Liability
Standing alone on the platform of nine and three-quarters, Lucy had never felt so alone in her entire life. Arthur had walked off to find Scorpius after she had reassured him that she was okay, insisting she would find her friends. The problem was, that Lucy didn’t have friends. Or at least not friends that wanted to see her right now.
Sure, people hung out with the young Hufflepuff, but she was sure most of it was due to Arthur threatening the students of Hogwarts school. But, when she was alone- during the Summer holidays listening to Percy screaming at Arthur, dishes crashing and tears rolling down her cheeks…Nobody was there. Nobody wrote to her over the holiday, nobody came round to check she was okay. Nobody had a second thought about her. No, Lucy was alone throughout the summer, like she always had been.
She shouldn’t have been too surprised. She was used to the loneliness that came with being Lucy Weasley. Arthur had always been the one able to make friends, able to stick up for himself. People often only spoke to her as a favour to her elder brother. When there was no need to speak to the girl, they simply wouldn’t. She wasn’t their friend, she was their charity project, their good deed for the day. She was simply a liability for being friends with Arthur Weasley.
It hurt more this summer, however. She had truly thought this time she had made friends who were truly hers within the halls of Hogwarts school. Friends who saw her as a person, and not as an extension of Arthur. People who truly wanted her friendship and not just somebody to fill the silence when nobody else was around. She had laughed, cried, held them close to her heart…Only to be forgotten once the Summer rolled in and distance settled within the cracks. It made the loneliness all that more unbearable. She had tried to search for Outlets, but Arthur was always there, stopping her from doing anything to harm herself. He told her friends it wasn't worth it. That those who care would remain, and as much as she knew he was trying to help- it just made it hurt more. Long lonely days turned into even longer, painful nights. Staring up at the ceiling while tears escaped from her eyes. The loneliness truly set in, aching in her bones and whispering in her ear.
So, standing on the platform with her trunk beside her. Lucy Weasley looked at all the faces of those who hadn’t written to her over the summer and hadn’t replied to her letters as they hugged one another, expressing their joy of reuniting. Instead, she reunited with her old friend loneliness in the solitude of an empty carriage where she and her old friend could become well acquainted once again.
