Word Count: 3,425
Warnings: None.
Before he could say anything else, I threw myself onto my father, hugging him tightly. He returned the embrace quickly.
"That was some distracting up there," he complimented me, pulling away to look down at me.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I know how to piss Lucius Malfoy off."
Fighting had broken out behind us, flashes of red and green streaking through each other in the air.
I made to go help but my father quickly took hold of my sleeve, shaking his head. "You're not going out there."
"Like Merlin, I'm not," I replied. "I'm not going to sit idly by and let everyone else fight."
He shook his head again, but this time he paired it with an exasperated sigh. "You better be careful," he told me. "I'm not losing you."
"Well then," I told him. "You better stick close."
With a nod, we both turned to the fight, rushing towards the center. I ducked behind one of the large boulders as a stream of green flew past me.
Peaking over the stone, I spotted one of the Death Eaters with their eyes on mine. They fired again, hitting the stone above my head and part of it crumbling on impact.
With a deep breath, I stood up, pointing my wand at him. "Stupefy!" I shouted, hitting the man square in the chest, watching him fly backwards.
"Nice shot!" my dad complimented, looking over at me from a nearby boulder.
"He was an easy target!" I replied, looking over the rock again.
I spotted Harry in the middle, currently facing off against Malfoy. "Shit! We need to get to Harry!" I told my dad.
He nodded and together we ran up the middle of the room, eyes set on the raven-haired boy. Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted a familiar Death Eater, his wand poised at me. Dolohov.
"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, pointing at him but he simply dissaperated away.
I turned in a circle, searching for his face. My father stopped but I quickly shook my head. "Go get Harry. I can handle myself."
He shook his head with a smile. "You're my goddamn daughter alright." He rushed off.
A whip of air brushed my left cheek and I turned quicky to find the Death Eater I had been looking for, a glint in his eyes as he cast his spell.
Bringing my wand up in front of me, I blocked it with a protection spell before shooting back. "Stupefy!" he only blocked it.
Spells flew back and forth between us, each only barely blocking them each time.
"Flipendo!" I screamed, finally hitting the man, his body going flying across the room and hitting the wall, slumping to the ground.
"Nice one!" someone commented, and I held my wand out as they stepped from the shadow.
"Felix," I greeted, pointing my wand at him. His was raised right back at me as he looked from Dolohov to me again.
"I'm not going to attack you Black," he told me.
"Isn't that what Death Eaters do?" I asked him, tightening my grip on the wand. "Attack the good guys."
"Are you really one of the good guys?" he asked me.
"Are you really one of the bad guys?" I returned the question.
With a quick look around him, Rosier lowered his wand slightly. "Go. Get to the boy."
I gave him a confused glance. "Why?" I asked. "So you can hit me in the back when I turn around?"
He shook his head. "Because not all bad guys are evil," he told me.
With a nod, I lowered my wand from him but kept it tight to my side. "Thank you."
He simply nodded, dissaperating in a puff of black smoke before anyone could see his hesitance. I turned back to Harry, finding both him and my father in the midst of a fight with Lucius Malfoy.
I rushed over to watch my dad cast a jet of light at the blonde man, throwing him back against the room's wall.
"That was cool," I commented as he grabbed onto my arm.
"Are you alright?" he asked, keeping an eye on me but making sure to watch his surroundings.
"Peachy," I replied, doing the same as him.
Out of the corner of my eye, a jet of green light passed my vision, its gaze set on me. Quickly drawing my wand, I brought it up in front of me, casting a deflection spell. It bounces off.
With a jolt, I threw a spell back at the caster, finding it to be Bellatrix Lestrange. She blocked it but didn't return the fight, holding a hand over her stomach in an almost remorseful gesture. She stumbled away.
"What was that about?" I asked, turning around to my father and Harry only to find Sirius Black stumbling backwards. "Dad?"
He turned to me, smiling. He held a hand to his stomach, moving further backwards towards a doorlike structure in the middle of the room.
It suddenly hit me. I had deflected the spell, but I had deflected it onto him.
"No." Both Harry and I started towards him as he fell into the doorway, body floating upwards and disappearing from view.
"NO!" Harry screamed, rushing towards the door, almost intent on going after him.
I watched Lupin run towards the boy, grasping his arms and holding him back, struggling. Harry continued to scream, fighting against my uncle.
I stood frozen to the spot, finding that there was no strength left in my legs and collapsing to the group, hand on my heart.
It ached. He was gone. I searched the room for him, watching for his kind smile or his boisterous laughter, but it wasn't there. He was gone.
My eyes teared as I began to cry. I had killed him. If I hadn't deflected that spell, it would have hit me and he would be alright, but dammit I had to deflect that spell.
I didn't have words. At least, none of them would come out. I found my eyes locked on the doorway he had fallen through. Maybe that was all it was. A doorway. Maybe he would walk back through and be fine. Maybe it was all a prank.
"It's not a prank sweetheart," Estrella told me, kneeling beside me.
I could faintly hear the struggles of Harry beside me, but my mind had almost retreated from the room, turning to look at the woman beside me.
"He's dead, and there's nothing you can do about it," she continued.
I shook my head violently. "No, no," I managed, turning back to where my father had disappeared from.
"But I can bring him back," she whispered, leaning closer to my ear. "I can bring him back to you."
I turned quickly. "How?"
"All you have to do..." she paused, brushing hair from my face – "is let me out."
"Let you – you out?"
She nodded slowly, brushing her hands over my eyes, and I instinctively closed them, feeling the flame rise against its cage.
"Let me out," she whispered, but this time I questioned whether it was in my head or in the world around me.
She could save him. She could bring my father back to me, and all I had to do was let her free. There was nothing wrong with that. Everyone deserves freedom. All I had to do... was let her out.
With a calming breath, I let the flame push aggressively against the glass, letting my hold on the lid loosen. The glass shattered, tendrils of fire pushing its way into my mind, soaking itself in my memories. Basking in the freedom I had given it. My world faded to black.
Third Person POV
Lyra opened her eyes again, looking up at the scene in front of her. She watched as Remus Lupin's grip faltered, giving Harry the opportunity to break from him. Potter ran from the room, rushing out of nearby door.
Lupin crumbled to his knees, falling back onto his ankles with an exasperated sigh. He looked at the doorway, eyes almost glazed over.
Lyra tilted her head, interested at his reaction. She brought her hands to her face, wiping tears that had fallen from her eyes. She then turned to the door Harry had exited out of.
With no one noticing, she rose from her position, quickly scurrying after the boy and into the main entrance of the Ministry of Magic.
"I killed Sirius Black!" a shrilling voice chanted as Lyra entered the room, watching Harry chase after the witch. His wand was outstretched towards her.
"Are you coming to get me?" Bellatrix asked the boy, still running, but it had become more like a skip than a run.
"Crucio!" Harry cast, hitting the Death Eater with a stream of red magic.
She fell to the ground, gasping in pain.
Lyra scoffed. "Didn't think he had it in him," she commented, not sounding like herself at all.
Lyra slowly followed after Harry as he approached the woman, still pointing his wand down at the witch who had killed his Godfather.
Neither spoke as the girl watched carefully. Harry Potter had not become aware of her presence yet, his eyes fixed on Bellatrix as his head started to twitch.
"You know the spell," words whispered into the air. Voldemort.
Harry's hand gripped on his wand and for a moment, the girl watching them thought that he might do it. That he might actually kill her.
Pain shot through the young Slytherin's head, nose beginning to bleed. She brought a hand up to wipe it away. How was she fighting back? Lyra Black had given her full control, so how was she still fighting?
"So weak," Voldemort spoke, appearing in front of the occupants of the room. Harry had thrown his wand to the ground, refusing whatever he had asked of him.
The Dark Lord's eyes turned on Lyra Black and he nodded firmly. She nodded back, confirming that what he had assumed had happened, had indeed come to pass.
The flame had possessed Lyra Black's body, taking full control of her actions and her mind. Of course, a part of the girl still remained, in fact, the majority of her was stuck in her mind.
Lyra, no, the flame, took out Lyra's wand, pointing it towards the turned boy that had yet to sense her presence in the room.
With a flash of green, one of the nearby fireplaces went up in flames, Albus Dumbledore stepping through. His eyes met Voldemort before turning to hers.
They had met before. Not Lyra and the Headmaster, they had met an abundance of times, but the Obscurus and the Professor, they had met. In a different lifetime.
Recognition crossed his face. "How?" he asked and finally Harry turned to look at her.
The flame had lowered the girl's wand by that point, giving the Headmaster her best look of innocence. "How what Albus?"
Taking the distraction, Voldemort rose his wand towards the Potter boy, readying himself to cast a curse.
The Headmaster caught him, deflecting the spell before it could hit the Gryffindor student.
"It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom," he told the man.
A look of almost fear etched its way onto the wizards face and soon, the flame realised something. He was scared of Dumbledore. Of all the things in the world that could bring him down, he was scared of this one man. It was pitiful, but justified.
"The Aurors are one their way," Dumbledore continued, wand held by his side.
"By which time, I shall be gone," Voldemort told him, moving away slightly. "And you," he paused, flourishing his wand, "shall be dead."
With a large gesture from each of the men, Lyra was pushed back against a wall to her left, holding on to the edge of it as she watched.
A bridge between their magic, two streams joining had formed as their spells collided. One red. One green. Dumbledore pushed harder against the man, his jet of red pushing Voldemort back.
In response, the Dark Wizard threw sparks of their spells outwards, hitting nearby pillars and wall, flakes of dust and pieces of stone falling around them.
Lyra pressed up against the wall as to not get hit, but still found that some of the debris brushed against her skin.
Voldemort broke the bond between the wizard's wands and making an almost licking gesture, summoned a ball of flame, throwing it into the air.
The girl watched as that ball of fire turned into a giant snake, hovering threateningly over the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
He summoned any water nearby, diminishing the fire and capturing Voldemort in the liquid. Twirling his wand, the water than concealed the Dark Lord spun in circles, trapping the man inside.
With a burst of energy, the water disappeared, Voldemort rearing his hands back and throwing them towards the room. The glass of the office behind him shattered, rushing towards us at a high speed.
Dumbledore rose his wand, turning the glass that threatened to hit them into sand but not before a piece of one of the windows lodged itself in Lyra's stomach.
She looked down, hands curling around the piece sticking out from her. Blood seeped out of her wounds, covering her hands in a dark red substance.
"Shit," she cursed, legs giving out as she fell to the ground, collapsing.
"Lyra!" a voice shouted as the world around the young girl fell. The flame retreated into her mind, pain shooting through its being.
Lyra's mind resurfaced for a moment as she took in her new surroundings. Her world faded to black again, but not before she noticed the large piece of glass jutted out from her stomach.
Lyra's POV
When I woke again, the world around me had become still. I was back in the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. I was alone.
"Not alone," a voice told me, turning my attention around.
Crouch stood there, looking beaten and bruised. He held a hand against him side, wincing in pain as he walked towards me.
"Where have you been?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "Fighting off that bitch that you let take over your mind," he explained.
"I didn't – " I started but found myself cutting my words short.
I had. I had let her in. After – after Bellatrix had killed my father. I had let her in. searching my mind, I found that there was no sign of the cage that I had kept the flame in.
"Where is she gone?" I asked him.
Crouch sighed. "She's not gone. She's everywhere. You let her break free Lyra and now she hides in each and every part of your mind."
I shook my head. "But I'm still in control, right?"
"For now," he replied.
I let out a scoffing laugh. "Is he really gone?" I asked the man in front of me.
"Yes Lyra, he is," Crouch told me, saddened. Tears sprung to my eyes.
"And I killed him?"
He shook his head violently, moving towards me at a quick pace. "No, you didn't. Bellatrix did." He winced in pain.
"I'm sorry," I apologised after a moment. "You told me not to let her in but I just – she said she could bring him back."
"Lyra," Crouch told me, placing a hand on my cheek and turning me to him. "You held off longer than I ever did."
I furrowed my brow. "You're a voice in my head. Surely you've only been holding her off as long as I have."
Crouch shook his head. "I would have thought by now that you would have realised that I wasn't just a figment of your imagination."
"What else could you be?"
He sighed, taking his hand away from me and pressing a finger to his temple, running a line down his face. His features changed, moving from the stern lines of Barty Crouch Jr to a soft, gentle face. One I recognised.
"Credence Barebone," I breathed.
He nodded. "Pleasure to meet you."
Even his voice was different. It was odd. I knew him to be the man I had talking to only moments ago, but revealing his true appearance was a step I didn't see coming altogether.
"But I don't get it," I told him. "Why are you swimming around in my head if you aren't a figment of my imagination?"
He sighed. "I'm trapped," he replied. "We all are."
"All?"
"This Obscurus. The one living inside your mind doesn't follow the rules. It feeds on whoever it wants, moving down each generation, finding a child that it can prey on. One that can help reach whatever sick goal it aims for."
"So you're saying that," I paused. "The Obscurus that is eating away my mind is the one that killed you?"
"One and the same," he confirmed. "I have tried to fight it. To push it back. Away from you and I will continue to do that, but we need to work together."
I shook my head. "Why me?" I asked.
"I don't know. That's a question I can't answer, because I have no idea. You don't fit the profile. Obscurials feed on the suppression of magic but it picked you. For some reason, it chose you."
"I don't want it," I breathed, almost whispered, feeling tears form in my eyes. "I don't want it Credence."
He placed both of his hands back on my face, forcing me to look at him. "I know. I know you don't, and I am so sorry that I let her take over. That necklace you wear," – he pointed to the green gem around my neck, - "it dampens what little power I have in fighting her. Fighting it."
"Well then take the goddamn thing off," I told him, reaching up to clasp my finger around it. I tried to pull it from my neck but only found that the harder I pulled, the tighter it became on my skin.
"It won't work," he told me, bringing my eyes back to his. "I've found a way around it, but I won't be able to protect you every second of every day or she will destroy me, and so you need to be strong when I am not there, okay?"
I nodded. "What do I do?"
"Just don't give in. It has broken from its cage, but it still doesn't have control over you. Fight it, because it will look for it. It will try to break you to take over."
I shook my head. "If you didn't make it through her advances, what makes you think I can?"
He licked his lips, bending down slightly so that our eyes were now level. "Because you are stronger than I ever was. You have more to fight for than I ever did."
I nodded again. "Don't leave. I don't want to hear her voice again. I don't want to see her again," I begged him.
Credence brought me into a tight hug, holding my head gently against his chest. It was odd. Hugging a stranger, but he wasn't a stranger. He may have only started appearing to me in recent years, but his comfort was something I felt that I had always had.
Pulling away, he kept me at arm's length. "Do what you must to survive. That is what is important. If that means following this 'Dark Lord' in whatever plans he has, then do it."
I passed him a confused glance, stepping away. "You want me to join him?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I want you to gain his trust. It will be easier to break it once you have. He will kill you Lyra," Credence paused, "if you do not join him, he will kill you and then all of this will be for nothing. She cannot win. Not again."
I nodded slowly, finding truth in his words. "You're right," I told him. "You're... right."
With a sudden jolt the room began to shake. Holding my hands out beside me as to steady myself, I looked up at Credence.
"What's going on?" I asked him, shouting over the rumbling noise that came with the shake.
"She's breaking us apart! I will be back! I promise! Just hold on!" he replied.
"Credence!" I screamed as he vanished from sight.
The walls around me began to crumble, the stone and metal tearing away and spiralling upwards and disappearing. The room was quickly becoming smaller.
"Credence!" I screamed again. "Credence! CREDENCE!"