Upside Down Mirror: Free Falling (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Quick Step

At first, finding the diadem brought about a rather positive feeling, a feeling of getting closer to a goal, yet at the same time, something clicked in Lyra's mind.

Everything around her was real, something she'd realized the moment she found herself in the world, yet there was one thing which didn't quite register in her mind until the moment they found the diadem, and that was the fact the threat of Voldemort was quite real and quite scary. Being in a world where magic existed and creatures such as trolls and whatever that five-legged creature in the cupboard happened to be was quite scary, rather than being the elating revelation, she'd read others online say it would be.

"I'd be in..." so many would comment, "if I were to be sorted at Hogwarts," but never was there a thought regarding the real-world consequences of being a witch or a wizard, let alone the fact things wouldn't be all fun and games. Even as they searched, Lyra didn't ever feel as if being there was fun, though she did feel safe around Regulus.

Regulus, one person whom the books never went into much detail beyond what Sirius said about him, or the story Kreacher related to Harry Potter regarding how he died trying to do the right thing, made her feel safe, yet the actual knowns from the book made her very much feel afraid.

Or perhaps feeling afraid wasn't the right way to describe how she felt.

In the back of her mind, as they walked back to Dumbledore's office, the diadem clutched in Regulus right hand, Lyra couldn't help but think about the cruel things that Sirius said to his younger brother. She remembered a point in the books where Sirius claimed that his grandfather received the Order of Merlin because he paid a large amount of money to the ministry, yet she saw those words reflected in his comments just now.

The way Sirius spoke, he sounded quite convinced that finding the diadem was because Arcturus wanted to buy the Ministry of Magic off so that Regulus wouldn't have to face any criminal activity because of his time as a Death Eater. At that moment, she wanted to say something, to correct him, only for Regulus to shake his head, indicating he didn't want Lyra to point out that Sirius was wrong.

When they arrived back at Dumbledore's office, they waited in silence with Sirius glaring at the wall while Regulus stared at the floor which in turn made her want to say something even more, yet when she opened her mouth, nothing came out; her thirteen-year-old mind didn't know what she should say to a stubborn adult whose mind appeared quite set regarding something.

Thankfully, they didn't need to wait long, but Remus and James, much to the irritation of one Sirius Black, seemed to have enjoyed their mission a whole lot more. Arcturus took one glance at the diadem in Regulus' hand and said, "Well, I see that went well." He then looked Lyra in the eye and then said. "Or perhaps not."

Remus and James looked at each other, then at Sirius. Remus cleared his throat. "So?"

"Well. Did he give you any ideas regarding what they're up to?"

"Well, no. We just searched for the object," James said. "You know that Dumbledore..."

Sirius gave him a glare which made James stop speaking, but Arcturus cleared his voice. "Well. We'll be heading back, but Lyra dear, if you'll go through first. Lunch is waiting for us back home."

"I hope you two weren't hoping to get invited to lunch," Sirius muttered as Lyra glanced back, right before going through the Floo. From the drawing-room, which didn't have a tapestry-like Grimmauld did, she headed down to the dining room where she found Andromeda and her family waiting for them.

"How did it go?"

"I don't know. Sirius was there."

"Uncle Siri?" Tonks piped up, a smile on her face.