Chapter fourteen: Tri wizard training
That very next day Lucy was walking in the Transfiguration courtyard, alone, as it was a day off from lessons she had all the time in the world. She had given up looking for Shona so she decided to take a walk on her own. That was until Harry walked over to her with Neville.
"Hello, Lucy" he said, he still didn't look right, he really needed Ron back.
"Hello Harry, Neville" Lucy waved, "how are you two?"
"I'm OK..." Harry's voice drifted off
"I'm better, yesterday Professor Moody invited me into his classroom and gave me this Herbolagy book! It really cheered me up!" Neville grinned holding his Herbolagy book with pride. Professor Sprout would be proud.
"That's great Neville!, Do you fancy going down to the lake? It's the most relaxing place I can think of since we're all stressed out"
"Sure!" Neville said.
The three of them walked down to lake, Lucy sat down next to Harry by the tree stump and Neville rolled up his trousers and with his book walked into the water to study some plants.
"What do you think the first task is going to be, Lucy?" Harry asked
"I have absolutely no idea but I fear it isn't going to be easy, dad said that he's going to help me with it - or give me tips in other words"
"You're lucky - " Harry stopped in mid sentence realising what he had said making Lucy giggle.
"Amazing!, Amazing!" Neville suddenly said making the two of them look at him
"What's amazing, Nev?" Lucy frowned
"Oh, nothing..." He muttered all embarrassed
"Dad says that they aren't going to go easy on us even if we are younger" Lucy continued, "right now I'm thinking death is the best way out of this. What about you?"
"I was thinking exactly the same thing"
"So have you spoke to Ron at all?"
"I've tried but he doesn't seem to want to listen, have you spoken to him?"
"I was with Fred and George the other day and Ron came up to say hello, the twins teased him as usual but I said hello - " (Harry raised an eyebrow), "please don't think bad of me!"
"I don't think bad of you, I just hate Ron"
"Hate is a strong word, you know?"
"I bet you've used it before"
"Yes, plenty of things - for example, peanut butter. Can't stand it!" Lucy pulled a disgusted face making Harry laugh, "so lets think of peanut butter just like Ron. One day I could change my mind about that peanut butter and it could be my favourite"
"So what you're saying is, Ron is a jar of peanut butter?"
"Well it's a better thing than hate, isn't it?"
"I suppose"
The two laughed together at Lucy's pathetic joke. They talked for a little while longer that was until Hermione, Ginny and Ron turned up.
"Hey guys!" Lucy waved
"Hello, Lucy" Ron waved along with Ginny but Hermione stepped forward and confronted Harry.
"Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Pavarti that Hagrid's looking for you" Hermione said, re-thinking what she was saying through her head, to Harry.
"Is that so - wait, what?" Harry began
"Don't make me say it again..."
"Harry, basically Hagrid's looking for - "
"Lucy!" A figure had appeared from behind Ron, it ran down the hill and shoved Ron out the way then approached Lucy.
"Hey, dad" Lucy said awkwardly
"Amazing!, Amazing!" Neville gasped suddenly
"Neville! You're doing it again!" Harry and Lucy said at the same time. They looked at each other shocked but then laughed it off.
"I-need-to-talk-to-you" he said through gritted teeth obviously not amused by Harry and Lucy
"Alright" Lucy stood up and grabbed her bag, which she had taken with her.
Lucy began to walk up the hill and Snape followed. The two walked in silence only listening to the sounds of their own breath and the crunch of the leaves as they stood on them. When they reached the top of the hill Shona was standing there, her hair was smoking slightly and her face was a bit dirty with one scratch on her arm (which could be seen through the ripped sleeve)
"Shona! What have you done to yourself!" Lucy squealed at her friend
"Well you see this is what happens when you get on the wrong side of a dragon" Shona laughed and Lucy tried to get rid of the smoke from her hair
"I'm not surprised when you called it an ugly brute" Snape shook his head
"What are you too on about?" Lucy raised an eyebrow
"This is why I pulled you away from the dunderheads" Snape said placing a hand on Lucy's shoulder, "we want to tell you about the first task"
"Don't tell me it's about dragons otherwise I'll freak out and dive into the black lake and hope I die" Lucy rasped her heart rate quickening.
"Sorry, Lucky, but that's what the first task is"
"WHAT!? I AM NOT FIGHTING A DRAGON! I REFUSE POINT BLANK! YOU MIGHT AS WELL KILL ME NOW!" She screamed
"Calm down you nutcase! We'll help you through this!" Shona laughed, "well how are we going to help her through this, Snivels?, She's only got her wand"
"Well I say attacking it is pointless as it won't cause it hardly any damage. I'd say confuse it"
"What with? My face? I don't think so! I quit this tri wizard tournament! Tell Dumbledore I died or something like that" Lucy growled she tried to walk away but Snape grabbed her
"You're not going anywhere, we're trying to help you. I tried to get you out of this but I couldn't, you have to compete" Snape sighed, Lucy relaxed and he let go of her but held her hand just in case she decided to make another quick getaway.
"I say whack it with something" Shona laughed evilly
"You hit the dragon with a stone and all it did was scratch you with it's claws. Not a good idea, McGuire"
"If only I could like just use my broom and get out of the arena..." Lucy groaned then Shona and Snape looked at her, "what? I'm sorry but I can't do this"
"Lucky!, You've answered your own question! All you've got to do is use your broom to fly around the dragon!" Shona gasped
"Well all I have is my wand - wait! The summoning charm! I could use that!"
"That'll be fine, now we've just got to train you" Snape nodded, "I suggest we head to the Quidditch pitch now"
"Alright then, I've got everything with me"
The three of them took a lengthy walk down to the Quidditch pitch, occasionally dodging fans. When they made it down to the pitch, Lucy went into the changing room and quickly got dressed into her Quidditch robes.
She picked up her firebolt and studied it, making sure it was absolutely perfect. Not one twig was crooked. It should perform well Lucy thought. She strutted out onto the page and found her father standing there, she ran over to him and waited for instructions.
"Me and McGuire have established that - "
"OI! IT WAS MY IDEA!" Lucy looked up and saw Shona on a broom yelling at Snape
"Yes, well, it doesn't matter" Snape rolled his eyes and continued, "McGuire will throw Quaffles at you and you have to dodge every one"
"That's it?"
"That's it, McGuire informed me to tell you that the Quaffles were the dragons flame - "
"AND IF YOU TOUCH ONE, LUCY SNAPEADOODLE, YOU DIE!" Shona yelled again
"Good luck..." Snape sighed
Lucy hopped onto her broom then rose up into the air. And when she had just about got her bearing a Quaffle shot straight past her ear. She screamed and Shona whizzed round her in a circle.
"I'm an angry dragon! I eat Lucy Snape for breakfast!" Shona laughed as she threw another Quaffle at her, Lucy ducked and frantically flew around the pitch.
Shona continued to throw Quaffle's at her as soon as she threw one another would appear in her hand. Lucy had to turn, duck, swerve and even a couple of time a three hundred and sixty spin. Lucy refused to be get hit by any Quaffle's. That was until Snape told them to stop.
And just as Lucy stopped in mid-air Lucy threw a Quaffle in her back.
"OI! I'LL KILL YOU MCGUIRE!" Lucy yelled and this time it was Lucy's turn to chase Shona.
And as Shona was only on a school broom and Lucy was on a firebolt she caught up with her friend and the two tried to shove each other off of their brooms.
"LUCY!, MCGUIRE!, STOP IT!" Snape yelled and with one last shove the two stopped fighting and made their way towards the ground.
"Well, how did I do? Apart from the fact Shona blew the wind out of me by battering me with that Quaffle?" Lucy asked
"Very well, I think you'll be alright considering you have that firebolt." Snape nodded
"Alright! Hey, McGuire!, I'll race you down to the castle!"
"You're on, Snapeadoodle!" Shona declared
And the two of them raced down to the castle, leaving Snape to stand there and put away Shona's school broom. Even from the Quidditch pitch he could hear the girls yells.
He bent down and picked up the school broom and put it back in the cupboard. He sighed as he looked up at where the teachers usual sat. That was the place where Jessica and him had their first date. Even though she was a vampire he was desperate to see her again, even if it meant risking his life...
What was he thinking? he couldn't risk his life to see a vampire when he had Lucy. What would she do if he died? She'd be an orphan again, she'd be a little girl who would have her heart broken twice. He couldn't let her live like that.
Of course he loved Jessica but Lucy meant more, he loved her more than anything. He had saved him from the loneliness he had and that meant a lot to him.
She was the girl who had changed his life not a vampire who wanted to kill him.