1. Escaping
So, the year she was supposed to be starting Hogwarts could have gone better.
That’s Lyra’s first thought as she watched Aunt Marge float out of the kitchen, so swollen it made her think of the blueberry scene from willy-wonka that she had been able to watch in school last year.
“Do you think if you poke her she’ll fly around like a deflating balloon?” Lyra asked Harry calmly as she watched Vernon, Petunia and the stupid dog pull on Marge to bring her back down.
“Lyra,” Harry admonished but she could see the corners of his lips twitch before he got serious. “I need to pack my bag…so do you. We’re going to get hurt big time for this.” Harry said, turning to walk swiftly inside and Lyra couldn’t help but agree, following after her older brother quickly.
Thankfully, most of her stuff had already been packed away in a bag. She’d been more than ready to leave, seeing as they were due to leave for Hogwarts in two weeks. She wasn’t too pleased about how late she’d be getting her wand and books for the year but she was a bit of a bookworm, she was sure she’d be able to read them all by the time school started if she pulled an all-nighter here and there.
Quickly shoving her clothes into Harry’s trunk and grabbing her backpack, she quickly slid her shoes on and followed her brother down the stairs as he stormed down them. She stuck as close to him as she could, jumping backwards when Vernon met them at the bottom of the stairs and started screaming at Harry.
“You bring her back! You bring her back now! You put her right!” He yelled, grabbing the front of Harry’s shirt and shoving him backwards towards the wall.
“Harry!” Lyra gasped as she watched him connect harshly and heard the slight gasp of pain from her brother. She reached forward to make sure he was alright but Harry had already yanked out his wand and shoved it against Vernons throat, making him back off quickly.
“No, she deserved what she got!” Harry yelled angrily and Lyra could feel the rage pooling off of him in droves.
“Harry, take a breath-” Lyra began but Harry was already talking again.
“Keep away from us!” He yelled. “Just keep away from us!” he threatened, pulling the case closer to him and Lyra quickly made it to the bottom steps, following Harry as he backed up to the front door.
“You’re not allowed to do magic outside school-” Vernon tried to threaten.
“Yeah, try me!” Harry scoffed, Lyra quietly tugged his sleeve, trying to get him moving so that they weren’t stuck standing there too long and risking any sort of injury from them. She could see they had a chance for a clean break and she didn’t want the window to pass.
“They won’t let you back now, you’ve nowhere to go.” Vernon tried once more, an almost ecstatic look on his face and Harry scoffed. Pulling the trunk up off the floor and then grabbing Lyra’s hand and dragging her fully to the door.
“I don’t care, anywhere’s better than here!” He yelled over his shoulder as he dragged Lyra out of the front door and started a fast pace down the street, steam all but blowing out of his ears. “Bad blood, bad bloody blood- ”
“Say that five times fast.” Lyra mumbled under her breath as she kept pace with her brother, wincing only slightly at the tight grip Harry had on her wrist.
“I can’t believe she-that-urgh!” Harry stopped suddenly, Lyra nearly bumping into his back as the boy huffed once more through his nose and dropped the trunk, booting it once or twice for a moment. Lyra watched quietly, letting her brother get his anger out for a moment.
“What she said wasn’t right,” Lyra said slowly, voice soft as she watched her brother boot the trunk once more, that one seemed to hurt at least as he winced a little and rubbed his foot through his shoe. “You didn’t do it on purpose so…do you think you’d really be in trouble? I thought Mr Weasley said the law doesn’t punish accidental magic last year when I blew a window out by accident.” Lyra reminded gently, Harry tilted his head a little in thought as he picked up the trunk once more and offered his hand, Lyra quietly took it once more as her brother started to lead her further down the street.
“Maybe…I don’t know, Ly. I’ll have to write to Dumbledore or something and ask them,” Harry muttered as he finally stopped at the park that sat on the corner of Privet drive and sat on the curb beside the bus stop with a sigh. “I don’t know what to do. I kind of just…”
“Didn’t want to get flayed alive?” Lyra offered, settling beside her brother quietly and nudging his shoulder a little. Harry scoffed and shoved her back with a chuckle. “What’s that place we have to go through to get to Diagon? The broken cauldron?” Lyra asked quietly.
“Leaky Cauldron.” Harry corrected with a chuckle.
“Yeah, so the broken cauldron,” Lyra waved him off with a small smile. “We’ll just go there. They’ve got rooms up above it right? We can go to Gringotts and get some money out and spend a few nights there. Maybe see if our parents had any properties we could stay at officially or something?” Lyra offered gently. “Either way, one night at the cauldron shouldn’t be too bad. I have like…” Lyra pulled her backpack off her shoulder and reached inside, looking for her little black purse that she’d managed to get. Opening it she counted her coins. “I’ve got a tenner in change? What about you?” Lyra asked.
“I’ve got about fifteen galleons on me. I don’t think one night is going to be that expensive…it's just getting there.” Harry muttered, rubbing his face awkwardly.
“Buses are still running, I know the twenty-five takes you to Sutton and then its what? A twenty minute walk?” Lyra mumbled, standing up to look at the schedule beside her brother. “We have a ten minute wait to get the number five to get to the station and then-”
“...why do you know the bus to the leaky cauldron?” Harry asked, confused, and Lyra paused, pursing her lips for a moment and attempting to look innocent, she got an unimpressed look in return. “Lyra.” Harry’s tone wasn’t impressed and almost instantly Lyra found herself caving.
“I wanted my books and wand for school and with your friends going all…silent, I figured we were better making our own way there,” Lyra explained. “So, yesterday when I went to do the big shop for Aunt Marges’ visit, the number eight dropped me off at the coach station so I grabbed a schedule whilst there and spent the night looking it over whilst you attempted to blind me with that practice wand that you won't let me borrow.” Lyra commented and ignored the eye-roll her brother sent her way.
“If you don’t end up in Ravenclaw with your book addiction and need to learn-” Harry started and Lyra scoffed a little.
“I’ll go where I’m supposed to,” Lyra stated crossing her arms a little. She paused as the light above her started to flicker erratically before shutting off. “Oh, that’s wonderful-” Lyra began, a brief shiver racking her body as an almost ghostly wind and ice-like chill ran up her spine.
“...I don’t like this,” Harry muttered, standing up slowly and slipping his wand in his hand. The swings behind him started to creak and the merry-go-round started to follow suit. “Lyra, move behind me.” he muttered quickly and Lyra was not about to argue. Moving behind her brother, she gripped his shirt a little. The thump of the sea-saw has Lyra jump with a squeak.
“Harry?” Lyra whispered, but Harry had turned quickly, looking towards the bushes as a twig snapped in that direction and Lyra peaked out from behind him, her black curls being sent every which way by the wind. “A dog?” Lyra asked curiously, but the black dog across the street started to growl at them both. “Oh, an angry dog. Not good.” Lyra muttered, stepping back ever so slightly.
“Gee, thanks for the commentary!” Harry snapped a little, wand pointing out now and taking his own step back, but Lyra hadn’t moved quick enough and her brother landed harshly on top of her.
“I’m being crushed you-” Lyra began but the horn of a bus has Harry scrambling off of her and dragging her further from the curb. “Oh, a bus-”
“I swear to Merlin, Lyra,” Harry muttered, rubbing his face as he helped her up. “I’ll talk to the driver, stay close.” Harry muttered, moving to the open doors. Lyra didn’t hear much of the conversation, finding herself looking around for the black dog they’d briefly seen. “Lyra… Lyra .” Harry’s voice snapped her out of her quiet search and she blinked at him quietly.
“Sorry, I urm…thought I saw something.” Lyra mumbled, moving closer to her brother.
“We’re going to take this bus to the Leaky. Just hang tight, alright?” Harry told her, grabbing his trunk from the ground. “It’ll be quick, it's a magical bus so it should be fine.” Harry assured.
It was not fine.
“Can’t the muggles see us?” Harry asked as the bus swerved through the streets of London like a bat out of hell, Lyra clung to her brother's side as the bed moved along with it.
“Muggles? They don’t see nothing, do they?” Stan, the man who’d helped them onto the bus, asked with a scoff.
“No, but if you jab them with a fork, they feel it.” The little voodoo head cackled out, Lyra frowned a little and bit her lip.
“So the bus is-” Lyra started to ask, but was cut off as she nearly slipped off the bed, Harry had quickly pulled her back onto the bed, but both of them missed the head shouting something because the bus came to a sudden stop and Harry went flying forwards towards the window. “Oh, I think I just became an only child.” Lyra muttered under her breath. Harry sent her a glare as he rubbed his face.
“I’m going to be an only child if you keep up the running commentary.” He muttered, Lyra just stuck her tongue out at him.
“-eight, seven, six, five-” The little voodoo head started to excitedly count down and Harry looked back out the window in shock.
“There’s an old lady out there you can’t possibly-” Harry began and Lyra looked up in alarm, trying to see her out of the side window. They wouldn’t really run over an old woman, would they?
“-three! Three and a half-” the little voodoo head started to count again and Lyra felt a little more confident that they wouldn’t. “One and three quarters-Now!” The bus lurched forwards and Harry came flying back to the bed, making it move backwards a little. Lyra had managed to move to the end of it and avoided being crushed once more by her brother.
“Who is that? That man.” Harry asked after a moment of gathering himself, Lyra looked up curiously at the paper in Stan’s hand and tilted her head.
“Looks like a 70’s rockstar or something-” Lyra muttered under her breath.
“Who is that? Who is- That is Sirius Black, that is.” Stan said, sounding offended that Harry didn’t know him. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been hearing of Sirius Black.”
“Oh, so he is some sort of 70’s rockstar-” Lyra mumbled once more and winced at the little jab her brother sent her. “Ow, ok, shutting up.” Lyra huffed.
“He’s a murderer,” Stan told them, leaning forward and over both Harry and Lyra, a small smirk on his face. “Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it.” Stan told them.
“Azkaban?”
“A prison, supposedly unescapable.” He told her then turned to Stan. “How did he escape?” Harry asked, voice curious. Lyra looked to Stan for answers as well.
“Well, that's the question, isn’t it? He’s the first one that done it,” Stan lowered his voice now, looking between them both. “He was a big supporter of…You-know-who. Reckon you’ve heard of him.” he whispered.
“Yeah..” Harry muttered, Lyra just nodded quietly, reaching out and gripping Harry’s jacket quietly. “Him, we’ve heard of him.” Harry mumbled quietly. Lyra bit her lip and squeezed her brother's wrist a little.
Neither were prepared for the rest of the bus journey after that.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
“Ooh, gonna need a painkiller or something after that.” Lyra muttered as her brother once more went flying into the front window. Lyra had been clinging to the bed-bar with a vice grip when it had happened.
“Oh shut up,” Harry huffed, rubbing his jaw.
“Ah! Mr Potter, at last!!” A bald man with a large hunch back and crooked teeth greeted Harry, Lyra instantly got off the bed and moved to her brother's side. “Oh! And Miss Potter too. With me.” the hunched man, Tom, as he reintroduced himself to Harry, led them inside. Harry refused to let Lyra carry the trunk, but then Tom had all but confiscated it from her brother and pointed them up the stairs and into a dimly lit room.
“Thankyou.” Lyra mumbled to Tom, following her brother in, who’d gone straight to Hedwig.
“Not a problem Miss,” Tom nodded to her before looking at Harry. “Right smart bird you got there, Mr. Potter. He arrived here just five minutes before yourself.” Tom informed them both, Lyra was about to correct Tom that Hedwig was a she but a cough interrupted them.
“As the Minister of Magic it is in my duty to inform you, Mr and Miss Potter, that earlier this evening your uncle's sister was located a little south of Sheffield circling a chimney stack.” The hunched man leads them over to three chairs and has them sitting down, starting to offer them different foods and drinks. Both Harry and Lyra continued to refuse any food, Harry with a scared shake of his head and Lyra with a gentle ‘No thankyou’ and a small smile.
“The Accidental Magic Reversal Department was dispatched immediately. She had been properly punctured and her memory modified. She will have no recollection of the incident, what-so-ever. So that’s that and no harm done. Pea soup?” The man from in front of the window had made his way over and was smiling at them both.
“Urm, no thankyou.” Harry said softly, flushing a little.
“No thankyou, also, Accidental Magical Reversal Department? Modified Memory?” Lyra asked curiously, leaning forwards in her seat, green eyes alight in curiosity. She could feel the eyeroll her brother sent her way for her question.
“Oh yes, it's a department formed back in the 1500’s after more and more muggleborns started to appear. Had to make sure no one got wise to the wizarding world you see. They’re quite good at their job if I say so myself. They’ve come to your aid a time or two, I’m almost positive.” the Minister hummed out and Lyra’s eyes lit up at the information.
“So that’s why no one freaked out about Harry changing someones-” Lyra began but Harry spoke over her, voice nervous.
“Minister, I don’t understand. I broke the law. Underaged wizards aren’t allowed to use magic at home.” Harry told the Minister and Lyra looked at Harry like he was stupid.
“Harry, is there any thought behind those eyes? What part of ‘accidental magic’ did you not hear-” Lyra began to lecture her brother but the Minister spoke over her.
“Oh, come now Harry. The Ministry doesn’t send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunts.” Tom laughed beside them both, the sound a little startling but Lyra only jumped a little, she was sure of it. “On the other hand, running away like that, given the state of things, was very very irresponsible.”
“Irresponsible? With all due respect sir, we were avoiding being-” Harry pinched Lyra’s thigh, hushing her pretty quickly. “Ow.” Lyra mumbled, rubbing her thigh and pouting at her brother whilst Harry spoke to the Minister.
“‘The state of things’ Sir?” Harry asked, voice calm but cautious as he followed the Minister's movements as the man moved to stand behind Harry’s chair.
“We have a killer on the loose.” The Minister told him plainly, Lyra opened her mouth to say something but Harry shot her a look that had her closing her mouth and crossing her arms in a quiet huff.
“Sirius Black you mean? But what does he have to do with us?” Harry asked, focusing solely on the Minister now
“Nothing of course. You’re safe. That’s what matters and in two weeks you’ll be back on your way to Hogwarts.” The Minister waved the concerns off, Lyra didn’t buy it for a second. “Oh! And these are your new schoolbooks,” he gestured to the side where Tom stood and the man moved off to let them both see. Lyra tried not to frown at the idea of not being able to do her school shopping personally. She’d been looking forward to the book part of the trip. “I took the liberty of having them brought here for you.” The Minister said, flashing them a smile.
“Thank you sir.” Lyra said politely, Harry just stared at the books quietly. The Minister didn’t seem to mind as he started talking once more whilst moving to his desk.
“Now, Tom, will show you to your room.” The Minister all but dismissed and Lyra let out a startled noise as the chair she sat on was turned abruptly and both she and Harry were pulled from their chairs and towards the door.
“Hedwig.” Harry called, lifting his arm for the bird to come over to him. She landed gracefully on his arm as the Minister started speaking once more.
“Oh, by the way, Harry, Lyra. Whilst you’re here, it would be best if you didn’t wander.” The Minister hummed out and Lyra frowned more. She certainly would be wandering around, thank you. She had a wand to collect and books to find. She kept her mouth shut though as both she and Harry were led to a room were two twin beds sat in the room, she tried not to frown at the sight of the dusty looking sheets on them and kept a semi-polite smile on her face as she nodded to Tom, who left them alone quickly.
“Lyra-” Harry began, but Lyra held up her hand, waiting for the sound of Tom’s footsteps to properly disappear before she spoke.
“I still have to collect my wand, Harry, and I told you before that I need to speak to Gringotts. Staying here isn’t safe,” she held up her hand to stop Harry from saying anything. “No, listen. There is a killer on the loose right? Do you think it's safe to stay in the building that leads to the main entrance of Diagon alley? Where people are constantly coming and going? We can’t use magic outside of school, we have nothing to defend ourselves if he comes here. This isn’t a safe solution. At least speaking to the Goblins will give us an idea of what our options are.” Lyra assured him.
“...I don’t like when you use reason to make me take your side. It’s like a mini Hermione all over again,” Harry groaned and flopped onto his bed. “You’re my sister and yet you're more like one of my best friends, who you haven’t even met by the way-” Harry started to ramble and Lyra scoffed at her brother.
“I might not have met her but she certainly sounds like the best behaved out of your little trio of chaos.” Lyra rolled her eyes, Harry scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes.
“She set fire to our potions teacher in first year, she’s not behaved in the slightest.” Harry told her with a chuckle.
“Sure, sure,” Lyra waved him off, settling on the bed. She frowned as the covers on the bed actually felt clean. “...how does something look so dirty and disgusting but actually be clean?” Lyra mumbled, Harry scoffed and waved his hands above him.
“Magic~” Lyra didn’t waste a moment throwing one of the pillows from her bed at his head, she missed but she felt a little vindicated at the gasp from her brother.
Little did the pair realise that this was the start to a rather wild year.