Here We Go Again

The Joke

Aiming another glance at Lucy, the girl was still frowning at me deeply before she rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion and went back to her work. "Well, she has been helping Neville and Lorcan Scamander with those new herbs in the greenhouses. Maybe the fumes got to her that day. Trust me, Rose, Lucy is as dried up as a prune."

Rose threw me a disapproving stare, reminding me so much of the one Aunt Hermione gave me when I once randomly and casually suggested that maybe her love-and-hate relationship with Draco Malfoy was because they had undeniable chemistry that never got resolved or given a chance. (She'd sputter so much after that; it was hilarious.) "Don't be mean, Lily. Lucy is just more reserved than the rest of us."

"She sucks the party out of life."

The disapproving frown didn't leave the older redhead. "Oh, do try and give her some credit, Lily. If you dig a little deeper you'd see that she's that way because of what Molly did. She was only eleven when Molly took off on the family, breaking Uncle Percy's heart, that she just didn't want to risk adding more disappointment onto him. She just wants to make him proud by being excellent and admirable at everything."

My conscience poked at me, nudging me so I would recognize Rose's words as true. And they really were, and I knew that. Lucy had so much indirect pressure and expectations from Uncle Percy. He would never truly tell her that, because Aunt Audrey would kill him, but most of the family knew that it was there. Though Molly had been an excellent student during her time at Hogwarts, she never got on with her father. And when she had the chance to bail, a week after she completed her seven years at the castle, she took off and wasn't heard of for almost two years.

Lucy saw those things, noticed the hurt in her father's eyes, and she tried to restore the broken heart her sister had left. She tried being respectable, brilliant academically wise, mature, and responsible—everything her father was. And all for his sake. And since Artie, the youngest of Uncle Percy's three children, was chaotic and a troublemaker since before he could walk, Lucy's effort was doubled.

Before I could really decide to listen to my conscience and let go of the little spat Lucy and I were having, the portrait-hole opened and the almost-silent common room was invaded by loud laughs. Walking in together, arms wrapped around each other, was Liam and his annoyingly-gorgeous best friend.

"Merlin, that was hysterical," my boyfriend puffed out with a round of chuckles, lowering two schoolbags to an open table just a few feet away from where Rose and I were sitting. Everyone in the common room were still focused on their own things, no one paying attentions to the disturbers of our silence. "Who knew Peeves and Binns would ever throw it down ghost-style? McGonagall and the other professors didn't even know what to do when the two were fighting!"

Nia Harper smirked as the brunette boy kept chuckling like he was having the time of his life. "All you need is the help of George Weasley and you can get Peeves to do almost anything."

Liam pulled out a chair for his friend, his shoulders still shaking, but the laughter was dimmer. "Are you going to tell me why you have it out for Professor Binns now?"

"No, now shush," the blonde girl said between serious and playful as she sat down gracefully. She pulled out the chair right next to her, pointing a finger down and Liam obediently did what he was told.

"I'm glad I was there," he told her.

"Of course. Who else would I share that little triumph with?" She batted her blue eyes at him. There was something mocking about the way she did it, but it still was poking the jealousy monster inside of me.

Liam rolled his brown eyes, aiming a shove at his friend's shoulder teasingly. "Well, if you would've taken Al, I'm sure there was a nearby broomstick-closet you two could've defiled together."