"It's this one! Trust me!" said George with more confidence than anyone in the car.
"No it's not! Harry never mentioned he had a cat and there's a tabby in the window, look!" retorted Ron, not believing him whatsoever.
"Uh, what about the window with the prison bars on them? Something is telling me it might be that one…" added Lyra with a scowl.
Lyra, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George pressed their faces against the tepid windows of the Ford and gawked at the row of houses they were currently floating in front of, searching for the house that was hiding their famous friend. Their journey to Surrey so far had been a breeze, sneaking out of the Burrow was surprisingly easy as the Weasley parents retired to bed earlier than the children expected meaning they managed to break into the garage, steal the flying car and set off east all before one o'clock. With the added bonus of Arthur's newly-installed invisibility boost they reached the suburban neighbourhood without any incidents but now they were faced with their hardest challenge yet. How do you kidnap someone from a Muggle-infested, unsuspecting semi-detached in the middle of the night without using magic?
"Fly round the front, let's check the number before we break into the wrong house," suggested Ron, nudging the designated driver Fred, but Ron caught Lyra's eye with matching apprehension. They both knew it was the house with the heavy black bars strapped across its smallest window, Lyra recognised the pruned hedges in the back garden from her brief visit and she clenched her fists to stop the oncoming bubbles of fury as she thought of Harry's evil family. The idea of meeting them properly and giving them hell was tempting but she knew they would simply punish Harry if she did anything, it wouldn't be a smart move.
"Yup, this is number four," confirmed Fred, pointing out the neat decal next to the front door of the house before doubling back, "I know you said Harry's family were mean but wow, I didn't expect it to be this bad."
Ginny was so upset she almost seemed offended by the news.
"Why would anyone lock him up like that? Don't they know who he is?!" she squeaked, smooshing her face against the window pane even further, as though trying to be as physically close as possible to Harry, and Ron stifled his snicker with his sleeve. Like he predicted, Ginny spoke non-stop about the boy they were rescuing as though he was a living god. Lyra thought Ron was kidding at first when he said she was obsessed with Harry but she slowly came to realise during their midnight adventure that she truly was Harry's number one fan. She didn't blame her though, killing a Dark Lord at one-years-old is pretty damn admirable, she probably would have been just as enthusiastic if she grew up hearing Harry's legendary tale.
"He's ok," Lyra assured her, massaging Ginny's shoulders and prying her from the door in case she accidentally knocked the handle and fell out of the car, "they're new, he hasn't always had them."
"How do you know that?" wondered Ron, and Lyra bit her lip. Oh crap, how did I know that? She hadn't exposed her elvish secret with her cousins yet. She wasn't sure if she was going to, she rather liked the thought of masquerading her house elf's powers as her own, but she knew if she were in their position she would want to know about Kreacher, it wasn't fair to keep her privileges for herself when they had been so accommodating. They were family, of course she wanted to share her house elf.
…But she wasn't going to give the information to them for free. Riddle taught Lyra that she shouldn't give away her valuable assets without receiving something in return, whether it be gold or possibly a juicy secret or two. There is an opportunity in every interaction if you know where to find it. Lyra's impish smirk returned, she wiggled her brows and leant back into the leather bench with a satisfied sigh
"It's gonna cost ya! A secret for a secret."
"But I don't have any secrets," Ron mumbled, and he glanced at his twin brothers for help, "I bet you two do though."
Fred and George swapped a shifty-eyed look of wonder and Lyra waited patiently, thrilled that they had taken her up on her offer. They had shared a lot of their mischievous knowledge with her already but she knew they had more up their sleeves, even if they had grown out of said sleeves.
"How do we know your secret is worth one of our secrets? Our secrets are extremely pricey, Black, I dunno…" asked George, spinning in his seat and leaning against the dashboard in order to observe her face, searching for an answer in her freckles. Lyra blinked, a little insulted. Have they forgotten who I am?
"Oh yeah? My secret, if used properly, could summon Harry and all of his things in seconds so try and beat that," she challenged them, upping her price, and Fred let out a low whistle.
"My, my, that's an extraordinarily bold claim," he drawled, stretching his fingers until his knuckles popped, "prove it."
"And if I can? What do I get?" She bartered, pushing to see how cheeky she could be, and the twins flashed her identical grins.
"Something extremely priceless, trust us," they told her. From the twinkle in their eye she knew they were telling the truth and Lyra cleared her throat, preparing to blow their minds.
"Kreacher!"
Pop!
"ARGH! What is that?!" Ron shrieked, backing away and staring at Kreacher in disbelief. He had popped into existence in between the girls on the back row and the redheads yelled, gobsmacked by the unsightly grumbling elf. Lyra soaked up their reactions and wiggled her brows at the twins, more than appeased by their slack jaws.
"Mistress, where are we?" croaked Kreacher, glancing from Weasley to Weasley before turning back to Lyra "...have you been kidnapped? Does Kreacher need to save you?"
"Actually Kreacher, I need you to kidnap someone," she remarked, amused that he was pretty accurate, and she tapped the glass beside her, "please can you—,"
"Wait, hold on a sec," interrupted Fred, the first of her cousins to catch their breath, "since when did you have a bloody house elf?!" He looked oh so proud, "this is the best secret ever! Black! What the hell?! Remind me to never underestimate you ever again."
"I'm glad you approve!" Lyra grinned, relishing their stupor, "Draco let slip that my dad's side of the family has an elf and I tricked him into telling me his name."
"What an idiot," snickered Ron, watching Kreacher as though he were about to attack.
"I know right," agreed Lyra, "but this is a secret so you guys can't tell anyone about Kreacher, I don't know if I'm technically allowed to keep him and I don't want the Ministry to confiscate him or something."
"We won't," dignified George, crossing his heart, "your secret is safe with us… as long as we can borrow him."
"Ah, ah!" Lyra held up a finger and exaggerated her blinks, "first we must discuss the matter of payment. Cough up, one secret please!"
The twins' twinkle in their eyes grew as they exchanged smirks and identical thoughts.
"I suppose we have one secret that we could part with, but you'll have to wait until we get home. We solemnly swear it'll be worth the wait," assured Fred, and Lyra narrowed her eyes. How could she trust that they would follow through? She needed more, the thrill of the kidnapping adventure had sparked the mischief running through her veins and she couldn't ignore it as it grew stronger.
"That's not enough," she dared to haggle, and the twins subtly surveyed the car's interior for some inspiration when George stopped on the steering wheel and stroked his chin in thought.
"You can drive us home?" he offered despite Fred's and Ron's gasps of betrayal, and Lyra accepted his proposal without second guessing herself. She could fly a car, it couldn't be that difficult, right? Danielle made it look easy, driving consisted of fiddling with the gear stick now and then and slamming dramatically on the brakes when another car came too close. There's literally nothing to crash into up here, I'll be fine!
"Deal! It's been a pleasure doing business with you," she said sweetly, securing the deal with a hand shake. "Now, back to Potter — Kreacher, we need your help with kidnapping Harry."
The elf's pointed ears pricked at her statement and he arched a wispy brow as though he had only just noticed the houses beyond the enlarged confinements of the Ford.
"Kreacher has to visit Potter again? Why is Mistress torturing Kreacher? The stench of the Muggle roaches is hard to stomach, must Kreacher poison himself for the boy that murdered the Dark Lord?"
"Uh, you should be honoured!" Ginny instinctively rushed to defend her crush with a mean glower and she shuffled away from him, "Lyra? Why does Kreacher hate Harry?"
Lyra clicked her fingers as though suddenly remembering an urgent fact she needed to relay and she flashed her cousins an awkward smile
"Oh yeah, there is this one thing — Kreacher is racist," she confessed, rejecting the pulses of frustration that stirred whenever she thought of her prejudiced ancestors, "but I'm working on it, it's nothing to worry about."
"That explains why Draco knew about him," snorted Ron, unable to help himself, and Lyra bit her lip to stop her own teasing comment. He's mentioning Draco a lot more these days, does Ron fancy him back? From the sneer on Ron's face she knew not to mention her theory in case he exploded so she mentally bookmarked it for a rainy day.
"Kreacher, I need you to kidnap Harry and bring him back to the car," Lyra told her elf in her most commanding voice, and Kreacher looked horrified, suddenly cautious of his clean surroundings as though its cleanliness disgusted him.
"Back to the what?! No wonder it reeks of excreta in here," he rasped, his wrinkled face losing more colour by the second, and Lyra stifled her snort of laughter.
"That might be us, actually," Fred chortled, reaching over the seat and forcing Kreacher to shake his hand with his most charming smile, "Fred Weasley, blood traitor extraordinaire."
Kreacher lost all colour in his wrinkled face and he latched onto Lyra's forearm, barely able to speak. "Weasleys? More b-blood traitors? Mistress is trying to kill Kreacher, isn't she?!"
"Stop being overly dramatic and go and kidnap Potter!" ordered Lyra, putting a stop to his rude behaviour before he actually offended someone and he vanished with another pop! Everyone shuffled back towards the left-side windows and watched as warm light illuminated the smallest window when Kreacher did his bidding and Fred sidled the car closer so they could get a better view of what was occurring inside.
"There he is!" squeaked Ginny when Harry's sleepy face appeared behind the bars, looking around cluelessly for his rescuers, and Lyra and Ron rushed to grab the homemade banner as George switched off the invisibility modifier.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The group in the car cried despite the fact that Harry couldn't hear them.
Harry's puffy face transformed with joy as he jumped back, astonished by their sudden appearance, and Lyra couldn't resist snapping another picture for her photo album. Kreacher's meal deliveries worked their magic on Harry, he looked a lot healthier than last time and she mentally patted herself on the back when she noticed that his clothes were a couple inches too short for him now. She caught Harry's eye and motioned at him to hurry up, wanting nothing more than to get him as far away from his aunt and uncle as possible, and he jolted into action with a motivated grin on his face.
Everything seemed to be running smoothly, Harry's trunk and broom appeared in the backseat after a couple of minutes, almost crushing Ginny, but things took a drastic turn when Kreacher attempted to transport Hedwig. His hatred of owls disrupted the steady flow and the group watched in horror as Hedwig escaped her cage and started to flap her wings at the traumatised elf. Lyra's stomach churned when Harry's face dropped, they were making a lot of noise.
"Uh oh," gulped Lyra.
"What do we do?" Ron panicked, watching the scene unravel through the bars.
"Kreacher!"
Pop!
Panting heavily and shaken, Kreacher reappeared in the car with a raspy growl. "No more, please Mistress!"
"I'll go and help him," Ron nominated himself, stretching his hand out towards Kreacher, and Lyra complied with his wishes without a second thought.
"Off you go buddy!"
Pop!
The car watched with bated breath as Ron and Harry chased an extremely disturbed Hedwig around the tiny room while Kreacher freaked out in despair. Ron's presence was no help whatsoever, but Lyra's dinner threatened to reemerge when she saw the boys freeze and gawk at the bedroom door in fear. The handle was shaking, the Dursleys were coming.
"I can't watch this!" groaned Ginny, slowly sinking down into her seat to avoid the horror show, but Lyra couldn't tear her eyes away from the window, the suspense was killing her. She was itching to call her elf back and join the fray but she knew she wouldn't be able to hold her tongue if she came face to face with his family.
"Ron looks like he's about to wet himself! Lyra, pass the camera!" laughed George, equally as entertained by the show. CLICK!
The flimsy door burst open just as Harry caught Hedwig but the faces of his aunt and uncle never appeared; Ron thought fast and aimed a kick at the door, giving them a few extra seconds when it snapped back into its frame and knocked the Dursleys back. The boys latched onto Kreacher and he escorted them from the tiny bedroom for the last time.
Pop!
Lyra burst into a round of applause as the trio plus a flustered Hedwig collapsed on the backseat, and Ginny practically leapt into the front to avoid having any contact with the boy that was squashed up against her. Fred hammered the accelerator and the car zoomed off into the sky, leaving the scene of the crime before Harry's dumbfounded family tried to intervene in some way, and the car gradually settled from the exciting getaway to greet Harry properly. Kreacher vanished straight away, too traumatised to acknowledge his mistress.
"When did they make the prison bar installation?" Lyra asked bluntly, jabbing her thumb at the shrinking estate beyond the window and Harry could only laugh.
"A few hours ago," he sighed, taking one of the toffees Ron was dishing out, "Dobby decided to drop by again."
Lyra looked crestfallen, feeling somewhat responsible. "Oh no."
"Oh yeah," growled Harry angrily.
"Malfoy's elf?!" spat Ron, "what did he want this time?"
"He told me not to go back to Hogwarts, he said something terrible was going to happen," replied Harry, seemingly not bothered by the elf's warning, "but I know it's just Malfoy's attempt at a prank, he's trying to wind me up so I wouldn't worry about it."
"And your uncle caught Dobby this time?" asked Lyra under her breath and Harry nodded, distracting himself with the handle of his trunk as he avoided describing his night in detail.
"What happened?" asked Ron, not quite catching Harry's drop in mood so Lyra helpfully shifted the conversation topic away by causing a scene. Distracting the driver whilst on the road was never a good idea, but luckily there was no traffic in the sky tonight.
"Move over Weasley, it's time for the professional to drive!"
After a moment of tangled limbs and elbow jabs to the face as they all swapped seats, Fred, George and Ginny relaxed on the back bench as the remaining three hopped into the front. Lyra twiddled with the radio and squealed in delight when a classic Hall & Oateshit crackled to life, setting the tone for their journey back to Devon, and she shot off into the night with more speed than she intended.
Her mind drifted to the novel she had to write to Tom before bed, she buzzed at the thought of him praising her for her eventful day, but her thoughts evaporated like hazy morning dew when Harry caught her Lyra's eye and thanked her for the diversion with a crooked smile.
Molly, as expected, was absolutely murderous when she caught them sneaking back into the Burrow at dawn and Lyra felt every inch of her skin recoil squeamishly as her co-conspirators shot daggers at her for prolonging the journey back.
She was told repeatedly that they were racing against the clock to beat the impending sunrise but Lyra was too immersed in the whimsicality of driving a flying car that she spent an embarrassingly long time racing against any birds she could find. She took the blame for Ron's scheme and confessed to Molly that she came up with everything yet Molly saw through her lie and punished her children with equal amounts of disappointment in her screams. Lyra unlocked a whole new level of insufferable guilt when Molly told her off for being a bad influence on Ginny — that hurt more than the group scolding. She expected Molly to ship her off back to Weymouth in the hopes of discouraging the inevitable corruption of her youngest child, but instead she simply relayed her disappointment in Lyra and finished her rant with a sentence that stuck with her.
"You're more like your mother than I anticipated, oh dear…"
It moved her more than she was willing to admit and she stayed quiet, lost in her own head as she imagined what Giselle had done in the past to inspire such a comparison. Had her mother stolen a car before too? She doubted Molly would share the gossip any time soon though, just in case it gave Lyra any ideas.
Fortunately the tension between the children and the angry Weasley mother mellowed after the kids' tiresome day of chores and soon Lyra settled into a refreshing routine that suited her perfectly. The Weasleys assimilated to having two extra bodies in the house and the kids spent the entirety of their summer glued to each others' hips.
Most of their days were spent out in the sunshine playing Quidditch in their orchard. Lyra fell further in love with the magical sport the second she took to the skies on Charlie's old broom and it took her a matter of seconds to realise which position she was best suited for when she scored her first hat-trick against Ron. To make their games fair, however, they needed Ginny to join as Percy downright refused to play and locked himself in his room to further prove his stance on the 'dangerous' game. It took Lyra a lot of energy to convince Ron, Fred, and George that Ginny would be her perfect Chaser companion ("The Gryffindor Chasers are all girls, what's the bloody difference?" she justified) and they eventually gave in when Lyra forced Ginny to show off her hidden talents in front of them.
"Go on Gin," said Lyra, nudging her towards the broom shed, "you've got this! I believe in you! Girl power!" Ginny looked a little shaken at the prospect of possibly making a fool out of herself in front of her crush and she nibbled her lip, considering the pros and cons.
"But she's never been on a broom in her life!" countered Ron, looking at his brothers for back-up, "there's no way she can ride one let alone play Quidditch, give it up."
"She clearly wants to play," Lyra shot back defensively, rebraiding her hair in preparation, "now is the perfect time to teach her how to play an actual game considering you're teaching me at the same time."
The boys' logic made no sense to her, sitting at the sidelines watching her brothers play year after year must have been infuriating for Ginny and Lyra felt the need to intervene.
"She's never said that she wanted to play with us," dismissed Ron, clearly bored of the conversation already, but Ginny glared at him with her mouth agape.
"Yes I have! Multiple times!"
"To be fair, Ron, she has," snickered George, "we've just blocked it out."
"And we'd do it again, ayo!" Fred high-fived his twin before pouncing at Ginny and putting her in a humiliating headlock. Lyra nudged Harry, who had been happily minding his own business, in the ribs with a dramatic sigh.
"Siblings, am I right?" she tutted, and he stifled his snort.
"Oh yeah totally, I know exactly how that feels."
"That's it!" Ginny wrestled out of Fred's grip with a stomp of her foot and she stormed into the crammed broom shed, riled up by her brothers' taunts, "Watch me prove all of you wrong!"
Lyra spurred Ginny on with hooligan songs of encouragement and with another elbow jab Harry joined in as her echo. The Weasleys watched in awe as their baby sister stole a broom, scooped up the Quaffle, rocketed into the air and threw the ball cleanly through the homemade centre goal in seven seconds flat. The wooden hoop trembled in the sweet summer breeze from her sheer force and she sent her brothers the broadest grin she could muster as she tried not burst into flames, Harry's and Lyra's yells grew tenfold and she was blushing brighter than ever.
"So?" chirped Ginny after a breathless landing and she fluttered her lashes, "you were saying?"
"Mum was right, you are a bad influence on her," spat Ron, glaring at Lyra who was gazing at Ginny in adoration. She never had anyone look up to her before.
"I'm so proud of you!" cried Lyra, clapping loudly.
When she wasn't hanging out with the boys, Lyra was with Ginny and she wasn't ashamed to say that she was coaching Ginny in her way of life. In all fairness, she didn't have a choice considering Ginny was her kindred spirit, they clicked straight away and spent their first night chatting about anything and everything over a family pack of Fizzing Whizbees.
She was the little sister Lyra always wanted, they spent most of their time together messing about doing, according to the boys, 'girly' things or out in the orchard on borrowed brooms, but these so-called girly activities allowed her to embrace her feminine side. Lyra discovered that she felt more confident with her nails painted black, her summer dresses were less constricting than her camo shorts in the heat, and maintaining her wild hair with glossy creams seemed to speed up her morning routine by a considerable amount. Maybe Danielle has a point to the whole 'taking care of your appearance' thing…?
Molly was more than enthusiastic with the girls' interests. She taught them her own tips and tricks from her teenage beauty potions books and the girls had a lot of fun experimenting with its contents, especially with the recipe of creating their own invigorating fragrances. Lyra invented her very own bergamot and honey milk perfume that lifted her mood and, for the first time in her life, made her feel somewhat attractive. The hard work Rachel had put into destroying her self-esteem was starting to unravel when she spritzed her neck and inhaled the confidence-boosting aroma.
"Remember, we do these things for what?" Molly reminded the girls as they doused themselves in perfume, relishing in their new favourite scents. Although she was content with their newfound interest in grooming she wanted to make sure she set a good example for the growing girls.
"Ourselves," they chirped back, swapping bottles and complimenting each other on their choices. Ginny made a sweet floral apple mist that reminded Lyra of the blossoming orchard and she nodded approvingly, even daring to taste a little to make her laugh.
"That's right, self-care is very important and I want you both to promise me that you'll look after yourselves this year at school," Molly continued, giving Ginny a firm yet loving stare, "especially you Ginevra, you'll be away from us for a whole year for the first time."
"I'll be fine Mum," Ginny tried not to roll her eyes but she did give her mother a genuine smile, "really, I'll write to you all the time so it's not like you won't hear from me, and I've got Lyra."
"And your brothers," Molly added, her lips twitching as though she was stopping them from puckering, "they'll be looking out for you too and I want you five to stick together. Percy has promised to keep an eye out and I want you to go straight to him if you're worried about anything."
Lyra ducked under the table, pretending to fetch something from the floor to hide her stifled giggle as Ginny begrudgingly agreed to her mother's wishes. Percy had been growing more vocal about his worries concerning Lyra's behaviour influencing his youngest sibling and it only made Lyra more certain that Percy actively disliked her, he wasn't being very subtle with his pointed stares or his disproving tongue clicks. She highly doubted that Ginny would go to him if she was in need.
"There are loads of people looking out for Ginny at school, she's in good hands," said Lyra after she composed herself, "not only does she have four siblings and me, but she's got Harry and Hermione too."
Molly beamed, moved by Lyra's remark, and merrily babbled on about how lucky they were that they had each other as she packed away the potion kits. Ginny's face lit up like a match and she sunk onto her crossed arms, weak at the mention of her crush's name, but she wasn't as twitchy this time and she didn't squeak. Progress! Finally!
As much as Lyra adored Ginny, her crush on Harry was starting to get on her nerves. Whenever she was in close proximity to him she would shy away and close up, she refused to talk and her eyes stayed glued to the ground and Lyra was determined to break her out of her shell. Although she had no experience with crushes (did fancying cartoon characters count?) Lyra kind of liked the idea of having one in theory and she was curious to see if she could help Ginny in some way.
Ginny's confidence grew marginally after she started playing Quidditch with them, she levelled up to one-word squeaks but she still avoided Harry like the plague, and Lyra was running out of believable excuses to cover for her. Ron's 'I told you so' face had been perfected over the course of the summer whenever Ginny fled as it left Harry questioning whether Ginny hated him, and both Ron and Lyra didn't know how to respond.
"It'll be a lot easier if we just tell him why she's acting like a weirdo," Ron had repeated to Lyra whenever the subject came up, but Lyra couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to ruin Ginny's progress.
But on the evening before their trip to Diagon Alley to buy their new books and to finally see Hermione, Ron reached his boiling point and he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't keep secrets from Harry any longer.
Once Ginny had passed out, Lyra snuck out of her bedroom with a mug of tea in one hand and Riddle's journal in the other and tiptoed up to Ron's room in the hopes of bugging him and Harry. The two boys' voices floated through the crack under Ron's bedroom door with the warm light and Lyra paused, her curiosity getting the better of her. She held her breath as she tuned into their secret conversation, intrigued to hear what the boys discussed when she wasn't around.
"—and that's the reason why, I thought you'd want to know," muttered Ron.
"Oh," said Harry, heaving a sigh, "I guess that's better than her hating me, I really thought your sister had a problem with me being here or something."
"Far from mate, she's… actually I won't say, I don't want to scare you," chuckled Ron, and Lyra frowned at the door, silently growling at her cousin's loose lips. Aw Ron! C'mon! You told him?!
"Does Lyra know about this?" asked Harry.
"Yeah," she could hear the smile in Ron's voice, "she's the reason why I kept quiet for so long, she didn't want to embarrass Ginny or make you feel awkward."
Yeah, and now those two things are gonna happen! Well done Ron! Lyra internalised her groans of frustration, he was ruining all of her work. The boys shared a long pause, secret looks were being exchanged behind the closed door and Lyra was itching to know what was going on. Before she burst into the bedroom, though, Ron finished his thought.
"Do you feel awkward about it? You know, considering…?" he trailed off and Lyra cursed at him for being mysterious. Considering what?
"Er, I… I dunno," admitted Harry, "I'm still trying not to think about it to be honest, I'm trying to get over it but it does feel a bit weird… I don't want her to find out in case she doesn't feel the same—,"
Lyra couldn't handle their vagueness any longer and she threw the door open, catching the boys amidst their gossiping session. She blinked expectantly when they stared back, startled and scarlet-faced.
"How long were you standing there?" said Ron bluntly, his blue eyes flicking to Harry who frantically grabbed the nearest comic and pretended to read, and Lyra narrowed her eyes at him.
"Long enough to know that you're not trustworthy, remind me to never talk to you about my crushes," she stated, strolling in and collapsing on the camp bed beside Harry, "I'm so disappointed in you, you've been demoted from my second favourite Weasley cousin to my fifth."
"Fifth?!" Ron spat, genuinely insulted, "what the hell?"
"Ginny is number one, George is number two because he let me drive the car, Fred is third, and then it's Charlie because dragons, duh, and then it's you," she listed and Ron scowled down at her.
"But you've never even met Charlie!" he exclaimed, and Lyra blinked up at him.
"Because dragons, Ron," she repeated slowly, and he simply rolled his eyes.
"Harry deserved to know," he said with a shrug, "best friends don't keep secrets from each other."
"Yeah," agreed Harry pointedly, side-eyeing Lyra, "thanks for telling me about this, best friend."
"Hey! Don't pout at me Potter!" Lyra gasped, lightly kicking him, "from what I overheard I was right to keep this from you, you feel awkward about Ginny having a crush on you and I was trying to save you from yourself."
Lyra didn't quite catch what Ron mumbled in response although whatever it was seemed to humiliate Harry as he swiftly pushed the conversation forwards with a desperate look in his eye.
"Yeah, fine, whatever," he stammered, not quite meeting her gaze, "Ginnys really nice but I don't see her that way, let's talk about something else."
"Wait, what do you mean you're never telling me about your crushes?" interjected Ron, responding to Lyra's comment as though he had only just heard her, "why not? Does this mean you have a crush on someone?"
Lyra scoffed, staring at Ron as though he were insane, but the weight of Riddle's journal in her lap doubled and her stomach erupted with giggly butterflies. They were different from the nervous wriggles she usually felt when she was anxious, they were heavier and they ignited a rare blush in her cheeks. She didn't think she had a crush on anyone but for a moment, a single second, the dreamy image of the mysterious tall, dark, and handsome fifth year student that invaded her mind whenever she wrote to Tom reappeared (it was hard to imagine a boy she had never seen before), worsening her jittery belly. Lyra felt strangely tongue-tied, did she have a crush on the boy trapped in her journal?
"Wait, do you?" Harry repeated, finally catching Lyra's gaze with an arched brow.
Crap, what do I say?
The truth.
Or lie! Lying sounds good right about now.
"No I don't," answered Lyra with her most convincing cool tone, "I hate to be the boring one here but I don't fancy anyone. What about you guys, though?"
She never really thought about her friends' potential crushes before she started hanging out with Ginny and she couldn't help being fascinated. It was in her overbearing nature to be nosy.
"Nope," said Harry quickly, his eyes darting to Ron who looked alarmed at the question, "me neither."
"Yeah, nothing to report here too. No offence Lyra, but girls are way too complicated for me yet. I still don't get you lot," agreed Ron, exasperated at the mere thought of having a crush, "having a girlfriend seems like a lot of hard work."
"Girls aren't complicated," defended Lyra, chugging the rest of her lukewarm tea before using her mug as a pointing stick, "boys are so much worse, apparently you guys bully the girls you fancy? What's that about?"
"Why would we do that?" scoffed Ron, unsure of her claim.
"I dunno, you tell me," Lyra countered, her eyes dramatically large.
"That's definitely not true," clarified Harry, dumbfounded by her accusation, "I would never be mean to the girl I liked, that's literally the opposite of what a crush is."
"Aw, then I guess you'd make a great boyfriend Potter," teased Lyra, "Ginny is one lucky girl—,"
"Oh come on, don't start!" groaned Harry as Ron cackled, high-fiving Lyra for her quick-wittedness. Now the secret was out she had every right to make the odd joke now and then, it was in her blood.
A couple hours of teasing and joking around later, Lyra wished the boys a goodnight and retired back to Ginny's bedroom, snuggling to the bed made up on the floor with her journal and a single tealight as to not disturb the sleeping girl above her. Ever since Ron asked her if she fancied anyone she couldn't stop thinking about Tom and the innate urge to write to him came flooding back fiercer than before. Talking to Riddle excited Lyra, even if the conversation was lacking she still appreciated every small sentence he scribbled for her and the hastiness of his writing gave her a pinch of hope that he liked her too.
Chewing on her bottom lip to curve her smile, Lyra jotted down her opener and listened to her pounding heart as she waited for Tom to reply.
"Good evening, Miss Black," Tom wrote rapidly like always, "I've been waiting all day for you."
"I thought you didn't have a concept of time?" she asked him, pushing herself to add a smiling face, but her freckled face glowed like a firefly in the darkness as she read his witty comeback.
"No, but I have a concept of you and I missed you, Lyra."
Maybe I do have a crush…