INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Seventy-Three

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?"