Lyra had known love for years, and she was sure she was a master in it. But she realized she was wrong as she raised her son. Draco was a wonderful little boy, letting her feel a kind of love she never had before.
He grew a lot quicker than she had imagined. He was absolutely beautiful, at least in her biased opinion. He had blond head of hair along with his father's grey eyes. He did take more after his father than his mother, which some would call a shame. Lyra didn't care. He was perfect, no matter what.
She had had a lot of time to spend with him as she tried her best to ignore the war raging around them. Dumbledore had advised her to, and whenever she felt the urge to go out and fight to protect those she still loved, she remembered herself promising James that she would do her best to stay out of trouble. The least she could do is keep her promise after all the heartbreak she had caused him.
It was for the best, she supposed. If the Order of the Phoenix wins the war (like Dumbledore believed they would) and Lucius would go to Azkaban for being a Death Eater, her son would still have his mother. It was strange for Lyra to think of herself as a mother, even now that her son was over a year old.
Draco was just like any other child. He played and he laughed and he was loved. Lyra couldn't remember what she was like at his age, but she couldn't imagine she had been as carefree. She was happy he could be though. She needed him to grow up happy.
Lyra found herself sitting in the parlor of the Malfoy Manor, her home for three years, as she watched her little boy play with the new toys she had gotten him. She was sure she was spoiling him too much, but he deserved it. He deserved the entire world. She could give it to him, so why wouldn't she?
They weren't alone in the house, though. They usually were, but Lucius was home. He walked into the parlor, looking at them sadly while holding his Death Eater mask and wearing dark robes. "I'll be off then."
"Do you have to go out?" Lyra asked desperately. She felt Lucius barely knew Draco at this point, which she was sure wouldn't help give her son the loving upbringing she wanted. "You've already missed Draco's first birthday, but now you're missing Halloween, too. You could at least stay for this. He misses you."
Lucius looked pained as he looked at his son, who was a lot happier to see his father appear. He knew he would cry the moment he walked out. He always did, and Lucius always pretended not to hear. "I'm sorry, but tonight's an important night. The Dark Lord needs us."
"Your family needs you," Lyra retorted, casting a quick, comforting smile to their son to tell him everything was alright. She tried to keep the anger out of her voice so their child wouldn't start crying. "You always seem to forget that we're here, too."
Her husband was sick and tired of them having this same argument every time he went out. She had seemed angry with him ever since they had their son, feeling that he wasn't doing enough. "Don't be bitter, Lyra. Be thankful you're not out there with us."
"Which I do for him," she said. While she had always used the fact that she was singlehandedly raising their son against him, he always used that he was keeping her out off the Death Eaters against her. "Can't you even try to do the same?"
"You think I don't do this for him? For you?" the blond man asked, trying to control his temper. "I don't want him to grow up in a world filled with filth trying to ruin the world around him. He deserves better than that."
She rolled her eyes dramatically, although she knew it would only make him angrier. Him and his prejudiced ways were only getting more annoying as the years went by. "He deserves his father. And to not grow up in a world ridden by war."
"That's why we're trying to end this," he snapped. He took a deep breath, not wanting to yell and upset Draco, or ruin the relationship he had with his wife. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped questioning my abilities as a father."
"Right," she nodded, pursing her lips tightly. She could see that Draco was realizing that there was a fight going on, and she didn't want to escalate it even further. "I see there's no convincing you either way. You're too stubborn."
"As are you," Lucius responded, though smiling fondly at her. He always seemed to be more fond of her when she gave up on their arguments. "I'll see you soon. I'll be back before you know it. Hopefully, we won't have this fight anymore."
Lyra frowned, prepared to ask him what he meant. She didn't understand what was so important about October 31st 1981. But she didn't have time to as Lucius quickly kissed her goodbye, then ruffling Draco's hair before he walked out. He knew what he was doing, he wanted to stop the questions, because he thought she wouldn't like the answer.
The twenty-one-year-old woman sighed as she watched him walk away. There was nothing more for her to do than to take care of her son. Draco started crying as his father left, like he always did. Lyra winced at the sound and quickly grabbed him, holding him in her arms as she attempted to calm him.
▹▹▹
Lyra attempted to make Draco's second Halloween as perfect as possible, spending time with him and playing with him. Anything to make him forget that his father wasn't here, like usual. She faked her happiness around Draco, like she always did. He was the one happiness she had. She wasn't about to let him be infected by her sadness.
She was giggling as they danced around the parlor, sometimes throwing him in the air (only a little bit, she didn't trust herself not to drop him if she threw him too far). Draco seemed to be having the time of his life.
Lyra jumped in surprise as the doors to the parlor opened, two unknown men running into the room with their wands raised. She clutched Draco closely to her chest. "Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"
"Get your wand out and put it on the ground!" one of the men exclaimed, glaring fiercely at her like she had done something personal against him. She didn't react, only stroking her child's hair comfortingly. "Now!"
Lyra struggled to hold Draco, who seemed to be getting heavier every day, with one arm as she reached into her pockets, pulled out her wand and put it on the floor. "Can I now ask what you're doing here?"
"We have caught your husband wearing a Death Eater mask and with the Dark Mark on his arm," one of them informed her quickly. He was shorter and stockier than the other, who was lean and tall. "Check her."
"She's clean," the tall man responded, grabbing her by the wrist to check her left forearm. He glanced back at his partner, looking both stern and tired. "We should bring her in though. Just to be sure."
Draco had started crying now. Lyra had to rock him back and forth, shushing him. She looked at the men, seeming like they were aurors, with a glare. She didn't like that they had upset him. "Bring me in where, exactly?"
The short one looked at her as if she was just some dumb housewife. "To the Ministry, of course. We'll see what they want us to do with you, find out what you know. If you're some sort of accessory to their crimes."
"You can't just take me away without any reason!" Lyra hissed, still rocking Draco in her arms, now able to hold him with both. "I have a son to worry about. I can't just leave him here all alone! I don't know if you have any children, but they can't survive on their own."
The tall one, seeming like he didn't have same type of personal hatred against her, sighed helplessly. "Will you go willingly if we can assure you that your son will be well taken care of?"
"We can't do that," the other one denied it, glaring at his partner. Lyra wondered why he seemed to hate her so much. Perhaps he had lost someone to the war and he was seeking revenge. "We can't make deals with one of her kind."
"One of my kind?" the blonde woman scoffed, taking offense. While she knew it was sort of accurate, she didn't like to group herself in with her family, her husband and their horrid actions. "I'm no Death Eater!"
"We'll be the ones to judge that," the tall one said sternly, though still without the poison in his voice that his partner had. "Will you go willingly or will we have to force you? Think of your son now."
"Andromeda Tonks!" Lyra suddenly called out, seemingly out of nowhere. She felt like crying at the idea of leaving Draco alone when he was so upset. "Can you assure me that you will take him to Andromeda Tonks? Please."
"You're not really in any position to make demands, Mrs. Malfoy." The short one spat her name out, like it hurt to say. She was pretty sure by now that Lucius may have done something to him or his family.
Lyra tried to look as helpless as possible, but it wasn't very difficult when she had no power over the situation. "Please, I beg you. I only trust my sister with him. She's as far removed from this as can be. Nobody else in my family trusts her. She's married to a muggleborn for Godric's sake! This isn't some Death Eater trick."
"Fine. If you'll go with us," the tall one acquiesced, nodding gently. "And don't mention to anyone that you asked us to do this. We're just not in the mood to fight. We've been fighting too much tonight."
"Fine. You take the kid. I'll take her," the short one nodded towards them. Draco cried even harder when he was taken out of her arms, and she whimpered at the sound. Well, either at the sound or how harshly the auror grabbed her arm to pull her along with him. "Come on."
▹▹▹
Once Lyra came to the Ministry, nobody seemed to pay attention to her. She was told to sit in front of the office of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Barty Crouch Sr. She felt bad for the man, having no idea that his son was a Death Eater.
She sat there for a long time, watching as the whole Ministry went up in chaos. People were running around, some cheering like they were celebrating something Lyra wasn't aware of. People were crying of obvious happiness, and she had no idea why. She couldn't ever remember the Wizarding World being so happy.
She tried to stop many people in their tracks to find out what was going on. Some people had just pulled her into their arms and hugged her, only to run off cheering and to hug the next person they saw. She wondered if there was some sort of madness sickness going around.
Finally, she stopped a person that didn't seem as insane as the others. He still smiled happily, but he wasn't running around, jumping and shooting fireworks from his wand. "Excuse me, could you tell me what's going on?"
He looked at her strangely, his smile fading. Basically everyone else had been told by the Ministry itself or by the people around them. It hadn't become public yet, but everybody knew. "You don't know?"
Lyra was sure she was contrasting the crowd strangely with the desperate look on her face and the sad tone in her voice. "All I know is that my husband is under arrest and I can't leave the Ministry to take care of my son."
"You-Know-Who has been vanquished!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. He watched as she hesitantly smiled, thinking that the Order had finally won. The war was over. "Killed by Harry Potter!"
"Harry Potter?" Lyra repeated the unfamiliar name, frowning in confusion. But she knew the last name all too well. As a teenager, she had been convinced it would become her own. "As in... James Potter?"
The man furrowed his brows for a moment, not sure if he knew the answer to the question. He tried to remember the story his wife had told him. She was an auror, she was one of the first to know. "Yes, his son, I believe."
Lyra quickly remembered that the Potters had been in hiding for some secret reason. If Harry Potter (who she was sure was a small child) had been able to defeat the Dark Lord, then they had to have been found. "And James? And his wife? Where are they? Are they alright?"
"Did you know them?" the man asked, avoiding the question. He could see how personally affected she seemed by the mention of the Potters, especially since she used James's first name.
"Yeah. We were in the same year at Hogwarts," the blonde responded hesitantly. She could already see a dangerous sympathy in his eyes. She didn't want to say that James was the love of her life that she had left for what she now saw as a stupid reason that she only got one good thing out of (which was Draco).
"I'm sorry," he said, no longer looking in a celebrating mood. He felt awful being the one to deliver these news to her, especially as he could already see the pain in her eyes. "He Who Must Not Be Named killed them tonight."
Lyra felt her whole world crashing down. It made sense. The Dark Lord was gone. Harry Potter had vanquished him. James, always so brave and loyal, wouldn't have hesitated to give his life up for his son.
But it couldn't be true. James Potter couldn't be dead. That's not how the world works. This man had to be playing some cruel joke on her, thinking it would be fun. "No, no, no. You're lying. Please tell me you're lying!"
"I'm sorry, miss," he said awkwardly, glancing for a way out of here. He wasn't very good with crying women when he was actually in a pretty good mood. He backed away, not wanting her to be his responsibility.
Lyra felt so out of place. People were running around in happiness, but she was tearing up in the middle of the Ministry of Magic. She knew it wasn't true, but part of her felt like they were basically celebrating James's death. Because he was dead. She couldn't believe he was dead.
It had been so long. She hadn't been with him for over three years and hadn't seen him in almost two. But it still felt like someone was ripping her heart out of her chest and stepped on it, hoping to cause her as much pain as possible.
The people ran around cheering for The Boy Who Lived, but Lyra was crying for the man who died.
▹▹▹
It had been hours and Lyra still hadn't heard anything about Lucius. She had barely even thought about him. All she had been doing was crying in that one seat, her sobs inaudible through the loudness of the Ministry. Those who recognized her didn't try to approach her. If anybody even noticed her heartbreak in the midst of the celebrations.
From a nearby office, a platinum blond head of hair poked out, smugly shaking hands with a Ministry official. "I'm so sorry for all your troubles, Lucius. I hope you and your family will recover."
Lyra didn't hear what Lucius responded with. She could only see the false charm on his face fade when he looked her way, approaching her. He could see she had been crying, so he supposed she already knew. "Lucius, what's going on?"
"Where's Draco?" he only asked, quickly noting that their son wasn't with her.
"The aurors took him someplace safe. I don't know where," the blonde woman lied, knowing full well that he was at Andromeda's house, probably getting to know his cousin, Nymphadora. "What's going on?"
Lucius glanced around, seeing all the people who looked at them suspiciously. There were quiet a few people that had watched as he was shamefully brought in. "We'll talk when we get home. There are too many ears here."
"Is it true?" Lyra asked, her voice breaking. He didn't look like he wanted to answer the question, only grabbing her arm to pull her along. She didn't let him. "Can you tell me if its true? Is he gone and did he take James Potter with him?"
"It's true," Lucius answered reluctantly. Lyra knew that Lucius wouldn't lie about that. He didn't like any mention of James Potter, and he knew that saying he survived would mean less talk about him. The truth was difficult, but it was the truth.
Lyra couldn't keep from crying, allowing him to pull her towards the exit of the Ministry, so they could go home and talk privately.
▹▹▹
"What happened?" Lyra quickly asked when they returned to Malfoy Manor, just having apparated back to their home. It felt strangely quiet without Draco being a dramatic child and screaming or crying everywhere.
Lucius pursed his lips, not seeming very happy about having to be the one to tell her everything. If it was up to him, he wouldn't bother letting her know any of it. "The Dark Lord was out to kill Harry Potter. James and Lily Potter were in his way."
"Why would he want to kill an innocent boy?" she gasped, surprised. Little Harry had to be around Draco's age. She couldn't imagine anybody having any reason to kill her baby boy. Why would they try to kill James's?
"I can't answer that," he simply responded, not wanting her to get into trouble. "The less you know the better."
"That's why they were in hiding," Lyra whispered to herself in realization. She could remember Dumbledore telling her, but refusing to say why. She was getting tired of people not telling her things. "He was after the baby. After Harry."
Lucius frowned deeply at this. His wife, who had been kept on the sidelines and as much out of the loop as possible, wasn't supposed to have any way of knowing. "How did you know they were in hiding?"
"The less you know the better," she responded coolly.
"They were under the Fidelius charm," Lucius explained nonchalantly. "Sirius Black was their secret keeper. I suspect the aurors are after him now for giving the fatal piece of information to the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord."
So it wasn't only James who seemed to be meeting a terrible fate. He was already dead and there was no way to save him. The same wasn't true for Sirius, who was still out there. "Sirius would never!"
"He did," Lucius said firmly, not seeming to care about the meltdown she was having in front of him. He just wanted it to stop. He had just been in interrogations for hours, he didn't need the same treatment from his wife. "Get some rest. You've had a long day."
Lyra didn't want to get some rest. She just wanted to understand what was happening. She wanted to save Sirius from a terrible fate that seemed to be approaching him. "How'd you get out? After all you've done?"
Lucius looked ready to just pass out right there, hoping she would do the same. "I convinced them that I was under the Imperius curse and that you had nothing to do with any of what had happened."
"You lied."
He glared at her. "To protect our son."
"To protect your reputation!" Lyra retorted heatedly. She wasn't sure if she was being unfair, but Lucius had never done anything that wasn't to benefit himself. That was her least favorite part of their marriage.
"Get some rest. Now!" Lucius hissed, obviously having gotten enough of her attitude. She wasn't going down without a fight, struggling as he grabbed her in his arms to calm her down. In the end, he grabbed his wand from his robes, putting it to her head and casting an incoherent spell. Lyra fell asleep in his arms quickly.
▹▹▹
A/N: We're close to the end, but we're not there yet, don't worry. There's some more coming.