A/N I have finally recovered from the excitement of this morning (I passed my driving test) and so am finally getting the chance to write this story. It's my fem!Harry Lyra again.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs entirely to JK Rowling.
Remus and Tonks had gone home, finally, to check on Teddy. Hermione had gone with the Weasleys to St Mungo's Hospital to see Fred, and so among the few stragglers, just Lyra and Sirius remained.
Which was why they were here now. Mcgonagall was standing at the front of the Hall, with the rest of the teachers and the man Lyra wanted to see. The temporary Minister for Magic. Kingsley Shacklebolt. She stopped in the doorway, causing Sirius beside her to stop, turn and look at her incredulously.
"You're not scared of talking to him, are you Ly? After everything you've just done you're a little anxious about talking to the Minister?"
Lyra blushed, and looked at her feet nervously. Sirius' face softened and he returned to her side, slipping an arm round her waist and pulling her in for a hug. "I love you Ly" he murmured in her ear. He felt her smile as she straightened up and turned out of his embrace, and together they made their way between the tables. He kept his arm round her waist however, and she stayed close as they approached the Minister.
Kingsley turned and saw them, his face breaking into a smile.
"Hello Lyra, hello Sirius" his warm, kind voice making Lyra relax slightly. "Hello, Mi-Minister" she said, with a slight stutter. He smiled down at her. "It's Kingsley to you Lyra, even if we hadn't known each other for years I think you've earned it."
She nodded. "Hello Kingsley."
"What can I do for you today?" He asked, his attention sufficiently distracted from the teachers and their paperwork. Lyra blushed, and looked at her feet.
"I was wondering.. If I.." She paused, and Sirius intervened.
"What Ly was wondering, is if you could arrange for her to take her apparition test. She turned seventeen last July, after the tests ran at Hogwarts and only just before the Ministry fell."
Kingsley looked at the young girl who had saved everybody's life, who was still blushing and looked nothing like the warrior from two nights before.
"You don't need a test Lyra, haven't you been apparating around England all year? I'll sort out a licence for you." He turned, and beckoned to one of the Ministry workers still present in the Hall, but as the young man approached and looked absolutely star struck to be in Lyra's presence, Lyra interrupted.
"But Kingsley, I don't want just a licence. I don't want to be different, I want to have earned my licence and take the test, not just get the licence because of what I've done!"
The tall man looked at her in shock and admiration, but said "you have earned it Lyra, you've more than earned it!"
"I want to take the test Kingsley." She said, quietly, and eventually Kingsley had to concede.
"Ok, come to the Ministry tomorrow and we'll get it done quietly for you" he sighed, but knew he had made the right offer when her eyes lit up with the smile she gratefully gave him, and thanking him, she and her godfather turned and made their way out of the Hall.
That night was the first night since Lyra had broken in to the Ministry that either of the two had returned to Grimmauld Place, and so, summoning Kreacher, they finally returned home.
It was as they had left it, warm, and inviting. Kreacher set to work making dinner, and Lyra and Sirius sat down on their own for the first time in many months. Lyra concentrated on her food, not only was she anxious about her test the next day even though she knew she could apparate well, but she was terrified it was all a dream. She was scared that if she even looked at Sirius again, she would wake up back in that tent, still in fear of her life, still unaware of his survival. Still with the burden of everyone's lives on her shoulders.
Sirius however couldn't take his eyes off her face, she was there, she was alive, they were together again.
Eventually it was the next day, and together they made their way to the Ministry. It was a shambles, workers running here and there like ants scuttling across from food to their nest. The statues that had been erected were coming down and every monument, every poster, every sign of allegiance to Voldemort was ripped and torn. Instead, there was light billowing through the atrium, flooding the entire building with hope.
Lyra stuck to the shadows with Sirius, she knew it would be just her luck to get stuck and posted on to the front of the Daily Prophet just two days after becoming their golden girl again. She edged her way into the lift, and they headed up to Kingsley's office, armed with strength and resilience.
Kingsley looked up and smiled when Lyra finally entered leaving Sirius waiting outside, and introduced her to Wilkie Twycross, the apparition instructor for Hogwarts and his assistant Gregory.
Both smiled, and shook her hand eagerly, thanking her profusely for all she had done. She blushed, and thanked them for taking the time to test her, reminding them both why she was here.
Twycross briefed her on the 'Three D's', and the instructions for the test. She was to apparate to his assistant in Hosgmeade outside Madam Puddifoots, and then return to him here in Kingsley's office. "No deviations, no cheating and no delay allowed."
His colleague quickly disapparated, and after three minutes, Twycross nodded across to Lyra. Her gaze turned inward as she twisted on her heel, successfully disapparating out of the Ministers office and instead appearing in front of Gregory, who smiled at her when she arrived. He checked her for splinching and made a note in his book, before turning once more to her.
"Well Lyra, please return to Mr Twycross", he said encouragingly, smiling at her before she disapparated. Kingsley and Wilkie smiled when she returned to their presence, closely followed by Gregory. They both walked all round Lyra, before Kingsley joined her side and stood by her when Wilkie approached. He looked her in the eyes, his book in front of him.
"Congratulations, Miss Potter, you have passed."
She gasped, the air taken out of her. She hadn't been certain if she had, perhaps the time had been too long, perhaps she had unknowingly splinched, perhaps she had... Her mind had been plagued with doubts, causing her to focus harder on her return journey. But she had passed, and it was with a certificate in hand that she returned to Sirius in the corridor outside, grinning and waving the slip in his face before throwing herself in his arms.
She was free, she could go wherever, whenever, she need not fear failure again, she need not rely on others for transport..
She couldn't wait to tell Charlie, but first, to return home. It was as they were returning through the atrium that she was spotted, and quickly a crowd surrounded the two, jostling and hassling for a speech, for a smile, for a photo, for recognition, for an interview. Panic struck Lyra, and she turned to Sirius for a moment, before realising. Sirius smirked as he watched the realisation dawn in her eyes, and they both twisted on their heels, apparating away from the crowd to the solitude of home.
There was another advantage of having the licence.
She need not worry about unnecessarily facing the public. She could get out, and live her life privately, not be forced in to the public eye.
"Thank you Kingsley!"