November 2008
Wizarding London, England
Ministry of Magic of Great Britain
Office of Magical Law Enforcement, Auror Department
Friday Morning
With Blaise's help, they got Lyra's evil twin back to the Ministry. He was able to inform them that they had Scorpius, Astoria, Narcissa and Theo all safe inside the Auror Department. Deja vu, Lyra thought to herself.
Shacklebolt and Harry were there when they arrived. Shacklebolt had Zabini and Rossman take 'Faux Lyra', as Blaise was calling her, down to a holding cell.
"Who is she?" Harry asked.
Lyra cast a quick Muffliato around the four of them to prevent them being overheard. She was done taking chances. "Ophira Nagini," Lyra answered. "Works at the Nagini house in London. Does a lot of weird sex with Lucius Malfoy that I will never be able to unsee," she informed him.
Lyra felt Draco bristle next to her. She took his hand. "I'm sorry, Draco. Do you want to go check on Scorpius and your mom while we talk shop?" She asked.
He nodded tightly.
"They're down that hallway, all the way at the end," Shacklebolt informed him.
"Are you going to be alright?" Draco asked.
"I'm fine. Make sure you spell the blood off your clothes before you see your mother. She'll have a fit if she sees it," Lyra replied, rubbing her bloodstained hand down his encrusted arm.
Draco leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple before starting down the hallway.
"So what happened?" Harry asked.
"She came in not long after I left. Set it up to make it look like Draco shot up and killed himself. She pumped him full of drugs and cut his arms up to hell. Wrote a letter from me to make it look like I was leaving. Wore my own damn face when she did it," Lyra informed him, picking some blood out of her fingernails. "It was stupid, really. Like why take the trouble? She seems like a melodramatic idiot to me. Her mind reads like a shitty soap-opera," Lyra explained.
"Are...are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes," she replied flatly.
"So she's like his mistress?" He changed the subject.
"I suppose. She's also my cousin, if I have it right," she said, pinning Shacklebolt with a hard stare.
He coughed awkwardly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.
"I forgot. It's been an interesting couple of weeks around here, to say the least," the old wizard replied honestly.
Lyra nodded.
"What are you talking about?" Harry inquired.
"Do you know Almitra Nagini?" Lyra asked him.
Harry furrowed his brow. "I've heard of her."
"She's my birth-mother apparently," Lyra told him.
"I see," He replied cautiously.
Lyra shrugged. She was having a hard time feeling anything but rage at Lucius, love for Draco and concern for his family. It had only been a day since she learned who her mother was. Instead of being excited or interested, all she could think about was how she could potentially use it to catch Lucius and get his balls in a vice. She'd have to wait.
Harry regarded her with concern. She appeared calm, but he could feel the wheels turning and the nervous tension radiating off her skin.
"Lyra, why don't you get cleaned up," Harry suggested.
Lyra nodded vacantly. She was lost in thought.
"Scorpius has been asking for you," he added. It was true.
Lyra looked up. "Yeah. Of course. I'll go shower and change then head that way, ok?" She replied.
"Go on," he encouraged.
She walked back towards the changing rooms.
Harry looked back at Shacklebolt.
"Out with it then, Potter," he said to the dark haired wizard.
"Sir, if she gets her hands on Malfoy while she's like this, she'll kill him," he informed his boss.
"I believe you," Shacklebolt agreed.
Lyra watched numbly as Draco's blood colored the water that circled the shower drain at her feet. How many times would that prick try and destroy his own family? How many times could he threaten the life of a little frigging kid and never be held accountable?
She needed to do something. Draco, Scorpius, Narcissa, Astoria, even Astoria's mute oaf of a husband. They would never be safe while he lived. But it was more than that. He could hurt Ginny, Harry, their children. Her parents. Anybody. She knew his mind. Nobody was off limits. Her stomach coiled painfully at the thought.
She shut off the water and spelled herself dry. She changed into her raiding gear, because she didn't have anything else, and strapped on her tactical vest and wrist-wraps for good measure. Scorpius would think they were cool at least. She stuck her feet in her heavy black boots and braided her hair down her back. She looked at herself in the mirror and took stock of what she saw.
Black hair, natural frown, full lips, small lines of tension around her eyes. All the things she expected to see. Despite the heavyness she felt, she couldn't deny the unmistakable glow on her of a person newly and madly in love. Fuck her Auror training, fuck her legilimency, fuck her wandskills, that glow, that madness was the biggest weapon in her arsenal right now and she knew it. She had a feeling Harry knew it too. She adored him, but she had to get away from him before he could see it. Before he could stop her.
She walked back into the main area of the changing room and found Draco waiting on a bench. He looked up at her. He had the same glow. The same madness. It made him irresistible to her and it also made him dangerous as hell. She smiled and sat next to him. He cast a quick silencing spell around them so they wouldn't be overheard.
"We can't stay here, Sweetheart. It's not safe," he told her.
"I know. I need to get away from Harry," Lyra said sadly.
"I will always be happy to get you away from that wanker whenever you need. Just say the word," Draco quipped back.
Lyra pinned him with a hard glare.
"Snape's house. We should go there," Draco said.
"Why?" Lyra asked, puzzled.
"Because that's what he told me yesterday," he answered.
Lyra furrowed her brow. "What?"
"He told me that my father, since he failed, probably wasn't done with us. He said if anything happened, we could hide there, since you're the only person who can get inside," he explained.
"I don't want your family to stay here. If we go, we take them with," Lyra added tiredly.
Draco nodded in agreement. "Okay, how do we do this?"
"I essentially have to floo ahead, open it to you, your mom, Astoria, Scorpius and Nott then come back and get all of us out of here under the noses of dozens of highly trained Aurors, including Harry goddamned Potter," she mused miserably, rubbing her eyes.
"I'll help you," Draco replied.
Lyra reached a hand up to run her fingers through his white hair. "How about you talk to your family. Convince them to come with us. I'm gonna go say hi to the little one and then I'll go open up the house I guess," Lyra sighed.
Draco planted a chaste kiss on her lips and pulled her up to lead her to his family. They entered the back room holding hands and Scorpius was on her in seconds.
"Lyra! Lyra!" He raised his little arms up to her and she lifted him.
"Hey!" She said to him warmly, trying to hide the fresh onslaught of worry that crashed into her when she saw him.
"You look scary! Do you work here? Do you work with Harry Potter? Do you fight? Can we fight?" He babbled to her.
Lyra smiled. "One at a time. First, thank you. Looking scary is cool. Yes, I do work here. Yes, I work with Harry Potter. Yes, I do fight and no I will not fight with you because you will beat me and then I will feel silly," she said, answering his many questions.
He laughed and hugged her tightly around the neck as she approached Astoria and her husband.
"Hey," Lyra said warily.
"Lyra," Astoria replied, her voice thick with hesitation.
"Look. I don't think you guys should stay here," Lyra muttered to her seriously. "From an Auror's perspective, you can't escape from Azkaban without help from someone well versed in navigating the Dark Arts. I know Lucius has people from MLE in his pocket and I would not be at all surprised if he had an Auror in there too. I want you all to come with me, but you need to do as I say. No bitching and no telling anybody."
Astoria's eyes widened in shock and indignation. She pursed her lips and made to say something.
"Alright."
Lyra looked over and furrowed her brow at Theo Nott who had spoken the word forcefully, gently grabbing his wife's arm before she had the chance to argue.
"Uhhh..." Lyra said, puzzled.
"We'll go with you," he said lowly with a cool confidence.
"Theo! Absolutely not! We are safe here. Blaise is here and so is Harry Potter. I think we'll be just fine," Astoria dismissed, straining to keep her voice low.
"Blaise and Potter didn't get bloody tortured to death to save our family. Miss Black here did. Draco trusts her, I trust her. I think we should do what she says," he said to his wife.
Lyra could tell that this was going to be a slog. She looked knowingly over at Draco.
Scorpius pulled his head off Lyra's shoulder to look at her. "You got tortured to death?" He asked with wide eyes.
"Only a little bit. I'm all fixed now," she replied, feeling awkward. I am not a parent. I do not know how to deal with this shit, she quipped internally.
"Is that why you used to live at the hospital?" He inquired.
"It is, but then you came to see me and I got better!" She informed him, matter-of-factly.
Scorpius smiled at her and snuggled back into her.
"While I appreciate the support, Mr. Nott, could we not with the..." she trailed off, motioning at the boy in her arms.
Lyra looked at the three of them. "It's up to you. I have work to do. I'll be back soon."
She pressed a kiss to Scorpius's head and started handing him off to Draco. "Off you get, spider monkey," she joked.
She kissed Draco quickly and left the room, giving a quick wave to Narcissa and Gold who were whispering and snuggling on the couch in the corner and had thankfully missed the entire conversation.
"Lyra dear! Where are you going?" The blonde witch called to her.
"Mum. We need to talk. Alone," Draco informed her, eyeing coolly the Scottish wizard at her side.
November 2008
Spinner's End
Muggle Yorkshire, England
Friday
Lyra used the password to floo into Severus's house. She was in a sitting room. She'd expected it to be dark, musty and dust covered. It was anything but. It was small, a little heavy on the green and black hues but it was warm and seemed well cared for. There were books everywhere and the whole room smelled like leather and potions. Like him.
She was about to crack a fond smile when a small scroll of parchment flew in from an adjacent room and hit her hard in the chest. "Okay, Severus. I get it. God, so pushy!" She complained aloud, opening it.
Lyra,
The house is charmed from the outside to look vacant. Food will replenish itself in the kitchen automatically. If you aren't hiding alone, your companions may not leave and expect to return. Only you may come and go at will. Be careful and don't do anything stupid.
Fondly,
Severus Snape
She sighed and bent back to the fireplace to revise the passwords and open the house for her 'companions.'
The spells were complicated and the house resisted her at first. She'd seen flashes of it in his mind when they'd practiced Legilimency together and it had a strange familiarity to her that she couldn't place. Severus had grown up here with his witch mother and No-maj father. Like Draco, he hadn't been a very happy child. Where Draco was mean, Severus was sullen. His father, her grandfather, was an insecure man who lashed out at his family to feel better about his own sub-mediocrity.
After some time, she got through the long spells. She stood and took one additional look around the room. Once everything had died down, she would love to spend days poking around, provided the house would allow her to do so. Severus had probably stuck Boggarts in all of the closets to scare people away from snooping. She smirked and jumped back into the fireplace.
November 2008
Wizarding London, England
Ministry of Magic of Great Britain
Office of Magical Law Enforcement, Auror Department
Friday
"Lyra, where the devil have you been?" Harry accused when she emerged into the common.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I went to Westminster. My evil twin downstairs put the nice Muggle doorman at my apartment under Imperious and I wanted to make sure he was alright," she lied smoothly. She already knew Sam was fine. She'd checked as soon as Blaise had arrived.
"Right. Is he?" He asked.
Lyra nodded. "Confused and tired, but he'll be fine. So where are we with the search?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Right, well, we've people stationed at Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, all the airports, Kings Cross, some of the old shipping ports and all of the residences in London. Nott's, the townhouse, Draco's flat," he began.
"Tell me we know where Julian Diamond is," she interrupted.
Harry sighed. "He didn't come in today. His secretary says he's having a lad's weekend in Wales, but her memory is fuzzy as to where," he said bitterly.
"Are we watching his house?" She asked.
"We are," he confirmed.
"Good," Lyra said absently.
"Lyra," he said nervously.
"Harry," she replied.
"Do you want to talk about what happened today?" He asked.
"I do not," she cautioned.
Harry was undeterred. "You walked into a gruesome bloodbath where your boyfriend was almost killed by a woman pretending to be you-"
"Yeah, I was there, thanks," she bit out sardonically. "I can't...I can't even describe it, Harry. It's too much. I'm sorry. Let's just get this douchebag back in a hole and you and I can get hammered and cry all about it, I promise."
Harry frowned. "I'm just trying to say that as someone who recently stumbled upon their friend being butchered in front of them and didn't handle it so well...I'm here if you need to have a chat," he explained.
Lyra deflated and advanced on him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair.
Lyra grimaced. I'm sorry, buddy. I hope you'll forgive me for what I'm about to do, she said to him in her head.
She saw Draco approaching from over her friend's shoulder.
"Lyra, can I talk to you?" Draco said.
Lyra pulled away from Harry. He squeezed her arm reassuringly before turning to head back to his office.
"Malfoy," he said in greeting as he left.
"Potter," Draco replied curtly.
Lyra rolled her eyes in annoyance. She could be out of her mind with rage, sick with worry or half dead and she would still roll her eyes at the pair of them. Idiots.
She led Draco to an empty conference room and cast a silencing charm.
"So?" She said to him expectantly.
"We're coming," he informed her tiredly.
She sighed in relief. "Good. Any good ideas on how to get us the fuck out of here? I got about nothing," she admitted.
"I'm not sure. I found out someone in the office who's been sharing information about you with a contact," he offered plainly.
"Ummm...what? Who!" She practically yelled.
"Page boy called Colin. Works in the front. His mother has terminal dragonpox. Someone, is bribing him with the prospect of a cure if he gives them information about you," he explained.
Lyra gasped in offense. "Colin?! That bastard! That's horrible about his mom though. I had no idea," she replied. "How did you find that out?"
"I sat out there for a cuppa and read everybody," he said tiredly. "You don't have a headache potion by chance, do you Black?"
"Oh baby," she soothed, bringing her fingers up to massage his temples. "You did good work. We can use that."
Draco dropped his head onto her shoulder and she held him, running her hands up and down his back as she thought.
They stood there for a while. Lyra had formulated an idea. A despicable idea. An idea that she hated, but honestly, they were running out of time.
She sighed. "I think I have an idea. Go back with your family and I will come get you. When it's time, we'll floo Astoria with Scorpius first and then Nott. Your mom, you and I will go last.
"Why?" He asked, puzzled.
"Because you and your mom are decent wands and we're going to have to fight him," she replied.
"Fight who?" He inquired.
"Harry," she answered miserably.
