Remedy For Guilt

Chapter One - St. Mungo's

Lyra Lestrange sat quietly at her desk, head in her hands with stacks of paper towering above her. Her dark, unkempt hair was tied into a loose ponytail so it would not distract her from the work she needed to complete, yet her mind still found excuses. Her attention began to wane; she pressed her fingers against her eyelids and pushed them down her nose as if she was attempting to wipe the heaviness of exhaustion away. Her tiredness was a result of years of broken sleep which she blamed on studying too hard, but was truly due to the demons of her past. Her actions weighed heavy on her soul and she questioned whether she had made the correct decision.

The decision in question was her career, Lyra Lestrange was a healer. It was a peculiar job choice if one considered her family history; a healer in amongst a family of witches and wizards that were responsible for the pain and suffering of countless people. In a way, Lyra believed that becoming a healer would allow her to make amends with the world and the wizarding community on behalf of what her parents had done, along with some 'minor' things she had done too.

Her parents were none other than the infamous Death Eaters, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. With her parentage came the expectation that she would learn the Dark Arts and follow in their footsteps to serve the Dark Lord. At a young age she had already witnessed a variety of dark acts that no child should ever witness and when she finally began her schooling at Durmstrang Institute she found herself excelling at the Dark Arts. But soon after she had started, the Dark Lord had fallen and she witnessed the arrest of her parents and subsequent downfall of the Death Eaters.

She remained at Durmstrang, studying diligently and making friends but when the man who betrayed several of her family members came to sit as Headmaster of Durmstrang, Lyra found herself taking justice into her own hands, resulting in her expulsion. After a short trial, Lyra was offered a fresh start at Hogwarts; her new Headmaster believing there was good in her. In an attempt to escape the association with her name she took on her mother's maiden name under the Headmaster's advice.

Unfortunately, it only took a year until Lyra Black's true identity was revealed and the burden of the Lestrange name came to haunt her once more. With reluctance, she took her old name back and with it came old habits. She attracted a group of children with Death Eater parents much like herself and it didn't take too long for a prank to go wrong, almost killing a student. Against the judgement of other teachers, Professor Dumbledore decided her punishment would be to assist in the care of the student she had injured. It was during this punishment that Lyra was confronted with the severity of her actions and decided to hone her talents into healing magic leading to this moment, right here.

Lyra had just completed two years of full time study and had been working as a Trainee Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Maladies. With another two years of work and training, Lyra would become a fully qualified Healer. But despite being so close to that finishing line, Lyra just couldn't help but doubt whether she was on the correct path.

The job was nothing like she expected, mopping up vomit and excrement, feeding senile patients and drowning in paperwork that her superiors would rather not address. Although the paperwork was considerably better than the other grunt work required if she wanted paperwork she could've just settled for a desk job at the Ministry of Magic. She craved something more stimulating and interactive.

Lyra's first rotation as a Trainee healer was the Janus Thickey Ward; a ward for those afflicted by permanent spell damage. In amongst those residents were her parents' victims, Lyra's first victims, Alice and Frank Longbottom. When her eyes first lay sight of them she could feel the bile rise up in her stomach in recognition. Lyra was there the day that they had lost their minds. In fact, she was encouraged by her mother to use the unforgivable curse that put them in that state.