The Death Eater's Daughter

Chapter Seventeen - Harry's Journey

The entire next day, Luci determinedly avoided acknowledging Harry's existence, while simultaneously cursing Kristen's. How dare she destroy Luci's perfectly healthy denial? It had been working superbly. And now, she felt... well, preposterous, really. She had no business having crushes on people! She wished that she could take back her admission of guilt, keep pretending, continue feeling little sparks and disregarding them completely. Every time her mind went to him, she started counting backwards to sidetrack her thoughts.

Goddamn you, Kristen.

Draco kept asking her what was wrong, and Luci continually mumbled something about a headache.

That evening, she knew she had to show up. Otherwise, he'd know that something was different. And she intended to go on telling herself that there was nothing there. In his presence, at least. Her only hope was to distract herself and to do everything she could to act normal.

So, upon seeing Harry in his usual spot on the couch, she began immediately, "Okay, I've got one you surely haven't learned!"

Harry looked up at her and grinned, "Oh, yeah?"

It was all Luci could do to prevent herself from swooning and plow on, "It's the Traitor Hex."

As she approached the couch, trying not to look at tense as she felt, he echoed, "Traitor Hex?"

"It temporarily turns a person against their allies," she nodded. "Very helpful in any kind of battle situation."

"Brilliant!" burst Harry, beaming and getting to his feet.

"Yes."

He gasped, "We could get Death Eaters like Snape and Bellatrix on our side!"

"No!" she exclaimed before she knew what she was doing.

Harry's mouth fell open.

"It won't work on Snape," she choked in explanation.

"How do you even know who Snape is?" he frowned.

Dammit. How did she know? Had Harry ever mentioned him? She didn't think so. Hmm, she hadn't heard from him in awhile... Finally, she answered convincingly, "Everyone knows Severus Snape, and it won't work on him."

"Why not?"

"He's much too talented," she said simply.

"So it only works on weak wizards?" Harry sounded annoyed.

"Not necessarily," she wheedled. "But it won't work on Snape, and certainly not on Voldemort. And besides that, it's temporary - only lasts for several minutes, depending on the person."

He huffed. "Well, let's see it anyway."

Luci hadn't thought about how to show it to him. "I don't know how you could practice it..."

"I could try it on Malfoy."

She bit the insides of her cheeks and covered her mouth to keep from laughing. The two of them were hilarious. Draco would have said something similar about Harry.

She scolded, "Not funny," before conjuring two brown mice and two white mice onto the floor.

"Addo Ferito," commanded Luci, and they did as they were told and began to battle one another.

She turned to the boy next to her and instructed, "All right, Harry, the incantation for the Traitor Hex is Abeo Proditio. Give it a try."

He pulled out his wand. "Abeo Proditio."

Nothing happened. They were still under Luci's original spell.

"Here, it's more of a wave, like this," she showed him.

"Abeo Proditio," he attempted again.

She almost laughed when one of the white rats starting licking the other one. Harry gave her an adorable discomfited smile, but she coaxed, "Keep trying."

He was very determined. Luci watched him cast the spell repeatedly, but never get it quite right. She didn't say a word, mostly because she was mesmerized by his concentration. His hair was falling into his eyes, and she'd often noticed this happening, but for some reason, she found it unbelievably sexy at the moment. It was almost like admitting the whole crush thing made it a million times worse, and harder to ignore...

She heard him sigh in frustration and she composed herself and suggested, "Why don't we try this again later?"

As she vanished the animals on the floor with her wand, Harry grumbled, "Stupid mice."

Luci giggled at him. "It's a tough one, but I have no doubt that you'll get it." She paused, considered, but went on anyway. "You're really quite gifted."

He turned away and muttered softly, "Thanks."

She probably shouldn't have said it. She blushed and diverted, "Okay, so try the bubble shield on me again. You've almost got it. Just remember not to actually envision bubbles when you do it."

"I'd rather not."

"I want you to try it on me before you try it on yourself." His timidity was so cute. "It's safer that way."

He grimaced.

"Come on!" She waved her hands permissively.

He hesitantly directed his wand toward her. "Clypeus!"

Luci felt something instantly, and when she went to speak, bubbles erupted abundantly from her lips, like a dam breaking. Her first thought was to be humiliated again. But then the hilarity struck her, and she burst into laughter. The spheres flowed even more freely as she chuckled, clutching her ribs.

Harry was yelping, "I'm sorry!" but she couldn't cease.

After what might have been a full minute, still giggling at him, Luci removed the spell and took a fresh breath of air. She looked up at the bubbles all around her, and she was overcome with an urge to just lie on the floor and gaze at them. Taking no heed of the voice in her head that told her this was an asinine idea, she lowered herself onto the carpet and allowed herself to enjoy the scene above.

Harry was still gaping at her. "Are you all right?"

She was feeling very present in this moment, on her back, watching the little orbs bump into each other and change directions. It was beautiful. And she was glad that Harry was here, experiencing this splendor with her. She grinned at him. "Yes, very easily solved. And so pretty too. Kind of enchanting, isn't it?"

He got down beside her on the floor and positioned himself onto his back. Her pulse began to pick up speed. He remarked, "I don't know about enchanting..."

Boys never understand beauty, she complained to herself. But she said aloud, "Well, I think so. Maybe it's a girl thing."

She could feel his body heat. She glanced down quickly and saw that his arm couldn't have been more than an inch away from hers. She could just reach out and touch him... God, she wanted to. But she wouldn't. Instead, she took deep breaths to slow her racing heart and pressed her hands into the floor to keep them from grabbing his.

They had to stop spending nights like this. It was going to kill her eventually. She loved that they were friends, but she was at the point where she couldn't stop thinking about rolling over and kissing him... She closed her eyes on this notion.

She had no idea how long they'd been lying there when Harry called softly, "Luci?"

"Hmm?" she responded in what was almost a moan.

"Do you know anything about Horcruxes?"

She shot straight up at this, shocked. "Wha?" A lingering bubble exploded from her lips. She had no time to be embarrassed. When he sat upright, she managed, "Why would you ask me that?"

He didn't say anything and her thoughts were jumbled. Then something occurred to her, a reason why he was always so guarded... "That's your secret? You're making Horcruxes?"

He cried, "No! No, that's not it at all!"

She blinked, trying to clear her head.

"Voldemort made six of them," he was going on. "Three have been destroyed and I have to find the others."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing - not only the fact that he was sharing, but also the very perilous words themselves. "Tell me you're kidding," she gasped.

With a solemn shake of his head, Harry told her that he wasn't in the least.

Luci didn't know what to say. Dumbledore had talked about a journey, but could he have possibly meant this? That Harry had to get involved with the darkest magic known in their world? Finally, she nearly whispered, "Harry... do you have any idea...?"

He cut her off. "I know. It's dangerous. But I have to do it."

If what Dumbledore had said was true - that Harry was the only one who could kill Voldemort... "Yes, of course, you do," she said in realization. "If you want to defeat Voldemort, you have to get to the Horcruxes first."

"So you do know about them?" he questioned expectantly.

She murmured, "A little, yeah..."

"How do I destroy them?" he prodded on.

"Assuming you can find them?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"God, they're all different," Luci began slowly. "It would depend on so many things..."

He frowned. "Like what?"

Habitually, she shoved her thumb between her teeth. She should really stop doing it, but it helped her think. She nibbled at her fingernail and tried to sort through her brain. What did she know about this? At the moment, she couldn't remember anything.

She muttered aloud, "Well, I assume that Voldemort's Horcruxes'll be particularly difficult to destroy..." Then it occurred to her that she'd read a little bit about a substance that purified dark objects, but could it be any match for something like this?

"No," she burbled, "that probably won't work, at least, not on its own... If you could get to-" There was supposedly a well somewhere in Ireland that had been proven to obliterate a Horcrux if you dropped it down the chasm. But how would they get there, if it even existed? "No, that's ridiculous," she decided.

After a few moments, she met his gaze. "I'm sorry," she said. "I wouldn't know unless I could see it. And then, I probably still wouldn't know."

His eyes sunk into something like hopelessness. "Isn't there anything?"

A wave of pity overtook her. "I don't have all of the answers, Harry."

"Well, can you at least tell me how to know when I've found one?"

He must really be starting from scratch. She wondered if Hermione knew anything about this. She'd probably be much more help to him, sadly. Luci felt a little helpless, but she searched her mind for any knowledge she might have retained and tried to answer anyway. "Um... I don't know... I've only read about them, and very little, at that, but, from what I understand, it's such dark magic that you can almost feel it in your gut when you're near one."

"That's what Hermione said," he muttered, confirming the brunette's involvement, "but I've never felt anything."

Her mouth fell open. "You've been in contact with Horcruxes before?" she asked, astounded.

"Two of them," Harry verified. "In my second year, there was this diary. Ginny got her hands on it, somehow."

At the mention of the stunning girl, Luci's stomach tightened with jealousy. She took a breath to relieve it.

He had continued, "We think it was Lucius Malfoy," - and Luci wanted to throw up - "but anyway, it ended up being Tom Riddle's old diary, from when he was at Hogwarts, and he was able to control Ginny with it. She released his basilisk and then he kidnapped her, and we had to go down there and save her."

Luci must have looked as dumbstruck as she felt, because Harry sighed, "It's a long story. But I destroyed the diary, and Dumbledore told me last year that it had been a Horcrux. But I was around it loads of times and I never felt anything."

Normally, as curious as she was, Luci would have wanted to know more, but it sounded like rescuing his beloved Ginny was of too much focus for her liking. So she prompted, "And the second?"

"Remember when I came back with that burn on my hand?"

She nodded.

"I'd found one. I don't even really know how - it was at Voldemort's orphanage - but it was this set of wings, and I had to chase it. And when I finally caught it, it burned me. I couldn't let go, so it was pretty bad, I guess. But I didn't feel anything until I touched it. There was nothing warning me or anything."

"Maybe you have to be trained to know them," she muttered, almost to herself.

"There was one other that's been destroyed, but I was never actually physically around it. It was a ring that I saw in a Pensieve. So maybe I wouldn't have felt anything because it was someone else's memory. All I know is that I can't tell them apart from anything else unless I can get my hands on them. So I don't really know where to start."

He took a heavy, exhausted breath.

"Wow, I'm... totally blown away..." she managed, and then couldn't help herself. "You really are something, aren't you?"

Shaking his head, Harry looked away and focused on the carpet in front of him.

Despite the awkwardness that both of them were obviously feeling, Luci insisted, "Yes, you are, and now you're going to continue risking your life to find the remaining Horcruxes?"

"I have no choice," he said despairingly.

She didn't understand why he felt that way, but even more so, she didn't understand why he'd chosen this path in the first place. It was insane. It was... noble. She disagreed, "Of course you do. We always have choices. Your choice is to follow a difficult and dangerous path for the greater good." She took a breath. "That's... astonishing."

Harry didn't respond, but he fidgeted uncomfortably.

"I don't mean to embarrass you. I'm just in awe of you sometimes." She was really embarrassing herself, actually, but she was engulfed in too much awe to think straight.

"You'll keep this between us, won't you?" he pleaded, meeting her eyes.

The tone of doubt wounded her slightly. "I thought dueling together was going to help you to trust me?" she asked a little sarcastically.

"It has," he replied softly. "That's why I've just told you all of this."

She felt better instantly. Good enough to kiss him. But she just breathed, "It's a lot."

"Yeah," he nodded.

As sincerely as possible, she promised, "You can trust me, Harry."

He smiled just slightly, and she wondered if he believed her. Then he turned his eyes toward the ceiling. Luci followed his gaze. There were only a few bubbles left floating above them.

Since he was visibly exhausted, she offered, "I'll clean this up. Why don't you go to bed?"

"You're sure?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yes," she assured him. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow, you need to start thinking about leaving here again."

"I know," he sighed.

"We've been wasting precious time," she told him, feeling guilty for having been distracting him from his very important task. If she'd known, she wouldn't have been bothering him. And then she wouldn't be in this whole stupid crush mess. And they wouldn't know each other at all and things would be grand...

He cut into her thoughts. "I don't think it's been a waste of time at all."

Luci looked into his face, searching, and saw that he meant it. She couldn't help but beam. "Go to bed," she commanded lightheartedly.

"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled. "No need to get bossy."

"I didn't-" she shook her head apologetically.

"Kidding," he said, throwing his hands up. Then he gave her one last smile on his way out, and she could have melted into the floor.

She was in such terrible trouble.

Back in her room, she took out a quill and tried to write. She had considered writing to Josh, but she couldn't really confide in him about this. Amy was useless for anything not involving surface chatter. And Kristen had been the cause of this predicament. Well, okay, so she hadn't been the cause. But she had her own problems, and she never replied to letters anyway.

She wished that she had someone here to talk to. Fleur was the closest thing that she had to a friend, and the newlywed was blatantly in support of Harry marrying Ginny and having tons of perfect little babies in the traditional Weasley fashion.

Luci made a disgusted noise aloud at this image.

No, she would simply have to try to comfort herself.

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The following day, Draco complained of nausea and stayed in bed most of the morning. Luci took this time to catch up on her own sleep, after making an appearance at the breakfast table, of course. She'd found that sleep was the only place that still made sense. In slumber, she didn't have to suppress her emotions or regulate her behaviors. She was still free and honest in her dreams, at least.

Her brother showed up for lunch, and after asking a few questions, Luci felt satisfied that he had actually had a stomachache. It was prudent to verify these things, considering that deceit ran in their veins.

He ate meagerly, and then went off with his mother to study whatever it was that dreadful woman was secretly teaching him. Luci had stopped caring, based solely on the fact that Draco seemed to tell her almost everything anyway.

Sitting in her own room, she was searching through a thick book that contained various remedies. She had been trying to find something for Harry's nightmares, but she'd had no luck as of yet. She was dog-earing a page of particular interest. This was when Severus Snape saw fit to show his face again.

Her fireplace gave a pop of announcement, and then he burred, "I've been attempting to contact you for several nights. Where have you been?"

Luci, almost grown accustomed to his lack of manners, sat herself before the hearth and answered, "I read at night in the drawing room. If you gave me some kind of schedule, perhaps I could make myself available at your whim?"

"Don't be insolent," he scolded, but his tone was indifferent. "What updates do you have for me?"

"Nothing of consequence, really. Though..." She stopped, feeling guilty for even wanting to mention it. But if anyone could provide assistance, it would be Severus.

"Yes?" he prompted, sounding irritated.

"I just..." She sighed. "Do you know anything about Voldemort making Horcruxes?"

Severus's head didn't seem at all surprised at her inquiry. "Did Albus inform you of this?"

Well, shit, she didn't consider having to reveal her source. She quickly thought up a viable explanation. The more she lied, the more efficient she became.

"I've been keeping my ears open," she explained. "I heard Hermione mention it."

She felt like such a fucking traitor. But if it helped Harry, it was worth it, wasn't it?

"Ah," responded Severus. "I had no confirmation until now, only suspicions. Knowing this, I can begin to investigate the Dark Lord's past. Perhaps I can... point you in the right direction?"

Luci smiled at him. "You're the best, Severus."

He grimaced. "Are there any other events to report?"

"Everything's going fine," she answered, shaking her head. "How are things on your end?"

"All is according to my intentions, thus far," was his vague reply.

"So the Dark Lord is still buying it?" she pried.

He ignored her and questioned, "And Mr. Malfoy?"

Luci could tell him that they were getting on splendidly and that she adored him. Instead, in an effort to conceal her love for her brother, she stated convincingly, "He continues to be insolent and aggravating, but I think I have a handle on things."

"Be patient with the boy," said Severus, in what she almost thought was a gentle tone. "He has not seen easy times."

"I know," she agreed. "I just want to keep him safe."

"And how is the proclaimed savior of the Wizarding world?" Severus spat distastefully.

"Harry?"

He gave a curt, bothered nod.

"Harry is... well, he's quite amazing, actually." Oh, god, what was she saying? She straightened her expression and went on, "I had no idea. I just mean, he's very bright. That's all."

Severus narrowed his eyes at her, but merely sniffed, "He is an arrogant child. You'd do well to remember that."

"Oh, I don't think he's arrogant at all," she defended him, and then bit her tongue.

"I know him well, Miss Keegan," Severus almost growled. "Take my word."

She stuck up her nose and muttered, "Well, it's a difference of opinion."

"I find it very disconcerting that you have an opinion at all. Potter has been known to distract a female or two. I hope that you are not succumbing to this yourself. I would hate to see a supposed professional neglecting her duties in favor of some ridiculous infatuation."

"No, I'm not distracted," fumed Luci. "I have everything under control. Why don't you worry about your job and I'll worry about mine?"

Before she could seethe at the fireplace any further, she heard a thump outside her door. Her heart skidded in her chest.

"I have to go!" she hissed at Severus.

He disappeared without another word.

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Luci went slowly to her door, opened it, and peered outside. She glanced around anxiously, up and down the hall, but saw nothing.

"Hmm," she mumbled suspiciously to herself before shutting herself back into her room.

She hoped that Severus would have the good sense to limit his visits to later hours, in the future.