Style // Sirius Black

Chapter XLIII

Lyra slammed her book closed and gave her twin her complete engagement. His eyebrows were creased, and his bright eyes were clearly distressed. James was better at reading his sister than she was at even identifying the sentiments that inundated her brain. He knew her inside and out and precisely what beset her when she wasn't ready to face it herself. He was the other half of her, and one half was incomplete without the other. Whether one is emotionally distant or gone altogether, neither is whole without the other. Lyra shutting down emotionally was enfeebling James, diminishing him down to a man perforated with trepidation and tension. With the approaching feat of finding a Horcrux–something both Sirius and Lyra knew frightening little about–having either of the Potter twins at anything but their best was risky.

"I can't lose you too."

Lyra nearly dove into her brother's arms. Whenever the younger of the two slipped far from the other's grasp, the absence of their parents became frighteningly prominent. It was James that had to draw Lyra back from those dark spots of her mind, cradling her until she found stable ground again. Euphemia couldn't talk her down from it, and Fleamont couldn't reason with her; they weren't here anymore. They had no one but one another, and if either fell too far from the other reach, they would be left isolated.

Lyra could hardly envision a world without her brother. They squabbled and clashed, as all siblings do, but they never went a day without at some point reminding the other how much they loved one another. The death of their parents only brought them closer. Lyra was wandering straight into the mouth of a lion now, the ringmaster being that of their Head Master. She had one job to do, find the heart and cut it out. Unfortunately, that job was not clear cut, and Lyra's life was dangling in the balance.

"Is this the part where you tell me why Regulus Black has been following me like a lost puppy?" James whispered as he tugged back from the girl, "Lily's worried he may have a type–Potter."

Scarlett.

Lyra pursed her lips and veered away from her older brother, "I just asked him to keep an eye on you while Sirius and I are gone. I wouldn't want you to do anything stupid."

"You and Sirius will be gone; if anything, you should be worried about me becoming a rational and logical person."

"You do realize that would require brain cells?"

"We shared a womb–if I don't have them, neither do you."

-----

Lyra tucked her hands into the pockets of her joggers, traipsing down the hallways of Hogwarts with her wand drawn in light. The paintings crabbed and swore at her as she woke them with the brightness, but she disregarded them the closer she got to the Head Masters office. This would be the first time since the full moon that Lyra spoke in the same room as Sirius, yet the two still walked to the office separate. They were about to venture on a conceivably fatal expedition, and neither was keen to back down from their standpoint.

When Lyra reached the office where she was to meet the other men, the strain was stout enough to slice with a knife. Dumbledore posed at his desk, and her lover leaned on the wall just across from him. Sirius had his head downturned; eyes concentrated on the floor as she strode further, approaching both of them with reluctance. When Lyra tucked her wand away, Dumbledore commenced the debrief.

"Glad to see you're both just as strong-willed as I recall," Dumbledore began, "To put it quite plainly, this hunt may kill you."

"Great pep talk, Professor."

"Now is not the time for sarcasm, Sirius," Lyra quipped, dropping into one of the seats, "What exactly are we looking for, Professor?"

"I have intel that tells me one of these Horcruxes is that of a family ring," Dumbledore began, "One of Tom Riddle's father. The other a locket. I only speculate where some of these may be, and he would be expecting me. You two...maybe not."