Chapter Text
Lyra woke up from what had to have been a horrid nightmare. In her comfortable bed in Malfoy Manor, she hoped she was waking up the morning of Halloween, a night that wasn't supposed to have happened yet.
Because James Potter couldn't be dead. That wasn't how the world worked. It had already been too cruel to her for years. It couldn't let her lose the love of her life for good. That would be too heartbreaking to accept.
Her eyes slowly opened, wondering how long she must have slept. The newest edition of The Daily Prophet had arrived, so she must have slept well into the afternoon. That wasn't strange, she liked sleeping in.
She stretched for it, wondering why it was where it was. It was usually on the dining room table, where Lucius would read it while having his afternoon tea. At least, the times when he was home for tea time. She read the headline quickly.
YOU KNOW WHO IS GONE
HARRY POTTER IS THE BOY WHO LIVED
The tears pooled back in her eyes. It was November 1st and James had been dead for hours. James was actually dead. The boy who had annoyed her and pursued her for a year before she finally realized he had gotten to her.
The boy who had taught her how to love, how to be as good of a person as possible, to try and believe in herself, to just let loose and be happy. Now, she wasn't sure if she could ever be truly happy again.
She swallowed her sobs, knowing she had to focus. She could barely remember Lucius mentioning that Sirius had been their secret keeper, that he was most likely on the run from the aurors.
She quickly tried to read through it, hoping to find any mention of what was going on with him. She didn't have to search for long. Sirius Black had been caught by the aurors and was currently being held in Azkaban, awaiting trial for service to He Who Must Not Be Named along with the murder of twelve muggles and wizard named Peter Pettigrew.
Lyra sniffled at the idea of Peter being dead, too. He had always been so sweet back at Hogwarts, though he did use to stare at her chest a lot (until James once smacked him across the head for it after they started dating).
But he was gone and James was gone. She had no idea where Remus was or how he was doing, but he seemed to not be in any immediate danger. The only person that needed saving and could be saved was Sirius. She would be damned if she didn't do all she could to save him.
She threw herself out of her bed, the covers laying strangely messy on the bed. It was usually so immaculate. She didn't have time to care about that. All she could think about was death, danger and Azkaban.
She hurried to her closet, finding a nice set of robes to put on. She knew she would have to look presentable and not like the crying madwoman she was acting like if anybody at the Ministry was going to listen to her testimony.
Because Lyra was going to storm in there, fire in her eyes, and witness for Sirius's case. She didn't care that he was supposedly the Secret Keeper. Sirius would never have betrayed the Potters. He would never have betrayed his best friend, his brother.
There was a strange mix of crying, sobbing and getting dressed as she walked around the room, internally preparing for what she was going to say. She knew she'd need to be prepared if anybody was going to believe her. She couldn't only rely on her last name.
Lucius must have heard the commotion as he poked his head through the door. She looked hysterical, crying and sobbing. His eyes were wide and concerned as he grabbed her arm, stopping her from her pacing. "Lyra, calm down! What are you doing?"
Lyra tried to find her words, but she felt very choked up. She tried to steady her irregular breathing. "I'm going to the ministry. Sirius is innocent, I'm sure of it. He would never have done this."
"And what are you planning on saying?" Lucius asked doubtfully, looking distasteful. "What testimony could you possibly give that would convince the whole Wizarding World that he is innocent?"
"The truth!" she cried. "I heard at the meetings I attended Sirius being singled out an example of a blood traitor, someone you would all kill given the chance. I need to save him from a terrible fate he doesn't deserve."
He did not like the sound of that, only grasping her arm tighter and glaring heatedly at her. "And out me as a Death Eater of my choice? And you as having knowledge of this? I will not allow you to do this. You will not leave this house, Lyra."
Lyra's small affection for him quickly seemed to fade. If she had to fight her way through him to save Sirius, then she would do so without any hesitation. She had nothing left to lose, other than her son and Lucius wouldn't let anything happen to Draco. "And who are you to say I can't?"
"Your husband!" he hissed. She kept trying to fight off his grip, wanting to get out and apparate, but he only tightened it. She wondered if he was going to leave a bruise. "The father of your child. This would only back to hurt him and unless you want that..."
"I love Draco more than anything in the world," Lyra retorted. She didn't like the idea of him using their son against her. That was the worst thing he done to her. Well, for now. "But I love Sirius, too."
"You mean, that even now, after all this time, you would still choose James Potter and his gang of friends over your own family?" Lucius asked, a terrifying glow in his eyes that would make most men flinch.
Lyra didn't flinch. She did not want to hear the name of the only man she had ever loved come out from the man who hadn't helped protect him, something he had once promised he would try to do. "Don't talk about James! He's dead! Because of your master!"
"You would, wouldn't you? You would have chosen him?" She didn't answer, only sending him a teary-eyed glare. He seemed to be hit with the same madness as her, grabbing her by the shoulders and shook her fiercely, obviously upset. "Answer me!"
"Yes!" the blonde woman cried, tears falling from her eyes against her will. "I would chosen him over you if given the chance. I was more in love on my worst days with James than on my best days with you."
He blinked. He took a deep breath, pursing his lips and shaking his head. "I'm going to Ministry right now. And I, with all my connections and my pull, will make sure he rots in Azkaban for the rest of his life without a trial."
Lyra sniffled loudly, her eyes wide. She tried to reach for him, to beg him to show some kind of mercy. "No, Lucius, no. Don't do this. Don't doom an innocent man because of your anger with me."
"I am done with trying to make you love me!" he yelled in her face, pushing her off him. "You better learn to show me some respect as your husband, and the only reason you are neither dead nor in Azkaban with a Dark Mark on your arm. You'd do well to remember that."
She seemed to realize that trying to beg and hope that he showed some affection to her as his wife wouldn't work. She'd have to be angry and fierce and make him realize she could be a force to be reckoned with. "I won't let you do this to Sirius."
"Yes, you will!" he said firmly. "You don't have a choice. Unless you wish an even harsher fate upon the only one of those boys left standing. What was his name again? Lupe? Lupin? Yes. I could have him killed under mysterious circumstances, you know this."
He could. He could kill Remus without even blinking. That would leave all of them gone forever in horrible situations, all dead but Sirius. She didn't want anyone else to die. "I will never forgive you for this."
"I hope you will never forget. Learn your place. Sirius Black will now learn his," Lucius said firmly, although cruelly. He turned around, preparing to go to the Ministry to follow through with his threat.
He didn't care when he heard Lyra fall to the floor, sobs rocking her own body. She didn't know what to do except cry and think back to all those times she had with all four of those boys. But now James was dead, Peter was dead, Sirius would be locked up for life and Remus was all alone. And so was Lyra.
▹▹▹
Lyra's one relief was when the aurors brought Draco back from Andromeda's house. She wished she could have seen her sister, to fall into her arms and cry. But there were too many middle men, and that couldn't be possible.
Then again, it wasn't easy to be a mother when Lyra felt like a heartbroken little girl. He was upset, probably wondering why there had been so many changes in scenery for the past twenty-four hours.
Lyra, who only wanted to cry herself, was struggling to calm him down when she couldn't even calm herself. She sobbed as he kept wailing in her arms, trying to rock him to sleep. "Not now, Draco. Please calm down! Draco..."
The small one-year-old seemed to realize that his mother was going through a hard time and started calming down accordingly, making her sigh in relief. He hadn't fallen asleep yet, but it was only a matter of time.
She put him in one of the many cribs they had around the house, hoping he would soon fall asleep. She didn't know when Lucius would be back from his mission to become the biggest git in the Wizarding World, but she hoped Draco would be asleep so he wouldn't hear the ensuing fight.
Once the door to the room opened, she wondered if it was either her husband or some aurors that had found some new evidence (or if Lucius had decided to sell her out and say she was a Death Eater who needed to go to Azkaban with her cousin).
It wasn't any of those though. Instead, her good old friend Rabastan Lestrange walked through, his eyes wild and expression crazed. He kept glancing around the room, as if he was seeing right through her.
Lyra only sighed in relief to see him. She hadn't heard anything about him or his safety before. "Rabastan! Thank Merlin, are you alright? What's going on with you? How haven't you been caught?"
He barely had time to react before she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He could her sniffling and was sure she had been crying earlier. "The aurors just never caught up to us."
"Us?" Lyra repeated once she pulled away. As far as she knew, there was only three people in her house. Herself, her son and her old friend. Maybe that meant more Death Eaters had escaped capture. She wasn't how she felt about that.
"Myself, Rodolphus and Bellatrix," he responded hurriedly. He didn't look at her, still glancing around the room insanely, seeming like he was looking for something that wasn't there. "We found little Barty Crouch Jr. on the way."
While her sister had been horrible to her sometimes, she didn't want her to go to Azkaban or be killed. Rodolphus and Barty hadn't ever been mean to her, so she supposed she didn't mind them being out in the free. "Where are they? Are you all safe?"
"We're fine, Lyra," Rabastan assured her, finally looking into her puffy, red eyes. "I can't tell you where they are. I don't know who could be watching the house. I wasn't even supposed to come here."
"I'm glad you did," the blonde smiled through her tears. Rabastan, no matter how much he had changed, was still someone she cared about. "I'm happy I know you're safe. But why are you here if it could be dangerous?"
"I have to find the Dark Lord," he answered. He seemed to snap out of the quick moment of sanity he had had. Now, at the reminder of his cause he seemed to be acting like the maddened Death Eater once again.
"He's dead, Rabastan," Lyra reminded him, looking at him strangely. If she, and everybody else in the Wizarding World, knew about what had happened to him, then he, a fateful servant of him, would have to know, too.
"He can't be! The Dark Lord can't die," Rabastan cackled, though she wondered how he could find a way to laugh at a time like this. Lyra hadn't laughed in what felt like a lifetime. "I need him. He needs me, too. I have to find him, Lyra!"
Lyra seemed to want to cry again. This mad man had once been a boy who was a good friend to her kind to those he cared for. "You're sick, Rabastan. You weren't always like this. Just take a breath and let me help you."
He grimaced at her words, which obviously didn't fit into his plans. He only kept glancing around the room. "I just wanted to talk to Lucius. He needs to know my plan and help. Where is he? I need to talk to him!"
"He's not here," she answered softly. He looked at her, silently asking where he was. That triggered a bit of bitterness, having to even think about what he was doing. "He's at the Ministry being a little git."
"Then I have to leave," Rabastan sighed, disappointed. He then saw the worried look on her face, shaking his head and grinning comfortingly. "It'll be fine. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Barty and I will be able to deal with it."
This was a horrible idea. He needed help and to realize that the Dark Lord was gone and they would have to figure out a way to keep him out of Azkaban. "No, no. Don't go. Stay here and relax. Things will be fine. I promise."
"I'll be back soon. The Dark Lord will be with me and everything will be as it was," he promised. She tried to reach out to him, to hold him back. She knew it wouldn't do much anyway. He was large and burly and she was small, even weak for her stature.
He quickly grabbed her face and kissed his forehead sweetly, trying to give her some sort of comfort. She tried to reach out for him when he took a step away, but she wasn't quick enough before he apparated away.
Lyra had no idea what his plan was, but she was sure it couldn't be anything good. The Dark Lord was dead, and there was no way to bring people back from the dead. If there was, she would use it to get James back.
Rabastan was out of sight, yet not out of mind. She knew the aurors were on high alert, and any single movement from them would get them caught, even if they managed to cause mayhem first.
There was no doubt in her mind that Rabastan, Rodolphus, Bellatrix and Barty would be doomed the minute they go out and follow through with their plan. She knew them, she knew how cold-hearted they could be.
She sighed and fell onto a nearby chair, clutching her bridge of her nose. She felt horrible for whoever would stand in the way of their plans. She knew first-hand the power of Bellatrix's torture curse.
▹▹▹
Lyra had finally gotten Draco to go to sleep, and it felt like it had taken much longer than usual. She supposed the whole day had felt longer than usual, only filled with new heartbreaks at every turn.
Now she was finally given an opportunity to just wallow. She had poured herself a few too many glasses of whatever alcohol she could find in the house. She wasn't usually a big drinker (she always made bad decisions when she did), but she really needed it today.
Lucius still hadn't come back and it had been hours. Either he had come by some problems in his self-given task of ruining her life, or something else had happened and he would need to stick around for a while longer. She hoped he was gone for as long as possible.
"It's done," he then said from behind her, announcing his presence. His voice didn't sound as smug or proud as she would have thought. It was much more somber. "Sirius Black is now serving a life sentence in Azkaban."
Lyra took another sip (it felt like her hundreth) of her glass. She wasn't really sure how many glasses of something she had had, but she could feel her emotions being heightened, which she really didn't need. "I can't believe you would be so cruel."
"I had to be!" Lucius hissed, glaring at the back of her head. He didn't like the way she wasn't even looking at him. "You forced my hand, Lyra."
"Don't you dare try to blame this on me!" the blonde exclaimed, turning her head to glare at him. "I was only trying to be good and honest and save those who are innocent. You obviously have no respect for that."
He looked at her incredulously, wondering how she couldn't see how her actions had lead to where they were. "You obviously have no respect for either me or our family."
"I wonder why," Lyra quipped, turning her head away. She quickly downed the rest of her drink, from a glass that had almost been full, slamming it on the coffee table in front of her.
He sighed, knowing there were news he had to tell her, too. "Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Barty Crouch Jr. were caught torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom. They don't know if they'll ever recover from the mental strain."
She shook her head sadly. She could easily imagine somebody losing their minds from the Cruciatus curse. She had felt it herself, and Bellatrix had held back with her because she was her sister. She didn't want to imagine the pain the Longbottoms went through. "That's horrible."
"I tried to go to the Ministry officials I know to get it sorted out," he continued, acting like he hadn't heard or seen her reaction. "But they were caught red-handed. There's no way for me to save them."
Lyra closed her eyes, not wanting to cry and mourn for them. She had been crying far too much lately. She wasn't even sure if she had any tears left. "Alright then."
"We need to pretend that none of this has ever happened," Lucius said coolly. She couldn't help but think he sounded like the man she once thought he was. That wasn't a good thing. "If you can't forgive me in private, then you might as well pretend in public. And in front of Draco."
"I meant it when I told you I will never forgive you for this," the blonde woman reminded him, once again turning to look at him. Where she had once had a sliver of affection for him as her husband, there was only a chilling emptiness behind her eyes.
"I know. I don't care," he responded shortly, not wanting to look into her hateful eyes anymore. "I'm fine with it as long as you respect me and take care of Draco. I'll see you later. I'm giving you some time to calm down."
Lyra turned back around, only hearing his footsteps as he walked away, leaving her all alone. She sniffled, a single tear falling as she realized she hadn't run out of tears. It was almost disappointing. If she still could cry, she didn't know if she would ever be able to stop.
A tear turned into more, her shaky breathing turned into sobs. It was all so final. It had to be, as she had spent the last twenty-four hours watching all the hope and happiness she had once had, had become heartbreak instead.