Lyra sat in the hallway outside the kitchen door. She could hear muffled voices from inside, but not what they were saying. Her stomach twisted in every which way as she thought about earlier that day.
The letter. Her grades. George. The surprise turning up of Dumbledore. The excitement his arrival caused in everyone. If Dumbledore was attending the meeting then it meant it was an important one. And Lyra, oh so lucky her, was attending that very important meeting.
She didn't feel lucky. She felt sick. Sick from the energy in the air, and how it charged and buzzed with the anticipation of a storm. It was strange that only a few days after her powers had returned, her parents appeared.
No, that wasn't right. It wasn't strange, it was planned.
The kitchen door creaked open, flooding her in golden light. She looked up to see a grave, Mrs. Weasley.
"We're ready for you dear." Lyra could immediately sense her fear. Not the fear of something in danger, but the fear one gets when they tip too far back in their chair. Or miss a step. The fear of the unexpected and unknown.
The room was silent as Lyra followed Mrs. Weasley in. She felt their presence' s before their eyes.
Dumbledore rose at the sight of her. Giving her a warm smile. He was the only one smiling. "Ah, Miss Stone. So kind of you to join us. Please, have a seat." He gestured to the empty chair next to him and her parents.
Lyra chose to stand next to Serious. Who was leaning against the fireplace. Dumbledores smile never faltered and she could feel Serious's mood lighten with amusement.
The headmaster returned to his seat and looked around the room. "Well, I suppose we better get started then."
Silence followed. No one seemed to know how to begin. Lyra's old Professor Lupin took a look around the room and then sighed.
"I suppose I'll start if no one wants to bite. Lyra, do you have any idea why we've asked you to join our meeting today?"
She studied him for a moment, then her parents, then Dumbledore. "Because of my magic, and the rise of he who must not be named. It puts me at a higher risk, which in turn puts the order at a higher risk." She paused for a moment, feeling the room. "Thats only the case for some of you though. Others, they want to protect me, to someday potentially use me. They think I may come in very useful to the order."
She could feel guilt now, and embarrassment, but also pride? No, not quite pride, but similar.
Lupin coughed the smile off his face and she focused in on him and his emotions. She could not place them. Which if he had known he would have been happy about, as he was thinking about how off guard she had caught him.
He should have noticed it immediately. The Lyra who had sat across from him two years ago was timid. She did not like to speak in front of strangers. She didnt like to speak much at all. She had a way of disappearing into the background. Both physically but also mentally. Reflecting back others emotions like a wall. Erasing her very aura.
Well, she wasn't hiding now. Though her heartbeat raced and her hands trembled. She just kept thinking of George. How he was right upstairs. How if she yelled loud enough he would come right down and grab her hand and take her away.
"I'd say that's as close with a guess anyone could get," Sirius said bringing her back from her thoughts. "The reason we've brought you in is because the order is split right down the middle on what to do with you."
"Elaborate?" She asked softly.
"What he means Lyra, is you are correct in that we must address your magic, and the value it has to he who must not be named. But we cannot agree on how to do so. Headmaster Dumbledore wanted your input before we decided."
She turned towards the headmaster. He was sitting patiently as if they were talking about a favorite book and he wanted to know what she thought of it.
"I tried to suppress my magic. I tried to hide who I was because I was afraid of the harm it may bring who I love." She was silent for a moment. "I don't want you to promise your protection. Because if things turn for the worse you won't be able to give me it."
"Lyra-" Mrs. Weasley tried to cut in.
"I want to know how to protect myself. How to protect the ones I care about. I want to know how to hold up to the pain of the crusiotus curse. How to break from the imperious curse."
"This is ridiculous." Mrs. Weasley said her irritation bubbling over "She's far too young to under-"
"And yet Molly," Dumbledore' s gentle voice cut in "She understands in ways even more then we do and it is not fully up to us to decide."
Mrs. Weasley did not speak again, but her face was very red and tears of fear and frustration welted in her eyes. He looked at Lyra.
"Miss Stone, it is very rare that I allow students to graduate from Hogwarts early. Even those who were beyond their years in knowledge still had a lot of learning about life to do. If I did not think soon you would be ready to start your journey into the world, ready to be treated like an adult. I would not have permitted it. Do you understand what I am saying?"
She nodded solemnly before turning towards her parents. What did they think? Her mother shared a look with her father before speaking.
"When you came back after what happened last year, it was like we had lost you." She looked at Mrs. Weasley and then at Dumbledore. "We let you go with these people, trusting them to protect you from the darker parts of their world. They failed to do so. If we can't protect you from this danger, and if they cannot, then the only thing left is to make sure you can protect yourself." she looked at her husband, Lyra's father, and he grabbed her hand under the table. "If you want to train if you want to fight, I don't feel it's our place to stop you anymore."