Chapter 8: Ginny Weasley

When Shona and Lucy had finished running to the great hall Lucy sat down next to Fred and to the other side of her was Ginny.

"You must be Ginny. I'm Lucy by the way, Lucy Snape pleased to meet you," Lucy held out her hand for Ginny to shake. She did so nervously.

"Are you the Potions Master's daughter?" Ginny looked aghast, no doubt Fred and George had told her all about the formidable Severus Snape.

"Yes — well, adopted daughter."

This didn't seem to comfort Ginny anymore. She was either being lulled into a false sense of security or Snape really did have a soul.

Lucy filled her plate with food and began to eat while simultaneously pulling out a Potions Book of hers that she'd smuggled from the train.

"Oh put that away you're getting like Hermione," Ron groaned. Hermione glared at him before giving him a good whack with her own book.

"Dad said that if I want to make it into his N.E.W.T classes I have to study, he'll accept only the best."

"Blimey what about O.W.Ls?"

"You can never be too prepared. Besides, Lucy has a great advantage being the daughter of the Potions Master, she's already leaps and bounds ahead of us in that area. I still can't make my Potions nearly as well as her."

"But you're far better than me at everything else, 'Mione," Lucy knew that it would probably send Hermione into a breakdown if she thought she was lacking in any area.

Hermione mumbled something about reading a lot as Shona piped up. "Hey, where is Cape Man? He should be here by now, shouldn't he?"

All looked for signs of the man in black robes but there were none. There was still an empty spot at the front of the room where the teachers ate.

"Lucy are you sleeping in the Gryffindor tower this year?" George asked.

"Tonight, yes, but will be in Snape's quarters in the room I was in last year for the rest of the year." As soon as Lucy had finished her sentence a boy with blond hair appeared behind her.

"Hi Harry!" The boy said snapping his camera.

Shona who was sitting next to Harry turned to the boy.

"Hey! I wasn't ready for my close up!" Shona crossed her arms and Lucy noticed that she had her sleeves rolled up, it was usually what the older children did to give them a more laid back or casual look.

Lucy sniggered then the boy faced Lucy.

"You're Snape's daughter! Aren't you?"

"Yes, I — " but before Lucy could say anything about that she was adopted he snapped his camera.

"Who are you by the way?" Harry asked a bit annoyed.

"Oh I'm Colin Creevey! I'm in Gryffindor too!" Harry growled under his breath. "Well I'll see you all later!" Then Colin scampered off back to his seat.

"Why did he take a picture of me? I'm not famous! I'm only Snape's adopted daughter..." Lucy protested.

"It's because of Harry. If you're a friend of Harry you're famous, well according to him anyway." Ron said stabbing his fork into some chicken while Colin tried to wave at Harry but he didn't seem to be paying attention (either that or he was purposely ignoring him).

"You're not just Snape's daughter anymore, you and I were in the newspaper over the summer," Shona smirked as if she'd summoned those strange monsters herself for the fame.

"Crikey, I saw that," Ron's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "What was that all about?"

But the voice of Dumbledore at the front of the room interrupted them. "I think its time for bed you lot, off you go!"

Everyone stood up and filed out of the Great Hall. Lucy smiled at Ginny who scampered along behind her and they both spoke animatedly about the excitement of joining Hogwarts. When they arrived Lucy pointed out the girls dormitories and Ginny wandered off, most likely eager to get some rest after a long day.

Lucy, not quite ready for bed, took a seat in front of the fire and continued to read her Potions book. She was finally getting the hang of it all when she could feel herself drifting off. She fought with her heavy eyelids until she couldn't manage any longer and she was asleep.

She woke some hours later and saw that the common room clock said 'one o'clock.' Lucy growled under her breath as Angus wandered into the common room and mewed excitedly at the sight of her.

"How did you get down here?" Lucy wondered and then heard footsteps on the stairs. She whirled around and saw Fred standing there.

"He woke me up," Fred responded, coming over and sitting down next to her. His cage was outside your door but hadn't been put inside, maybe Shona didn't like the look of his grumpy face."

"Typical, Shona," Lucy rolled her eyes as Angus hopped onto her lap, ignoring the Potions Book there.

"Speaking of, what happened over the holidays?"

"Oh," Lucy was startled, she didn't want to think about that anymore. But she supposed that everyone would want to know about that now. "They just sort of...attacked us."

"But why? Why would anyone want to do that?"

"Dad thinks that we were attacked by mistake. Those things in hoods must've been looking for someone else. They said something about someone called Zuc and — "

"Do you think they had a connection between that monster we fought off last year?"

A horrible feeling fled through Lucy and she was almost paralysed in fear. "You mean something to do with the Tale of the Knights as well?"

"They seem to be more than just a myth," Fred shrugged.

Lucy stood up suddenly, Angus nearly thrown off her lap and the Potions book landed at her feet. "I've got to tell dad. He'll want to know about this, I'll see you later, Fred."

And with that she was gone.