October 7th, 1979

Marlene was shaking as she prepared to tell Sirius her news. It was neither good news nor bad. It was simply news. Her uterus now had an occupancy of one. She was pacing around the Order headquarters. James was playing with his snitch while Lily leaned her head in his lap.

"I'm not sure why you're panicking, Marls," James said lackadaisically.

"Might have something to do with the fact that we're talking about Sirius Orion Black, Prongs," Marlene snapped. "It's not like I'm Lily and he's... Well, you!"

"You might as well be," Lily smiled at her. "C'mon, love..."

"We're not even in an official relationship, Lily!" Marlene ran her hands through her blonde hair. "It's not like if you two get pregnant! I mean... You're married, so it's really nothing for you, but for me? For us?"

"For us?" Sirius' voice came from the doorway. He had an arrogant smile that Marlene was about to wipe right off of his handsome face.

"We'll just leave you alone," Lily said as she leapt to her feet. "C'mon, James..."

"No, it's fine," Sirius shrugged as he strode over to Marlene. "I'm sure it's nothing important."

Marlene couldn't help herself. She started laughing harder than she ever had until tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was no longer laughing, but sobbing.

"Marley..." Sirius said gently. "Oh, Marls, what's the matter?"

"Oh... Oh..." She collapsed into his arms. "I'm... I'm... P-pregnant..."

And in that moment, Sirius Black's world stopped. Everything he knew had changed. He didn't say another word, he simply walked out of the headquarters and around the corner to the nearest jewelers to buy a ring. Everyone else had rushed down the aisle because of the war. Why couldn't they?


June 6th, 1994

Sirius' breath caught in his throat as he saw the startled girl standing in the doorway with her wand out. She had a split lip, and her eyes were wide open, but there was no denying whose daughter she was. She looked even more like Marlene than he had ever imagined. She was only there for a moment, however, as she quickly darted back down the hallway. He deflated as he watched her retreat.

Lyra's feet were moving faster than her head. She had already run to the castle, but she didn't care. She'd just assaulted a professor, granted a professor who was conspiring to murder a student, but still a professor! Lyra scrambled up out of the Whomping Willow and scrambled toward the castle, coughing and spluttering as she struggled to consume air. She was never, ever going on another stupid escapade with Potter and Friends ever again. She wasn't built for this! She didn't care how many hippogriffs were executed.

As Lyra rushed into the castle, she saw the oddly comforting swoop of all too familiar black robes and rushed after them. As she rounded the corner, she stumbled and knocked into a coat of arms knocking it over with a huge crash. Professor Snape spun on his heels and saw her struggling to get up to her feet.

"Lyra?" He quickly made his way to her side and helped her to her feet. "What are you doing out?"

"Professor!" Lyra burst into tears. "Oh! I'm so sorry... I should have l-listened when you told me to stay away from P-Potter!"

Snape froze as once again Lyra Black threw her arms around him and started to cry into his robes. He never quite knew how to react when she did this, but he always eventually softened as he listened to her crying. It had been a rough year for her; for him, too.

"It's Sirius Black, sir," Lyra whimpered. "P-Professor Lup-p-pin has been helping him! They were hugging in the Shrieking Shack and Potter and Granger and- and-"

Snape pulled the girl off of her. He looked her in the eye and said only one word. It was the only word he could muster up.

"Where?"


March 12th, 1980

Marlene was showing now as she sat on the sofa next to Sirius. He was reading her a story in French, that she didn't understand but enjoyed listening to all the same. Like all upper class, pureblood families, Sirius had been forced to become fluent in the language. Though Marlene didn't speak a word, it soothed the baby inside of her. The baby always stopped kicking when her father was speaking.

They had had a quick marriage that was executed by Frank Longbottom only a few months ago. Marlene had always imagined a huge fairytale wedding, like James and Lily had, but somehow, standing across from Sirius, making a vow to one another for the rest of their lives, felt exactly how it should have been. They weren't pomp and circumstance in their relationship or love for one another, so neither was their marriage.

Now, three of the female members of the Order were all expecting. Lily, Alice and Marlene had formed a coalition of hormones, as Sirius referred to it. Marlene was furthest along. She hated it, because she felt fat. Sirius insisted she wasn't. He insisted that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on and always would be.

He'd bought them a house in the country-side with his uncle's inheritance. They'd decorated a nursery, bought little magic toys and onesies. He'd built a crib.. Or tried to until he gave up and used magic. They were going to have a family. They were young, terrified and fighting a war, but they were going to have a family.

This was his chance at redemption. It was his opportunity to break the cycle of his damaged childhood. Sirius wanted this more than anything, but the pressure was terrifying. It made him wake up in the middle of the night in sweats, imagining what he'd do if his daughter came home in green and silver after her first year. He hated the idea. He hated it more than he hated the stupid tapestry in his family home with its mocking insignia and toujours pur. But would raging at his child start the cycle again? Would Blacks forever be bound to the cunning house?

He had no idea. Instead, he continued to read to Marlene in french. He pushed the thought of anything wrong out of his mind. Nothing could be wrong.


June 6th, 1994

Lyra's blue eyes were back. That was the first thing Sirius noticed as his school nemesis appeared in the doorway. It was Lyra's eyes peering at him from behind the billowy black robes. She had run off to get him, or maybe he had found her and dragged her back. Sirius refused to believe that the former was more likely than the latter, but as he looked at the betrayal on Harry's face, a sinking realization washed over him. He leapt to his feet and started to step around Snape to get to Lyra, but found Snape's wand jabbing into his throat.

"Take another step," Snape snarled. "Give me a reason, Black. I beg of you."

The wand dug deeper into the delicate flesh of Sirius' neck. Lyra's mouth ran dry. She glanced over at Hermione who had clapped a hand over her mouth. Harry was shooting daggers at her with his emerald eyes behind his round glasses.

"Severus, you're making a mistake," Lupin said. He was trying to appear calm and collected, but looked to be in an absolute panicked frenzy. "Sirius isn't here to kill Harry! He's innocent, he-"

Lyra's head jolted towards her Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Her eyes met her biological father's sunken in, pale grey eyes and she felt a shock of electricity course through her veins. She glanced back at Harry and then towards Lupin. That wasn't possible. People had witnessed him... He was convicted of murder... He had killed Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles... He had sold out Harry's parents. Madam Rosmerta's voice echoed in her head again, "Of all the people to go bad..."

"You're mad... You're absolutely mad," Snape growled. "I told Dumbledore it wasn't possible... I told him there was no such thing as a tame werewolf..."

"Your grudge is worth putting an innocent man back in Azkaban?" Lupin said with as much conviction as he could muster up. Lyra felt like she might pass out. Snape's wand was still poking into Sirius Black's neck. Sirius hadn't moved, but he hadn't taken his eyes off of Lyra either. It was like he was trying to drink in as much of her as he could possibly see.

"Professor Snape!" Hermione's voice came from beside Harry. She sounded small and desperate. "Just hear them out! Hear what they have to say-"

"Miss Granger, for once in your pathetic existence, would you kindly hold your tongue?" Snape spat each word as though it tasted bitter on his tongue.

"But if there was a mistake, sir, if he was imprisoned wrongly?" Her eyes fell on Lyra. She silently pleaded with Sirius Black's daughter to believe her, to believe Lupin, to believe that Sirius could be innocent.

"Do not talk about what you don't understand," Snape snapped. "Oh, I had hoped I'd be the one to catch you, Black... Victory is so sweet..."

Lyra felt like the world was spinning. There was so much information being thrown around, so much bitterness, so much confusion. She kept glancing between everyone in the room, until she locked eyes with Sirius Black.

"Lyra..." He whispered. "Lyra, believe me..."

"Don't you dare speak to her," Snape hissed. Sirius Black's eyes flickered up to Snape's and flashed with such hatred that Lyra could feel it vibrate off of the pair of them.

"She is my daughter, Snivillus, I'll speak to her if I please," Sirius growled.

"Don't call him that!" Lyra finally spoke up. "Don't call me that!" All eyes fell back to her.

"Lyra, he says he's innocent" Harry said with such confidence that she nearly believed him.

It was a chorus of her name for a few minutes as all of the voices overlapped. Snape tried to convince her to step back behind him, or to leave. Sirius was begging her to trust him. Harry was pleading for Sirius, and Hermione was simply pleading for some sort of assurance in the authority figures that surrounded her. There was talk about rats, animagi, and plenty of concepts that swirled around Lyra's head in one big heap of confusion.

"Shut up," Lyra said softly to try and get the voices to stop from enveloping her. "I SAID SHUT UP!"


May 20th, 1980

Sirius had never loved another person as much as he loved the tiny, sleeping human in his arms as he paced around the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, the only medical place that was trusted now, while Marlene slept off the difficult labour from the evening before. She had a tuft of blonde hair on her head and perfect pink lips. She was everything that Sirius had ever wanted in the world. She was uncorrupted innocence.

They had chosen the name weeks ago. Lyra Cassiopeia Black. She would be the most loved baby. She would have whatever she wanted. Sirius wanted to give her the world, the moon and the stars. He had had the night sky painted on the ceiling of her nursery for that purpose. Lyra was perfect, of that much Sirius was certain.

"Sirius," Madame Pomfrey's voice came from the doorway. "You should get some rest while you still can..."

"If it's just the same to you," Sirius said as he watched a tiny, perfect fist wriggle its way out of the swaddling blanket, "I think I'll just watch her for now."

"You'll have a lifetime to do that," Madame Pomfrey smiled as she watched the glow of fatherhood spread across Sirius like the rising sun.


June 6th, 1994

Everyone stood staring at Lyra who was now shaking with a mixture of rage, fear and confusion. Harry stepped towards her, his eyes pleading with her to do something, anything, to fix this situation. Snape had turned to face her, with rage apparent on every inch of his face.

"Excuse me?" He looked at her with an expression that had once been unfathomable. This was Professor Snape, Severus Snape, head of Slytherin house, and Lyra's, up until recently, favourite teacher.

"I said," Lyra swallowed the fear that started to encapsulate her throat. "Shut up... Sir."

"Do you realize how quickly I could have you all expelled?" Snape growled. "How quickly these two bumbling fools could be kissed by dementors?" He gestured to Lupin and Sirius who were now staring at her with expressions that appeared somewhere between terrified and awestruck.

"So do it," Lyra said quietly. "What's stopping you?"

Snape looked like Lyra had slapped him across the face. He took a step back and narrowed his eyes at her. She was no longer innocent in his eyes. He raised his hand as though he was about to slap her, but before he could, three voices shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!"

Snape, and his wand, went flying. He was knocked unconscious.

"You. Bloody. Idiots!" Lyra glared. "You just assaulted a teacher!"

"We... We attacked..." Hermione looked very pale, as though she might pass out from the reality of what she'd just done.

"A TEACHER!" Lyra shouted. Her eyes were wide with fright and adrenaline. Her slight frame was trembling. Her matted hair only added to the air of frenzy about her. All in all, she had never, ever been so terrified in her life. Threatened with expulsion and dementors, Lyra figured this was exactly the sort of "dangerous behaviour" Ted and Andromeda had hoped she'd avoid. Her eyes glanced over to Sirius Black. Oh Merlin, she thought, I've stepped in it now. I should have never asked to come. I should have spent the evening with Tracey.

"Well, I wasn't going to let him knock you unconscious!" Harry rebutted. "Blimey, Black, a little thanks?"

"Thanks?" Lyra stared at him. "You want me to thank you? I could've taken the hit if it meant us getting out of here without being murdered by two raving lunatics! You better be right about him," She jerked her head towards Sirius Black who looked wide-eyed and tensed at the prospect of Snape slapping Lyra.

"Yes," Lupin said pensively from beside Sirius. "About time we give you some proof."

"ABOUT TIME?" Lyra shrieked. "ABOUT BLOODY TIME?"

"Lyra," Sirius said in a strained voice. "Calm down..."

"Calm down?" Lyra turned to him. "You want me to calm down? NONE OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING MAKES ANY SENSE, AND YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL ME TO CALM. DOWN?!"

"Well, I am your-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Lyra shouted at him. "Don't you dare use your paternity as an excuse for giving me orders, you... you filthy... mutt."

"I don't have time for this," Sirius turned away from her, muttering about twelve years in prison only to get lip from a child. She had no clue how it stung to hear her call him a mutt. She sounded so much like Marlene, who had used that very same term when angry, "Give me that rat," He said to Ron. His bony hand was shaking as he reached out.

"What are you going to do with him?" Ron asked. His eyes shifted from Sirius Black to Lupin, and to Lyra who looked tense enough to pounce with her claws out at any moment.

"Force him to show himself," Lupin replied. "It won't hurt him if he really is just a rat."

Lyra stood in the doorway and watched as the rat was handed over. Sirius helped himself to Snape's wand. He and Lupin shot a blinding flash of light at him, and then suddenly, the rat that had once been stalked by Lyra's cat, by Hermione's cat, turned into a short man with a large bald-patch and unkept colourless hair.

"Merlin's beard," Lyra whispered with wide eyes. She found herself stepping towards Harry and Hermione for solidarity, and also because she feared she might pass out.

"Hello, Peter," Professor Lupin smiled though it didn't reach his eyes. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"S-Sirius... R-Remus... My friends, my dear friends..." Peter Pettigrew squeaked. Lyra reached for her wand and kept a firm grip on the handle. He twitched and fidgeted much like a rodent, even though he'd changed back into human form. He looked absolutely cowardly.

"Care to clarify a few things, Peter?" Lupin raised an eyebrow. "You might have missed the finer things while you were squeaking. My question is, why would an innocent man spend twelve years as a rat?"

"Innocent, but scared!" The balding man squealed. "What if... If Voldemort's supporters came after me... Because I put h-him, their best spy, their best man, in prison? In Azkaban?"

"How dare you," Sirius looked ready to attack. His teeth were bared and he looked terrifying. "Me? A spy for him? For Voldemort? HE KILLED MY WIFE! HE KILLED THE MOTHER OF MY CHILD!"

Lyra could have sworn she saw him start to froth at the mouth like a rabid dog.

"How can you say such a thing..." Peter wiped his face which was beading with sweat. It wasn't particularly warm, so Lyra assumed he must have been getting nervous. His nerves only made her feel more nauseous and dizzy. Her insides ached. Snape would have let an innocent man lose his soul to dementors.

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Sirius stepped foward. "Because why would Voldemort ever dream of a weak, talentless thing like you being something so vital, so important? Must have been your proudest moment, eh, Pete? Being able to tell the Dark Lord himself you could hand him the Potters."

Lyra looked over at Harry. He had tensed entirely. She could see the muscles of his jaw twitching.

"Why did you suggest it?" Lyra butted in, ignoring Pettigrew's mumblings, "What made you suggest the change?"

"Your mother had just been killed," Sirius said quietly. He couldn't meet her eyes. "I was feeling reckless and bold."

"So you were willing to risk me to save Harry and his parents?" Lyra frowned. "How very noble of you."

"That wasn't- I didn't-" Sirius stumbled over his words. "I didn't want you in danger, Lyra. I wanted you safe. Being secret-keeper wasn't keeping you safe, it was putting you in danger."

"But acting as the decoy, leaving me potentially orphaned, that would be fine? That would be safe?" Lyra snapped.

"At least you weren't actually orphaned," Harry said dryly.

"Touché," Lyra acknowledged with a curt nod.

"I owe you both more apologies than I can give at this moment," Sirius said hoarsely. "Believe me, I never betrayed your parents, Harry... I would have died before I betrayed them..." He turned to Lyra and said, "Forgive me..."

Harry and Lyra exchanged looks. Lyra swallowed a lump that had started to tighten her throat. They made a silent agreement with their azure and emerald eyes before the pair of them turned to Sirius and nodded their belief.

Peter Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though they had just given the go-ahead to his executioner.

"Shall we kill him together, Remus?" Sirius turned to Lupin.

"Yes, I think so," Lupin said with a dark look overtaking his scarred face.

"I was your... Your friend!" Peter gasped. He looked desperate, crazed and scared for his life, as he should have been.

"SO WERE THEY!" Sirius shouted.

"Harry, Harry, your parents... Your father... He wouldn't have wanted me dead," Peter turned and begged from his knees at Harry's feet. "You look just like your father... And you... You, Lyra... Like your mother..."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THEM!" Sirius roared. He lunged forward and was held back by Lupin's arm. "HOW DARE YOU FACE THEM AND SPEAK OF JAMES AND MARLENE IN FRONT OF THEM!"

"They wouldn't have wanted me killed," Peter whispered. "They would have understood... Shown me merc-" As he reached for Lyra's robes, she kicked his hands away.

"It's a shame we never had the chance to meet them then, isn't it?" Lyra sneered. "I do not believe in mercy for traitors," Lyra then invoked a term she'd found in an old text about Salazar Slytherin and early wizarding law, "Lex talionis. An eye for an eye, Pettigrew."

With that, the man broke into tears. He cowered on the floor, sobbing like an overgrown child. Nothing had ever disgusted Lyra like the sight of the balding mess of a man before her.

"What could I have done? I was never brave like you, Remus and James... He forced me... You know who made me do-"

"Don't lie!" Sirius' voice echoed around the room. "It was a year! You'd been passing information to him for a year! IT WAS YOUR FAULT MARLENE'S PARENTS WERE FOUND! YOUR FAULT SHE DIED! YOUR FAULT JAMES AND LILY WERE MURDERED!"

"Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?" Peter gasped for air.

"Only innocent lives, Peter!" The rage in Sirius' expression mirrored the blood that boiled in Lyra's veins. Lyra clenched her fists so tightly that she felt her skin start to tear as her nails bit into her palms.

"You don't understand," Pettigrew sobbed. "I would have been killed! I would have-"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY THEM!" Sirius bellowed. Lupin and Sirius squared their stance. They had their wands raised towards Pettigrew.

"Oh, Peter," Lupin said softly. "You should have known if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. So long, Wormtail."

Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned away, but Lyra kept her eyes glued to him. She wanted to see the life taken from the man that had robbed so many of theirs. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"Do it," Lyra said cooly. "Kill him." She was blinded with rage, anger and grief as she wondered what her life might have been like had Sirius not been imprisoned.

"No, wait," Harry said. He threw himself in front of Pettigrew and faced the wands. "You can't kill him."

"Harry," Lyra hissed. "Haven't you been listening, you twit? He's the reason your parents are-"

"I know what he did, Black," Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Listen, if he dies... You'll both be killers and... I just... My dad wouldn't have wanted that. I don't know about Marlene or whatever, but I can't let you become killers just because of him."

"Oh, oh thank you," Peter wailed as he tossed himself at Harry's feet.

"I'm not doing this for you," Harry sneered. The wands were lowered. "He deserves Azkaban, and, Sirius, you deserve to be free."

Lyra's rage flashed briefly hotter than it had before, and then simmered down to a rolling boil. He wouldn't be dead. He would be imprisoned. Sirius would go free. Lyra suddenly heard Andromeda's voice singing lullabies in her head. She heard Ted reading Babbity Rabbity. She remembered Dora building snow castles with her in the backyard during Christmas holidays... A life of Sirius might have looked very different to the childhood she had been able to enjoy... Would she have known Andromeda and Ted? Would they have been included? Would she have wound up in Slytherin?

As the group of them made it down the hall, Ron, Lupin and Pettigrew shackled together, while Snape was levitated by Sirius, Lyra hung just behind Harry and Sirius with Hermione.

"I'm never going anywhere with you lot again," Lyra whispered to Hermione as she stared at the back of her biological father and Harry.

"I said that to those two once," Hermione smirked. "At least it wasn't anything overtly life threatening this time..."

"This time," Lyra rolled her eyes. "Only a convict, a werewolf and an assaulted professor threatening to expel us all."

"Happens once a year," Hermione teased. Lyra simply shook her head. She didn't find the joke that funny, but Hermione let out a little giggle out of nerves.

"Turning Pettigrew in will mean you're free," Harry said abruptly to Sirius in front of Lyra.

"Yes..." Sirius said. He glanced over his shoulder at Lyra who had fallen silent once more. "But I'm... I'm your godfather. I don't know if you've heard that, but er- your parents wanted me to be your guardian if anything happened to them... I'll understand if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle... But er... once my name's cleared, if you wanted a different home..."

Lyra frowned. Harry broke into a wide smile and had hastily agreed to live with Sirius. She swallowed her discontent. Her cheeks burned with a blush. He had asked Harry to live with him before he'd asked her. Maybe he didn't want her to live with him... Not that she was sure she wanted to, but it was the principle of the thing.

"You want to?" Sirius broke into his first true smile that Lyra had seen on his face. "Blimey, alright... Three bedrooms, then. Yeah, we'll have to have three bedrooms... A proper family."

Lyra inhaled sharply. Oh. He wasn't going to ask her at all. He simply assumed her stance.

"I already have a bedroom," Lyra said quietly. And a proper family, she thought, but didn't have the courage to say aloud. Sirius' smile faltered for a moment.

"Of course you do," He said. "Of course. I just thought... No, er... Never mind, Lyra... Of course. I'm sorry... I should have-"

"It's fine," Lyra said stiffly. "I'd like to visit you..." She avoided his eyes until they got out of the narrow tunnel. Visiting was clearly not the purpose of the third bedroom. As they emerged, a cloud shifted and they were all bathed in moonlight.

"Hermione..." Lyra whispered. "A convict... An assaulted teacher and..." The pair of them looked at each other horrified and said in unison, "A werewolf."

"Run," Sirius whispered. "Run. Now."

Lyra started to back away, towards the castle, but tripped over one of the roots. She let out a scream of pain as her ribs shot with the wounds from the Whomping Willow before. Her terrified eyes caught sight of Lupin starting to transform. This was it. Her stint of allegiance with the Gryffindor house was done. It wasn't enough that she had been stupid enough to think she could get away with sneaking out of the castle with them, oh no, she had to sneak out of the castle the night that this happened.

"RON!" Harry screamed as he lunged towards his best friend, chained to the transforming werewolf. Lyra struggled to get to her feet. She watched her biological father struggle with Harry.

"HARRY, RUN!" Sirius bellowed. He transformed into his animagus, the bear-like dog from before, and started to wrestle with the werewolf. Professor Snape was still unconscious. Lyra suddenly felt a wave of guilt and frustration. He would have been at least somewhat helpful in this situation if he were only awake. There was a struggle as Pettigrew used the transformation to turn into his own animagus and bolt away into the night.

"SIRIUS!" Lyra shouted. "He's transformed!" The dog turned its head to look at her, just in time for him to be swiped at by a clawed paw. There was a squeal of a wounded dog and Lyra's heart started to pound harder than she had expected. "Sirius?" She scrambled over the roots of the Whomping Willow towards the wounded dog. Before she could get there, the dog had pulled itself back up on its feet and chased after the werewolf into the forest.

Lyra could vaguely hear Hermione and Harry discussing the Weasley boy beside her, but she didn't care. She could still make out the yelping of a dog in pain in the night. As though a biological switch inside of her shifted, Lyra suddenly had millions of questions about sugar quills and baby photos... She wanted to know about her mother, her father, their relationship, if they'd been in love, if he could ever forgive her for being in Slytherin... If he died, if he was fatally wounded, she'd never know.

"SIRIUS!"

Harry noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye. He jerked his head around and saw Lyra half-running, half-limping towards the forest with her mess of blonde hair flying behind her.

"Black!" Harry called after her. "Bloody hell." He and Hermione exchanged looks over Ron as they started to chase after her. He heard what sounded like a struggle and another yelp of pain. This time, it wasn't a dog; it was a human.

Lyra had seen the dog transform back into a human; her father. She threw herself with full force towards her father as he hunched over, visibly injured on all fours. Of course, I'll have the third bedroom. Of course, I'll come stay with you. Please don't die, Lyra imagined herself saying to him not moments before. Her distraction in her thoughts meant that she didn't notice the steep decline of the terrain as it reached the lake's edge. She lost her footing and tumbled down the eroded earth and landing hard against the stony shore. She let out a yelp of pain, and struggled to pull herself towards Sirius.

"Lyra..." Sirius looked over at her. Her lip had re-split during the fall and she had a trickle of blood sliding down her chin. He crawled towards her. "Baby girl..." His voice sounded more tender than it ever had.

It was then that the icy cold started to make goosebumps appear on their exposed skin. Lyra looked around, her vision suddenly clouded, as she made out at least a hundred dark figures.

"No," Sirius' voice moaned. "No, please..."

"Hermione, think of something happy!" Harry's voice shouted.

That was the last thing Lyra heard before her vision went entirely black, and she heard her godmother telling her 'Choose. It's him or us.'


A/N: Sorry this took so long! Haha... A few brief flashbacks will be included in the chapters to come as well. Anyway, the rat's out of the bag. Lyra's there and back, there and back, running I think is pretty in tune with who she is as a person. She's kind of always dancing on the edge of being one way or the other. She's fickle and stubborn, which makes her hilariously indecisive even when it's dangerous. Like "OH GOOD, ONE RESPONSIBLE ADULT. Oops, turns out he's not responsible at all. TRY AGAIN! Well, shit."

I hope you enjoyed this chapter... Please leave a review and let me know! Follow/Fave too, if the spirit so moves you! You guys are the greatest, and I really am thankful that you've all put in the energy to follow this story and read it! :) Thanks so much, xo Sophie