Things between Lyra and Lucius had been even more tense than usual after what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup. She considered what he had done to be completely unacceptable and she had let him know.
He had been proud of what him and the remaining Death Eaters had managed to accomplish, something which disgusted her to no end. When she had heard Draco commend his father on what had happened, she had unfortunately exploded at both of them.
She hadn't ever really yelled at Draco before. But she'd had become enough. Lucius had spent the better part of the last twenty years committing horrid, atrocious crimes towards witches, wizards and muggles alike.
For the past fourteen years, he had been throwing his awful beliefs on their son. Draco's only friends were people raised by people just like Lucius, everybody believing that they were the best of the best.
Lyra may have believed in it, for the most part, when she was younger. But she had gotten to know better because she had a sister like Andromeda Tonks (who she still missed every day) and a cousin/friend like Sirius Black. They had planted enough seeds of doubt for her to begin to see the light herself.
Draco didn't have that. All he had was a father whispering evil in his ears and a mother too cowardly to do anything about it, always worried about the consequences. But she was the only person in his life that didn't believe that muggleborns and muggles were beneath them.
She had always known he had inherited his father's prejudice, but she would never have suspected that her beloved little boy had inherited his cruelty, as well. Lyra wouldn't allow Draco to become like Lucius, a manipulative man driven only by his hatred and love for himself and his family name.
She had regretted it instantly when she saw how hurt Draco had looked at her screaming in his and his father's faces. Telling him that what was happening was wrong and disgusting and that it was horrible that he even agreed with the actions. She knew that it had to be said, but she felt just as bad as her husband in that moment.
She should have sat him down, perhaps with a nice cup of hot cocoa, and given him a calm lecture about why that amount of prejudice was wrong and dangerous. Now, all she had done was give her son a chilling fear of angering her.
That was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. She was always terrified of upsetting her own parents when she was young, the way Draco didn't like upsetting his father. She had worked so hard for him not to feel the same way about her. Because while it took years to build up a sense of trust, it took only seconds to break it down.
Lucius had almost seemed pleased at this. Like he was glad she had ruined all chances of convincing their son to be a blood traitor. While she hadn't acted like one in years, he knew that, deep down, that was always the kind of witch she was. A blood traitor.
Her husband's influence on her son seemed to be growing stronger every minute, and she was afraid that hers, although not great from the start, was getting even weaker. She was scared that she was going to lose him to the Dark Side forever.
The tipping point had come when Lucius had suggested that Draco switch schools to Durmstrang, thinking it would be better for him for learning the Dark Arts. Draco had seemed quite open to the idea.
Lyra had flat-out refused. First of all, she did not want her son to be well-versed in the Dark Arts. Her own knowledge of it felt like it had ruined her life sometimes. She did not want her son's life to be ruined.
She said it was because she didn't want him to be that far away, but that wasn't the problem. It didn't matter whether he was in Scotland or some country in Scandinavia. He'd still not be at home.
Also, he was a boy. Lyra had been a girl when she had been forced into learning a bit more of the Dark Arts than she wanted. She had a way out, and that was marrying a powerful man who'd promised to protect her. Draco wouldn't have that opportunity. He would rather be the powerful man. Sadly, he was more of his father than his mother because of this.
It had made Lyra even more into the bad guy of the house. Draco had even seemed angry at some moments because of this, having been excited at the idea of being more like his father, getting to know the Dark Arts he had worshiped so much.
Everybody could see that something within that family had changed during the summer on September 1st. While usually, Draco was being doted on by his mother while his father was walking behind, looking aloof.
This year, Lucius was walking with his son, his hand proudly on his shoulder while Lyra walked next to them, looking quite miserable. A few family friends did a double take, wondering what had been going on.
"Be good this year, will you? I know things will be quite exciting with the tournament and everything, but don't forget about school," Lyra said sweetly before Draco was about to board the Hogwarts Express.
"Sure, mother," Draco said quietly, though not seeming like he cared much. He only seemed like he wanted to get on the train as quickly as possible.
"You'll write, won't you? Every week, at least. I want to hear all about your year," she said, trying to bond with her son again, because he hadn't seemed to want to for most the summer. She got no response. "Please, Draco. I'm really trying here."
"Trying what, Lyra?" asked Lucius from next to her, seeming quite unimpressed. "To be a smothering, bad influence on our son? Don't worry, Draco. I'm sure your mother will be back to normal by next summer."
"Back to normal?" Lyra scoffed, annoyed once again at the way he was trying to turn their son against her. She took a deep breath, trying not to get angry in front of Draco again. "Look, I love you, Draco. I'm sorry that I lost my temper and wouldn't let you go to Durmstrang. But I love you."
"Right," he nodded, still glancing at the train as he was looking for some sort of escape from the awkward situation with his parents, mostly with his mother. "Well, I need to go board the train. I don't want it to leave without me."
"Alright," Lyra sighed, realizing that she wouldn't be getting anywhere with him at that point. It saddened her, but he had become so distant after spending years having a relatively close relationship. "Good luck then."
"Mother..." Draco trailed off, not liking the sad look on her face. He didn't agree with how she'd been or acted, but she was still his mother and he loved her, even if he didn't really want to say it. "I'll write, okay? Maybe not every week, but I'll write."
"Good," she smiled suddenly, thankful that he didn't seem to hate her at least. She hurried to grab his head, kissing his hair sweetly. "Have a wonderful year at school, sweetheart. I love you!"
Lucius still wasn't the warm type of parent, even when saying goodbye to his son for a while. "Be sure to show appropriate behavior throughout the years, Draco. I have faith that you will be doing better in your exams this year than last year."
"We'll be proud of you anyway," Lyra tried to assure him. She couldn't understand how he still seemed to prefer his father nowadays, when all he seemed to do was pressure him. Then again, she wasn't sure how the two were when they were alone. Perhaps they were warmer and closer than. She hoped so, at least, or it would make her feel even worse.
"I'll do better, father," Draco only said proudly, raising his chin high as he ignored his mother's unconditional pride. He grabbed a hold of his trunk, preparing to board the train. "Goodbye, mother. Goodbye, father."
Lyra pursed her lips as she watched him walk away, not even looking back to send her a wave. He always used to wave, just to say another goodbye. But, then again, this year had become different, much to her chagrin.
"Let's go, Lyra," said Lucius, grabbing a hold of her arm so they could go back home. He could see that she was annoyed, but he also knew she wouldn't do anything about it at that moment. She was already upset after dropping off their son, who still didn't seem too keen on talking to her.
"Actually, I'm going to stay in London for a while," the blonde woman said coolly, though she didn't have any reasons. She knew she'd have to come up with something quick. "I'm meeting Narcissa. Her and Hector just moved to London now that Marcus has graduated."
"Right," he nodded, but seemed unconvinced. He had a feeling she just didn't want to go home with him yet. He couldn't blame her and didn't want to argue with it either. "Be home by tonight, will you? So I don't get worried."
"Sure, see you!" she called nonchalantly out hurrying in the opposite direction of where he was going, not looking back.
▹▹▹
Narcissa Flint had thankfully been quite eager to meet with her sister. Her and her husband had been living in Wales for the last thirteen years, since the Dark Lord's fall, in an attempt to keep a low profile. But now Marucs had graduated and they supposed they could move into the more metropolitan London.
Lyra wasn't sure how they had decided that sister-bonding would have to involve alcohol, but she wasn't about to argue. After everything that had happened in the past few months, she definitely needed to get drunk.
"I love you!" Narcissa cried out as she took another shot of firewhiskey at some bar Lyra had forgotten the name out. The older sister look close to tears. "You know, I love you so much. We only have each other, Lyra!"
"I know!" the younger blonde exclaimed, as though that was the worst thing in the world. "It's so sad. We used to have a whole family! And now, my husband's a git and my son's well on his way to becoming git jr."
"I don't know what's going on anymore! Everything sucks!" Narcissa exclaimed, which made the bartender put another shot on the table in front of her, feeling like she needed it. "Thank you, good bartender. I love you too!"
"Thank you," the bartender responded, glancing around in discomfort. He had probably dealt with several strange customers before, but this pair of blondes were getting pretty weird.
"You know, I wish we could just like... not," Lyra said vaguely. She rested her head on the bar. "I just don't want to anymore. Any of it. I'm so bloody tired of everything that has to happen so much!"
"Yes!" Narcissa agreed loudly. "Cheers to that! You know what, I'll pay for the next round. And not just for us, my dearest sister. Actually, this whole bar won't have to pay for any more of their drinks tonight!"
Loud whoops and cheers filled the bar. There was a strange amount of people there for a Thursday. They both just supposed they weren't the only bored housewives or generally angry and upset people out there.
"I miss it, you know..." Lyra sighed, looking up at her sister. She looked like she was close to tears, having reached that level of drunkess by now. "I miss everything the way it used to be. When I was happy and stuff didn't suck so bad."
"Have we ever really been happy, Lyra? I don't think so," Narcissa wiggled her finger in front of her little sister's face. "I'm just glad I have Hector. I love him so much. He's always so nice to me, but Marcus has been acting like a brat for the last ten years and I don't know what to do!"
"You love your husband at least! Mine is going around, trying to turn Draco against me. Just because I don't think going around dissing muggles all the time is a good idea," the Malfoy woman scoffed. "I miss being a teenager."
"I do, too," Narcissa agreed. "I used to snog the whole of Hogwarts. I used to have fun. Like, Hector's nice and I love him, but he's just never been good at snogging, or at shagging. I'm super good at it!"
"I'm loving the confidence, Cissy!" Lyra cheered, grabbing the new shot the bartender put in front of her and downing it quickly. "I wish I had confidence. I literally have none left. Like, the only good thing in my life was Draco and now he's slipping away because... because Lucius is a git!"
"Yes, he is! Screw him, you're better off without him!" someone called out from nearby, though probably not knowing what was going on. Drunk housewives going out to a bar on Thursday nights usually showed solidarity.
"I miss him..." Lyra felt tears build up in her eyes. She wasn't even completely sure who she was talking about. Whether it was Draco or Sirius or Remus or James, she had no idea. She supposed it fit any one of them.
"Wait, who?" Narcissa frowned. She didn't think she could be talking about Lucius, but that's who made most sense according to how their conversation had been going.
"I don't even know! All of them!" Lyra exclaimed. She sniffeled as she sobbed onto the bar counter, thinking about how pathetic she looked, crying about someone, and she didn't even know who. "I miss him so much, Cissy!"
"I'm sorry, Lyra!" Narcissa started to cry, having a feeling about who the conversation actually was about, even if Lyra's internal dialogue didn't want to admit it in fear of more tears. "I didn't want Bella to do those things to you! I'm sorry you're not happy because of me."
"No, no, it's not your fault," Lyra assured her, reaching out to grab her hands, though they both looked comical with their dramatic crying. "I don't want to talk about it because I'll just start crying even more and I really don't need to cry anymore."
"Alright, you're both cut off," the bartender said as he approached them from the other side of the counter. Them sitting around and crying was not good for business as people didn't seem to want to walk up to the bar. "And get out of here! I don't need crying middle-aged women on a Thursday. Business is usually bad enough."
"Merlin, another person who doesn't want me! Just what I needed," Lyra muttered bitterly. She didn't want to go home to Lucius. She stuffed her hands in the pocket of her coat, only to feel a piece of paper.
She frowned as she looked at it, realizing that an address had been written on it. Her eyes widened as she realized it was the same coat she'd been wearing that night in the Shrieking Shack.
Before they got there, Remus written down his address so they could talk that summer, but she had forgotten to reach out with all the family drama. He must have thought she'd forgotten about him.
"Fine! We'll leave, but because we want to!" Lyra yelled in the bartender's face, who didn't seem to care. She looked at Narcissa, ready to tell a lie. "We should both get home, you know. Apparate away."
"You're not apparating in the condition you're in," the bartender broke in, knowing that they'd most likely get themselves splinched and sent to St. Mungo's. "I've got a fireplace and some Floo Powder. I trust you're sober enough to say where you're going."
Narcissa seemed offended at the idea of them not being sober. "Of course we are, sir! Let's show this moron how it's done, Lyra!"
▹▹▹
Lyra had waited for Narcissa to use the fireplace first, so that she wouldn't hear where she was going. She wasn't going to Malfoy Manor, she could say that much. No, she was going to visit an old friend.
It was in the middle of the night, but Remus had been up reading late when she suddenly appeared in his fireplace, falling flat on her face once she appeared. He jumped in surprise, his eyes wide. "Lyra?"
"Hullo, Remus! Good to see you, mate," she croaked out, though still lying with her face on the floor. She moved her head so she could look up at him. "Right, so I'm on the floor and I need some help getting up. Would you be a dear?"
"Merlin, Lyra, are you drunk?" Remus sighed, looking quite disappointed. He had understood when they got drunk as teenagers, he had been quite wild at those parties himself, but they were in mid-thirties by now.
"No, I'd never be drunk," she rolled her eyes, obviously drunk. She smiled sweetly up at him. "A little help, please?"
He grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up to stand in front of him, though still a bit wobbly. "Lyra, it's in the middle of the night. You should be at home. Haven't you just dropped your son off for school?"
"Well, yes." Out of nowhere, Lyra suddenly started crying uncontrollably. "But I don't want to go home, Remus. Lucius sucks so much! And now he's turning Draco againt me. Draco hates me now and he's always going to hate me. I don't know what to do!"
Remus looked a bit concerned at how little she seemed to want to go home, but he also wondered if she was just being a hysterical drunk. "I'm sure Draco doesn't hate you. I don't see how he could."
"You hate me!" she sobbed, causing him to clench his jaw, annoyed at still having to take care of an emotional Lyra, like he was a teenager. Some things never changed, he supposed.
"We've been through this, Lyra," Remus said reassuringly, putting his hands on each of her shoulders to make her look into his eyes. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you, no matter what's happened."
She sniffled, leaning forward to rest her head on her chest. He felt forced to have to wrap his arms around her shoulders, even if he was wearing a relatively new shirt and didn't really need the tears stains on it. But, he supposed, that it could be worth it for Lyra. "Did he hate me?"
He frowned. "What? What are you talking about?"
"James." Her voice broke as she said his name. "Did he hate me when he died? Because I loved him so much but he had every reason to. I broke his heart and I lied to him just because I was a stupid kid who thought I could protect him. It was war, I couldn't protect anyone."
"I think we need to get you to bed," he said quietly, not really sure how to answer that question. He couldn't imagine James ever hating her, but he didn't want to have this conversation with her when she was drunk.
"No, no, I don't need to sleep. I'm not drunk!" she whined, while he continued trying to push her towards a room. She kept falling over as he did so. She wasn't sure if she had ever been so drunk before.
It took some struggle, but Remus was finally able to make her lie down in his bed. He was planning to sleep on the couch now, of course. She was still crying, not seeming close to stopping. "I miss him, Remus. I loved him and now I just miss him."
It broke his heart to see her like this. He hadn't ever thought about how hard James's death had hit her all those years ago, being too focused on his own grief. He frowned, leaning over to tuck her in properly. "Get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow."