Chapter XXXV: Wow
CEDRIC:
America. For three weeks. The idea was insane. Exhilarating. I couldn't believe we were actually going, but we were.
Dad was going to research sasquatches in the Pacific Northwest. We would be staying with the Richardson family, who we apparently met in Diagon Alley when I was four and Lucy was two. Neither of us remembered the twins Brandon and Jessica, who were a year older than me, but Dad promised we'd have a good time nonetheless. He and Mr. Richardson had kept in close contact over the years due to their shared love of creatures, and when the Ministry asked Dad to lead the sasquatch expedition, he knew exactly who to enlist to help. Mum was going to be staying home to take care of Tuck, and Mrs. Richardson was going to be in Florida visiting family, so the four of us kids would spend most of the three weeks alone. Dad's only rules for us were that we never went anywhere alone and we kept Lucy's Muggle interaction to a minimum so no one asked questions about her scars, which was more than fine by her.
The Portkey was set to activate at six o'clock the morning after the full moon. Lucy wasn't the only one who didn't sleep that night --- since we would arrive in America at ten at night their time, my parents and I decided to stay up. I spent the time writing a letter to Henry explaining he wouldn't hear from me for a while; needless to say, transcontinental owl post had its complications. Once the letter was written and tied to Malachi's leg, I occupied myself with homework, because I had no intention of bringing any of it with me on my first trip to America. I hated not finishing it before I left, but I consoled myself with the reminder that I'd have more than a month to finish it once we were back.
I was incredibly excited to go, but Lucy had seemed... not hesitant, necessarily, but cautious. She smiled in all of the right places whenever we talked about it, but her shoulders had been constantly tense, as if she were bracing for impact. I tried to ask about it once, but she just smiled and said she was just nervous because she'd never been to America. I didn't believe her, but didn't push her.
A little before five in the morning, I headed out to the front yard to wait for Lucy. The morning was cool and damp, and after a long night of stuffy rooms and candlelight, the chill was welcome. I studied the forest with suddenly sharp eyes, looking for any glimpse of my sister. After about ten minutes, I spied a small figure stumbling toward the house, so I jumped over the gate and ran toward her.
The sight of tears on her face startled me. I pulled her into a gentle hug.
"What's wrong, Lu?" I asked, pulling away to study her face.
She shook her head and wiped the moisture off of her cheeks. "I'm okay."
"Not hurt?"
"Just a couple scrapes and bruises, I think." Her voice was small. "Nothing worth worrying about."
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her into the house. We exchanged a couple of quiet words with our parents before heading up the stairs, Dad promising to call us down ten minutes to six so we'd be ready.
"You all packed, Lu?" I asked.
She nodded, going to sit on the corner of her bed.
"What's wrong? And please don't deny it again, I know something's bothering you."
"It's dumb," she said with an embarrassed smile.
"It's bothering you regardless. You know you don't have to be embarrassed with me."
"I..." She laughed, the sound feeble and tired. "It really is dumb, Ced."
I raised my eyebrows at her and waited. She looked away, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Water," she said after a minute. "You weren't wrong when you told the Weasleys it's my greatest fear, aside from the obvious werewolf-related ones. Staying in a cabin for three weeks, literally on the shores of Lake Tahoe... I mean, what am I going to do?"
I leaned against her doorframe and crossed my arms over my chest. "Oh Lu," I chuckled, "there's more to do than just swim. We'll find things to do, I promise."
"I know, I just... yeah, I told you it was dumb."
"It's not dumb, I promise. I mean, I wouldn't be terribly excited about going to stay at the base of a volcano for three weeks, since I hate fire so much."
She laughed again, sounding better already. "Cedric, I don't think anybody wants to do that. Well, unless it was to study fire crabs or flame-born salamanders. Did you know that the Magical Creatures Reserve at Hogwarts actually has a habitat suitable for them? Sorry," she said with a giggle, "I'm really tired. I reckon I'm babbling now."
"Not at all," I replied. "Just hold on another hour or so, then you can sleep as long as you want."
She flopped backward onto her bed. "I still feel like I'm catching up for the past few months."
"That's why you should actually try to sleep more than a couple hours every night, you know."
Lucy groaned. "I try now. I'm still tired."
I crossed the room and offered her a hand up. "If you stay there much longer, you'll fall asleep. Want to play with Tuck one last time with me?"
At the mention of his name, the black and white fuzzball barreled into the room and leapt onto Lucy. She grunted as he began licking her face.
"Of course he jumped on one of the only bruises," she said with a humored sigh. "I still love you, Tuck, but please get off."
I sat cross-legged on the ground. "Come here, boy."
He flew off of Lucy and crashed into my stomach, making us both laugh. Lucy gingerly lowered herself to the ground and grabbed a rag for Tuck to wrestle with. We played with him until our parents called us downstairs. Lucy and I each held our suitcases tightly in one hand, grabbing the picture frame Portkey with the other.
"Any second now," Dad said in a low voice, looking at the clock on the wall.
"Have fun!" Mum said just as it activated.
I had used a couple of Portkeys in my day, but I had never quite gotten used to the sensation of being snared by my navel and yanked through the air. I gripped the frame as tightly as I could, checking to make sure Lucy was okay.
Dad and I landed on her feet, but Lucy sprawled on the ground in her exhaustion. I helped her up and looked around.
"Amos!" a deep voice boomed. A black-haired man pumped my dad's hand, smiling widely. His children, with the same black hair and bright eyes, looked Lucy and me over and sported identical smiles. "And you must be Cedric and Lucy."
Our hands were thoroughly shaken, too, and brief introductions were made.
"Anyone want anything to eat, drink? Or just a place to sleep?"
"A place to sleep sounds great," Dad said, smiling. "We can eat in the morning."
Brandon stepped toward me, smiling. "I'll take you up to my room. Your sister will sleep with mine. You both look pretty wiped."
"We stayed up all night to try to help with the time change," I explained.
"Smart," he commented. I followed him up the stairs until he pushed open a door. "Well, here we are."
There was a twin bed and a dresser against either wall, but what got my attention was the massive window in the middle of the wall between them. The moonlight filtered through the trees, giving a faint sense of the woods waiting outside.
"Yeah," he said as if reading my thoughts. "It has a great view when it's light outside. The lake is literally right there."
"Wow," I said softly.
"Yeah," he said again. He grinned. "Something tells me you'll be saying that a lot while you're here."
I managed to wake up at a decent hour the next morning. Brandon wasn't wrong; the first thing I said when I looked out the window was "Wow."
The morning sun shone on the lake where I could see it through the trees. The lake itself was a deep shade of blue, and I smiled thinking of the Black Lake at Hogwarts. It wasn't black, as the name would suggest, but it definitely wasn't this blue either.
Jessica and Brandon were already awake, playing a game at the kitchen table.
"The Brit's awake!" Brandon exclaimed. "Didn't expect you to be up for a while."
"Good morning, Cedric," Jessica said with a smile.
"Good morning," I replied, taking a seat next to Brandon and looking over his shoulder at the cards he held in his hand. "What're you two playing?"
"Cribbage. You ever played?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so."
"It's pretty simple," Brandon said, fanning out his cards so I could see better. "Right now, we both have six cards, but since it's her crib this round, I'm going to..."
The twins took turns patiently explaining the game to me. All things considered, it was fairly simple, but trying to remember all of the ways to earn points was a little difficult for my jet-lagged brain. Jessica won the game, barely.
"I'll go check on Lucy," I said. "I'll be right back."
"It's okay!" Jessica said brightly, bouncing to her feet. "I'll go check. You get something to eat for breakfast. Our dads already left for work, and Brandon and I already ate."
Before I could say anything else, she disappeared up the stairs in a flash of black hair. Brandon laughed. "I swear you'll get used to her eventually, but she's a lot first thing in the morning."
I laughed. "I don't mind. If anything, I wish I had her energy. I wouldn't be surprised if Lucy slept the day away, I thought about it."
"Jess said she fell asleep before she even took her shoes off, so I wouldn't be surprised either. You can go sleep if you want to, we wouldn't be offended."
"Are you kidding?" I asked, leaning back against the counter to look out the kitchen window. "It's beautiful here. Why would I sleep when this is all right here?"
"Thus our annual summer dilemma," he chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, Ilvermorny is beautiful. But there's something just so... right about being here. School is magical, yeah, but home is even more so."
"Do you have any other magical species my dad could come research next summer?"
"Sasquatch is about as cool as it gets," he admitted. "I've heard about a couple of clans of vampires nearby, though, if the idea of living with vampires while they hunt sounds appealing to your dad."
I shook my head. "Doubt it, but I'll ask him about it sometime."
Brandon laughed. "You hungry at all? I know Portkeys can mess with your stomach, so if you'd rather not eat, it's cool."
My stomach growled loudly, making us both laugh. I was halfway through a granola bar when Jessica reappeared.
"Still sound asleep," she reported. "She mumbled something about spiders when I walked in, and I thought for a second she saw a spider somewhere in the room, but she rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head when I asked about it, so I think maybe she was just talking in her sleep."
"It's been known to happen," I said with a nod. "The spiders thing doesn't surprise me. We..." I swallowed before continuing. "Well, she had a lot of experience with them this past year."
"Did your creature care cirriculum expand?" Brandon wondered.
I shook my head. "Just lots of spiders. Acromantulas, too. Do you have acromantulas around here? I know they like the forest."
"We certainly have a lot of that," Jessica laughed. "Thankfully, no. No acromantulas. Spiders, on the other hand..." She looked my body up and down, her eyes lingering on the exposed skin of my forearms. She met my eyes again and smiled. "Fortunately for you, I don't see any bites on you yet, but by the time you get home, it wouldn't surprise me if you were covered in them."
"Battle scars. Sweet," I joked.
"Oh, you'll be heading home with a lot of those, I bet," Brandon said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Say, Jess, how should we entertain our very pale friend today? This boy needs some sun."
"What about Lucy?" I asked.
Brandon waved his hand dismissively. "Jessica can stay here until Lucy wakes up. We'll do something tomorrow the four of us."
"Well, you know how much I hate... you know," Jessica said. "You and Cedric could have a guy's day on the lake."
Brandon turned to me with raised eyebrows. "You ever been on a Jet Ski?"
I shook my head. "To be honest, I don't know what that is."
He grinned wickedly. "Meet me outside in five minutes in swim trunks. You'll know soon enough."
Standing on the small dock, I got my first good look at the lake. It was truly the bluest body of water I had ever seen, rimmed with green trees and purple mountains. I drew a deep breath of mountain air, feeling it fill my lungs and clear my head. For a moment, the world had stopped turning just long enough for me to catch my breath.
The sudden roar of an engine snapped me from my reverie. I must have jumped, because Brandon laughed as he tossed me a life jacket. He threw a leg over the Jet Ski and settled on.
He patted the seat behind him. "Jessica insisted that I take you for a ride before having you drive one for yourself."
I climbed on and nodded, tightening the straps of the life vest until it fit snugly around my bare chest. "Seems fair. How many of these do you have?"
"Two, both two-seaters. If you enjoy your first ride, we'll head out together, both driving. Now... you might want to hold on."
I tentatively grabbed the straps on the back of his life jacket, suddenly feeling a flush of embarrassment.
He laughed. "You're sure you'll stay on?"
"What should I be grabbing?" I asked.
"What position do you play?"
"Seeker."
"Wrap your arms around me, Seeker boy. Time to show you how a Beater drives a Jet Ski."
I had barely secured my arms around his midsection before he shot out onto the lake. The wind whipped around us as we gained speed, cutting across the sapphire glass of the water.
I loosened my grip slightly, returning to my initial state and grabbing the back of his life jacket. "I'm mildly insulted," I shouted over the wind.
"Because you can hold on after all?" he yelled back.
"Yeah!"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course!"
"Positive?"
"I think so," I laughed. "Will I regret my confidence?"
He gave no verbal answer, but the Jet Ski put on another burst of speed and tilted to the left. My fingers were white, trying to cling to his straps, but I managed to hold on. He grinned with satisfaction. I had passed his first test.
He leveled back out, and we hit a couple of waves. Gaining air was fun, but jolting back down sent shock waves through my entire body.
"Little hard there, huh?" he called back to me.
"Little."
"Hope you weren't planning on having kids," he commented as we hit another massive wave and crashed back down.
"Not anymore," I groaned.
He hit a sharp right, another attempt to throw me off, but I managed to hold on again. I laughed. This was the most fun I had experienced in... I couldn't even remember.
"Let me show you how fast this thing can go," he said, leaning low and leaning forward. I followed suit, my eyes glued to a small electronic number showing how fast we were going.
40 miles per hour. 45. 50. 55.
I loosened my vice grip on the life jacket in front of me and stretched my fingers. The frigid wind in my face seemed to blow away every worry I had ever experienced in my entire life. The water below us was pristine and blue and beautiful. The sky seemed endless from our viewpoint in the middle of the lake. I couldn't keep the smile off my face.
Brandon hit another sharp right, but this time, I couldn't grab anything fast enough. I was launched into the air for several seconds before splashing down into the water.
I bobbed to the surface, soaked and spluttering but laughing. Brandon laughed, too.
"How's the water?" he called mockingly.
"Cold," I answered. "It feels amazing."
He turned a wide circle and offered me a hand back onto the Jet Ski as he idled the engine. I considered accepting it and hauling myself back on, but instead, I yanked him off balance and sent him into the water too.
I scrambled quickly into the driver's seat. "My turn to drive?"
He wiped the water from his face with his forearm, laughing hard. "Sure. You know, my dad said your dad wouldn't shut up about what a well-behaved star student athlete you were. He didn't warn us about, well..."
"This?" I finished for him, smiling in spite of my embarrassment. I offered a hand. "I'd like to say my true self lies somewhere between this and what my dad thinks of me. I'll admit I haven't had this much fun in years."
He tried to pull me into the water with him when he took my hand, but I gamely held onto the Jet Ski.
"Nice try, Beater boy, but this Seeker's got a fair amount of muscle too."
He growled and hopped onto the seat behind me. "Gas on the right, brake on the left. But don't actually use the brake. It stops so fast it'll send us both off the back in half a second."
"Speaking from experience, Richardson?"
"Shut up and drive, Diggory."
I tapped the gas, and the Jet Ski responded immediately, sending us three meters forward. I released it in a hurry.
"Whoa," I breathed.
"It's no broom," he said, as if reading my thoughts, "but it sure is fun. I think it's as close as No-Majs can get. Or Muggles, as I suppose you'd say."
I smiled. "Let's show them how we wizards Jet Ski."
For all of my enthusiasm, Brandon made it look far easier than it actually was. Every slight tilt threatened to send us spilling over the side, and the waves looked a lot bigger from the perspective of the driver than the perspective of the passenger. But as the sun climbed higher in the sky, Brandon's advice became less and less frequent, and the electronic number rose from 20 to 25 to 30 to 35 to 40.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" he crowed as we shot out across the lake. "Woo hoo!"
Encouraged, I pushed the Jet Ski faster and faster. I considered trying to buck him off the back, the way he did me, but something told me it was a bad idea. Brandon was way more experienced than me, for one, but he was also way bigger. We were close to the same height, but he was definitely built like a Beater and I a Seeker. The shenanigans would have to wait --- I had three weeks to try, after all.
We made our way back to the dock a few hours later, breathless and smiling. And, apparently, sunburnt.
"Good Godric, Ced, you're a tomato!" Lucy exclaimed the second I walked in the door. She and Jessica were sitting at the table, cribbage board between them, and it looked like she was still in her pajamas.
I reached up to touch my nose. It was (unsurprisingly) tender. But I wasn't the slightest bit upset; I laughed. "Good morning to you too, Lu."
She blushed the same color as my sunburn. "Sorry. Good morning. Or afternoon, really."
"Aw, did we miss lunch?" Brandon asked, sounding genuinely concerned and disappointed.
"She wasn't hungry, so I just made lunch for myself," Jessica explained. "There's half a pot of mac and cheese on the stove, and lots of stuff for sandwiches."
"Sounds great," Brandon said, heading off to the kitchen still shirtless and in his swim trunks.
"I think I'll go get a shirt on first," I chuckled.
Lucy smiled. She looked exhausted, and I was worried about her not being hungry, but the smile was good to see nonetheless. "Sounds like a good idea. Hey, I heard you learned how to play cribbage this morning. Challenge you to a game after you eat?"
I nodded. "Sure thing."
She smiled again, and I bounded up the stairs to change into dry clothes and run a comb through my wind-whipped hair before heading down to the kitchen.
I was greeted by a hurricane of lunch meat and condiments as Brandon built himself a massive sandwich.
"That's a sandwich fit for a grizzly bear," I commented.
"As if you've seen one," he snorted. "This is just a sandwich for a Beater, Seeker boy."
I laughed and reached for two slices of bread. "Alright, Beater boy, tell me how to make the best sandwich."
He tossed me each ingredient as he finished with it. I stepped back to admire my handiwork as I placed the second slice of bread on top. "Seeker sandwiches are bigger. You need a lot of power to be able to win the game singlehandedly, you know."
He swatted my shoulder and laughed. "Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that."
I laughed, too. I didn't know where all of this sudden, well, competitiveness was coming from, but it was fun getting to banter so freely. We brought our loaded plates into the dining room, me sitting next to Lucy and him next to Jessica.
"Are you sure you're not hungry, Lu?" I asked.
She looked at my sandwich and wrinkled her nose. "How are you even going to fit your mouth around that monstrosity? You'll have to unhinge your jaw like a snake."
"I think that means no," Brandon laughed, lifting the sandwich to his mouth. "Don't worry, Lucy, this is how it's done."
Lucy was right. He nearly unhinged his jaw to take a bite. I laughed as he made a face.
"Bitten off more than you can chew again?" Jessica teased.
He shook his head vehemently, swallowing with some effort. "Piece of cake. I'd like to see Seeker boy Cedric try that."
"Challenge accepted." I smirked, and managed to achieve the same feat.
If Lucy wasn't hungry before, she definitely wasn't after that. She returned her attention to the cards in her hand as Brandon and I continued our sandwiches, and nearly beat Jessica.
"Your turn, Cedric," Jessica said, gesturing me to trade seats. "It can be something like boys versus girls, really, since you two are so new to the game."
Lucy and I both nodded gratefully, and the game began. Jessica and Brandon both wordlessly pointed to the cards in our hands they thought we should put down, and whispered debates ensued whenever there was a question or a doubt. But these were few and far between, because we were both glad for their help with the new game.
I wasn't surprised that Brandon demanded a rematch when the girls won.
Jessica shook her head. "We should do something outside! Like go swimming!"
I glanced quickly at Lu, gauging her facial expression. She met my eyes briefly before managing a brave smile. "I don't think I'm up for swimming today, but being outside sounds nice. I should probably change out of my pajamas anyway, comfortable as they are."
"Sounds good. See you boys on the beach!"
Lucy followed Jessica out of the room, and I didn't miss the sleepy way she stumbled as she tripped on the carpet. Even if she wasn't terrified of the water, my sister was certainly too tired to even think about swimming. Brandon and I changed back into our trunks and jumped without hesitation into the water.
Lucy and Jessica came out a couple minutes later, Jessica fully clad in a swimsuit and Lucy dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. She settled onto the sand and waved at me, and I waved back.
"Jeans don't make a great swimsuit," Brandon commented.
I laughed. "I'd have to agree with you on that one."
Jessica tossed a ball back and forth between her hands. It looked like a smaller version of a rugby ball --- Archie had told me all about the Muggle sport one night in the common room. She launched the ball at her brother, who leapt up into the air, caught it, and crashed down into the water with a huge splash that drenched his sister.
"Show-off!" she squawked.
He grinned. "You ever played football, Cedric?"
I shook my head. "Isn't that the game with goals where you kick the ball?"
For some reason, this was hilarious to him. Jessica laughed too, but was kind enough to explain that Americans called that game soccer, and that football was different for them.
"Go long," Brandon said, pulling his arm back. Jessica sloshed through the water and lifted her hands. He lobbed it toward her, and she caught it handily.
"Your turn, Cedric!" she shouted.
The ball came at me far faster and harder than I was expecting, but I managed to catch it against my chest.
Brandon laughed. "Not bad. But try catching it like this next time," he said, making a small triangle between his thumbs and index fingers. "The point of the ball should fit in the hole, then you close your hands around it. Now for throwing it..." He reached over and adjusted my hands around the ball. "Since you're right-handed, step forward with your left foot. Throw it whenever you're ready."
I tried my best, but it only covered half the distance to Jessica. I tried throwing it a couple more times, but it never spiraled as tightly or flew as far as when Jessica and Brandon threw it.
"Can I try?" came a small voice.
Lucy had rolled her jeans up around her knees and waded into the water, hair tied back in a ponytail and a look of curiosity and determination on her face.
"Heck yeah!" Brandon responded, heading over to her. He guided her hands around the ball the way he'd guided mine. He muttered something to her that I couldn't hear that made her laugh, and he pointed to Jessica. She nodded, and stepped forward with her right foot.
The ball flew two meters over Jessica's head, splashing into the water a fair distance behind her.
"Whoa," Lucy said softly, staring at her hands in disbelief. Brandon was beside himself with laughter.
"You didn't tell me your sister had a golden arm, Seeker boy!" he called.
"She's a Chaser," I called back, beaming with pride.
Jessica sent the ball back to me, and I managed to send it to Lucy. She wound up again and sent it directly to Jessica that time, the ball moving in a perfect tight spiral.
Brandon laughed again. "Are you sure you two are related?" he shouted.
Lucy and I exchanged a look and began laughing.
"Of course we are!" I shouted back. "And I'm proud of it!"
Later that night, I was losing to Brandon at cribbage when a massive boom shook the house.
Lucy sprinted into the room, her face white. "What was that?"
"I don't know," I said breathlessly, but Brandon was laughing.
"Don't worry, the fireworks are just starting early tonight. Normally people wait until after it's dark, but-"
Another massive bang echoed outside.
"Happy Fourth of July. You two came just in time for Tahoe's favorite holiday," Jessica said as she entered the room. "Once it's dark, we can take the Jet Skis out on the water and get closer, if you want."
Lucy and I exchanged a look. I knew how she felt about being on the water, and she knew how I felt about fireworks. We silently agreed that the more distance we had, the better.
Lucy smiled tentatively. "What about a picnic on the beach? For dinner? Or we could just bring snacks."
"I like the way you think!" Jessica exclaimed. "Let's go start packing it! We have a picnic basket and everything!"
I exhaled slowly through my nose in relief when they left and the fireworks stopped for the moment. Lucy was a saint.
I ended up losing, but in the next game we played, I very nearly won. I liked cribbage more and more the more I played it.
Another window-rattling boom announced that the fireworks were officially beginning. We made our way down to the beach with blankets and a basket of food.
"We'll have to have a bonfire at some point," Brandon said, "but we'll skip it tonight so we can see the fireworks better."
A massive yellow firework exploded, and Lucy laughed delightedly. "I think we'll see them just fine!"
She planted herself firmly at my side and turned to offer me an encouraging smile. "Don't worry," she whispered in a voice only I could hear. "They won't burn anything with the lake right here. It's safe."
"Thanks, Lu," I said.
She lifted her hand as if to stifle a yawn, but another firework shot into the sky, and her tiredness seemed to disappear.
"You know, a friend of mine once tried to turn someone's quill into a firework," Brandon said after a few more explosions.
Lucy giggled. "I have friends who fed a salamander a firework once."
"No way! What happened?"
"It landed in the fireplace, so I extinguished it quickly before the common room exploded."
"Who was it? Wait, never mind, I know who it was," I corrected with a laugh.
"The Weasley twins are famous," Lucy explained to the Richardson twins. "Best pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen, or at least that's their goal. I'm guessing Ilvermorny has something similar?"
Jessica and Brandon exchanged a brief look before bursting into a bout of laughter. The fireworks served as background music to the stories of pranks --- gone wrong as well as successful --- flowed easily between the four of us. It was the most relaxed I had ever been around fireworks. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that night, sunburn and all.
A few days later, Lucy and I had fully adjusted to the time change and were ready to go exploring. Brandon recommended the Glen Alpine trail, near a place called Fallen Leaf Lake, and Lucy and I agreed readily.
"It's not exactly legal for me to drive us," he said slowly, "but at least I have a license. Doesn't bother you, does it?"
Lucy snickered. "You're more qualified than... other friends of mine."
"Fred and George again?" Jessica asked, recalling the Fourth of July conversation.
Lucy started to shake her head, then stopped. "Well, yes, actually. They've driven a couple of times. But I was thinking of my friends who drove a flying car to Hogwarts."
"What?" the Richardson twins asked in astonished unison.
"Your friends?" Jessica asked. "You're, like, what... thirteen?"
"We were twelve at the time, actually," Lucy said with a nod. "They missed the Hogwarts Express, and Ron's dad had driven the flying car --- driven, not flown --- to the station, so he and Harry flew it to the school."
Brandon shook his head. "The more I hear about your friends, the more I understand you, Lucy."
I laughed. "Same here."
She smiled sheepishly and glanced at me. "Ced, you knew about that."
"Hufflepuffs always get the watered-down version of Hogwarts gossip," I chuckled. "Gryffindor starts it, Ravenclaw passes it along, Slytherin warps it to make Gryffindor look crazy, and Hufflepuff gets whatever is left of the truth after everyone else has tried to tell the story."
Jessica laughed with a glance at her own brother. "What would that be for Ilvermorny?"
"Thunderbird starts everything, of course," he said right away.
She smiled and shook her head. "He's not wrong, but he is biased. He's dating a Thunderbird."
"Peyton is something else, to say the least," he explained. "She'd get along well with Fred and George."
"Okay, so Thunderbird starts it, Horned Serpent tries to figure out why everything happened. They tell Wampus what they think is most likely to be true, then Wampus simplifies it as much as possible before passing it on to Pukwudgie."
"What houses are you?" Lucy asked. "What are the houses like?"
"I'm a Wampus," Brandon said with a slight puff of his muscled chest. "It favors warriors, and it's supposed to represent the body of a wizard-"
"Or witch," Jessica added pointedly. "I'm a Horned Serpent, which is more mind-oriented. Then Thunderbird is more of the soul of a witch or wizard, and Pukwudgie is the heart of a healer type of house."
I pursed my lips. "Sounds like I'd be a Pukwudgie."
"Definitely," Lucy agreed immediately. "I don't know what I'd be."
"As much as I'd love to claim you as a Wampus with how far you can chuck a football, I'd say you strike me as more of a Pukwudgie like your brother," Brandon said.
"Well, we'll see how adventurous she is on the hike," Jessica said with a laugh. "I wouldn't assign her quite yet."
As it turned out, Lucy was just as adventurous as we were. After about twenty minutes of hiking, we reached a small waterfall.
"Glen Alpine Falls," Brandon announced. "Beautiful, of course, but this is the best part."
He walked off the trail and tossed his backpack aside to scramble up the rocks.
"I'm staying here," Jessica said, firmly sitting on the rocks and taking out a water bottle, "but you two are free to monkey around with my brother. I promise I'm not offended, I'm just not a fan of heights."
Lucy sounded scandalized. "Not even flying?" she asked in a hushed voice.
Jessica shook her head violently. "Nope. Never in a million years. I leave that to my brother."
Lucy let out a low whistle. "Well, if you're sure you don't want the company..." She looked longingly over her shoulder.
"Honest, I don't mind. I'm just going to sit in the shade and catch my breath anyway. I enjoy the peace and quiet."
"In that case, we'll be back! Come on, Ced!"
Lucy took off running toward the rocks and began climbing after Brandon. Since I was taller than she was, I quickly passed her, but I was careful to stay close in case she needed me.
"Don't wait for me, Cedric, I'm small! I have short arms and short legs!" she called. "Go! I'll meet you at the top!"
I nodded and scrambled up until Brandon and I stood on top of the tallest rock.
"Wow," I breathed.
"The view only gets better from here," he promised. "But I love climbing the rocks."
"Me too," panted a voice behind me, "but unfortunately, I am small. Ced, do you mind?"
I laughed as I turned around and grabbed Lucy's hand. I hauled her up onto the rock next to us, and we stood silently to admire the view.
I don't know how long we stood there, but we eventually climbed back down to Jessica and continued our hike. Despite the warmth of the day, Lucy wore long sleeves and jeans. I wasn't sure why at first, but when we passed a group of hikers whose eyes immediately locked on her face, I understood. I moved casually to walk in front of her, which she accepted without protest.
It had taken me a while to get used to the scars. It wasn't that they were hard to look at because they were ugly or anything like that... they were hard to look at because I hated confronting the reality that I had been unable to protect her. At home, she came home with scrapes and bruises and occasional broken bones and bite marks, but nothing marked her quite like that first full moon at Hogwarts. In some ways, it was helpful, in that it distracted from her preexisting scars and gave her a solid alibi for the future. But to people who didn't know the story, to strangers like the Muggles we passed on the trail, she was scarred in a way they'd never understand. Nobody would ever be able to see past the scars again. Even I found it hard sometimes to remember her face before, which was part of why I liked giving her the old pictures on her birthday. In time, I feared that nobody would be able to see past the scars.
I was thankful for Brandon and Jessica, who had asked me the very first night what had happened, as soon as Lucy fell asleep on the couch. I had answered with the sleepwalking story, and their reactions were (appropriately) equal parts horror and sympathy. It had only come up the one time, for which I was glad, and Lucy seemed relieved too. She grew more and more comfortable the more time passed, and honestly, I felt more at home after a couple days than I had felt in a very long time.
As promised, the view got better and better, but nothing quite matched the way I felt standing on top of the rocks, looking out at the valley below. I would remember that view as long as I lived.
A/N: Hi everyone! Yes, I took the picture myself, and yes, that's actually taken at Glen Alpine Falls. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture from the top of the rocks because I needed both hands to keep balance and I didn't want to risk having my phone in my pocket, but I'll let you all imagine how beautiful it was.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though there's nothing from the books in it. This chapter and the next will be drawn almost entirely from my own vacations in Lake Tahoe, and I hope you all enjoy the miniature adventures the Diggorys and Richardsons share. See you all next chapter with America, part 2! Thanks for reading!
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