The Archer

Lyra spent the rest of the evening getting to know her housemates, the four other girls she would be living with consisted of Maeve Dover, Emmaline Vance, Mary Macdonald and Charlotte Fawcett. 

Lyra found her bed right in between Maeve and Emmaline, which she was quite happy about, though she enjoyed all three girls, the two beside her had been the most chatty with her. Mary, while quiet, was so far, exceptionally kind, and was the first muggleborn she had ever met, and so far she did not see a reason to dislike them like her family suggested. 

Lyra loved the bronze and blue surroundings, and being able to look out the window and see the whole courtyard and black lake. She was laying in bed thinking about what Sirius could see from Gryffindor tower when Emmaline asked a question.

“So, Lyra, where were you earlier tonight?” she mused, raising an eyebrow

The blonde just rolled her eyes “Just with my sisters, nowhere exciting” she promised. 

“I was worried they’d be mad after I got sorted into Ravenclaw; whole family, besides my cousin Sirius, who went to Gryffindor today, have been Slytherin” she sighed.

“I get it” shrugged Charlotte Macmillan, “My entire family is basically hufflepuff besides my mum, she went to Ilvermorny.” 

OCTOBER 1971

September flew by becoming friends with her housemates, getting situated in her classes, and spending time with her sisters and Sirius. 

Although her parents expressed disappointment in the break of tradition, her father said he always knew she was the smartest, and that she would do well anywhere. Bellatrix sent a harsher letter, which Lyra’s other sisters did not take kindly to, However, this was nowhere as near as bad as the Howlers Sirius received from her aunt and uncle. She promised Sirius she did not care and the two remained close, inviting him to join her and her sister’s anytime he needed family support. 

As Lyra and her four roommates had become quite the inseparable bunch, nothing rivalled that of Sirius and his 3 roommates; who were never without him, even when she was there. 

Of course, Lyra already knew James and Remus, spending time studying with the latter, and watching the quidditch practices with the former. However, a new addition was Peter Pettigrew, a shy, round boy who was quite nice, and brilliant at chess. 

When Lyra was not with her roommates, she could be found with the quartet of boys, often up to mischief. This was one of Lyra’s favourite pastimes as it made her feel like her and Sirius were back at Grimmauld place or the manor.

On a Saturday morning in early October, Lyra was eating breakfast with her friends, sandwiched between Maeve and Mary, when she heard her cousin and their friends shouting from the other side of the great hall, growing louder by the second. 

“Lyra!” she heard James shout.

“Lyra Black!” Sirius yelled even louder. 

“Lyra! Can you hear us?” she heard another shout from the both, blushing from mortification 

“Your Gryffindor friends are trying to get your attention Lyra” Maeve spoke in a singsong voice.  Lyra turned as bright as a tomato as more attention was drawn to her. 

“Oh Maeve, I know, but Sirius has legs, he knows how to use them if he wants to talk to me.” she chuckled with embarrassment 

“Lyra Black!” she heard with a simultaneous “We’re talking to you” from James, Sirius, and it seemed Peter had now joined in. 

Lyra banged her head on the table, holding her breath, pleased by a final moment of silence, when she felt a tapping on her shoulder. 

The blonde whipped around “Merlin! You bloody idiot couldn’t have walked over here in the first place?” she huffed “ You had to make a scene you pra-” she blushed even harder as she looked up at the individual, noticing golden blonde hair and a smattering of pretty scars on their complexion. 

“Oh Godric, Remus I’m so so so sorry, I thought you were my cousin!” she cried, even more mortified by her reaction than the yelling from the two lions. 

The tall boy smiled, putting his hands in his pockets “I have no idea what that was about but I heard those two yelling for you and thought I would see what was going on” he shrugged nonchalantly, 

Remus stuck his hand out to the brown eyed girl, “shall we find out what they want?” he grinned. 

Lyra nodded, saying goodbye to her friends and walking over to the Gryffindor table, arms linked with Remus. 

“Ah now she arrives” hooted James 

While Sirius groaned at the pair walking arm and arm “Oi! Mate she’s practically my sister!” 

Lyra Slide next to Sirius, as Remus sat on the other side next to Peter and James, “Sirius, we’re just friends, we’re only eleven!” she sighed “and I love you all but Merlin knows I would never date a Gryffindor, far too brash for my taste” she rolled her eyes.

After the chorus of protests at her last comment, James made an announcement, “Lyra, so glad you could join us, as we are proud to invite you to join in on our halloween prank” the messy haired boy looked positively thrilled, as the rest looked at her expectantly. 

“And what exactly is this prank you want me involved in?’ Lyra mused. At this however, the boys looked between each other hesitantly, nobody speaking for several minutes. The sole ravenclaw at the table rested her chin on her palm, patiently waiting for a response. 

Remus spoke first “Well we don't exactly have a plan yet” looking down at his plate as he did so. 

“You see…well… we….sorta figured that” James mumbled, blushing when he tried to look Lyra in the eyes. 

“Lyra, since you’re a Ravenclaw, you know” Peter stuttered with a sheepish smile. 

“Dear cousin, what my mates are trying to say is, we want you involved and figured you could help brainstorm since you’re the smartest cousin, and possibly the smartest in our year, being Ravenclaw and all” he smiled that grin he used to get his way and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. 

“I’m intrigued, and I'm in, but I have to go see my sisters, when can we plan it out?” she asked smugly, feeling quite proud they thought she was smart enough to help

James perked up at this, looking at the other boys first, then once receiving nods back from the silent conversation the bespectacled boy suggested “Outside Ravenclaw tower, seven p.m.” Lyra raised an eyebrow at him, but all four boys grinned back widely.

“Alright, I’m going to be late” she said standing up, planting a kiss on Sirius’ cheek “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” she smiled, and was gone with a wave, the four boys watching her go. 

Lyra made her way to her weekly study session with her elder sisters in the library, enjoying looking at all the portraits as she made her way, however when she arrived something was off. 

Narcssa was not there yet but a Hufflepuff boy was sitting next to Andromeda speaking to her, thoroughly engaged in conversation. She could see her sister smiling and laughing at something the dirty blonde had just said. After watching for a moment Lyra decided to head over to the pair in yellow and green.

“Hi Dromeda” Lyra said shyly, sitting across the table from the pair, who looked as if they had been caught in a private moment. Andromeda quickly put her typical face back on and turned to Lyra.

“Hello Lyra, This is my friend Ted Tonks, he was just lending me a muggle book he was telling me about” she smiled, gesturing to the boy to her right. 

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Lyra, your sister has told me so much about you!” the man smiled widely, he had a very calm demeanour about him, thought Lyra. 

“Nice to meet you too Ted” Lyra replied somewhat perplexed still, “What book did you lend to Andromeda?” she questioned, always curious about new books to read.

The Hufflepuff pulled a book out of his bag and slid it over to the young blonde, who studied it for a moment

“A tale of two cities” Lyra hummed giving the book to her sister 

“It’s set just before the french revolution in London and Paris” Ted informed her, “I’m not sure it’s something you would like to read right now, but I know a few books that might interest you more”. 

Lyra’s full attention was drawn to Ted at the mention of new books she could read, she missed the way her sister looked wholly content at the interaction, “I would love that, if it’s alright of course” she exclaimed, then calmed herself after a look from Madam Pince.

Finally, Narcissa approached, kissing her sister’s on the cheeks and sitting next to Lyra, “Hello little star, Andromeda” she smiled kindly, “Mr.Tonks” she said in a slightly more serious tone. 

“Hello Narcissa, nice to see you” Ted grinned at her, the same as he did Lyra, “Well I best be going, I hope you enjoy the book, Andromeda, Have a good day Black sisters” he finished, walking away whistling with a spring in his step.

The elder sisters exchanged looks that said we’ll be discussing this later, and the three got to work, conversing about their week, family and their friends. 

That evening, Lyra was sitting in the common room playing chess against Emmaline, as the clock slowly approached 7:00, this afternoon's conversation still on her mind 

“Emmaline, have you ever read any muggle books” she asked her friend. 

“A few, my gran is a muggle, she used to read my muggle children’s stories and some books, my favourites are the ones about magic, since muggles don’t know it exists, especially ‘Narnia’,  why?” enthused the dark haired witch. 

“A boy from Hufflepuff was giving my sister a muggle book this afternoon, and he told me he thought there were a few I might like” she shrugged 

“Oooh! Was it her boyfriend?” Mary asked, from beside the fire. 

“Was he cute? Who is he?” Charlotte mused from next to Mary 

“His name is Ted, and I don’t know!” Lyra shouted.

Could Ted be her boyfriend? She didn’t see them holding hands like Narcissa and Lucius, but then again, she did smile while he talked. 

“I don’t think so, she knows she couldn’t marry him, mother and father have already been talking to her about potential men for her to marry, she knows they wouldn’t approve even if some of us don’t think like that” she pondered aloud, hugging onto a blue pillow. 

“Oh right, I forgot some purebloods did that whole marriage stuff, maybe you’re right and they’re just friends” Emmaline added. 

“You know I don’t think like them though?” the blonde asked her friends, “I don’t believe in that blood nonsense, it’s so stupid! Like we’re any better, my auntie and uncle were both born Blacks!” she exclaimed. 

“I don’t think like that either” announced Charlotte, who was the only other pureblood in their dorm.

“Merlin and Morgana! that would be like if you married Sirius!” cackled Emmaline 

Mary gave her a hug and comforted, “we know you don’t, we love you for it” she smiled.

Lyra faked retching noises at Emmaline's comment “Oh Emmie, I’m going to be sick, don’t ever say that again”  she cried. 

The rest of the girls, including Lyra dissolved into a pile of giggles, when Lyra’s redwood wand’s timer went off, alerting her it was time to meet her friends who were adorned with red and gold. 

“Alright mates, I’ll see you later, I’ve got somewhere to be” she smiled, dusting off her robes and heading to the door. In response they gave her a questionable look but waved as she left. 

Lyra continued down the tower, looking for her cousin or one of his friends, however nobody could be seen, when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a whisper “psst! Lyra”

She turned around at this and was flabbergasted when she saw nothing, she let out a yelp when something touched her shoulder, and James Potter’s floating head appeared. 

“Hi Lyra” James grinned shyly “sorry I scared you” he gave her another lopsided smile, 

“James! Where is your body?” she shrieked.

“I’ve got an invisibility cloak, family heirloom, but don’t tell anyone its a secret alright?” he looked her in the eyes hopefully. 

“Sure, now where are we going?” she wondered.

“Gryffindor tower” James said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “now get under” he smirked, lifting up the cloak. 

The two fit underneath with room to spare, “So how come  nobody else came with you” Lyra asked the boy next to her. 

“Too complicated, we weren’t sure if we’d make it this far in one go, so far we’ve only made it from the common room to the dorm with all four of us before someone tripped” he laughed infectiously, causing Lyra to laugh as well. 

The two continued the walk across the castle, to the other tower, when third years Gideon and Fabian came bolting down the hall cackling. James and Lyra shared a look and shrugged it off until they heard more footsteps and the yell of the caretaker, Filch

James grabbed Lyra’s arm and pulled her into an alcove, on the side of the hall, holding their breath until filch passed. 

As the two approached Gryffindor tower, James slipped out of the cloak, “you stay under here, I’ll enter the common room and you just follow me up the stairs, got it?” he asked, giving her a thumbs up, and another grin. 

“Got it, and you’re sure it’ll work” she double-checked, he gave her another nod, and carried on to the portrait, “hippogriff” he spoke, and Lyra quickly followed behind him. 

As she took in her surroundings she noticed the common room had a warm glow to it,  similar to Ravenclaw tower, but covered in red and gold. She saw several upper years, including Molly Prewett, a friend of Andromeda’s who she met last summer in Diagon alley, and Lily Evans, who sat in front of her in potions, as well as Frank Longbottom, who she knew from galas she was always dragged to. 

Lyra followed James up the stairs to the fourth landing, when he finally opened the door and motioned for her to enter, “welcome to our home” he smiled his hand on her back to make sure he didn’t shut the door on her. 

Lyra pulled off the cloak to find Sirius, Remus and Peter all sitting on what she assumed were their respective beds, smiling widely at her, with a parade of greetings. 

“Hello mates!” she grinned, walking over to Sirius’ bed and flopping down next to him, James joining on the bed to her left, “So anymore idea’s from you”

Remus looked up, and Lyra could’ve sworn his eyes flashed gold, as a devious grin appeared on his face, “Well Lyra, we were thinking of something that could really pop, maybe dye people’s skin, or hair?” 

“I thought maybe we could do a charm or something, you’re great in transfiguration Lyra” Peter suggested. 

“Thanks Pete!” Lyra cheered at the compliment, “but I don’t know about charms on a mass of people, not yet at least” she winked, she got up pacing back and forth around the dorm thinking.

“What about exploding something!” suggested Sirius standing up on his bed as he shouted his idea

“What if it was like Exploding bonbons!” James smirked, adjusting his glasses.

“What about glitter?” Lyra muttered to herself mainly. 

“Glitter bombs” shrieked Remus and Sirius at the same time, giving each other a crazed look. 

“What if we somehow were able to have people's breakfast explode into glitter?” Peter said 

“ Pete, that's great!” said James

“Oh!” shout Lyra, “what if we get glitter bombs to appear on each table, and then on our cue, they’ll all explode, like we learned with opening charms!” 

Sirius jumped off the bed, running over to Lyra, picking her up and swinging her around, “Oh cousin you’re an absolute genius! I love you!” 

“We just need to transfigure, say, Napkins or socks  into the balls and then we get the elves to set them on the tables” suggested Lyra

“James and Peter  can take care of the elves, and the three of us can start on the transfiguration!” Remus suggested. 

“Perfect mate! This’ll be fantastic” Sirius grinned, clapping Sirius on the back. 

The group began to transfigure pages of parchment and socks into the glitter bombs, while the other boys left with the cloak to start talking to the elves and bring back snacks. The task proved to be much more difficult than the group expected which led to the floor and the trio to become covered in glitter by the time James and Peter returned with snacks.

The transfiguration occurred late into the night, until Sirius took Lyra back to Ravenclaw tower. Lyra left a little lighter, very tired, and with glitter stuck all over her hair and body. 

Lyra’s birthday arrived before she knew it and she spent the day surrounded by all of her friends, and her sisters

Lyra received lots of chocolate from Remus and Bertie Botts from Peter, new quills, both real and sugar, from Charlotte and Maeve , a muggle cardigan from Mary and the first Narnia book from Emmaline. 

Andromeda gifted Lyra a book, via suggestion from Ted; The Secret Garden, Constellation earrings from Narcissa, A two way mirror from Sirius so they could all communicate from across the castle, and from James, a joint gift for her and Sirius; who’s  birthday was next week, to a quidditch game this summer. 

Lyra absolutely adored her books and began reading them immediately, she became so enthralled in the world of The Secret Garden she nearly forgot their prank was supposed to take place the following morning. 

Lyra walked into the great hall with her Ravenclaw friends by her side when she saw James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus giving her their widest grins, as they sat facing the Ravenclaw table. 

Lyra began her breakfast as normal, not wanting to appear suspicious, then, about 15 minutes later, there was a pop over the Slytherin table, then  Hufflepuff, then Ravenclaw, and finally Gryffindor. A series of popping occurred for several moments, coating the great hall with silver, bronze, gold and Black glitter. 

“What’s going on?” Maeve asked as her hair and face were coated in an assortment of glitter. 

Lyra looked around noticing her head of house looking like a mirrorball as the small man was covered head to toe. “No Bloody Idea” Lyra smirked, getting up to head over to the Gryffindor table, she gave her sister a wink, as Narcissa caught her eye.

“We did it!” Lyra exclaimed, throwing an arm around James and Sirius, sitting herself in the middle of the two. All four boys burst into laughter as they looked at each other sparkling under the sun shining into the great hall

“So how do we get this off?” Remus queried, staring at his hands which looked like they’d touched the sun from all the gold glitter. 

“Well, I suppose we didn’t think that through” Sirius chuckled as he looked from Remus to Lyra, to Peter and James, all beaming with pride at the success but now concerned about the removal. 

As the three, once again dissolved into fits of laughter, Professor Mcgonagall Approached and gave the perpetrators detention for the next two weekends, polishing trophies.

Hogwarts was covered in remnants of glitter for the remainder of the term, as Lyra boarded the Hogwarts express to return to Blythe manor for the Holidays, with remnants of glitter still being found in her hair. 

The girls spent the train ride, laughing, playing exploding snap, snacking on sugar quills, the girls exchanged gifts before Lyra left, going to find Sirius so they would be able to go home together, she would be meeting her parents at Grimmauld place for dinner. 

Lyra knocked on the boys cabin door, and entered, “There’s our favourite bird!” shouted James. 

“Oi! What’s that mean!” Lyra harrumphed, crossing her arms and stomping her foot and looking at the boy, who raised his arms in defence 

“Just that you’re a Ravenclaw, and they’re eagles, so you’re our favourite bird” he clarified, as Peter moved over making room for Lyra to sit in between him and Sirius. 

“Alright then” she hummed, raising her eyebrow at James in suspicion, turning to Pete and giving him a grin “Thanks Pete! So what do you all have planned for the break?” she questioned the bunch of boys. 

Remus,  spoke up “Not much just the usual Christmas stuff” he gave a shrug, wincing in pain. 

“Going to go to my Gran's, she makes the best sweets, I’ll bring some back” said the round boy to her right. 

“Well, cousin, I think you know what I’m up to since you’ll be stuck with me nearly the whole break”  Sirius smugly replied. 

“You two are so lucky, I wish I could spend the break with my best mates ” James wistfully replied. 

“Next break we should plan ahead, that way we can see each other” suggested Sirius 

“Bloody brilliant bloke you are!” James said, clapping him on the back “but you couldn’t have thought of this sooner” he rolled his eyes. 

Lyra spent the train ride enjoying the views of the countryside, before parting with her family to floo back to Grimmauld place.

Lyra spent the break going back and forth between the manor and Grimmauld place, she enjoyed her time with Regulus, as she missed him loads while he was gone, having the three of them back together, just felt right. 

Bellatrix prattled on and on about her countless courting options but how she cared for none of them, which then led her parents to talk about courtings for her other sister who was soon to leave school. 

“Well Andromeda, what do you think about the other Lestrange brother, he’s just a few years your senior if I recall” her mother proposed one day over tea.

Andromeda raised her eyebrows in shock, “Mother, I am perfectly capable of finding a husband for myself when it is time to decide” 

“Oh Dromeda I don’t think she meant it like that, but you know it’s good to find a nice pureblood who knows the right ways” Bellatrix insisted. 

Lyra heard her sister huff in annoyance, Andromeda and Bellatrix’s spats were far from pleasant, she hoped to Godric this wasn’t one of them. 

“I’m not feeling quite well Mother I’m off to lie down” Andromeda said excusing herself 

“Very well, I hope you know you’re still expecting a family Christmas tomorrow. Her mother rolled her eyes, lacking affection

“So Lyra, have you been able to manage suitable friends, despite your…” she sighed, “predicament” taking a sip from her tea.

“Mother, I have plenty of fantastic friends, in several houses. Lyra protested, getting up to leave following her sister. She would not take the bashing of her friends because of their blood status but did not want to anger her mother. 

On Christmas, in her  deep green robe, which Lyra begged her sister to transfigure Navy green, which Narcissa obliged, always soft for her little sister, the family headed to Grimmauld place. 

When they arrived at the dark townhouse, Lyra noticed Sirius was missing, when they were greeted by their extended family, the young children were sent off and Lyra went to find her best friend. 

Lyra found the black haired boy in bed, turned away from the door, when she entered his room, “Go away” he spoke harshly 

“Sirius, it’s me” Lyra whispered, hoping he would soften up.

The boy turned around, and she discovered he had a black eye and cut on his lip. Lyra gasped “What happened” she shouted, rushing forward to hug him, at her touch, he winced. 

“Mum’s not too happy about my house, and my friends, and the detentions I’ve received” Sirius whimpered, now leaning into her embrace. 

“Oh Sirius! I’m so sorry ,how did she find out” Lyra spoke, holding him tight “ Should I get Andromeda to heal the bruises?” 

Sirius shook his head “No, she’ll just get angrier at that, she found out because when she asked about my friends I refused to lie to her” he grumbled. 

“You’re so brave, you lion, when mum asked about mine I just left the room” she giggled. 

“I should go back down stairs, are you sure you can’t join?” Lyra asked, standing up.

“No, she doesn’t want me to embarrass her in front of all the guests” he shrugged, then he looked up into her eyes, grabbed her hand, and softly asked “please stay?” 

Lyra knew her parents would not be happy with her for skiving off the family party, but Sirius was her best friend and she would do what she had done for as long as she could remember, following the brave boy's lead. She would do anything for her best friend. 

“Alright, I’ll stay!” she said plopping on the bed next to the now grinning boy, “But call kreature so we can at least have some treats to eat” she shoved his shoulder softly. 

And so the pair spent Christmas playing exploding snap, eating their favourite sweets and enjoying each other's company. 

That evening as Lyra was tucked into her four poster bed, half asleep, she heard her door creek open, and Andromeda slipped in, shutting the door behind her, “Hello little star” she smiled, seeing eyes that matched her staring back at her. 

“Hi Dromeda” she grinned, at the surprise visitor. 

“I’ve got your Christmas present” she teased, crawling into bed next to Lyra, handing her a thick package. 

“This is one of the first muggle books i’ve ever read, and it’s one of my favourites as well” she continued 

Lyra beamed, ripping the package open carefully, the book inside was titled Little Women “ Dromeda I love it!” she hugged her sister tightly “what’s it about?” 

“Well, it’s about four sisters, like us except they’re muggle,  and from America” she informed her sister. 

“Will you read to me?” Lyra asked, fingers cross her sister would say yes, “Of course, Lyra” Andromeda grinned before casting a quick Lumos so she could see the pages better in the dark, as she began to read aloud, “ of course, I’m glad you like it, Merry Christmas, love” 

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without presents grumbled Jo,

"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.” 

Andromeda read several chapters  to Lyra before the two fell fast asleep in Lyra’s bed as snow fell peacefully outside their countryside manor.