LYRA DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT when Dumbledore led her inside, but it certainly wasn't the entire Weasley family, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, Professor Lupin, and a few well-known Aurors to be gathered around a lengthy dining table. The room had previously been occupied with chatter between them all, but as soon as she and Dumbledore entered the room everyone went silent. Lyra's face burned, and this time it wasn't just because of her busted lip or swollen cheek. She ducked her head down, ignoring the gazes she was receiving.
"Um... kids?" Molly Weasley laughed nervously, sensing something serious was going on. "Why don't you all go upstairs for a few minutes?"
"But mum!" One of the twins complained. "We only just --"
"-- sat down!" The other finished.
"I said go upstairs," Molly ordered them more firmly this time. Her children, along with Harry and Hermione, all stood and made their way out of the room. Lyra would not meet any of their gazes as they passed, but she could feel them staring at her as they left.
"Ms. Burke, why don't you take a seat?" Dumbledore said as he moved forward to sit down himself. Not knowing what else to do, she took the empty chair next to him.
"Albus, what's going on?" One of the Aurors, Kingsley, asked curiously.
Dumbledore patted Lyra's shoulder encouragingly. "Why don't you take it away, and start by introducing yourself."
She swallowed thickly. "Um... Well, my name is Lyra Burke."
Another Auror -- Tonks, Lyra thought her name was -- spit out her drink. "Burke?!" She exclaimed. "As in, Maverick Burke's daughter?!"
"Please do not interrupt her, Tonks," Dumbledore said, not unkindly.
Lyra looked down at the chipped blue polish on her fingernails. "I... I ran away from home," she admitted. "My mother -- she told me that You Know Who wanted me to join him, and she said we were to meet the Malfoys for dinner... He was going to be there, and I was supposed to get marked tonight. But -- but I didn't want to be a death eater... so I ran."
Silence fell throughout the room. It grated at her insides, made Lyra feel the most uncomfortable she had ever been.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Alastor Moody demanded finally. "How do we know you haven't been sent as a spy?"
Lyra looked at him incredulously. "A spy? I'm fifteen years old!"
"All the more reason to send you. Not many would suspect a young girl."
Her jaw clenched, and she yanked up the left sleeve of her sweater to reveal the bare skin of her arm. "I am not a Death Eater, nor have I been sent here as a spy," she snapped defensively. "I had no idea this place even existed! Professor Dumbledore found me on the Knight Bus and insisted on bringing me here."
"Now, Alastor, do not be so hasty to point fingers," Dumbledore scolded the Auror. "Ms. Burke is telling the truth. If you don't believe her, you can believe me."
"But her father --"
"She's just a girl, Alastor," Molly spoke up, feeling sympathetic toward the young teenager sitting with her head ducked down. "She has no control over who her father is." Moody glared at the woman, but didn't respond. "So, dear... What happened to your face?"
Lyra's hand involuntarily flew up, her fingers ghosting over her busted lip. "My mother wasn't exactly happy when I told her I didn't want to go," she answered honestly.
The woman's expression fell. Molly Weasley's children drove her barking mad, but she would never even think to lay a hand upon them. The way Lyra spoke of her mother's abuse, so casually, made it clear this was not a rare occurrence. It made Molly's heart hurt. "I can heal it for you, if you'd like."
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lyra | harry potter
Fanfiction❝if love strikes you, let it rattle your bones. and if it kills you, so be it. for death is always invited in the presence of beauty.❞ [r.m. drake] If you were to tell her years ago that her family would expect her to become a death eater, Lyra woul...
