LUCY:

I was just about to go to bed when blinding pain shot through my body.

"Ow!" I yelped, cradling my hand.

"Lu?" Cedric asked, rushing into my room. "What is it, are you okay?"

I sucked in a breath between my teeth. "It's the ring, I-" I glanced down and saw that Hermione's half was glowing such a bright pink it hurt my eyes. I tried to pry it off, but it was seared to my skin. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow."

"Should I go get Mum?"

I shook my head. "No, it... it should stop in a minute."

"Did the magic go faulty?"

"I don't... don't think so. I just don't know why this would be happening right now." A horrible thought occurred to me. "Oh no."

Still clutching my hand, I sank onto my bed. It was the night they planned on using the polyjuice potion. Something must have gone wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

"What is it, Lu?" Cedric asked, sitting beside me on the bed.

I took a shaky breath. "I think I know what might have gone wrong, but I don't know why-" I hissed as the pain intensified. "-why something would have gone wrong." My vision swam with tears; the burning was getting nearly unbearable, and my half began to glow increasingly purple. "Their plan was so good... so solid... and if Hermione... I can only imagine..."

Black spots danced in front of my eyes.

"Lucy, take the ring off."

"I can't, it's burned on," I choked out.

He reached forward and tried to pry it off, but it really was stuck to my skin. "It doesn't feel hot to me," he remarked. "Lucy, what's wrong?"

"It only changes temperature for the wearers," I explained, my hand beginning to shake. "I designed it that way so it wouldn't burn a hole through anything if something were to happen, but I didn't think it would hurt this much if... ow!"

The heat surged again.

"I'm going to get Mum and Dad," he said, starting to rise from the bed, but I caught his elbow with my other hand.

"No, Cedric, please, I can't take this off, they'd make me take it off!"

"Lu, it's hurting you," he said softly. "It's okay to take it off if it's hurting you. I'm sure they could help."

"No, Hermione needs me. Please, Ced, stay."

He paused for a moment, but he must have seen the earnestness in my eyes, because he lowered himself back onto my bed. "Okay. How can I help?"

I bit my lip. "I don't know." I stared at the ring. Her half was still brilliant pink, but it seemed to be dimming as purple swirled with the pink. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing."

"What do pink and purple mean?"

"I wish I could tell you, but it's a secret," I said, managing a smile. "Only Hermione and I know. And not even we know some of the colors for sure."

"Can you tell me if the purple is good or bad?"

"I think it's bad." I swallowed hard. "I don't know what could have happened. It was a good plan, but it was honestly a bit of a long shot-"

"What plan? Lucy, what's going on?"

I sighed. "If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone else?"

He nodded. "Of course."

I sighed again. "Well... Hermione's been brewing polyjuice potion in an out of order bathroom so we could find out if Draco Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin. I think tonight was the night they were all going to sneak into the common room and fish for information."

Cedric blinked. "Well, that wasn't exactly what I expected. Wait, polyjuice potion? Isn't that-"

"Illegal? Yes. I swore you to secrecy for a reason."

"Lucy-"

"It wasn't my idea. I barely even helped, since Lockhart saw to it that I was in the Hospital Wing for a month. Cedric, I'm scared of what might have gone wrong..."

He still seemed stunned, but he wrapped a reassuring arm around my shoulders regardless. "They'll be okay. I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right," I whispered. "I hope they didn't get caught."

He laughed. "If they haven't gotten caught yet, I'm sure they won't now."

"I asked them to send me a letter as soon as they could, telling me what happened. I guess now we just have to wait for that."

"I'll help you keep an eye out. And I'll help you make sure Mum and Dad don't read the letter first."

I snickered. "Thanks. That would be a horrible way for them to find out about... well, everything."

I watched as anger and sadness mingled with the embarrassment and fear on Hermione's half. I wished there was a way I could send her the happiness I felt at the moment despite my fear. I figured it was worth a shot.

I leaned against my brother's arm. "I'm glad we're here, Ced. It's nice to be home for Christmas and away from all of the fear."

"I'm glad you feel the same way. I was worried you'd wish you were at school with your friends instead of here with me," he admitted.

"What? Ced, I've been having so much fun here with you!"

"More fun than you would have had playing polyjuice dress-up tonight?"

I giggled. "Are you kidding? I'd much rather be here. Besides, I didn't know if it would work with me being a werewolf anyway."

"So let's hope you never have to find out," he said. "You aren't planning to impersonate me anytime soon, are you?"

"Not unless you happen to be the Heir of Slytherin, no," I teased. "Heir of Hufflepuff would be more likely, at any rate. I've heard that they all call you their Golden Boy."

He blushed. "I'm not."

"If Henry were here, he'd agree with me."

"Well, he's not here, and I disagree, so I suppose we have a stalemate. Speaking of, want to play a round of chess to take your mind off of everything?"

"You reckon we can play quietly enough to not get caught?"

He nodded, smirking.

"Am I being a bad influence on you?" I asked. "You've never been so mischievous. Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?"

"Hey, who got you the prank birthday gift?"

I held up my hands in surrender. "Alright, fair's fair. You can be mischievous from time to time." I smirked right back at him. "You're going down."

We played by the light of the downstairs fireplace, lying on our stomachs on the fluffy rug and whispering the commands to our players. Cedric won the first game, and I barely scraped a victory from the second game. We were halfway through our tiebreaking game when the ring began to glow bright pink again.

Cedric clapped a hand over my mouth before I could cry out in pain, but my eyes watered with the effort of biting my lip to keep everything inside. When the worst of it passed, I peeled his hand away from my mouth, breathing hard.

"I don't know what that was," I panted, "but I reckon it wasn't good."

"Let's finish the game and go to bed," Cedric suggested. "It's getting late. Hermione should be sleeping soon, so you can take the ring off for a couple of hours."

I nodded, too tired to protest. Cedric won the game, and we crept back up the stairs.

"That was fun," I whispered as I opened the door to my room. "Play again tomorrow night?"

"You bet," he said, giving me a fist bump. "G'night, Lu."

"Night, Ced."

I waited on pins and needles for a letter from Hermione or Harry or Ron, but Malachi didn't return for several days. Dad said Hogwarts and Hogsmeade was covered in blankets of snow, so Malachi was likely stranded in the Owlery. Cedric and I kept up our late-night tournaments, and it was at the end of one that the letter I had been waiting for finally came.

"It's from Harry!" I whispered, recognizing the handwriting immediately.

"Oh, great," Cedric whispered back, stroking Malachi's head. "What does it say?"

I read the letter in a fast whisper. "P.S. We all really miss you," I finished, feeling a significant weight lifted from my shoulders. I took a deep breath. "My best friend is a cat now."

"I never expected that," he said with a sympathetic grin, "but I'm glad she's okay."

"It certainly explains the ring," I commented. "The second surge must have been when she went to the Hospital Wing and had to explain what had happened."

Cedric winced. "Yeah, that would be embarrassing, for sure. Oh, don't look at me so surprised," he chuckled. "Embarrassment is definitely the predominant emotion. I'm guessing that's pink?"

I nodded. "It's pointless trying to keep any secrets from either of you. You almost always figure me out eventually."

"Almost?"

"That's another conversation for another time," I said dismissively. "Do you want to play another game?"

"You're not tired yet?"

"The full moon is in two days," I explained. "I'm never tired before the full moon. But it's okay, you can go to bed."

He smiled. "I think I have one more round in me. Let's play."

I was on the forest floor. Blinking a couple more times, I realized I was home. I pushed myself to my feet, trembling with the effort, and began the walk back to the house.

The lights were on inside. The lights were always on the morning after a transformation, to welcome me home.

Cedric was sitting on the stone wall around our front yard, fiddling with something in his hands. His head jerked up when he heard me, however, and he quickly jumped down and ran over to me.

"Lucy," he breathed, looking me over head to toe. "Thank goodness. Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "Just tired."

"And cold, I reckon," he added. I noticed for the first time that he was wearing a sweater I'd never seen before.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"Henry gave it to me for Christmas," he explained with a smile. "It's charmed to adapt to the weather. Needless to say, it's incredibly warm right now. C'mere."

I felt as if I were melting as he put his arm around me. "Oh, that feels amazing," I sighed as we walked into the house.

"Good morning, darling," Mum said, pressing a warm cup of tea into my hand. I reckoned I was one of the only people in the entire country who didn't really like tea, but after a night in the freezing cold, I accepted it gratefully and took a deep sip. "Cedric, bring her to the fire, she's practically blue."

"If I had a Sickle for every time I heard that..." I muttered as I sat in front of the fire and Cedric draped a blanket around me.

"If you had a Sickle for every time you heard that, you'd have a physical representation of exactly how much we care about you," Cedric finished for me.

I smiled. "You're right."

Tuck ran up to me then and nearly knocked my tea out of my hands. I managed a tired laugh as Cedric patted his head. He plopped himself down on the rug in front of us and laid his head on Cedric's lap.

"Did Henry make the sweater himself?" I asked.

Cedric nodded. "He's taken up knitting as a hobby lately."

"Interesting hobby," I commented as I drained the last drops of tea from my mug. I leaned into Cedric's warmth and sighed. "Remind me to ask him how he charmed this. It would be so helpful to have one of these around transformations."

"How so?" he asked.

I had somewhat forgotten how little information I actually volunteered about my lycanthropy. "Well," I explained, "I always get really hot and feverish beforehand, even without dittany. It's like I'm burning from the inside out, like the monster is just a ball of energy trying to fight its way into the open. But then after, I'm freezing."

Cedric absorbed this in silence. "I didn't realize how much it impacted you beyond just the one night," he admitted after a moment. "What else happens?"

I almost told him about how I could never sleep before a full moon, and how all I ever wanted to do after a full moon was sleep, but I didn't. I had burdened him enough for one day.

"Now I'm just tired," I said, stroking Tuck's head with the hand not holding a mug. "I'll probably sleep for the next day or two, if Mum and Dad let me, like I did in November when I didn't have to get to class."

"I'll make sure you can, Lu," Cedric promised, helping me to my feet and taking the mug from my hand. "See you in two days."

I hugged his warm sweater one last time and disappeared up the stairs. My last thought before falling asleep was of my friends back at Hogwarts. By the time I woke up, I'd probably ne two days closer to seeing them again.

As soon as I returned to school, I sprinted to the Hospital Wing to see Hermione.

"Lucy!" she gasped, throwing her book aside and flinging herself on top of me. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too," I said, studying her face. A bit of dark stubble still remained on her cheeks, but I reckoned it was an improvement compared to what Harry had described. "How are you?"

"Right now? Happy to see you. Have you seen the boys yet?"

I shook my head. "I only just arrived back. I came here first thing."

She sat back and retrieved her book. "They'll be happy to see you too," she said. "They're probably in the common room."

I laughed. "Are you chasing me out?"

"Oh, no," she replied, shaking her head. "I just, well, I want to get ahead on reading since I won't actually be in class."

"It's okay, I get it," I said. "I know the feeling. At least you'll be able to do the work, yeah? You have hands and not paws?"

She nodded, lifting the hand with the ring for emphasis. "I do! Did the ring burn you, too?"

I nodded, twisting it partially off to show the small red scar. "Well, this is one we'll match, even if you don't share any of my other scars."

"Yeah, sorry about that," she said, the ring glowing pink again.

"Please, don't be sorry, I don't want another scar," I giggled. "I don't mind, truly. Maybe once you get out of here, you can help me figure out a way to not make it burn. In the meantime, I'll let you work in peace."

Later that week, when we were bringing her homework, Ron was far less understanding. "If I'd sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work."

"Don't be silly, Ron, I've got to keep up," she said. The cat hair had disappeared, but her eyes were still fairly yellow. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I don't suppose you've got any new leads?"

Harry shook his head. "Nothing."

"I was so sure it was Malfoy," Ron muttered.

"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing under Hermione's pillow.

She tried to say it was nothing, but Ron's hand shot forward and pulled it out. "To Miss Granger," Ron read aloud in a booming voice. "Wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."

I laughed aloud. "I didn't get one of those! Did you, Harry?"

"I'm afraid not," he said mournfully. "I guess our Hermione is truly special."

"Why do you sleep with this under your pillow?" Ron asked.

Fortunately for Hermione, Madam Pomfrey came by right then with her medicine and shooed us away. We promised to come back the next day.

Ron was still disgusted as we left. "Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you've ever met, or what?"

"And yet Hermione worships the man," I said with a shake of my head. "Not that she's the only one, but you think at this point she'd know he's a fraud."

We started to head up to the common room. Ron sighed.

"Lucy, how many rat tails are you supposed to add to a Hair-Raising Potion?"

I was about to answer when we heard something above us.

"That's Filch," Harry said. We hurtled up the stairs and listened, being careful to stay out of sight. My heart was pounding.

"Please don't tell me someone else has been attacked," I whispered.

Filch exploded again. "Even more work for me! Mopping all night, like I haven't got enough to do! No, this is the final straw, I'm going to Dumbledore-"

We waited until his footsteps echoed away and we heard a distant door slam before seeing what the fuss was about. It seemed there was water leaking from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and her cries could be heard from behind the closed door.

"Now what's up with her?" Ron wondered.

Harry shrugged and lifted his robes so he didn't get them wet. "Let's go see."

The boys gestured for me to lead the way, so I headed down to her stall.

"Hi Myrtle," I said softly, so she'd have to stop crying to hear me. "What's going on?"

"Have you come to throw something else at me?" she wailed.

"No, of course not. Why would I throw something at you?"

"Don't ask me!" She shot out of the toilet, sending water all over me, but I didn't shy away. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me!"

Harry took a step closer. "But it can't hurt you if someone throws something at you. I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?"

I winced slightly as Myrtle began screaming. "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head! Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game, I don't think!"

"Who threw it at you, anyway?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head! It's over there, it got washed out."

Harry and Ron headed over to inspect the book. I looked Myrtle in the eye. "I'm sorry someone threw something at you. You deserve better."

She sniffled. "Nothing new. It's been so many years of this over and over and over and-" She disappeared back into the toilet with a mournful sob.

I turned to the boys just as Harry was about to grab the book. Ron threw out his arm to hold Harry back.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Are you crazy? It could be dangerous," Ron hissed.

Harry chuckled. "Dangerous? Come off it, how could it be dangerous?"

"You'd be surprised. Some of the books the Ministry's confiscated Dad's told me... there was one that burned your eyes out. And everyone who read Sonnets of a Sorcerer spoke in limericks for the rest of their lives. And some old witch in Bath had a book that you could never stop reading! You just had to wander around with your nose in it, trying to do everything one-handed. And-"

"Alright, I get it, I get it," Harry interrupted.

I stepped toward the book and pointed my wand at it. "Let's see if anything happens if it moves. Wingdardium leviosa!"

When it didn't explode or start emitting any strange sounds or anything out of the ordinary, Harry reached forward and snatched it out of midair.

"T.M. Riddle," Ron read aloud. "Hang on, I know that name! T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago."

"How on earth d'you know that?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Because Filch made me polish his shield about fifty times in detention. That was the one I burped slugs all over. If you'd wiped slime off a name for an hour, you'd remember it, too."

I couldn't help but snicker. "Sorry, Ron, that's just a special way to know someone's name."

He rolled his eyes, but he smiled.

Harry flipped through the pages, but there was nothing at all written down.

"He never wrote in it," he observed. I fought the urge to snicker again. I could see no one had written in it.

"I wonder why someone wanted to flush it away," Ron said.

Harry flipped to the back cover. "He must've been Muggle-born, to have bought a diary from Vauxhall Road."

"Is that in London?" I asked

Harry nodded.

"Well, it's not much use to you," Ron announced. He lowered his voice to a mutter. "Fifty points if you can get it through Myrtle's nose."

"No!" I hissed, swatting his arm. Harry smiled and pocketed the book.

None of us mentioned the book again until Hermione had returned from the Hospital Wing a couple weeks later. As I expected, she was incredibly intrigued.

"Oooh, it might have hidden powers," she said as she snatched it from Harry's hands.

Ron frowned doubtfully. "If it has, it's hiding them very well. Maybe it's shy. I don't know why you don't chuck it, Harry."

"I wish I knew why someone did try to chuck it," he replied. "I wouldn't mind knowing how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts either."

Ron shrugged. "Could've been anything. Maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would've done everyone a favor-"

"Oh, shut up," I said, whacking his shoulder again.

Harry and Hermione were staring at each other intently.

"What?" Ron asked.

Harry bit his lip. "Well, the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, wasn't it? That's what Malfoy said."

"Yeah...?"

"And this diary is fifty years old."

"So?"

Hermione slammed the book down. "Oh, Ron, wake up! We know the person who opened the Chamber last time was expelled fifty years ago. We know T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago. Well, what if Riddle got his special award for catching the Heir of Slytherin? His diary would probably tell us everything, where the Chamber is, and how to open it, and what sort of creature lives in it. The person who's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want that lying around, would they?"

Ron seemed convinced for a second, but he sighed. "That's a brilliant theory, Hermione, with just one tiny little flaw. There's nothing written in his diary."

"It might be invisible ink!" she exclaimed, fishing her wand out of her bag.

"I already tried-" I started to say, but she didn't hear me.

"Aparecium!"

Nothing appeared, but she wasn't discouraged. She pulled a bright red eraser out of her bag.

"This is a Revealer. I got it in Diagon Alley. Let's see..."

Still nothing happened.

"See, Hermione, there's nothing there. It's pointless," Ron said.

Hermione turned her head toward me. "What do you think, Lucy? You've been rather quiet." Her eyes trailed to my ring, and I glanced at hers. My half was a dark purple.

I took a deep breath and released it slowly, dragging my hand down over my face. "I just don't know. I feel like we're missing something obvious, something right in front of our noses..." Ron pointed to the book in Hermione's hands questioningly, but I shook my head. "Not that. Well, maybe that, but... no, not really that. It's been bothering me since Christmas break, and I still can't place a finger on what it is." I glanced toward Hermione, knowing she was the only one who really knew how afraid I was. "I just hope we can figure out what it is before it's too late."

I never did get to sleep that night. Normally I fell asleep around four in the morning the night before a full moon, but my mind wouldn't stop racing and I had to get up for Quidditch practice anyway. I put my Quidditch robes on and headed down to the common room to wait for Harry so we could walk down together, but when I realized I'd be waiting there for more than an hour, I decided just to head down to the Pitch in the darkness.

I didn't run into anybody the whole way down, which seemed nothing short of a miracle. I knew the way to the Pitch by heart, and I reckoned I could have gotten there even while I was blind. I grabbed my broom out of my locker and kicked off into the sky.

I was still in the sky when Oliver Wood appeared on the Pitch.

"Lucy?" he shouted, coming up from behind me. "How long have you been out here?"

"Not long," I lied.

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Same as you, I reckon," I replied with a laugh. "A little extra practice never hurt anyone. I can try taking some shots at you if you want to practice goalkeeping."

He shook his head. "I'd rather just fly for fun, if it's all the same to you."

I smiled. "Brilliant. Race you around the castle?"

"Oh, no bloody way," he chuckled. "Me against your broom?"

"Alright, alright," I relented with a giggle. "A nice, leisurely, just-for-fun loop, then?"

"Oh no, I'm still going to go as fast as I can. I may be Keeper, but I do enjoy a good lap on a broom."

"How much time do we have before everyone else shows up?"

He squinted at the horizon. "About three minutes."

"Perfect."

I shot off into the distance, Oliver right on my tail. We laughed the whole lap around the castle, and arrived just as everyone else took to the skies.

"Little joy ride, you two?" George called.

"Oliver Wood, having fun?" Fred taunted. "Lucy, you're a miracle worker!"

Oliver shook his head and smiled. "Should I make them fly extra laps for that?" he asked me softly.

"Nah, let them have this one," I said. "The Hufflepuff match is far enough away."

Twelve hours later, the girl entered the Forbidden Forest alone, staggering because she had been awake for more than a day, maybe two days. She couldn't quite remember. Her last thought was that she would be more exhausted than usual in the morning, and she was glad the next day was a Sunday. She dropped to her knees and screamed as the transformation began.

The werewolf had gotten lucky the past few months and not really injured itself, but that night, it found itself in trouble. Something was chasing it.

The wolf tried to outrun the wild Ford Anglia, but it had gotten too close to the unicorn the car was trying to protect. The car clipped the werewolf's hind legs, a loud snap resounding through the night as one broke cleanly.

A mournful howl told the car its job was done. It backed up and returned to its duty as unicorn guardian, leaving the werewolf to cry to the moon until it dipped below the horizon.

When I came to my senses, all I could feel was pain, licking up my right leg and sending distress signals throughout my body. I was deeper in the forest than I reckoned I had ever been; it was a horrible morning to be lost.

I glanced down at my leg. Surely enough, my thigh was bent in a way thighs weren't supposed to be bent.

I wondered how long it would take before someone came and tried to find me. I wondered if they would come quickly enough. All I knew was that I was hurt, and I couldn't move. So I called the only name that pierced through my brain's fog of pain.

"Cedric!" I croaked. I cleared my throat and tried again, louder. "Cedric!"

I shouted as loud as I could for about five minutes before my parched throat failed me.

"Ced," I sobbed, feeling tears rise to my eyes for the first time, "I'm here. I need you. Please."

I had nearly given up hope when I heard someone shout my name.

"I'm here!" I called back weakly.

"Lucy? Lucy!"

I craned my neck to locate the source of the sound. Cedric was rushing toward me, wand at the ready. He fell to his knees by my side and cupped my cheek in his hand.

"I'm here. You're going to be okay."

"Of course I am," I said with a smile, my head feeling light and funny. "You're here now."

He offered a halfhearted smile. "You're right. I'm here. Now, this is going to hurt a lot, but I'm going to need you to be brave for me, okay?"

I nodded, and Cedric removed his hand from my face to hold his wand with both hands. He mumbled a spell I couldn't quite understand, and the shooting pain that flooded my body made me cry out so loudly I think I saw tears in Cedric's eyed.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured, pocketing his wand and helping me to my feet. "I know that was horrible."

"It's not your fault," I said, swaying slightly. I blinked hard to try to clear my head. "You did what you had to do. We need to get out of here before that car comes back."

"Car?"

I nodded. "It chased me. I don't remember why. We need to go."

He asked no more questions, but he reached down and took my cold hand in his warm one. "We will. Together."

I nodded. "Together."

I jolted awake the morning of Valentine's Day. Oliver's practice had gone nearly to midnight, and everyone in my dormitory was already gone. I hurriedly threw my robes on and made my way down to the common room. I needed to get down there to protect Cedric from whatever the day would bring.

Harry seemed similarly flustered and tired when we saw each other in the common room. "Did we miss breakfast?"

"I hope not," I said, tightening my tie. "I'm starving."

He nodded his agreement, and we rushed down to the Great Hall.

"Oh, Merlin," I moaned.

"Are we in the right room?" Harry asked, and I knew he wasn't kidding.

"I'm afraid so," I replied, cringing at the sight.

It was as if a Valentine's Day firework had gone off. Pink lined the walls, the tables, even fell from the ceiling. Harry and I sat down across from Ron and Hermione at the table.

"What's going on?" Harry asked them. I reached over and flicked a piece of confetti off of his messy hair.

Hermione merely giggled in response. Ron pointed to the teachers' table, and Harry and I both groaned as soon as we saw that none other than Gilderoy Lockhart was responsible for this monstrosity. I would have made some snarky comment, but Lockhart began gesturing for silence.

"Happy Valentine's Day! And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all, and it doesn't end here!" Lockhart clapped his hands, and a bunch of dwarves in Cupid costumes marched through the door. Harry and I exchanged a glance and both immediately dissolved into laughter. I pressed my knuckles to my mouth in an effort to control it, but my entire body shook with how hard I was laughing. But Lockhart still wasn't done. "My friendly, card-carrying cupids! They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

I snickered. "Snape looks like he'll kill the first person to ask him to brew one." I glanced across the room toward the Hufflepuff table. "Oh, sweet Salazar, my poor brother. Look."

There was already a line of dwarves standing behind Cedric. Harry shook his head sympathetically. "I think I would die if I got one."

"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six people who sent Lockhart a Valentine," Ron said.

She refused to answer, and I stifled a laugh with a large bite of toast.

After breakfast, we were heading back up to the common room when a dwarf barreled through the hallways to catch up with us.

"Oy, you! 'Arry Potter!"

Harry immediately flushed from head to toe. He tried to duck in front of a tall Ravenclaw, but the dwarf kicked people's shins to get through the crowd and reached him before he could get anywhere. "I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person."

"No, no, not here," Harry gasped, glancing around frantically. I saw why he was so concerned. There was a massive group of first-years gathered, including Ginny. She made eye contact with me and smirked. I clapped my hand to my mouth when I realized why. The dwarf lunged for Harry's bag and sent its contents spewing all over the ground.

"Harry, if you resist, it'll only get worse," I tried to say, but he had a wild look in his eyes and tried to run for it again. The dwarf grabbed Harry around the knees and slammed him to the ground. I reached down and grabbed his torn bag, repairing it with a whispered spell and waiting for whatever was coming.

Draco Malfoy stepped up behind me, already looking smug. "What's going on here?"

Percy Weasley arrived next. "What's all this commotion?"

But the dwarf paid neither of them any mind as he sat on Harry's ankles. "Right. Here is your singing valentine: His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a blackboard, I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord!"

I smiled at Ginny, who seemed torn between amusement and mortification. She obviously was having regrets, but the laughter of everyone else in the corridor was contagious. I helped Harry to his feet, handing him his repaired bag.

"You alright?" I asked over the sound of everyone's laughter.

His face was a brilliant shade of red, and he didn't answer.

Malfoy bent down and grabbed something that had landed right next to my feet. I bit my lip when I realized it was T.M. Riddle's diary.

"Give that back," Harry said, holding out his hand.

"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" he snarled, flipping through the empty pages.

Ginny looked absolutely terrified as she looked from the diary to Harry and back again. Before I could wonder why, though, Percy ordered Malfoy to give it back.

"After I've had a look, sure," he said nonchalantly.

Percy tried again to get him to surrender it, but Harry whipped his wand out of his pocket and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

The diary flew into the air, and I handed it to Harry, laughing. "Nice one."

Percy was less than impressed. "Harry! No magic in the corridors. I'll have to report this, you know!"

"Percy, please," I said, "Draco wasn't listening to you, so Harry took matters into his own hands and nobody was hurt."

He was surely about to say something to me when Draco called after Ginny, "I don't think Potter liked your valentine much!"

"I don't see you getting any," I fired back, grabbing Harry's arm. "Let's go."

Fortunately, thay year brought no Love Potions for Cedric. He had Henry on one side and Archie on the other, and I couldn't help but smile. There was no way anybody would get anything past either of them.

That night, Harry retired early. I wanted to ask if everything was alright, but he was gone before I had the chance. I made my way over to the twins, who were lazily summoning objects with a flick of their wands from around the room as practice for their Charms test the next morning.

"Don't remember summoning you," Fred teased as I approached.

"In that case, I'll go to bed," I teased right back, turning on my heel and pretending to walk away.

"Oh, get back over here," George said, grabbing my hand and dragging me down onto the couch between them. "You still owe us a month's worth of interaction since you were missing in action for most of November and part of December. You've been busy sneaking around with Harry and Ron and Hermione and holding secret little meetings."

"They're not 'secret little meetings,'" I scoffed, feeling my face turn red nonetheless. "And we don't sneak around."

"Lucy..."

I tilted my head, trying to appear amused though I knew they, for once in their lives, were being serious. "Whoa, Georgette, breaking out the full name?"

"Okay, first off, my full name is just George," he said with a laugh, "but that's besides the point. Don't think we haven't noticed you all sneaking around every time something happens."

I jumped. "The Map!" I whispered. "Do you know who it is? Has anyone been doing anything suspicious? You two could solve it!"

"We're never looking at the right time," George muttered. "We've tried. Whoever's doing it always happens to do it when we're busy. But we do see you all, after the event, sneaking around and-"

"We're not any closer to figuring it out than you are," I replied with a sigh. "Trust me, if we were, we wouldn't be having so many 'secret little meetings.'"

"How did Harry and Ron end up in the Slytherin common room?" Fred asked. "We've been dying to ask."

I smirked. "I can't say, but you'd be proud."

Just then, the door from the boys' dormitory banged open, and Harry and Ron emerged, both looking shaken.

"Looks like we're about to have a secret little meeting," I said under my breath, making the twins chuckle. I rose to my feet and crossed the room. "What's wrong?"

"Get Hermione," Ron said. "Harry's just figured it out."

Not waiting for another word, I darted up the stairs and shook Hermione. "Mione, Ron said Harry's solved it, come on."

She was instantly wide awake, and we darted down the stairs. The twins were gone, and Harry and Ron had taken their seats on the couch. Hermione sat between them, whereas I sat cross-legged on the rug in front of the fire.

"Well?" Hermione asked impatiently, looking from Harry to Ron. "Who opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Hagrid," Harry replied. "Hagrid did."

"No, he didn't."

Everyone looked up at me.

"What?" I asked, sitting up straighter. "He didn't."

"I guess I should explain," Harry said, staring at his hands in his lap. "I was writing in the diary, which belonged to Tom Riddle. He was talking to the headmaster at the time, and he asked if he could stay at Hogwarts over the summer. But this was fifty years ago, when the first attacks happened. The headmaster said he might be able to stay if the attacks stopped, so Riddle left and went down to the dungeons, where he found Hagrid trying to hide a massive spider, the biggest spider I've ever seen. He turned Hagrid in, and the attacks stopped."

We sat in stunned silence for a moment.

"So Hagrid had a pet spider that caused all of the attacks," Ron said slowly.

Harry nodded.

"No." Everyone looked at me again. "No, it wasn't Hagrid. He would never."

Harry looked at me despairingly, silently begging me to side with him. "But Lucy, the spider theory you had would make so much sense-"

I felt my face burn. "No. It wasn't Hagrid."

"Spider theory?" Hermione asked. "What spider theory?"

"Over Christmas break, I was thinking it might have been an acromantula causing the attacks, but that would be impossible. They're not capable of petrifying people, and they weren't even seen in Europe until the late 1700s. It wasn't Hagrid!"

Hermione glanced from me to Harry uncertainly. "Riddle might have got the wrong person. Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people-"

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed. "We always knew Hagrid had been expelled. And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have gotten his award."

"Riddle does sound like Percy," Ron said slowly. "Who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?"

"But the monster had killed someone, Ron," Hermione pointed out.

"And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts. I don't blame him for wanting to stay here..." Harry's voice trailed off.

There was a moment of silence before Hermione spoke. "Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?"

"Don't bother. It wasn't him," I said bluntly.

"Lucy, all of the evidence points to him, we have a firsthand account-"

"Riddle showed Harry what he wanted Harry to see."

"Which is better than anything we've gotten so far-"

"Look, I'm as eager to solve this as all of you," I said, rising to my feet, "but I can't just sit here listening to you all blaming Hagrid for a horrible thing he would never do."

Hermione turned to Harry. "You said Hagrid was still trying to hide the spider, even when he was cornered?" When he nodded, she turned back to me. Her voice was angry now. "Lucy, be logical! Hagrid is the only person we know who would try so hard to protect a monster!"

Monster. That one word was all it took.

We simultaneously hissed in pain as both of our rings burned in a searing flash. She cradled her hand to her chest, not daring to look at me.

I drew a deep breath. "Once upon a time, Hermione, I thought you would, too."

She didn't look up. I swallowed my tears and hurried up the stairs to our dormitory without another word.