Feathers: The tale of the forgotten Marauder

Chapter 8

There was a large sense of relief in the Hospital Wing, the marauders were very pleased to know that Lyra was okay. Once James had released her, Lyra managed to sit up against her pillows and the entire group had the longest conversation they'd had in a while.

The joy however soon got cut off, during their conversation they hadn't heard the doors open or noticed McGonagall standing a few steps away. She cleared her throat and gave James, Sirius, Peter and Lyra a glare.

"I need to speak with the four of you. Miss Potter, are you able to make your way to my office with the other three?" She says, there seems to be no sympathy in her voice...she is not messing around.

Lyra manages to get out of the bed and is okay walking. Her and the three boys make their way through the castle to McGonagall's office. She's scared, she wasn't awake when the other three got slightly told off that night when she was attacked.

The door opens and makes the most hideous creaking sound, once they're all inside, the door closes by itself. McGonagall sits behind her desk and folds her hands over each other. The four of them sit in front of her desk and wait for the criticism.

"What exactly compelled the four of you to do the most dangerous thing on this earth?!" Her voice was stable but her tone, oh her tone was as sharp as a knife and it hurt.

Nobody said anything and Lyra was about ready to leave the room. Her entire soul felt too exhausted to deal with any confrontation.

"Because we were trying to support our friend, why else?!" Lyra responds, slightly annoyed and definitely sarcastic.

McGonagall did not like the attitude.

"Miss Potter I do not appreciate the attitude nor the tone. It is a very dangerous thing that the four of you have taken upon yourselves." She says very slowly as the annoyance slowly builds.

"Well I don't appreciate being barely awake for less than an hour and being pulled into a meeting just so you can tell us off." Lyra snaps back.

The tension in the room is very strong and suddenly Lyra is stood up and about to leave the room. McGonagall isn't impressed and she locks the door from the inside.

"You will not leave until we have finished our discussion. It is highly illegal to be an animagus without registering with the ministry an-" McGonagall gets cut off as Lyra turns around.

"Do I look like I care?! I am trying to help a friend that has suffered enough with his lycanthropy in his childhood. If I hadn't been an animagus, Remus could have gotten much closer to the school. I am the scout out of all four of us. Deal with it." Lyra says through gritted teeth.

"I have been unconscious for nearly a week, I have a permanent scar on my arm, but that was because I chose to try and calm my best friend down. That is why I am a Gryffindor, because no matter the situation. I. Don't. Back. Down." Lyra is very much ready to throw a fit because she has had enough happen.

McGonagall at this point doesn't know what to say. She's speechless and quite frankly admires Lyra's bravery. She unlocks the door from her desk and Lyra walks out immediately. She believes that the others are going to be in the Hospital Wing still and she can hear James, Sirius and Peter behind her.

She was dying to have a mental breakdown but she didn't want the others to see. By the time she was outside the Hospital Wing, she had accidentally bumped into someone. When she looked up to see who it was, she backed up straight away.

Regulus looked at her and she just walked straight past him to grab her cloak from the bed. Once she had her cloak, she walked as fast as possible out to the grounds by the lake.  Her arm stung slightly and her head was a mess.

So much was going on in her mind and she felt slightly bad for shouting at Minnie like that. But what would you do if someone criticised the fact that you were standing up for your friend?

She sat at the edge of the lake with her knees pulled up to her chest. Because she chose to do the stupidest thing ever, she got hurt and endangered her friend's illegal identities.

What if Minnie tells the ministry? Or what if someone else finds out and reports them?

She was so lost in thought that Lyra hadn't heard someone come up behind her. When she turned around, she saw Regulus sat beside her, watching her.

"Are you okay?" He asks softly. That wasn't normal for Regulus. Lyra hadn't even noticed the small tears on her cheeks.

She quickly brushes them aside and looks at Regulus again.

"I'm fine, absolutely fine, nothings wrong at all whatsoever." She says quietly.

"You're not a very good liar, Potter. Do you need to talk?" He says with a small laugh. Not the sort that's making fun of you, the sort that's there to cheer you up.

"Can I have a hug?" She whispers.

He wasted no time in giving her what she needed. He knew how she felt, he'd been in the same position before. This time though, he was there for her. No one was there for him when he was like this.