Style // Sirius Black

Chapter XXII

It is okay to let go sometimes. Leaving behind something you thought was good for you is sometimes the better option. Everyone always says that walking away or running from something is a weakness, but it can be one of the most powerful things someone does. It doesn't always seem like that, though. Sometimes, leaving a desire or relationship behind can be one of the hardest things to do. It can feel like you're abandoning a good part of your life for selfish reasons or personal gain.

Personal gain isn't always selfish. Everything relies on your surroundings and the environment you are within. Personal gain can be healing from your past or getting over the mental wounds you endured. Not everything you do for yourself is selfish, which is a concept that can be deemed controversial or as an excuse, but it's the truth.

People tend to fixate on love and ignore the signs that you need to leave. If you are too focused on the relationship at hand and trying to repair what could never be fixed, insanity will become a good friend. Stepping away from something, or more so, someone, for your well-being is brave, not cowardice. Allowing that person time to grow and reflect on the wrongdoings they've committed and learn can be the rainfall needed to cure a drought.

That doesn't stop it from hurting.

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Lyra winced as the crust on her eyes broke when she went to open the grassy green things inside of her head. That would have to be her least favourite part of the past week. The pain was something beyond words, and it made her stomach churn. Though that might not be true, it's what she's been telling herself to cope with the rest of the day ahead of her. If she were honest, it was the neverending ache deep within her chest as she longed to wake up within his arms once again. Of course, that wouldn't happen; he had made it abundantly clear.

Sirius had been blacklisted from the Gryffindor common room the moment he finished the sentence that broke the impenetrable heart of Lyra Potter. Remus had hoisted the man up by his neck like a mother dog scrutinizing her pup. The lycanthrope wasted no time dropping the Black son out front of the dorm entrance, telling the Fat Lady not to let him back in no matter how hard he pleaded. That night, Lyra spent the entire time curled within Remus's arms in utter shock at the events that had occurred.

It had taken Remus and Frank Longbottom to hold James back from finding Sirius the next day and hammering the ever-loving shit out of him. Lyra had wanted to let her twin run wild, watch as the entire castle burned with the rage of James Potter dropping matches into gasoline. In all honesty, it took her three days to get over the sheer shock of the rejection. She regretted everything that the two had ever spoken about, the arrow in her chest now dripping with poison from the tip.

Sirius ran his fingers up and down the blonde's bare arm, relishing in the silence that shrouded them. She let out a gentle sigh as the pure serenity of the moment, enjoying the way the boy's chest rose and fell with her head resting on it. Lyra hadn't felt peace like this in ages, and she wanted nothing more than to bottle up the moment she was living in and keep it by her side so she could escape into it at any point.

The younger Potter twin dug the heels of her palms into her eyes as the memory washed over her. It had been the same one that kept haunting her at night, opening the floodgates to the memories that followed her around. All of them were of her with a happy smile, whispering sweet nothings as Sirius reassured her that he was in love with her, that he wanted her. Perhaps it was all another ploy of his, this time, it was to get into her pants and under her sheets.

"You're up early," Lily's voice hummed as she stepped into the dorm room, wandering towards the blonde and opening the window next to her bed, "I'm not used to seeing you awake before lunch ends."