Lucy Snape and the Return of Lord Zuc (Book Four)

Back to Hogwarts

Chapter Eight: Back to Hogwarts

The mood was rather gloomy the next day as Snape and Lucy made their way to catch the Hogwarts train. They'd once again managed to make headline news thanks to a leak in the Ministry. No one really cared who they were but since suspects were rising the story was becoming very intriguing. Lucy was perplexed that Harry could handle the same amount of pressure.

Father and daughter stepped through the stone pillar and onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters; it had become second nature now. But an unusual sight met their eyes when a crowd of fifty or so reporters whipped out their cameras and began snapping some photographs of them. Lucy was appalled and raised her hand to shield herself from the burst of white flashes that had started to blind her. Snape took her arm and guided her through the sea of people who shouted at them desperately for answers:

"Lucy! Do you know exactly what happened at the Quidditch World Cup?"

"Severus, do you believe the Medieval Islands have something to do with You-Know-Who?"

"Snape and daughter? Do you have two minutes to — "

Those were the jeers they battled through as Snape finally dragged Lucy onto the train and slammed the door behind them. White flashes continued to erupt outside and other children were excited by the prospect of commotion occurring outside and drew closer to the train windows to watch.

"Lucy, don't dawdle," Snape instructed and continued to drag her, along with their luggage, to his personal compartment. They passed the five star teachers' lounge and the bar and Lucy couldn't help but feel privileged to know all about the part of the train that many students didn't even know existed. The ones who did were either prefects or had managed to cause mischief and had earned themselves an enquiry from a teacher who'd dragged them here as well as a detention.

When they made it to Snape's compartment, he shut the door and pulled down the blind immediately before sitting down in a rage.

"Why are we getting so much attention?" Lucy asked quietly as she sat down. She feared if she raised her voice to a usual level it would put Snape in a foul mood.

"People want answers," Snape hopped up again to stow his briefcase on the overhead rack but not before pulling out a newspaper. He handed it to Lucy. "No one knows what's going on so they're frightened."

Lucy's eyes scanned the newspaper. "We don't know anything though, the Ministry is keep information from us. It's like they expect us to know."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it."

Lucy's arm fell against the newspaper and she looked up to meet Snape's eyes. "But why us? We're just normal people. Harry is too, he shouldn't have to face the threat of You-Know-Who any longer and — " Snape silenced her by taking her hand.

"Don't panic," his voice was low but it comforted Lucy in an odd way. It was surprising how much power he could retain by barely raising his voice. But before he could go any further the train whistle interrupted him and the cheers and shrieks of students and parents alike ensued.

*   *   *

An hour into the trip, Lucy was already changed into her school uniform. She'd left Snape's compartment to do so almost immediately and when she came back she found Angus becoming restless in his cage so freed him quickly. She now sat with her elbow resting on the window ledge and her chin in her palm as she stared at the fantastic English countryside that rolled past the window. Except, she'd seen this same view many times now and the view was beginning to become less overwhelming every time.