Chapter 40: Blood on the Knife
At last, Lucy hit the ground, the right ground. She was back on the Quidditch pitch but not in the dreaded maze, she was outside the maze and it was pitch black but the crowds were still there, they were still cheering but some looked confused as though they had been waiting for her. But right now all she wanted to do was close her eyes and fall asleep, or pass out due to loss of blood, she didn't care which as long as she escaped reality for a little while...
"LUCKY!" Shona yelled from the crowds what felt like years later.
"McGuire! I told you to stop - Lucy?" Lucy now heard Snape's voice and somehow forced herself to stay with it, even though whatever was in her back was starting to really pain her.
"It's her! Look! Over there! Holding the cup!" Shona protested and Lucy could just imagining her doing some sarcastic gesture to get Snape to notice Lucy.
"Oh my gosh..."
And the next thing Lucy knew, someone took the cup from her hands and Snape was there next to her. When Lucy had the strength to open her eyes she saw his shocked expression and for some reason she had guessed that he knew that she had seen Lord Zuc. It was clear to her now that the orb had given Snape the power of seeing the future.
"Minerva, get Madam Pomfrey immediately before my daughter bleeds to death!" Snape ordered, his voice seemed harsh to Lucy even though it was the tone he usually used.
"She's got something in her back, Snivels..." Shona whispered.
"It's a knife..."
"You'll have to pull it out before it kills her, you know."
Lucy looked up slightly and saw Snape's terrified look, but he knew he had to do it. With one hand he took one of Lucy's hand with the other grabbed hold of the knife, he looked close to tears now but he gritted his teeth and with jerk he pulled the knife from her back and tears fell from her eyes.
"I'll heal her wounds until Madam Pomfrey gets here," Snape spoke up again, his voice cracking.
And as time passed by Lucy felt better and even though she closed her eyes she knew that not only Snape was healing her, so was Madam Pomfrey and before long she was able to sit up unaided and take in her surroundings even though her leg and back still hurt.
"What's wrong with Cedric's father, dad?" Lucy asked all of a sudden and Snape glanced over at him and all the weeping Hufflepuff's. "What happened? What did I miss?"
"Mr Diggory, he..." Snape paused. "Cedric Diggory, he's dead..."
"W-What?" Lucy squeaked her voice so low.
"He's dead. Harry faced Voldemort and Cedric was killed by, according to Harry, Wormtail. He's in hysterics just like you, in fact I think ol' Snivels was close to tears because everyone thought you were dead too, it's a relief you're back though." Shona said as Madam Pomfrey walked away to heal Harry's few wounds.
"I met Lord Zuc," Lucy whispered and Shona stared at her as though she'd just done something completely ridiculous. "He fought me, hence my wounds, he tried to kill me but he didn't. I outsmarted him...Kind of..."
"You met Lord Zuc?" Shona repeated but Snape didn't look too shocked for he had already seen this. "And you fought him?"
"I believe he threw the knife in my back too."
"I still can't get over that..."
"Neither can I but at least it's over with, right? And now the tri wizard cup is over there's not much to worry about...So who won then?"
And as if on cue Harry walked over holding the tri wizard cup and a bag of money, he crouched down next to Shona and looked at Lucy.
"Look, you're probably going to think me greedy for this but - " Harry handed Lucy the tri wizard cup that had been taken from Lucy not very long ago. "Everyone is saying that this is rightfully mine but I don't think it is."
"It's not mine either, it's rightfully Cedric's..." Lucy's voice trailed off. "And how does that make you greedy?"
"Well, I've still got the money but I'm not keeping it. I think I'm going to put it to a good cause..." Harry turned around and looked at Fred and George who were still selling some last minute merchandise as the stadium began to pour out.
"I think that's a great idea, tell them two I said hi by the way."
"OK, I will." Harry grinned then walked off to hand Fred and George the money which Lucy knew would be spent on the shop they wished to open when they had left Hogwarts.
"Can we go now?" Lucy wondered as Shona stood up and went over to Harry, Fred and George.
"If you can get up that is," Snape said and held out a hand to her and she took it cautiously and hauled herself up. She felt like someone had used the jelly-legs curse on her but with Snape's help she managed to get out of the Quidditch pitch, whilst holding the tri wizard cup.
The walk back to the castle was almost depressing for some of the students were weeping over Cedric's death and Lucy almost joined them if she hadn't of choked back the tears that were threatening to fall but then something occurred to her.
"Dad?" Lucy said all of a sudden as Snape linked arms with her, thinking this was a better way of stabilizing her when she walked.
"Yes, Lucy?" He replied, looking thoughtfully at her.
"Do you think mum would be proud because of what I did?"
Snape's expression froze for a moment and Lucy wondered if she had hit a sensitive spot and suddenly felt guilty for what she had said but Snape looked back at her and actually smiled, one of those rare smiles he gave when he really meant that he was happy.
"I think she would be proud of you."
And all of a sudden Lucy felt as though she had no troubles in the world, just knowing that her mother would be proud of her was enough to make her happy.
* * *
For the next couple of days, there were only the odd few lessons but even so Lucy or Harry couldn't walk into a corridor without being bombarded with excited fans, and even though it was nice to have such fame they both wished they could lead normal lives like the rest of the students here.
"Oh, why us..." Lucy repeated over and over as her and Harry were finally free from the crowds and headed off down to the viaduct.
"If it wasn't for us, both of the worst threats known to the wizarding population would of already destroyed our world. We need to fight them off in order to survive, and for others to survive too."
"Meeting Zuc was scary, what was it like seeing you-know-who?"
"I didn't like it one bit...I saw Cedric, mum, dad, the old man that was in my dream at the start of the year..."
"I wish I could of seen mum, too, dad doesn't like to talk about her much."
"I don't know much about her, but all I can say that she's very brave for saving my life."
"She was very brave, I'll have to agree on that one. She didn't keep me for long, you know? I think after you were born James made her take me away."
"I wish my father hadn't of done that, that makes him seem less heroic and more like an idiot..."
There was an awkward silence that hung in the air for a minute or two before another round of followers all cheered at the two champions, giving them high fives and slaps on the back (only to Harry because they knew Lucy had had a knife thrown in her back.) And after that crowd had gone Lucy saw Anastasia running towards them.
"Anastasia!" Lucy yelled and the girl dressed all in blue smiled.
"You did it, Lucy! You did it! I'm sorry I couldn't see you yesterday, no one would let me!" Anastasia blurted out, shoving Harry out the way and giving Lucy a hug. "I'll have to admit now that Fleur is pathetic at the tri wizard tournament, she dropped out of the second task and got attacked on the third task!"
"Krum was bewitched and attacked her, but I suppose Fleur's not that different from me. We're both afraid of the unknown."
"No, we're all afraid of the unknown." Harry corrected.
"I suppose you're right but I was as scared as her in that maze."
"We all were, apart from Krum of course, because he didn't have the foggiest of what was going on."
"I somehow knew he was going to be bewitched," Anastasia rolled her eyes. "He's so stupid! Well, I guess all Durmstrang boys are. One of them asked me out the other day and I instantly refused, do they ever brush their teeth?"
"Not up to your standards, ay?" Harry joked.
"Most certainly not! Anyway, all the teachers are holding a meeting in Dumbledore's office and they called me to call you two there. They want to speak to you about the third task."
"Probably want to know what didn't go to their plans," Lucy snorted and Harry laughed.
The three of them headed off, Anastasia's heels clumping against the floor making them echo throughout the corridors. And when they reached Dumbledore's office Anastasia began swearing in French because she'd forgotten the password, but luckily Harry remembered making her look like a bit of a fool...
They walked up the steep stairs to Dumbledore's office, and Lucy being the brave one knocked on the door after Dumbledore allowed them too. The three of them stepped in and walked in nervously as all the teachers stared at them.
"Lucy, Harry, we want to know everything that happened after you took that cup in the maze." Dumbledore said from his desk.
Lucy and Harry looked at each other.
"This is going to take a while," Lucy confirmed.
* * *
"And so, Zuc threw a knife into Lucy's back!" Shona concluded later on that day.
Lucy had told Shona the full story about what had happened between her and Zuc and now in the common room Shona was sat in a chair by the fire explaining to the whole common room what had happened...In a dramatic and sarcastic version.
"Blimey!" Seamus gasped. "I didn't even know this Zuc bloke was around!"
"I didn't even think the islands existed," Dean shuddered.
"We didn't know you-know-who was still about either," Lucy said darkly as she scooped up Angus from her set next to Fred.
"We've only read the tale of the knights in first year and like Professor Binns said it was just a myth!" Hermione protested, still wanting to believe that they didn't exist.
"Oi! How do you think they've got the orb then? How do you think there's such thing as the gifted? How do you think Lucy is a metamorphmagus when she clearly wasn't when we all first met her?" Fred snapped at Hermione, making her blush and shut up.
"I wish Hermione was right though, that way Lucy, Shona and Snape wouldn't have to go through all this," George said as his shoulders slumped.
"Well, at least the tri wizard tournaments over..." Ginny added quietly, as though not wanting her opinion to be heard.
"I guess so but then again what about Cedric?" Lucy looked on the verge of tears.
"He didn't die in vain," Harry said softly, patting her on the shoulder as he still remembered the kissing scene between the two of them which he dare not mention in front of Fred.
"It's a battle we've got to fight between Lord Zuc and we're not giving in!" Shona cheered pumping her first in the air. "Oh, good luck with Voldie, Harry. No pressure."
"Thanks, Shona," Harry rolled his eyes.
"Don't mention it!"
"Oh, Shona, we're never going to win a battle with your sarcasm!" Lucy groaned.
"Zuc and Kingston will be surprised what sarcasm they'll be getting from me..."
After that the common room began to empty, until it just left Lucy. She made sure no one was watching before taking out the knife that had been lodged in her back. For some reason she had protested in keeping it.
She held it up to the light and looked at the engravings on the metal and studied them, it was as though they were in some form of symbols. She traced her fingernail along them as though they would suddenly turn into English...But were they meant to be translated?
Lucy concluded that it was just a knife for cutting meat and threw it back in her bag, she'd put it somewhere safer than her bag later but at that moment in the time she just felt like sleeping, so she laid down on the sofa and let her thoughts drift away, and the last thing she saw was Angus watching the flames eagerly which led to a dream of slaying the Welsh Scaleback again...