In which we meet Lucy and Frankie Longbottom

“Hello, Other Lucy,” James Potter said with a grin. “Something you need?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. Quite a few of the Weasleys and Potters called me 'Other Lucy' since Gryffindor Lucy was their cousin.

“Cauldron Cake?” Albus Potter offered, holding up a cake.

“Good morning,” I said as I sat down next to him. “How’s the porridge?”

“It’s thicker than Mum’s,” Frankie said. “But I like it better than hers. Mum’s is too watery.”

“And how was last night? How is your dormitory?”

I nodded. Dominique had already gone over all of this at the prefect meeting, but apparently Steven Bergen felt the need to repeat it. Maybe I looked incompetent. Or maybe he just liked that he was in charge.

“We’re not allowed to dock points, but we can recommend people for detention. There’s a form for that. Dominique handed it out at the meeting on the train. You were there for that, right?”

“Frankie,” I said, “I’m here when you’re ready.”

Steven took a few steps closer. “Don’t,” I said.

Steven stopped and crossed his arms over his chest. “He needs to go back to the castle.”

“He won’t,” I said. “Not now. Not until he works through whatever happened. All we can do is wait.”

“Hagrid’s invited Frankie and I for tea. He’s got some new creature he wants to show us.”

“Is it a dragon?” Connor asked as he took a closer look at the sign-up sheet. “I heard he once had a dragon in his house.”

“I heard that, too,” Megan said. “But I don’t see how even Hagrid could’ve gotten away with that.”

“Louis said his uncle Charlie took it off Hagrid’s hands, but his uncle Charlie likes to joke around, so he’s not sure it’s true or not,” Connor added.

“Yes,” Frankie said. “But I have been spending most of my free time with the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.”

“Oh?” I prompted, thinking of what Steven had just told me. “What do you do with them?”

“I go to their practices. I started going because I like to analyze the players’ strengths and weaknesses, but the captain likes when I’m there. He asked me why I kept going to practices and I told him. I take notes when I watch, and he asked to see them and he was impressed.”

“He has a leather jacket,” I muttered.

Megan giggled. “I see that. He cleans up nicely.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Yes, he does.”

James stood up properly and met us in front of the statue. “Hey, Other Lucy. Megan.”

“We can’t be expelled, can we?” I whispered to James.

“Would your parents actually turn you in if they could?” James asked. “But no, getting caught out of bounds in Hogsmeade isn’t an expellable offense. Unless you’ve done it numerous times-“

“Which you have,” I interrupted.

James winked. “This is only my first time getting caught.”

“Loverboy isn’t here,” Connor said as he attempted to disarm me.

“Keen observation,” I said as I countered his spell.

“You never did say how your stint in detention went,” Connor added.

“You were off with Louis when I got back,” I pointed out, raising my eyebrows. “It was fine. Just lines, like you said.”

“Other Lucy!”

I looked over and saw James leaving the Great Hall. He was grinning and his hands were in the pockets of his leather jacket, which was unzipped and revealed a worn Gryffindor t-shirt. A thrill of excitement went through me as I rushed to meet him.

“Ready?” he asked as we met in the middle of the hall.

“Ready,” I said.