Chapter 35: Instantaneous Incidents 

Lucy was on her feet the minute Snape had finished his story. Snape mirrored her and for the first time in what felt like forever, he embraced her for a long time. 

Lucy did sometimes forget how much she really did mean to Snape because of Lily. It was as though she really was royalty to him and her name wasn't a joke. 

"I'm the Half-Blood Princess?" she whispered into his shoulder. 

Snape nodded. "Yes and I didn't even know it." 

"Amazing," Lucy laughed, feeling quite silly for dwelling on this for so long. "It really is." 

"If only I'd had known that day, I would have found Lily and taken you away. I would have stolen all of Tobias' money and would have found somewhere safer for us both to live. It would have been hard but we'd have got by," Snape glanced at Lucy's light brown hair, the only thing that she had inherited from Tobias. "I wouldn't have even joined the Death Eaters." 

"Should've, could've, would've," Lucy shrugged. "But we're okay now. We're safe here." 

Snape was about to continue when a rapid knock could be heard at the door. Snape let go of Lucy before standing a metre away from the door and getting out his wand. "Who is it?" 

"Matt...Jarvin..." Matt's voice panted from the outside. 

"What do you want?" 

"I need...help..."

"Oh, just let him in," Lucy barged passed Snape and unlocked the door with her wand and allowed Matt to stagger into the room. "What's wrong? You were fine when we left you." 

"I think...I need a....Blood-Replenishing Potion..." Matt huffed and lent against the door frame weakly. 

"Yes, I should have thought of that before we left you," Snape cleared his throat. He walked towards a cabinet in the corner of the room and opened it up. It was full of Potions that Snape had taken with him from the Potions classroom, all of which he had brewed. 

Snape looked down each of the shelves, each row had at least six labels with a couple of vials behind the label with that Potion inside. He ran his finger along the shelves until he found the label with 'Blood-Replenishing Potion' on. Unfortunately there were no vials there.  

"I have no Blood-Replenishing Potion left, Jarvin, I'll have to brew some." 

Snape walked passed Matt and downstairs to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and began setting up all the things he needed to make the Potion. Upstairs, Lucy helped Matt over to a chair and he sat down gratefully. 

"I'm fine — " Matt began to say hoarsely but Lucy cut him off sharply. 

"No you're not, shut up," Lucy snapped and held onto his freezing hand as she sat next to him. He put his other arm around her and for once it wasn't Matt who kept Lucy warm. This time Matt stole some of Lucy's warmth. "You told me you were okay." 

"I was okay until after about ten minutes in the common room," Matt murmured. "But I know you can make Potions so I came here as quick as I could." 

"Those stairs must have damn near killed you!" Lucy admitted. 

"They did..." 

"Lucy," Snape emerged by the door again, Lucy turned around to face him. "Take Jarvin to the Hospital Wing, get Madam Pomfrey to treat him before this Potion is done. It's on the fourth floor so it isn't too far." 

"Okay," Lucy nodded and got up herself before helping Matt up. "As if I don't know where the place is," she smirked.

They walked as quick as they could to the Hospital Wing (well, Lucy was walking and at the same time was trying to drag Matt along) and when they arrived Madam Pomfrey looked more flustered than ever.

"Another? Oh goodness, just put him down there," Madam Pomfrey ordered and Lucy helped Matt onto the bed opposite one a group of people were already crowded around.

"What's going on...?" Matt's speech was slurred as he tried to look what was going on at the bed opposite him.

Lucy looked over and saw Dumbledore, McGonagall and Slughorn all standing there around the bed with Ron in while Hermione sat next to him holding his hand. "I don't know, something to do with Ron."

"Oh..."

"But never mind, lie down; you're sick." 

Dumbledore looked up and saw Lucy and he summoned her over, once Matt had safely lied down on the hospital bed. "Miss Snape?"

"Yes, Professor?" Lucy asked as Dumbledore handed her a bottle with an alcoholic drink inside.

"Would you identify this substance as Poison? I know you have an aptitude for Potions and I'm sure you could confirm it for us as your father is not here."

Lucy gingerly sniffed the contents of the bottle and she knew immediately what it was. "Yes, it's definitely Poison. Where did this come from?"

"Professor Slughorn had unknowingly given Mr Weasley this," Dumbledore bowed his head. "I trust it was definitely an accident."

"Of course, I doubt Professor Slughorn would give students poison on purpose," Lucy said, trying to make a light hearted joke of the situation which only Dumbledore laughed at.

"Where is your father, Lucy?" McGonagall asked.

"Trying to brew a Potion for Matt, he's lost a lot of blood."

McGonagall gasped. "How? What has happened to him?"

"He was hit with a spell that caused him to loose a lot of blood, it almost killed him. Dad was pretty certain that he was dead after he had healed his wounds but he woke up eventually. Thank goodness."

Snape rushed into the room with Ben, Shona and Dean behind him. Lucy handed Dumbledore back the Poison.

"I've brewed it as best as I can." Snape announced. 

Matt had already pulled the covers over himself because he was shivering so much and Lucy rushed over to help him sit up. Matt looked dazed and could just about open his eyes. 

"Drink this," Snape ordered and handed Matt the Potion but he was too weak to even hold the vial. Lucy took the vial from him and poured the liquid into his mouth before helping him lie back down and leaving him to rest. Lucy sat down in the chair next to Matt's bed and took his hand. 

"Wow..." Ben was the first to speak up. "Is he alright?" 

"Does he look alright?" Lucy snapped, she was very on the edge and didn't have time for comments like that. Although when she heard her tone, she felt a bit guilty. 

"No, admittedly but I had to ask to be polite," Ben cleared his throat awkwardly. 

"Would you stop being so inconsiderate!" Shona glared at Lucy. "It's not Ben's fault he's hurt!" 

"How would you like it if your boyfriend almost died! You'd be like this too!" 

"Lucy," Snape warned. "And McGuire." 

"What?" Shona folded her arms. 

"Stop arguing like this, there's no need..." Snape retrieved the empty vial from Lucy's hand. "You've both been acting strange this year." 

"I'm sorry for what I've said, it's just...I'm a little on the edge right now considering Matt almost died earlier." Lucy admitted. 

Shona crossed her arms. 

"McGuire?" Snape asked. 

"Sorry," Shona mumbled as Dean walked passed Shona to sit in the other chair next to Matt's bed. They all remained silent for a minute before Shona looked at Lucy. "I want to talk to you in private." 

Lucy nodded. "Of course." She let go of Matt's hand and rested it safely on the bed before getting up and following Shona out of the Hospital Wing and into the corridor. "What is it?" 

"Well, first of all, have you found anything about the Half-Blood Princess?" Shona asked, for once not sneering and taunting Lucy with her theories that she'd had. 

"Yes," Lucy nodded. "I'm the Half-Blood Princess." 

"What?! No way! Tell me about it!" Shona gasped, her miserable look gone. Lucy explained what Snape had told her. When Lucy was done, Shona lent against the wall and whistled. "That's pretty cool and a little sad actually..." 

"It is, dad got that one message that I was alive but didn't understand it. I don't blame him though, do you?" 

Shona shook her head. "Now, lets move onto the more serious side of things. We need to talk about the Tale of the Knights." 

Lucy frowned. "What about it?" 

Shona gulped and looked awkwardly at Lucy. "We still haven't found the ending."

"So? We've still got our seventh year to find it and — "

"But what if we don't find it in our seventh year? We'll be looking for it our entire lives and Zuc will still be around!"

"You mean to say that...we could be battling Zuc for the rest of our lives?" Lucy's mouth went dry. The hope that Matt had given her made her think that there would be an end sometime soon to Zuc's reign but now things didn't look too hopeful.

"Well, yes," Shona admitted. "We could be fighting him when we're forty years old! Do you want that?"

"Or until he kills me first," Lucy admitted with a little laugh.

"Exactly, we need to put an end to this and seriously start looking for the Tale of the Knights."

"Where do we start? We can't just make it appear out of thin air!"

"Ah...the flaw in the plan..."

"There's always one..."

The girls looked at each other sadly, it had finally dawned on them both. This was the life they could possibly be accustomed to forever, they were children of war.

Lucy put her hands over her face. "Please say something sarcastic, you'd usually make a joke out of this and I can't take it anymore." 

"There's nothing left to say now," Shona's shoulders slumped. "This whole experience has drained the sarcasm out of me." 

"We haven't really been the gifted this year, have we?" Lucy whispered, slowly removing her hands from her face. Shona almost watched in awe, it was as though Lucy was cracking slowly to pieces. She looked as hopeless as Snape. 

"No, we've just been chasing boys," Shona hung her head in shame. "Stupid boys..." 

"Stupid..." 

"Just stupid." 

Snape walked into the hallway all of a sudden and stood before the two girls. "What's going on?" 

"We've come to the conclusion that we'll be fighting Zuc for the rest of our lives until we find the Tale of the Knight's." Shona announced like a glum news reporter. "We're in for a long ride." 

Snape eyed the girl warily, he hadn't thought of this either. "That can't be true." 

"It's true until we find the full tale," Lucy sighed and felt like bashing her head against the wall. "Not to mention Zuc's looking for the full tale at the same time." 

"It's obvious isn't it?" Snape folded his arms, Lucy and Shona looked at him. "We find the tale before Zuc." 

"Where do we start though?" Shona pointed out. 

"We see where he's going and follow. We can get around quicker than him because we can apparate — well, I can apparate — and get through the security barriers that will block his path and only his." 

"We've got to be fast, though," Lucy spoke up. "And we've got to keep up." 

"When do we start?" Shona asked. 

"As soon as we can," Snape replied boldly before they all walked into the Hospital wing as a trio once again. 

*      *      * 

The morning light streamed through the glass windows in the Hospital wing the very next morning. The birds, which had woken up, were singing their morning tune making a little doe's ears twitch as she was curled up on one of the hospital beds. 

She was sat right next to Matt Jarvin in his bed where he lay asleep, still drowsy from the Potion. Next to the bed, Snape was sat in a chair fast asleep. He had been meaning to leave last night but tiredness got the better of him and he had fallen asleep. 

The doe's head lifted up all of a sudden and it blinked in surprise. It's ears twitched and it listened to the birds song but didn't think of it as a musical tune; she understood every word. She squeaked back at their tune, asking them politely to be silent but they didn't seem to care. 

Her ears twitched in annoyance before she stood up and stretched her legs, unknowingly waking Matt. Matt yawned before opening his eyes slowly and looking around. He'd scanned every inch of the place before he saw the doe stood there on his bed. Their eyes met and there was silence. 

Matt yelled all of a sudden leaving the poor doe to jump off of his bed in surprise. Snape woke up with a start and looked around. 

"What the?!" Snape grunted and looked around desperately. 

"W-What's that doing here!" Matt was sat up and was pointing to the doe at Snape's feet. "Get rid of it!" 

"I highly doubt Lucy would like to hear you say that," Snape frowned at Matt and scratched the doe between the ears. 

"What's Lucy got to do with it?" Matt frowned. 

"Lucy is an animagus," Snape replied. "She can turn into a doe at will." 

"Oh, she told me that before," Matt scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I forgot." 

"Well, it's not every day you wake up to see a doe on your bed," Snape admitted. 

"Is she going to change back now?" Matt asked. 

"She will, when she's ready." 

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm sure it's quite pleasing to walk around as a doe sometimes as a change, she hasn't done this for a while." 

'Hey, dad,' Lucy murmured in his mind. 'Ask Matt if he's okay, please?' 

"Why don't you ask him yourself, Lucy?" Snape replied aloud. 

'Don't you hear yourself? You just said I enjoy being a doe!' 

Snape huffed and turned to Matt. "Lucy wants to know if you are okay." 

"I'm, um, fine," Matt nodded making brave eye contact with the doe. 

Lucy hopped back on Matt's bed and curled up on his middle and Matt reached out awkwardly to stroke her. "Does she act like a doe on purpose?" 

'NO! I DON'T! I CAN'T HELP IT!' Lucy yelled in Snape's mind. 

"She doesn't," Snape shook his head just as Jessica ran into the Hospital wing. 

"Severus!" Jessica gasped as she ran in holding onto the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. "You've got to see this!" 

Lucy looked up at the sight of Jessica and jumped down again from Matt's bed and scampered over to Jessica. Jessica handed Snape the newspaper before bending down to greet Lucy. 

"Good morning, Lucy," she smiled and scratched the doe under the chin. "I haven't seen you like this for a long time." 

"Last time you saw her like that, you tried to kill her," Snape pointed out. 

"Well, yes, but we're okay now." 

Snape looked at the front cover of the Daily Prophet and read the headline: 'KING ZUC THE MIGHTY BEGINS KILLING OFF THE MUGGLE POPULATION.' Snape's eyes skimmed down the article as he tried not to look at a picture of Zuc stabbing a muggle in the chest. 

Zuc was seen yesterday night killing muggles with a giant sword one can only presume was designed for him. We know now that he has access to England but it is apparent we are not prepared for something as big as this. 

'There's not much we can do,' The Minister for Magic admitted. 'All we can do is hire our greatest wizards and witches to keep him at bay. We cannot afford for him to move onto the Wizarding world, yet.' 

Reports as to whether the Gifted are aware of this are yet to come. The Minister urges that they prevent him from coming back or destroy him altogether when he returns from the Medieval Islands. 

Snape looked up from the paper. "Did you get any visions about this, Lucy?" 

'No, Zuc's been quiet for a long time. I don't understand what's going on.' Lucy replied. 'If I knew, I'd tell you. I'm sorry.' 

"No matter." Snape replied as he got up and handed the newspaper back to Jessica. I suggest we all go back to my quarters. Someone will have to go and fetch McGuire and — "

"I'm here!" Dean squeaked as he arrived. 

"Mr Cousins, we're glad you could make it," Snape nodded to him as Dean bent down and rested his hands on his knees while catching his breath. 

"Me too! I ran all the way from the guest quarters!" He stood up again just in time to see Lucy. "Oh...I didn't know there were doe's in the school." 

"It's Lucy, she's an animagus. She can turn into a doe whenever she wants," Jessica explained as Lucy scampered towards Dean and stood in front of him. 

Dean sat down on the floor and stroked the doe. "Amazing! I wish I could do something like this!" 

"We better be off," Snape announced. "Mr Jarvin, do you feel well enough to join us?"

"Yes, I feel fine," Matt replied as he got out of bed and stretched. "That Potion really worked, thank you." 

"You're welcome," Snape nodded. 

They all walked out of the Hospital Wing with Lucy scampering ahead and leading the way. Dean was right behind her, chasing her. 

Matt walked awkwardly behind Jessica and Snape. He knew Jessica wasn't really Lucy's mother but it was like facing her real parents and it was incredibly nerve wracking for him. He really wished Lucy would turn back to human form so he could have a conversation with her and not look so awkward.

"Oh, Matthew, come join us," Jessica inquired and held out an arm to him and allowed him to walk in the middle of her and Snape. She put an arm across his shoulders and flashed her pearly white fangs unintentionally. "I didn't realise you were walking on your own, you usually have Lucy." 

"It's fine," Matt admitted. 

"No, no we insist! Don't we, Severus?" 

"Well, you do," Snape rolled his eyes. 

"We were just talking about you when you first started at Hogwarts and what you were like," Jessica smiled. 

"An absolutely awful boy," Snape muttered. "You tried to stand up to me on the first day and ended up landing yourself in a whole day's detention." 

"Sorry, about that," Matt replied, trying not to cringe. "I know I was terrible." 

"Yes but you're fine now, aren't you?" Jessica pointed out as Snape opened the door to his quarters. They all walked inside and Lucy darted off to her bedroom. 

She immediately changed back to her human form before slipping on her red satin dressing gown and walking into Snape's living room. Combing her hands through her hair as she went. 

"Now none of you have the excuse to scratch me under the chin," Lucy smiled as she joined Matt's side.

"You seemed to enjoy it though," Dean replied with a grin. 

"Yes, as a doe." Lucy turned to Matt. "Is this better for you?" 

Matt nodded. "You scared me." 

"You scared me! I jumped straight off of your bed!" Lucy grinned. "Anyway, why are we here? I'm afraid that I got distracted by the birds outside when I was a doe." 

"Zuc's been killing muggles and I think it's time we made a plan of action," Snape answered. "But we need McGuire." 

The door slammed open all of a sudden. "I'M HERE!" She yelled in a sing-song voice, Ben was just behind her looking timid. "I heard Zuc was killing off some muggles and we need to give him a beating," Shona rubbed her hands together. "When do we start?" 

"We don't start until there's a plan of action, that's why we're all here, to discuss one," Snape cleared his throat. "Do we have any suggestions?" 

"Charge right at him because you only live once, right?" Shona winked and everyone stared at her. "What?" 

"Well, if he's finally decided that he can make his way over to England successfully I reccomend that the Hogwarts security is tightened even further," Lucy spoke up. "Tighter than it is now." 

"What do you mean even more?" Jessica frowned. 

"No one leaves the castle to go to Hogsmeade, all students are escorted to their next lesson by a member of staff and there's an earlier curfew," Lucy shrugged. "There are just a few things I propose." 

"I agree and all suspicious behaviour should be reported," Matt added. 

"Also, I suggest that those who want to be part of protecting the castle go back to the Room of Requirement and train again. Just like last year. Umbridge isn't back to bother you this year and no one will tell you off," Jessica smiled. "I know Lucy and Shona enjoyed it there." 

"What's the Room of Requirement?" Dean asked. 

"It's a hidden room, Dean, we'll show you when we get there," Lucy answered. "You'll love it." 

"We'll have to inform Dumbledore about this, though, won't we?" Ben inquired. 

"Yes and the Resistance," Jessica admitted. "We'll have to gather a meeting tonight. Does anyone have any objections?" 

"Wait, do you mean to say I'm invited too?" Matt pointed to himself. 

"Why not? You know what's going on. You and Mr Truman can both join us." 

Ben tilted his head slightly. "Where will the meeting be?"

"Lucy or Shona will inform you of the location when we find a suitable place," Jessica headed towards the door. "Meanwhile, I'm going to go and find the Resistance. Goodbye!" 

The group watched he go before Snape turned to Lucy. "I suggest you all head down to the Room of Requirement as it's on this floor — " 

"I can't, it's Quidditch today. We've got a match and I'm the Team Captain and the seeker," Lucy sighed. "Perhaps tomorrow?" 

"Yes, alright then, tomorrow. But you must go there, do you understand?" 

"I understand."

"Good luck," Snape told her before she wandered off to her room to get changed into her Quidditch uniform. 

*      *      * 

"OH WE LOVE YOU LUCY! LUCY WE DO! WHERE YOU GO WE WILL ALWAYS FOLLOW YOU!" Shona roared as she, Ben, Matt and Lucy made their way down to the Quidditch stadium. 

"I haven't heard that one since I fought a Welsh Scaleback!" Lucy laughed. 

"What? I'm just getting the Gryffindor pride going," Shona shrugged. "That was an epic beating by the way." 

"You fought a Welsh Scaleback?!" Matt's eyes widened. Ben and Shona then expected Matt to start hugging Lucy and telling her how brave she was but he didn't. "I've heard about those! They're one of the most dangerous type of dragon! If not the most dangerous!" 

"I know, pretty impressive, right?" Lucy smiled. "Have you been reading up on dragons?" 

"Pretty much since I was five, yes," Matt replied. 

"And then he turned into one," Ben snorted causing Shona to laugh, she too was in her Quidditch uniform ready for the game. 

"Watch your mouth, Truman," Matt pretended to growl. 

They made it to the Quidditch pitch and Ben went to hug Shona. "Good luck out there." 

"Thanks, I'll try my best," Shona replied. 

Meanwhile, Matt had decided to hug Lucy while kissing her at the same time. When he had finished he looked deeply into her eyes. "I know you'll win." 

Lucy blushed. "What if I don't?" 

"You will, now get out there and prove me right." He kissed her once more before Ben and Matt went to find seats in the stadium and Shona and Lucy went to join their team. 

"Does he ever leave you alone?" Shona raised an eyebrow. 

"He loves me, why should he leave me alone?" Lucy replied simply just as they made it to the tent with the rest of the team already inside. 

"Lucy!" Ginny smiled as Lucy walked inside and patted her on the shoulder. 

"Lucy! You're just in time!" Ron dashed up to her with a wide smile on his face. "Do you have any words of inspiration before we get out there?" 

"We're against Ravenclaw today, so..." Lucy pressed a finger to her lips, pretending to be in deep thought. "Relish your life, fight with might." 

"What?" Katie Bell frowned. 

Lucy turned around to face her just as an image of Zuc was thrust before her eyes. This phrase had been on one side of the knife that Zuc had thrown into Lucy's back on the last day of the tri-wizard tournament. She thought she'd use it as a little inside joke because nobody else would understand it. 

"Sounds cool, though," Ginny shrugged. "Besides, it's against Ravenclaw. What might will they have? They're too intellectual." 

"Intelliect is useless in a fight," Lucy smiled just as someone began to announce something outside. 

" — Let me introduce you all once again to the GRYFFINDOR TEAM!" 

"Our cue," Ron sighed and they all lined up by the entrance of the tent, they mounted their broomsticks and prepared themselves. 

Lucy turned around to face her team as she slipped on her glasses. "Lets take these mothers out." 

They all flew out of the tent on their broomsticks and then waited in the air for the Ravenclaw team. They arrived not long after on their own broomsticks, eyeing the Gryffindor team with envy. The game began and everyone was off. 

"I love a game of Quidditch but I wouldn't want to be up there myself," Ben admitted with a small laugh as he, Dean and Matt as well as Matt's friends watched the game begin. 

"I'd give it a go but I don't think I'd be good enough," Matt shrugged as he tossed the Every Flavour Beans to Alex. "I could never be as good as Lucy." 

"I don't think I've ever seen Shona play Quidditch before so I can't really comment." 

"I've seen Lucy play before, she's absolutely amazing. I know she's loved Quidditch since she joined Hogwarts and to be the team's Captain was great news for her." 

"Matt — " Ben coughed. 

"What?" Matt replied as he passed some sweets to Ben but not before taking a handful for himself and shoving some in his mouth. 

"It's amazing to see you actually care about something," Ben spoke in a quiet voice, barely audiable above the roar of the crowd as Gryffindor scored. "It really is. I never thought you'd succumb to something like that. You getting a girlfriend was one thing but actually caring about her is amazing. Despite the fact you hurt my sister, I'm proud of what you've become now." 

Matt swallowed but still failed to talk. He combed his hands through his hair and nodded. "Well...thank you. If I'm honest I didn't think so either but I think coming to Hogwarts was the best thing that's ever happened to me." 

"I agree," Ben smiled. "Not in a mean way! But you're actually approachable now and make a pretty decent bloke." 

Matt was about to reply when the commentator's voice boomed through the stadium, signalling the end of the game. 

"LUCY SNAPE HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" 

Matt cupped his hands around his mouth and gave a massive cheer. The Gryffindor's went wild while the Ravenclaws looked incredibly miserable that they'd lost. But not only had they lost the game, they'd also lost the chance for the house cup.

"GRYFFINDOR WILL NOW BE AWARDED THE QUIDDITCH CUP!" The commentator continued when the Gryffindor's cheers had died down slightly. 

All the Gryffindor team flew to the ground and towards Madam Hooch who held the Quidditch cup proudly in her hands. Lucy walked to the front of her team and handed the snitch to Shona before walking froward and taking the Quidditch cup off of Madam Hooch and raising it above her head. 

The Gryffindor's went wild once again while Ellen ran onto the pitch and began snapping pictures wildly of Lucy holding the cup. It wasn't long before the Quidditch team held Lucy up and celebrated their victory. 

"I knew she could do it!" Matt yelled over the crowd. 

"SHUT UP!" Johnny yelled back. 

"NO YOU!" Matt responded and whacked him over the head. 

When there had been enough celebrating on the Quidditch pitch, everyone slowly filed out of the stadium and back to the Hogwarts castle. Matt ran past everyone else and took the stairs down to the pitch, Ben following behind. 

"Congratulations," Ben smiled as he approached Shona. "It was a good game." 

"Sorry I beat your house," Shona returned the smile but hers was a little awkward. 

"I don't care much for sport so it doesn't matter to me," Ben shrugged but then gasped. "No! I mean I do care about sport I just don't care about my team! No! I care about my team! But I care about yours more! Oh damn..." 

"Oh, Ben..." Shona laughed and kissed him, making the tips of his ears turn pink. "You do make me laugh." 

However, when Matt approached Lucy he grabbed hold of her waist and lifted her up and spun her around, causing her to giggle. 

"Look at you with the Quidditch cup! You deserve it, too!" He laughed kissing her on the lips quickly before putting her down and wrapping her in an embrace. 

"Why thank you!" She replied and let Matt hold the cup. "Brilliant, isn't it?" 

"It is..." Matt admired the cup slowly, taking it all in. "I'm so proud of you." 

"I'm proud of you as well, you know," Lucy punched him playfully on the arm. "For everything you've done." 

"Oh, shut up, I'm just an American who's come over to England and met a beautiful girl," Matt winked, before he put an arm around her waist, handed her the Quidditch cup back and they joined the crowd back up to the castle.

"LUCY!" Dean squealed as Lucy and Matt caught up with him in the crowd. "I'm so happy for you!" 

"Thank you!" Lucy bowed slightly and then took off her glasses and put them safely in her pocket. "I mean, it's one thing winning the Quidditch cup but winning it when you're captain feels even better." 

"It really must be amazing," Dean grinned as Lucy let him hold the cup. 

"It is," Lucy nodded before looking around. "Where's dad?" 

"I never saw him come down here or in the stadium," Matt replied. "I don't know where he is." 

"You could have easily missed him," Dean suggested as he handed Lucy back the Quidditch cup. 

"You can't miss cape man!" Shona interjected as she appeared behind Lucy, Matt and Dean. "He's impossible to miss!" 

"Agreed, I mean who else looks like dad around here?" Lucy smiled just as she realised that Snape was obviously helping out Draco, fulfilling the unbreakable vow that he had carried out. 

Lucy chewed on her bottom lip anxiously just as they made it into Hogwarts castle. Matt noticed how silent she was and pulled her aside in the Entrance Hall. 

"Lucy — " Matt began to say as he took her hands in his. 

"It's nothing, don't worry," Lucy shook her head. 

"Yes it is something," Matt frowned and Lucy looked away from him, refusing to meet his eyes and desperate to get away. "Come on, tell me." 

"I — um...," Lucy snatched her hands from his and ran off. 

"LUCY!" Matt yelled after her, refusing to leave her. 

Lucy ran through the Entrance Courtyard all the way down to the Boathouse. By the time Matt had made it there, Lucy was sat by the doorway hugging her knees against her chest. The Quidditch cup was sat next to her, gleaming in the setting sun. 

"Lucy...don't run off like that," Matt sighed and bent down in front of her. She placed her head on her knees and refused to look at Matt. 

"Leave me alone," Lucy whispered. "I need some time." 

Matt didn't move for a moment but in the next got up and slowly walked around to the other side of the boathouse. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked outside and the sun that had almost set, inviting the night and encouraging the moon. 

Matt stood there for a while just admiring the setting sun, that was until he heard the sound of Lucy's sobbing which echoed through the boat house. Matt tried to restrain himself as Lucy had asked to be left alone but he couldn't. The sound of her sobbing was paining him and he couldn't take it. 

He dashed over to her and bent down in front of her again. "You're worrying me now," Matt whispered as he took Lucy's face in his hands and looked at the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I hate seeing you like this, you know I hate it when you frown." 

"Matt..." Lucy whispered shakily. "I-I don't think you understand." 

"I don't, that's why I need you to tell me what's wrong," Matt frowned, he was extremely concerned for Lucy. "Please tell me." 

Lucy took a deep breath that ended up rattling inside her and sounding terrible. "My dad...he made the unbreakable vow." 

"Oh, God..." Matt gasped. He'd heard all about unbreakable vows and he knew that breaking them meant death. 

"You can't tell anyone, though! If anyone found out..." 

"I know..." 

Lucy looked at him for the first time. "He might die!" 

Matt nodded solemnly, he was extremely concerned for her. "You've got to be strong about it. He's a smart man and I'm sure he won't die." 

Lucy looked down. "I hope you're right, Matt, I hope you're right..."