Style // Sirius Black

Chapter XVIII

The apex predator is the one species in an eco-system that not only hunts prey but lacks a being that hunts it. Without these factors, it's simply an alpha predator or near the top of the food chain. Sometimes they rule over the entire area however, only ever cowering under the weight of the previously mentioned apex predator. Typically, the apex predator doesn't have the need to flaunt its status and simply lives its life on the top.

Alpha predators, however, cannot let their guards down. One slip up can cause a chain of events to set off down the chain, throwing the entire area to collapse. Humans, or wizards in this case, are the apex predators of humanity. The only beings that hunt humans are other humans, hence the notoriety of humanity.

However, within the chain or society, there are those who have higher standing than others. In the normal world, those in power or celebrities have the highest amount of influence over the general population. But in some cases, the style of their power isn't necessarily the one needed to wield. Power can come in a variety of forms. It can be brute strength, magical or enhanced abilities, or simply having influence. There are apex predators within the race of apex predators that are humans.

What characterizes the alpha in humanity though? Is it the man standing on top of a podium with a hand controlling what he says like a puppet? Is it the people behind him that are using him like a marionette? Is it the people who voted him into power or those too scared to go against him? Or is it the young girl watching from home, born into a life of poverty and struggle? She watches and waits, letting that anger and annoyance at the current alphas and apex predators, until one day she's the one standing on a soap box, not a podium, shouting for change and gaining the attention.

Apex predators don't have to be big and burly lions. It can be a quiet and sly leopard cat, waiting for the moment when there's a vulnerability in its prey.

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Lyra laid silent as she stared at Regulus's sleeping figure next to her, his bare chest rising and falling in a false sense of serenity. She had tactfully slipped from his arms late at night and changed into pyjamas, not wanting to wake up and remember the actions she had been taking for the past week. Guilt sat heavy on her heart as she watched him sleep with such an innocence like a newborn kitten, sitting in front of a panther, thinking it as friend instead of foe.

It was only over the previous few days that Lyra had realized her own ulterior motives to their arrangement. She had believed it was to take down the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord at first, believing being on the inside would give her an advantage. It was only when she whispered sweet nothings into Regulus's ear that her true goal was to destroy the Black family, leaving them crushed at her feet like dust.

Perhaps it was wrong, using Regulus the way that she was. The younger Black brother had a kind soul, too kind for his own good. He was a sitting duck in the Black family dynasty, and Lyra was the vengeful alligator ready to leave the entire clan's blood in her wake. She wondered if it was because of their backwards morals that she wanted the family tree uprooted, or if it was because of the hurt they had caused the one name she knew to never speak in this house.

She'd always been a bit of a vengeful spirit, wanting to do right by those she loved. It was a backwards way of going about it and was stooping down to the lowest of lows, but Lyra didn't care. She had come to terms with the fact she could be labelled a wretched person in the eyes of thousands of people, even a traitor to others. She just knew that if the Black family continued with their horrid attempts at blood purity, more people would end up like Sirius. Broken, alone, lashing out on people he knew didn't deserve it.

When Regulus began to stir, Lyra slipped from underneath the covers and changed quickly into the outfits left out by Walburga for her. It was her final day at the Black family home before she'd return to the Potter manor and return to Hogwarts with her brother and Sirius. She hadn't been able to write James the entire time she was at Grimmauld place and Lyra wondered if he was worried about her. James was very much an anxious person so she could only assume that he was. It may have been twisted but she hoped it made him lose sleep.