Summary: Sirius and Lydia were summer friends. When they were sixteen, Sirius ran away and left her all alone. She's carried bitter, lonely feelings for years now. When she joins the Order and sees him again, what will she do?
Disclaimer: I don't own The Lion King, Harry Potter or any Walt Disney movie!
The Lion King
"Welcome, everyone, to the Order of the Phoenix meeting. First on our agenda is to introduce new members," was what Dumbledore began the meeting with, "We have a lovely new member, Lydia McCarter."
A woman stood up and smiled, "Hello, everybody."
"Lydia will be handling missions now instead of Adelaide. Adelaide moved up to handle new recruitments, so Lydia is taking her place. Anything you need to say, Lydia?"
She grinned widely, "Well it's nice to be here, and I hope to get to know you all very well in the future." She had an accent, Irish—Dublin.
Sirius, in the back row with James and Lily, furrowed his eyebrows, "I know her."
"Doesn't surprise me," Lily said, "You've probably shagged her."
James sighed and said, "What Lily means is that you know an awful lot of women, Padfoot."
Lily smiled and nodded, but Sirius shook his head, "No, I know her from something else. She looks so familiar, her accent…" James and Lily looked at him expectantly, and he snapped when he finally figured it out, "I grew up with Lydia!"
"You grew up with her?"
"Yeah! She lived on the same street as me!"
"What about her accent?" James questioned.
"I don't know where she ended up being all Irish. She sounded like that since I first met her."
"Why don't we know her?" Lily asked, "Didn't she go to Hogwarts?"
"Her parents sent her to Beauxbatons. I only knew her during the summer and those five years before Hogwarts. We hung out a lot. Then I… I ran away."
"You haven't seen her since then?"
"No… She looks exactly the same though. She hasn't changed from when we were seven years old, when we met."
Sirius gazed at her and smiled to himself. Her hair was the same. It was still the exact color of a lion's mane. While it used to be wavy and untamable though, and probably down to the small of her back, it was straight and sleek now, cut to her shoulders.
Her body had, of course, curved out a bit. She used to be tall and lanky with long legs, but now she was tall with curves and good-looking long legs. Her eyes, a warm, merry coffee brown color, were judging, per usual. She had always been like that, so arbitrating and critiquing.
She had always been so upfront and straight forward with him. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind to anyone. She was so outgoing, and exactly like her eyes, judging. She was mean with it, and it was a sad thing. He knew it used to make her sad in the oddest way.
"So you haven't even seen her since you were sixteen?" James asked.
Sirius nodded, "I'm glad to see her again… I… I've missed her." Lily raised her eyebrows at him, and Sirius shrugged, "I didn't realize it until now. She was a big part of my life growing up."
"Lastly," Dumbledore finished off the meeting, "You all have new missions and agendas. Go to Lydia for that. She'll be in the main office handing out rosters in a while."
Sirius then noticed that Lydia had vanished. He assumed she was in the main office of their Headquarters, getting rosters ready to hand out.
"Meeting dismissed."
Everyone filed out into the main office. Lydia immediately began to give out small papers with their mission information on it to the right people.
"Here you go," she said to the man in front of him—Fabian Prewett. She moved to Sirius and said, "Sirius Black… Here you go…"
"Lydia," he paused her before she went on to James.
"Yes?" she asked hurriedly.
"I… It's good to see you again. You remember me, don't you?"
Her smiled was sad, though her eyes surveyed him with anger, "Yes… And James Potter, here you are."
"What'd you get, mate?" James asked while Lydia moved on without another word. Sirius finally looked at the paper he was given.
"I'm going to Glasgow, next Monday."
"I'm heading to Cardiff this Friday… Two months," he said sadly. Sirius knew he hated to be away from Lily for that long.
"Mine's three…" Sirius said, "We're supposed to be catching four different Dark Wizards."
"I'm finding different hiding places."
James sighed and they walked off towards Lily, who was waiting anxiously for news. While they walked into the other room, they passed Benjy Fenwick, who had just joined the Order a few weeks ago. He was asking Lydia about his own mission—or lack thereof.
"Are you sure I don't have a mission?" Benjy asked disappointedly.
"I'm sure," Lydia nodded, "Sorry, Benjy."
"This isn't quite fair! I joined to help, I joined for the cause!"
They weren't able to hear the rest of the conversation once they reached Lily—and all of the other spouses, partners, friends and family members waiting to hear about their men's missions.
"What'd you get?" Lily asked them both.
"Two months in Cardiff." James told her.
"Oh…" she sighed, and a tear leaked down her cheek. James hugged her tightly and she asked, "When do you leave?"
"Friday… I'm so sorry, Lils."
"It's not your fault. You're defending us. You're helping. I… I should be used to this by now, but… It's just hard."
"I know, Lily…"
Sirius watched the scene with sad eyes, but turned when he felt somebody watching them. He caught Lydia's sad gaze, but she turned away immediately. However, he heard her speaking with someone after that, and listened intently.
"Benjy, do you have anybody at home?"
"No," he said, "I just joined a couple of weeks ago after the Death Eaters got to my parents. I joined to avenge them…"
"I… I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault. I just wish I had a mission. I'd love to do something proactive. You know, really do something?"
"Yeah," Lydia said softly, "Hold on…"
Sirius watched as Lydia went to her desk and wrote something down very quickly. She looked around shiftily and then looked back to James and Lily, hugging now. After writing something more down, she walked over to them, right past Sirius and took the card out of James's hands.
"What?" James asked, bewildered as she ripped it up, "Do I have a different mission?"
She nodded and handed him a different slip of paper. Though she was unsmiling, Sirius noticed a glint in her eyes as Lily and James read the cards, and both of their faces lightened up.
"Thank you so much!" Lily thanked her, giving her a big hug. Lydia hugged back and nodded, then smiled at them. She put her finger to her lips, as in to keep it a secret, and then walked back to Benjy, giving him a different paper. Benjy's face lit up as well, and he hugged her ecstatically.
Once he broke away from her, Lydia walked quickly back to her desk and sat down. She began writing on a piece of parchment immediately, not stopping even when Sirius approached her.
"May I help you, Mr. Black?" she asked, not looking up.
"Lydia… What was that you just did?"
"I don't know what you're talking about…" she said in a monotone voice.
Sirius knew better than to trust her voice, "Lydia…"
"Yes?"
He didn't respond, but she didn't look up like he wanted her to. "Look at me, please," he requested.
"Why?" she asked, "I'm busy, Sirius…"
Sirius was sick of these games. He took her chin kindly, but firmly, and lifted it to look at him. Her eyes were happy, but they soon turned dark and upset, annoyed.
"Lydia…" he sighed.
"Why don't you sit down?" she motioned to the chair in front of her desk. Sirius sat in it and dragged it closer.
"How've you been?"
"Fine…"
"Why… Why are you being so cold with me?"
Lydia frowned, "I… Sirius, you left me all alone when we were sixteen."
"It was for the better, Lydia."
"Was it?"
"Yes!" he cried, but softly, "I… I couldn't stand them anymore, they drove me insane! It just got to be too much, you've got to understand."
"I understand," she nodded, and shrugged, "Trust me, I do. I get why you left and I know that you had to do it."
"Then why are you still mad?"
Lydia looked up at him sharply and glared at him, her eyes full of resentment, "Sirius, you didn't even say goodbye!"
"I… I'm sure I did."
"You didn't. We were talking outside one day and you were saying how you were sure you were going to run away… Then your mother called you in! Sirius, the day after that, I didn't see you, or the day after or any day after that! You just left me, and you didn't even say anything!"
"I… I meant to say goodbye…"
"Well you never did. You just left me, no farewells, nothing. After a few weeks of not seeing you, I figured you'd run away finally, and I was heartbroken. I knew I'd never see you again, Sirius, with us going to different schools."
"You're seeing me now."
"So? Sirius, it's been four years without you. I never got to get a full closure with you and me never… I just… The last time I saw you, you were filled with such resentment for your family and there was nothing I could do. Think of how that feels."
Sirius sighed, "Lydia, I'm so sorry. You know I didn't mean to."
She sighed, "I know."
"I'm sorry. How many times do I have to apologize before you forgive me? Because whether it is twice more or two million times more, I'll do it."
Lydia smiled weakly and sighed, "I forgive you… I could never stay mad at you."
"You never could before, still can't."
Lydia smiled, "Why don't you take me out to dinner tonight? Before you leave for that mission?"
He nodded, "Of course. You'll know everything about me now, huh? Where I'm at and everything."
"I wouldn't say everything… but most things."
Sirius laughed and kissed her cheek, then picked her hand up in his, "I'll pick you up at six, okay?"
She nodded, "Goodbye, Sirius."
He squeezed her hand and dropped it, "Not yet."
