DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.
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'Forgiveness is giving up the hope of a better past.'
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There was a knock on the door to Lyralei's office.
"Come in," she called distractedly, currently bent over some important papers that needed her approval. She was too preoccupied to wonder why Amanda hadn't informed her of her apparent visitor.
The door opened quietly and whoever it was stepped in and shut the door behind them. Lyralei didn't look up from her work, waiting for the person to speak. When they didn't after a moment, she looked up impatiently and said "Well?"
That was all she got to say however, for she was struck temporarily speechless when she saw who it was that had interrupted her. A man she hadn't met in over a decade.
The two people in the room just looked at one another for awhile. Finally, Lyralei stood up and stated simply, "Dumbledore."
Albus Dumbledore stood looking at his former student, smiling a little, seeming unaffected by her less-than-welcoming attitude.
"Hello Lyralei. How are you?"
"Fine, thank you. May I help you with something?" she asked, managing to sound polite and extremely cold at the same time.
"Perhaps. May I sit down?" he asked, his voice holding a hint of humor in it.
"Of course," Lyralei said in the same eerily cold voice, pushing out a chair in front of her desk with a flick of her wand.
Dumbledore smiled and came and sat down. "Please, do the same. It will make it easier to talk to you," he said pleasantly.
Lyralei sat down reluctantly and avoided looking into her old Headmaster's gaze. Her desk and chair were set up in a way that Lyralei would be looking down on whoever was sitting opposite to her. It usually made her seem more intimidating than the other person and had worked to her advantage several times before. This setting didn't seem to work with her old headmaster though. For a moment Lyralei felt like she was 15 again and was about to be punished by the Head for turning her Potion Master's hair green.
"So, how has life been treating you? Heard you've been quite busy recently, what with the whole Azkaban fiasco." Dumbledore said conversationally, as if they were old friends chatting about the weather.
"Yes," Lyralei replied curtly. Suddenly, she felt unimaginably tired and weary, as if the effects of the past few stressful weeks had chosen that moment to break through her defenses. She was tired of all this shit, congeniality be damned.
"Professor," Lyralei said wearily, looking straight into Dumbledore's sharp blue eyes, "What do you want? And cut the crap and small talk please. I'm tired. There's a reason we haven't spoken to each other in 11 years, if you would remember. Why the desire to change that now?" she asked harshly, even as a part of her winced at the fact that she had spoken to her old teacher so disrespectfully, even if they weren't on amiable terms at the moment.
To her surprise, Dumbledore chuckled as if enjoying a private joke. "Still the same old Lyralei, I see. Straight-forward and as impatient as ever."
"Impatient?" Lyralei asked, arching one elegant eyebrow. "The way I see it, I've spent way too much of my life waiting. It gets you nowhere."
"Then why do you keep doing it?"
Lyralei's retort froze on her lips as she realized that they had taken a very drastic turn in their topic of conversation.
"Because," she said softly, almost bitterly, "someone has to, don't they?"
"Lyralei," Dumbledore began softly, his demeanor gentle, understanding.
"Save it!" Lyralei replied harshly, pushing away from her desk. "Just save it, all right? I have absolutely nothing to say to you anymore."
"Why not?"
"Why not?" she mocked. "Why not?! You know bloody well why not!"
"Tell me."
"Fine! Would you like the long list or the longer one?"
"If this is still about Sirius..."
"Don't say that name in front of me! You have no right to even think it, and no this is not about him!"
"Then what is it about?"
"Lot's of things! Not the least being how you took my Godson away from me!"
Dumbledore sighed. "Lyralei, we've been over this a hundred times; Harry is not-"
"-my godson, yeah I've heard it all before, and I still say it's all bullshit!"
"Lyralei, you were never appointed-"
"Damnit Dumbledore!" Lyralei cut him off, exasperated, "the only reason Harry's not with me right now is because of a fucking legal technicality, and you know it!"
"You know quite well that it was in their will that-"
"Yeah, I know! But tell me this; did it say anywhere that Lily and James wanted their precious boy to grow up with those horrible muggles?! No, it didn't! You decided to play God again and gave him up wherever you pleased!"
For the first time, Dumbledore frowned at her. "I did it for the child's good. Harry is safe where he is."
"Oh, of course," Lyralei said, her voice oozing sarcasm. "The only way to keep Harry safe was to leave him with some half-assed muggles who didn't believe in magic and a damn squib who spends her days talking to cats!"
"Lyralei-"
"But God forbid you leave him with his powerful auror Godmother who loves him and would have done any earthly deed possible to keep him safe!"
Dumbledore looked at her quietly, patiently waiting for her to finish her tirade. Lyralei glared furiously and opened her mouth to continue, but then seemed to deflate and slumped back in her chair dejectedly. There wasn't much point getting into this again.
"What do you want Professor?" she asked again in a weary tone.
"Your help," came the straightforward answer.
Lyralei gave a short humorless laugh. "Figured this wasn't a social call," she said. "So tell me, what sort of 'help' could the Almighty Dumbledore possibly require from little ol' me?"
"I need you to find Sirius."
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AN: Cliffhanger? No, not really. I'll have the next part up in a few days; promise!