"You four — a word please."
"And so begins another year of people doing the most," Lyra huffed on behalf of her friends as they entered the grand Entrance Hall, sopping wet and shivering after their exceptionally slippery excursion up to Hogwarts.
The thunderous weather followed them all the way into the Scottish highlands and the chill of the Dementors lingered around the grounds as they were stationed at the gates, almost everyone was feeling the combined effects. The four third-years tried to blend in with the crowds swarming towards the Great Hall for the Welcome Feast, but to their alarm, their head of house managed to pick them apart from the sea of bodies almost instantly.
"You know who you four are — no, not you Mr Fawcett, carry on as you were," Professor McGonagall called out from the shadows, eagle-eyed as she studied the stream of students from the shadows like a stone guardian.
"This was bound to happen eventually, come on," encouraged Harry, taking charge in forming a path out of the heavy crowd, "you never know, she might take pity on you and let you drop Herbology."
"As if! If Lyra can drop Herbology then I'm dropping Potions," Ron scoffed, using his extra height to his advantage as he barged past a group of second years.
"You can't drop either of those classes, don't get your hopes up," Hermione said kindly, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news to their unrealistic expectations.
"After everything else that's happened today, my hopes have never been lower," Lyra grumbled, craning her neck so she could catch one more glimpse of the back of Remus' head before he slipped into the Great Hall.
Throughout her trip up to the castle, Lyra tracked Remus to the best of her ability, wanting to know what was going on in his head. Their interaction played non-stop in hers, it didn't make sense. She barely glanced at the Thestrals pulling the carriage that took them to the school's entrance courtyard; she was so caught up in watching the distant figure of her new Professor ahead of her that their desperate paws and grunts of affection went unnoticed. Even Harry's first time seeing the Thestrals flew straight over her head, all she saw was Remus. He's gonna have to face me some time, I wonder when our first Dark Arts lesson is? Please be tomorrow, please please pleaseee—!
"You called, Professor?" Harry said first when Lyra continued to fixate on the Great Hall doors, ignoring their head of house altogether, but a gentle nudge from Hermione pushed her back on track.
"Try not to look too upset to see me," Professor McGonagall greeted in a light tone unlike her usual rigid rhythm and Lyra decided to be courteous and granted McGonagall her full attention.
Her dark speckled hair hung looser than normal under her pointed black hat and her stern eyes were soft behind her spectacles today, the age lines around them emphasised in her attempt to smile as though everything was alright. Lyra sensed the oncoming sensitive conversation straight away and held in her sighs, trying not to be rude. She was happy to see her and all but she was dreading the impending lectures more.
"I hope you had a fantastic summer, Professor, I'm sure it was a lot better than ours!" She smiled, remembering her manners, and McGonagall's eye twitched as though fighting the urge to roll them.
"Mhmm, yes, although I did read in the papers that you visited Cairo so it couldn't have been too terrible," she cut that subject off before it could grow legs and beckoned them to follow her, "this will only take a moment if Miss Black decides to play nicely, come with me."
The chatter of students complaining about the rain grew faint as they walked through the ground floor corridors until they reached a disused Arithmancy classroom that completely cancelled the ambience. A set of armour was polishing its gauntlets in the corner but it snapped into its heroic pose as they filed inside and Lyra tried not to laugh too loudly at it.
"Take a seat," Professor McGonagall assumed her position behind the professor's desk, wanting to keep their discussion as professional as possible, "I wanted to speak to you together to save all of us the energy of repeating ourselves since I know I cannot tell one of you something without the other hearing."
"How very efficient, you should do that more often," Lyra commented, unable to hold her tongue, but she decided to finish with a smile when her professor's eyebrow cocked, unimpressed.
"Let's start with you, Mr Weasley," McGonagall sighed and extracted a folded letter from her robes.
Adjusting her glasses for clarity, she began to reread aloud his plea to allow him to keep Scabbers on his person at all times and pursed her lips. At Hermione's advice, Ron sent her a letter the night prior and he lit up at its appearance, glad that Errol made it on time for once.
"I know it's a lot to ask but this is important. You're probably thinking Scabbers is just a pet rat, he's nothing special — but you're wrong, he's family. I need to be with him in his last days, he doesn't have long left and—,"
Ron sniffled right on cue and continued to ramble through Lyra's speech she had prepared for him, "—I know that his dying wish is to be with me when it happens. I can't ignore his dying wish, Professor, that would technically count as animal cruelty."
"Scabbers won't shut up when he's not with Ron, Professor, it's for our own good," Harry helpfully backed him up and Professor McGonagall rested the letter in the desk as she observed the quivering lump in his shirt pocket.
"You do understand that your Care for Magical Creatures classes commences this week? Having Scabbers on your person may cause some complications?" She quizzed him, wondering whether he had considered the possibility that he may be putting himself at risk. Ron's ears began to sear and his persuasive pout vanished in a blink.
He hadn't.
"Uuuh—,"
"I'm sure our Care for Magical Creatures teacher will be happy to watch over Scabbers while Ron interacts with any animals during class," Lyra piped up, treading the line of ruining Hagrid's secret for the sake of the poor rat and Ron's happiness, but luckily Professor McGonagall sensed what she was hinting at and calmly kept her answer vague. By the glint in her hardened gaze, Lyra knew she was keen to keep them in the dark so Hagrid had his moment to shine.
"I will speak to the staff and inform them of your and Scabbers' situation. I understand how much he means to you and to Percy too, the love one receives from a pet is incomparable, but I do not want to hear that you've been taking advantage of Scabbers' ill health for your own misdeeds. Is that clear, Mr Weasley?"
"Yes! Absolutely! Thank you, Professor!" Ron let out an exasperated sigh and pried Scabbers out from his hiding place to stroke him, "You've just made an old rat very, very happy."
"Indeed, I hope when his time comes that it will be peaceful," Professor McGonagall slipped the letter back into her robes and exchanged it for another piece of parchment, her gaze switching from one end of the line of chairs to the other where Harry was sitting. Lyra felt him tense up beside her and chose not to comment. This couldn't have been good.
"One of the main reasons I brought you here, away from your classmates, was to reiterate the importance of what is going on here this year at Hogwarts. But first I want to bring up the letter I received from Professor Lupin. He informed me that you took ill on your journey to school, Mr Potter, when the Dementors came aboard," she softened her tone and glanced back at the letter in question, "How are you feeling?"
"I may have fainted a bit but I'm good now, honest," Harry promised, flushing lightly that his overt reaction had been made into a big deal, "it's nothing to worry about."
"As your head of house, it is my duty to worry," McGonagall countered diplomatically, waving her wand towards the classroom door and Harry huffed more when Madam Pomfrey came bustling in with her tray of medicinal goodies.
"With the Dementors standing guard this year I need to ensure that my students aren't suffering at their expense, awful beings as they are, they do not care for the innocent."
"I'm anticipating a few fainting episodes amongst the students this year, although it would be marvellous if you could avoid the Dementors when possible, Mr Potter," Pomfrey chimed in as supporting evidence as she thrust another Chocolate Frog at Harry to eat.
Lyra instinctively shied away from the matron as she felt her concerned gaze land on her, and the utter shame from the last few weeks of her second year burned her freckled face.
Besides Danielle and possibly Andromeda or Molly, Madam Pomfrey knew more about the intimate details of her relationship with Tom and she was afraid that she would ask her to detail the lost memories she had recovered over the summer.
She slumped in her seat and subtly raised a hand as a shield, pretending she wasn't there.
"I can't finish the whole thing, Professor Lupin already gave me chocolate. I swear that I feel fine," Harry wriggled his way out of gorging on confectionery, and the adults looked pleasantly impressed by the news and glanced at each other.
"It looks like our new Defence teacher has already earned their keep," Pomfrey commented under her breath, making McGonagall smirk, and Lyra chomped down on her tongue to physically stop her snide remark. Don't do it, stop it Lyra.
McGonagall seemed to notice her twitch at the mention of Remus and swiftly moved on. "If you worsen over the course of the night then please report to Poppy immediately," she told Harry who could only muster a stiff nod in response.
"Good. Now, leading on from that, it bears repeating that the Dementors are here for your protection and I do not want to hear that the four of you have somehow found yourselves stuck in the middle of a swarm of them. Of all the students here I knew it would be best to truly highlight the seriousness of the situation here to you four in particular," McGonagall continued, staring all four of them down but Lyra noticed that her stern gaze lingered on her the most. "We are going to have a smooth and trouble-free year, aren't we?"
Lyra guffawed."I mean—,"
"Yes, Professor," encouraged Hermione, interrupting Lyra at the first sign of trouble, "we will."
"No trouble whatsoever," Ron nodded, trying not to show how much effort he was putting into wrangling Scabbers.
"Not if we can help it," Harry started to say but he rushed to finish when McGonagall drew breath to scold him, "but that doesn't mean that we won't help it, we'll be good I swear."
Lyra's frustration rose even higher and she side-eyed her friends. Why was the responsibility on them to prevent something that usually was out of their control? Once again she was being patronised because of her father's actions, she hadn't done anything!
Yet.
She's naturally disruptive, sometimes she reminds me of you.
Yeah, but I get that streak from you!
"Ok, sure, but just for the record —it's not fair that we're being treated like this just because I'm related to the guy whose actively trying to murder us," Lyra began to spew, working herself up, "Hermione will probably be fine since she's not a blood relative like me and Ron nor is she his godchild like Harry so he doesn't know who she is. It's not fair that you're including her in all this, but regardless of that you can't just lock us up here at school and expect us to live a limited life because of his crimes!"
Professor McGonagall's face dropped, floored by her outburst.
"You know—?"
"Of course we know! These are things we should've known ages ago!" Lyra exclaimed, expressing some of her anger so she would simmer down, "I'm sorry I'm shouting but I'm so sick of being ignored and treated like some stupid kid! Obviously, we're going to avoid the Dementors but I truly don't see why Harry and I can't visit Hogsmeade this year! Don't punish us because of my dad's crimes! Please, Professor!"
"It's not like we'll be the only people down there and we can use magic while we're in the village," Harry tried to back Lyra up.
"Everyones on the lookout for Lyra's dad, we are too and we promise that we'll run into the nearest shop and alert someone if we see him?" Ron tried to chip in, and Lyra nodded vigorously at his words, encouraging him to speak more. Even Hermione looked persuaded and she offered McGonagall an innocent smile.
"The Dementors seem like they're doing a thorough job? They'll protect us like they did on the Express?" Hermione didn't sound convincing but it was the thought that counts.
"The first Hogsmeade trip is on my birthday," Lyra murmured, trying her hardest to hit the emotional blackmail line perfectly and she pouted up at her head of house, "for once I want something happy to look forward to on that day since, you know, it's the anniversary of that night—,"
"Oh for heaven's sake, Black!" Professor McGonagall burst and shook her head, triggered by her incessant behaviour, "No! I'm not falling for your wounded puppy act! Your guilt trips won't work on me so stop trying."
The ghost of a smile was trying to possess her lips but she fought hard to keep them thin and taut.
"Aw come on!" Lyra sulked, dropping her act immediately and crossing her arms. That usually works! "Fine, if not me then Harry—,"
"No. Neither of you has permission to be in Hogsmeade whilst your father is at large. The pair of you are the remain here within the grounds' limits where you are safe and if I catch either of you putting your selves at risk then I will lock you up in the Gryffindor Tower myself," McGonagall said finally, her eyes piercing and her brow fierce as she tutted. Madam Pomfrey matched her look of incredulity and side-eyed Lyra without hiding her true feelings.
Lyra's heart sank and she bit her lip, worried she had just signed herself up for a year's worth of mindfulness training with Poppy. She needed to act like she was happy and no longer in need of any school-issued counselling sessions so she tried to backtrack a little.
"Fine, thank you, Professor. I understand," she said forcefully and faked a warm smile.
"I'll believe that when I see it," McGonagall dignified and nodded, sending Madam Pomfrey the signal that she was no longer needed, "now that is out of the way— Potter, Weasley, if you two wouldn't mind waiting outside, the girls will be out momentarily. There is one more thing I would like to discuss with them before we head back to the Great Hall."
"What is it? Why can't we know?" Ron tried to interfere with McGonagall's plans but she was one step ahead.
"It does not concern you but if you must stay then so be it," she clasped her hands together and smiled at the girls.
"The Head Boy and Girl have decided to start a school council this year—,"
"Actually, maybe we should go," Harry piped up the second the conversation started to sound boring, and Ron happily agreed with a faint sneer, deeply opposed to the idea of joining a school council.
"Sorry, Professor, we will wait outside," Ron smiled and hastily followed Harry out of the classroom. Once the door handle clicked Professor McGonagall smirked to herself and decided to continue on her train of thought, wanting to get this piece of admin out of the way.
"As I was saying — Mr Weasley and Miss Clearwater have decided to introduce a school council to Hogwarts. All year groups except first will be represented by one member from every house, the call for sign-ups will be on the notice boards this evening, but our Head Boy and Girl have personally asked that both of you nominate yourselves as your year's representatives for Gryffindor. Only one of you is required, however," McGonagall explained, and Lyra let out an excited ooh at the news.
"Awh, Penelope is Head Girl? So is she doing that and running the Duelling Club?" she wondered, inspired by Penelope's work ethic, and McGonagall nodded.
"Indeed, she's agreed to take on both roles so you can sleep soundly knowing the Duelling Club is running this year," she relayed, pleased that Lyra was keen on continuing her extracurriculars.
"What's the purpose of the council? What would we be doing?" Hermione inquired, intrigued by the offer.
"The members of the school council are the voices of the students, you will be responsible for communicating any issues that you feel are necessary to be discussed amongst your peers. Decisions such as school events and the introduction of new extracurricular activities may be brought up for example, but most importantly it is a chance for us to integrate and strengthen relationships between the four houses here. Professor Dumbledore is dedicated to making inter-house unity a priority at Hogwarts and I think either of you would be an excellent candidate to help spread that message."
It sounded like music to Lyra's ears and she began to grin at the thought of incorporating more of the whimsical Muggle staples the wizards had been missing out on. Would they be allowed on field trips? What about getting in touch with international Wizarding schools to start an exchange program?! OH MY GOD, WE CAN FINALLY HAVE A PROPER HALLOWEEN PARTY!
"Oh oh me! I'll do it! Pick me!" Lyra leapt up in her seat and shot her hand up in the air as though they were in class.
"I think Lyra should do it too," Hermione decided, supporting her friend's wishes, "with all of my extra classes I think I may struggle with the workload."
"What do you mean? We all have extra classes this year," Lyra scoffed, surprised by the ease with which she won the school counsellor role, and Hermione froze up as though realising she had just confessed to a crime.
"Well, yes, that's what I meant," she laughed nervously, her gaze flicking towards McGonagall more than before, and Lyra frowned at them. She was lying.
"No, it's not, what's going on?" Lyra challenged, sitting forwards in her chair to study both of them, "Why are you twitching?"
"I'm not twitching!" scoffed Hermione, her eye visibly twitching.
"There is nothing going on that requires your attention," McGonagall said through a gritted smile, and Lyra jumped up when her brow began to twitch too.
Ah HA! Liars!
"Uh uh! You're twitching too! What's going on? What are you two plotting?"
"Professor?" Hermione cracked first, her face screwed up as though she was in pain, "She won't give in, you know she won't, and out of the three of them you know she's the one who'll figure it out."
McGonagall sighed deeply and she broke her unbowed posture to massage her temples.
"I suppose you're right, Miss Granger — but no one else. What is discussed here must not be shared with Potter and Weasley. The Ministry was exuberantly clear with their instructions, but technically this does not break the waiver you signed over the summer so…"
"What? What is it?!" Lyra gasped, invested in the seriousness of the subject.
"Hermione has been awarded the prestige of being entrusted with a Time-Turner so she can attend all of her new classes. This has happened a handful of times in Hogwarts' history, only the brightest, most gifted and well-behaved students here are given the opportunity, and I cannot state the importance of my next statement enough — I do not want you anywhere near the Time-Turner because your interference could potentially jeopardise Miss Granger's school career," McGonagall explained, glaring at Lyra as though daring her to pipe up.
She extracted a lime green velvet bag the size of her hand from her robes and gave it to Hermione. The gold tasselled drawstrings slowly unravelled by themselves and Hermione carefully pulled the glistening hourglass from inside. Lyra gawked in awe at the fine detailing of runes along the gold cage wrapped around it and oohed at the delicate chain that fell from it as Hermione inspected it closely. Wizards sure like their jewellery!
"That's… wow!" exhaled Lyra, smiling proudly at her best friend, "Hermione, that's awesome! Well done!"
"Thank you, it's been so difficult keeping the news to myself," she rambled, letting go of some of the added pressure she had been feeling already with a gracious smile, "it's such a huge opportunity and I really hope I don't mess up."
"You won't, and I pinky promise I'll keep this a secret," Lyra swore, offering Hermione her pinky finger.
A tidal wave of ideas tried to drown out the sensible voice in her head but the treasured gleam in Hermione's shiny brown eyes was enough to keep her focused. She couldn't let her best friend down and she needed this as a chance to prove to McGonagall that she could be trusted to act responsibly. So much so that it would be inherently cruel not to let her visit Hogsmeade.
"You're literally the smartest person at this school, possibly in the school's history, the Ministry would be insane to take this away from you."
"Aww, Lyra," Hermione sniffled a little and took her pinky in appreciation.
"Then you will do well to keep your distance from the artefact, yes?" McGonagall ruined their small moment with another pointed look in her direction, and Lyra nodded, rolling her eyes.
"What artefact? I dunno what you're talking about," she replied snarkily, and McGonagall finally seemed satisfied.
However, just before they departed the classroom and rejoined the two boys waiting outside, McGonagall placed a hand on Lyra's shoulder and gently forced her to stop. A shiver of dread rolled through her.
"I want you to know that my office door is always open," she said in a much softer tone than she was expecting, and Lyra bit her lip, meeting her eye. She looked sad despite the curve of her lips, she reeked of sorrow that had been waiting to be unleashed and Lyra knew that sadness was because of her.
"I'm fine," she said automatically but her response flew over her professor's head. She didn't sound convincing, Lyra wouldn't have believed it either. "I'm used to my life going to shit, this is just who I am now."
"I'm sure you are right now but there will be days when you wake up with the weight of the world on your shoulders, when the thought of climbing out of bed seems like an impossible feat. I can't imagine how difficult this past year has been for you to process…" McGonagall's face spasmed in discomfort and the hand on Lyra's shoulder squeezed, "I truly am sorry about your father and I am here for you if you want to talk about it."
Lyra's throat constricted the bubble of words seeking freedom in the form of a question. The pain was bearable, she had gotten used to watching the adults in her life wincing at the vague mention of Riddle, but the lack of information about her own life was worse. She wanted to ask McGonagall what she knew about Remus but she knew she was getting ahead of herself. It was still the first of September, it was only day one. If the past two years are any indication then I've got at least two hundred days to find out.
"Thanks, Professor, I appreciate that. I'm genuinely doing better than last year, Danielle's counselling sessions over the summer have been insightful and everyone's been so supportive during my dark days," Lyra gestures towards Hermione who nodded, assuring their head of house that Lyra was telling the truth.
"She's doing really well, I would have written to you myself if I thought Lyra needed extra help," Hermione chirped in agreement, and Professor McGonagall relaxed. Her smile became natural and the sad sheen in her expression disappeared for once.
"That's excellent news," she continued as she opened the classroom door, "but I'm afraid I would still like you to visit Madam Pomfrey once a month for a chat, Lyra, just for my own peace of mind."
Awwww noooo! Fuck you, Dad! This is totally your fault and not mine!
"Sure, whatever you say, Professor," Lyra mumbled bitterly and their chat ended there before they walked out and Harry or Ron got involved.
The four Gryffindors rushed to find their seats as they joined the end of the line filing into the Great Hall and Lyra ignored the hundreds of eyes darting her way while she tracked Remus' face at the staff table.
He was locked in a pleasant conversation with Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra who looked happy to see him. She was desperate to know what they were talking about and she couldn't fight her sting of jealousy. So he can talk to them but not me?!
Most of the staff craned their necks and left their seats to chat with their newest colleague, eager to incorporate him into their world, but when she realised that there was one particularly sour face missing from the line-up she froze.
SNAPE ISN'T HERE?! HAS HE BEEN FIRED?!
Lyra barely paid any attention to the Sorting ceremony, she didn't realise the hall had fallen quiet as Professor Dumbledore took to his feet to address the school until Remus stopped talking and politely listened to the headmaster.
For a split second, his eyes locked onto hers and her heart stopped. Yay!
But as though Remus had stared directly into the sun, he flinched and averted his gaze without hesitating, heightening Lyra's anguish. No?! He IS avoiding me!
Don't push him, girl. The last thing we need is a werewolf on our tail.
He seems sad… his soul… it's grieving.
The whispers of her conscience extinguished the fire of her rage and Lyra softened a little as she dropped her gaze back to her empty plate.
She knew she was being dramatic and she couldn't let her emotions overwhelm her sensible thinking or else Professor McGonagall would banish her to the hospital wing indefinitely. She didn't want to scare Remus away by being overbearing, something was telling her it wouldn't end well. She needed to remember that her past affected others too, her father's actions caused a shockwave throughout the world and that was just something she needed to learn to navigate.
Lyra zoned out of most of the headmaster's welcoming speech as she got stuck inside her own head, transfixed on the mystery that was her parents' ex-best friend and how best to approach the situation. She didn't care about anything Dumbledore had to say about her father or the guards keeping him at bay but the sudden rush of the Gryffindors around her yelling and clapping tore her away and she almost scrambled for her wand in self-defence.
"You don't look surprised, figures," Harry scoffed, side-eyeing her as the largest diner at the staff table took to their feet to soak up his positive reception. Hagrid was beaming ear to ear, standing tall for the first time in his life, and Lyra smirked.
"I didn't want to ruin his moment, why else did you think he knew our class book list? I'm sorry I'm so good at keeping secrets!" She pointed out before joining in with Fred and George's obnoxious hooting to avoid any more questions. The only one who didn't look mildly annoyed by her secrecy was Hermione and the girls swapped a quick wink. See! Fantastic secret keeper material, me!
"Speaking of secrets," Harry added once Dumbledore turned to introduce the second newest professor to the student body, but to her surprise most of the hall whooped and clapped just as loudly for Remus. It seemed as though half the train received a chocolate treat from the Dark Arts professor and they wanted to show their support. Hopefully, they'd get more in class.
"Do you think we should approach Remus first?" Harry whispered, "I want to speak to him, he seems cool."
"I dunno, I think he might be a bit… scared of us," Lyra mumbled back with apprehension, "maybe we should wait and see if he says anything first?"
"You've changed your tune, why?" Harry pointed out, dropping his voice further now Professor Dumbledore was addressing the school again. Lyra chewed her bottom lip in shame.
"I feel bad for him," she whispered back, purposely blocking out more mentions of Sirius' name that was now filling the hall. She felt the weight of the hall's eyes on her back but she casually brushed them off.
"I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for him back then and now. Like, imagine Hermione got married and had a child, and then she and her husband were murdered by fricking Voldemort. And then Ron decides to kill his wife out of nowhere and then he kills me too? And now Ron's out of prison hunting down Hermione's son and his own daughter for some sick revenge fantasy? Not to mention you're suffering with a little furry secret of your own, but now you have to juggle that with a teaching career where you'd come face to face with Ron and Hermione's kids every day?" The more details she verbalised the faster her guilt formed. She needed to be mature about this, Remus didn't deserve her bombarding him with rude, personal questions.
Harry's face fell and he tried not to look too glum as he found Remus' face amongst the staff.
"That's a morbid way of putting it, you've got a point… but still, I think it would be nice to talk to him about it. If he sees that we're happy to discuss what happened then he might open up," he murmured back, and Lyra couldn't have agreed more. She was going to have a hard time letting go of her need to pester Remus but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.
"I think the best plan of action is to feign ignorance. He doesn't know that we know," Lyra whispered out of the side of her mouth as Dumbledore began to unintentionally scare his students by describing what the Dementors may do if they crossed paths, "so what's the harm in accidentally asking him about his personal life? We've got to wait for him to initiate but that doesn't mean we can't trick him into doing so?"
"This is one of those incredibly rare times where you and your huge mouth come in handy, I like the way you think, Black," Harry agreed slyly, pretending to look at the banners above their heads to avoid getting told off by the Head Boy who kept glancing over. Lyra snuck one more hopeful look at Remus, wondering whether he would be brave enough to connect her gaze a final time, but she accepted defeat when the feast appeared and the rest of her house was allowed to talk freely.
"I know it's pretty redundant of me to even ask you this, but did you have a good summer, Lyra?" Dean piped up from across the table, smiling hopefully at her as he spooned stewed greens onto his plate, and heads began to turn in their direction.
"Actually I did, thank you for asking!" Lyra replied sweetly, "We visited the Great Pyramids in Cairo and Percy almost got locked inside one of them, didn't you Perce?"
She shouted at her eldest cousin down the long table, swiftly moving the implied attention away from her father and onto something more entertaining. The twins immediately lit up and stole focus as they began to recount their tales of mischief and adventure to their brother's annoyance and the whole table's delight. Sirius never came up once in conversation over the course of dinner, everyone seemed determined to maintain a peaceful mood.
But when Professor Dumbledore took to his podium once more to announce it was time for bed, the happy mood died.
"Let's wait until everyone's left to congratulate Hagrid," Hermione suggested as they climbed up from their table and fought against the wave of people brushing past.
Lyra steadied herself using Harry's shoulder as she stood up on the bench and waved at Hagrid, catching his eye so he knew to wait for them. Her height advantage caused many heads to glance her way and she immediately spotted Draco amongst the Slytherin crowd like a glaring red flag in a sea of green. Aww damn, I almost made it through my first night without seeing him!
"OI, YOU!" Draco yelled, flaring up at the mere sight of her, and he pointed at Lyra to make sure she saw him, "BLACK!"
Unfortunately, it looked as though the summer holidays had treated Draco well, he looked so much like his wicked parents now it was pretty jarring. His cheekbones were more prominent and his voice was a few octaves lower, and Lyra instinctively gritted her teeth when she noticed how much taller he and his friends had grown. Gregory and Theodore had stretched out the most as they now rivalled the heights of the fifth years behind them, both of them standing broad shoulder to broad shoulder guarding their blonde friend, while Blaise and Vincent held up copies of The Daily Prophet to evoke some sort of reaction out of her, still acting as obnoxious as ever.
Lyra didn't even blink.
"Not today, Draco!" She shouted back, making sure he noticed how bored she looked, and she faked a yawn for good measure, "Let's postpone this until tomorrow, yeah?"
"Absolutely not—!" Draco exclaimed, his hollow cheeks burning.
"Mr Malfoy, enough!" McGonagall stormed from the staff table towards the scattering of Slytherins that remained to watch the start of another glorious argument, forcing them to leave the hall, and Lyra giggled to herself as Draco was dragged away by the scruff of his collar. Since Snape never showed his face during the Welcome Feast, it was on the deputy to keep the peace.
Lyra managed a small finger wave as Draco stole one last look over his ruffled shoulder, warning her that this wasn't over, and her patronising gesture flicked the switch on his short temper.
"YOUR FATHER IS NOT THE ONLY ONE YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS YEAR! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" He bellowed, unfazed by McGonagall's clawed grip around his neck, but the laughter coming from those around him drowned him out as the deputy docked Slytherin fifteen house points.
"Talk about dramatic, you'da thought I cussed out his parents in public or something," Lyra sighed disapprovingly, shaking her head.
"You did what?"
Hagrid appeared out of nowhere and made her. Her friends rushed to give Hagrid a hug of congratulations, taking his attention away from her for now by asking him a load of questions about his new position.
Hagrid was glowing, he had never looked so assertive before and it made Lyra's heart sing. His grizzly hair was brushed out of his face, Lyra could tell he had attempted to trim his facial hair and made a note to find him a better razor as he had a couple of chunks missing from his eyebrows, but she admired his effort despite his results.
He was wearing possibly the biggest wizard cloak she had ever seen, it was the deepest shade of brown and had butter-yellow thread woven around its hem, and Lyra thought it suited him perfectly. He was also dressed in black robes like the rest of the professors, his leather vestments weren't the only item in his closet anymore and it didn't take Lyra long to connect the dots as to why he made the purchase. His large hands fidgeted towards his pockets more than usual, as though reaching for a—
"SHUT UP! HAGRID?!" Lyra exploded and her voice reverberated around the emptying Great Hall. Only a couple of heads turned at her exclamation. She hopped down from the bench and squealed, unable to contain her joy. "Did you buy a wand over the summer?! Are you allowed to study magic again?!"
Hagrid looked gobsmacked, his shiny face shone brightly as he cracked a smile and beckoned them closer. The Gryffindors gasped in unison as he pulled a knobbly walnut wand from his pocket, twisting it carefully between his swollen fingers.
"It's cracking, ain't it? Thirteen inches, dragon heartstring," He croaked, emotion thickening his voice and tears welling in his gleaming red eyes. It looked like he hadn't stopped crying since his shopping trip.
"Dumbledore persuaded the Ministry to consider letting me study again when my charges were cleared, and they agreed. All I need ter do is pass the OWLs and then I'll officially be a wand-wielding wizard again. I wouldn'ta been able ter do this if it weren't fer you four last year…" Hagrid's gaze landed on Lyra and he sniffed, urging himself not to cry again. Her stomach thumped.
"I don't think I would've had the confidence ter do any of this if it weren't for yer support over the summer either. You giving me that ticket ter visit Norbert in Romania and giving me a chance to rest after everything that went on with… yeh know… with all that—,"
"That's exactly why I did it, you deserve all of this," Lyra interrupted, not wanting them all to tear up as she could see Hermione's lip wobbling from the corner of her eye and Harry strategically cleaning his glasses, "last year is long behind us now so let's move on from this and keep talking about the fact you're now our professor? How does it feel, sir?"
"You don't have ter call me sir," said Hagrid bashfully.
"Of course we do, Professor," teased Harry, winding him up further. "Also, don't forget that if you're feeling generous that the House Cup tournament has already started."
"I'm not gonna give yer points for doing the bare minimum, Harry," scolded Hagrid, straightening his robes as he donned a more professional facade, "…but ten points ter Gryffindor fer not encouraging Malfoy. I don't think I need ter tell yer but I don't want to see you lot engaging with him and his friends."
"But he always starts it, you heard him! It's not like we seek him out to start arguments," Ron couldn't help but point out but Hagrid shook his head and began to herd them out of the Great Hall as the house elves appeared for their nightly clean.
"Then you know better than anyone that yer mustn't encourage him by retaliating," Hagrid continued to lecture, tutting at the face Ron was pulling. "He's trying ter get under yer skin on purpose and with everything going on this year I need you four ter — actually, Hermione, I don't ever need ter worry about you — I need you three," Hagrid pointed at Harry, Lyra, and Ron, "ter rise above it and ignore Draco Malfoy. Promise me yeh'll at least try."
Lyra thought of the obscenities she screamed at Draco's parents earlier that day and had to bite her lip to stop her impish dimples from appearing.
"I promise I'll try to keep my mouth shut when Draco teases me about my murderous dad coming to kill Harry and me," she said solemnly, laying a hand on her heart, and Hagrid tried not to look too downtrodden.
"What Lyra said," Harry agreed.
"Only if you promise to take extra care of Scabbers during class," Ron bargained as Scabbers' squirming in his shirt pocket took his mind off Draco and Hagrid begrudgingly accepted their answers.
"You don't have to walk us up to the tower, we remember the way," Hermione commented when they began their ascent to the Gryffindor Tower with Hagrid still at their side.
"I should hope so, but I'm still coming with yeh," he told them, stooping to accommodate his height as he held open the door linked to the staircase hall. Lyra felt his gaze on her face as she passed by and she scoffed. Really?!
"For crying out loud — it's not like Dad is gonna be waiting for us on the seventh floor!" Lyra burst out, rolling her eyes, "Please don't baby us, we can navigate the castle just fine."
Hagrid hid his flinch as a cough and directed them up the moving staircases, his expression screaming that he wasn't prepared enough to deal with another year of her attitude, but his tone suggested otherwise. Clearly, he cared a lot about their well-being and was only doing his best as their new professor.
"Doesn't matter, off we go!"
"Since you're determined to stick around, can you confirm that Snape's been fired? He wasn't at dinner," Lyra asked, using their time with Hagrid wisely. She tried not to look too optimistic and her dreams crashed and burned when Hagrid shook his head.
"Nah, he's still here," he answered, and Lyra and Harry groaned loudly, "and I'm not sure why he wasn't at the feast so drop it."
"Vampires don't need to eat," Harry voiced, fuelling Lyra's irrational obsession to their friend's distress, "Snape turning up to the feast is just for show."
"That makes complete sense," Lyra agreed, sighing to herself, "I should've known."
"You are gonna try and behave in Professor Snape's class this year, aren't yeh?" Hagrid asked.
"Depends, I kinda promised Tonks that I'd wind him up on her behalf and I never go back on a promise," Lyra said innocently and Hagrid grumbled to himself, his words muffled by his thick mane.
"Have you met the new Dark Arts professor, Hagrid? He was in our compartment on our way up here, he's pretty cool," wondered Ron, unintentionally snatching the words from Lyra's mouth.
She watched Hagrid out of the corner of her eye so her eagerness didn't give them away but it was obvious from his pregnant pause that he was making more of an effort to watch his words around them.
"So I heard," Hagrid said carefully and he glanced at Harry, "and I heard you took a turn for the worse. Don't beat yerself up about fainting, Harry, the Dementors are foul, evil things. I was a blubbering mess while I was in Azkaban, it happens ter the best of us."
Damn it, he's learning how to deflect!
Lyra pouted at the floor for the remainder of their journey and only half-listened as Hagrid lectured them on the dangers of Dementors. He obviously knew Remus just as well as he knew her parents, he didn't bring up Sirius' escape once while they were together and he ordered them not to visit his house until after their first Care for Magical Creatures lesson. The stern crease on his brow never wavered and Lyra couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy when he demanded she pinky promise that she would stay inside whenever possible. He truly did care about her.
"Good effort in getting Hagrid to talk, by the way," Lyra commended Ron as the four entered the Gryffindor Tower and ushered in a new year.
The rain pounding on the windows and the howling wind made the common room even more cosy and Lyra wished her night would be more peaceful than her last. She tried not to think of all the bad memories her Gryffindor bed sparked, if she focused on the negatives then she would never heal. It's a totally new bed, the house elves changed it over the summer…
"It's the least I could do, I can't deny that I am curious about Lupin too," Ron patted her shoulder and released Scabbers from his fabric holdings, "do you reckon we could ask him about his—,"
"No," Hermione sensed his question before he could spit it out and she shook her head, "Absolutely not. We can't mention his… affliction to anyone, not even him. If Andromeda made a mistake then we might offend him, not to mention the damage it would do to his new reputation around Hogwarts. We can't talk about it."
"It was just a suggestion!" Ron held his hands up despite Scabbers and shrugged, "I know I overreacted on the train but the more I think about it, the more sorry I feel for him. Maybe he needs someone to talk to?"
Lyra pursed her lips, annoyed that her feelings were crumbling once again. She couldn't stand the thought of Remus suffering in silence and the urge to do something about it was yearning to infiltrate her mind. It wasn't her fault that she wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves.
But Danielle's words from one of her many counselling sessions resurfaced from the back of her mind, reminding her that she needed to be mindful.
"It's not your responsibility to help everyone who might be in need. Your life is your main priority. Help yourself first and then help others, ok Lyra? Put yourself first."
But this one is different, her conscience fought back, Remus needs us.
I don't know…
Look what happened the last time you tried to help a stranger.
Sensing her withdrawal from reality by the glazed look in her silver eyes, her friends were quick to divert the conversation and wish each other goodnight before retiring to their dorms. Lyra barely noticed that Hermione refused to leave her side until they climbed into their beds and the rest of their roommates arrived.
"Who else is excited for Divination?!" squealed Lavender first, grinning at the girls as she collapsed on her bed with a vast collection of dreamy-looking, lilac textbooks covered in drawings of evil eyes. Her high-pitched voice shook her from her daze and Lyra frowned, not realising she was already in her pyjamas. Her mouth felt minty and she rubbed her eyes - no mascara stained her fingers. Jeeez, how long was I out?
Her heart ached from the deja vu but she frantically tried to stay distracted by joining the conversation around her.
"—more looking forward to all of the new classes myself," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "Not to mention the advanced Transfiguration module on transmogrification that we get to start this term, it's the groundwork for the majority of all NEWT-level spells we'll learn in our sixth year."
"I'm just looking forward to having a variety, magic is so much more than a few plants and basic levitation, it's about time we get to play with cute animals and drink tea during class!" Parvati announced, taking her time shedding her shimmering gemstone clips from her plaits.
"Hear hear!" Lyra agreed, hoisting up a can of Dr Pepper she snuck out of her trunk into the air, but she promptly hid it behind her duvet before Hermione noticed. Once a dentist's daughter, always a dentist's daughter.
"I'm most excited about Arithmancy. I miss maths, there I said it," declared Sally-Ann, busying herself with playing with her cat instead of getting ready for bed, "what's wrong with a little bit of geometry now and then?"
"I do too," Hermione sighed, poking her head through her curtains to pout at Sally, "but I especially miss English, that was my favourite lesson."
"I was always a big fan of Art, obviously," Lyra chipped in but she started giggling when Lavender and Parvati stared at them strangely.
"English is a Muggle class? But... we already speak English," Lavender questioned seriously, her brow crumpled in concern, "that sounds like the easiest class ever!"
"And Art, is that just a lesson about painting pictures?" scoffed Parvati, and Lyra nodded enthusiastically.
"Uh-huh! And sometimes they even let you play with clay! It's so fun!"
Parvati swiftly changed her tune and pouted enviously. "Awww, I'd take that over Potions any day! Muggles are so lucky!"
The conversation slowly filtered out as the girls started to fall asleep mid-discussion and the candles flickered out once the final bed curtain was drawn. Lyra listened to the sounds of her roommates' gentle snores and the tapping of heavy rain as she tried to drift off, hoping her racing heartbeat would settle down if she closed her eyes for long enough.
A million and one thoughts treaded the stormy waters of her conscience, the second she felt a brief sensation of peace another tidal wave crashed over her and dragged her down to a deep, dark place where she wasn't allowed to breathe. The Dementors... And then Remus... and then her father... and finally Riddle. They all wanted space inside of her mind but they were fighting for the honorary prime position — what was she going to obsess over first?
Please don't visit me tonight, Tom... I can't take much more of this...