I do not own Harry Potter. All rights go to J. K. Rowling as well as Warner brothers (For the movie rights).

Daughter of Darkness

Chapter Thirty-Three

The next day at precisely noon, Izzy heard a knock on her door. When she opened it, she was greeted by both of her aunts. With a smile, she let them in.

"Sorry we're not exactly up to snuff in terms of decorum but, I don't have a livable house currently, so this is the best option," Izzy said.

"Well the gathering room at Grimmauld was hardly welcoming either," Narcissa muttered to herself.

"It's fine, Lyra. I think it's best we do this here anyway rather than the Ministry," Amelia said. Narcissa was about to correct the slightly older witch on Izzy's preferred name, but the witch in question merely held up a hand.

"It's…fine, Narcissa. I think we can let go of the Isabella moniker. Everyone knows me as Lyra now and will most likely stick to the from here on out no matter what I say," Izzy sighed. "Just call me Lyra from now on. I've got to get used to it, better start sooner rather than later."

"Seems to be a common phrase with you," Amelia said. Izzy-Lyra, nodded with a smile.

"Come on, let's get these official questions out of the way and then we can get to know one another. Sorry I don't have any chairs, but I figure the bed will do better than the floor," she said with a laugh as she hopped on the queen sized bed. Narcissa sat primly as Amelia sat in a more with a more rigid posture.

"So, I think I'll begin by asking how you came to meet Sirius Black," Amelia began.

Izzy-Lyra launched into the story of the night Sirius escaped and how they came to the wrong conclusion before the man, along with Remus Lupin, exposed the very much alive Pettigrew as an animagus. She told Amelia of seeing the dark mark on Pettigrew's arm while Sirius, even if he was half crazy and covered in dirt, was unmarked. She told Amalia everything she could remember, even going back in time and helping Sirius escape.

Amelia took out her monocle and pinched the bridge of her nose with a loud sigh.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that you helped a convicted felon escape on a hippogriff that had been sentenced to death," she muttered.

"He's not a felon," Izzy-Lyra said plainly. Amelia sighed again.

"Lyra, I know you believe the man is innocent but the evidence against him was-"

"He's not a felon because he was never convicted. He told me so himself. He was stunned by ministry aurors and then the next thing he knew, he was in Azkaban. Now I don't know if that's how it's supposed to happen here in magical Britain but at least the muggles give you a chance to defend yourself with a lawyer and everything. Now, I'm willing to bet that's not the case, and I'm also willing to bet that someone at the ministry screwed up royally and an innocent man spent twelve years in Azkaban for a crime he never committed," Lyra said, nearly shouting by the end.

"Alright," Amelia said, holding up her hands to defuse the situation. "I'll look into it. Give me a day or two, and I'll find the trial records. If there really is nothing, I may need your help to convince the Minister that the Ministry has got the wrong man. Your, testimony, witness statement with veritaserum, and standing should all help get that insufferable man to listen for once in his life."

"Veritaserum?" Lyra asked.

"Yes. It's a truth telling potion. Very potent. We could also use your memories, but those are generally not accepted seeing as everyone remembers somehting about a particular incident a little differently," Amelia explained.

"Damn I love magic," Lyra whispered.

"It does have its uses," Amelia chuckled. "Well, I suppose now that we're through with the questions, why don't we just chat? I want to get to know my niece."

Narcissa smiled at Iz-Lyra's bright orange eyes. She wasn't jealous that Lyra seemed to be opening more to Amelia than herself, rather happy in fact that Lyra was opening up at all.

"I think I'll leave you two to talk," She said as she exited the room.

"Well I certainly didn't expect to see her practically run from the room," Lyra muttered. Amelia gave a quiet chuckle before turning to her niece.

"She's always been like that, very good at reading a room. I'm glad for it though since it gives me a chance to get to know you. You're family…we've got a lot of catching up to do," Amelia said.

"I suppose we do. You know, Susan talks about you a lot in our dueling club. She doesn't know what she wants to be when she's older but…I have a feeling you'll get your wish for her to be an auror," Izzy explained.

"Maybe, but I've always thought of her being a teacher. True, many Hufflepuffs make good aurors, but Susan, I think she'd be a wonderful teacher," Amelia said with a proud smile. "Still, I'd support her in whatever she wants to be. Speaking of the future, if I remember, you want to be a duelist?" Izzy nodded before Amelia gave a smile. "It makes sense now. Your mother was an incredible duelist. It was like watching art in motion. I didn't really know her all that well, but I think she'd be proud of you, I imagine."

"So I've heard from Narcissa. A lot," Lyra said. "Even Andi, though she didn't talk about it much. Tonks does, she's told me stories her mother had told her. I've been wondering how they'll react. If I was nervous about telling you and Susan that we're related, I'm bloody terrified of telling Andi and Tonks."

"It makes sense," Amelia said gently. "You don't know us. If we reacted badly, it's not the end of the world. But on the flip side of the coin…they probably already know. The Daily Prophet announced your Ladyship this morning." Lyra froze.

"Oh, shite!" she exclaimed, jumping off the bed to begin furiously pacing. "This wasn't how I wanted to them to find out! I completely forgot about the Prophet!"

"It'll be alright. Andromeda Tonks is an understanding woman and her daughter can't stop talking about you. You were family to them before you found out just how true that was. They're not going to hate you or be upset with you in any way. Trust me on this," Amelia said kindly.

Lyra stopped pacing and nodded.

"You're right. Though I should probably send an owl and tell them we need to talk," she said quietly.

"I think they'd like that," Amelia said before patting the bed again. "Now, sit back down. I want to properly get to know you."

The two sat for over an hour and a half just talking until Narcissa interrupted them for an early dinner and the now three women chatted amongst themselves about what plans they had for the future. It was fun, and there was hope that with the power Lyra now wielded when it could be used with the Bones' that they could do some real good for the wizarding world.

And they would not be denied.

The next week was spent quietly, practically in hiding for the two Black witches currently not in prison or expelled from the family. Lyra had visited the Weasley residence and explained everything to Ron personally like she had wanted to do. He was surprisingly very okay with it, and Fred and George couldn't stop making royalty jokes. It helped her feel normal for which she was eternally grateful. On her way out, she stealthily left a stack of galleons by the door, enough for the cost of her ticket that Arthur had so graciously obtained for her with a note as to what the money was for.

After leaving the Burrow, Lyra checked in with Kreature on the progress of Grimmauld place. It was coming along quite nicely and there wasn't weird animal like noises coming from the basement anymore. There were actually light sources inside! Underneath all the dirt, carcasses of dead animals, questionable stains everywhere, mold, the stench of death, and the noises that were previously mentioned, the ancestral home of the Black family was almost charming.

Almost.

It still gave Lyra a weird feeling, a sense of something that she couldn't quite describe. The only place she could say didn't give her the creeps was the massive library filled with ancient books. Many of them contained dark or near black magic, but a lot of them contained general knowledge. It was a very exciting day when Lyra exited the library with several books under her arm.

Narcissa quietly warned her not to leave the books lying around as many of them were likely cursed to kill or seriously hurt anyone that didn't carry the family magic. It was something she'd sort through later, she vowed to herself.

In the middle of the week, Lyra had received a letter from an owl she knew all too well by now, and no it wasn't a ministry owl. No. This one was from Andromeda. The letter attached to the massive owl went unopened for several days as Lyra stressed over opening it and the fast arriving day where she would meet Susan as her half-sister.

She'd been hoping that the truth wouldn't change anything between them as she truly liked Susan despite the rocky start that they'd had during the chamber debacle.

Lyra ended up setting Andromeda's letter aside in favor of first meeting with the Bones' at the Ossuary, the Bones ancestral home. She'd penned a letter to Amelia asking her what time would be best, and received a response to arrive around noon, that the wards were adjusted and she could floo without any problems.

When the day finally came, Lyra stepped into the fire place at the Leaky Cauldron and floo'd to the Ossuary.

Exiting the fireplace with a stumble, Lyra was caught by strong arms as the person who'd caught her began to laugh.

"How long have you been using the floo?" Amelia asked amusedly.

"Not long enough, apparently. Better than Harry though. He either heads to the wrong grate or goes flying out the one he intends to use. It's quite a sight, I'm told," Lyra said, her hair and eyes flashing pink for a moment before settling on a light gray.

It was a gray kind of day.

"I'm sure your aunt has been having a wonderful time teaching you proper public decorum?" Amelia asked, voice resonating with amusement.

"Tearing her hair out, I assume you mean?" Lyra asked in return. Amelia laughed and clapped the girl on the shoulder, leading her into the large home.

Pictures covered the walls, and nestled in bookshelves there were awards and commendations for acts of bravery during the last war. A few of the pictures looked old and well worn, one picture sitting prominently on the mantle of the fireplace featured four women, all smiling at the camera with a rather large Christmas tree in the background. On the left was a clearly younger Amelia, dressed in her auror robes. The second woman was none other than Lily Potter, laughing without a care in the world. The third woman was Alice Longbottom, a woman Lyra recognized for obvious reasons. The last woman, oddly enough, looked familiar as well, but Lyra couldn't figure out why.

She had on an aurors coat, long dark hair that was pulled back in a loose ponytail and was nearly a head above Alice Longbottom, but just shy of being as tall as Amelia. She was also the only one not looking directly at the camera, her eyes not focused on the camera at all, but smiling and laughing like the other three women in the picture. She was pretty, the long curly black hair flowing down her back (what little could be seen of it, anyway) and framing her rounded face just right. Around her neck was what appeared to be a galleon and a little charm, but Lyra couldn't be sure. For just a moment, Lyra could've sworn the woman's haired turned blue.

She was about to ask about the woman when Amelia spoke up again, interrupting her train of thought.

"How's the old Black manor? From your last letter it sounded like it was almost done," Amelia asked in an attempt to make conversation. Lyra shook her head and looked back to the older woman.

"Oh, just lovely. It's gone a from a creepy rotting house to a creepy clean house," Lyra responded. Amelia chuckled as she opened the door to the dining room.

"Old houses tend to attract all kinds of nasty if they're not properly maintained. It happens. Not to mention, the old Black home was never the most…inviting," Amelia said kindly. Lyra sat down across from her aunt and set her hands on the table.

"Have you been able to find anything about Sirius?" Lyra asked, changing the subject to something else to distract from her nervousness. Amelia knew what she was doing and obliged.

"I haven't had time the last few days. The whole Ministry is in a fuss over the Quidditch World Cup and a tournament that's been in the works for months now. I'm not supposed to be saying anything about it but since you are Lady Black, that title does come with certain privileges," Amelia said, smiling mischievously.

"Thanks. I think I'll go to the ministry myself then since I have nothing but time right now. I've caught up on everything I need to do for the Ministry and responded politely," Lyra said with an eye roll "to marriage proposals."

"Yes, I can imagine the first one wasn't too fun," Amelia said, sympathizing.

"Of course not!" Lyra cried with an annoyed huff. "The first one was from that idiot Vincent Crabbe's father. Honestly, I was tempted to send it back with hippogriff droppings. Thankfully, Narcissa convinced me to respectfully decline before I sent my original letter with a cascading rune scheme that would blow up in his face. I still wish she'd let me have sent the droppings though. That would've been funny."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you casually talking about blowing up a lord of the Wizengamot," Amelia said simply. "For what it's worth though, I'm sorry you have to go through that. Don't worry though, decline enough of them and they'll slowly come to a stop once they realize you're not as stupid as they assumed."

"Thanks, Amelia," Lyra said. "When is Susan supposed to be back?"

"Is the anticipation killing you?" Amelia asked.

"Merlin yes!" Lyra groaned. "I've been dreading this all week."

"She'll be along in the next few minutes. She's been with Hannah Abbot the past few days. I sent her a letter earlier telling her there was something I needed to speak to her about. She's always on time so any minute now. Before she gets here though, I'll ask you to let me talk with her first," Amelia suggested.

"Of course. She's your niece," Lyra said.

"So are you," Amelia countered softly. Lyra nodded reluctantly, but slowly getting used to the idea of having family, much less one that cared about her. Narcissa had helped a lot in that regard.

True to her word, Susan showed up a half past noon on the dot, appearing through the fireplace in a bathing suit with a towel around her shoulders.

"Auntie, is everything alright?" Susan asked, not noticing Lyra sitting at the table.

"Yes, Susan. Everything is alright, but I needed to talk to you about something important. Come, sit," Amelia said, waving her hand at the table. Susan nodded and froze for a moment when she noticed Lyra sitting rigid at the table.

"Izz – uh, Lyra? What are you doing here?" Susan asked, remembering that Izzy was Lyra now.

"Everything will be explained, Susan," Amelia said, drawing the redhead's attention back to the older witch. "There's a few things we need to talk about that probably aren't going to be easy to hear but I need you to promise me you'll sit and listen. Can you do that for me?" Amelia asked.

"Just tell me what's going on? Whatever it is, I can handle it," Susan said confidently. Amelia nodded proudly before placing her hand over Susan's.

"I've never lied to you, Susan, you know that, and I've never hid the truth from you either," Amelia began. "Which is why when I tell you what I'm about to tell you, I can honestly say I only found out about this a few days ago." She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Your father, after your mother died, was not in a good place. He loved your mother very much, and as you've known since you were old enough, she died giving birth to you. You know I took you in because he couldn't handle the responsibility of raising a child by himself and grieving at the same time before he died. I didn't pay enough attention to his needs; we were in a war, and he didn't make responsible choices. A month after you were born, he disappeared. My parents and I didn't know what had happened to him, and we feared the worst. He came back though from a long bender and as you know, died shortly after. He never told anyone, certainly not me, what he was up to during that month long dissapearance."

That was a relief to hear on Lyra's part. She'd been worried she'd been some kind of one-night stand between Bellatrix and Edgar and that Edgar had cheated on Susan's mother.

"So, what is this about? What are you saying?" Susan asked, eyes flicking between her aunt and Lyra.

"What I'm saying is…is that your father met a woman and, in his grief, had relations with that woman and had another child. You have a sister," Amelia said gently.

"Wait…what?" Susan asked in shock.

"You have a sister," Amelia repeated, eyes flicking to Lyra.

"Really?" Susan asked, turning to Lyra who sat nervously, playing with her fingers. She nodded at the question in Susan's eyes and was promptly knocked out of her chair by a red headed missile.

"Gah!" Lyra exclaimed as she landed on the floor with Susan laughing on top of her.

"I have a sister!" she shouted excitedly.

"You're certainly…taking this better…than I...thought you would!" Lyra wheezed as a rib breaking hug seemed intent on killing her before she got to know her new sister. "Need…air!" she wheezed. Immediately the pressure was gone, and she looked to see a sheepish looking Susan Bones sitting next to her.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just so excited! I've always wanted a baby brother or sister. Now I have you! And I don't have to deal with stinky diapers!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, thankfully, neither do I," Lyra chuckled. "You're really okay with this? I'd understand if you weren't," she asked.

"Why wouldn't I be okay with it? This is like a dream come true!" Susan said, finally letting Lyra up off the floor and back into her chair. Amelia had an amused smile on her face, happy that the two young witches were getting along.

"Susan, you know I'm…I was an orphan, right?" Lyra asked. Susan nodded.

"Yeah. But what's that got to do with it?" she asked. Lyra took a patient breath before explaining what she was getting at.

"Well, sometimes, when a foster parent brings home a foster child, their biological children get jealous and can feel upset or angry with their parents, like they're being replaced. It can cause them to act out against the foster kid," Lyra explained. Susan made the 'O' face in understanding before nodding her head.

"Well that's not me. You're my sister, bit of a difference I think," Susan said firmly.

"I…suppose," Lyra replied hesitantly.

"Besides, Auntie's never been known to show favoritism or anything, so I doubt there's any chance for jealousy of any kind," Susan explained. Lyra sighed before nodding.

"Alright…can't blame me for being a bit uneasy about it though. Bad experiences and all that," she muttered.

"Well we should change that. Why don't you spend the night tonight!" Susan excitedly suggested. Lyra laughed quietly at Susan's sheer excitement over the situation when just an hour ago she herself had been nervous beyond belief. "Can she, Auntie, please?" Susan begged. Amelia looked to Lyra.

"My house is always open to you, though I think you should ask Narcissa first or at least let her know," Amelia advised, pointing towards the fireplace.

"Right," Lyra said as she stood and walked towards the fireplace. "The Leaky Cauldron," she shouted before walking through the green flames and appearing in her desired destination. She went up to Narcissa's room and knocked on the door lightly, waiting for her aunt to open it. She made that mistake one time, not waiting.

She definitely wouldn't make it again.

"Lyra? I thought you were at Amelia's?" Narcissa asked as she opened the door.

"I was but…Susan asked me to stay the night. Amelia felt it would be at least polite to ask you but…I would like to stay there for the night and I know I don't need your permission technically but-"

"It's alright," Narcissa said to the nervous metamorph. "Of course you can go, you don't need my permission. Just pack for the night and the next morning."

"Thank you, Narcissa," Lyra said with smile, leaving Narcissa with a hug before going to her own room. Umbra hissed happily, noticing the mood of her owner, before slithering around Lyra's ankle and coiling up towards her waist.

"Sorry we haven't been around town, girl. Been very busy but I promise I'll make it up to you," Lyra said softly, stroking the top of the snakes head right between the little horns. Umbra hissed contentedly as Lyra walked around. To an untrained eye, Umbra simply looked like a black snakeskin belt, but it was a comforting weight around Lyra's waist.

Familiar.

She packed herself a pair nice pajama pants, two t-shirts, and a pair of shorts. The pair of boots she was wearing now would be more than sufficient.

They were also sufficient in annoying Narcissa who insisted on heels since they were considered ladylike, so that was a bonus.

Arriving back at the Ossuary covered in soot, Amelia was already casting a cleaning charm and taking care of the dirt. Susan slammed into her side causing Umbra to hiss in annoyance until the red head released her from the hug.

"Thank you for coming back!" she said. Lyra chuckled.

"You doubted me?" she asked in amusement. "You should know by now that I do what I want." Susan laughed.

"Well that's certainly true if the rumors are anything to go by," Susan said.

"Of course they're all true, unless they're about how arrogant I am, then they're not. I'm amazing," Lyra said, increasing her height by a few inches and making herself look a bit like Draco Malfoy.

"Oh ew, change back! Change back!" Susan exclaimed, not wanting to look at a visage of the blonde idiot. Lyra laughed before changing back to her preferred form, allowing Susan to get a proper look at how far the young metamorph had come in her shapeshifting abilities. "You've gotten really good at that," Susan said. "Auntie's told me about Nymphadora. She's your mentor, right?"

"Yeah, only don't call her Nymphadora if you like not having an absurdly angry five foot five inch witch in your face. She tends to get a bit defensive about people using her full name," Lyra explained. Susan laughed before gasping.

"I have to go tell Hannah!" she exclaimed. Lyra tried to hide her hesitant look, but Amelia caught it.

"Susan, why don't you keep it between the two of you for now. I'm sure there will be plenty of time after summer's end to talk with your friend. Lyra isn't exactly used to this life."

"Right, of course. Sorry Lyra," Susan apologized quickly. "Come on, I'll show you to your room." Susan grabbed Lyra's hand and began dragging her upstairs and through the halls until they came to the third door on the right. "This is my room," a turn to the door directly opposite. "And this is your room. Auntie had Flopsy clean it up so, and I hope this isn't being too forward, you can come and go whenever you want."

"Oh, I-" Lyra started before hesitating.

"It's alright. Auntie and I understand. The choice is completely yours and we won't be offended no matter what you choose. Auntie said it would be best for you to set your own pace. Whatever you're comfortable with," Susan said reassuringly. Lyra nodded before opening the door.

The room was plain, allowing for options to decorate later, with a large bed and two dressers. A desk sat under the large window and a bookcase right beside it.

"Auntie said you could do whatever you want with it other than put holes in the walls. That you have to ask if you want to do," Susan joked. Lyra gave a smile before letting her wand shoot out of the holster on her wrist. With an incantation and a wave, her bag was unpacked and its contents neatly lying on the bed.

"You can do magic outside of school now! I totally forgot!" Susan said. Lyra nodded.

"Yeah. Narcissa told me about my Head privileges. Honestly, if I didn't have her helping me, I think I would've just let sleeping dogs lie and all that. She's my proxy right now and teaching me the ins and outs of politics. If she wasn't, I probably would've started a blood feud on accident," Lyra confessed.

"It must be a lot to take in," Susan said sympathetically. Lyra nodded before moving to the window, allowing Umbra easy access to the windowsill to allow her to sunbathe.

"It is, but I've got a few good people helping me out. Hermione's been a blessing and Ron took it surprisingly well," Lyra explained. "Knowing Hermione, she's probably researching everything she can about House Black and how it fits in with the Wizengamot."

"It's good that you have friends like that," Susan said with a gentle look.

"You should probably thank Hermione when you see her next time. She was the one who advised me to tell you as soon as possible. I was originally going to wait until after the Quidditch World Cup," Lyra informed the red head.

Susan nodded and gave her younger sister (She didn't think she'd ever get tired of saying that) a side hug.

"Well I'll be sure to give Hermione a thank you when I see her. Will she be at the world cup as well? Auntie has box seats since she's the head of the DMLE. Actually, you probably got a ticket as well since you're the head of house. Fudge'll want to butter you up," Susan explained.

"I did get an invite from Fudge, but I also got one from the Weasley's before this whole thing even started so I'll probably end up going with them," Lyra explained.

"Oh, that was nice of them," Susan said pleasantly. Lyra scoffed.

"Of course it was; he looks at me and thinks he can take advantage of me because I'm young. He sees an easy target," Lyra explained. Susan nodded.

"That makes sense," she admitted.

"So," Lyra said as she placed the last shirt into the dresser. Admittedly, she only had two pairs of clothes with her, but it made Susan happy that Lyra had used the dresser. "What's there to do around here?"

Susan's answering grin was more than enough to tell Lyra that there was plenty.

"You guys have a pool!" Lyra exclaimed as they stepped out onto the back deck. Susan laughed.

"Yeah! Auntie had it put in after my sixth birthday," Susan explained.

"Holy hell I might just live here!" Lyra joked. Susan laughed with her.

"Well if that was all you needed," she said before playfully shoving Lyra towards the pool. Lyra turned with wide eyes that quickly turned a bright, almost neon, pink.

"You may be my older sister by a few months, but I won't hesitate to pull you in," she warned. Susan laughed before turning back to the mansion.

"Come on, it's getting dark. Flopsy will have dinner ready soon," Susan said. Lyra smiled before joining the redhead.

"Who's Flopsy? You mentioned that name before," Lyra asked as they entered the manor.

"Oh! Flopsy is our house elf. She helps out around the house since Auntie and I couldn't possibly clean it all by ourselves every single day," Susan explained.

"So she's like your maid?" Lyra asked.

"In a sense. Really though, Flopsy is like family. She helped raise me whenever auntie was away at work," Susan said, a fond smile on her face.

Dinner was a quiet affair of reintroductions. Amelia wanted to know as much as Lyra was willing to share, as did Susan. The only snag was when they talked about the chamber incident and how they first met.

"I know I said it at the end of second year, but I am sorry for how awful I was, what with the chamber and all," Susan said. Lyra shook her head.

"It's all in the past," Lyra dismissed.

"Chamber?" Amelia asked. "You're not talking about that old myth are you?" Lyra shook her head.

"No myth! Was down there myself along with several teachers, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and a whole squad of people from the department of magical creatures," Lyra explained.

"So that actually happened?" Susan asked incredulously. "Everyone had rumors and theories, but you actually went down into the chamber and killed a basilisk?" she asked. Lyra nodded proudly.

"Yup. It was my idea to focus the piercing hexes onto the back of its skull. Blew the whole damn thing off," she said proudly.

"Back up a moment," Amelia interrupted with a stern voice and confused expression on her face. Lyra noticed she was gripping her fork rather tightly and her knuckles had gone white with the strain. "What are you talking about? A basilisk? In the school?"

"Yeah. You know, giant snake, kills people with its eyes-"

"I know what a basilisk is," Amelia said, rolling her eyes sarcastically. "I think you should start from the beginning."

Lyra explained everything about the mess that was second year, how Harry was thought to be the heir of Slytherin, how students were getting petrified, and how it was completely totally by accident that Lyra had ended up down in the chamber. Of course, the part about her being absolutely terrified was omitted, but only she knew that.

Amelia was furious. Not at the teens in front of her, but at the entire situation.

"Nobody thought to report that a basilisk was loose in the school, that students were being petrified?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"I mean…yeah but, by the time any of us were really thinking of saying anything, the problem was solved. Besides, the teachers had it well in hand. No sense in talking about it," Susan said.

"I taught you better than that, Susan. You should've told me about this the moment that cat got petrified," Amelia lectured. In her mind though, certain details didn't add up, but she kept it to herself for now. She decided to change the subject, seeing as the two teens were growing more uncomfortable by the minute. "So, Lyra, are you going to the World cup?" she asked after taking a breath.

"Yup. The Weasley's invited me not long after I claimed my head status. The Minister invited me but Narcissa told me it was likely just to get on my good side. Not to mention, Lucius would be with him since he was personally invited," Lyra explained.

"Yes. Fudge made a big deal of the invite early into the summer. Smart of you to avoid both of those men while you still can," Amelia said, rolling her eyes and wishing she had the luxury.

"Speaking of the ministry, I think I'll head to the department of records tomorrow afternoon and look for Sirius' trial records," Lyra explained.

"Alright. Just be careful. If what you've told me is true, there are going to be people who don't want you sticking your nose where they don't want it to be," Amelia cautioned. Lyra waved her hand dismissively.

"Pshhh. Sticking my nose in places it doesn't belong is my specialty," she said, growing her nose a good three inches before bringing it back to a normal length. "I'll just slip in, find what I'm looking for, and get out. Maybe I'll have enough time to even meet you for lunch," she added with a cheeky grin.

"What are you talking about?" Susan asked.

"Sirius Black is innocent and never received a trial. If I can find those records, maybe more evidence once Sirius gets back to errrr-" she hesitated, having not told Amelia that Sirius was on his way to the ancestral home. "Once he owls me with any details he can remember, I can maybe use Fudge's willingness to get on my good side to maybe get him to listen."

"Damn," Susan whispered in an impressed tone.

Red=angry

Gray=nervous/anxious/irritated

Orange=happy/excited

Blue=sad/overwhelmed

Purple=worried/concerned/frustrated

Green=jealous/suspicious

Brown=content/relaxed

Yellow=afraid/shocked

Pink=amusement/surprise

Silver=determination

Light blue=embarrassment