Shades of Silver and Black

ORION FELT LIKE HIS FEET WERE FROZEN to the cold, marble floors of Grimmauld Place. He hadn't meant for this to happen; really. All he had wanted was a cup of tea in the early morning and so, had gotten up from his bed while taking care to not wake his wife before heading towards the stairs leading to the kitchen. Except, that required him to pass Lyra's bedroom which subsequently made him realise that he wouldn't be able to see his daughter's smiling face during breakfast. And that was how, without even realising it, Orion found himself rooted to the spot, facing the antique wooden door to Lyra's empty bedroom.

"So this is where you went."

Orion swivelled at the voice. Walburga stood behind him in her nightclothes, half-smiling.

Orion cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to have woken you."

Walburga waved him away, stepping closer until she stood right beside him before leaning her head on her husband's shoulders and looping her hand into his for warmth from the cold morning. "It's alright. I had to wake up sooner or later and while I would have admittedly preferred the later, I'm happy that I can now keep you company."

Orion remained silent at her statement, but he did wrap an arm around her, bringing Walburga closer and laying his head lightly on hers. For a minute, the two of them simply stood there, staring at the door to Lyra's bedroom.

"Everything is going to be different now, isn't it?" Orion questioned softly. "I mean, I always knew that one day, Lyra was going to move out of the house- whether if it was after she got married or for higher studies. I had even been mentally preparing myself for her disappearance from our everyday life but...." he trailed off.

"But now since she's actually gone, it's more difficult to comprehend than you expected it to be. No matter how much you had prepared yourself or expected it to be odd without her, it still feels strange because a part of you hoped that this day would never come and now that it has, it's bound to feel weird, doesn't it?" Walburga finished for him quietly.

Orion nodded his head lightly. "Indeed." He released a sigh. "I mean, I know that Lyra was at Hogwarts for the majority of the past few years and that she promised to visit during the holidays now but, it's still not the same. It doesn't feel the same. Everything is going to be so different now without her."

Walburga silently agreed with her husband and they once again descended into a comfortable, calm quietude amongst them.

However, they were parents to two young boys and so, the moment of peace obviously did not last, even though it was early in the morning.

"MUMMY!" They heard Regulus roar from downstairs. "SIRIUS CALLED KREATCHER A BAD WORD AGAIN!"

"IN MY DEFENCE," Sirius' voice yelled slowly. "THAT BLASTED, BLOODY ELF CALLED ME A BAD WORD FIRST!"

"BLASTED?! HOW DARE YOU--"

Walburga and Orion broke apart and shared an amused glance.

"Well," Orion began with a grin. "At least we know that somethings will never change."

"Oh but it will," Walburga chimed. "That's the thing, isn't it? Change. Change is the only thing constant. Everything is always changing, Orion, and that isn't necessarily always a bad thing. Yesterday, Lyra left to make her own mark in the world. In a few years, that would be Sirius and Regulus. However, rather than worrying or obsessing over the future and what will come, let's enjoy the present and what is there. Lyra's gone to study, she'll send us letters often and be present for every holiday. Sirius and Regulus will be here with us and I think that we should just love these precious moments that we have been gifted with."

Orion hummed thoughtfully before a smile decorated his face as he hugged his dear wife. "Oh 'Burga," he mumbled into her shoulders as she wrapped her arms around him. "When did you get so smart?"

Walburga huffed with no heat behind it. "Excuse you, I was always smart. I got some of the highest marks in school, more than you, at least. We're different kinds of smart, Orion, but I think having children as wonderful as we did impact people in a lovely manner."

"I agree. We've raised them well, haven't we?"

"They've raised us well." Walburga corrected. "They've helped us grow as people as we helped them grow into teenagers."

"Very true, my wise wife." Orion chuckled and slowly pulled away from the embrace just in time for Sirius and Regulus to appear in front of them, both adorning scowls before speaking simultaneously.

"Father, you will not believe what Sirius-"

"-acting like an arse again. I mean, you'd think Kreacher was his brother rather than me-"

"-and he's being such a despicable-"

"-cannot believe that he's so stupid-"

Orion leaned towards his wife and whispered. "Do you want to take this one?"

"Well, they started it with the word 'father', so it's all yours, love," Walburga whispered back, smiling sweetly.

"But before that, Regulus called out 'mummy', so it's you." Orion protested, prompting Walburga to roll her eyes.

"Oh, all right. I'll handle it this time. But you owe me, husband-mine."

"Owe you?" Orion repeated. "And what is it I owe you exactly?"

Walburga grinned wickedly and whispered a request in Orion's ears that brought colour to his cheeks and would dare not repeat out loud in front of his children.

Clearing his throat, he tried to answer casually. "Well, I suppose I could do that."

"Excellent," the smile on Walburga's face bloomed as she gazed to where her sons were still bickering.

She cleared her throat and immediately captivated Regulus and Sirius' attention as they looked to her with a confused expression, temporarily forgetting that they had come to their parents for help to settle their minor argument.

"Pack your bags, boys," Walburga commanded with a grin. "We'll be going to Australia for the week and we're leaving in fifteen minutes. Go on." she urged encouragingly.

Within three seconds, the previous scowls had blossomed into excited smiles as Regulus and Sirius ran off to their respective rooms to pack their clothes, disagreement lost in their memory as they excitedly gushed over the unexpected announcement of the trip with each other.

Meanwhile, Orion faced his wife with confusion evident on his face. "Australia? We're going to Australia? Why?"

"For our yearly summer trip, of course," Walburga responded as if it were obvious. "I mean, you hadn't planned anything this year and if I remember correctly, we had brought a lovely condo in Australia a few years ago. It would be nice to finally spend some time there."

Orion's eyebrows frowned. "But, Lyra's won't be present for the trip."

"Orion, just because Lyra has left doesn't mean we don't have two other children who we need to make memories with; because we do. Although I hadn't said it, I did enjoy going on these trips with our children. It was always loads of fun. We can't stop it even though Lyra isn't here with us. Rather, we can bring about a new addition to this ever-growing tradition." Walburga stated softly but sternly.

Orion was affected with Lyra's absence visibly but that didn't mean that Walburga wasn't because she was. Merlin, how much she missed her daughter, but she knew that Lyra wasn't gone forever. However, time did. Time could pass by them so quickly, they wouldn't even notice. Walburga didn't want to spend so much time wallowing about Lyra that she had forgone Sirius and Regulus.

It had only been less than a day and the couple had already shown signs of the Empty Nest Syndrome, deeply missing their precious daughter.

Orion smiled faintly with dawning understanding. "I know... It's just hard, I guess."

"I know," Walburga said. "But we'll be alright."

"We will," Orion agreed before clearing his throat. "You said something about new additions to this tradition of ours" -a glitter of curiosity shone in his eyes- "what do you mean by that, 'Burga?"

"Wait and see," Walburga smirked mysteriously. "But first, go and pack up. "

"Okay," Orion stated.

Twenty minutes later, in a large manor in Caithness, Scotland, Lord Charlus and Lady Dorea Potter were woken up with the sound of an owl banging on their bedroom window.

"Dorea... Owl," Charlus groaned, shifting his sleeping position to a more comfortable one and using his pillow to block his ears.

However, Dorea kicked his leg, eyes still closed. "Charlus... Owl."

Charlus hummed offhandedly in reply, sleep calling to him like a Siren and for a second, all was well. Then, however, the owl banged on their window once again and Dorea kicked his leg harder, leading him to yelp.

"Charlus! Owl!"

"Alright, woman! No need to kick," Charlus groaned louder as he struggled to open his eyes and roll out of the bed he shared with his wife.

"I wouldn't have had to kick you if you'd gotten up the first time," Dorea replied sharply, eyes shut as she tried to cling on to sleep.

Charlus muttered profanities under his breath as he opened the window, let the owl in and took the letter that had been tied to its leg. Seeing the familiar Black sigil on it, Charlus became more awake as he began to read the letter, brows knitting itself together as he did. Finally, after he finished, he wrote a four-letter reply and sent it back before climbing back to bed and trying to gain sleep again.

"Who was it?" Dorea mumbled absentmindedly in her sleep.

"Walburga," Charlus muttered and suddenly, Dorea's eyes flashed open as she sat up straight, leaning against the headrest with all hints of sleep disappeared.

Charlus was startled by her sudden reaction as he forced himself to sit up as well.

"Walburga?" Dorea questioned, flabbergasted. "What did she want?"

"Nothing, really. You know how Orion takes his kids and drags Walburga on those historical trips?"

"How can I forget? Walburga complains about those all the time during tea."

"Well," Charlus began slowly. "She asked if we would like to come along with them to Australia for a week."

Dorea blinked, having not expected that. She had been under the impression that those visits were a sacred thing to Orion and nobody else was allowed to join during those trips. "Oh." she breathed out. "What did you say?"

"I said 'okay', of course," Charlus responded, sinking onto the bed and pulling the covers over himself. "James had forever wished to go on those and I could tell that he always felt a little left out whenever Sirius and Regulus came back from those trips and gushed over whatever they did. He'll be ecstatic to accompany them on those this time and I think it would be a nice change of scenery for the two of us as well." He released a yawn before pausing. "Did I reply incorrectly?"

"Oh no, not at all," Dorea reassured. "I'm just...surprised, I guess."

"Good surprise or a bad surprise?"

"Good surprise, I think." Dorea pressed her lips together. "I'm just shocked that it's Walburga who extended the invitation to us, really."

"Me too but it'll be lovely." Charlus released another yawn, sleep gripping him as he slowly closed his eyes. "Try to get some sleep, love. It's still night time in Australia so let's pretend it's night time for us as well and wake up in a couple of hours."

Dorea smiled as she readied herself to sleep again. "Okay."

Lucius woke up to a kiss and opened his eyes to see the beautiful face of his fiancée- a most perfect way to start the day and subsequently, a new part of their lives together.

"Happy birthday, love," she whispered against his lips.

"Thank you, life." Lucius smiled as he sat upon his bed.

Lyra mirrored his expression as she pulled out a cake from behind her. Lucius was astonished.

Lyra laughed. "Oh, come on. Don't look so surprised. Did you really think that just because we celebrated our birthday together, I wouldn't make your actual day special? I expected better from you, Lucius."

"I'm not surprised," Lucius defended. "Just..., happy. Very, very happy."

"Lovely," Lyra commented as she set the cake between them.

It was Argentina's famous chocotorta cake, each layer frosted exquisitely with the top one finished with a generous serving of chocolate glaze and dollops of chocolate ganache. A single candle had been fixed in the middle and with a wave of Lyra's wand, it was lit.

Lyra gazed at him expectantly with a smile. "Make a wish."

Lucius reflected her happiness on his face as he blew out the candle, wishing for many more mornings like this one.

"Yay!" Lyra cheered, clapping her hands together.

Just when Lucius was about to suggest that they get a knife and share the cake, Lyra dipped a finger in the frosting and quickly touched the tip of Lucius' nose, applying frosting on it and catching him off guard.

"There," Lyra stated, looking at him with an approving twinkle. "Now, you look like the cute, birthday boy."

Lucius faux huffed. "I am not cute." he intoned, just because.

Then, because he wanted to get back at her, dipped a finger in the cake and tried to apply some frosting on his fiancée's face. However, growing up with three younger brothers had prepared Lyra for moments like this as she ducked and jumped out of the bed she had been sitting on with an expert elegance.

"Na-uh," she shook her head. "You're the cute birthday boy. You're the one who is supposed to get the cake on his face."

"But you were the adorable birthday girl not three days ago." Lucius pointed out as he too stood up, carefully holding the cake in his hand. "Nobody put cake on you then."

"That's because I was substituting three very poisonous snakes for a scarf, belt and bracelet." Lyra chimed in.

"But now you aren't." Lucius grinned.

"Indeed I am not." Lyra paused. Then, she threw him a wink and dashed out of the room immediately.

Lucius released a laugh as he chased after, taking care to not drop the cake. "I will put cake on you, Lyra, even if it's the last thing I do."

"I can assure you that if you do so, it will literally be the last thing you do!" Lyra yelled as she ran down the stairs of the manor that they were staying at in Argentina.

"Oh, it's so going to be worth it." Lucius grinned.

In the end, Lucius tripped while running down the stairs, causing the cake to fly in the air before completely coating him in it. Lyra had laughed and laughed over his pouting face as he alternated between whining how it wasn't fair and gushing over the deliciousness of the cake. Lyra's laughter grew into horror, however, when Lucius demanded a birthday hug; smirking mischievously as he opened his arms, decorated from head to toe in the chocotorta cake, much to Lyra's dismay.

"--and that's the story behind how I met your grandmother," Pollux finished proudly, making Andromeda smile, Ted applaud, and the barest hint of a smile to grace Irma's face as she fondly rolled her eyes.

"That was such a lovely story," Andromeda complimented. "I mean, honestly, I had always assumed that you and grandma had had an arranged marriage."

"Well, we did," Pollux responded. "But we had been friends a little before that. I had just joined the Slytherin Quidditch team and had been very nervous for my first match when this girl approaches me with a glare and says, 'You better not be the reason we lose or else I'll poison you. Believe me, I know how to'."

"And did you win?" Ted asked eagerly.

"Of course they did," Andromeda replied.

"Actually, we didn't," Pollux confessed. "I was the keeper and took a stray bludger to the head and woke up in the hospital wing two weeks later."

"Oh my," Andromeda laughed.

"Don't laugh," Pollux said in a faux firm voice, wearing a smile of his own. "You have no idea how scared I was for the next few weeks that I would be poisoned by your lovely grandmother here. But then, eventually, seeing that she didn't, I guess you could say that she loves me."

"Or I'm waiting for the right moment to poison you," Irma chimed in, face betraying none of her emotions.

However, to Pollux who had been with his wife since their Hogwarts days, her monotonous tone was easy to decipher as he lifted an eyebrow and said dryly. "After more than forty-five years of marriage?"

"Yes," Irma answered shortly, making Pollux chuckle fondly.

He opened his mouth to retort when a house-elf approached them and handed a letter to Pollux.

"Who is it, granddad?" Andromeda quizzed curiously.

"Walburga," Pollux frowned as he opened the letter, not knowing why his daughter -who hardly ever contacted them, especially after he and Irma had agreed to take in Andromeda and Ted- wrote him a letter. He read it with a bewildered expression.

"What does Walburga want, Pollux?" Irma questioned.

"She wants us all to join Orion, her and the children on a week-long trip to Australia," Pollux answered with shock. He swivelled his head to face his wife. "What do you think?"

Irma looked thoughtful before she slowly nodded her head. "It will be nice to spend time with Sirius and Regulus."

"Indeed." Pollux agreed as he quickly summoned a quill and a pot of ink to write a reply before handing it to the house-elf with instructions to deliver it to his vinegar-tempered daughter.

"All of us?" Ted asked quietly, drawing everybody's attention towards him. "Even me?"

"Yes," Irma answered before Andromeda or Pollux could. "You married my granddaughter and so, you are one of us now and you will be until death. As in, if you leave my granddaughter, I will see to it that you die. But now, you are a Black."

"And Walburga wrote all of us in her letter," Pollux continued. "And you are one of us, so obviously, you'll be joining us." he paused, cocking an eyebrow. "Unless you don't want to, of course."

Ted shook his head, smiling brightly and a tear threatening to escape his eyes as the feeling of finally being accepted coursed through him. "I would love to go to Australia with everybody."

Andromeda smiled, reaching over and squeezing her husband's hand comfortingly. "Okay."

Lyra hummed a merry tune under her breath as she flipped a page of one of the healing books that she had been reading. This particular one detailed how to heal trauma in a wonderful manner and was acclaimed in the healing circles.

It was surreal to think that she was currently living in Argentina with her fiancé and studying healing, far away from the family that she loved dearly. It was even crazier that for perhaps the longest time, there was a skip in her steps. Her Atlas burden had been lifted from her shoulders and was no longer hers to bear. So, she found herself enjoying the little things recently- things that she hadn't been able to pay attention to earlier in fear of missing out on the bigger picture. It was a pleasant change.

She heard the door to Lucius' room open but paid it no mind, too immersed in the new spells that she was learning when something was thrown at her with force, knocking her over to the ground due to the force and sprawling her book to the ground.

Lyra glared at the offender, eyes burning like an inferno as Lucius' smile widened.

"Why, in any sense, would you do that?" Lyra questioned as she stood up.

Lucius frowned as though he hadn't understood her question. "Because... pillow fight," he stated as if it were obvious.

Lyra levelled him a bewildered expression before glancing at the object that had hit her, realising that it had indeed been a pillow. She sighed as she met her fiancé's eyes. "Love, how was that a pillow fight?"

Lucius' frown deepened. "Wait, it wasn't? That's how James said they were."

Lyra shook her head, picking up the stray pillow and walking over to Lucius. "No, that definitely isn't how you pillow fight. For starters, you wait until both the people are armed with pillows." she started pointedly, to which Lucius flushed sheepishly before she resumed speaking. "Secondly, you don't just throw your weapon at the enemy's quarters. You use it to repeatedly smack them until the weapon in question is nothing but feathers. Observe."

Without another warning, Lyra swung the pillow she was holding and poor Lucius, who hadn't been expecting the surprise attack, did not have time to duck and was smacked right across the face.

Lyra victoriously thrust the pillow she still held over her head, grinning wickedly. "The pillow fight has officially begun. Arm yourself and meet me in the parlour for the duel which shall begin in five minutes henceforth!" she announced before dashing off somewhere.

A smile bloomed on Lucius' face as he watched her run excitedly, most likely to stock up on pillows. Then, picking himself up from the ground, Lucius sketched a plan in his mind to head to the kitchens after arming himself with pillows. Lyra wouldn't be expecting a surprise attack and while all was fair in love and war.

Five minutes later, Lucius would know that Lyra did indeed expect a surprise attack, only because she had the same idea and had been patiently waiting to ambush him from the kitchens herself. Great minds did think alike, after all. And that was how they spent the evening making feather-angels on the floor.

"Darling, I just received a letter from Walburga," Lord Abraxas Malfoy began as he walked into the parlour. "She's invited us along on a wonderful trip to Australia for the week. Isn't that lovely?"

"It is," Belladonna replied.

Abraxas frowned at the half-hearted voice and short answer with which she had responded, being used to the cheerful long sentences she usually spoke with. He approached her with concern and took a seat beside her on the love-seat, noticing the photo book on her lap which had been opened to the page where a smiling toddler image of their son could be seen.

"Do you miss Lucius?" He asked softly.

Belladonna weakly smiled, running a thumb over picture-Lucius' chubby cheeks. "Yes. I'm aware that he's not gone forever, that it's hardly been a day, and how he's going to visit every holiday, that it'll be no different than when he went to Hogwarts, that the Heir travels are a Malfoy tradition.... but I absolutely hated it whenever he left for school. I missed him all the time and I just-" she abruptly stopped herself, sighing. "It's stupid, I know. "

"It isn't. Not one bit." Abraxas said, hugging his wife. "Honestly, I hate this tradition as well. I mean, Lucius and I were quite close before he left for Hogwarts, but after that, he became so incredibly consumed in his duties as king and his studies. I'm proud of him for that, of course, but I don't think we had that connection that we did previously. Things changed too fast for me -us- to keep up. And now, he's gone and won't be back for three years except sporadic visits and during that time, he'll change even more and I'm a little afraid that the relationship that we currently have will only grow more strained with time and distance." he spoke quietly, eyes downcast. "I don't want that to happen."

"Neither do I," Belladonna said softly, a sad smile on her face. "But I'm happy that he's happy. I hope that he'll continue to be so."

"Me too," Abraxas said and they descended into a hymn of silence after that, both of them reviewing memories and collecting thoughts in the depths of their minds.

At last, Belladonna broke the quietude. "Maybe this is a good thing. This trip. It would be nice to get our minds off of these things."

"Indeed." Abraxas agreed. "I'll write a reply to Walburga saying we accept."

"Alright." Belladonna gave him a small smile before stating. "Lucius will be fine."

"He will. He's got Lyra with him, hasn't he? She'll curse and terrify anybody who has any ill-intentions towards either of them." Abraxas intoned, only semi-joking.

It was somewhat of a long-standing joke in their social circles that the Black Heiress was as scary as she was beautiful. That was to say, extremely. Lyra and Lucius complimented each other wonderfully and they were going to be alright come what may because they had each other.

"Yes." Belladonna giggled lightly, the sound lifting up the glum atmosphere that had previously engulfed them. "I just hope that wherever they go, they serve lots of lumpy mashed potatoes."

Abraxas threw his head back with a laugh. "And that there aren't any white peacocks, should Lucius decide to ride them again."

"Of course." Belladonna grinned.

"So," Lyra began as soon as they sat down for dinner that day. "How was your day?"

A week had passed since they had arrived in Argentina and each day was as wonderful, if not more, than the previous. The two settled into a routine where they would eat all three meals together between their jobs and so far, it was going quite well.

"My day was lovely, thank you for asking. I hope yours is the same." Lucius stated and upon Lyra's nod, he resumed speaking. "Did you know that among the oldest evidence of ancient people living in Argentina is the Cave of Hands, in the western part of Patagonia, which has paintings from 9,370 years ago? Additionally, most of the paintings are of hands, and most of the hands are left hands."

"That sounds interesting," Lyra commented, smiling.

"It is, isn't it!" Lucius' eyes glittered as he spoke. "And, this isn't to do with Argentina, but Master Garcia initiated a discussion about the plethora of funeral rites across the world. I spoke about the Norse culture's most honour and magnificent ship burial while Catalina -do you remember I introduced you to her a few days ago, life?- spoke about the Egyptian burial rituals, which I honestly wish I had thought of first." He finished with a hint of grumbling in his tone.

Lyra's eyebrows knitted together. "Egyptian burial rituals?"

Lucius' eyes lit up. "Oh yes, it's absolutely fascinating! They would preserve each of the organs separately in containers and, of course, replace the eyeballs with onion bulbs. In fact, did you know that to collect the brain, they would stick a red, hot rod right up your nose and wiggle your brain out?" he said with an almost dreamy sigh.

Lyra, meanwhile, blinked before slowly pushing her dinner plate away from her with a wry smile. "I don't think dinner is the best place to discuss burial rites, love. I think I lost my appetite due to that gruesome image."

Lucius looked sheepish. "Sorry, life. Anyway, what about you? How was your day? Did you learn something new?"

"Oh, plenty. Healing is so fascinating and sometimes, people get admitted to the hospital for the oddest of cases that are surprising and challenging as they are fun to heal." Lyra explained. "In fact, just today, I had to treat a patient who had, unfortunately, cast a spell incorrectly. The effects of an incorrectly cast spell are much more horrific than the actual spells, as you are aware, and this lovely old lady somehow managed to start crying piss, pissing blood and bleeding tears."

Lucius blinked in response and he too slowly pushed the plate full of food in front of him away. "I really don't think that dinner is the best place to discuss the... strange... cases that you come across, life. I'm quite sure I lost my appetite thanks to that horrific image."

Lyra stared at him. Lucius kept her gaze. Suddenly, they simultaneously began to laugh. As their laughter started receding, Lyra asked. "Since we've both lost our appetites for dinner, shall we just skip and have dessert?"

"Yes, please," Lucius answered. "Considering the two of us wore my birthday cake a couple of days ago and couldn't really eat it, why don't we order and eat one today?"

Lyra grinned. "I like the way you think, love."

"Why, thank you, life. I like the way I think as well."

Druella read the draft of that week's Witch Weekly with a scrutinising eye. Something felt off about this week's edition. Something felt missing although she had personally approved every detail, as was her job as the Editor-In-Chief.

Cygnus sat beside her, reading the morning paper over a cup of tea. Druella nudged him, stealing his attention as he levelled her a confused gaze. "Yes, Druella?"

Druella shared the draft with him, to which Cygnus looked at curiously. "There is something wrong with this page. I don't know what, though."

Cygnus keenly analysed the page that had been opened before swivelling to his wife. "I think you printed that bit about bow last year."

Druella hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, that must be it. Thank you, darling."

"Any time, dear."

They descended into silence with Cygnus resuming his reading and Druella frowning. The sound of shuffling footsteps made her look up to see Narcissa enter the room, holding the mail.

"Oh, Cissa! Come over here for a moment, please. I require your help with next week's Witch Weekly." Druella called out, waving her over.

Cygnus snapped his neck to face her, eyes betrayed. "I thought I sorted the problem out."

"You did, darling. It's just to get a second opinion." Druella reassured immediately as her daughter approached her with a quizzing look.

"Yes, mother?"

"Come look at this page, Cissa, and tell me what's wrong with it."

Narissa did as she was told. She observed the page for a second before saying simply. "The layout is boring."

Druella clapped her hands, dropping the magazine on to her lap as her eyes lit up. "Yes! Exactly! Wonderful job, Cissa."

Narcissa smiled beautifully. "Thank you, mother."

Cygnus looked between his wife and daughter with hurt eyes. "The layout looks fine but I distinctly remember you printing about how bows were coming back into trend last year."

Druella waved her husband off. "That's alright. It would be good to refresh people's memory and there might be some new readers who hadn't read that article." she reasoned to him before smiling at her gem of a daughter again, whose eyes shone with enlightenment.

"Oh, mother! I nearly forgot what I came here for. Auntie Walburga sent a letter." Narcissa stated, handing the letter to her mother.

"So early in the morning?" Druella frowned, receiving the letter from her daughter and opening it.

"What is it about, Druella?" Cygnus questioned. "Did my sister actually manage to kill Alphie or is she in need of a new piano to throw at him?"

"Neither, actually," Druella answered as she read over the letter, lips curling into a smile.

Cygnus looked surprised. "Really? Wow, looks like Wallie's patience level has increased." he joked, earning a laugh from Narcissa. "If not to alert us to the funeral of Alphie, what is the letter about?"

"It's an invitation to go to Australia with them for a week." Druella summarised.

"Wait, really?" It was Narcissa who was shocked this time. "Auntie's inviting us to the summer trip they always have? I thought nobody but her, Uncle Orion and my cousins were allowed to go on it. Morgana, even James was never invited and everybody knows that Sirius and Regulus absolutely adore him. Are we really being invited to go with them?"

"If the letter is to be believed, yes." Druella paused. "Is this because Lyra left? Are Walburga and Orion attempting to compensate for Lyra's absence with our presence?"

Cygnus shrugged his shoulders. "Merlin only knows." A smile bloomed on his face. "Going to Australia does sound fun though."

Druella nodded her head, a smile stretching across her face. "Agreed. Shall I write a positive response?"

"Okay."

Lucius cast a wary eye at Lyra before looking back at the Herculean task in front of him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he voiced with concern.

Lyra nodded her head, stormy eyes fixed ahead. "Yes." she pursed her lips. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course I am. There's no way I'm letting you do this alone." Lucius answered without hesitation before grimacing again. "Which is unfortunately why I'm asking if you really, truly want to do this?"

"I really, truly want to do this."

Lucius sighed at Lyra's response. "So, I guess we are doing this then."

Lyra finally swivelled to face him, a smile blossoming on her face. "I guess we are." And with that, the two of them along with their guide began to trek up the tallest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua.

Alphard Black was rarely caught off-guard, and that was a fact. He had keen eyes that assisted him greatly during the term where he had played as a seeker in the Slytherin Quidditch team. He also owned skilled, instinctive reflexes that made it extremely difficult for anybody to sneak upon him.

However, Walburga Black was not anybody. She was his admittedly somewhat beloved sister who knew his faults and perfections inside out. So, when she abruptly floo'd him in the morning, screaming, "Alphard!", Alphard was honestly fortunate that he didn't fall out of his bed due to the surprising shout of his name.

Scowling and grumbling profanities under his breath, Alphard walked across his bedroom and plopped himself on a seat across the fireplace. Nearly twenty-five years ago, a very naive Alphard had assumed that choosing his occupation as a curse breaker would lead him to travel all over the world and more importantly, give him a reasonable excuse and opportunity to be away from his insane sister. However, time, distance or "I don't want to talk to you right now, I'm with a girl for crying out loud!"'s had ever restricted his dear sister from communicating with him.

So, unfortunately, there he was. In Wales, at the Planetarium, temporarily living with his Aunt Melania and Uncle Arcturus between curse-breaking operations, alone in his bedroom, watching his sister's head stick out from his private fireplace and incredibly sleepy due to having spent the previous night doing everything but sleeping.

"What?" Alphard grumbled irritability, sleep still evident in his eyes.

"How lovely to see you too, brother dearest. I'm doing wonderful, thank you so much for asking." Walburga rolled her eyes.

"What?" Alphard repeated, too tired to care about social niceties. Not that tiredness played as an excuse for him to be rude every other time.

Walburga offered him a close-lipped smile. "We're going to Australia. Family trip. Would you like to join us?"

That drove Alphard's sleep away and brought his eyes to widen. "Australia? Trip? What? When did this happen?"

"Roughly two hours ago," Walburga responded, raising an impatient eyebrow. "I need an answer Alphard- will you be joining us or not?"

"Hang on for a moment," Alphard paused to gather his thoughts. "Lyra left with Lucius just yesterday and you already want to call her back? Isn't that a bit much, even for you?"

He received silence from his sister. Finally, Walburga spoke quietly. "Lyra won't be coming with us, actually."

Alphard's eyes widened in surprise. To say Lyra was absolutely adored by her parents would have been a major understatement considering his sister and brother-in-law occasionally behaved in a manner that would suggest their daughter to have been responsible for placing the stars in the sky. Hence, his shock could have been excused upon hearing that she would not only be skipping the family trip but the fact that this was planned a day after she left.

"What, why?!"

Walburga's silence was the only answer he received, flabbergasting him once again due to him being so used to her loudness. But when Alphard gazed at the way his sister's eyes were firmly downcast, it was then that he realised just how difficult it must have been for Walburga and Orion to have come to this decision; to plan and go on this trip without their beloved daughter in an effort to cover up the sadness they felt due to her absence.

Alphard's eyes softened as he cleared his throat. "That's a brilliant idea! I mean, Lyra's going on her own adventures, isn't she? So why shouldn't we?"

Walburga half-smiled at his attempt to cover up his previous question. "So will you be coming with us to Australia?" She voiced casually and because Alphard was capable of small mercies, he pretended that he couldn't hear the symphony of hope that bled into his sister's tone as she asked him that question.

Instead, Alphard smiled lopsidedly. "I would love that. Aunt Mel and Uncle Archie are downstairs; I'll inform them as well."

"Thank you." Walburga smiled faintly.

"It's no problem," Alphard responded before a thought enlightened him. "Wait," He paused, eyeing her suspiciously. "Do we have any pianos in the manor there?"

His only response was his sister's laughter as she cut the floo, the maniacal sound doing nothing to soothe his nerves.

The trip to Australia was nice. It was odd to take a summer vacation without Lyra but at the same time, it was different. A good different; which involved much friendly banter among the family, new additions to the ever-growing list of inside jokes, more classic, Black family dramatics and surprisingly, no stray pianos were thrown on people.

"--And that one is the star of Sirius. It's located in Canis Major constellation and is also the brightest star in the night sky. Fun fact, it's also popularly termed as the 'dog' star." Lyra stated, pointing to a glowing star in the night sky.

Although Lucius knew everything that she was saying, he still listened to her words as if they were said by Lady Hecate herself, not paying any attention to the stars above them. How could he, afterall, when a star was laying on the picnic blanket beside him?

As if realising that he wasn't concentrating on the constellations she was pointing out, Lyra turned her head to meet his, a smile lighting up her eyes as she was enlightened with the fact that there was hardly any distance between the two of their lips.

"Are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?" Lyra quizzed in faux exasperation, eyes glittering brighter than any star.

"I am," Lucius defended.

Lyra lifted an eyebrow. "Oh really? What was I speaking about earlier?"

"One of your family members." Lucius unhesitatingly answered.

Lyra's face threatened to break into a smile. "Which one?"

"Sirius?"

Lyra narrowed her eyes suspiciously before dropping her gaze and returning it to the heavens above them. "Lucky guess." She commented as a faint smile bloomed. "But it is lovely to have most of your family named after stars, isn't it? Stars are everywhere so no matter the ground distance between us, I know they're always watching over me. It's comforting." she swivelled back to face him. "What's your favourite constellation?"

"Lyra, of course," Lucius responded as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lyra rolled her eyes, muttering something about it being cliche but the smile on her face stretched. "And why is that?"

Lucius mirrored her soft expression. "Because you're named after it," he replied before clearing his throat. "Speaking of which, it's a smidge ironic, don't you think? How you are named after the constellation of Lyra, a musical instrument, and yet, you cannot play any musical instrument." He mused aloud.

Lyra glared crucio's at him. "Playing musical instruments is hard. It's not my fault they don't agree with me."

"It's not that hard. Playing the piano, especially, is extremely easy and yet, the ones in your house are collecting dust without purpose."

"That's not true," Lyra protested. "The pianos are put to use. My mother throws them at my Uncle Alphard all the time."

"Yes, because that is what pianos are for."

"Well, not everyone can be bloody talented." Lyra huffed, prompting Lucius to chuckle.

It was indeed true that Lyra, despite her many attempts, could neither sing nor play any musical instruments properly. Lucius, however, was a prodigy in that field, owning an angelic singing voice and with the skills of playing the piano coming to him as naturally as platinum blond hair did. There were many evenings that the former king and queen of Slytherin had spent with the former playing the piano and the latter listening to it.

Sensing the right time to change the topic, Lucius spoke. "What about you? What's your favourite constellation?"

Lyra released a thoughtful hum at his question, looking back to the night sky once more. Finally, she replied. "Draco."

Lucius was surprised. "Draco? The dragon constellation?"

"The very one."

"Why?"

Lyra shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure exactly. Dragons have plenty of healing properties that can be harvested. My grandfather Arcturus has always been fond of dragons- the many sanctuaries he owns proves it, and they're pretty close to snakes, right?" she paused. "I suppose I like what dragons stand for- their bravery and valour remind me of James and Sirius while they've been known to be very cunning and intelligent, like Regulus and everybody I know, really. They are very majestic beings. They're scary yet elegant. They're ferocious and yet, so soft. They're beautiful yet terrifying." She stated and for a moment, Lucius had assumed that she was describing herself. Lyra resumed speaking, half-smiling. "Plus, none of my family members is named Draco, so I can't be called out for playing favourites, right?"

"Right." Lucius smiled as their conversation soon dissolved into timeless nothings and with the two of them still spread out on a picnic blanket before soon falling asleep under the twinkling stars.

As the sunset and the moon rose high in the night sky to signify the start of yet another busy, bustling school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a group of nervous, stammering first years with juxtaposing silver and green ties were led deep into the dungeons by a fifth-year prefect.

Like everybody else, they too were soon left in awe at the beauty that the Slytherin Common Room beheld that they didn't notice the obsidian, hooded figures that began to fill in. But when they did, they were astonished once again as the face of a grey-eyed boy only a few years older than them was revealed, shortly followed by that of a beautiful woman with hair the colour of the sun, who flashed them a blinding smile.

"Let us reveal the Court," Narcissa commanded simply while wearing a large, sparkly diamond ring.