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Walking down the hallway, George paused in front of the door. "Here we go," he said to the boy walking with him. He knocked, then thrust the door open and entered.
Walking a little behind him, Draco caught a glimpse of Lyra. She'd been moved back to her bed, and was sitting on it, her legs pulled to her chest and her arms around her knees. Something was clasped in her hand. At George's and Draco's entrance she looked up, and her face split in a smile. "George." Her voice was surprised and held a note of delight.
George nodded. "Hey, Harp." The girl grinned wider.
"Harp?" Draco looked at George. The red head glanced at him, startled. "Oh. You know. Lyre. Harp. Joke that we made up. " A flicker of pain passed through the blue eyes and was gone again.
Draco looked back to the bed, or rather, the person on the bed. The girl was studying him with a wary curiosity. Draco swallowed and took a step forward, past George. "Hello."
"Hi." The girl's voice was soft. It sounded like Lyra, but it didn't sound like Lyra. There was a careful note he hadn't heard before. Draco suspected it was how she addressed people that she met for the first time. The knowledge sent a lump to his throat.
"Who are you?"
"What?" Draco again fought down a pang.
"Nobody is a pretty funny name," murmured the girl, her lips curving upwards slightly.
Draco swallowed another lump down. "I'm Draco Malfoy. You're twin brother."
The girl made a soft noise. Her hand began to shake. "Draco? As in, Drake?" It was then Draco realised that the object she held was the second letter she'd written to him. Draco nodded. "Yes. You used to call me that when we were younger."
The girl let the paper flutter to the duvet. "Her lips began trembling. "Who are you?" she whispered, staring. There was a true fear in her eyes. "I don't know you."
Draco took a deep breath, crossing the room to sit in a chair beside the bed. "That's alright," he replied softly, gently reaching for her hand. This time, she didn't pull away. "I do."
Suddenly inspiration shot through him, and he looked up to meet the Weasley girl's eyes. "Um, Ginny." His hesitation was brief. "When we…kicked her out, she moved into your room, right?" When the red-head nodded, he pressed on. "So you've got all her stuff. Well, she has this…book. A photo album. It's-"
"Black and sliver?" finished Ginny. "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Do you want it?"
Draco nodded. "Please."
"I'll go," said Hermione softly. "Ginny's underage."
She shut her eyes, turned, and disappeared. There was a minute of silence, followed by a pop and the girl returned, holding it in her hands. "What's in it anyway?" she heard herself ask, as she handed it over.
Draco took the book. "Memories."
Carefully, he opened it to the first page. A young Malfoy family was the first photo. Unlike the family the others had seen now, this one was more cheerful. The husband and wife had their arms around eachother and were smiling, while the two kids in the photo were laughing and shoving eachother.
"That's us."
Draco jumped. He'd almost forgotten about Lyra. Taking a breath, he turned to her. "That's right," he replied, his voice soft. "That's you and me, and Mother and Father, Narcissa Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy."
Draco continued in this fashion for some time, unaware that the others were still here, listening with fascination as he spoke of their childhood. They were spellbound by the person they saw and heard. The boy had transformed in Lyra's presence, becoming gentle, his voice soft and kind. It was a side that Draco had never had before. Or maybe he had just never let anybody but her see it. Finally, Hermione went off to get some lunch, while Ginny and George chose to remain behind.
Someone knocked at the door. Ginny rose to answer it. She peeked out, and spoke for a moment, then shut the door and turned.
"Malfoy."
Draco looked up at Ginny's voice, jolted out of the peaceful state by her use of his name. "Yes?"
Ginny looked uncomfortable. "Your parents are outside."
Draco's eyes widened. As he opened his mouth, Lyra tugged on his sleeve. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to one of the photos. Draco, distracted, turned away again.
Ginny opened the door slightly. "Five minutes," she told the waiting Malfoys.
"This is our eleventh birthday." Draco's voice was soft. "See, that's us, with our new brooms. We both got Comet Two Sixties." He paused, looking down at the photo of the two. They were laughing. Lyra was trying to swat Draco with her broom for something he had said (he'd forgotten what), while he was ducking and laughing. Happiness shone out of their faces.
"I remember that." Lyra's soft voice stopped Draco cold. "We got broomsticks, and our cake was a black square with a silver M. But Father left halfway through." Lyra's brow furrowed. "I was so angry. So I ran away when you guys weren't looking, and flew up onto the roof."
Draco stared. Even as she spoke, the memory tumbled through his mind. "You found me after a few minutes. You always could. You followed me up to the roof and we just lay there, looking at clouds. Mother found us too. I thought she would tell us off, but she just Apparated up to us and sat with us a while." The girl paused, tilting her head, an odd expression on her face. "And I saw a cloud that looked like your face." A puzzled frown crossed her face and she reached forward to take Draco's chin so she could stare into his face. "I remember you…"
Draco was stock-still as he stared into his twin's eyes. A sudden spark appeared in those silvery pools. The spark flickered, then caught. It began to burn, until suddenly her eyes were alight.
Lyra gasped and threw her arms around Draco, burying her face in his chest. "Drake." Her voice was muffled. "Oh god. It's you."
George stood carefully, quietly backing away towards Ginny. Both of them pretended not to notice as Draco rested his chin on his twin's shoulder and shut his eyes, tears making their way down his cheeks. "It's you," Lyra sobbed again.
The door swung open. Draco's eyes opened.
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy stood in the doorway.
There was an awkward silence. Quickly Ginny and George stepped back to allow the parents to come through.
Narcissa stopped before George. "George Weasley." Her voice trembled. "I don't know how I'll ever thank you for looking out for her."
George was stunned by Narcissa's words. He finally managed to nod. "It was the greatest fun I've ever had," he managed to say. Lucius said nothing, only nodded at the boy. George nodded back, acknowledging Lucius's gesture.
Narcissa was more far more expressive. She crossed to Ginny, dropping so they were on eye level. "Thank you. For being the bridge between our two families."
Ginny shook her head. "It wasn't me," she replied. "It was your daughter." She met Narcissa Malfoy's eyes. "Lyra was the bridge. And the mediator. I just…filled in while she was away."
"Lyra is a very special person," said George, his gaze meeting Lucius Malfoy's.
At last, the man spoke up. "I know." His words were as soft as his son had been earlier. George was startled at his answer, but responded with a nod. "Just making sure you knew."
"Mother. Father." Lyra's voice drew their gazes back to the bed. Lyra was still sitting on it, studying them. She and Draco were leaning on eachother, shoulder to shoulder. Draco met his parents' eyes defiantly, daring them to say something.
Narcissa moved first. "Oh Lyra," she murmured, sweeping across the room. "I'm so sorry." She enveloped her daughter in a hug.
For a moment, Lyra's startled face was visible above the woman's shoulder, but then the surprise smoothed out, and she buried her face in her mother's shoulder. "It's alright Mother." Her voice was muffled. "I turned out okay."
Lucius moved to stand on the other side of the bed, across from Draco. He didn't do anything, just stood there looking unsure.
Lyra reached over with her free hand to take his. When he looked down slowly, she squeezed it gently, smiling up at him.
Lucius Malfoy was not an emotional man. He considered it a sign of weakness to lose control. It was why he always appeared so gloomy. And it was why both Draco and Lyra were struck breathless by the single tear that he let drift down his face.
I wanted to draw this out into more than one chapter, but I didn't know how :( At least Draco has found the light at the end of the tunnel.
~ MagicalLeaves