Remedy For Guilt

Chapter Three - An Unexpected Travel Companion

The school term was due to start in a week and Lyra had received a letter a few days prior, inviting her to come around early to set up her classroom and socialise with the other teachers. It was strange to think that those who once taught her a few years ago would soon become her colleagues. Lyra questioned whether she would get along with them, reflecting on the relationship that she had with them during her years as a student. She shrugged off her doubts and assured herself that everything would be fine and if not, well, it was only a year anyway.

Lyra had spent all week sorting through her things and deciding what needed packing. She had set it aside in a corner of her room which had slowly grown bigger as the days went by. Originally, she told herself to only bring the necessities but she had found so many things that seemed necessary whilst she was out shopping. Her Uncle Lucius came by her room the evening prior, asking what she wanted to bring and questioning how she would carry it all with her.

The day had come where it was time for her to go. Lyra insisted on levitating her belongings down to the foyer herself, rejecting the help offered by the Malfoy's house elves. Draco looked longingly at his cousin as she organised her things to be moved. Lyra had been almost like an older sister to him for the years that she had stayed at Malfoy Manor. She had helped Narcissa raise him of course, babysitting him whenever she had come back from school. He had always acted like this when she went to school but over the past few years as she had spent more time at home Draco had grown more attached.

"When will you be back?" Draco questioned.

"I'm not sure but I promise that I'll come visit when I can," Lyra said, giving her cousin a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Three people had entered the room, her Aunt and Uncle, accompanied by a man she had not seen for several years. She felt her heart skip a beat as he approached, her eyes admired his form. The years had been kind to Severus Snape, he looked as though he had not aged a day since she last saw him. Even his hair was at the same length, his face clean shaven and his expression as poised as she recalled it. What was unfamiliar about seeing her old Potions teacher once more was that subtle reaction she felt in her heart and stomach. She simply pushed those feelings aside, deciding it was a simple crush and a result of the lack of intimacy over the past few years.

"Severus has offered to assist you with settling into Hogwarts," Lucius said.

The dark-haired man took a look at Lyra's belongings piled in the house's entrance. He raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Do you honestly need all that?"

"Probably not," she replied in a snarky tone, "But your help is much appreciated."

"Well then," Narcissa began. "Stay safe, don't do anything that would disappoint us." She pulled Lyra in for a hug.

"I won't make any promises," Lyra said with a smirk causing Narcissa to scowl.

Lucius put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you absolutely sure you need to do this?"

"It won't be that bad," she said, kissing him on the cheek. With that, she turned to Snape and said, "Hogsmeade? Let's go."

Severus nodded and they each placed a hand on a pile of belongings. With a quick spin, both Lyra and Severus disapparated from the Malfoy Manor.

Arriving at Hogsmeade filled Lyra with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. She remembered what it was like when she walked down the street with her friends and checked out all the shops. She smiled fondly as she saw the Three Broomsticks where she shared a passionate first kiss behind the building with a Gryffindor boy. It felt as though nothing had changed, though it had only been about three years.