INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Twenty-One

Being back home for the holidays was strange. She had gotten used to a sort of freedom while at school that she was never granted while she was with her family. The freedom to walk around and make plans, do what she wanted when outside of class. It wasn't that simple once she found herself back in the House of Black.

Waiting for dinner at Twelve Grimmauld Place with her extended family, Lyra finally found a moment to herself. Or, she thought she did. Sirius quickly found her sitting on the stairs, looking tired.

"You alright?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She didn't respond. She hadn't talked to him since that fateful incident after the theoretical DADA exam. "Come on, you've got to stop ignoring me at some point."

She tilted her and smiled sarcastically. "Do I really?"

"Come on, this is getting old. We're going to spend some good, old quality cousin-bonding time together before dinner," said Sirius. She wasn't allowed to disagree as he grabbed her arm and pulled her up the stairs. "Up you get."

"Sirius!" the blonde groaned, having been comfortable in her position on the stairs. They were surprisingly good back-support. He didn't respond, only dragging her into his room, where she hadn't been for years.

His room had definitely changed from the one they used to spend their childhood playing in. It was now filled with Gryffindor red and gold, probably with permanent sticking charms so Walburga couldn't argue.

The most surprising part were all the muggle posters of scantily clad women and impressive motorcycles. More often than not, they were scantily clad women on top of impressive motorcycles.

She grimaced, not wanting to spend her time being surrounded by such images. Lyra was a bit too innocent to want to think about what was going through Sirius's mind, especially if it was filled with these women. "Sirius, your room's gross."

"I know, I love it," he grinned widely, throwing himself down on a chair by the window, gesturing for her to sit next to him. "Well, I don't care much because I never spend time here, but mum hates it so I love it."

"And you wonder why you two don't get along." The Slytherin girl carefully sat down on the chair, dusting it off first. She wasn't sure of the last time Sirius had cleaned his room. "So? Quality cousin-bonding time?"

"Ah, of course." Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of something and a muggle lighter, which Lyra had heard of from Remus. He pulled out two sticks from it. "You want one?"

Lyra wasn't sure what it was, but she suspected she didn't want it. "What's that?"

"You don't know? Well now you definitely have to try one!" Sirius held a stick out to her and she hesitantly accepted, mostly curious about what it was. "It's a muggle cigarette. You've really never heard of them?"

Lyra fiddled with the cigarette in her hand, not sure how to hold it right. Sirius reached out and helped her get it in a right position. "I think maybe Remus mentioned it once. I think his dad uses them but Remus says they smell gross."

"They smell gross when you're not the one using them. I still haven't gotten him to try one. All the other blokes have." Sirius raised the lighter and a flick of flames erupted, startling Lyra. He pulled the fire closer to the cigarette, lighting it up.

He reached out and did the same with hers, and she looked at it nervously. She followed Sirius's actions, pulling it to her lips. She breathed in, letting the smoke reach her lungs. Then she started coughing uncontrollably.

Sirius laughed at her reaction, casually taking another drag out of his like he had practiced it a million times. "It gets better the more you do it. Don't let your parents see you with this though, they won't be happy."