Feathers: The tale of the forgotten Marauder

Chapter 2

Lyra sits in between Lily and Marlene, whilst James sits between Remus and Sirius. The entirety of the marauders were all cramped into one compartment but it was as fun as Lyra had hoped. Almost a quarter way through the ride, some people swapped seats, Lyra moved next to the window and Remus came and sat next to her.

Everyone played a few games of Exploding snap, which caused some near accidents in such a cramped space. The trolley lady came along with sweets and, James being James, brought some of everything. The sky started to turn a navy blue and the twinkling of stars started to appear.

After such a busy day already, Lyra ended up falling asleep on Remus' shoulder. Remus didn't mind though, he'd come to think of Lyra as a younger sister. He notified the rest of the marauders that Lyra was asleep and everyone continued to have a hushed discussion so that they didn't wake her up.

Soon enough, the scarlet steam engine was close enough that Hogwarts came into view. James slowly shook Lyra's shoulder to wake her up. As she rubbed her eyes, Lyra looked around at the others trying to get into their robes.

"What's going on?" She asked in a slightly groggy voice. James turned to look at her and smiled as he handed her her robes.

"We're five minutes away from Hogsmede, you need to change." He replied as he put his case back on the overhead rack.

Once she had changed into her robes, Lyra joined the other marauders in getting transported from Hogsmede to Hogwarts. They all made it to the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table, ready for this year's sorting ceremony.

The welcoming feast went quite quickly and after a few announcements from Professor Dumbledore, they all followed their respective prefects back to their common rooms. The marauders made their way back to Gryffindor common room and the girls and boys went to their dormitories.

When Lyra, Marlene, Dorcas and Lily got to their dormitory, they made sure that the door was shut before catching up about the summer. Joining Lily on her bed, Lyra sits with her hands in her lap waiting for someone to start.

"Well my summer was about as basic as you can get. Nothing exciting really." Marlene stated with a smile. Once the conversation started, it didn't stop. However, Lyra didn't say much about her summer at home...it might sound like it was pleasant but some things just didn't settle with her.

"I spent most of my summer reading and just hiding away in my room. That's about it really, other than studying the stars every night." Lyra commented. Lily, Dorcas and Marlene all smiled.

"That's a typical day for you Lyra. You hardly ever leave the library unless it's to cause mischief with the boys." Lily replied. She didn't like the idea that Lyra was part of the pranks and stunts that the boys made.

"The mischief helps me escape from all the stress Lily. And besides it's not that bad, I mean if we get caught it's only ever by Minnie and she doesn't tell our parents anyway." Lyra responds with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"You really have spent too much time alone with them. Professor McGonagall doesn't tell on your parents because she knows the amount of stuff that goes on in Sirius' family let alone anyone else's." Lily states with a resigned tone.

The marauders are always up to mischief, well that is to say the boys in the marauders. Lily, Dorcas and Marlene tend to avoid it, but Lyra likes to join in on the odd occasion. For her, the mischief distracts her from everything else in life.

Lily really wasn't happy when she found out that Lyra had joined the other boys in becoming an animagus illegally. She had a good reason for it at the time, it was just one that she had been sworn to secrecy about.

"Listen Lily, you're the only one that makes a big deal about this every year. Marlene and Dorcas let me go about my business and they don't seem to care what mayhem I get into." Lyra says slowly as she goes back over to her bed and sits down next to her pajamas.

Even though she'd had a nap on the train, Lyra still felt as though she hadn't slept in weeks, it was strange as generally she feels full of energy. Dorcas could see the fatigue etched on Lyra's face and decided that was her cue to end the conversation.

"Listen, it's our first night back and I think we all need some rest, we can continue this tomorrow." Dorcas says calmly, giving Lyra a small nod.

With that said, Lyra gets into her pajamas with the other girls and pulls her duvet up over her as she lays in bed. Almost instantly, Lyra fell asleep when her head touched the pillow.