HARRY:

The nightmare I had the second night Lucy was gone wasn't nearly as catastrophic as the first... in a sense. In another sense, it was even worse.

It was the night of the Goblet of Fire ceremony, exactly as I remembered it at first. Lucy kept stealing glances at the Hufflepuff table to see how her brother was doing. I didn't want to turn around and risk making Cedric uncomfortable, so I caught Lucy's eye one time and raised my eyebrows in a Well? sort of gesture.

She bit her lip and glanced over my shoulder before meeting my gaze again. "He's nervous, but I don't think he regrets putting his name in."

"That's fair." Fred shrugged. "I reckon I'd feel the same way if I had been able to enter my name, nervous but not regretting it."

"You? Nervous?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"I don't exactly make a habit of putting myself in potential mortal peril in front of the whole school," he quipped. When Lucy bit her lip again, he grinned. "Not that I think anything will happen to anyone, but this isn't exactly your typical school event. Prefect and Quidditch Captain are very different titles compared to Triwizard Champion for Hogwarts, but I'm sure he'd handle all three very well."

Lucy nodded her agreement, looking a bit reassured.

George tugged on one of her braids. "You do the same type of thing when you're nervous, you know."

"What?" Lucy turned to me. "Do I?"

I made a show of looking down at her relatively untouched food, then looking back up at her, then down again, then up again. "Nope. Not at all. You eat everything in sight and run your mouth when you're nervous."

She immediately turned bright red, a slight embarrassed smile flickering across her face.

"Mhm, that's what I thought," George teased.

Lucy reached forward for her cup, and I grinned. She had a habit of reaching for it whenever she was embarrassed or nervous, but I wasn't sure if it was to hide her face or to give her hands something to do or to settle her nerves or some combination of the three. She usually seemed nervous about one thing or another and she was easily embarrassed, though, so she reached for her cup quite often.

Before anyone could tease her further, Professor Dumbledore spoke.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision! I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber, where they will be receiving their first instructions."

Lucy set her cup down and glanced over my shoulder for probably the twentieth time that night. She smiled and offered a thumbs up, but after a couple of seconds, her smile gave way to a nervous expression again and she locked her gaze on the Goblet of Fire. I searched for her foot under the table and pressed gently on her toes. She looked at me for half a second, a tiny bit of the tension draining from her shoulders, and managed the smallest I'm okay nod before looking back at the Goblet, which had just glowed red.

"The champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum!"

Cheers and applause filled the Hall. I began to feel a bit nervous. I knew how this memory ended. It would be Viktor, then —

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"

Cheers and applause again filled the Hall. Then it would be Cedric, then me.

The Goblet glowed red again, ejecting a third scrap of parchment into the air.

"The champion for Hogwarts is Lucy Diggory!"

I jolted awake, feeling as if I'd just been fired from a cannon. My ears were ringing, my face was burning, and my entire body trembled. I pushed myself to a sitting position and buried my head in my hands, gasping for breath.

It was just a dream.

Inhale, exhale.

It was just a dream, she didn't actually —

Inhale, exhale.

She didn't actually get chosen, it was Cedric and then it was me —

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

She didn't actually get chosen by the Goblet, but... didn't she have to bear the worst of the burden, in the end?

Still shaking, I got out of bed and changed into my uniform for the day. It was still dark outside, but the sky was beginning to lighten. I figured it gave me plenty of time to head down to Hagrid's, feed the dogs, and be back in the dormitory before anyone even knew I was gone.

I wanted to be with Lucy, but seeing as she wouldn't be back for another day and a half, I reckoned being alone with my thoughts was the next best thing.

The morning was frigid, and my breath made clouds in front of my face as I hurried through the icy grass to Hagrid's hut. I received the same enthusiastic greeting from Tuck and Fang as I had the day before, but my mind was admittedly distant as I reached for the bowls. I was thinking of the time I'd come down to Hagrid's hut to help with the blast-ended skrewts when Lucy was sick — no. I realized it must have been a full moon. A fresh wave of pain tore through my chest at the thought of how much she had suffered without me knowing about any of it. I forced the thought aside — At least I know now, at least she told me, at least I know now, I can help now — and set the food in front of the dogs.

I stayed at Hagrid's hut for a while after the dogs had eaten, playing with them a bit and trying to forget about my dream. I felt a bit better as I made my way up to the castle, though I would have felt even better if I had known Lucy would be there waiting for me. I headed up to the dormitory to get my bag for the day, and when Ron and I headed down to the common room together, a crowd had gathered around the bulletin board. There was a new sign on it, one I had missed that morning.

by order of The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts

   All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.
   An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
   Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).
   No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.
   Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, high inquisitor

Just like that, I was furious. I clenched my hands into fists. "This isn't a coincidence. She knows."

"She can't," Ron replied.

"There were people listening in that pub. And let's face it, we don't know how many of the people who turned up we can trust. Any of them could have run off and told Umbridge."

"Zacharias Smith! Or — I thought that Michael Corner had a really shifty look too," he added in a disgusted tone.

I shook my head and turned to the door to the girls' dormitories. "I wonder if Hermione's seen this yet."

"Let's go and tell her," Ron said, hurrying over to the door, wrenching it open, and hurrying up the stairs before I could warn him. On the sixth step, the steps became a slide, and my poor friend tumbled all the way down to my feet.

I tried very hard not to laugh as I helped him up. "I don't think we're allowed in the girls' dormitories, mate," I chuckled.

Two of Ginny's roommates slid down, giggling.

"Oooh, who tried to get upstairs?" one asked.

Ron reddened. "Me." They kept giggling as they left, and Ron turned to me, face burning. "I didn't realize that would happen. It's not fair! Hermione's allowed in our dormitory, how come we're not allowed in hers?"

Hermione slid down with a smile. "Well, it's an old-fashioned rule, but it says in Hogwarts, A History that the founders thought boys were less trustworthy than girls. Anyway, why were you trying to get in there?"

"To see you — look at this!" Ron said as we approached the notice again. "Someone must have blabbed to her!"

"They can't have," she replied quietly.

"You're so naïve, you think just because you're all honorable and trustworthy — "

"No, they can't have done because I put a jinx on that piece of parchment we all signed. Believe me, if anyone's run off and told Umbridge, we'll know exactly who they are and they will really regret it."

"What'll happen to them?"

"Well, put it this way, it'll make Eloise Midgen's acne look like a couple of cute freckles. Come on, let's get down to breakfast and see what the others think. I wonder whether this has been put up in all the Houses?"

The Great Hall was buzzing, so it appeared that the whole school knew about the new rule. As soon as we reached the Gryffindor table, everyone who had been there on Saturday rushed over to us. "Did you see it?" "D'you reckon she knows?" "What are we going to do?"

Everyone's eyes were on me. I wondered for a second if I should wait until Lucy was back to make a decision. We were leading together, after all.

But then I realized I knew exactly what Lucy would want me to say.

"We're going to do it anyway, of course," I said

George grinned. "Knew you'd say that."

"The prefects as well?" Fred asked, glancing between Ron and Hermione.

"Of course," Hermione replied.

Ron sighed. "Here comes Ernie and Hannah, and those Ravenclaw blokes and Smith. No one looks very spotty."

"Never mind spots, the idiots can't come over here now, it'll look really suspicious!" Hermione hissed. She gestured for them to go to the Hufflepuff table, mouthing, "Sit down! Later! We'll talk to you later!"

Ginny huffed. "I'll tell Michael. The fool, honestly."

I watched as she left. Cho was there, too, with the friend she had brought to the Hog's Head. I hoped the sign wouldn't deter Cho from still coming.

"Reckon Lucy will be rather put-out by this," George commented as the table began to settle down a bit. "She'll still want to do it, of course, don't you think?"

"Definitely," I agreed with a firm nod. "You heard her on Saturday. She wants to fight."

"We will," Hermione said. "We absolutely will."

Before anyone could say anything else, Angelina rushed over and planted herself between the twins, looking incredibly distressed.

I nodded. "It's okay! We're still going to — "

"You realize she's including Quidditch in this? We have to go and ask permission to re-form the Gryffindor team!"

The four of us present who were on the Quidditch team looked at her with the same horrified expression.

"No way," George said numbly.

"You read the sign, it mentions teams too! So listen, Harry, I am saying this for the last time. Please, please don't lose your temper with Umbridge again or she might not let us play anymore!"

"Okay, okay, don't worry, I'll behave myself," I said quickly, panicked by the tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry, darling, it'll take more than the Pink Venomous Tentacula to get between us and the Quidditch Cup," Fred assured her with a kiss on the cheek. She calmed down after a couple minutes, and the rest of breakfast passed without incident.

"How long have Fred and Angelina been together?" I whispered under my breath to Hermione on our way to History of Magic.

"Quite a while now," she replied slowly, grinning. "Are there any other couples you didn't know existed?"

I felt my face heat. "Er, I don't know. I was surprised by Michael and Ginny."

"Ah." Hermione's grin widened. "I see."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I mumbled, face growing even hotter. "You're not dating anyone, are you?"

At this, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked.

"Harry didn't realize Fred and Angelina were dating, so he asked if he had missed anyone else. No, Harry, I'm not dating anyone," she said, still laughing.

I still didn't fully understand why this was all so amusing, but I ventured another question. "Is Lucy?"

"No-o-o-ope!" she singsonged, and even Ron snickered. Before I could embarrass myself further, we entered the classroom, and the conversation was dropped.

I couldn't focus. I was too preoccupied by E.D. 24 and the threat of losing Quidditch and wondering what on earth was so funny about me not knowing Fred and Angelina were dating when Hermione kicked me, pointing at the window. Hedwig was perched on the windowsill, letter tied to her leg.

My heart pounded. What if it's news about Lucy?

I glanced at the front of the room to see if Professor Binns was looking. When I realized he wasn't, I stole quietly to the window and let Hedwig in. She perched herself on my shoulder rather than flying off to the Owlery, so I headed back to my desk and set her in my lap before going to untie the letter from her leg.

It was then that I realized her wing was injured.

"She's hurt! Look, there's something wrong with her wing! Bloody hell, if Lucy were here, she could fix it in a second," I moaned softly.

I gently hid Hedwig behind my back and rose to my feet.

"Professor Binns, I'm not feeling well."

The ghost glanced up. "Not feeling well?"

"Not at all well. So I think I'll need to go to the Hospital Wing."

He nodded uncertainly, as if this had never happened in one of his classes before. "Yes... yes, Hospital Wing... well, off you go, then, Perkins."

As soon as I left, I put Hedwig up on my shoulder and considered my options. Lucy would have been the first person I'd have wanted to help Hedwig, but she wasn't there. Hagrid was next, but he wasn't there either. Hoping Professor Grubbly-Plank would help, I hurried to the window. I didn't see a Care of Magical Creatures class in session, so I made my way as quickly but carefully as I could in the direction of the staffroom.

Professor McGonagall was the one who opened the door when I knocked. Her eyes widened. "Please tell me you haven't been given another detention!"

I shook my head. "No, Professor!"

"Well then, why are you out of class?"

"I'm looking for Professor Grubbly-Plank. It's my owl, she's injured."

"Injured owl, did you say?" Professor Grubbly-Plank echoed, appearing in the doorway.

I nodded. "Yes, she turned up after the other post owls and her wing's all funny, look — "

She carefully removed Hedwig from my shoulder and studied her wing. "Hmm. Looks like something's attacked her. Can't think what would have done it, though. Thestrals will sometimes go for birds, of course, but Hagrid's got the Hogwarts thestrals well trained not to touch owls."

"Do you know how far this owl's traveled, Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Er, from London, I think."

I knew from the slight change in her face that Professor McGonagall understood that London meant 12 Grimmauld Place.

"I should be able to sort this out if you leave her with me, Potter," Professor Grubbly-Plank said, studying Hedwig with a monocle now in her eye. "She shouldn't be flying long distances for a few days, in any case."

"Er, right, thanks," I said as the bell rang signaling the end of class.

"No problem," she replied, turning back into the staffroom.

"Just a moment, Wilhelmina! Potter's letter!" Professor McGonagall called.

I felt my face heat yet again that day. "Oh, right!"

Once I had the small scroll in my hand, I turned to go, but Professor McGonagall called my name again.

"Yes, Professor?" I asked as I turned back around.

She looked around at the students pouring out of classrooms for a moment before turning back to me. "Bear in mind that channels of communication in and out of Hogwarts may be being watched, won't you?"

I managed a small nod before she disappeared back into the staffroom. I let the crowd sweep me away until Ron snagged me by the arm and pulled me over to where he and Hermione were standing.

"Is Hedwig okay? Where did you take her?" Hermione asked.

"To Grubbly-Plank," I replied, finally opening the scroll with trembling hands.

The handwriting belonged to Sirius. Today, same time, same place.

"Does he mean the fire in the common room?" Ron asked.

Hermione nodded. "Obviously. I just hope nobody else has read this."

"Professor McGonagall mentioned that communications may be being watched now," I said in a low voice.

"Well, we were just thinking... what if someone had tried to intercept Hedwig? I mean, she's never been hurt on a flight before, has she?" Hermione inquired, looking as if she thought she knew the answer.

"But it was still sealed and everything, and nobody would understand what it meant if they didn't know where we'd spoken to him before, would they?" I wasn't sure who I was really trying to convince, myself or my friends.

She sighed. "I don't know. It wouldn't be exactly difficult to reseal the scroll by magic. And if anyone's watching the Floo Network... but I don't really see how we can warn him not to come without that being intercepted too!"

"What d'you reckon he wants to talk about?" Ron asked as we started making our way to Potions.

"I don't know," I replied, shaking my head. "I just hope Lu's okay."

The other two nodded their emphatic agreement.

As we entered the dungeons, we were met by the sound of Malfoy's lovely drawl. "Yeah, Umbridge gave the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to continue playing straightaway, I went to ask her first thing this morning. Well, it was pretty much automatic, I mean, she knows my father really well, he's always popping in and out of the Ministry."

I stiffened at the mention of Lucius Malfoy. He had been in the graveyard. He had been in the caves. He had been there when Cedric was killed, when I was tortured, when Lucy was tortured, he might have even been one of the Death Eaters who cast the curse. But then Malfoy just kept talking.

"It'll be interesting to see whether Gryffindor are allowed to keep playing, won't it?"

I clenched my fists. The thought of the tears in Angelina's eyes made me even angrier. But then Malfoy just kept talking.

"I mean, if it's a question of influence with the Ministry, I don't think they've got much chance. From what my father says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years, and as for Potter, my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St. Mungo's. Apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic."

I was most furious about the St. Mungo's comment, especially while Lucy was there that very instant, but before I could fire a response back, Neville pushed past me, hurtling straight for Malfoy.

"Neville, no!"

I managed to snag his robes and quickly grab him around the neck to pull him back. Ron jumped into action to help, and the two of us combined were able to hold him back, though his face was still cherry red and he was spluttering things like "Not... funny... don't... Mungo's... show... him..."

Perfect timing as always, Snape chose that moment to open the door.

He looked rather pleased with himself as he said, "Fighting, Potter, Weasley, Longbottom? Ten points from Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter, or it will be detention. Inside, all of you."

I let go at once and was taken aback by the intensity of Neville's glare. "I had to stop you, Crabbe and Goyle would've torn you apart."

Neville didn't reply as he marched into the classroom with his jaw clenched.

"What in the name of Merlin was that about?" Ron wondered aloud.

I didn't reply, either. Lucy and I were the only people who knew the truth about Neville's parents, and not even Neville knew that I knew. The classroom was buzzing about Neville, but once Snape shut the door, it all stopped.

"You will notice that we have a guest with us today," he said, and we all turned to see none other than the Pink Venomous Tentacula, Umbridge herself, sitting in the corner.

Lucy's going to be upset she missed THIS. Though... I'm not sure who she'd want to win in this battle of wills. I don't know if I know, either.

"We are continuing with our Strengthening Solutions today," Snape continued. "You will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson, if correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend. Instructions are on the board. Carry on."

I was distracted for the second class that day. This time, I was too preoccupied by worrying about the note from Sirius and hoping it wasn't bad news about Lucy and being impressed by Neville to focus properly on my potion. Not to mention Umbridge's interactions with Snape for the second half of the lesson.

"Well, the class seems fairly advanced for their level, though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the syllabus. Now... how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?"

"Fourteen years."

I tried to work on my potion, but I was far more interested in the conversation. This is going to be good.

"You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?"

"Yes."

"But you were unsuccessful?"

Snape looked as if he couldn't believe he had been asked that question. "Obviously."

"And you have applied regularly for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?"

"I suggest you ask him."

"Oh I shall."

"I suppose this is relevant?"

"Oh yes. Yes, the Ministry wants a thorough understanding of teachers', er, backgrounds." With that, Umbridge turned to Pansy Parkinson for the student interview part of the inspection.

Unfortunately, Snape caught me staring, and I had neglected my potion to the point of ruining it.

He vanished the contents of my cauldron wordlessly. "No marks again, then, Potter. You will write me an essay on the correct composition of this potion, indicating how and why you went wrong, to be handed in next lesson, do you understand?"

"Yes," I muttered, rage surging in me again. He had already given us homework. And I had Quidditch practice.

🩵💛❤️

I was tempted to skip Divination to work on it, but Hermione — "You've already missed History of Magic, and I don't think you ought to miss anything else today!" — was unfortunately very effective in convincing me to go, so, after lunch, I found myself in the stuffy old classroom, thoroughly disgruntled.

Professor Trelawney seemed similarly disgruntled based on the way she slammed the copy of The Dream Oracle on our desks. When we were all too stunned by her angry book distribution to do anything, she grew a bit hysterical. "Well, carry on! You know what to do! Or am I such a substandard teacher that you have never learned how to open a book?"

Parvati was the first to find her voice. "Professor? Professor, is there anything — er — wrong?"

"Wrong! Certainly not! I have been insulted, certainly! Insinuations have been made against me, unfounded accusations levelled, but no, there is nothing wrong, certainly not! I say nothing of sixteen years' devoted service. It has passed, apparently, unnoticed, but I shall not be insulted, no, I shall not!"

"But Professor... who's insulting you?"

"The establishment! Yes, those with eyes too clouded by the Mundane to See as I See, to Know as I Know... of course, we Seers have always been feared, always persecuted. It is — alas — our fate."

Parvati's face remained completely sympathetic despite the theatrics, Lavender too. I understood why Lucy liked them so much, though I could also understand why Hermione wouldn't. Parvati bravely continued, "Professor, do you mean... is it something Professor Umbridge — ?"

"Do not speak to me about that woman! Kindly continue with your work!"

With that, we all started working, and the class was rather subdued. DADA was obviously completely silent as well, since we were just reading with "There will be no need to talk" hanging over our heads.

Quidditch practice was canceled, seeing as Umbridge said she "needed a bit of time to consider," so rather than heading down to the Pitch, I stayed in the common room that night, working on my Potions essay and trying to ignore the sounds of Fred and George testing their projectile-vomiting-themed Skiving Snackbox as well as Hermione's disapproving sniffs. After about the fifteenth one, I snapped a bit.

"Just go and stop them, then," I muttered.

"I can't, they're not technically doing anything wrong. They're quite within their rights to eat the foul things themselves, and I can't find a rule that says the other idiots aren't entitled to buy them, not unless they're proven to be dangerous in some way, and it doesn't look as though they are."

Ron looked up too as George vomited into a bucket, popped the other end of the candy, stopped immediately, and stood back up to the cheers of the crowd. Lee cleared the bucket with a lazy vanishing spell as the twins began collecting Galleons from the kids around them.

"You know, I don't get why Fred and George only got three O.W.L.s each. They really know their stuff," I said.

"Oh, they only know flashy stuff that's no real use to anyone," Hermione replied with a sigh.

Ron shook his head. "No real use? Hermione, they've got about twenty-six Galleons already."

"Flashy stuff is how Lucy escaped, too, in case you've forgotten," I muttered, glaring at her.

She paled a bit. "Right. I-I didn't mean to — I just — " After a moment, she fell silent. "She told you? Everything?"

"Yeah. That first night after detention. I think she just wanted to have someone here who knew the whole story, since Professor Lupin and the others aren't around."

Hermione bit her lip, deep in thought. "What about McGonagall? Wouldn't she know?"

"Not everything, I don't think," I said after a moment of consideration. Not about Lucy's family, anyway. "She... doesn't like to talk about it. It's a touchy subject in a lot of ways, I was surprised she ended up being so willing to talk to me. I just... hope she's okay, and that Snuffles wants to talk to us for another reason."

Ron nodded. "I'm sure she's alright, mate. And hey, when she wants to talk, she'll talk. She knows we'll be here whenever that is."

"She does know that, right?" Hermione pressed. "She knows she can come to any of us, not just you?"

"I'm sure she does," I said in a tone I hope signified that the conversation was over. Until then, I'll keep her safe. As safe as I can.

Merlin, I hope she's alright.

Merlin, I miss her.

I was the one Cedric asked to take care of her. I promised Cedric I would.

Clenching my jaw against the anger and the guilt and the sorrow and everything else, I returned to my Potions essay and waited for Sirius to show his head in the fire.