Chapter Text
Harry knew something was bound to happen. It was just that the last few weeks back from Christmas had been so normal . SCAM was practising. Umbridge was terrible but no more than usual. Exams were approaching, but still distant enough to seem intangible.
It was bound to fall apart.
So when he walked into his dad's office on Thursday at lunch to find Lucy sitting in a chair looking miserable, while Nigel hovered around nervously, he already knew something awful happened.
“Do I want to know?” He asked pitifully.
“Hello Harry,” Severus said tiredly. “The pair were just about to explain themselves.” Lucy winced and started twisting up her jumpy.
“Lucy insulted Umbridge to her face.” Nigel blurted out frantically. Both Harry and Severus' eyebrows shut up. Then Harry's face split out into a devilish grin.
“And you said she wouldn't dare.” He muttered to his father cheekily. Severus tossed his son a firm scowl which made the teen school his features a little more serious.
“What happened?” Severus demanded softly.
“Umbridge came to our history class…” Lucy began softly. “she said it was for a ‘performance review'.” The Hufflepuff's hands were already shaking as her face twisted up into a scowl. “She started quizzing us all on things that we don't learn because Binns is useless and never talks about anything but stupid goblin revolts! At least when mum was around, we were actually learning stuff!” by this point the girl had stood up and started pacing as she angrily flapped her hands around. “Then she said that obviously, we were just lazy and ungrateful. She going on about how she'd found us the best possible teacher! I just… I couldn't take it anymore!” Lucy finished with a snarl.
“What exactly did you say?” Severus demanded. Lucy's face burned crimson and her eyes fell to the floor.
“She called Umbridge a Judgemental Old Hag!” Nigel piped up with a wide grin. Lucy buried her face into her hands in embarrassment. “And then! She said that Umbridge wouldn't know the first thing about teaching if it slapped her in the face!” Both Harry and Severus' eyebrows shot up.
“Not bad,” Harry muttered with a nod.
“Harrison!” Severus hissed angrily. Then he turned to Lucy with a sigh. “What happened then?”
“I left…” Lucy muttered softly. “I just… walked out. I knew I'd messed up, but I didn't trust myself to stay and not make it worse.”
“That's very wise. What about you Mr. Fitzroy?”
“Oh well, she forgot her book bag!” Nigel explained quickly. “I was just … returning it.” Severus raised an eyebrow.
“I see… don't you have somewhere to be, however?”
“No,” Nigel said casually with a shrug. Severus raised a brow and gave the boy a pointed look. He gazed back slightly confused before Severus' expression turned stormy and it finally clicked. “O-oh! Yes! Right! I have… a thing!” He turned to the door frantically, then turned back sheepishly and deposited Lucy's book bag. “Bye Lucy, bye Harry!” Severus caught his eyes again and the boy flinched. “I hope you have a good afternoon Professor Snape,” Nigel muttered weakly before he finally left. Harry let out a snicker.
“I'm not sure what you find so humorous, he's your housemate.” Severus snarked under his breath. Harry rolled his eyes as his father turned back to Lucy and let out a sigh.
“What do you think is going to happen to me?” She asked worriedly.
“Well,” Severus began after a breath. However, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Enter.”
“Severus I wonder- oh!” Professor Sprout began as her eyes landed on Lucy. “Ah, wonderful! I was just going to ask if you'd seen young Miss. Mathers.”
“Hullo…” the girl whispered sullenly.
“I trust this visit is regarding the… incident?” Severus asked casually.
“Indeed… perhaps Mr. Potter-”
“It's fine Mona,” Severus muttered with a bat of his hand. “ Harry can stay.”
“Oh alright then,” Pomona acquiesced as he smoothed a bit of dirt off her robes. “So I have just come from Albus’s office.”
“And?”
“Well, Umbridge wanted to have Miss. Mathers expelled.” Sprout because with a snort. Lucy paled dramatically.
“She can't do that!” Harry cried furiously.
“No she can't,” Sprout agreed. “Not one student in the history of this institution has ever been expelled for something as petty as insulting a professor, even if it was to their face.” Lucy seemed to curl in on herself in embarrassment as Pomona gave her a sideways glance. “Regardless! Albus, Minerva and I informed Delores that such a notion was ridiculous! If we expelled every student that insulted a teacher, most of Gryffindor and Slytherin house would be empty! Oh … no offence dear.”
“None taken,” Harry and Severus said in unison, the former sheepish, the latter deadpanned. Pomona chuckled slightly as the pair gave each other a look.
“Of course, Delores couldn't possibly see how Slytherins would behave so brashly. To which I informed her of all the times they've called me a frumpy old busybody, Minerva mentioned something about Gryffindor’s crinkled wretch and Albus brought up that old one your students used to use,”
“The one about his brother and the goats?” Severus demanded tiredly.
“That's the one.” Sprout agreed. “Anyways! Delores was rather sheepish by the end, and admitted that perhaps, she was a touch too hasty.”
“And here I thought convincing Delores to see reason was a fool's errand,” Severus muttered blandly.
“That being said,” Pomona began with a sigh. “she did request, and the three of us agreed, that Miss. Mathers serve a detention tonight.” Lucy looked momentarily devastated before she nodded pitifully.
“yes professor…” she murmured. Pomona smiled.
“On that note, however,” the Hufflepuff head of house began with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I will say this… Miss. Mathers: what are the virtues of Helga Hufflepuff?”
“Kindness,” Lucy murmured somberly like she was being guided to a funeral.
“You seem to be forgetting hard work,” Pomona reminded her softly. “And honesty. a virtue which I have always seen in you, to your great benefit.” Lucy blinked.
“Huh?”
“You speak your mind, Miss. Mathers,” Sprout began with a smile. “And you don't stand for rubbish! It's commendable. In fact! If I may be so bold,” she leaned forward, voice falling much lower than it normally did as she gained a self-satisfied grin. “1 point to Hufflepuff, for creativity.” Severus let out a snort as Harry started snickering. Sprout looked equally pleased with herself as Lucy gained just a fraction of a smile. “Well then! I hope you have a lovely afternoon Severus and Miss Mathers. Mr. Potter! I'll be seeing you in greenhouse 4 this evening?”
“Yes, professor.” Harry agreed with a nod.
“Excellent!” Sprout cried, voice booming out the way it normally did. “Be seeing you all!” Then she walked out.
“I do hope this doesn't encourage you to cause mischief. Not all professors see such things as ‘creative’.” Severus snarked
“I won't,” Lucy assured him with a serious expression.
“ I was talking to your brother,” Severus muttered flatly.
“I would never!” Harry insisted. But something in his tone made the potions master groan and pinch the bridge of his nose. Then he sighed and gave Lucy a look.
“You have potions for your final class correct?”
“Yes.”
“Would you prefer to eat dinner in my office tonight? Then I can escort you to your detention.”
“Yes please.”
“Harry, can you take Lucy to lunch? Maybe have her sit with you as well. Something tells me this mess is going to have the student body in an upheaval…” Severus grumbled tiredly. How he hated the Hogwarts rumour mill.
“Sure,” Harry began as a bit of worry crept into his face. “Lucy, why don't you go on ahead, I'll catch up,”
“Okay…” Lucy began with a confused frown but conceded.
“Harry that sort of defeats the purpose of eating with her,” Severus complained.
“I know! I just… can't you… I don't know, get her out of it? Like you did with me?”
“I'm afraid not. In the eyes of the law, and that seems to be the only thing Delores cares about, Lucy is not my child.” yet. he thought with a bit of relief. Just a couple more weeks according to Emmeline's letters.
“bullocks.” Harry spat out in frustration.
“Language.” Severus admonished.
“Sorry … it's just… there's something wrong with Umbridge's detentions.”
“Oh?”
“Seamus had one a couple of weeks back, before Christmas, and it… changed him.”
“Changed him?”
“It was only for a couple of days but he was jumpy. And quiet, which is really weird for Seamus. He couldn't tell us what it was either…”
“He was likely just embarrassed, Harry.”
“No, I mean literally! He said he couldn't remember… it was really weird…” Harry finished. Severus stared at his son before he took a deep breath.
“I will be escorting Lucy tonight. If it will put you at ease I will do a quick inspection of the room before I leave.”
“I suppose…” Harry began worriedly.
“Run along and catch up, or she'll be mobbed by idiots demanding her autograph.”
“Oh shit!” Harry cried in a panic as he rushed from the room. “I didn't realize! They're gonna eat her alive! Fuck! Lucy! Hey Lucy! Slow down!”
“Harrison! Language!” Severus roared after him with a frustrated huff.
To say Lucy was quiet on the walk up to the defence professor's office would be an understatement. Severus was used to her being contemplative, he knew well that she was an incredibly observant girl with a perchance for staring off into space, deep in thought. He recalled how her biological mother would often complain about her being lost in a fantasy world but Severus saw a bit of himself in the precocious girl. He too had been one to daydream, gazing at the world with a brain a jumble of new ideas and theories. he wouldn't be surprised if her primary teachers gave her poor marks. Severus himself hadn't done all that well in the muggle school system. His tests and homework came back well enough, but he always lost marks for his seeming inability to pay attention.
But this wasn't Lucy's usual thoughtful state.
It was much more timid. More sombre. The girl seemed more preoccupied than usual.
“Lucy,” Severus began softly, in an effort not to startle the girl. She jumped anyway, roused from her state with a splash of fear. “We're here.”
“Oh,” Lucy began with a wince. “sorry. I suppose I should knock.”
“Indeed.” Severus agreed, though he fell instep behind her. Though he hated to admit it, there was something about Harry's words that filled him with no small amount of anxiety. He had been distracted all afternoon because of it, nearly missing several explosions in the process. The door opened to reveal a pursed-lipped Umbridge behind her desk.
“Hello, Miss. Mathers. Thank you for being punctual. Oh! Severus… can I help you?” Severus had walked in just behind Lucy and did a quick scan of the room. He's only been in here once previously and it was just as much of an eyesore as before. He really didn't want to know where this vile woman's obsession with pink came from. His wandering eyes landed on the woman herself. Her demeanour seemed stiff. Like she was angry, or frustrated. He caught Lucy's eyes for a split second before he cleared his throat.
“I was assisting Miss. Mathers with a few potions questions over dinner. I took the liberty of escorting her to her detention.”
“Well. Thank you.” Delores said with a somewhat clipped tone. “Can help you with anything else?” Severus narrowed his eyes at the woman. Then slowly his face settled into flat disinterest.
“No. Have a good evening.”
“Thank you,” Delores said before Severus turned around and the door closed behind him. He began his descent into the dungeons with a feeling of bitterness lingering in his bones.
I really should have submitted those papers in October…
He huffed at himself as he returned to his office. Having Lucy near, just as Harry's presence in his third year following the Hogsmede… incident , was a surprisingly helpful experience. He'd managed to get almost as much marking done as he did when he and Emmeline had done their's together.
Not quite as much…
But almost.
And he found himself lamenting the young girl's absence even further as he pulled forward the mediocre essays and began to grade again.
Pain
Each step down down down into the darkness was causing agonizing excruciating pain
But something deep in her soul kept pushing her forward. Though her mind and body screamed for her to turn around, to go back to Hufflepuff like she was supposed to, her heart urged her stronger still to push through the pain. So here she was, holding the wall for support, taking the stairs one a minute down into the dungeons. It was late, but she knew he would be there. She didn't want to call it faith. She hadn’t relied on faith in weeks now. Not the way she'd been taught to anyway.
But daffodils…
Those she could rely on.
“Dad,” she called out at the end of the hall. Her voice was weak, little more than a squeak of a whisper. She let out a silent sob and forced herself to take just a few more steps. His office was right there. She could see the doorway. “Dad!” she tried again, with just a little more force, but it was still too raspy to be effective. She stopped and leaned against the wall panting as she strained to stay in that one place before taking the deepest breath she could.
“DAD!” she screamed, using the very last of everything she had. For a moment she felt the daffodil start to wilt as the hallway remained silent and still. Her vision was starting to wink out around the edges when suddenly the door opened. Severus was looking around with frantic confusion before he turned and saw her leaning on the wall. She took in a shuddery gasp and her face stretched into a painful smile before finally the darkness took over. The last thing she heard as her knees hit the floor and her vision dimmed was a panicked and horrified shout from the potions master as he dove to catch her.
“ LUCY !”