

He nipped my finger affectionately and flew out the window. I slid it shut and turned to Professor Lupin, who had tucked the map into a drawer of his desk and was now holding out a chocolate bar.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Lucy. Would this help?"

I shook my head. "To tell you the truth, Professor, I don't feel very well, but thank you for offering. I should probably go find Harry and the others and tell them what happened."

He nodded understandingly. "That seems like a good idea. My apologies if Harry seems a bit off-color... I'm afraid I was harsh with him in my anger earlier. I will need to apologize later."

"You? Angry?" I repeated incredulously.

"We all have our moments," he said. "Anger can both be a tool and a weapon, and you must be careful to use it accordingly."

"Anger can be... good?"

"Everything has the power to be good, Lucy. The world is too big and complex to be split into purely good and purely evil. We must choose who we want to be and find our place here accordingly." He offered a smile. "I'm sorry. That was very professor-like of me."

I smiled back, feeling slightly better. "No need to apologize. I think I understand." I sighed, hands still trembling. "I should go find everyone now. Thank you for talking to me this afternoon, Professor. I enjoyed it."

"As did I. Hopefully we can talk again in the future, without... unpleasant interruptions such as this."

I nodded. "I'd like that."

I slipped out of the classroom and hurried up the stairs to the common room, feeling anger beginning to bubble up deep in my gut. It wasn't fair. Draco Malfoy would pay for what he was about to do to such a beautiful creature. Beaky deserved better.

Harry spotted me first. "What's wrong?"

I held the parchment out with a shaking hand. He skimmed it quickly, and gestured for me to follow him.

Ron and Hermione were sitting together in the corner of the common room, Hermione laughing while Ron smiled at her.

"They made up?" I whispered incredulously. "How?"

"I wish I could take the credit for it, but... well, long story short, Ron told Hermione she was right about the whole Hogsmeade thing, then before I knew what was happening, she was crying saying she was sorry about Scabbers and Ron was reaching out to hug her and say it was okay. I was just about to go looking for you when you walked in."

Hermione seemed to notice us, and her laughter faded away. "You look like you want to talk to us." She cleared some of her books so Harry and I could join them on the ground. He passed the parchment to Hermione wordlessly, and Ron read over her shoulder. She gasped and looked up. "But... but they can't! Buckbeak was provoked!"

"I know," I said. "I... I did the best I could."

"You've been researching all by yourself?" Ron asked incredulously. "Why didn't you ask us for help?"

"Everyone was either busy, fighting, or both. I didn't want to be a bother."

"Well, you are never a bother, busy or fighting or otherwise," Harry said. "We can help you research for the appeal. Or at least, I can. I'm not too busy."

"I'll help too," Ron and Hermione said in unison.

We all laughed at that.

"We can start tomorrow," I offered. "I know where to start looking for materials in the library. In the meantime, I'm a little tired."

"I should get back to studying," Hermione said, reaching for a fresh piece of parchment. "You know, I missed this. Us."

"I missed us, too," I replied. I considered standing up, but the thought of moving at all made me realize exactly how tired I was. My eyes sank shut, and I shook my head to force myself to stay awake.

"When are you ever going to sleep like a normal person?" Harry asked, rising to his feet and holding a hand out. "C'mon, Lu, your bed will be more comfortable than the ground or someone's shoulder."

I almost said I wouldn't mind sleeping on his shoulder, but I chased the thought away as soon as I had it. Where had THAT come from? I settled for accepting his hand and offering a crooked smile. "I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead."

"Famous last words," he said, returning my crooked smile. "Go. Sleep. Now. Please. I catch Golden Snitches, not Lucy Diggorys. I don't want to drop you if you fall asleep walking away."

I chuckled. "Alright, alright. See you later."

"Later?" Hermione laughed from behind me. "I'd be shocked to see you before breakfast tomorrow."

"Time will tell," I replied, glancing at my friends one last time before heading up to my dorm room and collapsing on top of my sheets. My last conscious thought was that it was good to have "us" back to normal, even if it took a botched Hogsmeade trip and a threatened hippogriff to make it happen.

Hagrid didn't get back to Hogwarts until late Sunday, so we didn't have the chance to talk about the trial with him until after Care of Magical Creatures on Monday.

His shoulders shook as he tried to explain what happened. "S'all my fault. Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin' there in black robes an' I kep' droppin' me notes and forgettin' all them dates yeh looked up fer me, Lucy, an' then Lucius Malfoy stood up an' said his bit, and the Committee jus' did exac'ly what he told 'em."

"There's still the appeal! Don't give up yet, we're working on it!" Ron said.

"We?" Hagrid repeated.

"They all offered to help me," I explained in a small voice.

"Happy ter hear it," Hagrid said gruffly. "Yeh've been workin' altogether too hard by yerself."

I flushed bright red. "It still wasn't enough."

"Don't say that, Lu," Harry said, nudging my shoulder with his. "You did your best. It was too big of a job for one person alone, but we'll help now."

Even that little touch comforted me, and we stayed that close until we reached the castle steps, hands grazing every couple of seconds.

Hagrid reached into his coat for a handkerchief. "S'no good. That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that..."

With that, he turned around and hurried back to his hut, sobbing. I felt tears rise to my own eyes as my chest clenched with sorrow, but it quickly turned to anger when Malfoy opened his mouth.

"Look at him blubber!" he crowed. "Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic? And he's supposed to be our teacher!"

I spun around on my heel, and Harry and Ron lunged at him, but Hermione beat them both to it.

The sound of her hand connecting with his cheek echoed throughout the hall. He staggered back, stunned.

Hermione lifted her hand for round two. "Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul- you evil-"

"Hermione!" Ron said, reaching forward and catching her hand.

"Get off, Ron!" she snapped, pulling her wand out of her pocket.

"Yeah, Ron, let her finish." I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

But Draco decided he didn't want to see Hermione's next move. "C'mon," he said to Crabbe and Goyle, practically running off down the hallway.

"Hermione!" Ron repeated, his face a mixture of awe and shock.

Hermione pocketed her wand and whirled around to face Harry and me. "You two had better beat him in the Quidditch final! You just better had, because I can't stand it if Slytherin wins!"

"I've been wanting to do that for so long, Hermione," I said, thinking back to every horrible Ancient Runes class I had endured next to him. "You have no idea."

Harry laughed. "As much as I enjoyed that, we're due in Charms. We'd better go."

We bounded up the stairs to the Charms classroom and I slid in right next to Neville as the class was starting.

"What happened?" he asked. "You were almost late."

I smiled from ear to ear. "A bit of justice happened."

Halfway through the lesson, a scrap of parchment landed in my lap. I recognized Harry's handwriting immediately.

Where's Hermione?

I scanned the classroom quickly. Surely enough, she was nowhere to be seen.

I don't know, maybe she just needed time to cool down. She was pretty heated, I scribbled, sending the paper back to Harry.

He turned back and nodded at me once he read the note. I shrugged at him and returned my attention to Neville, who was smiling ear-to-ear from my successful Cheering Charm. I didn't feel any cheerier after the lesson (Neville's wand didn't want to cooperate), but frankly, seeing Hermione punch Draco was cheering enough.

Professor Flitwick released us early, so the boys and I headed up to the Gryffindor common room.

"You don't think Malfoy did something to her?" Ron asked worriedly.

"If he did, I'll do something to him," I spat.

Fortunately, he hadn't touched her. She was sound asleep on top of an Arithmancy book.

I gently shook her shoulder. "Mione? Everything alright?"

She jerked awake. "Wh-What? Is it time to go? W-Which lesson have we got now?"

"Shh," I said, rubbing her back reassuringly. "You don't have Divination for another twenty minutes. It's okay."

"Hermione, why didn't you come to Charms?" Harry asked.

"What? Oh no! I forgot to go to Charms!"

"But how could you forget? You were with us till we were right outside the classroom!"

She didn't seem to hear a word he was saying. "I don't believe it! Was Professor Flitwick angry? Oh, it was Malfoy, I was thinking about him and I lost track of things!"

"You know what, Hermione? I reckon you're cracking up," Ron said. "You're trying to do too much."

Hermione shook me loose and rose to her feet. "No, I'm not! I just made a mistake, that's all! I'd better go and see Professor Flitwick and say sorry! I'll see you in Divination!"

"What about Ancient Runes?" I called after her, but she ignored me by jumping through the portrait hole.

"Wait... Lucy, she's been in Ancient Runes with you?" Ron asked.

I nodded. "Every class except the first one, apparently. She sits in the back of the room, so I didn't see her for a while, but Professor Babbling said she's been there all year."

"But she's been in every Divination class too!"

"Really?"

Both boys nodded. "Definitely."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. "She's been so stressed all year. Something's going on. I don't know what it is, but..." I sighed again. "I guess we just have to trust her."

"I guess," Ron replied. "I just wish we knew how to help."

"I've been trying," I said in a small voice. "Just in little ways, here and there, and I've tried asking questions about how and why she's taking so many classes, but I never get anywhere."

"Well, maybe now that we've made up, we can help, too," Ron said.

"I think that alone will help. She really did feel awful about Scabbers." I sighed. "I'm going to start walking to Ancient Runes, it's on the other end of the castle. See you in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"See you then," they said in unison.

I smiled. "Now you sound like Fred and George."

I ducked through the portrait hole, the sound of their laughter echoing behind me.

Just as I was about to enter the classroom, Draco rounded the corner. To my disappointment, he had no redness or bruising on his cheek from Hermione's slap.

He grinned malevolently at me. "Oh, look, it's the failed hippogriff defender. I've just received the most amusing letter from Father telling me all about your disastrous efforts to keep the oaf afloat."

My face burned. "What did he say?"

"More than two dozen notecards? Really, Scars?"

"It was a precaution," I said, voice shaking. I laid my hand on the doorknob, wanting to enter the classroom to try to escape him (he always toned it down a bit when he knew Professor Babbling might overhear), but he smacked my hand away and forced me back against the wall.

"You really thought you could save the monster, didn't you?" he sneered.

"I wanted to try," I choked out.

"It was your failure that made Hagrid blubber like an extremely overgrown baby. You realize that, right?"

I couldn't answer, as tears had clogged my throat.

He narrowed his eyes. "You really think you're something special, don't you? Trying to save the hippogriff was just the most recent spectacular failure proving that you're not. You try to be a hero on the Quidditch Pitch, you follow Potter around on all of his stupid missions like a lost puppy, you let the Mudblood Granger fight all of your battles for you. Just because your mother threw away her career for you doesn't mean you're worth it. You're not. Face it. If it weren't for your brother's golden reputation, you'd be nothing. You're close enough as it is. You're nothing more than Cedric Diggory's useless little sister."

"Don't... call Hermione... that word."

"You got a problem with the word Mudblood?" He barked a laugh. "You're such a sorry excuse for a pure-blood. I won't forget this, Scars. You had better watch your back."

"Lucy?" came a voice at the end of the corridor.

Draco and I snapped our heads toward the sound at the same time. Hermione stood there, cheeks flushed and panting as if she's been running.

She glared at Draco and whipped her wand out. "Leave her alone, Malfoy."

To my satisfaction, he looked somewhat scared and opened the classroom door. Before he walked in, however, he gave me one last look. He didn't need to say anything, I knew what he was thinking --- another battle Hermione had to fight for me.

Hermione rushed forward and grabbed my arm. "What was that?"

"Buckbeak," I managed, trembling from head to toe. "He was bragging about Buckbeak."

"He makes me sick," she spat. "Anyway, the bell's about to ring. Come on, let's go."

I finally entered the classroom and slid into my seat next to Draco, Hermione taking her typical spot in the back of the room. I tried to focus on the lesson, really I did, but my mind kept replaying all he had said to me. The same thing happened in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now that Ron and Hermione were friends again, I was sitting next to Harry for the first time in several months, which should have made me feel better, but all I could think about was how I had failed him, too, in addition to Hagrid and Buckbeak. I could have killed Sirius Black on Halloween, but I didn't, and because I didn't, Harry was still in danger.

When the bell rang, I practically fled the room. I sprinted on shaking legs to the empty Quidditch pitch, racing up the stairs until I reached the commentary box. I threw my bag onto the closest bench and punched the closest wall.

"'You really thought you could save the monster, didn't you?'" I said in a squeaky voice. "'You're nothing more than Cedric Diggory's useless little sister.' 'You're such a sorry excuse for a pure-blood.'" I kicked the wall with all I was worth and switched to my regular voice. "Jokes on you! I'm not even a pure-blood after all!"

My temper tantrum over, I heaved for breath and sank down on the bench next to my bag. I refused to cry over Draco's words yet again, but to say I was fine would be a massive bloody lie. How did he know exactly which buttons to push to make me break down? How did he know exactly what to say to revive all of my deepest fears and insecurities? Why did he do this to me, anyway?

I tried to control my breathing, but my emotions were running too high. I did feel guilty for the Buckbeak situation --- horribly guilty. I should have let my friends help. It was too much for one person to do... or at least, too much for me to do.

I detected Harry's footsteps before I heard his voice, so I took a deep breath and fixed my gaze on the castle in the distance.

"Lu? What's wrong?"

"I'm alright," I lied, not turning to look at him. "Honest. Nothing's wrong."

"Don't tell me I'm supposed to believe that," he chuckled, sitting next to me on the bench. "You don't take off running to the Quidditch Pitch because 'nothing's wrong.'"

"Did Professor Lupin give you the map back?"

"No, he didn't. Why?"

I glanced at him for the first time. His green eyes, soft with concern, locked onto mine. I couldn't look away. I couldn't remember his question. For a moment, Harry was all I could see.

After what felt like eternity, I blinked. "You knew I'd be here even without the map, didn't you." I meant it to come out like a question, but it really sounded more like a statement.

He nodded. "It wasn't terribly hard to figure out. I know you, Lu. So... what's wrong?"

I sighed. "Malfoy confronted me before Ancient Runes today."

"He did? What did he say?"

"He..." I took a shaky breath and paused. I didn't want to tell Harry what he said, not really. I was terrified of Harry agreeing. I didn't want him to see me the way Draco did. But the sincerity in his eyes weakened my defenses, and I felt something deep inside of me release. It was as if a tiny dam were breaking, and a couple of the hurts I had tried to lock away were beginning to pour out. I glanced away toward the Pitch for half a second, but Harry's emerald eyes pulled me back in, like gravity. I knew in that moment that I could trust Harry --- he would never, ever hurt me the way Draco did. "He said it was my fault Hagrid wasn't successful in the trial. He mocked me for even trying to save Buckbeak. Then he-"

"It got worse?" he asked incredulously. He blinked, shaking his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you, I just can't believe there's more."

I nodded. "He then went on a bit of a tirade about how I wasn't special and how I'd never be more than Cedric Diggory the Golden Boy's useless little sister."

Harry clenched his fists and jumped to his feet. "That's it. I'm going to finish what Hermione started."

"Wait, what?" I asked, lunging forward and grabbing his wrist. "Harry, no! Please, don't, it's not worth it."

"I can't just let him get away with saying something like that to you!" Harry said, his eyes flashing.

I glanced down. "It's not like it's the first time," I mumbled.

"What?" Harry sat back down next to me, wrenching his wrist free so he could rest a hand on my shoulder. "Lucy," he said in a much gentler voice, "look at me."

I complied, once again struck by the vibrancy of his green eyes and the emotion that lay within.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked softly.

"All year," I admitted. "I sit next to him in Ancient Runes. It's basically a free-for-all as far as he's concerned."

Harry looked away, his hand tightening ever so slightly on my shoulder. "What do you mean today wasn't the first time? What does he say to you?"

"It depends. He knew I was researching on Hagrid's behalf, so he'd taunt me saying it was pointless and that Buckbeak would never be free. He compares me to Cedric all the time, saying I'll never be good enough. Which I know is true, I mean..." I sighed shakily. "When I came to Hogwarts, I had a plan. I would be in Hufflepuff, just like Cedric. I would work toward being a healer, just like Cedric. After I graduated, Cedric and I would start our own little healing clinic in the countryside, helping wizards and Muggles alike however we could. But that didn't happen. I was sorted into Gryffindor. When I was attacked in the Forbidden Forest, I realized I can't take the sight of blood. My plan fell apart, and now all that's left of it is Cedric, but I'm losing him this summer and I'm scared that when he comes back, we won't be the same because he'll have started moving on to the next stage of his life that doesn't include me."

Harry was silent for a moment, and I worried for a second that I had unnerved him. I hadn't meant to share so much deeply personal information, but once I started, I couldn't stop. I knew I was safe with Harry. I knew I could trust him. He would never ridicule me like Draco did every day he saw me. He would never use my insecurity against me the way Hermione did when she was mad. Harry was safe. Harry cared about me, perhaps more than anyone save Cedric.

Harry dropped his hand from my shoulder and ran his fingers through his messy hair, gripping it in frustration. "I'm so sorry, Lucy. You don't deserve any of this. I mean, first you have to deal with all of that internally, then on top of that you try to take care of everyone else too, then on top of that you're affected by dementors the same way that I am, not to mention the fact that you're sick almost all the time..." His voice trailed off, and he released his hair with a sigh. "You deserve so much better. It's so unfair."

I leaned my head against his shoulder. "At least I don't have to bear it all by myself, now that I've told you."

"And you never will have to bear it by yourself again," he said firmly. "I'll always be right here, however I can be. The same way you've always been there for me."

I closed my eyes and inhaled through my nose to calm myself. As I did, I breathed in the scent of Harry. He still smelled somewhat of chocolate and broomsticks, like he had our first year, but there was more to him than just that now. When I smelled Harry, I could smell the grass from all of the walks to and from the Quidditch Pitch together, rain and shine and anything in between. I could smell the faint sweetness of healing potions from our various times spent in the Hospital Wing together side by side. I could smell the smoke from the late nights spent together by the common room fire.

Being there in that moment with Harry felt like finally realizing I was home.

In that moment, I knew Harry would keep my secrets and dreams and insecurities alike safely tucked away in his heart, right next to his own. Well... all of them except one. The biggest one. I wasn't ready to tell him I was a werewolf yet. I didn't want to risk destroying everything we had been building together over the years.

In that moment, everything seemed right. Safe. Happy. And... oh no.

I opened my eyes again and hazarded a glance at the mood ring around my finger.

The red glow of my half confirmed what I had just realized. What I really should have known was a long time coming.

In that moment, I knew I was in love with Harry James Potter.