A/N: Sorry for the wait! I've just started working my summer job full time, but there's definitely more of this story to come! Thank you all for your continued support. It means loads and loads.


June 6th, 1994

Lyra was curled up by the fireplace in Andromeda's living room with Calypso fast asleep on her lap. Ted was reading her "The Fountain of Fair Fortune," while the smell of Andromeda's baking filled the house. Everything was bathed in light, and even though she felt cold, it had the illusion of being quite warm. In the kitchen, Lyra could see Andromeda laughing and chatting away with a blonde woman whose face Lyra couldn't quite make out. Lyra wanted to wave them over but her body felt stiff and heavy with sleep, so she listened to Ted's story instead. They'll come to me, Lyra thought. They love me.

"Only one can bathe in the fountain of-" Ted's voice suddenly changed into one that made the hairs on Lyra's neck. "Black had bewitched them. It was clearly the work of a very artful confundus charm."

Lyra felt the warmth of Calypso on her lap drift away. She looked at Ted whose mouth was still moving as he read from The Tales of Beedle the Bard, but the words he was saying didn't make any sense.

"It will be hard enough to decide which of us will..." Ted's voice was back but it sounded like a faded memory and changed once more, "...seem to think he was innocent..." Ted was saying with a smile on his face as he flipped the page. Lyra felt a cool breeze that she didn't recognize from the home. The smell of baking was replaced by cold, medicinal herbs.

"What most surprised me was his daughter's involvement. As someone from my house, I was astonished she had joined in the brigade with Potter and his friends... While Potter has always tested boundaries... Miss Black was very careful about her loyalties."

Lyra's childhood home suddenly faded to darkness. Her breathing picked up as the voice from her dream turned nightmare didn't go away. It only got louder.

"The boy has been foolish, but we shall see about the rest..." A voice that Lyra had only heard on Andromeda's wizarding radio said.

Her eyes flickered open and she took in the sight of a stone ceiling comprised of gothic arches and as she tilted her head to the side she saw Hermione and Harry laid down on cots beside her. Everything ached and her mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls.

"What amazes me most is the way the dementors behaved... You haven't any idea what made them head back to their posts?"

"No, by the time I arrived, Minister, they were heading back. Black, and the students were all unconscious."

Lyra tried to shift as quietly in her bed as she could. Her head was spinning, and it took a while for her to process what had happened. She winced as she felt the sharp jab of pain hit her ribs. Lyra glanced over to her side and got a better look of Harry and Hermione.

Never again would she sneak out with those three, help them or do anything overtly courteous for them ever again, Lyra swore internally as she struggled to lift herself up on her elbow. Never. EVER. Again. Lyra let out a loud grunt of pain and Hermione's head whipped around. She pressed her finger against her lips, but was quickly blocked by Madame Pomfrey.

"You'll puncture a lung if you keep that up, Miss Black," Madame Pomfrey said sharply. She thrust forward a single dosage flask and insisted that Lyra drink the vile smelling potion inside. Begrudgingly, she did so but made a face at the taste. "Yes, well, that's the cost of healing two broken ribs. Next time, don't sneak out of the castle after dark."

"Potter," Madame Pomfrey spun around just as Lyra herself was noticing that he was standing up from the bed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Going to see the headmaster," Harry replied. Lyra shot Hermione a questioning look, but the best she could manage was a shrug of the shoulders.

"Oh, dear boy," Madame Pomfrey's voice was suddenly softer, gentler, like she was trying to lull him back to sleep. She placed her hand delicately on Lyra's shoulder and squeezed lightly. It was a gesture that Andromeda had done only in moments when things seemed very grave in their lives together, "It's all right. Black is locked away now... He'll be receiving a dementor's kiss any moment now."

Lyra choked on the second vial of potion that had been thrust into her hands and coughed it up all across the bed as Harry shouted, "WHAT?"

Hermione and Harry were both leaping to their feet, Lyra coughed up some more of her potion. Her eyes watered as she struggled for air and saw that the Minister of Magic and Severus Snape had entered the Hospital Wing. She swung her legs outside of her bed. This was bad. This was terrible. This was... Exactly the sort of thing that happens when you sneak around with Gryffindors, a voice that sounded eerily like Tracey's sneered in her head.

"Harry, my boy, what's the matter?" Cornelius Fudge said. Lyra wiped her chin with the back of her hand and wiped away the healing solution as she gaped at the Minister of Magic. "Poppy, why aren't they in bed? Have they had any chocolate?"

"Listen," Harry said urgently. "Sirius Black is innocent! Petter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw them both tonight! Don't let Sirius do that... That thing!"

"Harry, you're very confused," Fudge said in an almost condescending voice. Lyra felt rage bubble up inside her. They weren't confused. It was the adults who were. Her blue eyes shot an icy stare towards Snape who was avoiding her gaze. "We've got everything sorted..."

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry shouted. Lyra kept her eyes glued to Professor Snape. She had trusted him. She had trusted him for years, perhaps blindly, because of his authority. She had thought he was a great man.

"It was Ron's rat," Hermione said quickly. "He's an Animagus, Pettigrew, and-" Lyra didn't listen to whatever else Hermione had to say. Snape wasn't looking at her. He had to know. Deep down, he had to realize that his lying was wrong...

"Professor," Lyra said insistently. He didn't turn to face her. He simply kept his calculating stare ahead. It was in that moment that Lyra realized what a grave error she'd made. Severus Snape was cowardly and self-serving in his ambitions. Those were the deep underbelly of Slytherins. Those were the qualities Lyra despised. "Professor Snape. Look at me," When he didn't turn to face her, she raised her voice, "Look. At. Me!" He didn't, "He's my father... My innocent father... Professor, please..."

"You see, Minister?" Snape said in a weak voice. "An impressive Confundus Charm... Quite impressive... Earlier this week, Miss Black would have never referred to him that wa-"

"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Lyra screamed. Her voice broke in the middle of her shout. If she hadn't shouted at all of them to shut up earlier in the Shrieking Shack, Harry would have been properly surprised at the force with which she yelled. However, he was more than aware of the force that she had in her. In fact, Madame Pomfrey looked most concerned at her. She was convinced that the feat of yelling would have re-fractured her rib.

"I must insist that you both leave now," Madame Pomfrey said angrily at the two men. "These children are quite distressed enough without this exacerbation... This-"

"I'm not distressed," Harry said. He was turning red in the face he was so angry. "Lyra, are you distressed?"

"No, Potter, I'm quite fine," She narrowed her eyes at Professor Snape. "And you, Granger? How distressed do you feel?"

"Not nearly distressed enough," Hermione said vindictively. The door opened to the Hospital Wing and in floated Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor! Sirius Black is innocent!" Harry said while Lyra had said, "Professor Dumbledore, Snape is lying!" Their words came out jumbled all on top of each other until Madame Pomfrey shoved chunks of chocolate into their mouths to get them all to be quiet.

"For Merlin's sake! Is this a hospital wing or a mad house?" She said. Her voice was shrill on the brink of hysteria.

"Poppy, I'm quite sorry," Dumbledore said in his usual serene voice. "I need a word with Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Miss Black... I've had a most intriguing conversation with Sirius Black in the west to-"

"The West Tower?" Lyra had said after swallowing her chocolate and lifting herself back out of the bed she'd been pushed back into. "I need to talk to him! I owe him an apology!"

"You owe him nothing," Snape snapped. He reached his hand out to her back into the bed, but Lyra slapped away his hand. Snape turned to Professor Dumbledore, "I suppose, Professor, he has told you the fairy tale he's implanted in these helpless students' minds. The rat and a living Pettigrew or some such nonsense..."

"Yes, that indeed is his story," Dumbledore replied. He appeared to be surveying Snape quite closely, as though gauging the truth.

"Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack," Snape said cooly. "I didn't see any signs of him on the grounds."

"That's because you were knocked out, Professor," Hermione said with an earnest tone to her voice.

"HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"

"Severus!" Fudge declared. His eyes widened at the severity of his tone of voice.

"It's fine, Minister," Lyra said in a sickly sweet voice. "You see, he's only a bit upset about that... He was knocked unconscious because Harry was protecting me from him. He was going to slap me."

"Clearly, the young ladies are disturbed," Snape held out his hand accusingly. "You see? Confunded, I tell you!"

"I would like to speak to Harry, Hermione and Lyra alone," Dumbledore said. "Please leave us."

There was a bit of a disturbance as Madame Pomfrey was not at all impressed with the idea of being forced to leave her patients alone. Dumbledore, however, impressed upon her the importance of what he had to say. Snape whispered something Lyra couldn't quite make out to the headmaster before he left. As he stalked away and the door closed behind him, Hermione, Harry and Lyra all burst into speech at the same time.

"Black's telling the truth!"

"Yeah, we saw Pettigrew!"

"He escaped because Lupin turned into a werewolf!"

"He's a rat!"

"His front paw-" "Finger, Potter, his finger," "Whatever, he cut it off!"

"Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius who-"

Dumbledore held up his hand to cut them off.

"We have very little time, so please do not interrupt me..." He started. It was all down hill from there.


As Lyra made her way through the winding castle staircases, cursing the fact that her head didn't fit into the time turner chain as well, her head was spinning. What did she say to him once she got there? What could she possible say? There was no evidence to support their opinion. There was nothing except her word, and at this point...

The cool night air hit Lyra's face as she emerged at the top of the West Tower. Her breathing was ragged, her eyes were filled with tears, but she pulled herself to the cell where they had kept Sirius. This plan had better work, she thought grumpily.

"Lyra?" His jaw dropped as he looked up. "What are you doing here? They can't be letting you watch-"

"I'm sorry!" Lyra blurted out as she flung herself at the bars of his cell. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, I'm sorry I-" She inhaled sharply and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I had to see you to tell you... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. For being in Slytherin. For trusting Snape... "

"Lyra," Sirius walked over and reached his arms through the bars. His skinny frame hugged hers through the cage. "It's all alright..." He whispered. He managed to pat her head. He pulled away and cupped her face with his dirty, gnarled hands. "It's alright. None of this is your fault. The prison... The jail... The dementor's kiss... You can't blame yourself for this."

"Blame myself for..." Lyra furrowed her brows. "Oh, I don't blame myself for any of this..." She waved her hand around the make-shift prison cell. "This is entirely on you. All of you Gryffindors do plenty of stupid, brave stuff like offering to be secret-keepers for your friends with bounties on their heads, but I mean," Lyra shrugged. "The other stuff... The threatening to kill you and trusting Snape... That's my fault."

Sirius let out a small laugh. He leaned forward and placed his chapped lips on Lyra's forehead through the bars.

"And I'm sorry in advance if I get detention for doing this," Lyra said softly. "Back up."

"Back up?" Sirius tilted his head to the side, until he saw her take out her wand.

"Alohamora," Lyra said. When it didn't work on the bars, she tried again. "Bombarda!"

There was a crash and the bars had imploded on themselves. As she did so, she heard the flap of wings and saw Hermione and Harry ride in on Buckbeak.

"You staged a prison break," Sirius breathed. He sounded almost proud as he saw Harry atop the Hippogriff. "I knew Andromeda couldn't train all of me out of you! I knew it!" He laughed as he grabbed Lyra around the shoulders and ruffled her hair with one hand. Her stomach sank. She didn't know how to tell him that it wasn't exactly her idea.

"Alright, get on," Harry said. "We don't have much time. They'll be here any minute."

They soared out of view into the castle courtyard for a moment so that they could say their proper goodbyes. Sirius sat in between Harry and Lyra on a bench for a moment. His arms were wrapped around each of their shoulders while Hermione stood across from them.

"James'd be so proud of you, Harry," Sirius said. "So very proud... You're so like him. Truly... And you," He squeezed Lyra. "Well, seldom has a Slytherin surprised me," He chuckled. "My daughter... A Slytherin. Oh, your grandmother would've loved that..."

"We don't have much more time, Sirius," Hermione said as she kept a look out. "They'll start a search soon..."

Sirius stood up, and so did both Harry and Lyra. He turned to them, and put each of his hands on one of their cheeks.

"You two look after each other," He said. He hugged them both and then, Sirius hopped on top of Buckbeak. "I'll be seeing you all again. I know it... Send Andromeda and Ted my regards!"

As he rode off into the moonlight, shrinking further and further into the distance, Lyra felt a warm feeling of satisfaction knowing that she'd done the right thing.

"So... I have to take care of you, huh, Black?" Harry smirked and elbowed her as she, Hermione and Harry made their way back to the Hospital wing.

"Fat chance," Lyra laughed. "You're the one always getting into trouble..."

"Yeah, but at least our head of house doesn't have a vendetta against my father," Harry teased.

"No, but mine has it out for both our dads..."

That night, after Snape had burst into the hospital wing shouting accusations at the three of them, Hermione, Harry and Lyra sat down in their beds eating chocolate. There was a comfortable silence between the three of them. For at least tonight, they could all let bygones be bygones. None of them wanted to end up as bitter or resentful as Severus Snape... So letting past altercations go came easily.

When Ron finally woke up demanding answers, Hermione and Lyra played scissors, parchment, stone to see who would have to explain the story. Harry had conveniently shoved chocolate in his mouth so he didn't have to... The two girls giggled and squealed until Madame Pomfrey stormed in and told them all to be quiet and head to bed. Whispered promises of explanations in the morning were how Lyra drifted off to sleep.


June 7th, 1994

The next morning, Lyra woke to find Tracey sitting beside her bed.

"You are an idiot," Tracey said. She didn't wait for Lyra to rub the sleep out of her eyes before she continued, "Oh," Tracey mocked Lyra with a high voice. "You know what sounds fun? Sneaking out of the castle late at night and nearly getting killed by a werewolf and a mass murderer!"

"Trace..." Lyra laughed. "I'm fine... Really... And besides-"

"No, I'm not finished!" Tracey snapped. "You could have been expelled! You could have died and I would have been left all alone to deal with Daphne and Pansy and stupid Draco Malfoy all on my own. You are not allowed to leave me as the only decent Slytherin. Are we clear?"

The two girls looked at each other for a moment before Tracey flung her arms around Lyra and lay half on top of her. Lyra laughed and wrapped her arms around Tracey.

"You really scared me, Lyra Black," Tracey whispered.

"I really scared me, too, Tracey Davies," Lyra replied. "But I have something to tell you... And you're probably not going to believe it..."

"At this point," Tracey said earnestly, "Nothing would surprise me."

Tracey, unfortunately, was quite wrong. Nothing had prepared her for the story that Lyra had to tell her. In fact, as they wandered the deserted halls of Hogwarts once Madame Pomfrey had released Harry, Hermione, Ron and Lyra, Tracey kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. She didn't quite understand how it was possible that an accused murderer was really innocent, or that Weasley's pet rat had really been a 33 year old man in disguise.

"You know what doesn't surprise me at all?" Tracey finally managed to say. "That thing about Lupin."

"Really?" Lyra said. "It shocked me..."

"Snape told us all at breakfast," Tracey said as she looped her arm through Lyra's. "Lupin's a werewolf and he's resigned."

"Resigned?" Lyra repeated. "I have to see him!"

"You have to-" Tracey didn't get to finish her sentence as Lyra had tore her arm away from Tracey's and was running in the opposite direction.

As Lyra ran towards the office, she found the door open, and two familiar voices speaking. Hesitating in the doorway, she took a breath and decided to listen in before she stepped in.

"I just saw Hagrid," Harry said. "He said you'd quit! Tell me that's not true..."

"Afraid so," Lupin said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. "Come in, Lyra."

Lyra peaked her head into the doorway and gave him a confused look.

"The map," Lupin smiled and pointed to the parchment unfolded on his desk. Lyra walked in avoiding Harry's gaze.

"You're leaving," Lyra said as she stood beside Harry. "You're leaving because of Snape."

"Well, the loss of his Order of Merlin hit him hard," Lupin said with much more understanding than either Harry or Lyra could muster.

"What did Snape do?" Harry turned to Lyra. She sighed and her shoulders hunched down a little as she ran a hand through her hair.

"He told everyone that Lupin was a werewolf over breakfast, or something," Lyra replied. "At least that's what Tracey told me."

"That's fairly accurate," Lupin said with a wry smile. "People won't exactly warm to the idea of a werewolf teaching their children."

Lyra felt nauseous as she leaned back against the wall of his office and listened to him talking. Lupin had handed back the invisibility cloak to Harry and was folding up the parchment on his desk. She figured that the map was going to be handed to Harry as well. Just like the firebolt, the position as seeker on the Gryffindor team, and just about everything else in their time at Hogwarts together, Lyra thought almost bitterly.

"I am no longer your teacher," Lupin was saying, "So I don't feel any guilt about giving you this."

It took her a moment to realize that Lupin was handing Lyra the piece of parchment.

"What?" Lyra said with a smile spreading across her lips. "I get the map?"

"She gets the map?" Harry repeated, clearly as shocked as she was.

"It's of no use to me," Lupin shrugged. "And I daresay it will help you avoid the less than savoury students in your house, Lyra..." As Lyra reached out to take the map, he with held it for a moment and said, "The only condition I have is that you don't use it to torment any Gryffindors."

"I won't, I promise," Lyra said as she took the parchment. It was blank, and she had no idea how she was going to use it or how it worked apart from Harry's vague stories, but it was still the best present she'd received.

"I swear that I am up to mischief," Lyra whispered enthusiastically as she pointed her wand at it. Writing started to spread across the page while Harry snickered, and Lupin smiled kindly.

Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs applaud your attempt.

Mr. Padfoot would like to add that he thinks that with a pretty face like yours, you can do better.

"Do better?" Lyra frowned. "I hereby declare that I am up to no good!"

"Should I tell her?" Lupin whispered to Harry. Harry grinned and shook his head.

"Let her keep trying..."

Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Padfoot that the effort is most certainly lacking. Lyra looked up from the page and scowled at the two people across from her. More writing unfolded on the page. Mr. Padfoot would like to comment that perhaps, if only your brains were as bright as your eyes...

"I'm cunning! I'm in Slytherin!" Lyra protested, "Which one of you gits was Padfoot again?" Lyra asked Lupin. Mr. Moony would like to express his utmost discontent that a Slytherin would dare call a Marauder a git. "I solemnly swear you are being an idiot," Lyra almost shouted.

Mr. Wormtail would like to ask how exactly such a stunning specimen ended up sorted into Slytherin.

"I think it's... Flirting.."

That was too much. Once Harry had stopped laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, the pair of them were excused from Lupin's classroom. They said their goodbyes and Harry explained the workings of the map to Lyra so that she knew how to keep it protected from anyone else. As they wandered down the hallway, Harry was pulled aside by Professor Dumbledore, and Lyra ducked away. She headed to her dormitory first, to stash the map, and then to the courtyards so she could enjoy the warm day now that exams were over.

As Lyra caught up to Tracey, the two girls sat with their feet dipped in the cool lake off the edge of the docks. Lyra still looked a little scraped up, her hair was knotted from the altercation the night before, but she smiled widely as Tracey leaned her head on her shoulder. A group of Slytherins in their year wandered up to the edge of the docks. Sheepishly, Daphne Greengrass wandered up and sat on Lyra's other side. She too dipped her feet in the lake and smiled apologetically at Lyra.

"Once a snake, always a snake," Daphne offered out a hand for a reconciliation. Lyra reached her hand out and took Daphne's. She shook it, and smiled at the pureblood before she yanked her forward and sent her hurtling into the lake.

Daphne screamed in outrage, but ended up falling out laughing as Tracey and Lyra burst into giggles.

"I can't believe you!" Daphne spluttered as she pushed a handful of wet hair back and out of her eyes. "I was trying to apologize!"

"And now you're forgiven!" Lyra grinned as Tracey gave her a high five. Lyra started to stand up, to help Daphne back onto the dock but quickly found herself being dragged into the icy lake. Once Lyra was in, it was only a matter of time before Tracey too was pulled into the lake by the other two girls.

"I hate both of you!" Tracey squealed. "IT'S BLOODY FREEZING!"

With teeth chattering underneath their huge grins, the three girls hauled themselves back up onto the dock and saw the startled, but mostly amused faces of their classmates. Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy and his two henchmen were frowning with their arms crossed.

As Lyra wandered back to the castle, she was surrounded by Daphne, Tracey, Theodore Nott, as well as a few of their other classmates. Blaise had wrapped his sweater around Daphne's shoulders, while Lyra and Tracey's lips turned blue despite their laughing. Everyone was talking all over each other as Lyra was asked questions about her involvement in the events of the night before. As they all collapsed around the Slytherin sofas in the common room, Lyra remembered why it was she had loved her house. Her heart ached a little as she thought of the map sitting locked in her trunk, but she smiled knowing that Buckbeak and Sirius Black were far, far away from the corruption found within wizardkind.


June 20th, 1994

Lyra,

I want you to know that Buckbeak and I are safe in hiding. I realize that you are probably much happier with Andromeda and Ted, so I ask only that, once Dumbledore's had a word, you give them both a big hug for me.

Your mother would be proud of the young woman you've become, even if she'd have scoffed at your house colours a bit first. I'm sure you'll be fine, but in case you think you'll need me, your owl will be able to find me.

Now, I realize it might have been unfair of me to give Harry a firebolt and you nothing... I do owe you about twelve birthdays worth of gifts, so if you think of anything you'd like send me word. Whether it's a new set of dress robes, or a set of particularly interesting books.

I'll write soon.

Sirius


A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave me a review with your comments, questions, opinions, concerns, constructive criticism! Your input means so much to me! So does your support for the story, my goodness, you guys are the best!

xo, Sophie