"We'll need your signature here, Mr. Lupin."
Remus was brought out of his daze by the ministry worker placing the scroll on the desk, pointing at the empty line. Taking a deep breath, he snatched up the quill from the desk, scratching his signature elegantly onto the parchment. He watched in surprise as it glowed brightly for a moment before disappearing, the ink sinking into the paper permanently.
Glancing back up, he looked at the worker curiously, "Is that all?" She shook her head before scooting the scroll over to where Cyra was, waiting. The girl said nothing, her eyes downcast as she held Snuffles tightly to her chest. He let out a sigh, taking Cyra's small hand in his, "Cyra, are you sure you want to do this? I won't blame you if you wish not to. You can stay an Owens, I won't take offense." Her only response was shaking her head, squeezing his hand tightly. She had said she wanted this, wanted him to be more than just a guardian.
Sparing a look towards the worker, he leaned down to whisper in Cyra's ear, "She won't hurt you. I'm here. And after this, you can go play with the twins." At that, her eyes lit up, her hand sliding out of his to take the quill from the desk. The worker stopped her however, "No, not that. She has a different signature." With that, the worker slid out a drawer behind the desk before producing a needle. Remus recoiled, anger beginning to form, "Excuse me!? That's absolutely barbaric!"
His words did nothing to offend the worker, who simply stared at him stoically, "It's just a quick prick. She'll barely feel it." Cyra's were locked onto the needle with wide eyes, retreating into the chair, her legs being pulled into her chest. The sight of her cowering only fueled the fire inside Remus, his eyes narrowing on the worker, "What is the meaning of this?"
With a roll of her eyes, she placed a hand on the parchment, pointing directly to a part of the clause, "Cyra Owens will become your child, meaning your blood. In order for that to happen, she has to sign with a droplet of her own. This shows not only the consent, but it is required for magic to recognize her as yours." Remus gave a huff, hating the reasonable answer he was given, wanting to just be mad that the worker even though a part of him knew she wasn't responsible for it.
He turned around to tell her she didn't need to do this, but she was already reaching out for the needle. He couldn't form a word as she extended her finger for the worker to prick, which the woman seemed to be pleased by. With a quick stab, Cyra let out a yelp, causing Remus to nearly launch himself at the woman. He managed restraint however, watching Cyra rub the droplet onto the blank parchment. Much like his signature, the bloody mark glowed before sinking into the paper.
Procuring a plaster from his satchel, he quickly took her finger and wrapped it in the colorful rainbow bandage. Cyra gave him a small smile, before she took her hand back to cuddle Snuffles. The worker took the scroll back while they were distracted, slipping out her wand and proceeding to do some enchantments over it. Remus simply watched, the anger slowly ebbing away as he watched the runes hover above in the air. It was truly mesmerizing, the runes slowly rotating around each other before they sank into the paper much like the ink.
With a satisfied hum, the woman turned the scroll back around to him, Cyra's name at the top was blurring, the ink beginning to move around as if it was made up of small worms. Once they were still, the name appeared once again, changed. 'Cyra Owens Lupin' stood out on the parchment in large black scripture, he didn't know how something so simple could cause tears to surface, but it did. Cyra was his now, his pup, his daughter. With a sniffle, he quickly wiped his eyes and looked down at her with a smile, "What do you think?" Cyra stared at the parchment for a moment before turning back to smile at him. Her father.
The moment was broken by the worker giving a laugh, "I just noticed how ironic her name is!" They turned back to her with confusion. She continued to giggle before noticing the looks, going silent, "Oh. Do you not know?" Remus simply raised a brow, waiting for her to explain. The woman was giddy for the first time after spending an hour with 'beasts', as she had called them. Unable to resist a smile, she pointed at the name, "Cyra Lupin. The meaning of her name is, 'Born in the light,' otherwise known as Sun. Her last name means Wolfish, or Wolf. She's a werewolf who was born in the light, but lives beneath the moon. Sun Wolf."
After a moment of silence, she looked at them both to see they were unamused, the smile wiping off her face, "Right, well. I suppose it's not as ironic as being named Wolf Wolf, but I found it rather funny." Smoothing her hair back into the coif it was in, she rolled the scroll back up, waving a hand in their direction, "You may leave. I'll file this with the department later today. Enjoy your family or whatever."
Remus simply stood, grabbing his satchel and swinging it over his head before taking Cyra's hand, "Thank you for your time." They walked out, the worker's words echoing behind them. A family. They were a family now.
Cyra ignored the twin brothers as they whispered among themselves, her hearing could pick up every thing they said, but she pretended she could not.
"He wouldn't notice. He barely uses it!"
"Right, his nose is always stuck in that dragon book."
"We'd just have to make sure Percy doesn't see."
"Steal his glasses?"
"Maybe."
Letting out a sigh, she glanced up from her book, knowing she'd regret this, "Percy is in his room at the moment, he had a stomachache earlier." Identical blue eyes shot in her direction, widening in wonder at her, "How do you know that?"
She paused for a moment, realizing that she couldn't just say that she had heard it downstairs, normal people couldn't hear that far. Quickly coming up with an excuse, she blurted out, "I saw him. On my way to the bathroom. He was holding his stomach and going into his room." They bought it, thank merlin, giving a nod.
"Well then." Fred began, a devilish smile beginning to form that caused Cyra's stomach to drop. George invaded into her personal space, sporting the same smile, "Want to join us, Cyra?" She felt her lips twitch into a nervous smile, "Well..what are you doing?" The boys shared a look together before rushing to her sides, a hand cupping each ear as they whispered to her. From an outside view, one would think they were simply children plotting a little prank, but one look at Cyra's face would show the trouble that about to occur.
She couldn't believe she was doing this; how could she have let them talk her into such a scheme? Wringing her hands nervously in front of her, she shuffled into Charlie and Bill's room. The teenage boys attention was instantly stolen from her, causing her to feel immensely guilty as they gave her such comforting smiles. How could she do this to them? Biting her lip, she shuffled herself further in the room, looking between the boys to figure out which would be an easier target.
Deciding on Charlie, she pointed at his book, watching him look down to it once again. Charlie catching on, shot her an excited smile, "You wanna learn about the dragons!?" Bill let out a scoff, shaking his head before turning back to his studies. Cyra swayed a bit on feet, her eyes as wide as a doe before she gave a quick nod. In his excitement, he bent down, wrapping an arm around her waist and hoisting her up onto the bed next to him, "Well lemme show you!" Cyra's heart was racing, feeling immensely uncomfortable about being suddenly lifted up. She supposed Moony did it all the time, but that was different, he was.. her dad? Yes, he was her dad.
Charlie didn't seem to notice, repositioning the book so she could see, pointing at a picture on the book, "This, little Cyra, is a Hebridean Black, beautiful isn't it?" She studied the page with interest, looking over the detailed scales before she noticed the dragon's tail, "It's an arrow?" Charlie let out an chuckle, vibrating Cyra's back, "Good eye. The Hebridean Black is a dragon native to Britain, similar to the Welsh Green, only this one is much more aggressive. That tail is actually a spike." She reached out the trace the page, looking at the dragon in wonder, "What else?" He hugged her closer, using the arm wrapped around her to point at the dragon, "This dragon can get up to 30 ft long, their diet is deer, though you'll occasionally see them snatching off cows."
Cyra let out a giggle at the thought of such a large dragon just swooping in and snatching a cow off the fields. The thirteen-year-old seemed pleased with her amusement, flipping to the next page, "Next, the Ukrainian Ironbelly, this is the largest breed in the world."
Cyra soon grew distracted, listening to Charlie ramble about dragons for the next hour as she leaned in to his warmth. Her eyes kept flicking from the book to the redhead, starry-eyed as he trailed on. It wasn't until she heard the shuffling outside the door that she looked away, seeing the twins staring at her in anticipation. Oh, that's right. She had a job to do.
"Now, you remember me mentioning the Hungarian-" Charlie was cut off when there was a tight squeeze around his chest, dropping the book to look down at the young girl. Cyra felt her cheeks flush as she realized how humiliating this situation was, blurting out, "Thank you for teaching me! C-Can I maybe learn more next time?" Her voice softened at the end, her hand slipping to his pocket. Charlie glanced over at Bill who was staring at the pair in shock, before he shot his brother a smug smile and hugged the girl back, "Of course pet, anytime!"
With that, she pulled away, letting her dark curls cover her face as she hopped off the bed and hurried out. The twins had to jump out of the way to keep her from bulldozing them over. Once she was in their room again, she dropped to the carpeted floor, covering her face in embarrassment. The boys soon entered after her, watching as she sat there mumbling to herself. Fred soon had enough and poked her in the shoulder, "Cyra? Did you get it?" The girl let out a huff, before she took her hands away from her face, reaching into her jumper sleeve. The twins felt confused as they saw how red her face was, but it was immediately replaced with joy as the wand came into their view.
"You're a genius Cyra!" They shouted in unison, snatching up the wand to look at it in awe. She merely responded with a hum, placing her hands back over her face. They refused to let her mope, linking an arm into hers before dragging her down the stairs, "Come on then! Mum told us to set the table!"
Cyra watched unamused at the fork slowly levitating in the air, before it found its place at the table, falling with a loud clatter. George let out a cheer before handing the wand off to Fred, "Your turn!" Fred gave him a grin, waving Charlie's wand over at the spoon next, "Windguardium Leviosa!"
With a slight waver, the spoon slowly descended in the air, going above Cyra's head before being dropped unceremoniously onto the table. She tried her best not to smile, not wanting to give them the satisfaction, despite how cool it was. Fred found his way next to her, taking her hand to put the wand in it. "Come on, Cyra. You should have some fun too." He spoke softly, giving her hand a squeeze. His twin seemed to notice her mood, hurrying over to her other side, "Yeah, Cyra, we couldn't have done this without you." He carefully tucked a curl behind her ear, a comforting gesture that he had developed for her.
Finding herself unable to be angry at them, she raised the wand over at the cutlery, "Windguardiam Leviosa!" It took a lot longer, but slowly the knife had rose up, going up high into the air. She felt herself begin to sweat as she struggled to keep ahold of it, carefully moving it over to the table.
"You're doing it Cyra! Look at you!" Fred whispered excitedly into her ear, watching the knife in awe.
"You're doing magic!" George finished his brother's sentence, a large grin forming as he saw it above their heads.
Cyra could feel her heart racing, it was going much slower than the twin's did, but perhaps it was because she wasn't related to Charlie that the wand didn't respond as well to her? She felt the sweat drip down her back as she saw it above their heads, her arm extended to keep ahold of it.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
She jumped, dropping her arm quickly, the wand falling to the ground behind her, her eyes darting over to the owner of the voice. It was Percy, glaring at the trio disapprovingly, "I should-" He was cut off when something fell down past Cyra's sight, she watched confused as Percy's eyes widened in horror.
The twins let out a shout, grabbing her in panic, "CYRA!" She looked around, even more confused what was happening. Parting her lips to speak, that was when she felt it. Looking down at the ground, she saw the knife she had been levitating, sitting at her feet in a puddle of blood. Blood. Oh no.
The twins began screaming, tugging her over to the kitchen table to sit down.
"WHERE IS MUM!?"
Percy began stammering, grabbing onto the wall, "S-She said she was running out real quick, B-Bill's in charge." As if on cue, the eldest Weasley appeared at the bottom of the stairs, "Oi! What's all the shouting about!?" It was then he saw Cyra, rushing over, "Oh no! Oh no! Sweetie, what happened?" She went to speak, but he held up his hand, "No, no! Don't speak! It might make it worse!" He turned to the twins with blazing eyes, "WHAT HAPPENED!?" They soon joined Percy in their stammering, tears filling their eyes as they tried to explain what happened to their friend.
"Oi, anyone seen my wa-"
Cyra really wanted to curl up and die the moment she heard his voice, the teen scurrying over to her to crouch down next to Bill, "Oh no! Are you okay!?" She went to apologize, her eyes tearing up, but he quickly stopped her, "No! Don't speak! It might make it worse." She could only roll her eyes, causing the tears to fall down her cheeks.
Bill turned to Charlie with a stern stare, "Charlie, you're better at healing spells than I am." He gave a quick nod, "Right, right, I need my wand. Do you lot know where it is?" Bill pointed behind him, causing him to whirl around and see the twins standing their sheepishly, holding out the wand to him. Charlie gave them a little smirk, "Troublemakers, gimme that." He took it back before he gave his attention back to Cyra, tilting her head up by her blood-stained chin, "Alright, look up pet. Yes, like that." Cyra kept letting the tears fall, her small body trembling. Charlie shushed her, softening his voice, "Hush now, it's okay. Now, I might be the better one at spells, but I'm still not perfect. You may be left with a scar. For that, I'm sorry."
She didn't care, she was used to scars, it was the shame and guilt that ate at her. Charlie began fixing her up, taking his time so he didn't hurt her, vanishing the blood on her person once he was finished. The brothers hovered around, staring down at her in worry. Cyra looked at Charlie, shaking in her seat, "I-I'm sorry.." He felt his heart break at how small she sounded, letting out a sigh before he pulled her into a hug, "Don't worry pet, I know the naughty troublemakers made you do it." Said troublemakers shouted in offense, hurrying over to her sides.
"Hey now! We didn't mean for Cyra to get hurt!" Fred puffed out his chest, glaring down at his older brother. George nodded furiously, copying him, "Yeah! We would never hurt our Cyra!" Charlie raised a brow at them, "Your Cyra?" Cyra let out a groan, hiding her face in his shoulder.
"Yeah, our Cyra!" They shouted in unison, before they began to attempt to tug them apart. "Speaking of-" Fred began, "You should let go of her!" George finished. Charlie let out a laugh, before he picked the small girl up, standing at full height to put them at a disadvantage. "Now, now, boys. Scared I'll steal your bride?" He watched as the twin's turned pink, "Let her go!"
Bill came to his side, nudging him with a grin, and he immediately understood the message. Handing her off to Bill, he shouted, "Rescue the Princess!" Cyra let out a cry as the eldest brother ran off with her, his chest vibrating deeply with laughter. She spotted the twins over his shoulder, running after them with loud shouts.
"GIVE HER BACK, YA BUGGER!"
Bill's laughter only increased as he took off out the back door, running out into the garden, though he made sure to hold onto her securely. Soon enough, all the Weasley's were out in the field, chasing after their oldest brother. Excluding Ron and Ginny, of course, who were off with their mother. Their mother who was sure to have a fit when she came home.
The game seemed to be rather unfair, not for any of the brothers, but for her. She could only let out an oomph as she was tossed back and forth between the brother's arms, kept out of the grasp from the twins. Percy was off to the side, standing beneath a tree and shouting that he would tell their Mum the moment she came home.
Cyra couldn't help but admit she was having fun, however. Soon, the grumpy sounds turned into laughter as she was occasionally tossed up into the air and caught like a quaffle. The twins eventually got sick of trying to catch her, instead making the plan to just ram into their brothers with all of their might. It was a reasonable plan, however, Cyra was also heading to the ground during the fall.
As if they had inhuman speed, they threw themselves at her, rolling in the grass. Then they kept on rolling, down the hill that was inconveniently placed there. When they reached the bottom, they were thrown apart, laughter bursting from their chests as they laid on their backs.
Cyra's face was flushed, grass and leaves stuck in her hair, her eyes locked onto the sky. Her heart was pounding in her chest from the adrenaline, laughter continuing to escape her as she struggled to catch her breath. The twins soon came into her field of view, looking down at her with identical grins.
Her eyes flicked back and forth between the both of them, "What?" Fred was the first to speak, his ears turning red, "You're pretty when you laugh." George looked at his twin curiously before looking back down at her, not looking a bit bashful "Yeah, you are. You should laugh all the time."
Cyra laid there for a moment before she smiled brightly at the pair, "That was fun!" Fred and George simply smiled back before looking at each other, seeming to share a thought as their smiles grew into something else. Without another word, they ducked down out of her sight, laying on both sides of her.
"There you three are! You alright?" Cyra turned her head to see Bill standing at the top of the hill, giving him a thumbs up. Sitting herself up, she brushed off the grass on her clothes, though she didn't bother with her hair. When she went to stand up, her arms were snatched by hands. Turning around in shock, she saw the twins staring at her with worry.
"What's wrong?"
They didn't respond, sitting up and wrapping their arms tightly around her. Cyra was very confused, but she just let them do as they wished. After some time, she spoke up, "Fred? George?"
"You won't leave us right?"
She tried to turn her head to the twin who spoke, but it was very difficult to see his face, "Of course Fred." He gave her a tighter squeeze in response. George finally moved his face into her view, smiling at her, "You're going to be with us forever?" Okay, what was going on?
Cyra knew the right answer must be to just agree, of course she was going to be with them forever, they were friends. Returning the smile, she replied, "Yes, George, I'll be with you two forever." Fred eventually lifted his head at that, looking at her, though he wasn't smiling like his brother.
"You're the only one who can tell us apart, you know?"
Cyra looked away at that, she knew they were very sensitive about their family not telling them apart. She could do it because of their scents. Though it was similar, both had a certain note that helped her separate them. She didn't respond, she didn't need to.
They both squeezed her tightly, surrounding her senses with the smell of sweat, the underlying scent of cherries and oranges sneaking in. She couldn't resist them, they were held so close to her heart, like they were her pack.
"We've gotta go, you know?" She finally whispered, reaching up to pat them on the back like Moony did for her.
The boys simply clung to her. Letting out a dramatic sigh, she flopped back on the grass, taking them with her. She figured she might as well take a nap, the warmth they radiated off causing her to drift off. The last thing she remembered was the feel of lips on both of her cheeks.
"How did this happen?"
Cyra shuffled her feet awkwardly as Remus examined her face, raising his brow as he waited for an explanation. She knew the moment she saw herself in the mirror, there was no going about him not noticing. On the left side of her mouth was a scar that ran through her top and bottom lip. Though it wasn't as awful as her others, it was still visible.
Remus waited patiently, releasing her chin and sitting back, tapping his foot on the hardwood floor. Cyra looked around the room, wracking her brain for an idea, a way to explain this without getting in trouble.
"Um..mischief?"
So many things confused her that day. But the most confusing thing was, why did Remus look so horrified at her words?