Chapter 17: Suppressed Sight

Lucy stared into the vase full of water that she had placed the flowers in that Matt had given her yesterday. She had to admit, the whole idea of giving her roses was a little corny but at least he understood where he went wrong. Yet, Lucy still didn't understand the chance she had given him; she was out of her mind.

"Go out and get some fresh air while the sun lasts," Snape said wisely from his chair in the living room. "You can sit indoors when it gets cold."

"I'm fine here," Lucy replied, still looking into the vase.

"Don't be a miserable child, go and enjoy the sun. I'm sure McGuire and Mr Cousins are waiting for you."

'I bet someone else is waiting for me too,' Lucy thought darkly.

"Go on, I don't want to see you here," Snape waved his hand as if shooing her out. Lucy gave in and immediately walked out of Snape's quarters. She left her bag as it was the end of the day and then crept to the clock of mechanism on the 6th floor. It wasn't a place she often went but her father had kicked her out of his quarters and it was the first place she could think to go. She didn't particularly  want to go out in the sun anyway.

By going to the sixth floor, also, Dean wouldn't find her. It wasn't that she wanted to avoid him it was just that she wanted to spend some time alone. Sometimes she desperately needed some space and today was one of those days.

She looked out at the view at all of the students enjoying the sun and talking about many different things, mainly the Quidditch match that was only an hour away. Of course, Lucy had tried to train her team as much as possible especially as their first match was against Slytherin.

"Say, why aren't you enjoying the sun?" The voice of Ben asked as he approached Lucy, Ellen wasn't insight so Lucy turned around so she was directly facing him.

"Could say the same about you," Lucy smiled as Ben stood beside her.

"I don't really want to get sun burnt, I think most of the students will be if they stay out there."

"I think so too, I'm not a big fan of the sun after cold winters."

"But you have to enjoy a little bit of it at least!"

"I have but enough is enough for me."

"I guess," Ben replied then looked at her as she stared out of the window. "But that's not what I came to you to talk about."

Lucy frowned and turned to Ben. "What is it?"

"Not to sound like someone who listens to the gossip, it's just that I heard something about you," Ben announced, he waited for some kind of reaction but Lucy stayed calm as she was used to this sort of thing. 

"Who doesn't listen to gossip about me? You can't avoid it any way because of the magazines and what not."

"Sorry about that by all means. But I really must talk to you."

"Go ahead."

"Well, I heard about what happened between you and Matthew Jarvin. About how he told you females were weak and you went on some kind of date with him," Ben explained. "I will not question who you — "

"We are definitely not going out," Lucy replied sternly. "Yesterday night, however, he climbed right up to the seventh floor with his bare hands to beg for my forgiveness after giving me flowers. We are now apparently 'friends' but I now wonder why I gave him that chance."

"By all means I respect whatever you are: acquaintances, friends or best friends but I have to warn you that...Matt can turn nasty."

Lucy remembered Matt telling her about that he was from Collins academy like Ben. "Did he have a reputation at the academy?"

Ben paused. "Just a bit."

"What did he do?"

He ignored her question. "My advice to you is just to keep away from him, he's bad news. If you want to, forget what I have said and go out with him. I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all."

"Why are you talking about me, Truman?" Matt asked. Both Lucy and Ben turned around to see Matt standing on his own.

"I wasn't," Ben muttered.

"Yes you were. What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did." Matt then turned to Lucy. "What did he say about me?"

"He didn't say anything," Lucy lied for Ben's sake. 

Matt's eyes turned to slits. "I won't let Truman go for this one."

"Maybe that makes us even?" Ben said casually. "Or maybe we'll never be even. Maybe I'll never forgive you for what you did."

"They deserved it," Matt growled as Ben rounded on him. Both boys were the same height and no dominance could be shown because of their height.

"They didn't deserve anything, you're just a nasty boy who needs to sort out your attitude."

"Maybe you just need to leave before I hurt you worse than I did her," Matt snapped. "Because you know I can and I will."

"This will be the third school you've been expelled from then, should there be anymore? Nobody will keep you in school because of what you've done."

"Maybe I don't want to be in school? Maybe I want to keep away from idiots like you."

"Maybe you should stop arguing about whatever it is you are arguing about," Lucy interrupted. "If you left each other alone this would cease, alright?"

Ben smiled. "I'll go, I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Lucy and Matt watched Ben go and when he was gone Lucy turned to Matt. "What have I said about those manners."

"Sorry, it's just me and Truman really don't like each other."

"Why don't you like each other?"

Matt fell silent and just walked over to the railing and looked at the view. He put his hands on his hips like he usually did and Lucy walked over to him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Lucy looked down.

"Oh you didn't upset me!" Matt punched her in the arm playfully. "You didn't upset me at all. Truman just angers me."

Lucy thought of possibilities as to why Matt would hate Ben but she couldn't think of any scenarios. She looked up at Matt and he looked down at her. They were still two people who knew nothing about each other yet already knew so much without words being spoken.

"I'm glad we can talk as friends," Matt admitted. "Sure, I still love you but it's nice being able to talk like this with a friend."

"What about your other friends?" Lucy wondered. "Aren't they more interesting?"

"Oh they're my friends alright, it's just I like talking to you. You're a more interesting person, you've got more stories to tell."

Lucy looked at him. "I have as many interesting stories to tell as you do."

"You've got more than me."

"Come on, you travel a lot! I've never been outside of this country," Lucy's shoulders slumped. "You've been to Los Angeles, wherever Durmstrang is located, here and goodness knows where else."

"I've been places but I've never fought those vampires, Zuc or anything else interesting."

"Perhaps we have different stories to tell and they are equally as interesting but we just don't see it. Our experiences may be nothing to us but they mean the world to someone else."

The two remained silent as they looked out at the view again. But it was true, they both had different stories to tell that would be as equally interesting as the others' stories. They had so much to say but it felt like now was not the appropriate time.

"I...I have a Quidditch match later on," Lucy muttered. "I hope we win because I've been made Quidditch captain and everyone has been counting on me."

"Slytherin is my house so I'm going to have to cheer for them I'm afraid," Matt replied. "But maybe I could cheer for both houses?"

"If you really wanted to you could, unless you wanted to be shunned by your house, of course."

"I'm already shunned; they don't like my accent."

"I do."

Matt looked at her, he was very shocked. "You do?"

Lucy looked down timidly. "Yes."

"I never thought anyone would because you lot all look like you've been plucked straight from Buckingham palace after tea with the Queen, sound like it too. You sound so posh next to the accent with the elongated vowels."

"British accents are boring, they sound so plain. Your accent sounds more...colourful."

Matt snorted. "Colourful?"

"Colourful," Lucy agreed. "It's an accent much more passionate with words than the British accents could ever manage."

"After all of the countries I have been to, I have never heard anyone describe an accent like that," Matt admitted with a small laugh. "You have a way with words."

Lucy laughed too. "I get the complicated words from my father. I think he uses them so much they've just rubbed off on me."

Matt looked quizzical for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Don't you ever become frustrated without having the love of both parents?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, not at all. I never really knew my mother so I don't know the difference between having one parent or two. If my mother was suddenly alive again I would have no idea what to do with myself. I might find having two parents be a little frustrating, like I'd be suffocated with questions all the time. So I've learnt to live a life with my father and Angus the cat."

Matt laughed before returning serious. "But is your father the only family you have?"

"Both my Mum and Dad's parents are dead. But my mum does have a sister who wouldn't talk to me even if I waved one hundred galleons in muggle money under her nose. I think that is the only other family I have, excluding Harry who's my half-brother. However, I just like to keep my friends close to make up from the vast amount of family I'm missing."

"I have a lot of family," Matt admitted. "However, I'm an only child which is kind of surprising considering my dad parents have siblings with numerous amounts of children."

"Don't you feel crowded with that much family?"

"No, I like seeing my family; there's lots of different stories to tell and hear."

"I'd feel out of place at family gatherings because I'm extremely socially awkward, not to mention shy. I'm not really into talking to strangers, you're just damn lucky that you get to speak to me. I'm quite a private person."

"I don't blame you what with all the press around."

"Even before the press came along and decided to bother me all the time I was quite a private person. I suppose being homeless for five years gives you the incentive to not talk to strangers."

"Weren't you raised by muggles for a little while?"

"That fact is true but then I left them because I was fed up with all of the abuse I got. A girl can only take so much."

"Such a daring decision for a five year old. It almost sounds impossible."

"I was young and I didn't know what I was doing. To this day I have no idea how I managed to survive properly, find a different shelter daily and find sources of food where I wouldn't get yelled at by the local baker or anyone else. It was a tough five years but I got by with the little intelligence I had. I may have come close to starving but eventually I made it. If it wasn't for dad coming to find me I'd probably still be out there, not knowing the ways of the world and still trying to find edible food here and there."

"It seems so strange to me that I've been living under a secure roof all my life with everything I needed and then there's you who never seems to be safe no matter where you are and has never really had what you need. I admire you for that. For staying strong. That you cannot deny, you survived through that without any help."

"My friend Anastasia helped me towards the end."

"Who's she?" Matt wondered.

"Dead," Lucy replied miserably. "All because of Zuc."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

"It's fine we cannot help the dead."

Matt sighed and looked awkwardly at Lucy. "Did we just have a normal conversation?"

"I believe we did, Mr Jarvin."

"Are we actually getting along?"

"What makes you so certain of that?"

"We'll we're not arguing so I suppose we're getting along."

"If you call the first normal communication we've had without ripping each other to shreds that, I guess you could call that 'getting along'."

"My parents always tell me I should listen to people more and stop arguing as well as hang out with the right people. I hope I've met their expectations by hanging out with the person they admire the most."

Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Your parents admire me?"

"They're big fans of you and have a lot of faith in you when it comes to saving the Wizarding world."

"Is that why you were chasing me around? To try and meet their expectations?" Lucy teased.

"No, that's called love."

"Why do you love a person who will most certainly be killed soon? Why would you give your heart to a person who could die right before your eyes? Why would you do that? Why don't you go out with some other girl who's got a lengthy life ahead of her? Most girls here would love the schools bad boy chasing them around, they would practically snatch your hand off," Lucy rolled her eyes but then snorted. "Hell, they'd even have one of those big white weddings."

"Those girls are boring. Like you said, they'd attack me if I asked one of them to go out with me," Matt huffed. "I like to accept more of a challenge. Matt Jarvin doesn't like to take the easy route in life, he wants to fight for something he loves."

"But why me? Excluding the challenge?" Lucy wondered.

"Why can't I love you while you're here? Besides, who said you're going to die? You've just got this idea in your head and you've said it so much that you think it's the truth. The more you say something the more you believe it."

"Look, even if I did love you it would only be a one year relationship. What's the point in that? Go find another girl to chase," Lucy folded her arms. "I'm glad Fred Weasley broke up with me, anyway, as much as I hate him I wouldn't want him to suffer with me dying."

"That Weasley boy was a jerk. He should have never of cheated on you. Why cheat on someone? It's like the failures way of letting someone know that they don't love you anymore."

"I wasn't too chuffed about it either," Lucy turned away from Matt. "But I'm not going to let that drag me down."

"Exactly, which means you can start fresh."

"Start fresh to hurt someone? I don't think so. Besides I don't like anyone else at this school."

Matt's shoulders slumped despite the fact that he already knew this. He really wished he could be in a relationship with Lucy even if it was for a day. However, Lucy still didn't know if he was desperate or very in love despite he'd told her. It was hard to tell.

"But I love you," Matt whispered sadly. "I really do."

"Me or my Merlin status?" Lucy asked with her back still to Matt. "Me or the image the press has given me? Me or the person everyone thinks I am? Do you know me well enough to love me? Or are you in love with a mixture of all the factors that others have created for you that apparently make up me?"

"I love you!" Matt explained. "I do! Can't you see it? Are you blind to love?"

"Yes most probably, maybe I'd be less cautious if I were not famous. Maybe you wouldn't even be talking to me if it wasn't for my Merlin status and the papers."

"We're going to start an argument," Matt sighed. "I don't want that to happen."

Lucy turned to face him. "I really don't know anymore, Matt."

"Don't know what?"

"What to do anymore. What decisions to make, what path to choose, who to believe, what to do. There are too many possibilities and I feel like I've already done many things wrong."

Matt fell silent; he wasn't good with this kind of advice but luckily Lucy spoke for him to keep him out of his mental debate about what to do.

"Sorry for dumping this pressure on you. That pressure does not belong to you, it belongs to me where it should be locked up and hidden safe where those who don't need to see it shouldn't."

"Why be so nasty to yourself? Why don't you get some help?"

"Because nobody can help me. I'm all on my own in this."

"I might not be good at it, but maybe I could help?'

Lucy looked wary. "How?"

"Talk to you? Take your mind off of things? I'll do my best."

"If you really think you can help me that would be wonderful. But I can assure you that you will never be able to help me properly. If someone were to help me properly they'd have to use Polyjuice potion and live my life for me. Even then, it wouldn't work because my blood is the reason I am going to be the one to defeat Lord Zuc."

"Lucy!" Shona called as she ran towards her and Matt. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"What for?"

Shona pulled a face as if to say it was obvious. "Quidditch?"

"Oh, right," Lucy said. "I guess I'll have to get my uniform and broom — " 

As if on cue, Dean ran around the corner carrying Lucy's uniform and her broomstick. He gave a wide grin that didn't die despite the fact Matt was there. 

"We've already got that covered. You can get changed down in the changing rooms at the pitch." 

"If you say so then," Lucy shrugged, not feeling too enthusiastic about today's game despite the fact that it was well anticipated by everyone else. If she failed this match she'd be hated by a lot more people. Being a Quidditch captain was harder than she thought.

"Wait," Shona paused. "What are you doing talking to him?" She nodded in Matt's direction and Matt folded his arms in return to try and look more dominant.

"He climbed through my window last night begging for forgiveness and he said he would like to give it a go as friends."

"And you're just going to give him a second chance?" 

"I said I'll see how it goes." 

Shona shook her head. "I'll never understand you and forgiving people." 

"Lets go," Lucy prompted and Dean led the way to the Quidditch pitch. 

"See you later!" Matt waved awkwardly as the three of them left, he too made his way down to the Quidditch pitch but on a different route. He didn't want to get any weird looks from Lucy's bodyguard or insults from the McGuire girl; it just wasn't worth it. 

*      *      * 

Once Lucy was down onto the Quidditch pitch, she went into the changing rooms and got into her uniform before joining her team and giving them a speech before the game began. She was pretty nervous herself about this considering this would be her first Quidditch game as Gryffindor's captain. 

"I'm not one for words of wisdom," Lucy admitted as she began her speech. "But I know for a fact that we've got enough talent in this team to beat Slytherin." 

Shona shrugged. "I can go with that." 

"Do you really think we'll beat them?" Ron asked nervously. 

"We can try," Lucy admitted. "I'm not my dad, I can't predict the future." 

"But you can change the colour of your hair," Ginny pointed out with a laugh. "But it doesn't matter if we win or lose, does it? At least we can say we tried." 

Shona lept up. "OF COURSE IT MATTERS! WE'VE GOT TO SHOW THEM SLYTHERIN'S WHAT WE'VE GOT AND WIN THIS GAME!" 

"Slow down there, pride before a fall," Lucy shook her head. "We don't want to become too big headed we've just got to do our best." 

"Exactly," Katie Bell agreed. "I think we have a good chance of winning. I've been on this team a long time and I have faith in Lucy that she'll find the snitch before Slytherin's seeker." 

"You are good at finding that snitch," Ginny agreed. "I think we've got the odds in our favour today." 

"Good, lets show the Slytherin's what we've got!" Shona fist pumped the air before they all got into a line and made their way out of the tent as they were called out. 

They were all looking forward to this Quidditch game and so was the crowd. Even when the game began to get a little dull, they still cheered on their favourites. The last two years of Quidditch had either been disrupted or ruined but now that the teams were back together it was even more nerve wracking for the players. 

An hour into the game and Gryffindor were in the lead, Slytherin were lagging behind which made the Gryffindor's very pleased. However, Lucy hadn't seen the snitch once and she was starting to get frustrated. She was terrified that Slytherin's seeker would find it before her and everyone would hate her more. 

"COME ON, LUCY!" Shona called as she threw the Quaffle at Katie Bell who caught it, flew further down the pitch and threw it to Ginny Weasley. 

"I'm trying," Lucy muttered under her breath knowing that Shona certainly wouldn't be able to hear. "I really am." 

She looked around again and desperately tried to find a glimpse of gold. But there was nothing she could see. In fact, she couldn't really see anything at all. She rubbed her eyes and tried to look for the snitch, she was probably just tired after Matt waking her up in the night. 

"HEY!" Jimmy Peakes one of the Gryffindor beaters called in desperation as a Bludger came pelting towards Lucy. She ducked just in time as it flew over her head.

What was wrong with her? Normally she would have seen that bludger and would have sped off before the beaters could warn her! What was going on? Were her Quidditch skills not up to scratch? Was she not paying attention? What was happening to her? 

Lucy shook her head at her stupidity as she began looking for the snitch again, however she was still struggling to see. She could normally see everything that was going on, even if it was behind her. Quidditch sharpened her senses like mad, but today was not that day. 

"Stop slacking, you idiot," Lucy hissed to herself and flew around the Quidditch pitch in a rage as she looked for the snitch. 

Gryffindor scored another ten points as Lucy flew low in hopes that the snitch would be near the ground, she could see the ground clearer here. She flew up into the air again just as the Slytherin seeker slammed into the side of her. 

"HEY!" Lucy snapped at him. 

"What's the matter, Snape? Can't find the snitch?" He taunted. 

"You can't either so shut your mouth." 

"At least I don't have any reputation to kill; you do." 

He slammed into the side of her again and she lost grip on her broom and fell to the ground. She cursed the boy before standing up again and everyone gasped. There, in her hand was the snitch.

"What the — ?" Lucy gasped as all of the Gryffindor's cheered.

"LUCY SNAPE HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH; GRYFFINDOR WINS!" The commentator yelled. Lucy shrugged at her victory and held the snitch up in the air.

"YES!" Shona screamed as she jumped off her broom and joined Lucy's side. "We did it! We beat Slytherin! I knew we could do it!" 

"I guess you were right," Lucy agreed as she looked up at Slytherin seeker who was practically choking. 

"LUCY!" Dean called as he ran out of the stands and down onto the pitch. He immediately hugged her. "You did it! Congratulations!" 

"Thank you, Dean. Did you enjoy your first Quidditch match?" 

"Very much so! When is the next one?" 

After Lucy had been attacked by her team mates and she was outside of the pitch, Snape greeted her with a smile. He looked impressed with her achievement despite the fact he was the head of Slytherin, like always. 

"Congratulations on your victory, Lucy," Snape smirked. 

"Thanks but you should be congratulating your seeker," Lucy snorted as she carried her broom along proudly. 

Snape looked quizzical. "Why?" 

"Because he knocked me off of my broom and I caught the snitch. So go and give him a pat on the back for me, will you?" 

"If you insist," he shrugged. "Never mind that, might I ask something?" 

"What is it?" 

"During the match you looked rather puzzled, was there something that was bothering you? Or am I being too concerned?" 

"Actually, there is something wrong," Lucy admitted. "When I was on my broom I was struggling to see. I'm not sure if it was because I woke up last night — " (Lucy didn't include the full story). " — or if it was because I just wasn't concentrating."

"Oh my goodness..." Snape whispered. He stopped walking and Lucy did too, she had no idea what was going on. Everyone passed them, dodging around them a little moodily as they had stopped dead in a walkway. 

"Dad, what's wrong?" Lucy asked, she was very concerned. 

Snape grabbed hold of her arm, pulled her out of the walkway and as far away from everyone else as possible. He didn't want anyone to overhear their conversation at all.  

"Dad?" Lucy prompted as Snape didn't say anything for a while. 

"Lucy..." Snape whispered sadly. "I saw this a while ago but like all of the visions I have, I keep them to myself because I believe they are not important at all." 

"What have you seen?" Lucy was now on the edge, she had to know what Snape had forseen. It was making her nervous just at the thought. 

"Taking into the account the fact that you reclaimed the sword from Zuc in the summer, it has left him angry and he has been wanting to plot revenge on you for a long time. Of course, he hasn't thought of anything good enough but it now appears he has thought of something good enough." 

"Which is...?" 

"He has been thinking about ways to break you slowly. He doesn't want to completely destroy you right here because there would be no fun in doing that, would there? He wants to make you suffer slowly and make you so broken before the battle that he could finish you off with one move." 

"Dad!" Lucy almost cried. "What is he doing to me?!" 

"He's going to gradually make your sight disappear," Snape announced sadly. 

"He's going to make me — ?" 

"Yes," Snape bowed his head. "Zuc is going to make you become blind."