Warning! Reference to bullying and burns
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Myra was now in the fifth year waiting in an empty compartment for Lily, Alice, and Marlene. She had some new scars on her arms and legs and hoped that she had done enough to cover them. She had worn her school robes already and her things were neatly stacked in the rack above. Nixie, her house-elf, had gotten her a book for her birthday but was unable to give it until this morning. It was a muggle book called 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. Nixie thought that Myra would like it.
Myra traced the spine of the book. The bumps, the smoothness. She did this with all of her books, just before she read them. It was like reading a person by just glancing at them. She opened the book to the first page and the smell of parchment welcomed her, beckoned her. She started reading.
'Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun-' The door to the compartment banged open and the Marauders walked in and sat down around her, apparently not noticing her.
"Pads, mate, who do you think could make the quidditch team this year?" James potter asked, sitting across from her and ruffled his hair. Myra knew Lily would never admit it, but she loves it when he does that.
"I don't know. I remember there was this fourth-year last year who looks like a good build for a Beater. Don't know his name." Black replied, sitting next to her. She moved away from him until she could feel the cool metal wall pressing against her side.
"I saw this one girl on the train today. She looked like a sixth year and had the looks of a Chaser." James leaned back into his chair. Myra saw Remus sit next to him and Peter next to Black.
"Will you ever stop talking about quidditch? All you ever talk about is quidditch and girls." Remus stated, pulling out a book from his bag.
"Let's talk about school subjects!" Peter exclaimed. James made a face.
"Before school even started? I don't think so." Sirius shook his head around like a dog, making his long, black hair fly around. Myra scrunched up her nose and tried not to sneeze. She saw Peter's face fall.
"Oh. Okay, that's-"
"My mom let me try some Firewhiskey about a week ago!" James practically shouted and Myra winced.
"Really? That's so cool!"
"Prongs, that's awesome!" A chorus of exclamations and praise from Sirius and Peter arose and Myra rolled her eyes. Before she could stop herself, her mouth was already moving.
"You do know that if you drink fire-whiskey before the age of eighteen, your brain could get seriously damaged and you might get brain cancer."
Everyone turned to look at her. Sirius glared, Peter looked indifferent, James looked mildly amused and Remus looked... Myra couldn't tell how Remus looked. He just looked at her. She would categorize it as surprised, maybe, or intrigued.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius hissed. Myra tore her gaze away from Remus and glanced at Sirius. He looked livid. Myra felt herself go pale.
"Nothing." She mumbled. She hugged her closed book tighter to her chest and looked down.
"Get out of here! This is our compartment." Myra nodded once, gathered her things, and left the compartment in a hurry.
∞-∞-∞
Remus glared at Sirius.
"Padfoot, what was that for?"
Sirius looked at Remus with disgust clear on his face, "She's a pure-blood brought up to act like one. She's a Lestrange." He spat out that name in disgust.
"And you're a Black." Remus retorted. Sirius winced but said nothing.
"Moony, why do you care so much?" Wormtail asked.
"I don't." Remus pressed his lips together, clearly showing that he didn't want to talk about it.
James rolled his eyes, "Alright, you lovesick fool. Let's forget about her and talk about the pranks we're going to pull on Snivellus this year."
∞-∞-∞
Myra wandered through the train, looking in each compartment for Alice, Lily, or Marlene. Or anyone she knew, really.
"Alice?" She poked her head and saw three third-years playing Gobstones.
"Who?" One of them asked. Myra shook her head.
"Never mind." She kept walking through the train. She peeked into another compartment, "Lily?" Inside, two seventh years were snogging heatedly. Myra flushed. Definitely not here. She kept on walking. Finally, at the end of the train, she saw Lily reading a book and Marlene and Alice arguing.
"Marlene, I'm telling you! Don't do it! You'll regret it!"
"Alice, I want to do it! They look cool!" Myra cleared her throat.
"What's happening?" She asked. Alice glared at Marlene quickly before looking at her.
"Marlene wants to get a tattoo but her parents said no. So she asked me if I would take her to a muggle tattoo place to get it done during our first Hogsmeade trip."
"I don't want you to take me! I can get there myself. I wanted you there for moral support because it's supposed to hurt a lot." Marlene protested. Myra sighed and sat down next to Lily. Alice and Marlene started arguing again.
"What book are you reading?" She asked Lily. She shrugged.
"My parents got this for my birthday. It's called 'The Hobbit'. It's a children's book, apparently, but it's got some pretty interesting themes in it. What yours?" Lily asked, nodding at her book.
"'A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. I'm not exactly sure what it's about. Just started." For the rest of the ride, Myra and Lily read their books while Marlene complained about them reading books and Alice kept talking about books but not actually reading them. It was annoying after a while.
When they finally reached school, they hopped off and headed to the carriages. As they boarded, Marlene nudged Myra.
"Look," she muttered, pointing her head to another carriage. Getting on that one were the Marauders. She could see Sirius and Peter already sitting, James getting on and Remus waiting patiently by the side. As if he knew she was watching, he turned towards her. Myra blushed and quickly looked down, getting onto her carriage and sitting next to Alice, her back facing Remus.
"Ooh! Myra's blushing! Is it about dear Mr. Lupin?" Alice teased, poking Myra's side. She jumped and scowled at Alice.
"No. It's just a bit cold."
"Why do you keep denying it? We all know you like him!" Lily exclaimed.
"Like how we all know you like James!" Myra shot back. Lily flushed.
"I do not like that arrogant toe-rag!"
"Yes, you do! You're just too stubborn to admit it!"
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!"
"Guys!" Marlene yelled over the argument, "Calm down. Myra, stop baiting at Lily. Lily, stop denying that you like James. We all know it."
"Marlene-"
"Lily, stop it." Alice snapped. Lily shrunk back in her seat, mumbling to herself. Myra looked out the carriage to see them coming up at the school. They got off the carriage and made their way through the corridors and settled down at the Gryffindor table. The Great Hall was decorated in floating candles and the ceiling was the perfect picture of the night sky above. As usual. Professor McGonagall got up beside the stool with the Sorting Hat.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! As I call out your name, please step up to the stool and put the hat on," She cleared her throat, "Abbot, Charlotte!" A girl with strawberry blonde hair stepped up to the hat.
"Ravenclaw!" It called out. The girl happily got off and hurried to the Ravenclaw table. The sorting continued until the last name.
"Yeldandi, Samantha!" A girl with curly black hair had the hat put on and was sorted into Hufflepuff. As she sat down, Dumbledore rose in his seat.
"Welcome to Hogwarts and our older students, welcome back! Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that spells are not allowed in the halls. The Forbidden Forest is, as usual, forbidden. Before we start to eat, I have a few words of welcome. Iggily biggily, blubber tooth, and gobstones. Tuck in!" As Dumbledore sat back down, food appeared on the table.
There was roast chicken, mashed potatoes with garlic, roast potatoes with rosemary, slices of beef and pork, glistening with juices. There were treacle tarts, custard, apple pie, pecan pie, cherries jubilee, and shortcake. Myra felt her stomach growl and put a little bit of everything on her plate.
"Lily, did you make prefect this year?" Alice asked. Lily nodded.
"Yeah. Found out in the summer. Have a badge and everything." She replied, showing them a shining golden badge on her robe.
"Then why didn't you go sit with the other prefects in the prefect compartment?" Myra asked with her mouth full. Lily shrugged.
"Didn't want to. They were just going to talk about the prefect duties. I already know them because I talked to last year's prefects."
"Who's the other Gryffindor prefect?" Marlene asked.
"I think it's Remus Lupin," She said, casting a quick glance at Myra, "But I can't be too sure. Apparently, he didn't come to the prefect's compartment either." They continued talking about school when Myra noticed something.
"Lily, not to alarm you, but your dear James Potter is making his way here now." She muttered.
"He's not my-"
"Hello, girls," James said, plopping down on the seat next to Lily.
"Sod off, Potter" Lily hissed, pointing her fork at him. James put on a mock offended look and pressed a hand to his chest.
"Lily-flower, how could you say something like that?" Marlene started laughing but she started chugging down pumpkin juice. Lily glared at her.
"Go away, Potter." She hissed.
"Will you go on a date with me?" he asked, putting on puppy dog eyes. Myra had to admit, that looked cute. Lily scowled.
"No! I will never go out with an arrogant toe-rag like you!" Before James could say anything else, his friends called him over.
"Coming!" He called back. His eyes turned away from Lily, but for a moment, just a moment, they landed on Myra. He gave a small wave, so small it looked like his hand was twitching. Myra gave a small nod back and he went back to his friends. Alice and Marlene looked at her.
"What was all that?" Alice asked.
"All what?"
"James Potter waved at you! You have to at least be blushing a bit!" Marlene said, throwing her arms up in the air. Myra shrugged.
"I don't know. Didn't seem that special."
"Look at all those girls! See how jealous they look." Alice pointed her hand discreetly to a group of girls down the table. They had scowls on their faces and one was angrily stabbing her potatoes.
"Anyways, everyone knows he is only Lily's." Lily glared at her and stared back into her food. She hadn't said anything or eaten anything after James had left.
"And we all know that only Remus Lupin can make a blush rise in those cheeks." Marlene teased, poking her knife at Myra. She felt the heat crawl up her neck.
"Shut up."
∞-∞-∞
The next week, Myra and the girls were loaded with work. Work for OWLs, work for extra credit. Work for everything. On top of all that, Myra was anxious. Sirius and Peter hadn't tried anything in the past week which was strange. This meant that they were planning something big. Myra could only wait and guess what was going to happen. As the cherry topping the sundae, it was her time of the month, so her emotions were running a bit high.
"Myra, are you even paying attention?" Myra snapped back to the class. Professor Sprout had taught them the basics of OWLs in Herbology and the girl next to her was calling out her name, "Myra, are you there?"
"Yes? Sorry, I zoned out."
"That's alright. Here, I took some notes for you." She shoved a piece of parchment towards Myra. Myra felt sudden cramping and put her head down on the table.
"Are you alright?" The girl asked. Myra was a bit ashamed. She didn't even know what the girl's name was.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a stomach ache." The girl made a sound and turned towards Professor Sprout, who was showing them how to defang a Fanged Geranium.
"Just like so!" She yelled. Myra noticed no one was really paying attention. Ugh. She thought. These cramps were really painful. Sprout's head looked towards Myra, "Miss Lestrange, are you alright?" Myra numbly nodded, not knowing what she was nodding to.
"I think you should go to the Hospital Wing, just to be sure." Myra got up, took her bag, and dragged herself out of the greenhouse. She trudged up the stairs to the Hospital Wing and heard someone walking behind her.
"So, what's little Miss Lestrange doing in the corridors during classes?" A taunting voice behind her said. She quickly turned around to find Sirius Black towering above her, "Is she bunking?
"Why would I ever have any need for bunking?" She spat out. Secretly, she wondered where the other was. Peter Pettigrew.
"Maybe you wanted to do some mischief." He put some emphasis on the word. At that moment, students started streaming out of classrooms and pouring into the hallways. Myra gulped, "And now the show beings!"
Myra felt something warm lick her side. She looked down and yelped. Her whole bag was on fire! She screamed and threw it to the ground. The students around her started pointing and laughing. Myra felt her cheeks burn. I'm forgetting something. What am I forgetting? Then it clicked.
She dove to her feet and thrust her hands into the burning bag. At first, she withdrew them quickly. Then she steeled her nerves and pushed them in. The fire licked at her hands, causing flashes of pain to shoot up through her arm. Myra moved past the burning books and quills and bottles of ink. She went to the bottom of her bag where—safely tucked into a very thick book—lay the photograph.
Myra quickly took her hands out and shakingly held the photo out in front of her. The sides had blackened considerably but the picture itself was perfectly fine. She sighed and looked at her hands. Pink skin covered her hands. Her palms, her knuckles, her fingers. Whenever she moved them the slightest, stings of pain shot through her arms. She gently pulled her sleeves back, hissing in pain. The burns extended to past her elbow. She could barely move her arms.
"Out! Out of my way!" A sharp voice cut through the fog of her brain. She finally registered the looks that the others gave her. Shock. Pity. Disgust, "Move! Quickly!" Professor McGonagall shoved past the wall of students around Myra. When she saw her, she gasped.
"Miss Lestrange! Hospital Wing! Now!" Then she turned to the crowd of students, "Which one of you did this?" The crowd stayed silent.
"If no one steps forward, I will give every one of you detention for a month!" Still, no one came forward. McGonagall scowled and pursed her lips, "Detention for all of you! And don't try to skip, I'll know." With that, she turned to Myra.
"Myra, up you come. Let's get you to the Hospital Wing."
Myra found her voice, "It's alright, Professor. I can go by myself. And don't give them detention. They did nothing wrong."
"Then who should I give detention to? Who did this, Myra?" When Myra stayed silent, McGonagall huffed, "Very well. Now off to the Hospital Wing with you!" She shooed Myra away and she went to the Hospital Wing.
When Myra got there, she saw Madame Pomfrey preparing some things on a desk. She saw someone laying on a bed on the far side of the Wing.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Myra called out. Madame Pomfrey looked up and saw Myra.
"Yes, my dear. How may I help you?" Myra raised her hands, letting the burns show. Madame Pomfrey gasped.
"Why didn't you come sooner? When treated right after they are received, burns have a lessened effect. Now, these look like second-degree burns!" She rushed around the Wing, gathering substances and mixing them, "Drink this, quickly." She made Myra drink a foul-tasting potion. Myra resisted gagging.
Then she sat Myra down on one of the beds and went off, coming back with some kind of paste and bandages. She put the paste on Myra's hands and wrapped them.
"Apply the paste and change the bandages every day. And don't wrap them too tightly." Myra nodded and got up, her hands already feeling much better. As she went to open the door, someone opened it on the other side. Myra quickly stepped back and looked at the person who opened the door.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there." the voice said. She looked up and froze. Staring right back at her was the face of Remus Lupin.
"It's fine." She mumbled. She moved to push past him but he grabbed her arm. She tensed.
"You're the girl from the train, right?" Myra nodded, "I'm sorry about Sirius. He's usually never like that."
"You don't have to be. It's fine," she repeated, keeping her eyes trained on her shoes.
"Well, anyway, I'm sorry," Myra hummed and pulled out of his grasp. She turned away and moved down the corridor, "What's your name?" He called out, but Myra ignored him and hurried away.
∞-∞-∞
"HE DID WHAT!" Marlene shrieked. Myra had just told her friends about how Sirius set her bag on fire and Myra got burns trying to get to the picture, "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM, I SWEAR TO GOD!" Marlene jumped up and was about to charge up to the boys' dormitories when Myragrabbed her hand.
"It's fine, Mar. It's okay." Alice looked at Myra questioningly.
"Are you sure? It sounded like you got really bad burns."
"I'm alright. I swear."
"Why did you go back for the picture?" Myra turned to Lily. Now or never.
"I'm going to tell you a secret. You can't tell anyone else, it's too dangerous," The girls nodded, looking confused. Myra took a deep breath, preparing herself for the onslaught of questions, "I'm adopted."
Just as she predicted, the girls erupted. Myra couldn't keep track of who was saying what, when they were saying it, how they were saying it. All she realized was that they were yelled and shrieking and screaming. When they finally calmed down, Myra spoke up, "Can I finish?" They nodded.
"I was getting ready for school in the morning when our house-elf came into my room."
∞-∞-∞
Myra hurriedly stuffed her books and robes and clothes into her trunk. She sat on it heavily, desperately trying to get it to close. She heard the door open and turned around. Standing in the doorway was her house-elf.
"Oh, Nixie! Thank goodness. Can you help me close the trunk? I can't do it by myself." Nixie nodded and waved her hand. Almost immediately, Myra's trunk slammed close and clasped shut, "Thank you, Nixie. You're a lifesaver." Myra held the trunk and lugged it off the bed. She turned around and Nixie was still standing in the doorway.
"What's wrong, Nixie?" Nixie looked worried, almost anxious.
"Nixie would like to tell you that... that..." She struggled to get the words out. Myra felt sad.
"Is it about my parents? Have they forbidden you to tell me something?" Nixie nodded once, tears brimming in her eyes. She felt pity for Nixie. Myra sighed, knowing she would regret this. She went to her nag and took out a tie. She held the tie out to Nixie.
"Here, Nixie. I know that when you go from here, you will do horrible things to yourself. I release you from the services of the Lestranges." Myra said. Nixie froze, her large, gray eyes darting from Myra to the tie to Myra again.
"Miss Myra, I can't-"
"Yes, you can." Myra insisted. Nixie shook her head.
"It's not like that, Miss Myra. Nixie works for the Lestranges. Miss Myra cannot free Nixie from enslavement because she is not a Lestrange." Right after she said this, Nixie's eyes widened and she clasped her hands over her mouth. The tears fell in streaks down her face, her large, bat-like ears drooping. Myra's hand dropped to her side.
"What do you mean I'm not a Lestrange? Nixie?" Nixie shook her head, her body trembling from the sobs. Myra ran through the scenarios in her head. There was only one.
"Nixie, am I adopted?" Nixie nodded once, her hands coming away from her face.
"Nixie remembers when Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange brought Miss Myra to the Lestrange Manor. She was so small, with a small head of black hair on her head and bright blue eyes," Myra sat down on the edge of the bed. Nixie sat down next to her, "Nixie heard Mr. Lestrange saying that this child will be married into other pureblood families. She heard Mrs. Lestrange saying that Miss Myra's parents were foolish to think that they would get away with it. They said that they took care of her parents.
"Then they called Nixie and told her to take care of Miss Myra. When Nixie went to put her in a bath, Nixie found a small photograph in her shirt. Nixie took it out and turned it over. She noticed that it had Miss Myra on the front with two other people. Nixie thought that she should save it until she turns fifteen and give it to her then. Here you go, Miss Myra."
Nixie held out a slightly crumpled photograph. It was a muggle photo. You could see that the pictures didn't move. Myra shakingly held out her hand and gently took it from Nixie, as if it would burst into flames any minute. There was a man, a woman, and a baby.
The man had curly brown hair, windswept to the right. His eyes were a bright blue against pale skin. He was tall and slender with one arm around the woman. The woman had black hair and hazel eyes. Her cheeks were slightly plump and her lips were in a smile. They held a baby in their hands. The baby had both black hair and blue eyes. It had full, rosy cheeks and chubby hands. That's me. Myra thought numbly. She recognized some of her current features in her mum and dad. Her nose-Mum. Her eyes-Dad. Her body-Mum. Her height-Mum. Her hands-Dad. Her hair-Mum.
Myra held the picture to the light, trying to see more details when she saw scribbles on the other side. She flipped over the picture. In the bottom right corner, there were a few words scrawled in messy handwriting. Elizabeth and Thomas with their charming daughter, Myra. Myra felt tears well up in her eyes.
"Thank you, Nixie." She croaked, her voice not working properly. Nixie nodded once and held out her hand.
"Come on, Miss Myra. Let's get you to the station."
When Myra finished her story, the girls sat stunned. "So now I carry the picture everywhere. That's why I went back into the bag for it. It's the only picture I have of my parents."
∞-∞-∞
It had been a few days since Sirius set Myra's bag on fire. It was eleven o'clock and she was the only one in the common room. She sat on an armchair next to the fire, carefully unrolling an old bandage. When she took it off, she sighed in relief as the cool air touched her hand. The red burns had darkened to a dirty brown color, but they no longer hurt as much. Myra put the roll beside her and started unwrapping her arms. Her elbow bumped into the roll and it was sent tumbling to the ground. As she reached for it, pain flared up her arm and she instantly retracted, clutching her unwrapped arm.
Oops. She thought. Myra reached for the bandages again with the wrapped hand when another hand darted forward and grabbed it. Myra froze and glanced up as quickly as she could. Why does the universe hate me? It was Remus Lupin. Again.
"Hello again. Do you need help?" He asked. Myra froze.
"No, I don't-I don't need your-need any help." She stuttered. Remus shrugged.
"Are you sure?" Myra nodded. He handed the roll to Myra and got up. She started unrolling the bandages, but her hands were shaking too much. She sighed and put the roll down.
"Wait," She heard Remus stop, "Can you help me unroll it? Please?"
He didn't say anything, just came over, "Did Madame Pomfrey give you any cream to put on it?" Myra jerked her chin to the space next to her.
"Yes. It's over there," When she saw Remus reach for it, she hastily added, "No, it's fine. I can put the cream on myself." Remus waved her off.
"Nonsense. I offered my help and you accepted." Myra didn't say anything as he unscrewed the lid and, with two fingers, dipped it into the cream and spread it over her arms. Instant coolness spread up her arm.
"Thank you." She said. Remus hummed and put the canister down. Starting from her forearm, he started wrapping the bandages around her arm.
"Is this too tight?" He asked. She shook her head and he continued. When he finished one arm, he looked at Myra.
"Would you like some help with the other?"
"Yes please." And so he did the same on her left hand. Unwrapped the bandage, applied the cream, rewrapped it with a new bandage. The whole time, Myra stared at his fingers, how they moved efficiently around her arm. She blinked and looked at the fire. Don't do that, Myra, it's weird. When she looked back at him, she could've sworn she saw him blush. Don't get your hopes up. It was probably the firelight.
"Thank you." She said again. Myra started putting the things into her bag.
"You know, I didn't catch your name before," Remus said, his hands stuffed awkwardly in his pockets. Myra smiled at him.
"Because I never threw it."
---
Fun fact: Myra is a nerd
Question of the day: Who woke up ten minutes before their online class because they forgot to set the alarm last night?
Person one: My dumbass 😔✌️
Penny for your thoughts?
^^technically I deserve two thoughts 'cause I gave you two pennies