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 Forty-Four

Lyra stood on the train platform, looking at the bright red locomotive as the throngs of parents and students pushed and shoved past her in every direction. She didn't sleep well last night. Nightmares again. But this uneasiness in her stomach wasn't from nightmares. No. It was something a bit different.

"Are you alright?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes. Just a bit nervous, I suppose," Lyra confessed.

"Whatever do you have to be nervous for?"

"I just…maybe nervous isn't the right word? Anxious, maybe? I guess it's just, I've been around you for nearly three months, getting to know you, getting to know Amelia. My family. It'll be weird to not be able to do that, is all," she explained. Narcissa nodded in understanding before pulling Lyra into a tight but comforting hug.

"I know it's not the same, but you can write to me any time. I remember when Bellatrix and Andromeda both graduated, leaving me alone in my fifth year, I was so nervous without them. I think it was the letters that helped the most. And the visits during Hogsmeade weekends. I can see you whenever you have one of those," Narcissa suggested.

"I'd like that," Lyra said, a small smile on her face. Narcissa grinned as the train whistled, letting everyone know that there were only a few minutes until final calls for boarding.

"You better go. No doubt Padfoot will want more time with Harry, but he shouldn't take any more risk than is necessary," Lyra said in a low tone. Narcissa nodded firmly, looking off to the exit for platform nine and three quarters. She was just about to go, after leaving Lyra with one more hug, when Harry walked through the barrier, a large black dog beside him.

"Thanks for taking care of padfoot," Harry said.

"Anytime, Harry. He's been a very good boy," Lyra cooed, petting the dog on the head and scratching behind the ears. "I'm sure he'll continue to be a good boy for Narcissa, won't you?" she asked pointedly. Padfoot licked her cheek in response. "Alright. Time for us to go. Hermione and Ron are no doubt waiting for us." Lyra straightened up and looked to her godmother. "I'll write when we get there," she said.

"Thank you. Be safe this year, study hard," Narcissa said, looking a little misty eyed.

"I will…I love you," Lyra said quietly. She'd never really told Narcissa that before, and it definitely caught the older witch off guard.

"I love you too," Narcissa said, though Lyra didn't hear it since she was so far away, but she could read Narcissa's lips well enough. With one final wave, Lyra boarded the train.

Of course that final wave didn't really mean all that much since the window of the cabin Hermione and Ron had claimed was right nearby.

Lyra waved the entire time until Narcissa was out of sight.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, noticing Lyra's misty eyes as she took her seat once more.

"Yeah," Lyra whispered before clearing her throat. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." She looked to Harry who still had a grin on his face. "And how are you, Harry?"

"Me? I'm brilliant, Lyra," Harry said, a grin a mile wide on his face.

"Good. You and Padfoot have a good talk?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah. Told me a few things about my mum and dad, even gave me a picture of them for the little album Hagrid gave me," he said, pulling out the picture. Where Sirius had kept it, she didn't know but it wasn't the subject of James and Lily Potter in the picture that caught her interest. It was the background, or rather, who was in it.

"Hold on a second…that's Celestia?" Lyra said. The picture was clearly taken in the Potter household in Godric's hollow. It was Harry's first birthday party as well.

"That woman that saved you and Gabrielle?" Hermione asked. Lyra nodded, staring at the woman in the background of the photo. It was odd. Everyone else seemed to be moving, chatting with each other happily as James and Lily posed with a baby Harry in their arms, but Celestia was staring right at the camera, her gray eyes washed out by the flash for a moment before, of all things, she winked directly at the camera.

"I hope I can duel like her someday. The way she moved when she faced off against those death eaters…Merlin, it was like poetry in motion," Lyra whispered before letting Harry take the photo and slip it into his trunk. She shook her head before looking at her friend. "So, did Padfoot fill you in on what we're doing?" she asked.

"Yeah. I wish I could do more though, or become an emancipated minor like you. I feel useless right now. The only hope I have is that that second will is found somewhere," Harry sighed.

"We'll look everywhere we can, Harry. I've also asked Narcissa to look into other options for getting you emancipated, though none of them are easy." She leaned forward, a serious expression on her face. "I know you don't want to talk about it, Harry, but it might work if we can separate you form your relatives."

Harry sighed in response, shutting down and turning away from Lyra. She'd known he wouldn't want to talk about it. She sat back with a sigh of her own. She knew why he wouldn't do anything. She knew he was abused, but not to what degree.

She knew that if it ever got out, Harry was afraid of what would happen.

The magical world, especially Hogwarts, had a very hot and cold attitude towards him, not that she understood why. Harry was also very shy and kept his personal life private, even from his friends. She knew that that had to be learned behavior; she couldn't be upset with him about this.

"I heard about the money you gave Fred and George," Ron said after a moment of silence.

"Oh yeah?" Lyra grinned. "Are they putting' it to good use?"

"Mum's not too happy with you. Doesn't want you encouraging them," he said glumly. "I think she's being a bit barmy though."

"They're old enough to be making their own decisions, and I gave them a far better deal then Gringotts will ever give them," Lyra argued. Ron backtracked.

"I'm not arguing, and dad managed to calm her down after a few hours, but you're not her favorite person right now," Ron explained.

"Well, as Narcissa says, there's always going to be someone who doesn't like you, so just do what you want anyway as long as it doesn't hurt anyone," Lyra said.

"That's not bad advice," Hermione commented.

"She has her nuggets of wisdom. She's honestly been a godsend. She really helped me through a tough time just by being there. She even got me a little gift as a late birthday present because she remembered my birthday, even after all these years," Lyra said.

"Huh, maybe Sirius could take some lessons!" Harry laughed. Lyra snorted before shaking her head.

"Why, what did that old dog get you for your birthday?" Lyra asked. Harry went beat red, no doubt thinking of his gift, before he muttered out a response. Evidently, Ron heard what he said, because he started to laugh. Loudly.

"Do I even want to know?" Hermione asked.

"I said," Harry muttered a little louder. "He got me a play-witch magazine."

Lyra joined in on laughing with Ron, though Hermione looked far less amused.

"Oh, come on," Lyra chuckled, poking Hermione in the arm. "It's pretty funny!" She turned back to Harry. "Does it have good advice in it?"

At that very moment, the candy trolley came around. Harry stood up as he usually did to grab a few things, though this time, Lyra noticed he was a shy and stuttering mess. Leaning forward, she could see what had caused this. Or rather, who.

Cho Chang, Ravenclaw seeker and fifth year.

Lyra grinned at the blush on Harry's face as he stuttered out a hello. Cho gave a fairly quiet response, not loud enough that Lyra could hear it, but it got Harry blushing again.

He came back into the compartment scarlet faced as he sat down. Lyra, Ron, and Hermione all looked at him in amusement before Lyra, unable to resist, commented "Well, it seems like you'll be having a fun time reading your birthday present this year!" she teased. As an added bonus, she changed her bodily features and proportions to match Cho before making kissy faces as the blushing boy.

The four friends broke out into laughter until Lyra remembered. She had her own gift to Harry. Without any effort on her part, the morphs fell away, transforming back to plain old Lyra.

"I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing her trunk. "Here, help me with this, Ron!"

Ron helped wiggle the trunk down to the floor where Lyra leaned in, cramming half her body into the expanded trunk, before pulling out a large envelope. "Here. Happy birthday, Harry! It's late, but it took some time setting up so, I think it'll be worth it."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the young metamorph, who's hair was practically glowing with excitement, her eyes dancing with undisguised anticipation.

He ripped open the envelope to reveal a folded sheet of parchment. Carefully unfolding the parchment, Harry looked on in curiosity as the Black family crest dominated the top of the page. He looked to Lyra in confusion.

"What's this?" he asked. Lyra grinned before pulling the top of the page down and pressing her wand to the crest. Suddenly, from the top down, a tree began to grow before it sprouted off names, names of various Black family members, it followed all the way down to Lyra's name, splitting at the Black sisters to show her relation to Draco.

"That's my direct family," Lyra said quietly. She pressed her wand to the crest again, this time, another branch sprouted from the page before the name 'Dorea Black' appeared. Next to it, signifying a marriage, was 'Charlus Potter.' Descending from that branch was one 'James potter.'

"It didn't record your mother or yourself originally, as she was a muggleborn," Lyra said. The branch opened up, adding 'Lily Potter' as well before that branch descended too. "But I updated the family registry the other day."

On the final branch, resting beside Lyra's name, was 'Harry Potter.'

"We're cousins?" he asked in quiet awe.

"Yup. Well, technically I think we're second cousins once removed or some shite like that, but I still consider us family all the same," Lyra said. Harry surged forward and grabbed her in a tight hug. "Happy birthday, Harry." She awkwardly patted his back.

"I think you just made his year," Ron said.

Unfortunately, at that moment, something had to come along and spoil it.

"As if you couldn't bring the noble Black name any lower," came a rather haughty and annoying voice. Lyra stiffened, red streaks appearing in her hair.

"Heir Malfoy," she greeted in a neutral tone, though inside she was seething.

"Black," he said smugly.

"Excuse me?" Lyra asked coldly, raising an eyebrow in question. The smug smirk seemed to slowly disappear from Draco's face. "We may not like each other, cousin," she said sharply, reminding him of their relation to each other. "But I expect you to show me the same respect I give to you. I think we can manage to be civil with one another, as is appropriate. Would you not agree?" Her jaw was clenched tightly as she peered down at him. If she had made herself slightly taller to be a bit more intimidating, she'd never admit to it.

"Of course, Lady Black," Draco grit out.

"Good," Lyra replied shortly. Draco made to walk away, but Lyra stopped him, stepping out into the hallway of the train car before shooing away Draco's goons, Crabbe and Goyle. He nodded, the two stepping away as she began casting a few sound suppressing charms that Narcissa had taught her.

She pulled a letter out of the fold of her dress, Draco's name printed on the front in Narcissa's flowing script.

"Here. Your mother sent this along," she said. Draco said nothing as he stared down at the letter before quickly snatching it from her hand. She pulled out a second letter, this one penned by her own hand. "This one is for your father, for his eyes only. I've tried contacting him, but according to my owl he is…unreachable," Lyra said, letting Draco come up with the implication of her words on his own. He scowled in response.

"Don't think that just because we're cousins now that it changes anything," he growled. Lyra nodded.

"I wasn't under that impression, but I'm inclined to at least try and be civil for your mother's sake. I promised her I would, and I intend to make good on it. I think we can at least come to an agreement on a truce," Lyra said.

"What did you have in mind?" Draco asked suspiciously. Lyra stared at him in silence for a moment before flicking her eyes into the cabin where her friends were waiting, watching her through the glass.

"Nothing so extreme as we avoid one another, but we can't be openly arguing with one another like I know we will at some point. It wouldn't do for rumors to spread that our two houses have started a blood feud. No, I thought that you and I would just be civil with one another, that's it. You don't antagonize me, I don't antagonize you. Maybe have a civil conversation once in a blue moon to keep up appearances. Simple," Lyra said, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"Fine," Draco said, clearly annoyed that she was technically his social superior.

"Good. Do we have an agreement?" she asked. He nodded, bowing his head ever so slightly, just enough that it barely passed as respectful before she did the same. "Have a good school year, cousin," she called as he walked away. Dispelling the charms, she entered back into the cabin.

"That was wicked! What'd you say to him!" Ron exclaimed. Lyra sighed.

"I can't talk about it, Ron, but at least for now it should be a peaceful year," she responded.

"Why can't you tell us?" Ron asked.

"Because it doesn't look good for me to go spilling private conversations after they just happened. It's not a good look for a noble house, and I'm trying to save mine. I need to be very careful, Ron," Lyra explained. Ron frowned before nodding in understanding.

The next few hours of the ride to Hogwarts were filled with quiet chatter between the four friends as they talked about their summers in detail, what they hoped this year would be like. Ron speculated what the big surprise was this year, but since none of them knew, it didn't really matter. They'd find out soon enough anyway.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Lyra took a deep breath as she stepped off the train, taking in the deep woody scent that was the forest surrounding Hogwarts. It smelled like Earth, dirt that had been freshly tilled. It smelled of wet leaves, of rain, and the creatures that called it home. Behind her, Hermione fussed with Crookshanks as she tried to get the little furball comfortable so he wouldn't get wet in the miserable weather. Umbra was, thanks to Lyra's body heat, at least somewhat comfortable where she was wrapped around her waist. It was moments like these that Lyra was grateful she'd bonded so well with Umbra and that her snake familiar was, well, a snake, and could easily be moved on her person.

The four friends, plus Neville, walked out of the train station and into the miserable weather, getting soaked in the process, as they began the trek through the mud to the carriages. Lyra couldn't help but stare at the castle, lit up brilliantly, contrasting with the night sky as its spires loomed endlessly into the darkness. When she turned her attention to her friends so that she could jump into one of the carriages, she jumped in fright.

The normally horseless carriage was not horseless. Or, whatever this thing was.

"What the hell is that?" Lyra asked, her hair, matted down by the rain, went completely yellow, her eyes glowing eerily in the dark.

"What's what?" Hermione asked, poking her head out of the carriage.

"You can't see it? The thing pulling the carriage?" Lyra asked, looking wearily at the bony winged creature.

"They're called Thestrals," a distant voice said from behind her. Lyra turned, spotting Daphne, Tracey, and what looked to be Luna following behind them. It was Luna who'd spoken up. Lyra would recognize the normally dream-like voice of her oddball friend anywhere.

"What the hell are Thestrals?" Lyra asked.

"Thestrals are horse like creatures that can only be seen by one who has seen death," Daphne said, looking at Lyra with concern. "They're quite terrifying in their looks, but my father says they're quite gentle, actually. Are you alright, Lyra?" the other blonde asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend. Lyra nodded.

"Yeah, just surprised me, is all," she replied. Daphne sighed, giving an almost pitying look.

"No, I mean, there's a reason you're so surprised seeing them, meaning you haven't seen them before…are you alright," Daphne stressed. Lyra blinked in surprise.

"Oh, uhhh…yeah," she admitted. "If you're asking if I need to be thrown into the hospital because of trauma or something I…well I feel fine. I mean, death isn't the worst thing I've seen, and it's nothing new. It's…it's just something that happens," Lyra explained. She didn't know how else to explain it. Death wasn't anything new to her. When her foster brother, Adrian, had died, and she blamed herself, she'd lost herself to her grief and self-hatred. Eventually, she'd come to accept that sometimes bad things just happen.

Lyra hadn't really thought all that much about the world cup. She didn't really have any problems with death. What she had a problem with, and still did even a week later, was grappling with the fact that a Death Eater had almost killed her. That she still had nightmares about, though she oddly hadn't had any problem with the Death Eaters being killed and having witnessed their brutal ends.

As far as she was concerned, they got what they deserved.

"Are you sure?" Daphne asked again. "Because you can talk to me if you need to."

"Merlin's frozen balls! She said she's fine! Now can we please get in the blasted cart before I freeze my tits off!" Tracey exclaimed; her brow pinched together in frustration as she glared at Lyra.

"Oh, yeah. Sure!" Lyra said, jumping into the cart with her friends. It magically expanded as Tracey, Daphne, and Luna made their way inside. Lyra frowned slightly as Tracey seemed to purposefully plop herself between Daphne and her, even though Daphne had looked like she wanted to sit next to Lyra.

Lyra shrugged. It didn't really matter to her, she supposed. Apparently, it didn't matter to Daphne either as they continued talking to one another around Tracey.

When they finally reached Hogwarts, all her friends piled out of the carriage and headed into the great hall to await the new firsties.

Ron ended up getting soaked by the resident poltergeist as they entered the great hall, but Peeves had been run off when Daphne threatened to call the Bloody Baron, the only ghost that Peeves feared. Lyra took pity on her soaking friend and cast a drying charm on him, pulling the moisture out of his clothes.

"Thanks Lyra!" he exclaimed.

They all went to their respective seats in the great hall; Daphne and Tracey to Slytherin, Luna to Ravenclaw, and the rest of them to Gryffindor. Lyra caught Susan's eye and gave a wave and a bright smile that the redhead returned as the four friends took their places.

"You know, it'll be nice to see a sorting other than my own for once," Harry commented as he sat opposite of Lyra at the table.

"That's right. You've missed the last two," Hermione noted thoughtfully.

"You just have unusually weird luck, mate," Ron chimed in.

"Who knows, nights still a bit early and the little firsties have probably only just gotten off the boats. A troll might still show up," Lyra teased with a smirk. Harry and Ron laughed while Hermione simply rolled her eyes, though there was a small smile on her face.

"Well, the first years better be here soon, cause I'm starving!" Ron exclaimed.

"I'm sure they'll be in soon," Hermione said.

No sooner had Hermione spoken then Minerva opened the doors of the great hall, leading the first years in towards the sorting hat.

As usual, the hat sang its song of unity, though this time it seemed a bit…harsh to the Slyherins, and there wasn't that many sorted in when the sorting actually happened, though a lot did go to Hufflepuff.

Eventually though, the sorting came to an end, and the feast began. Naturally, as luck would have it, it got awkward. Very quickly.

"You're very lucky! You almost didn't have a feast on time!" Sir Nicholas exclaimed, noting that Ron was having a grand old time chowing down. Lyra herself was trying to be a bit more restrained like Narcissa had taught her.

"Why, what happened?" Harry asked, though his mouth was still full with food.

"Peeves, of course!" Sir Nicholas exclaimed unhappily. "He wanted to attend the feast, but we, well, the Bloody Baron, said no. Peeves got rather angry at that, so he went and terrorized the house elves. Kitchen was a mess," he said.

"There are house elves here? At Hogwarts?" Hermione asked. Lyra could already see the unhappy gears in Hermione's head turning. She knew her best friend like no other.

Calmly, Lyra put her fork down and turned to the brunette before looking at her imploringly. "Hermione, we talked about this in the summer," she reminded.

"But this is Hogwarts!" Hermione hissed.

"And?" Lyra calmly challenged. "Hogwarts is a magically powerful building. I'm sure it takes an army of house else to maintain her, Hermione. You can't expect Filch to maintain this entire building."

Hermione looked rather upset at the thought of sentient creatures in service towards the school, but Lyra was right. It probably took dozens and dozens of house elves to keep the castle clean.

"Are they being treated right?" Hermione asked, still rather upset, Sir Nicholas. The ghost floated down to beside the brunette and looked very gently at the girl.

"Of course they are!" Sir Nicholas said. "In fact, it was the Headmaster Dippet, the man before Dumbledore, who made Hogwarts a safe place for rescued house elves. It was him who made a deal with the Department of magical and sentient creatures that they be brought here to recover, and they be allowed to stay if they so chose to," the ghost explained. It was easy to here the pride in his voice, that Hogwarts was fulfilling a noble duty such as this.

"Are they happy?" Hermione asked.

"My dear girl! There's always at least a hundred house elves brought here every year that end up staying because they like it so much! Many more end up staying for at least a few years before they find a new family. They're very happy here," Sir Nicholas said. Hermione bit her lip but nodded.

"It's still not right, that stuff like that happens, but at least they have a place to go," Hermione said quietly.

"Nobodies arguing against that," Ron said in an oddly soft voice. Lyra looked to the redhead, and for a moment, she saw something more in Ron's eyes then she'd ever seen. It was one though when he noticed her staring.

Dinner and dessert passed in jovial conversation as the three friends tried to take Hermione's mind off the plight of lesser treated house elves, at least enough that she could eat.

After the dishes and food disappeared, Dumbledore stood up with an announcement, going through the usual list of things that were banned from the school (what the hell kind of fun was a fanged frisbee anyway?), the school grounds that were off limits, and the surprising announcement that Quidditch would be cancelled this year.

Naturally, that last one didn't go over well with many of the fanatics among the students.

Of course, that was immediately followed by the ceiling of the great hall deciding to fritz out, also followed by a very familiar wizard raising his wand and putting an end to it.

"That's Mad-Eye Moody!" Ron exclaimed.

"Who?" Harry and Hermione asked at the same time.

"He was an auror during the last war, and a dark wizard catcher after it. He hunted down almost half of the inmates in Azkaban," Lyra whispered. She was about to continue, explaining how she had met him the one time, but apparently Seamus Finnigan had overheard.

"Yeah, includin' yer mother!" he exclaimed with a smirk. The table went quiet around him, the whispers of excitement over a war hero being their new Defense teacher coming to a grinding halt. Lyra pursed her lips and shook her head, her fists clenched as her hair turned black, her eyes going violet. For a moment, she truly did look like her mother.

But she took a breath and regained the form she preferred.

She'd expected this, especially from someone like Seamus. He was a loudmouth who never knew when it was best to keep quiet. He could also be fairly rude when the moment suited him.

"That was uncalled for," Lyra heard Dean Thomas mutter. She hadn't expected him, a half-blood who, if rumor was to be believed, had lost his father to death eaters, to come to her defense.

Of course, Seamus wasn't done.

"Who's to say she's not jus' like her parents? Murder us all in our sleep!" he hissed. Lyra's face took on a wicked grin as she palmed her wand. Hermione's hand latched onto her wrist. Lyra looked into the brunette's eyes, the ones that gave her a warning look. Lyra took another breath, relaxing her hold on her wand.

She gave a begrudging nod, doing her best to ignore the stupid piece of shit.

She'd missed the big reunion between Dumbledore and Moody, but she didn't miss the announcement of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

So that was the exciting thing that everyone in the ministry seemed to know?

Well, Lyra supposed it could be fun to watch.

It would also be interesting to meet witches and wizards from outside the country, especially from Durmstrang. She'd read that their dueling program was one of the best in the entire European circuit of semi-professional dueling. Many of their graduates went on to be some of the best duelists in the professional scene as well.

After the ruckus of the underage announcement relating to the tournament, the students were all sent off to bed.

Many of the Gryffindors shot Lyra distrustful looks, and even her own roommates, Parvati and Lavender, wouldn't speak to her unless they absolutely had to.

Though there was a slight sinking feeling about this year, overall, Lyra was cautiously optimistic that everything would turn out fine as she slowly surrendered to sleep.

Red=angry

Gray=nervous/anxious/irritated

Orange=happy/excited

Blue=sad/overwhelmed

Purple=worried/concerned/frustrated

Green=jealous/suspicious/grossed out

Brown=content/relaxed

Yellow=afraid/shocked

Pink=amusement/surprise/mischievous

Silver=determination

Light blue=embarrassment