Chapter 5: Surprises at Hogsmeade

Professor Snape looked horrified as he walked into the hospital wing. Neville Longbottom had just practically told Lyra who her parents were. And being the incompetent Gryffindor he was, he probably didn't even realize it. Without any warning, Professor Snape closed the curtains around Lyra's bed.

"Why'd you do that for? I was talking to Neville," Lyra said.

"Talking to him will for even the smallest amount of time will lower you I.Q. substantially," Professor Snape replied. Lyra scowled. She wanted to question Neville on the Lestrange's even further to see what else he knew of them.

"I thought you had a class, Professor," Lyra pointed out. Professor Snape lowered a stack of books and parchment on Lyra's bedside table.

"Mr. Malfoy had Quidditch practice, so I came to bring you these," he said. "I would suggest starting your Potions right away, there is a particularly nasty essay you might want to get your hands on."

"Absolutely, Professor. I'll get on it right away," Lyra said, searching for her book.

"I want you to get caught up right away. If I find you've been…distracted-" his eyes darted towards Neville's bed- "then you shall find yourself punished."

Lyra nodded, and Professor Snape left the room. Instead of dwelling on the mention of the Lestrange's, Lyra pulled out parchment and began contemplating her Potions essay.

It took another three whole days for Lyra to recover in the hospital wing. However, in three days, she managed to do all the work she missed when she was sleeping and review what she may have missed when she was in her "Zombie mode". Lyra put the mention of the Lestranges in the back of her head. After a talk with Draco, she realized she was hurting her friends as well as herself.

Somewhere along the way Lyra realized maybe she didn't want to know about her parents. She had lived so long without even a mention of them. And when she was eleven and carted off to school…even then, she had hardly heard of them. She had her family at Hogwarts, and that was all Lyra needed.

Lyra hadn't seen or spoken to Neville Longbottom since she left the hospital wing two weeks ago. Maybe he was avoiding her; he had given her an incredibly strange look after he mentioned…Bellatrix Lestrange. That had been sitting in the back of Lyra's mind since then.

No, Lyra thought, I won't put myself through that again. I almost hexed Professor Snape. There's no use for than nonsense now. Smiling to herself, Lyra continued on her day.

"You will find," Professor McGonagall was saying during one particularly difficult Transfiguration lesson, "that Animagus transformation is the most difficult form out there and must be used with extreme caution. There has not been an Animagus in all my years at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, that you knew about," Lyra heard Harry Potter mumble under his breath. Potter and his friend sniggered as McGonagall continued with their lesson, which ended with twelve inches on Animagus as homework.

"Miss Malfoy, a word if you please," Professor McGonagall said at the end of the lesson. Leaving her books sprawled on the table, Lyra moved her way through the throng of students pushing towards the door.

"What can I do for you, Professor?" Lyra asked. Millions of thoughts ran through Lyra's head. Had she turned in all her work? Was she forgetting something important?

"Your work on the transfiguration of animals was excellent, Miss Malfoy. Have you ever done that type of work before?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"No, Professor. It was my first time, but I didn't find it very difficult," Lyra replied.

"Even Miss Granger didn't transfigure her animal until after you did," Professor McGonagall mused. "And you turned your cat into a locket. I'm very interested in that choice, Miss Malfoy."

"Well, to be honest, Professor, I didn't mean to transfigure it into a locket. I was going towards something more useful, like a mirror," Lyra replied. She knew her face was getting redder by the moment.

"Did the locket hold any special value to you, Miss Malfoy?" Professor McGonagall prompted.

"I've never seen it before in my life, Professor," Lyra answered. Why would the transfiguration of a cat that happened two days ago have any relevance to what was going on today?

"I've been teaching this lesson for a very long time, Miss Malfoy. I don't think I've ever come across two transfigurations that came out quite the same. Similar, yes, but never the exact same."

"I don't think I quite know where you're going with this, Professor," Lyra said.

"It could be…never mind, Miss Malfoy. Job well done. I shall see you in class," Professor McGonagall said, and waved Lyra out of her class.

Confused, Lyra left the classroom. So she changed her cat into a locket? How was that such a big deal? Malfoy changed his animal into a traveling cloak. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? Lyra sure hoped so…

"Another Hogsmeade weekened, then?" Malfoy said loudly in the Common Room that night.

Lyra was sitting in the corner reading a book on advanced Dark Magic, which she managed to get thanks to Professor Snape.

"I know who I'm going with, do you?" Malfoy asked Crabbe and Goyle. They shrugged their shoulders and kept that same, bewildered look on their face.

"What are you doing, keeping your nose buried in a book?" a voice behind Lyra quietly said. She nearly jumped a mile.

"Evan! What are you doing? You're lucky I don't have my wand with me, or I would've hexed you half to death," Lyra threatened, putting her book down. She hadn't seen or heard from Evan since the night he first kissed her, but even then it still felt like yesterday.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" he asked.

Lyra shrugged. "There's still some work I need to catch up on. I still haven't quite recovered from my three night sleep in the hospital wing."

Evan smiled. "Well, you look better, if it's any consolation." Lyra smiled sheepishly, and looked down at her book. Was he asking her to go to Hogsmeade with him? Lyra sure hoped so, it'd be nice to be around other guys besides Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

And besides, Evan wasn't your run-of-the-mill, nasty, Gryffindor-hating Slytherin. He was nice, and extremely sweet. He was always helping out the 1st year Slytherins if they got lost, which Lyra thought was really good of him. He was a great student too, and after Hogwarts, he wanted to go into Healing. At least, that's what Lyra heard at the breakfast table.

"Well, maybe I'll go. I can always come back early if I don't feel well," Lyra prompted, shutting her book. She carefully set it on the end table next to her chair. She turned to face Evan.

"Well, I think it'd be cool if you and I, you know, went together," Evan managed to say. Lyra felt herself blushing.

"I think it'd be cool too," Lyra replied.

"Great, then I'll see you tomorrow then," Evan said, and headed back up to the dormitories. Lyra slumped back into her chair, smiling wide.

The next morning, Lyra awoke earlier than normal. She couldn't get the picture of herself and Evan out of her head, and wanted to make herself look as good as possible. With a simple spell, her sleek black hair was now in loose curls. She put on jeans and a green turtleneck, then threw on her cloak and her Slytherin scarf. Checking herself in the mirror, Lyra made sure every inch of herself looked perfect.

She walked outside into the chilly air and instantly wished she put on more layers. It wasn't going to get any warmer than what it was now, and that was not very promising to Lyra. The sky was cloudy and a very murky gray, but somewhere Lyra knew the sun was lurking.

Lyra saw Evan ascending to the big open area with some of his other friends. They were laughing and joking around with each other. Suddenly Lyra hoped she could make him laugh too. But what if she wasn't funny enough? Or interesting enough? Lyra was quiet, she didn't know how she could entertain someone as cute as Evan.

"Ready to go?" Evan asked her as Mr. Filch checked their names off the list of students who could go to Hogsmeade. Lyra nodded, and felt Evan slip his hand into hers. Promising not to blush, Lyra and Evan walked to Hogsmeade. Her nervousness was brushed aside not far into their trip, when Lyra found it was extremely easy to talk to Evan. They both talked about their love of the Bulgarian Quidditch team, and that conversation carried them all the way to Zonko's.

They spent most of the morning in Zonko's, hands intertwined, laughing and pointing at all the things that could be found there. Lyra demonstrated several of the joke products there, and at one time found herself with her tongue tied in a knot. Once the effect wore off, she hit Evan hard on the arm, saying he should have warned her about making a fool of herself.

"You didn't make a fool of yourself," Evan promised as they walked into the Three Broomsticks. "Here, if it makes you feel better, I'll buy you some butterbeer. It always makes me feel better."

"Alright, if you must," Lyra said sarcastically. Evan soon returned with two butterbeers in hand. He set one down in front of her, the froth spilling down the front of the glass and onto the table.

"You know… I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but if I met you on the street, you wouldn't come off as a Slytherin to me," Lyra said.

Evan laughed, a bit of butterbeer coming out his nose. "You don't seem like the Slytherin type to me, either," he replied, wiping his mouth. "My mum was in Slytherin, and so was my uncle. I'm named after him, so maybe that's why…"

"Who's your uncle?" Lyra asked.

"Evan Rosier," he replied.

Evan Rosier. That named sounded familiar. She'd heard her old Headmaster speak of his name a few times, but she'd never thought much of it.

"What about your parents?"

Lyra took another sip of butterbeer. "From what I've heard, they were in Slytherin too. I wouldn't know, I've never met them."

Evan looked as if he was just hit in the stomach by a Bludger. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Lyra laughed. "Don't worry about it. I've never met them, but I've heard a little bit about them. I'm supposed to be a spitting image of my mother."

"Come to think of it…you do look like someone my uncle was friends with," Evan said. "She was gorgeous. She had the most beautiful hair I think I've ever seen. Well, next to yours, of course. I really like what you did with it."

Lyra blushed. "I just got tired of wearing it straight all the time. It isn't permanent, though. I wish it was," she added. She took a few more sips of her butterbeer.

"So, did you hear that Bulgaria's getting a new Seeker?" Evan asked.

Lyra nearly spit out her butterbeer. After forcing it down her throat, she looked at Evan. "Are you kidding me? What happened to Viktor Krum?"

"He wanted to be traded, well, that's what the article said. He's going to some team in Switzerland now. Geneva something, I think," Evan explained.

Lyra was at a loss beyond words. "He always seemed to happy with Bulgaria. He got them to the World Quidditch Cup for Merlin's sake!"

"Only to have them pummeled by Ireland. They haven't been back since, you know," Evan pointed out. "I have the article with me, if you want to see it…" Evan dug around in his pockets and pulled out an old Daily Prophet. He opened to the Quidditch section and showed Lyra the article.

"I can't believe it…whenever I talked to him he seemed so happy to be playing for Bulgaria," Lyra said, staring at the paper.

"You…you knew Viktor Krum?" Evan asked in awe.

"Yeah, he's an old friend of mine. We grew up together. Well, he's a few years older than I am. We keep in touch occasionally," Lyra said as if it was no big deal. It really wasn't a big deal to her. He may be internationally famous, but his Quidditch playing skills didn't fool Lyra. He was a nice guy, and incredibly smart too.

"What's he like?" Evan asked, scooting his chair closer to Lyra. She laughed.

"He's a very nice guy. Very quiet, very reserved. Incredibly smart too," she added. "He's Viktor, I don't know how to describe him. He's been a great friend to me." The subject of Viktor Krum and his Quidditch playing carried Lyra and Evan for nearly an hour. Lyra couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to him, and to laugh with him.

After finally resting the subject of Viktor Krum, Lyra and Evan walked outside to explore the rest of Hogsmeade together. Their plans were put to rest, however, when the two heard screams. It was coming from near Zonko's, and in an instant a herd of Hogwarts students came racing out towards the castle. Lyra and Evan managed to loose each other in the chaos.

Students were dropping their bags with newly bought possessions and racing back to the castle. But why? What was so horrible in Zonko's? Chaos ensnared Hogsmeade, and people from nearby shops came out to see what all the fuss was about. They had the same sentiments as Lyra- they had no idea what was going on. Lyra pulled out her wand and battled her way through the fuss to see what was going on. She didn't have to go far to see what was wrong.

Death Eaters. In the middle of Hogsmeade. They were attacking students, no less. There were four, maybe five of them, wearing their awful robes and masks. The Dark Mark hadn't been fired up yet, so maybe there was still hope. To her left, Lyra saw Harry Potter and his friends come running towards the Death Eaters and immediately into battle. But sixth year students were no match for grown Death Eaters. Within no time at all, Neville Longbottom was on the ground, whimpering in pain.

The first of the students are probably arriving back at Hogwarts, Lyra thought. It would be too little, too late before the staff got here. Lyra heard an evil cackle from one of the masked Death Eaters. She turned to see Evan lying on the ground, crying out in pain. He was being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse.

"My Master doesn't like abandoners, Evan! This should teach your family!" the Death Eater cried, and cast the spell again.

"Leave him alone!" Lyra cried, dropping her things. She ran forward, her wand raised. "STUPEFY!" The spell was stronger than the Death Eater thought, and immediately flew backwards. Lyra sprinted over to Evan's position.

"Evan? Can you hear me?" she asked, gently shaking him. All she got was a groan. Somewhere, somehow, three more Death Eaters popped up, and greatly outnumbered the people trying to fight them. Cursing to herself, Lyra pulled Evan to safety. Once he was hidden away, Lyra ran forward to help battle the Death Eaters.

Lyra became entangled with a particular nasty one. His spells were stronger than she had ever seen before, and she only barely dodged the Killing Curse.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" Lyra cried.

The Death Eater was blasted backwards, smashing into a tree and knocking him unconscious. Panting, Lyra looked at the scene unfolding in front of her. Six Death Eaters were down, five were still battling. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, and Susan Bones were the only students still battling. But Susan Bones was suddenly flung backwards, now incapable to fight. Lyra rushed up to resume her battle with the Death Eater.

"Oh, another one?" the Death Eater cried. It was another male, and he seemed amused to be fighting sixth year Hogwarts students.

"STUPEFY!" he cried, but with a flick of her wand, Lyra blocked it. The spell ricocheted into a nearby shop, causing a window to break and its occupants to cry out in fear.

"Come on, that's all you have? Voldemort must not be training you guys hard enough," Lyra teased.

"How dare you speak his name!" The Death Eater cried, rising his wand. "You need to learn manners, young lady!"

"You need to learn when your welcome is overstayed," Lyra shot back. "Cruentum Corpus!" Suddenly invisible knives seemed to slash at the Death Eater's clothing, and Lyra saw blood seep out onto his robes. He cried out in pain, but no one seemed to hear him. To her left, Ron Weasley was on the ground now. His arm was bent at an odd angle, and he wasn't moving. He didn't appear to be dead, however.

Ron's Death Eater had now moved onto Hermione. Hermione was battling two Death Eaters now. Though she had her book smarts, Lyra highly doubted if Hermione had the practical knowledge to beat both of them. Ushering forward, Lyra began spouting off any spell she could think of.

"STUPEFY! EXPELLIARMUS! STUPEFY!" she cried out. She couldn't think of the more advanced spells, her mind was in overdrive as it was. She was going to stick to the basics, it had gotten her this far.

The Death Eater blocked her spells with ease. It seemed this young teenage girl was boring the adult Death Eater, but he wouldn't pass up a chance for fresh meat. Lord Voldemort had promised him everything from Mars and back if he delivered Harry Potter to him, anything else he captured was his to keep. He couldn't wait to get his hands on this feisty young girl. The Death Eater paused for a split second, thinking of his spoils, which was all Lyra needed to send a curse his way.

"Thanks!" Hermione cried, panting heavily. Three Death Eaters were left, and only Harry, Lyra, and Hermione remained. Lyra looked over her shoulder to see Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape sprinting down the pathway towards Hogsmeade. Lyra turned her gaze back towards the Death Eaters. Without warning, Hermione was lifted up in the air and slammed against the side of a building. She fell limply to the ground, blood pooling around her head. Crying out, Lyra ran towards her.

Hermione wasn't breathing, and her neck was bent at an odd angle. "She can't be dead, she just can't!" Lyra said, trying somehow to revive her.

The Death Eater laughed. Lyra could feel hatred and fury surging throughout her body. Raising herself off the ground, she turned to the Death Eater, seething. For the first time Lyra had made a friend that wasn't one of Malfoy's cronies…and now she was lifeless on the cold permafrost ground in front of some eclectic shop in Hogsmeade.

Rushing forward, Lyra shouted the first thing that came into her mind- "CRUCIO!"