Style // Sirius Black

Chapter XXXVIII

Life sends a curveball flying toward you whenever you believe you have everything figured out. It can be a new person entering it or even someone leaving. It can be a surprise test or the end of a relationship. It can be a new bullet loading into the cartridge in a gun, prepping for when you will play the next roulette game. There is not always an explanation for why these different obstacles lay themselves in our path, and sometimes you must craft your own.

Not to say all of these changes are a terrible thing. Sometimes they are necessary to move forward and take steps towards a greater goal. Without these obstacles and challenges, life would be a continuous flat journey with real struggles or ease. It would grow tedious, and it would be easier to stray off the path into something unknown. These obstacles occur in familiar territory; it is simply a matter of how they're handled.

If you try to overcome the obstacles, your course will further veer from the original destination. If you face it head-on, you will grow as you overcome it. No one says it will be easy, quick, and unencumbered by pain. There will be hardships, turmoil, and tribulations. But that is a part of living, after all, learning to grow from what tugs you down.

Even if it's not what you want.

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Lyra shut herself off into her room for a few days after the funeral. The staff at Potter manor had returned the day afterward, taking the household up and restoring its former structure. Usually, the Potters let the team take the summer off, but they all returned by choice. Lyra didn't say anything, merely taking the trays they dropped at her door with the food prepared for meals and the odd snack throughout the day.

No one bugged her, and she was thankful. She needed time to clear her head and reevaluate her thoughts and everything she had learned days ago. Pierre had stabbed a stake into the middle of the road she wandered down, hindering her from a swift journey. She didn't know what she expected; he had been everything but predictable the entire time they knew one another.

Pierre could be a great asset to her friend group if he were telling the truth and not showing Lyra a false narrative. After all, he still had the favour of the Dark Lord on his side. Lyra shot herself in the foot with that one, choosing her heart over notoriety. He could get information without being suspected. He had to play the part of the Marauders' friend already, so Scarlett wouldn't question his hanging around them. With his insight and the copious skills shared within the group, Voldemort may very well have a more formidable enemy than initially assumed.

Pierre had walked Lyra through a memory not too long ago, seeing as they spoke of Euphemia and Fleamonts passing. This also meant Dumbledore had managed to keep the prophecy involving the Potter twins relatively safe in his hands. It also confirmed that Voldemort has been unsuccessful in dipping into Lyra's mind, meaning everything she had shared with her brother and loved ones wasn't futile.

Lyra knew she couldn't keep the information she had learned from Sirius. He was her most trusted confidant and the man she loved beyond words. She just worried he would shut down any ideas she had before fully explaining them. Sirius was reactive like a potion, waiting for a moment to explode after anyone added anything into his mixture. Lyra was risking a lot by putting even a tidbit of trust in Pierre; she knew that. Sirius may not be as open to the idea as his better half, especially not after all that has transpired between the two.

Pierre and Sirius knew one another before the start of the sixth year. Lyra quickly put that together through various context clues and how close the Montagne family was with the Blacks. She didn't know the whole story of Pierre and Sirius's past, even less about how Regulus fit into it all. But she knew that there could be more significant stakes at risk if her lover failed to realize the severity of the situation. Pierre could have valuable information and be their greatest strength in finding more of Voldemort's plans.