The Sun and The Star

October 1st 1981 the Potters welcomed a new member of their little hidden family, a tiny little girl with a button nose and little wisps of black curls set upon her head. It had been a small light in such a dark time in their lives and although neither Lily or James could contact their friends freely, they still alerted both Sirius, Remus, Peter and Dumbledore of her birth once they had chosen a name that they knew Sirius would be overjoyed to hear of.

For Sirius Black may not have been able to be there for her birth, he would certainly be her godparent and had often lamented that if he had ever had a child, he’d choose this name. But that was looking less and less likely to happen due to circumstances they weren’t privy to, Dumbledore's orders anyways.

So, little Lyra Rose Potter, Goddaughter of Sirius Black, born October 1st 1981 was hidden away from the world with the rest of her family when the fateful night her big brother became the boy who lived.

Poor Hagrid had no idea what to do when he’d walked in to find Sirius Black holding not just Harry in his arms, but little Lyra too, but he’d been ordered to collect Harry from the home by Dumbledoor himself.

“You can’t have them. They're my godchildren!” Sirius had hollered and raved for nearly twenty minutes before Hagrid seemed to finally get some sense knocked into the other.

“Get tha’ lil Peter Peppergrew-”

“Pettigrew-”

“Thas what I said, go on, get ‘em and bring ‘em in to the ministry. Let us watch the tikes til then. McGonagall’s gonna be waiting with Dumbledore she is. So don’t you worry none.” Hagrid pushed a little more and after a few minutes the man finally relented and passed the children over.

“You make sure they’re taken care off, alright? Harry can’t sleep without Prongs and Lyra…I don’t know much about what she does and doesn’t like but she’s a tiny little thing and is going to get cold too quick…just..” Sirius paused, looking reluctant as he moved to the small chest of drawers in the room and rifled through until he found a warm looking onesie and a pram suit. “Let me get her in this and then you can…you can take my bike to Dumbledore. I’ll sniff Peter out after that. Just let me make sure they’re both as warm as possible.” The wizard had pleaded and Hagrid didn’t have the heart to tell him no.

Another twenty minutes go by of Sirius making sure both little ones are in warm clothes and that little Harry has his Prongs and Lyra has a gingling elephant toy that Harry kept pointing at. It took a few quick kisses to Harry’s injured forehead and Lyra’s unblemished face before running off to hunt down the supposed traitor of their friend group.

“I sure hope Peppergrew was the one ta betray your folks, mites. Cause I can’t see a man like him doing that after what he just did for ye.” Hagrid mumbled as he slowly moved passed the corpses of James and Lily Potter and climbed onto the bike.

The flight to Privet drive had been a quiet one, with both infants falling into a rather quick slumber and Hagrid had found himself musing that perhaps the night's events had tired the poor tykes out. He could hear Minierva and Dumbledore arguing in the background as he started to get off the bike and removed the two sleeping babies from the bike's ride-along carriage.

“-the worst type of muggles!” Minerva’s voice all but snapped as the stern looking witch followed Dumbledore as he approached Hagrid, who briefly noticed a flash of something upon seeing not just Harry but the second bundle in his arms.

“Hagrid, at last,” Dumbledore greeted, moving a few steps ahead of Minerva to avoid the annoyed woman's gaze. “Just where did you get this bike?” he asked, instead of asking after the children in his care. Hagrid didn’t seem too bothered by the lack of comment on the children just yet.

“Borrowed it, from young Sirius Black. He’s gone ta find-” Hagrid began but Dumbledore spoke over him.

“Ah, wonderful wonderful. He gave you no issues about Harry?” The headmaster asked, moving to inspect the small boy in Hagrids left arm.

“A little trouble, didn’t wanna let them outta his sight he didn’t. Fretted like a hen, had me bundle both the tykes in these muggle clothes called pram suites and then spent another twenty odd minutes worrying over them some more,” Hagrid chuckled. “Never met such a devoted godfather I aint. These two fell asleep just as we flew over Bristol.” 

“Two?” Minerva’s voice asked, moving past Dumbledore to look down at the sleeping infants and gasping. “They had another?” 

“They did,” Dumbledore confirmed, voice only a little strained as he looked them over. “I had been under the impression little Lyra here had perished alongside her parents. I’m sure the public will be glad to know that two Potters survived tonight.” Dumbledore commented, brushing a hand over the little girl's head for a moment, it seems to be a mistake as the little girl lets out a small wail over the sudden touch.

“Ah-bugger-” Hagrid muttered, unsure of what to do and looking to the older wizards in mild panic. Minerva rolled her eyes and took the small squizzling baby from the half-giant and gently rocked and hushed her.

“There there, you’re alright now, you’re alright,” Minerva hummed gently and after a few moments Lyra’s little whimpers soon tempered off into quiet grizzling as she quietly grasped at Minerva’s finger. Once that happened, Minerva shot a withering look at Dumbledore. “We cannot leave two children under two on their doorstep, not when they have a boy barely older than Harry here. It’s unfair to them, even if they are muggles.”

“My dear, it's for the best. Harry needs stability and a life away from fame, he deserves to be with his family,” Dumbledore began and Minerva felt her stomach twist at the way he was speaking. “I suppose we could send little Lyra to live with someone else for a couple of-”

“You are not separating them,” Minerva said firmly, gaze hard and glaring at Dumbledore for a moment before breathing out. “Sirius is their godfather…I’m sure once he arrives he can collect the little ones, a few days won't be too horrible for them…”

“Aye, he said Peckergrew betrayed-” Hagrid began but once more Dumbledore spoke over him.

“Of course Minerva. We’ll leave a letter to let them know it's only temporary.” Dumbledore assured, quietly taking the box holding the milk bottles and transfiguring it into a bigger basket before having Hagrid set Harry inside of it. “Set the little one down Minerva. I’ll be sure to knock and they’ll be cared for.” Dumbledore assured.

“I…I’m sure it’ll be less then a week before Sirius arrives for the little ones.” Minerva mumbled, gently setting the now sleeping infant into the basket, her hand gently moving some of the girls wispy locks off of her forehead before stepping back.

Little did Minerva know that the ‘just a few days’ would turn into twelve years.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

The residents of Number 4 Privet Drive were proud to say, they were perfectly normal thankyou very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved with anything strange or curious. Infact, the Dursleys were known in the street as being good and kind hearted people who took in their niece and nephew just days after their respective parents' deaths.

They’d been known to talk about the hardships of raising such troubled children, Harry with his constant lying and fighting and Lyra with her attitude and ‘seizures’ as they called it. 

“The boy might have a physical scar, but the girl? Oh, it's all mental y’know. She’ll be perfectly fine and then she’s off having one of those fits and we can only be thankful there are the ones where she’s still and not shaking about. She gets oh so confused afterwards and violent. Can’t be helped y’know,” Petunia had once said to a neighbour when they’d spotted poor little Lyra with bruises on her arms. “Vernon has to hold her down till the confusion passes, it just gets so scary sometimes but they’re family.” Petunia would assure and just like that, the neighbours would excuse the injuries on both her and Harry, pointing their fingers at the tiny girl and saying she caused it herself.

Petunia seemed to soak up that kind of attention, telling the school to be mindful and when Lyra had one of those episodes mid-lesson on her first day of school, the teachers had pushed all the students to the side of the room, expecting some sort of violent response. But she’d not even lashed out afterwards, just mumbled to herself and rested her head on the table.

“Sometimes she just gets confused,” Petunia had blustered, explaining some medical mumbo-jumbo to the school and parents around, “She’s not always violent but it's best to give her a wide berth you see.” Petunia had assured. 

So, Lyra’s school years had been just as lonely as Harrys. Her only real interaction with other children being with her big brother or when Dudley and his gang took part in Potter Poaching. Lyra still remembers the time her brother ran beside her and then in a blink and with a crack somehow ended up on the roof of the school during one of those ‘games’. Vernon had gone purple with rage at Harry doing such a thing, as if the boy had any idea how he’d managed it.

Lyra made sure that when she did ‘freaky’ things like Harry did, she kept it hidden.

Like lighting the gas stove without the ignition, or making her and Harry’s apples grow a little bigger so they had more to eat. 

Harry had asked her once, about her ‘seizures’ and she couldn’t really explain it. Because they weren’t seizures, she was sure of it. She was sure it was the future she was seeing.

She remembered things from when she’d ‘go away’, things like seeing blue hair in front of Harry and then a week later Harry gets a report sent home with him for turning his teacher's wig blue. There was also the time when championships between Swindon and Sunderland a couple years ago, the 1989/1990 championships. Lyra had seen the final school of Sunderland 0 and Swindon 1, she’d told her uncle quietly and he’d scoffed at her. Then he’d raged at the end when he saw she’d been right.

She was locked in the cupboard for a few days for that little bout of ‘freakishness.’

Turns out, that ‘Freakishness’ was magic and that she and Harry were wizards (or a witch in her case.) To have a name for what was going on and to understand that she wasn’t some freak felt like a breath of fresh air, up until she realised that Harry would be away for most of the coming year and the one afterwards before she could join him.

She’d sucked it up though, placing a smile on her face and doing her best to keep up appearances.

So, in that coming year if anyone asked Lyra what she thought of her time living at number 4 Privet drive whilst her older brother and cousin were away at their respective schools, she would tell them that it was a little boring and that she missed them both equally.

If Harry asked her what it was like living at number 4 Privet drive whilst he and Dudley were away at school, she’d smile and tell him that it was simply the same old same old. Do the chores, keep things clean and make sure to not be seen or heard. Simple, normal, regular.

But if she asked herself? In the middle of the night, curled up on the crappy and thin mattress that was her bed on one side of the spare room given to both her and Harry after Harry’s letters started to come through, well, she’d be honest.

It was hell.

Without Dudley to dote on and Harry to scream out, Lyra found herself the centre of Petunia and Vernon’s attention. 

If she was seconds behind in cooking it would result in her being screamed at and possibly hit with the frying pan. 

If she didn’t make sure the chores were all done, gardening and cleaning included, she’d find herself being grabbed and thrown around as if she was as light as a ragdoll.

The first year Harry was at Hogwarts had been hard for Lyra. 

It started small, Harry didn’t send her a birthday letter like he had promised and in the one sent just days after her birthday it had only talked of an upcoming feast on halloween that was apparently the date of their parents deaths, she didn’t say anything and just wrote back asking him to keep all his notes so she could be ready for her turn in a few years.

Then, Harry stayed at Hogwarts and didn’t come back to the Dursleys, come back to her and she’d sobbed. The letter he’d sent saying that he was ‘staying for Ron’ was some wizard friend he’d made at the school that couldn’t go home to his family because they were off somewhere visiting one of his forty-odd brothers. (She knows he only has five brothers but Lyra was still upset and hurt), she’d thrown it across the room with a quiet sniffle and hadn’t responded. Sending the poor owl flying off to Harry without a reply.

The owl had returned a few days later with Harry asking why she hadn’t written to him and she sent Hedwig off once more, responseless. He didn’t owl her again until after christmas, apparently another friend of his had lectured him on the fact that Lyra had missed him and Harry had been too dense to realise it.

Lyra had responded to that one at least and written back saying that she missed him too. 

When Harry returned home Lyra had thought things would calm down and Harry would be the same brother she had when he went away last September. But the boy on the opposite side of the room was nothing like her Harry.

He was quiet, secretive, he wouldn’t tell Lyra much of anything without her pestering and he’d snap at her if she pushed too much. But Lyra was anything but easily swayed and after more pushing, Lyra learned why he’d changed.

He’d killed a man that held the dead spirit of their parents' killer.

Lyra didn’t fully understand it, but she understood enough to cling to Harry and hold him whilst he sobbed silently into her. She whispered that it would be alright. That he’d be ok. She’d lied and told him she'd seen it during one of her ‘seizures’ and Harry had let out a little chuckle and mumbled a word to her.

“Seer,” he’d muttered. “Hermione thinks it's all barmy and hogwash but I mentioned that I’d seen someone going all quiet and being confused afterwards to Professor McGonagall and she’d mentioned that it sounded like a Seer. She tried asking who it was and I lied and just said it was an older student in Hufflepuff that I didn’t know,” he assured her and Lyra had quietly cherished that word. “Apparently, our magical cores start to go through this maturing thing at like twelve and Seer’s ‘sights’ start to get more frequent or something? She went on about it for ages and I forgot most of it-”

“Can you get me books on it? When…when you go to Diagon? So I can learn?” Lyra had asked, voice tentative and unsure and Harry had agreed.

Summer was almost normal after that, both of them waking at the crack of dawn and doing chores around the house as quiet as mice, making sure food was cooked on time and being unseen and unheard.

Then that terrifying creature had popped into their room when it was getting close for Harry to return to school and Lyra had clung to her brother at the sight of it. The ‘House-elf’ or ‘Dobby’ as he introduced seemed like nothing but trouble to her but Harry had been kind to it. A kindness that was spat upon in minutes when the blasted thing dropped the cake she and Harry had spent hours making for the dinner party down stairs onto Vernon’s new boss’s head like nothing. 

Harry had gotten the blame because he’d followed it down stairs and Lyra had spent the night listening and watching her brother's back get ripped open like it was untorn confetti paper. Then, Vernon had put bars on their window and locks on the door, a cat flap installed on the bottom of the door too just to top it off.

Lyra had done her best to help Harry’s back, but they had few supplies and although Harry had told her of spells to heal injuries, none of them existed in any of his previous school text books.

Books on healing went on her list of things to buy when she finally started Hogwarts, the list would grow that coming year.

As if the summer couldn’t get any crazier, a flying car came honking at their window and the bars had been stripped off. All of Harry’s things had been shoved into the car and he’d been dragged in like a wet car from a river and Lyra wasn’t too far behind when one of the boys had grabbed her and yanked her in as well.

“Oh! A tiny Potter!” One of the identical faces had commented as the car started driving from Privet drive.

“A very tiny Potter indeed!” The other had beamed at her through the front mirror, Lyra glanced at her brother who’d fallen into excited chatter with the ginger boy beside him.

“Hello,” Lyra had greeted, once more feeling wrongfooted and unsure of herself by the chaos that seemed to follow her brother. “I’m Lyra, who are-” she started to ask, but the ginger boy who’d taken Harry’s attention spoke up.

“That’s Fred, driving the car and George beside him. Don’t listen to them, right gits they are. Always pulling pranks.” The boy had scoffed, Lyra had turned her head and frowned.

“I don’t think it's smart to call someone driving the car a git.” Lyra commented, Harry had laughed with the twins and Ron had glared at her. The conversation had been stilted the rest of the way to the ‘Burrow’.

The mother, Molly, had been a bit of a shock to the system and her sudden yell had made Lyra cling to Harry’s side at the sudden shriek of questions. The twins flat out told her about the bars and she’d written it off as them being dramatic, something Lyra couldn’t really fault her for. It did sound dramatic.

The father, Arthur, seemed exhausted and overworked but happy at least. Though he had made a few comments of Dumbledore not liking that Lyra was at the house. Molly had waved him off and said that it wasn’t fair to split her and Harry up for the last stint of summer and it would be nice to have more girls in the house. The subject had dropped quickly after that and Lyra wondered if that was a threat of more children that had the man shutting up so quickly.

Percy had been…something. Very proud of his role as a ‘prefect’ and his grades, boasting about wanting to go to the ministry. Fred and George talked about opening a joke shop and Lyra had quietly bobbed her head to show she’d been listening, Ron had scoffed with his mother at the idea of them running such a thing but secretly, Lyra thought they could do it.

Ginny had been…something. 

Lyra wasn’t blind to the obvious crush the girl harboured for her big brother and she’d felt awkward about it. Especially when she started asking Harry so many questions about Hogwarts and quidditch and well, everything she could think of.

Lyra tried not to be hurt that Harry had so easily given that information over so easily when it had taken weeks for Lyra to pry it from her brother.

Ron annoyed her and at first Lyra couldn’t figure out why that was. Not until it was the night before they were due to leave for Diagon to get all of the older kids, and Harry’s, books and supplies for the upcoming year. 

She didn’t like Ron because in some way, he was her replacement. With Harry at school and Lyra stuck at the Dursleys, Harry had befriended this boy and this boy had slipped into the place Lyra usually stood, being Harry’s second in command, his confidant. 

She pushed the feelings of jealousy down and had been doing her best to hide it whilst they went through Diagon. Lyra had asked about the vault key, curious why Harry wasn’t entrusted with the key to his trust vault and Molly had attempted to distract her and point her off in the direction of something called a puffskein.

Lyra wasn’t so easily fooled but she would make sure that the next coming year, she’d speak to these ‘goblins’ about keyholders and rightful owners or something and figure out why Harry and most likely her, couldn’t have access to their vault keys.

The bookstore had been terrifying, watching her brother get grabbed by some blonde baboon who kept boasting about the ‘boy-who-lived’ all excited for his year and Harry had just awkwardly stood there for the camera. Lyra had frowned and looked to the adults they’d come with to find them compliant in letting this man cash in on Harry’s name and Lyra hadn’t liked that one bit.

“Excuse me.” Lyra mumbled, gently pulling her brother from the blonde man's grip and he’d turned to scowl at her but his eyes widened when he took in Lyra’s face.

“My goodness! Not only is the boy-who-lived here but his little sister as well!” The man had announced and made to pull her towards him, Lyra had tensed at the sudden movement and spoke loud and clear as she gently pulled Harry further from him.

“I am uncomfortable with a stranger touching me,” she stated, voice wobbling a little as she attempted to remain firm, the man had paused, hand outstretched to them as he looked between Harry and Lyra, as if calculating his next move. Before seemingly deciding to let them go with ‘signed copies’ of his books. Harry had instantly passed them to Ginny, not wanting them at all.

The rest of the trip had been mostly uneventful, minus the fight between Arthur and someone called ‘Malfoy’. 

Too soon, Harry returned to school and Lyra returned to the Dursleys, got her punishment for running off and then it was almost as if the year prior had repeated itself.

No letter for her birthday, no Harry home for Christmas, no information about what was going on. The only bright side had been that she’d managed to buy a few of the books she’d wanted on these ‘Seers’ and had all but devoured them once she had ‘gone to bed’ for the night.

Harry came home with a new scar and looking more haunted than before and Lyra had found herself once more being his rock as he talked about the year before, about a basilisk and the weird elf and everything else that came with it. 

Apparently, speaking to snakes wasn’t normal for wizards. 

It went on the list of books to research.

But that was all in the past, because she was finally attending Hogwarts this year and she couldn’t wait.