The Darkest Dark
There was a chance for Lyra to leave it all behind. To forget Luna, to say goodbye to Hermione and Fleur. She could do it, she could stay in the liminal, in the safety of the Lovegood Libraries for eternity. She could and no one would notice, because... "because what?" she thought.
She didn't know how to follow through with her sentence because she knew it was wrong. Her, Fleur, Hermione and Luna had become so close that they were like moving gears, or a beautiful tapestry, or a perfect harmonic dangerous song. They were a part of each other now, and despite their own individual friend circles they had bound themselves to each other, not just by vow but by mind and soul. They'd seen Voldemorts Dark Mark and had decided they wanted one of their own, but they wanted more. They wanted to be more than just connected. Where one ebbed, the other flowed.
It was a beautiful thing that slithered up their spines and wrapped around their right arm-- a dark snake so vividly onyx that you could see the shimmer of the light on it's scales-- just stopping short of the wrist, enough that it could be covered with any long sleeve garment.
When Hermione had first found it she'd tried it on Fleur first as Fleur, being part creature, was not only more physically strong, but she was also a lot more used to pain than the rest of them. Which was quite sad when Hermione thought about it but she felt less bad about ti when Fleur quickly picked up the ritual spell and cast it on Hermione in turn. In the midst of that unbearable blinding pain is when Lyra walked in. With Fleur's wand jabbed into Hermione's lower mid spine , and Hermione's back arching away from it. Hermione let out a gasp and her eyes had rolled back into her head.
But it was over sooner than she;d thought it would be, and Lyra was looking at them both with dark curiosity, like she could see something else in Hermione, and to be honest, Hermione did feel something else in her. It wasn't just the snake itself, she felt a fire blooming deep within her and she knew it to be Fleur, she felt it soar through her blood and she became irrationally furious, and she couldn't quite place why. She wondered if this was what it was like for all veela: to be on the bridge of explosive, world destroying fury ALL the time. She look down at her palms, and no she hadn't quite got claws, but her nails had certainly become much sharper and stronger, with the barest flicker of a flame at her finger tips, it was all she could manage despite the roar of flames within her. She knew if she wanted to she could burn a handprint into a weasley's face if she wanted to.
Luna wasn't here yet, she was having a very difficult time, something had happened to her, and Lyra was determined to figure out what. She couldn't see it, so perhaps Luna was hiding it from her, consciously or on purpose, she wasn't sure which, but Lyra would find out, but for now...
Lyra's eyes gleamed in thought, and before she knew it she was standing with her spine straight, walking towards them, knowing she was making a decision that would change the four of them forever.