How to be a Pureblood

Chapter 20

The next morning, Sirius awoke to the sound of an owl tapping the window nearest to Lyra's bed. He realized that the two of them were quite tangled up. Not having tied up Lyra's hair in the evening, it lay sprawled all over her pillow in a tangled mess. Subconsciously, Sirius gently moved some stray pieces of hair out of her face.  Trying not to disturb Lyra, which was a lot harder than he had expected, he crawled out of the bed. As his feet first touched the cold floor, he stretched his body with his hands above his head and sighed in content. He always felt great after having spent the night cuddled up with his best friend. That's what she was to him, his best friend. Nothing more.

He strutted over to the window and opened it swiftly. He did not recognize the tall eagle-owl that immediately stuck out its paw to him. Sirius untied the letter bound to its paw and quickly sent it off so he could close the window again. As he turned back around he noticed everyone was still sound asleep. Lily, with her long red hair tied in a braid, slept like the Muggles in their movies did, unmovingly perfect. Mary was the exact opposite. She had turned around completely in her bed and rested her head on the foot-end of her bed whilst straddling the sheets between her legs as if hugging someone. Marlene had taken permanent residence in Dorcas' bed so her own had been abandoned and turned into an extension of her wardrobe. The girls, who had not officially announced a relationship, lay curled up together in Dorcas' bed. Dorcas wore some sort of hat, "to protect her curls", as she had explained to him earlier that week and Marlene had her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. They looked incredibly comfortable and Marlene had an expression on her face which Sirius could only describe as 'peaceful'. If you knew Marlene McKinnon during her hours awake, you would know that 'peaceful' was not a word often used to describe her state of being.  On the other side of the room, Alice lay sprawled on top of her covers like a starfish, using as much space on the bed as she physically could. When he turned his gaze back to his favourite person, he met soft brown eyes, still glazy by the aftermath of sleep. He could not hide his grin as he crawled back into the warm bed.

"Good morning sunshine," Sirius smiled warmly at her. "Did I wake you?"

Lyra had just woken up to the sound of a window closing. She looked at Sirius as his eyes roamed the room, observing the group of girls he often called family. She rubbed her eyes and wiggled her toes to bring the life back into them. It was early in September and the weather hadn't been bad, but Lyra was often cold and therefore really appreciated Sirius' body heat during the cold night in the Hogwarts castle.

"Goodmorning Siri," Lyra managed to say through a yawn. "Don't worry about it."

Sirius grabbed her hands and rubbed them warm again. He knew that her body had issues maintaining its temperature. 

"An owl brought you this letter." Sirius waved the sealed envelope in front of her face.

As he did that, he observed it properly for the first time. It carried the Malfoy crest.

"Malfoy?" Lyra questioned after noticing the wax seal as well.

She opened the letter and quickly read through it. Sirius could see her facial expressions changing rapidly as Lyra read. She didn't seem very pleased with what she was reading. As she finished, her eyes grew wide in frustration and she handed the letter over to Sirius. She flopped back down onto the bed.

"Lucius wants me over for dinner at the Malfoy estate," Lyra groaned into her pillow.

Sirius skimmed through the long letter and looked back at Lyra.

"Just politely decline his offer," Sirius shrugged. "Say your parents won't let you go."

"He 'saved my life' at the Association's Meeting when my drink got spiked," Lyra groaned in frustration. "I can't decline his offer. Besides, knowing Lucius, he has sent a letter to my parents as well."