Chapter 7: I Have a Potion
The snitch was whizzing about her room in a flash of gold that was barely visible to the eye. Her mother had confiscated her wand to only be used while being supervised during times, she needed to do some of her summer homework. A bit of an overkill, but Lyra was accepting of her current situation, to an extent.
"Lyra, honey," her mother said from the other side of her door.
"Hear that Tilly? I got a visitor!" Lyra exclaimed to her new cat that her mother had given her when they'd gotten home the other day.
"I just, I'm still upset with the decisions you made, and you understand why you're in trouble, yes?" Lyra rolled her eyes, though the only one who could see was Matilda (her tuxedo long haired cat with more of an attitude than even she possessed).
Jumping to her feet, Lyra yanked open the door and looked up slightly at her mother with her lips pursed. Hermione let out a sigh taking in her daughter's tense posture and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Aunt Gabby is on her way–"
"I don't need a babysitter! I'm fifteen!" Lyra exclaimed, her frustration with her mother rising again. "You have my wand, what else could I possibly get into without it!?"
"I thought perhaps you'd like to get out for a bit today seeing as it's your birthday." Her mother snapped, her frustration with Lyra finally boiling over. "There's a few things that I'm needing to take care of today and I thought you might not want to be cooped up in this house all day."
The sounds of the water splashing against the rocks came through Lyra's open window, as if a reminder of how far from civilization they truly lived. Without her wand or access to the floo, Lyra was very much stuck in her home, as she'd figured out the first day of her confinement.
"What are you doing then?" Lyra asked, narrowing her eyes on her mother. She never worked on Lyra's birthday, so the fact that she was busy made Lyra suspicious. "Might it have something to do with Scorpius' fathers?" She wagered the guess and when her mother's face flushed at the reminder of the wizards that she'd known and dated, Lyra knew she was right on the money with her conclusion.
"That's none of your concern." Hermione reminded her, but Lyra had already gotten the truth from her body language and didn't feel the need to press the issue more. "Anyway, I'll be out for a bit tending to other things, Aunt Gabby will be around in about an hour or so. Thought you might have some fun going to Lyon."
"Lyon!?" Lyra exclaimed, resisting the urge to look back towards her desk where she had a letter from a certain blonde haired squib hidden. "Why not Paris?" She didn't need her mother to answer, as it was clear why.
Scorpius was in Paris, which meant his fathers were in Paris and Hermione was making it a point to keep Lyra as far away from them as possible.
"Fine, keep your secrets," Lyra said, turning and marching back into her room to throw herself on her bed. "I'll go to Lyon with Aunt Gabby, and you go off and chat it up with those wizards that you're obviously trying to keep me from. Though, I do wonder why, mother." Lyra had her arm thrown over her eyes to cover them, the pieces of this puzzle slowly starting to fall into place.
Tears were threatening to boil over, but she held them back best she could. Her silver eyes, the ones that matched Mr. Malfoy's. She didn't even know what else to call him because her mother flat out refused to tell her his given name. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a logical conclusion.
Her mother had admitted that she'd dated Mr. Nott (she didn't know his name either), and it wasn't a far leap to think that she might have dated Scorpius' biological dad. His otter tattoo, his reaction to finding out that she wasn't dead, his slight slip up of mentioning his father having possibly threatened her mother with or without Hermione's knowledge.
And just how bloody much Scorpius looked like her.
"Lyra…I…you don't understand."
"No, you don't understand!" Lyra shouted, sitting up to stare down her mother in her doorway. "You lied to me; you continue to lie to me. An unknown muggle man my arse! Please just leave, seems like it's something you're good at doing."
Lyra threw herself back on the bed, her emotions taking over as she sobbed into her pillow. All these years, she'd thought her mother was like some deity. Untouchable and nearly as perfect as they came. All these years, she'd thought that her father was just some bloke out there wandering around because her mother just simply didn't know who he was.
Now, as it might have turned out, Lyra might not only have a father that her mother knew, but also a brother.
"Lyra…"
"Just go."
The only sound was Lyra's quiet hiccups as she continued to cry, her mother clearly warring with herself on what to do. Lyra, however much she would have loved to just be held like a little girl by her mother, was refusing that comfort. After a long pause, she could hear her door click shut, eventually followed by the front door. When a 'crack' in the distance signalled that she was fully alone did Lyra finally get up from her bed, searching for a pen and paper.
Think you can get someone to bring you to Lyon today? We need to talk.
Lyra scribbled out the note and rushed to where her family's tawny owl was resting in his cage. She clicked her tongue a few times to wake him, not daft enough to just pet him and risk being nipped.
"Tate," she clicked her tongue again, finally waking the bird. "Hello darling, could you take this to Paris. Wait for a reply and bring it back to me as quickly as possible. I should be here until the afternoon, but I might be in Lyon…Oh I know, but I swear I'll give you extra treats for your troubles."
With a rustle of his feathers and an annoyed hoot, Tate held out his leg through the open door of his cage, ready for the message. Lyra grinned, tying it to him and pulling out a few snacks as a pre-payment for his troubles.
Clicking his beak in appreciation, Tate blinked his giant yellow eyes and flew out the window. As Lyra watched him disappear into the sky, she hoped that she'd be able to meet up with Scorpius today, because confirming if he was her brother would be the best birthday gift.
Heading into the back garden where her lab was located in a shed behind the house, Lyra knew just the potion she'd need to brew and hoped that it'd be done before Gabby arrived.
ooo
"Lyon? Why the bloody hell do you need to go to Lyon?" Scorpius' unfortunate best mate asked as he sat glued to the television that took up the majority of the wall playing an online game. "YOU BLOODY WANKER, MOVE YOUR ASS!" He yelled into the headset at some poor sod that was playing with him.
"I got to meet up with a girl–"
"You meet a bird?" James scoffed, not looking away from the screen as he continued to pound out the commands on the controller. "I mean, yeah, I suppose I could floo us over there if you know of any connections. GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!"
"Well, no I think she's my cousin, so she's not a bird. But Dad, Theo, Daphne, and Pansy have been completely mental since they figured out they know her mum." Scorpius answered, and James didn't even look away from the screen, still cursing out whoever he was playing with.
"Is that why dad rushed us over here then? Fucking hell!" James threw off the headset and controller as his character fell to the ground dying. "Alright then, I mean, yeah, we can go. Is she hot?"
"She looks like a girl version of me," Scorpius deadpanned as his redheaded friend stood up, stretching his hands over his head. "Hot isn't how I'd ever view an obvious relative."
"I don't know, mate, you are part Black." At the jab to his grandmother's family, Scorpius swung his fist in James' direction, making contact with the top of his friend's head before walking out the room.
It took all of about two minutes for James to swipe his dad's floo network booklet that directed him to all the different public floo connections around the world. Having fathers in the Auror department occasionally came in handy. It was easy enough to find one connected to an inn on a little wizard street in Lyon. Scorpius scribbled a reply to Lyra's message to let her know where they'd be and sent it with the owl, he assumed was hers, but not before the bloody thing nipped him.
His dad and Theo had left earlier in the day with James' dad (who also happened to be his dad's Auror partner) and they were told to stay near the penthouse. Well, technically they were using the floo network in the penthouse, so it was fairly nearby. If you counted twoish hours by train near, though with James along with him, they could get anywhere within an instant. Magic, it was wonderful occasionally.
After a couple of hours, wanting to make sure that the owl had been given enough time to deliver the message, the boys were ready to head to Lyon.
"Alright, how do I look?" James asked, sliding a pair of sunglasses up his nose before messing up his already naturally unruly red hair.
"Lyra is going to hate you…" Scorpius commented as James checked his reflection in the mirror, causing the wizard to shoot him a grin.
"Absolutely, but all women love to hate James Sirius Potter," he smirked, grabbing Scorpius' hand as they walked into the emerald green flames.
The pair of teenage boys were spit out of the hearth and into a dodgy looking inn that had both James and Scorpius pressing themselves to the wall. They skirted around the pub, heading straight for the exit, weary of the dark hoods covering all the patrons' faces and the hushed angry whispers. One man had even punched another in the face, just as they toppled out the exit.
Even with the door open, sunlight didn't pour inside, the bar staying nearly pitch black still as they threw themselves outside onto a dirt path desperate to get away from the danger.
"Why would you floo to a place literally called the Savage Basilisk?" Scorpius looked up from the ground he was laying on to see Lyra standing over him. Today she was wearing a pale blue cloak with the hood drawn over her blonde curls. Next to her was another girl, but Scorpius was too busy looking at the witch he'd come all this way to meet up.
"Is that what it translates to?" James asked from the ground next to him. "You could have bloody warned me!" Scorpius only rolled his eyes before standing up and brushing the dirt off his slacks and polo that he'd worn for the day.
"I honestly didn't think about it, anyway, hi Lyra." He said, smiling down at the girl, who didn't look nearly as happy to see him as he would have hoped. "Happy birthday."
"Happy birthday to you too, now come on, let's not get caught in another international incident. One a week is enough for me." Without another word, Lyra spun on her heels and began to walk away with her friend, making Scorpius and James rush to catch up.
James, much to his surprise, had yet to comment on either of the girls that they'd just met up with. Normally this would cause Scorpius at least a margin of concern, but at the moment he was happy James was keeping his comments to himself and not being cursed and injured by the females he was offending.
Lyra and her friend made quick work, drifting through the streets until they were outside a much nicer looking inn with vines and flowers growing up the outside. This part of the city was also considerably more welcoming, with shoppers bustling about, a friendly demeanour in the atmosphere.
They pushed inside and the smells of stew and freshly baked bread filled the air. A much warmer crowd than the one James had initially taken them to fill the space, as families, women having social events, and even persons who seemed to be on their lunch breaks sat about. Boisterous and friendly chatter, with no threats being spat had Scorpius feeling much calmer. Lyra wove her way through the crowd, the hood of her cloak now dropped allowing the white curls to sway with her steps.
Scorpius now took notice of the friend that was accompanying them, a girl that looked semi similar to himself and Lyra, but there were some striking differences. Her face was much rounder, each time she looked over her shoulder he noticed that her eyes were wide, and the colour more of a lite blue than the silver he and Lyra had. Each time she realised that he'd noticed her staring at him, she would abruptly turn back around for only a moment before studying him again.
When they reached a staircase and began to climb the narrow steps, Scorpius couldn't keep his curiosity to himself any longer.
"What are we doing?" He whispered, not feeling it appropriate to speak any louder at the moment.
"I have a theory that I was wanting to test," Lyra answered quickly, not slowing down as Scorpius followed behind her friend and James behind him.
Lyra didn't offer any more information as they came to a small sitting room that slightly resembled a conference room. The witch stood aside and allowed for everyone else to enter before sticking her head out and shutting the door. Turning back around, Scorpius couldn't help but smile at her. He couldn't help himself, there was something about being around a relative his age that just wholly accepted him that just made him feel, well, he wasn't sure. Happy maybe?
"I need a hair," she stated, instantly causing the grin to slip from his face.
"I'm sorry?" He said, looking between the friend and James before back at Lyra. "Why do you need my hair?"
"I have a potion," she said, digging through an inner pocket of her cloak. She eventually pulled out a vial filled with a silver shimmering liquid that made Scorpius raise a brow. "And I need to add our hairs to it. Ideality I would use your father's, but you're the next best–"
"What do you mean you'd use my father's hair?" Scorpius asked, now completely bewildered by the girl. "Are you trying to figure out if we're related or not?"
"Yes," both girls answered in sync that caused Scorpius to turn his attention back to the friend.
"Oh, right, Scorpius, this is Vivienne, Vivi, this is Scorpius."
Scorpius nodded in Vivienne's direction, just slightly wondering why she looked so completely and totally perplexed with him. He gestured towards James, who was standing dumbly watching Lyra and possibly not blinking.
"This is my mate James," he said, waving a hand in front of his friend's face.
"Hello," Lyra and Vivienne both said, but James still didn't speak. When the silence continued to a point that it was uncomfortable Lyra narrowed her eyes at the red head and turned her attention back to Scorpius. "Is he a mute?"
"Normally I can't get him to shut up," Scorpius told her, using his index finger to poke James in the arm.
"Hm, well anyway," Lyra reached up and plucked a hair of her own after handing the vial to Vivienne. She dropped the long white strand into the silver potion, causing it to start to bubble a bit. "Hair, please, I would like to get this done before Aunt Gabby starts looking for us."
"Uh, yeah," he answered, following suit and pulling one of his own. Lyra snatched it out of his hand and dropped it into the bubbling liquid without a word.
As the potion began to shift colours, Scorpius again wondered what it was. A bright red began to fade into a burnt orange and he saw Lyra pulling out a book from her cloak. Her eyes were scanning the page, clearly looking for what this might mean. When she found it, her eyes grew wide and he could hear a slew of curses falling from her lips.
"Well, what is it?" He asked when she still hadn't explained herself. A breath, then two passed, before she finally looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. "Lyra, what does it mean?"
Lyra and Vivienne exchanged a look, and it seemed that even James was starting to come out of his hypnosis as he noticed the potion. Scorpius waited looking between the three, but none of them said anything. "Will someone please explain to me what that means?" Scorpius asked, his frustration evident.
"It means…You're my brother…"
Notes: Hello, I saw a handful of comments and I just wanted to address something that I don't think will organically be explained in the story. Scorpius being a squib has nothing to do with Lyra's birth. Sometimes squibs are just born and there's no explanation why.
Anyway, chapter 8 might take a few extra days as I finish up edits on Time Keepers chapter 6. If you haven't read that one, you can find it in my stories. It is another Dreomione with teenage children. Though, I'll say to read the tags.
For updates on what I'm working on you can find me on social media, Facebook; Sarah Fraser's Forest and Dreomione Appreciation and then also on twitter or whatever it's called now at sarahfhickman