Walburga and Orion Black stood leering at all the surrounding people, seeming completely out of place in their formal black robes. Lyra's mother was an average sized woman, but she seemed to tower over all other people at times like this, her eyes piercing through everyone who dared look at her. Lyra's whole childhood she remembered not wanting to be caught being bad, because her mother would look down her nose at her, and she had hated finding the disapproval lurking in them. Walburga may not have been the most attractive of women, but she carried herself in a way that made people instinctively want to bow their head when near her, as if she demanded everyone around her to respect her, daring people to challenge her.
Too Lyra, her mother was intimidating. Whereas her father seemed to want to shrink into the corner. He hated public gatherings, so unlike his pureblood wife and family.
Currently, her parents were dropping off Lyra, Regulus, and Sirius off for Hogwarts. Regulus had separated from the family almost as soon as they had arrived, muttering a vague send off to his parents and then disappearing into the train. They hadn't acknowledged his farewell, and were just barely pretending to listen on as as Lyra voiced her own farewells.
"Lyra," Sirius muttered impatiently from beside his sister, and starts tugging her away from their parents and toward the Hogwarts Express, "C'mon."
"Sirius, am I not allowed to say bye?" Lyra muttered, nonetheless allowing her brother to pull her along.
Sirius shot her a disgruntled look and continued to pull her onward, ignoring his sisters vague protest. Lyra could tell that he was frustrated at her 'naivety' towards their clearly uninterested parents.
Sighing, she allowed Sirius to keep dragging her through the crowd, dodging wizard families, muggle parents, muttering half-hearted apologies whenever he'd accidentally run into a wizard, witch, or muggle parent. Sirius didn't mind pushing through people, he'd plow anyone down if they were in his way. And people got in his way a lot, he was definitely a Black at heart no matter how often he tried to say otherwise.
Lyra on the other hand? Not so much. Not at all, actually.
"Are you riding in the same cart as us? Or sitting by yourself again?" Sirius asked sarcastically.
She opened her mouth to give him the same answer she always had, alone. When a loud voice came from their left.
"If it isn't the great Sirius Black!" Someone yelled.
An arm winded around Lyra's shoulder and the smell of peppermint and parchment reached her nose, making it violently twitch. She hated peppermint.
"And don't think I forgot, the lovely Lyra Black," James Potter was smirking down at her, and she could feel her face light ablaze in a no-doubt scarlet blush.
Sirius bellowed out a laugh, "Now's not the time to flirt with my baby sister, James."
James smiled cheekily and threw Lyra a wink, "Now's always the time to flirt with your baby sister. Am I right, Remus?"
Lyra chuckled softly and leaned into her brothers shoulder to whisper to him, "Sirius you're older than me by a few minutes."
"But the fact remains that I am still older than you."
James Potter was Lyra's distant cousin, but then again all purebloods were related to each other in some way. He was also Sirius' best mate, and a giant flirt. He liked to playfully flirt with Lyra whenever he got the chance, apparently it bugged Sirius. But in all honesty she pretty sure that Sirius wanted her and James to get married, probably only because that would mean they would be literal brothers. Even though he knew there was no possibility of that happening.
Remus Lupin's vaguely amused voice suddenly joined the conversation, "If you say so, James."
Remus was Lyra's favourite out of all her brothers friends. His voice had a permanent calm tone, and the way he carried himself was kind of like how she herself did. He didn't want anybody to take notice of him, she didn't want anybody to take notice of her either.
She had always wanted to talk to Remus, but had never really maintained a full conversation with him. There was something about him that always caught her eye, and he was very polite, with good humor.
Remus was staring at her with his calm, soft green eyes. She found herself comparing them to the forest.
"How was your summer, Lyra?" His light brown hair was swept lightly over his forehead, falling in his eyes a bit.
"It was okay," She replied politely, "How about yours?"
Remus smiled and turned his eyes forward, "Could have been better."
Sirius ended up making his sister him and the boys in their train cart, and Peter Pettigrew joined them as well. Lyra wasn't very fond of him, she had always found him too nervous. That was the only way she could describe it. He seemed like he meant well, but she had always thought he seemed too skittish.
"So little sister, what classes did you decide to take this year?"
"Study Of Ancient Ruins and-" she paused, "I think Care Of Magical Creatures?"
"I took Study of Ancient Runes too," Sirius answers, causing Lyra to turn and give him a befuddled look. Last year Sirius had taken that class, and tried everything he had to drop it, claiming it was too confusing. Everyone made a big deal of that class, Lyra herself found it wasn't all that bad.
"Why on earth would you take that?" It was the first thing James had said since we entered the train car.
Sirius grinned mischievously at James and his sister, "I also took Muggle Studies."
She stared at him, "You're asking for our parents to send you a Howler."
Sirius continued grinning while Remus and James laughed, Peter was sitting in the corner looking out the window quietly. "Come on now, they did that last year, no need to do so again."
She scoffed, returning to reading her book, muttering, "They love their Howlers."
It was silent in their compartment. Not awkward, just silent. As if nobody knew what to say at that point in time.
'The werewolf is found worldwide. though it is believed to have originated in northern Europe. Humans turn into werewolves only when bitten,' She read. 'There is no known cure, though recent developments in potion making have to a great extent alleviated the worst symptoms. Once a month-'
"What are you reading there?"
She snapped the book shut with surprised eyes and raised them to meet the curious ones of Remus Lupin.
"Oh nothing. Just a Care Of Magical Creatures textbook. Not much fun..." She trailed off and fiddled with the pages of the book.
Remus laugh was filled with mirth, "Took that class last year, it was pretty good. I took it again this year. Kettleburn's a bit much though, I must say."
She smiled and chuckled a bit, thinking about the Care Of Magical Creatures professor, Silvanus Kettleburn. Due to the mans recklessness he only had one arm and one and half of a leg. Many incidents having something catching fire, or creatures on the loose.
"You can say that again."
Remus and Lyra chatted for a bit until she returned to her book, while Sirius and James started planning all of the shenanigans they could get up to when arriving at Hogwarts. Peter was eating all the candy he got off the trolley.
Every once in awhile she could feel Remus' eyes on her. But she didn't look up.
Sighing, she continued fiddling with the corner of the page she was on, this was going to be a terrible school year. She could feel it.
"We should change," Sirius suggested and everyone nodded in agreement.
Grabbing her robes she cleared her throat, making the four boys look at her. "Could you guys wait outside, please?"
"Oh. Oh, yeah of course, Lyra." James said and they cleared the compartment, moving into the hallway. She closed the curtains before letting a small breath escape her.
Lyra quickly stripped off her jumper and grimaced at her arm. The pale, jagged scar that twisted from her elbow up to her shoulder blade was thick and unappealing, healed years ago but never letting the skin return to its former pale, unmarred flesh from when she was young. She covered it up as much as she could manage but if anyone squinted, and looked closely at the skin, it was still noticeable.
Shrugging her robe over her body, she opened the compartment door, smiling thankfully at the boys for leaving they shuffled out of the narrow hallway and back into the compartment. The four were all changed and ready to go.
The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was filled with Sirius' and James' whispering. About what, Lyra wasn't sure. But every once in a while they'd glace at in her direction. A few times in Remus'.
Sometimes Lyra felt as if her brother had told them. But he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that too her, or the Black name, like that. The Blacks would all be driven into the dirt, never to be respected again. They'd surely disown Lyra, blame it all on her and burn her picture and name off the Blacks family tree, she would most likely never be heard from again.
As the train began to slow down, she could the usual racket from up and down the train as student scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready for departure.
Lyra raised from her seat and tucking her book under her arm, she made sure to grab her luggage before exiting the compartment. The sting of night air and smell of lake water was the first thing to answer her senses and she took a deep breath before exhaling with her eyes closed and a small smile rising to her lips.
This, is my home.