Chapter 16: Fetching Forgiveness 

That night at around eight o'clock, Dean Cousins trotted happily off to bed after dinner in the great hall. Lucy had given him the night off, he was reluctant at first but she said she was only going to read her book in the Transfiguration courtyard, what harm could be done there? Not much at all...if not anything. Zuc couldn't exactly capture her inside Hogwarts because it was possibly the safest place for wizards and witches right now.

Dean really enjoyed his dinner in the great hall, even though Lucy wasn't there. He spoke to Shona and some other people, he even met a boy with the same name as him. His name was Dean Thomas and apparently he was dating Ginny Weasley, she was Fred Weasley's sister. In Dean Cousins' book, Fred Weasley was the number one threat (excluding Zuc) because he cheated on poor Lucy. He wanted to make sure if he ever saw Fred and he tried to hurt Lucy he would definitely put his bodyguard skills to the test and make sure he never got near Lucy again.

Dean got into bed and pulled up his covers just like his mother used to and sometimes his father. But now that Dean was twenty years old he could do it himself...and now his parents were gone so there was no way of them doing it anyway. His father was definitely gone but it was unknown of the whereabouts of his mother...if she was still alive that is.

In the next moment Dean slipped into a deep sleep...he was pulled into a very realistic dream. It was the day him and Lucy had met. Except this time his thoughts were louder than ever here in his fantasty world:

'It's her...Lucy Snape!'

'Can this possibly be true? Is she more than just print in a newspaper?'

'How can Zuc hate her? There's nothing to hate about her.'

'I'm standing right next to her, 'the' Lucy Eileen Snape. The girl who has given those, who wish to rebel against Zuc, help.'

Next, he caught glimpses of him being taken around Hogwarts by Lucy. All of which had actually happened and weren't part of his dreams. Well, they would have been in the summer when he didn't even know the girl. But now he did, he now truly believed that dreams did come true.

Then he saw something that hadn't happened. He was sitting next to Lucy down by the black lake, it was her and Shona's favourite meeting spot. Except, today it was only Dean and Lucy. However, Lucy was twenty years old and that made Dean twenty four. It felt like nobody else existed right now, it was just them two sitting by the black lake admiring the beautiful sunset that there was to offer. It was absolutely breathtaking and Dean didn't really know what to say, so Lucy spoke for him.

'Isn't it beautiful?' She said in a relaxed voice, her voice was so real it almost scared Dean. But he didn't want to pinch himself because he knew it was a dream. He didn't know what to say...well, he did know what to say it just felt inappropriate. But this was a dream, wasn't it? And he could mess things up if he wanted to because it wasn't real.

'Like you,' he replied timidly. He waited for a shocked face to appear on Lucy but it didn't happen. This was his dream and anything it could happen because it belonged to him. She smiled at him, a true smile, the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her. It was a shame he couldn't see this really because the real Lucy was so broken because of her experiences with Zuc. He'd do anything to see her smile like this.

'Why didn't you tell me you liked me before?'

'I-I don't want to tell you! I'm scared what you'll say! I'm twenty years old back in reality and what would your father say?'

'There's only a four year age gap and you know we're perfect for each other. You can just tell that we're perfect for each other. I don't need Matt because he's an idiot, I don't even love him. Why don't you just ask me out?'

'I can ask you out here, can't I?'

'But this isn't real, Dean, is it? This is all in your head. Why don't you ask the real me? See what I say?'

'It will end badly and you know it! You're just an illusion! You're a different Lucy!'

'I'm the Lucy you'd like Lucy to be.'

'I don't want to change the real Lucy!'

'You just want to see her smile properly don't you?'

'No! I like her smile just the way it is!'

'You're right...I can tell you're not lying,' the dream Lucy admitted. Which was the truth, Dean had changed his mind now.

As this was a dream, Dean knew he could mess up. He could do absolutely anything he wanted because he owned this dream and nobody else could know about it unless he wanted them to. He stood up and Lucy stood up with him, he then got down on one knee and took out a ring from his pocket that had appeared there for him. Especially for this moment.

'Lucy Snape, will you do the honour of being my wife?' Dean heard himself say, he was a lot braver in his dreams. He'd never have the courage to do this in reality.

'Of course,' she smiled. 'I'll do anything for you, Dean.'

Dean stood up and he saw Lucy leaning in towards him. He was starting to panic, he'd never kissed a girl in his life. What were you supposed to do? Did you kiss someone back or let them do the work? He'd never know because —

"Dean...?" The voice of the real Lucy asked as she shook him awake. "Dean? Are you there?"

"I-I'm here," Dean stuttered. "I'm awake."

"Can I stay with you?"

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, remembering how he thought Lucy was broken in his dream he needed no longer to explain.

"Well, Matt asked me out on this 'date' Shona suggested and it ended terribly. He told me females are weak and I-I just lost it there! I hit him, Dean! I hit him right across the face! Does that make me a bad person?"

"Lucy," Dean said and held her hand in a friendly way. "I don't really agree — well, I don't agree with it at all — when someone punches someone else." (Lucy looked down). "But this was appropriate, one hundred percent appropriate and if I were you I would have done exactly the same thing."

"You would?" Lucy asked, perking up a bit.

"Of course," Dean nodded. "I might not be female but I think that women are as equal as men. One gender is not more superior than the other. Everyone is equal no matter who we are. No matter what colour eyes or hair we have, what colour skin we have, how old we are, what size we are or — " Dean looked directly at Lucy's eyes. "What we've been through."

Lucy looked down. "I wish you had been here tonight."

"I think now a new rule applies; no matter what you want to do I have to stay with you until you are in the safety of your father at night when I drop you off at night. There shall be no excuses."

"Agreed."

"Do you want to go back to your father now?"

"No, I want to stay here. I want to stay with you, Dean, you're my friend."

Dean gulped. "But won't your father be worried?"

"He'll cope for one night, I'm sure he's got better things to think about."

"Alright...give me one muggle moment and I'll meet you in the living room."

Lucy nodded before exiting Dean's room and sitting on one of his living room chairs. She really liked what Dean had done with his temporary home, it wasn't much but it was perfect for him. But then something caught Lucy's eyes.

Directly in front of her was a big black screen, she tilted her head to the side in curiosity. What was that? Was it a large mirror? Whatever it was Lucy had never seen it before and she wondered what on earth it did.

Lucy stood up and walked over to it. She gave it a little tap with her finger and in return it gave a dull tapping sound. She then noticed a little button on the screen and pressed it. Nothing much happened except it lit up a bit so she decided it was a light up mirror.

Dean walked out of his room, he was no longer wearing his nightwear and was now wearing his normal clothes. He walked into the living room and looked at the door, how had Lucy got into his guest room anyway?

"How did you get in here?" Dean asked.

"Pardon my rudeness but I used 'alohamora'," Lucy admitted shyly. "Unlike Shona I do not use the muggle method of paperclips and like to stick to the true wizard method."

"That's fine, I understand that you are sad and coming here was completely appropriate," Dean smiled, not taking too much notice of the fact that Lucy had broken into his guest room. He was Lucy's friend and bodyguard and would do anything for her. He tried to forget about his dream that he had had before Lucy had woken him up, why would he dream up something like that?

"Dean?"

"Yes, Lucy?"

"Why do you have a light up mirror in your living room? It's a peculiar object to keep in here, not to be rude. Plus I can't even see myself properly! What's with the tint on it? You can't see yourself properly in it!"

"It's not a light up mirror," Dean laughed. "It's a television."

"Tele-what?"

"A television! It means you can watch television shows! It's a muggle object and we didn't have them on the Medieval Islands because, well I think that's obvious, but I've always wanted one but now I can have one!"

Lucy blinked. "Tele-what?"

"Here, I'll show you — " Dean bent down and pressed a button on a box underneath the 'television'. It lit up more now and a picture flashed up on the television. It was a woman reading from a sheet of paper, Dean knew this was the news but Lucy didn't.

"Oh! Who's she?" Lucy asked. "Hello? Can you hear me? You appear to be in a box, Madam, we shall get you out of there!" Lucy pulled out her wand but Dean stopped her.

"No, it's OK! She's just a news reporter and no she can't hear you."

"What's a news reporter and why can't she hear me?"

"A news reporter is someone who reads out news and she can't hear you because she's being recorded with a camera somewhere else in England."

"What sorcery is this?" Lucy asked and poked the television again. "Besides, why do you need reporters when you have newspapers? Are people too lazy to read them now?"

"No, not really. Some people just prefer to watch the news, it's quite a handy muggle device if you don't have time to read the newspaper."

Lucy threw her hands up in realisation. "So it's a muggle device! Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I have no idea," Dean laughed then sat down. "Shall we watch it together?"

"OK, I'd like to see what muggles do in their free time," Lucy laughed and sat down next to Dean. Together they watched the news despite Dean feeling very awkward after his dream. He promised he would never say anything he had done to the real Lucy in his dream.

Lucy lent on his shoulders and he flinched. "What is it?" Lucy wondered.

"I-I shivered," Dean lied.

Lucy shrugged before resting on his shoulder again, she was very tired so Dean understood the gesture but it made him very uncomfortable after his dream. Even the next day when he walked with Lucy to Snape's quarters he felt nervous. He just couldn't get over what had happened. 

When Lucy snuck into Snape's quarters to get into fresh uniform, Dean kept a lookout for Snape. Lucy didn't want Snape to find out she was here. She didn't need to tell him all about what had happened with Matt Jarvin because it would put him in a bad mood. 

"Mr Cousins, what are you doing here?" The voice of Snape asked, making Dean jump out of his skin. "It is a little early for you to be here isn't it?" 

"I-I always like to make sure Lucy is safe, S-Sir!" Dean stuttered and saluted him. "You know keeping Lucy safe is my number one priority!" 

"Well, of course it is. I know it is, it's just that she didn't turn up last night and it worries me as to where she is." 

"I'm sure she's safe," Dean nodded, trying to make himself sound convincing. "She probably just fell asleep in the library or something — " 

Lucy looked behind Snape and saw Lucy who had hesitated. Snape began to follow Dean's gaze when Dean clamped a hand down on Snape's shoulder in panic, drawing Snape's attention to him. 

"Or maybe she just slept in the common room tonight?" 

"Mr Cousins, please get off," Snape ordered. Dean gave a silent whimper but he knew he was doing this for Lucy's safety so he didn't remove his hand from Snape's shoulder. 

"Did I tell you how great your hair looks this morning?" 

Behind Snape Lucy had managed to find her invisibility cloak and had slipped it over her head, she was now proceeding to make her way past Snape. Dean looked suddenly at Snape, knowing Lucy was trying to get out of his quarters. 

"How about we dance?" Dean grinned. 

"Mr Cousins, I think it is appropriate that you le — " 

In the next moment, Dean had hold of one of Snape's hands and was trying to waltz with him and trying to get him out of the doorway. 

"GET OFF OF ME!" Snape yelled. "Do you think this is some kind of joke, Mr Cousins? I have put my trust in you to look after my daughter and all you want to do is make a joke like McGuire!" 

"I can assure you that Lucy is safe in my hands and I've um — " Dean felt Lucy walk past him. "OH MY GOODNESS I FORGOT TO FEED THE CAT!" And with that, Dean took off running. 

Snape shook his head as Dean ran off as quick as he could. When Dean had turned a corner and was out of Snape's sight, he paused and caught his breath. 

"Lucy," he panted. "Are you there?" 

"I'm here," Lucy replied. She pulled the invisibility cloak off of her head. "You did a great job." 

"I did?" Dean asked. 

"Yes, you did. Apart from the dancing thing was a little extreme." 

"But on a scale of one to ten how much would you give me?" 

"Nine point five." 

"Woo-hoo!" Dean cheered before the two made their way around Hogwarts castle. "You don't need to worry about Matt, by the way. You can just avoid him from now on, you tried that trial date and it didn't work out." 

"I know...it just it really upsets me. He has no manners and he expects to go out with me with an attitude like that!" 

"He really just needs to leave you alone from now on," Dean admitted. "He's been told about the boy you dated before and then he decided to treat you like that; it's just not on." 

Lucy smiled sadly. "But it's OK, for a person who's not really meant to be around I guess that kind of treatment is alright." 

"N-Not meant to be around?" Dean stammered in shock. "You're definitely meant to be around! You're Merlin's descendant! The one who has the power to defeat Lord Zuc!" 

"My parents were never meant to be together, though. It's just thanks to fate that I'm here, thanks to Merlin. Merlin made sure his line of descendants never ceased so that one of them — namely me — could defeat the next descendant of Lord Vasil...and it just happens to end up being Lord Zuc and me who have to do the fighting." 

Dean stopped walking and in a moment of madness, threw his arms around Lucy and gave her the biggest hug she could manage. Lucy was taken by surprise and could of stumbled back if it wasn't for how strong Dean was. 

"You poor thing," Dean whispered into her hair. "You go through so much but remain strong no matter what." 

"Remain strong?" Lucy scoffed into his chest. "I normally end up crying in someones arms." 

"You can cry in my arms if you want to," Dean whispered. "I wouldn't mind. I'll always be here if you need a shoulder to cry on." 

Lucy didn't say anything, she had too many words to describe how grateful she was. Instead she just  hugged Dean back, it was the only way she could show her thanks. The two of them had had a great impact on each others lives and even if Dean did love Lucy, he would love her in the appropriate way. The appropriate way meaning he'd always love her as a friend. 

"HERE'S JOHNNY!" Johnny screamed as he jumped out from behind a statue of a knight. 

"I KNEW THESE DECORATIVE KNIGHTS WERE BAD!" Dean yelled and glared at Johnny. 

"Calm down there, I've only come to talk to Lucy," Johnny shrugged. 

"Talking to Lucy? The last person who talked to Lucy who wasn't me is going to get their head torn off!" 

"That's what I'm here for! To not get his head torn off!" 

"Oh he's going to get his head torn off," Lucy snarled. "And I might just get there before Dean." 

"Before you even do that, can you wait?" 

Lucy paused. "It depends." 

"Matt asked me to give you this — " Johnny reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter, he handed it to Lucy. "He wants you to read it no matter how much you hate him." 

Lucy took the letter and she opened it with reluctance as well as a strong hatred for Matt Jarvin. Despite all this she began to read the scruffy handwriting in which belonged to Matt: 

Dear Lucy 

I'm sorry for what I said yesterday and I deserved to be hit across the face like that (you can even come and hit me again if you want). I'm not asking for forgiveness in this letter, all I want to say is that I'm sorry for what I said. Women are not weaker than mean and men aren't stronger than women. I swear I will never say this to anyone again, especially not to the girl who's trying to save the Wizarding World. 

— Matt 

P.S) I would have given you this letter/said this to your face but I didn't want to upset you anymore than I have done already. 

"Huh..." Lucy said in an emotionless tone. She wasn't hiding her emotions at all, it was just she didn't know what to say or feel about this letter as it was such a confusing one to her. Of course it did make sense it was just Lucy could not get her head around it. 

"Is it alright?" Johnny asked. 

Lucy frowned, suddenly suspicious. "What are you saying? Did you write this for him or something?" 

"No!" Johnny raised his hands in defense. "It was just Matt spent all last night writing it, he just wouldn't turn his light off in the dormitories. Me, Tyler, Alex and Chris told him several times to shut it off but he wouldn't. In the end we just switched his light off altogether but being a wizard, like the rest of us, he just used his wand as a light."  

"Alright then, if this is the case," Lucy stood up a little straighter and folded her arms, the letter still in her hand. "You will inform Mr Jarvin that we are no longer on speaking terms and if he even tries to make contact with me, Dean will personally put him in a headlock and throw him in a nearby pond." 

"I like that idea!" Dean nodded. 

"Thanks, I'll let him know," Johnny gave her a thumbs up before going to leave but when he was about five strides away he turned back. "Just to let you know, Matt is really sorry." 

*      *      * 

"Here she is, Sir!" Dean said after knocking on Snape's door that night. "She has been returned safely in your company by Dean Cousins." 

"Thank you, Mr Cousins. I do appreciate it," Snape took hold of Lucy's arm and dragged her into his quarters with a lot more force than he usually would have. "I really do." 

"You two have — " Dean began and Snape slammed the door in his face. "Fun?" 

"Sit," Snape ordered and Lucy sat down in the nearby chair in his living room. 

"What is it?" Lucy asked. 

"You know what it is," Snape's eyes turned to slits. "Where on Earth were you last night?! You know very well it's completely un-safe for you to be out after hours!" 

"I was um..." Lucy thought, trying to remember some of Dean's excuses frome earlier. "In the library and I was in the middle of a book and I fell asleep, the next thing I knew it was morning." 

"Well that sounds like a convincing story!" Snape nodded with a smile and Lucy thought she was safe. "It's just a shame your father knows legilimency, isn't it?" 

"Right," Lucy laughed nervously. 

"So where were you last night? You had me worried sick." 

"Look, you know that stupid legilimency, why don't you use it?" Lucy asked, getting a little frustrated. Besides, she didn't want to tell her father about what had happened anyway. It would put him in a mood, but if he really wanted to know he could find out himself. 

"I will," Snape replied. Lucy sat still as Snape knelt down and looked straight into her eyes. She let him look through her memories until he had the right one. She let him watch it like he was watching the television in Dean's place. 

When Snape was finished, Lucy expected him to shout at her more about where she had been and then shout about what Matt had said. But he didn't. Instead he looked at her sadly.

"He really said that to you?" Snape asked.

"You saw it for yourself," Lucy replied.

"Have you said anything to him?"

"No but he gave me a letter, well, one of his friends gave me the letter written by him," Lucy reached into her bag and pulled out the letter from Matt. She handed it to Snape and he took it then read it. "I don't know if he means it, he's nothing but trouble." 

"I don't know either," Snape shook his head. "But what concerns me is McGuire said you like him." 

"You didn't see the full vision," Lucy sighed and then explained the situation where Shona had tried to set Lucy and Matt up on a date and fooled Matt into thinking Lucy liked him. "I really don't like him." 

"Good, steer clear of him. Don't even look at him. What he said was completely wrong and I disagree with it as much as you do." 

"I will steer clear of him and Dean's promised to always be by my side now, even more so than he was before." 

"At least I know you'll be safe even when I'm not with you," Snape admitted. "Now off to bed, I'm not having you falling asleep in class tomorrow." 

Lucy left to go to her room, as soon as she had got changed she got into bed and fell asleep. Just hoping with everything she had that Zuc didn't disturb her slumber, he had to leave her alone some nights anyway. 

But as soon as the clock struck midnight, someone was throwing rocks at her window. Lucy groaned and began cursing the person who had woken her up under her breath. She rolled onto her side and tried to go back to sleep but the person who was throwing rocks at her window just wouldn't stop. 

"Go away," Lucy groaned even though the person couldn't hear her. 

The rock throwing paused for maybe a minute and Lucy relaxed. But then a final rock was thrown and Lucy lost it. She got out of bed and stalked over to her window. She opened it up and looked down for any signs of life but then she saw it. There, with his hands behind his back and a smug little smile on his face. 

Matthew Jarvin. 

"Do you ever give it a rest?!" Lucy barked. "I thought I said we weren't on speaking terms anymore?" 

"You said that, I didn't," Matt smiled one of his signature smiles before clearing his throat. "RAPUNZEL, RAPUNZEL LET DOWN YOUR BRUNETTE HAIR!" 

"No, I have it plaited for bed, it gets in the way." 

"Can I at least come up?" 

"One, you wouldn't be able to get past my dad and, two, I haven't completely forgiven you." 

"But you've forgiven me a little bit! Besides, I have something for you," Matt revealed what was behind his back. A bunch of red roses. "I went all the way to Hogsmeade a minute ago and picked them myself." 

"You still can't get past my father," Lucy sighed. 

"Who said I have to get past him?" Matt asked, he but the roses in his back pocket, being careful not to crush them.

"What are you — ?" 

"Why don't you just thank your lucky stars that prince charming did a lot of sport in America." 

"You are not my prince charming, nobody is." 

"Whatever," Matt called before grabbing hold of the wall and he began climbing all the way up to the seventh floor with just his strength. 

"Matt! Stop!" Lucy hissed frantically. As much as she hated the boy she didn't want him to kill himself. "You're going to injure or kill yourself!" 

"Rubbish! I've been doing this for years!" 

"What? Climbing castle walls?" 

"No, just climbing." 

"Well you better be an expert because I don't want a dead Slytherin to look at outside my window." 

"Don't you worry, I'll make it up there." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Promise." 

Lucy waited anxiously as Matt carefully made his way up the wall, he didn't seem to have any trouble at all. When he got to the top he looked up at her and smiled an innocent smile. 

"Can I have some help up?" He asked. 

"I guess so," Lucy said and took his outstretched hand, she tried her best to haul him up but Matt used most of his own strength. "Sorry, I'm not strong. You're not right about females being weak but I definitely am." 

"No you're not," Matt said as he continued to try and get through her open window. "You're doing good." 

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked as she finally hauled Matt through the window. As she wasn't expecting it, she lost her balance. But Matt dived through the window just in time to catch her. 

"Yes," he smiled, he then reached into his back pocket and pulled out the roses. "Here we go." 

"Thank you," Lucy replied and took them. "I guess it is just lucky you did a lot of sport in America because without it you wouldn't have been able to climb that wall." 

"Sport is my speciality, school work isn't." 

"Well what is your favourite sport?" 

"I like javelin but nobody else liked it so I just stuck to all the other sports. I just used to do javelin at home." 

"At home?!" Lucy said in an outrage. 

"My parents live in a forest here, we've got enough space." 

"Literally — ?" 

"No, we've got a house," Matt laughed. 

"Shh! I don't want dad to know you're here," Lucy hissed. 

"Sorry." 

"It's al — " Lucy began but then stared at Matt. "Did you just use some manners?" 

"I've been practicing." 

"Well keep it up, you sound a lot better when you use your manners." 

"Thanks, I'm glad I do." 

"And again!" Lucy smiled. 

"I know, I'm getting better," Matt smiled in return. "Say, are we still on non-speaking terms? Because I think we've broken that rule." 

"I guess we're off non-speaking terms," Lucy admitted. "But I still don't know what to feel about you." 

"Perhaps we could give it a go as friends? I mean, you can always tell me to go away after that if I do anything wrong." 

"I could do that." 

"Maybe I could even take you on another date if things go well."

"Don't push it," Lucy frowned but then found herself laughing. "OK, we'll see. If things go well, I'll think about it. But for now we're just friends." 

"Agreed," Matt nodded. 

"How did you manage to get round the castle without being caught?" Lucy wondered all of a sudden. 

"I've been out after hours plenty of times before, practically every night. You see, me and my friends go and battle out in a secret place sometimes. It's quite cool." 

"You go out and battle?" 

"We do, maybe I could take you there sometime? You might like it." 

"Sounds good to me." 

Matt looked back towards the window. "I suppose I better head off." 

"You better just don't forget to look out for teachers." 

"Lucy, do you really think the teachers bother me?" Matt snorted. 

"I'm just saying!" 

Matt smiled then placed his hands on his hips. The two remained silent and it became rather awkward. "How about a hug before I go?" 

"We're just friends." 

"How about a — " Matt outstretched his arms. "Friendly hug?" 

"If you insist," Lucy rolled her eyes and placed the roses on her bed before allowing Matt to hug her. She still wasn't certain about being friends with him but she promised to give it a try. 

Matt smelt of something strange, it wasn't un-appealing it was just...very familiar yet it wasn't. She tried hard to remember what it was but her memory didn't seem to want to function this late at night. She dismissed this and just concentrated on what was going on. 

She had no idea why she was giving Matt all these chances when he didn't deserve them at all. Perhaps it was just her being too forgiving which was probably the case. 

Matt let go of her then walked towards the window. 

"See you later," Matt waved but then grinned. "Lucky." 

"Oh just leave, Idiot," Lucy teased and Matt climbed out the window. He went to leave but then lifted himself up a little bit again so Lucy could see him. 

"Be sure to put them roses in some water soon, you don't want them to die out do you?" 

"No but it's going to be risky getting that water by going past dad's room." 

"There's a rebel in you, Snape, go and get that Goddamn water and keep those flowers alive." 

With that final sentence, Matt left.