LXXX. NOT A SIBLING RIVALRY
21:12 ─❁────────── 21:79
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❝Oh nothing stays the same from yesteryears
See I recall being afraid of the dark❞
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KATIE WAS REMOVED FROM THE care of Hogwart's hospital and to St. Mungo's instead by the following day, in which the news that she'd been cursed had now spread all over the school like wildfire. Though, the detail of the events were confusing and nobody other than Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lucia, and Leanne seemed to know that Katie herself had not been the intended target.
Harry was still determined to prove that it was Malfoy's doing, much to the dismay of Ron and Hermione who've been using the new policy of feigning deafness whenever Harry were to utter out the mere name of Malfoy. Lucia opted to not make any comments about this, remaining in the neutral side as much as she could, but she couldn't help but think that Malfoy wasn't as innocent as Ron and Hermione was making it out to be, however at the same time Harry didn't exactly have proof it was his fault either.
Sure, he maybe sixteen and was too young to even be branded by the mark, but she wasn't going to put it pass Voldemort regarding that. Especially with the suspicious activities she had been hearing from Astoria, who's been talking about how weird Malfoy had been ever since the start of the new term.
"It's odd, you know? He's been... really quiet these days. He'll only retaliate or speak when something really concerns him," said Astoria, staring over yonder as they sat by the banks of the freezing Black Lake, all bundled up. "I mean, sure, I don't know him as well as my sister, or Crabe or Goyle or Parkinson — or perhaps Nott and Zabini, but he seems a bit miserable these days."
"Miserable how?" Lucia furrowed her eyes, tearing her eyes away from colouring her sketch.
"Like, maybe it's just me, but he looks a bit pale."
Lucia was about to rebut with a sarcastic comment of how Malfoy had always been pale, but Astoria was quick to cut her off.
"No, I mean, he looks deathly pale." Astoria said seriously at her, before she turned her gaze back to the lake. "His eyes doesn't even look like they're focusing on the things around him —"
"Like he has something big running through his mind..." drew lucia..
"Exactly!" Astoria fussed. "He hasn't been doing his work like he used to, you know? Usually, he would sit in front of the fire in the common room whilst insulting Crabbe and Goyle. whilst also helping them with their homework — I know, seems a bit weird that he does that, but that's Malfoy."
Lucia snorted. "Then what do he do these days?"
"He always sneaks off in the middle of the night," said Astoria thoughtfully, much to Lucia's surprise.
"Really?"
"Yeah," she nodded when Lucia saw a look of worry etched Astoria's regal features. "He really looks sick," Astoria hugged her legs to her chest, "Do you think he's okay?"
Lucia furrowed her brows. Where was this concern coming from? She shook her head. Nah, she thought. Astoria have always been kind to people, even to those that don't even deserves it.
"I-I'm not sure," said Lucia truthfully. "Wait, how do you even known he's been sneaking off in the middle of the night. Have you been stalking him?!" Her eyes widened.
"Of course not! I saw him plenty of time, but I guess he never notices..." said Astoria trailingly, embarrassed. She then shrugged, "Every night I would use the common room when its empty to finally read in peace — my dormmates are all obnoxious with their snores and all..."
"That's... that's interesting..." said Lucia faintly, but she wasn't sure that Draco Malfoy really did not noticed Astoria. Especially with her habit in reading out loud with some dialogues...
Tuesday morning rolled by and Herbology was the first lesson she had for the day. Harry have yet to tell them about his meet-up with Dumbledore, and Lucia was really hoping he would already by breakfast. Fortunately, he did did fill them in on what had occurred as they walked across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses. The weekend's brutal wind had died out at last; the weird mist had returned, and it took them a little longer than usual to find the correct greenhouse.
"Wow, scary thought, the boy You-Know-Who," said Ron quietly, as they took their places around one of the gnarled Snargaluff stumps that formed this term's project and began pulling on their protective gloves. "But I still don't get why Dumbledore's showing you all this. I mean, it's really interesting and everything, but what's the point?"
"Dunno," said Harry, inserting a gum shield. "But he says it's all important and it'll help me survive."
"I think it's fascinating," said Hermione earnestly. "It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?"
"Know thy enemy, to know thy enemy's weakness," recited Lucia.
"Precisely," said Hermione.
"So how was Slughorn's latest party?" Harry asked the two girls thickly through the gum shield.
"Oh, it was quite fun, really," said Hermione, now putting on protective goggles. "I mean, he drones on about famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he's so well-connected, but he gave us some really nice food and he introduced us to Gwenog Jones."
"That was the most exciting part of the whole night," said Lucia "Though, I wished she didn't just talk about herself and talk about her whole team and how she got into her team, instead of the many trophies she won by 'herself'."
"Gwenog Jones?" said Ron, his eyes widening under his own goggles. "The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?"
"Duh," said Lucia propping up her protective goggles on the bridge of her nose. "Who else? The captain of an all-males Quidditch team?"
Hermione gave a small smile. "Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself, but —"
"Quite enough chat over here!" said Professor Sprout briskly, bustling over and looking stern. "You're lagging behind, everybody else has started, and Neville's already got his first pod!"
They looked around; sure enough, there sat Neville with a bloody lip and several nasty scratches along the side of his face but clutching an unpleasantly pulsating green object about the size of a grapefruit.
Lucia shot Neville a thumbs up, in which he reciprocated back weakly.
"Okay, Professor, we're starting now!" said Ron, adding quietly, when she had turned away again, "should've used Muffliato, Harry."
"No, we shouldn't!" said Hermione at once, looking, as she always did, intensely cross at the thought of the Half-Blood Prince and his spells. "Well, come on... we'd better get going..."
She gave the other three an apprehensive look; they all took deep breaths and then dived at the gnarled stump between them.
It sprang to life at once; long, prickly, bramblelike vines flew out of the top and whipped through the air. One tangled itself in Hermione's hair, and another found itself wrap around Lucia's pontail.
"Owowowow!" shrieked Lucia, trying to get the vines away from her hair. "It's pulling!"
"Hold on!" Ron beat it back with a pair of secateurs, before Harry succeeded in trapping a couple of vines and knotting them together; a hole opened in the middle of all the tentaclelike branches; Hermione plunged her arm bravely into this hole, which closed like a trap around her elbow; Lucia, Harry, and Ron tugged and wrenched at the vines, forcing the hole to open again, and Hermione snatched her arm free, clutching in her fingers a pod just like Neville's. At once, the prickly vines shot back inside, and the gnarled stump sat there looking like an innocently dead lump of wood.
"You know, I don't think I'll be having any of these in my garden when I've got my own place," said Ron, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead and wiping sweat from his face.
"Pass me a bowl," said Hermione, holding the pulsating pod at arm's length; Harry handed one over and she dropped the pod into it with a look of disgust on her face.
"Don't be squeamish, squeeze it out, they're best when they're fresh!" called Professor Sprout.
"Anyway," said Hermione, continuing their interrupted conversation as though a lump of wood had not just attacked them, "Slughorn's going to have a Christmas party, Harry, and there's no way you'll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you can come."
Harry groaned. Meanwhile, Ron, who was attempting to burst the pod in the bowl by putting both hands on it, standing up, and squashing it as hard as he could, said angrily, "And this is another party just for Slughorn's favorites, is it?"
"Just for the Slug Club, yes," said Hermione.
"Please don't use that name," Lucia let out a coherent groan of pain.
The pod flew out from under Ron's fingers and hit the greenhouse glass, rebounding onto the back of Professor Sprout's head, and knocking off her old, patched hat. Harry went to retrieve the pod; when he got back, Hermione was saying, "Look, I didn't make up the name 'Slug Club' —"
"'Slug Club,'" repeated Ron with a sneer worthy of Malfoy. "It's pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your party. Why don't you try hooking up with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug —"
"We're allowed to bring guest, Ginger snap," said Lucia flatly, having enough of Ron's attitude. She turned pointedly to her boyfriend, "So, Harry, if you're not coming, then I'll just find myself another date. Not like it's hard anyway, since there's Lavender, Parvati, Seamus, Neville, maybe even Davies and Smi —"
"Okay, okay," huffed Harry, pouting her way. "I'll think about it,"
Lucia rolled her eyes amusingly.
Then Hermione, with a rather boiling scarlet face said, "I was going to ask you to come, Ron, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"
Lucia and Harry shared a knowing gaze. Unnoticed by either Hermione or Ron, Harry seized the bowl that contained the pod and began to try and open it by the noisiest and most energetic means he could think of that even Lucia had resulted with hammering the pod harshly; unfortunately, they could still hear every word of their conversation.
"You were going to ask me?" asked Ron, in a completely different voice.
"Yes," said Hermione angrily. "But obviously if you'd rather I hooked up with McLaggen..."
There was a pause whilst Harry continued to pound the resilient pod with a trowel.
"No, I wouldn't," said Ron, in a very quiet voice.
"Watch out —"
Harry missed the pod, hit the bowl, and shattered it.
"— for the bowl..." Lucia finished sheepishly.
"Reparo," he said hastily, poking the pieces with his wand, and the bowl sprang back together again. The crash, however, appeared to have awoken Ron and Hermione to Harry and Lucia's presence. Hermione looked flustered and immediately started fussing about for her copy of Flesh-Eating Trees of the World to find out the correct way to juice Snargaluff pods; Ron, on the other hand, looked sheepish but also rather pleased with himself.
"Hand that over, Harry," said Hermione hurriedly. "It says we're supposed to puncture them with something sharp..."
Harry passed her the pod in the bowl; he, Ron, and Lucia both snapped their goggles back over their eyes and dived, once more, for the stump.
"Gotcha!" yelled Ron, pulling a second pod from the stump just as Hermione managed to burst the first one open, so that the bowl was full of tubers wriggling like pale green worms.
The rest of the lesson passed without further mention of Slughorn's party. Although both Lucia and Harry did nothing but watch their two two friends more closely over the next few days, Ron and Hermione did not seem any different except that they were a little politer to each other than usual.
"Sexual tension..." Lucia whispered to Harry, leaning against his chest as they stared at the pair across from them.
"Think they'll get together one day?" Harry quirked a brow at her, a grin making its way to his face.
"Wanna make a bet?"
"Bet that they'll get together by the end of the year," said Harry smugly, hugging her from behind.
"I bet you they don't get together until the end of our seventh year!" she said into the crook of his neck.
"Let's see what happens when they're under the influence of butterbeer in Slughorn's party," said Harry, grinning faintly.
"I know that look," Lucia wheeled around to gaze at him in entirety when she confirmed the worry that etched his face. She frowned slightly, "Are you okay?"
"It's about Quidditch..."
Katie Bell was still in St. Mungo's Hospital with no prospect of leaving, which meant that the promising Gryffindor team Harry had been training so carefully since September was one Chaser short. He kept putting off replacing Katie in the hope that she would return, but their opening match against Slytherin was looming, and he finally had to accept that she would not be back in time to play. Harry did not think he could stand another full-House tryout.
"Well," Lucia began slowly. "I know a guy..."
As Harry stared at his girlfriend, he saw a glint of a seldom mischief twinkling in his eyes, which made him slightly nervous. Who did she have in mind...?
One day, Harry was dragged by Lucia and ended up cornering Dean Thomas after Transfiguration lesson. Most of the class had already left, although several twittering yellow birds were still zooming around the room, all of Hermione's creation; nobody else had succeeded in conjuring so much as a feather from thin air.
"Sweet Dean," Lucia cornered him to the wall, a hand beside his head as the other was on her hips. Harry watched the scene, surprised a bit by her actions. For once, she was really intimidating, and he could see from Dean's quivering eyes of nervousness as he looked straight at her, hugging his chest. "I heard from Ginny that you're still interested in being a Chaser?"
At this, Dean's shoulder instantly slumped. He looked over her shoulder to Harry, who was shrugging and grinning at him faintly, hoping for him to agree.
"Wha — ? Yeah, of course!" said Dean excitedly. Over Harry's shoulder, Seamus Finnigan slamming his books into his bag, looking sour.
Although Lucia had given him a choice between Dean and Seamus, Harry had instantly chosen Dean over Seamus. Perhaps it was because he didn't want Seamus to get the treatment Dean was receiving right now, knowing that Seamus would've probably like being cornered by the Lucia DiFiore. On the other hand, it was also because Dean had outflown Seamus at the tryouts.
"Well then —"
"Well then, you're in," beamed Lucia, releasing Dean from the cage he was. "There's a practice tonight, seven o'clock."
"Right," said Dean. "Cheers, Harry! Lucia! Blimey, I can't wait to tell Ginny!"
He sprinted out of the room, leaving Lucia, Harry, and Seamus alone together, an uncomfortable moment made no easier when a bird dropping landed on Seamus's head as one of Hermione's canaries whizzed over them
Lucia grimaced pityingly as she watched Seamus stomping out of the room after Dean, clearly furious with this decision. She turned to Harry. "Perhaps I should've said hi to diffuse the tension..."
"Nah," said Harry, gripping her waist and pulling her closer to him, "But what I'm questioning right now is why did you corner Dean like that?" he bit back a laugh.
"It makes me look intimidating! You guys said that I look like a angry hedgehog when trying to be mad, so I thought why not try a different way to be intimidating! And quite honestly, it worked!"
"Somehow it did," mused Harry. "However, who exactly is the Captain of the Quidditch team?" Harry leaned down, smirking at her, "You or me?"
"You are," said Lucia slowly. "But,"
"But?" Harry cocked a brow.
"But I'm the one that's controlling you from behind the scenes, like a puppeteer!" beamed Lucia.
"Wha —"
"See you later!" she kissed his nose, catching him off-guard and running out of the room, leaving him in a bit of a daze.
"That was quite amusing," Professor McGonagall's voice sounded from the other side of the room, causing Harry to whirled a round. His face went pink in embarrassment.
"Professor..."
"No need to explain, I saw," she said, and Harry swore he saw a flicker of amusement written in her eyes. "Now go along, Potter. I expect Gryffindor to win the cup this year as well."
Professor McGonagall watched as the Potter boy exited out of the classroom, flustered. Somehow it deeply reminded her of some bittersweet memories that happened in the vey same place he stood just now. Sometimes history repeats, but she believes that not all history repeats the same way — this was just proving her right, for the love story between James Potter and Lily Evans maybe now, but it opened a new and much different story for Harry Potter and Lucia DiFiore.
A new chapter meant a new beginning, and where there was a new beginning meant there would be a different ending. And this story, she had high hopes that it would end differently than it did for the onesbefore them, for every story needs it's happy ending.
Seamus was not the only person disgruntled by the choice of Katie's substitute. There was much muttering in the common room about the fact that Harry had now chosen two of his classmates for the team.
As Harry had endured much worse mutterings than this in his school career, he was not particularly bothered, but all the same, the pressure was increasing to provide a win in the upcoming match against Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, Harry knew that the whole House would forget that they'd criticized him and swear that they had always known it was a great team. If they lost... well, Harry thought wryly, he had still endured worse mutterings...
During practice, Lucia watched from below with a sketchbook in her hands, but she was too immersed with the practice to even start with another sketch for the bridesmaid dresses. Dean was flying this evening and she would say — unbias — that Harry had chosen the right person to substitute, as Dean worked well with Ginny and Demelza. Things were quite looking up, especially since the Beaters, Peakes and Coote, were getting better all the time. The only problem was Ron.
Ron was an inconsistent player who suffered from nerves and a lack of confidence, and unfortunately, the looming prospect of the opening game of the season seemed to have brought out all his old insecurities. After letting in half a dozen goals, most of them scored by Ginny, his technique became wilder and wilder, until he finally punched an oncoming Demelza Robins in the mouth.
"It was an accident, I'm sorry, Demelza, really sorry!" Ron shouted after her as she zigzagged back to the ground, dripping blood everywhere. "I just —"
"Panicked," Ginny said angrily, landing next to Demelza and examining her fat lip. "You prat, Ron, look at the state of her!"
Lucia rushed to the middle of the field with her wand out and looked at Demelza, her face in her hand. "Now, now, it's honestly something that can be fix," said Lucia earnestly, as Harry landed in between the two Quidditch players. She pointed her wand at Demelza's mouth and muttered "Episkey" under her breath. "You guys are being dramatic — does it hurt still?" added Lucia specifically to Demelza.
Demelza blushed at the kind smile Lucia held and shook her head, while Ginny stood her ground.
"Well, he was being a prat!" Ginny insisted, though it sounded more like a child whining to their mother. And that mother so happens to be Lucia.
Harry sighed. "Ginny, don't call Ron a prat, you're not the captain of this team —"
"Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should —"
Lucia pursed her lips, forcing herself not to laugh as Harry looked at the youngest Weasley, amused. Nonetheless, he did not retort. Surprisingly.
"In the air, everyone, let's go..." Harry ordered tiredly.
"Cheer up, Harry," said Lucia, patting his cheeks once they were alone on the ground. "I'm sure things will be better..."
"I'm hoping for this" — Harry showed off the ribbon on his wrist — "to work today, or else I'll start believe that this good luck charm thingy would only work when it's the day of the match instead..."
Lucia smiled. "I'm sure it'll work."
Overall, it was one of the worst practices they had had all term, though Lucia applaud Harry's choice of not being honest with them. Because, well, honesty was not the best policy when they were this terrible in working together — not to mention they were closer to the upcoming match.
"Good work, everyone, I think we'll flatten Slytherin," he said bracingly, and the Chasers and Beaters left the changing room looking reasonably happy with themselves.
"I played like a sack of dragon dung," said Ron in a hollow voice when the door had swung shut behind Ginny.
"No, you didn't," said Harry firmly. "You're the best Keeper I tried out, Ron. Your only problem is nerves."
"Yeah, Ron, you did wonderful last year," said Lucia, squeezing his shoulders in a consoling manner. "You were one of the reasons we won the cup!"
"You are the reason we won the cup," corrected Ron glumly. "Why didn't you try out? We would've probably had a better chance!"
"Doubt that," snorted Lucia, as she wrapped Harry's tie around her shoulder while Harry made to try and find it, not noticing it being in her arms. "Oh honestly, Ron, just believe in yourself more!"
"Yeah, mate, you did well last year, and this year would be better," said Harry, also showering Ron with words of encouragement after realising that his tie was around Lucia's neck the whole time, but didn't bother to even retrieve it back.
The couple kept up a relentless flow of encouragement all the way back to the castle, and by the time they reached the second floor, Ron was looking marginally more cheerful. When Harry pushed open the tapestry to take their usual shortcut up to Gryffindor Tower, however, they found themselves looking at Dean and Ginny, who were locked in a close embrace and kissing fiercely as though glued together.
Lucia's face went beet red, a hand clamped over her mouth as she let out a small squeak. Harry's eyes widened out of utter shock, gaping at the sight. Ron, however —
"Oi!"
Dean and Ginny broke apart and looked around.
"What?" said Ginny.
Lucia tugged Ron's sleeves, indicating for them to leave them. She really did not think it was right for the three of them to nose into someone's romantic business like this, but Ron merely yanked his hand away. "I don't want to find my own sister snogging people in public!"
"This was a deserted corridor till you came butting in!" said Ginny.
Dean was looking embarrassed. He gave Harry and Lucia a shifty grin that they both merely reciprocated with an awkward smile, shifting where they stood awkwardly. Lucia kept on replaying the scene and she, too, would feel embarrassed herself if someone suddenly walked into her and Harry snogging. Well, at least they haven't torn their shirts away... yet.
"Er... c'mon, Ginny," said Dean, "let's go back to the common room..."
"You go!" said Ginny. "I want a word with my dear brother!"
Dean left, looking as though he was not sorry to depart the scene. Lucia and Harry winced at one another, thinking: Why couldn't he bring us with him?!
"Right," said Ginny, tossing her long red hair out of her face and glaring at Ron, "let's get this straight once and for all. It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron —"
"Yeah, it is!" said Ron, just as angrily. "D'you think I want people saying my sister's a —"
"Ron!" hissed Lucia reproachfully, before he was to say something he would later regret, because knowing Ginny, she would not let that kind of comment slide. Actually, she knew herself that she wouldn't let that comment slide,
And she was very much right.
"A what?" shouted Ginny, drawing her wand. "A what, exactly?"
"He doesn't mean anything, Ginny —" said Harry automatically.
"Oh, yes he does!" Ginny said, flaring at Harry.
"Don't excuse him!" Lucia turned to Harry furiously. "Especially when he was about to say something like that!"
Harry immediately shut his mouth.
"Just because he's never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he's ever had is from our Auntie Muriel —"
"Shut your mouth!" bellowed Ron, bypassing red and turning maroon.
"No, I will not!" yelled Ginny, beside herself. "I've seen you with Phlegm, hoping she'll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her, it's pathetic! If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn't mind so much that everyone else does it!"
Ron had pulled out his wand too; Lucia and Harry immediately got in between them. Lucia pushing Ginny back, and Harry pushed Ron.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron roared, trying to get a clear shot at Ginny around Lucia and Harry, who was now standing in front of the two girls with his arms outstretched. "Just because I don't do it in public — !"
Ginny screamed with derisive laughter, trying to push Lucia out of the way.
"Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?"
"You —"
A streak of orange light flew under Harry's left arm and missed Ginny by inches if it weren't for Lucia quickly pushing her away; Harry pushed Ron up against the wall.
"Don't be stupid —"
"Harry's snogged Lucia multiple times already!" shouted Ginny, who sounded close to tears now. "He also snogged Cho Chang!"
Lucia's eyes widened at the girl. "Don't bring —"
"And Lucia snogged loads of people before too, like that girlfriend of hers — Hermione snogged Viktor Krum, it's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old!"
The only immediate reaction Lucia could make out was a quick jaw drop as Ginny stormed away before she could even call out to her. Harry quickly let go of Ron; the look on his face was murderous. The three of them stood there, breathing heavily, until Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, appeared around the corner, which broke the tension.
"C'mon," said Harry, as the sound of Filch's shuffling feet reached their ears.
They hurried up the stairs and along a seventh-floor corridor. "Oi, out of the way!" Ron barked at a small girl who jumped in fright and dropped a bottle of toadspawn.
"Goodness!" Lucia seethed, a bad mood flooding her after what had happened. "At least be nice about it, don't go taking it out on others!"
"D'you think Hermione did snog Krum?" Ron asked abruptly, as they approached the Fat Lady.
"No comment," Lucia glared, not happy with either Harry or Ron really.
The honest answer was "yes," but neither want to give it. However, Ron seemed to gather the worst from the look on Harry's face and Lucia's "No comment".
"Dilligrout," he said darkly to the Fat Lady, and they climbed through the portrait hole into the common room.
Neither of them mentioned Ginny or Hermione again; indeed, they barely spoke to each other that evening as Ron went up to bed in silence, leaving both Lucia and Harry on their own in front of the fire. For the first time, they weren't sitting with each other, but across from one another.
"It wasn't a snog," said Harry, sparing a glace at her way.
Lucia didn't speak, merely watch the fire as it flicker with her legs crossed.
"I mean, we did kiss a few times, but it wasn't a snog. At the end, it was all just nothing between both —"
"Harry," she finally spoke, cutting him off from his 'explanation'.
Harry glanced at her fully now.
"Don't say that," she said quietly. "Don't say it was nothing, because you were clearly a bit upset that what happened between you and Cho didn't work out as much, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't need an explanation, cause frankly I don't care about that — well, not as much as I did last year," Lucia told him slowly, playing with her hair. "We weren't together, I have no right to dictate who you can and cannot kiss and like. Plus, it isn't like I didn't know about that kiss..." she managed a smile at him warmly.
"Wait, so you're not upset?" Harry asked carefully.
"Oh, I'm definitely am upset," said Lucia. "But not at you — fully — but at Ron and maybe Ginny a bit..."
"Oh."
Lucia sighed and made her way across, standing in front of Harry, who was sitting in the armchair. And before she knew it, Harry pulled her to sit on his lap, in which she did naturally. "I'm upset of Ron for what he was about to say, and I get that he's protective of Ginny, but that doesn't give him the right to do whatever he had done recently. And Ginny... she really shouldn't have brought us into this and especially not Hermione — that was like, Hermione's secret and stuff..."
"Did she really snog Krum?"
"No comment," said Lucia, getting herself comfortable, putting her legs up on the armrest, heaving a deep breath. "This'll probably effect the team..."
Harry groaned at the realisation. "Can you come for the next practice? I don't think I can handle them on my own,"
"'Course," Lucia nodded, closing her eyes. "Not like I have anything better to do..."
Harry then felt an eruption of jealousy in his stomach when he remembered Ginny's words: "...Lucia snogged loads of people before too, like that girlfriend of hers..." Now it made him a bit curious...
"Who's the girlfriend she mentioned?"
Now it was Lucia's turn to groan. She snapped her eyes open and wheeled around to face him. "She wasn't my girlfriend. We just... kissed," she blushed uncontrollably. "It's really nothing, we were never together, together,"
"But you did. Once."
"Oh yeah," Lucia nodded, pursing her lips. "It's not something that I'm all proud of since it turns out I was someone that she was using to get close to my brother... Bao Bao would've scratched her eyes if he were to hear this," she laughed lightheartedly.
"Where is the chunky guy, anyway? I don't think I've seen him around lately," Harry snuck his arms around her waist and peacefully rested his chin on her shoulder, taking in the aroma of peonies.
"Well, since it was your great idea on letting Astoria take care of him last year while I was... MIA, sure he was scared of the things she would get him dressed in, but he also took a liking of her. Especially after she fed him some really expensive treats, and now our relationship is on and off again," snorted Lucia. "At the end of the day, though, I'm his adopted mother. And unlike my adopted mother, I would treat him in a way that would show my love, instead of my resentment."
Harry's eyes softened at her. "Luce..."
Lucia shook her head. "Well, that's in the past now. But you know, Ginny was also wrong about me kissing a bunch of guys and gals," she said, turning to him, cupping the side of his face. "She was upset — rightfully so, but she was upset. I only kissed a couple of people in my life, and that is my ex-fling when I was like, what? thirteen?... Leon when I was like, ten?... and..."
"Me," Harry broke into a smile. "And let me be the last,"
"And let you be the last," Lucia connected their lips together, relishing the sweet memory that had began to be bitter but slowly faded into sweet nothingness.