The Black Sheep | George Weasley

Fifty-One

No one really wanted to talk on the train ride home. It wasn't very jolly. They just collectively listened to the motion of the train and watched the countryside take over the landscape.

"Well, at least you two graduate, when is the ceremony?" Katie piped up with a wary smile.

"Um, the fifth of July." Alicia answered. "It sucks you have to repeat the year."

"Yeah, but it's probably for the best. It won't be the same without you two."

"We'll send letters." Lyra spoke up, Alicia nodding her head in agreement.

"So, is Andromeda meeting you at the station?" Katie asked.

"No, I told them I'd take the Knight Bus. I didn't want to bother them. I dunno who will come to my graduation."

"Everyone that matters." Alicia told her.

Lyra tried to nod her head, but it felt like her brain was made of lead. She leaned back in her seat and just listened to her friends talk. Things felt more bitter than sweet.

When they arrived at the station, students flooded out to their families. Lyra saw parents hugging their children close and longed for that. She wished to hug her mother and to hear that she's proud, but it was no use, she made her choices.

She waited for the crowd to die down before walking along the platform. She waved her friends goodbye and carried her things towards the barrier. Once she was on the other side, she sighed heavily. She started walking towards the exit. She stood by the curb while she waited for the purple bus. She was relieved not to wait long. The purple triple-decker bus swerved between a tight parking job and she paid for a simple bed and climbed aboard.

She held onto Ellie for dear life and felt like a rag doll being tossed around. They went at an insane speed and she actually screamed a few times when she was certain they were all going to die. When they arrived to the outskirts of the town Chobham, Surrey. She arrived at the foot of a pathway to a cute cottage. She felt her heart hammering in her chest with rising anxiety.

She walked up to the front door and knocked on it. Ellie get out a chirp, as if to ask why they weren't home. Lyra felt as if her mouth was completely dry.

The door opened to a older woman with long brown hair with half of it swept up. She had on a pink cooking apron. She looked so much like her older sister Bellatrix, if she had soft brown hair and heartwarming eyes.

"Hello dear! It's so good to see you, come right in!" Andromeda moved out of the way for Lyra to come in. It was a small corridor with the end being the kitchen. Lyra's nose was swarmed with the smell of baked goods. "It's not much, but it's home."

"It's lovely." Lyra replied, and she meant it, just like the Weasley home, there was something comforting about the space.

"You must be peckish, come, come." Andromeda led her to the kitchen where there was a counter you could sit at, a small intimate table sat in the corner of the kitchen. There was a backdoor to the back gardens as well. "Ted is staying at work a little later, he'll be here in a few hours, then we'll have supper. Dora will be here tomorrow. What time is the graduation?" She questioned Lyra as she set a plate of hot cookies and a glass of milk in front of the girl.

Lyra sat Ellie and her bag down and sat down to eat. "July fifth, the ceremony is at eleven-thirty. Snape said we may arrive by the floo network."

"Good, good." Andromeda nodded her head. "We'll be there of course, Ted and I. Nymphadora can't make it unfortunately, neither can Remus. But, George will be going, right?"

"Yes, and Fred." Lyra grinned. "Who is Remus?"

"Oh! Heavens me," she let out a giggle. "You remember Professor Lupin? Well, Nymphadora is with him now. He's a good man and she's happy."

She's dating a werewolf. Lyra imagined that was difficult. She just nodded her head. "Good for her."

"Now, I have no problem with George coming over, but I ask you leave the door open and if he stays over, he sleeps in the guest bedroom."

"Of course, Aunt Andromeda." Lyra replied. It was her house, her rules, no excuse fighting them, it wasn't like she wouldn't be able to shag George, she could just go to his flat.

"You'll be staying in Nymphadora's old bedroom. I'll show you it. You can get settled in while we wait for Ted."

Lyra followed her up the squeaky stairs to a room near the toilets, it had vibrant pink walls and small holes, showing posters once coated the walls. The bed was narrow and had a quilted duvet and a crocheted blanket sprawled at the end of the bed. There was a mirror with stickers on it and a closet that was opened and showed that it was empty.

After a few words, Lyra started unloading her trunk and put Ellie's cage on the short dresser while Andromeda went back downstairs.

"This is our lives now, Ellie, we can't go home. So you will have to learn to not be such a spoiled brat. No more personal owlry, you will have to live like a commoner." Lyra told her bird, who didn't like the sounds of being a commoner. "Too bad. I made my choice, I can't go back home. I'd be shagged by an old monster if I went back."

Things wouldn't be so bad. Lyra and Ellie would get a hang of this new life.

By dinner, Lyra sat at a quaint dining room table with her aunt and uncle. The quizzed her on her goals and ambitions. Uncle Ted cracked a few jokes about Professor Snape and asked Lyra simple questions, like her hobbies.

"Oh, I don't know if I have many hobbies unfortunately. I was forced into practicing the piano, but I mainly prefer reading. I hope to learn how to garden with my new found freedom, I did well in herbology after all." Lyra answered.

"I got some flowers that could use a helping hand." Andromeda injected with a grin. "We'll put you to work."

"Also a start of a gnome infestation." Ted sighed. "Damn things."

"They can be obnoxious little thing. I won't have you handle them, Lyra." Andromeda said warmly.

After dinner, Lyra politely offered to help, which Andromeda declined. She ushered her to take a shower and change into her night clothes. She also added that Lyra could have a few cookies before bed.

She did as she was told and took a hot shower in a small upstairs bathroom. She didn't mind it. She dried herself off with a towel that had 'Nymphadora' embroidered on it, along with hearts. When she was in her silk pajamas, she went downstairs to see Andromeda folding laundry while Ted and her watched TV. Lyra was fascinated by what she saw, moving pictures, but with sound! She walked into the room as a commercial came on about a cleaning product.

"Oh, that's a television, dear." Andromeda told her. "It has radio shows but with moving pictures. It's a muggle contraption. Ted demanded we have it and now we're addicted."

"Amazing! I want one when I get my own place." Lyra announced. "Why don't we have this? It's so cool!"

"Because it requires cable and electricity." Ted answered.

Lyra knew what electricity was, she wasn't stupid, but she didn't know what cable was. Finally a show came on. Lyra gasped as the actors talked to each other.

"They aren't in the box, are they?" Lyra asked.

"No, dear. It's a recording, it's able to play repeatedly. It's filmed with a camera and put on the screen. It's like a play and a radio show combined."

"I like that." Lyra muttered. She watched for a bit until the commercials started to bug her. She eventually went into the kitchen to get a bite to eat. She ate a few cookies, she quite enjoyed the rest of the day with her new family. She could hear Ted laugh from his reclining chair in the other room. Maybe everything will be okay.