INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Fifty-One

Life with the Potters seemed like the kind of achievable dream Lyra used to have at night. Those times when she was a kid and she would ask the wrong question, and it would seem like she was all alone in the world, sent to her room without dinner and not allowed to leave until the next day.

In their house, James would ask the most outragously stupid questions and say the dumbest things. Lyra would look at him, begging him to shut up before he got them into trouble. It surreal when Fleamont and Euphemia would only laugh and give him some sort of sarcastic retort. 

Lyra loved being a Potter for the holidays. She could finally understand why Sirius had decided to go there every holiday and eventually ran here after his mother's Cruciatus curse was the last straw.  

Also, just being able to spend time with James and Sirius was a dream. There no hiding how much she loved her boyfriend now that they could run around freely, holding hands, hugging and kissing. The only one who said something was Sirius, who thought they were disgusting (but they both knew he was secretly happy the two were together).

And Lyra and Sirius hadn't had the opportunities to be as close as they used to be for years. Because while they never stopped loving one another as brother and sister, they were separated by circumstance. Now, that was far from an issue. They almost felt like they were ten years old again, free to conquer the world with one another at their side. 

When things had reached their peak, a few weeks into the holidays, Sirius had decided that it was time to take Lyra out on a warm summer day, although she would have prefered to spend the day sunbathing and cooling off in the lake by the Potter house. 

The young Slytherin was especially worried when Sirius flat out refused to tell her where they were going, even when she had begged. She had hoped they'd go to some fun party or something, but he had brought her to an unfamiliar neighborhood. 

Warily, Lyra glanced at her dark-haired cousin, starting to suspect him and James were playing a prank on her. "You know, if this is some kind of surprise party, I do really hope you know my birthday isn't before December."

"I know," he laughed, running his fingers through his newly-cut hair. Euphemia thought that no self-respecting young man would walk around without getting a haircut in six months, so she took matters into her own hands the previous day. "I just... thought there was something you'd like to see."

Confused, Lyra frowned. She wondered if perhaps James and Sirius had planned some sort of intervention for her. But she supposed that would be bogus. For that to be true, James would have had to tell Sirius what she had done, and she didn't think he would ever do that to her. 

She still followed him as he walked away from a part of the neighborhood that was cluttered by houses, and instead walked up to the house at the end, far away from any possible peeking neighbors. 

Lyra's first thought was that the house was small, or quaint, in comparison to both the house she had grown up in and the house she had been spending the last few weeks of her life in. But it shined of warmth and happiness, and she suspected that whoever lived there were quite the happy family.

Sirius looked to her, a small smile as he watched her study the house, as if he knew something she didn't. After this, they both walked towards the door, where he knocked rapidly. He kept knocking, loudly and annoyingly, and Lyra was about to scold him for being rude. But she supposed he knew the inhabitants pretty well. 

But then the door opened, and all words left Lyra's eyes. She felt the breath get knocked out of her, and they all went silent for what felt like minutes, maybe even hours. But it was only a few seconds.