The Great War • Marauders

Lyra Ophelia Carnell

Thursday 11th February 1960

The hospital room in St. Mungos was far from quiet. The screams of a newborn infant were bouncing around the four walls.

A man sits in a chair next to the hospital bed, which lies an exhausted woman having just gone through extraordinary pain, holding the newborn in his arms. The man, Redley Carnell, looks up at his wife with a watery smile. She doesn't smile back, having gone through 12 hours of labor.

She does however, hold out her arms to hold her beloved baby. "Go fetch the others," she tells him. "they should meet their baby sister"

As he left the room, the woman, Anona Carnell, looked down at her baby. She didn't know what to think. She should be happy, this is what she wanted. She couldn't help but feel like she made a huge mistake.

"Lyra Ophelia Carnell. I promise you, I will do my best to give you what you deserve." She whispered.

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Monday 9th May 1964

Lyra, now 4 years old, was awoken in the night by a thumping noise coming from the floor below.

She sat up in her bed, hesitating. She shouldn't go. Mummy and Daddy will be mad, she thought. She looked around the room with wide eyes, debating.

Another thudding noise coming from downstairs had Lyra climbing out of her bed, wanting to investigate.

It was only her parents, her brother Monty and herself in the house. Her sisters were away at Hogwarts.

Lyra climbs down the stairs nervously. She peered around the corner and sighed a breath of relief realizing it was just her mother.

"Mummy?" she asked quietly. Her mother turned around and acknowledged her sharply, as if she couldn't stand the sight in front of her. Lyra hopped off the bottom step and started towards her mother. "What are you doing up? You woke me."

"Go back to bed you stupid girl." Anona snapped. She smelled funny, Lyra thought. But then again this has been a regular occurrence for a while now that no one in the house seems to want to talk about.

Lyra watched as her mother picked up her belongings, which she hadn't noticed before, and made for the door. "Where are you going?" She asked nervously.

"Just go back to bed, Lyra. I'll be back in the morning." The door slammed behind her and Lyra was left standing at the bottom of the stairs. She runs to the window and watches as her mother walks across the lawn.

Her eyes wander around the room before zeroing in on a letter on the table. She hurries as quietly as she can and swipes the letter off the table. She can't read very well yet but she figured she'd try anyway.

Lyra went back upstairs to bed and spent all night trying to read her mother's note, to no success. When morning came, her mother hadn't yet come home and wasn't seen all day.

Lyra sat by the window of their house for weeks, waiting for any sign of her mother. She soon accepted that she wasn't coming back and that she was the last to see her mother before she had left.

She didn't tell anyone this though and she said nothing of the letter.

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Wednesday 1st September 1965

It's been over a year since Lyra's mother had left and it hasn't been easy for her. The letter had been tucked away down the side of her bed, long forgotten. She had waited for months for any scrap of news. Asking her father everyday if there was anything in the Daily Prophet saying that the missing witch had been found. It seems, though, that Anona Carnell did not want to be found. So she stopped asking.

Right now, she was clinging to her brother, Monty, on platform 9 and 3/4 not ready to say goodbye as he goes off for his first year at Hogwarts. "I don't want you to go!" she cried loudly. The five year old drew a lot of attention the the family of three and Redley sighed with a fond smile on his face.

They had been trying to stay in the shadows because her father couldn't stand the pitying looks from other wizarding families. After her mother left he had become more protective and loving, if that was even possible. The man turned to his son, "What house are you hoping for then?" he asked him with a small grin.

Monty put Lyra down, who ran in between her fathers legs, and looked at his aging father, "Well," he started. He bit his lip, pondering the question for a few seconds then smiled. "Well I was kind of hoping for Ravenclaw, to be honest with you."

The time had come and the train was off. Lyra sulked all the way back home, upset by the fact she not only couldn't see her mother but now her brother also.

"Now, now Lyra," Redley started, noticing her saddened expression. "We'll see him for Christmas, won't we?"

This seemed to cheer her up as she walked with a pep in her step the rest of the way home.

Sure enough, within a week there was a letter for both Lyra and her father from Monty back at Hogwarts. Lyra snatched her letter out of her father's hand and ran to her hiding spot, opening the parchment. It read:

Dear my darling Lyra,

Hogwarts is beautiful, it's just like something you find in those muggle fairytales you love so much. The ceiling of the Great Hall has been enchanted to look like the sky. It mirrors exactly what the weather is like outside! How cool is that?

It's barely been a week and I'm missing you and dad more than ever. I hope you're not too upset about me being gone. I promise I'll be home for Christmas and I can tell you about all my classes.

I hope you're not being too much trouble for poor old dad! His age is getting up there and it's a struggle for him to run around after you. I'm joking of course so don't tell him I said that.

I'm not going to tell you too much about my classes because I'm sure you'll find them boring but the housing ceremony was brilliant. I got into Ravenclaw like I wanted, isn't that great! They also give you way more food than you'll ever need but I guess the option for seconds is always there.

Don't miss me too much,
Monty

Lyra clutched the letter to her chest and fell asleep in her little cubby with a smile on her face.

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Yeah so I thought this would be fun. I created Lyra's character a long time ago and originally it was gonna be a Sirius x oc but I'm a wolfstar girly so that's now a no. I've been struggling to decide whether I wanna make this a romance or just a fun little story of Lyra navigating school and making friends. I guess I'll decide if it feels right as I go along.

Lyra is my favourite OC because she has so much backstory and I've worked really hard trying to perfect her character. I hope you guys grow to love her as much as I do!

- Ruby :)