For the first time in a long time Lucy's sleep wasn't uneasy, she was peaceful. She dreamed of her father and herself, drinking wine and enjoying life. They spoke lazily about everything and nothing and Matt came to join them. Snape was pleased to see him and the pair shared a laugh together as Lucy watched on proudly. 

She took a sip of her wine outside, sat next to her boyfriend and her father sat opposite. She was thinking that maybe life could be okay. It could all be okay. But then she heard distant echoes of her name coming towards her. She saw it in colour, faded around the edges but materialising a little bit more as the seconds ticked on. Finally Shona was in front of her, her hair crazy and her eyes wild. Dean was almost out of breath beside her and they were calling her name.

Shona's hand was on her shoulder as Matt and Snape continued to talk the time away. "LUCY! LUCY WAKE UP!"

As if someone had snapped her fingers Lucy was back in bed, still dressed in her school uniform and feeling far from rested. Shona's hand was still on her shoulder, shaking her awake. Her actions becoming more and more violent. 

"Cut it out!" Lucy snapped and sat up, evidently annoyed. 

"Lucy," Shona looked as shaken as she had in Lucy's dream. "You have to  get up now." 

"Why?" What's happened. 

Shona and Dean exchanged a look before Dean spoke to her warily. "Lord Zuc has come to Hogwarts." 

* 

Lucy was up and out of bed, she'd grabbed Merlin's sword without a second thought and was now running down the corridors of Hogwarts tailed by her two friends. They were on a mission to find Snape as he wasn't in his quarters. They had just taken a sharp corner when they nearly ran into Professor McGonagall. 

"Students!" McGonagall cried out in surprise. "I know curfew doesn't apply to you but surely you should at least be respecting it and not running about as if you run the place!" 

"Professor," Lucy panted heavily, trying to regain the power of speech. "Have you seen my father? It's imperative we find him." 

"Well I'm afraid I haven't seen him since the Great Hall this evening, I'm sure he hasn't gone far." 

"You don't understand, we need to find him," Shona chipped in. 

"Well whatever is the matter?"

"Lord Zuc, he's here." Lucy gulped. 

"I hope that this isn't some sort of practical joke that you children enjoy playing," McGonagall's tone was low but it was clear she already believed that this was the truth and this was more than the average student joke. 

Shona led them all to a window that overlooked the grounds that led down to Hagrid's hut. There in the distance an exceptionally tall man stood there in a suit and it was clear it wasn't Hagrid. It was the unmistakable silhouette of Lord Zuc. A chill used to run through Lucy when she saw him but now she'd become immune to the sight of him, she wasn't sure what was worse. 

"We have to make sure everyone is safe, in their dormitories and away from the danger," McGonagall murmured.  

"Then I'll go and confront him," Lucy responded, thinking aloud.

"Lucy, no," Dean shook his head, fear widening his eyes.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, turning to face him. "I have to. I'm what he wants and he won't go away until he sees me and gets a battle out of it."

"Miss Snape - " McGonagall looked worried. 

"Maybe this is it," Lucy cut her off. "Maybe this is where it happens, that I get to - " 

"LUCY!" Matt's voice echoed down the corridor. Lucy spun around but there was no body attached to the voice. 

"MATT!" His voice sparked fear inside her. "MATTHEW, I'M COMING!" 

"LUCKY, NO!" Shona roared. 

"FIND DAD," Lucy called over her shoulder. "FIND HIM AND I CAN CONFRONT ZUC! THE GIFTED HAVE TO BE TOGETHER!" 

Dean peered out of the window and saw other figures materialising out there. "Zuc isn't the only one she'll be confronting tonight." 

* 

Lucy tore down the corridor, frantically searching for Matt. It took her a while to reach the source and when she did she ended up behind the doors of the Room of Requirement. 

"Matt?" Lucy shrieked, her voice sounding closer to her now and with every call of his name her voice returned to a more comfortable decibel. 

He wasn't here. 

He'd stopped calling her and now everything was silent around her. Her panic faded and the ringing in her ears started up after the constant yelling. She was now able to look around her and see millions of versions of herself staring back at her. Mirrors lined every single wall and they reflected into each other to show herself standing near and far all around her. She turned around in search of a door but there was none, it was only her in here. 

When she reached a full circle Matt stood in front of her, they were so close that she jumped back in surprise.

"Lucy Snape," he said. "What a surprise." 

*

"Ayo Snape! Where you at?" Shona hollered down the corridor, their search continued but they still had no luck. They'd decided to split up and now Shona was searching for Snape alone, she'd ended up outside of the library. She stepped inside and Jessica saw her, she got up and approached the girl

"Shona?"

"Jessica," Shona breathed. "Have you seen everyone's favourite cape man?"

Jessica gave her a look.

Shona rolled her eyes. "Snape."

"I was about to ask you the same question."

"Drat, I thought you'd know."

"Do you have any idea why he's gone missing?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I've been searching for him with Dean and Professor McGonagall because Lord Zuc's outside, Lucy was helping but she ran off to find Matt."

"Woah, hang on, say that again?"

"What? Lucy ran off to find Matt? It's hardly a surprise is it, she's always running off after him. Of course, she can't help it because Matt's so tall she has to run to keep up with his long strides."

"No, no, not that. The part about Zuc."

"Oh," Shona laughed. "Zuc's just chilling outside on the grounds, come to pay Lucy a visit I guess. Nice of him, don't you think?"

"Oh goodness, how did he get here?!" Panic invaded Jessica's features.

"The portals no doubt, he can get around in style anytime he likes and anywhere he wants to go."

"We really do need to find Severus," Jessica subconsciously touched the ring on her left hand. "What about Lucy? Maybe we should track her down too."

"Shall we split up?"

"No, I think we're better off together. Let's start looking, we can't fight Zuc without the gifted in tack."

"Shona!" 

Shona looked up and groaned.

"Oh for Merlin's sake how many more people are going to come running after me? If you want an autograph just ask!"

Matt shook his head as he slowed to a stop in front of the two girls. "Nah, if I want an autograph it'll be from Lucy."

"Good one," Shona laughed and then stopped. "Wait, wasn't Lucy supposed to be looking for you?"

"No, I've just come from the Slytherin common room. Did she want to tell me something?"

Shona and Jessica looked at each other worriedly. 

Jessica gulped. "I think we should get going."

*

"Matthew..." Lucy breathed, staring up into his eyes. "Are you alright? I was so worried."

He ran a hand through her hair gently, just as he always did. Stroking her and feeling the smoothness of her hair. "I'm okay, now that you're here I'm so much better."

"But why did you call so frantically? Surely there must be something terribly wrong." She took hold of his other hand and whispered to him. "Tell me."

He continued to smile at her until he yanked her hair and she yelped in surprise. He spun her around and forced her to look at her face in the mirror. "Look at you, you and your little facade."

Lucy was too stunned to speak and was now flailing under his grip.

"Pretending you're so ready to fight and ready to take down someone like Zuc. But really I think we both know that you're far from it. Remember all those times you went running to daddy over the most minor inconvenience? Or all those times you came limping to the hospital over the latest little scratch? You're not ready, you couldn't defeat Zuc, not even if you - " he yanked harder on her hair, she was sure he'd pull away a clump. "TRIED!" 

Lucy drew her foot forward slowly as she continued to let Matt yank at her and hold her there like she was a rag doll. She stayed calm and her breathing steady until her foot was far enough forward, she then swung it back so it collided with Matt's shin and he recoiled in surprise or pain it didn't matter.

Lucy brushed herself off and ignored the throbbing pain on her scalp. She took out her wand and placed her other hand on her sword to make him aware she wasn't to be messed with. Matt stopped in his tracks and glared at her. 

"You're not Matthew Jarvin, far from it. He wouldn't dare even consider that behaviour even before he met me," Lucy hissed and then her lip curled into a sneer. "Hello Kingston."

The image of Matt changed before her eyes and he shrunk to a shorter height until he revealed his dark hair and pearly white fangs. He winked at her. "Long live Lord Zuc the Mighty."

Lucy nodded in satisfaction. "I'll hand it to you, it was a pretty good plan. Using one of my loved ones to draw you into a trap. So what have you come to visit me at Hogwarts for? Did you want some tips on how to use that pretend magic of yours?"

"I could teach you a few things, Miss Snape. Do you want to show me how to use that sword?"

Lucy put her wand in her pocket and unsheathed the sword. "Oh, this old thing? I thought you'd never ask."