Feathers: The tale of the forgotten Marauder

Chapter 18

The end of the term came quickly and soon enough James, Lyra and Sirius were on the platform with Mr and Mrs Potter. Christmas at the Potter's was always interesting. Especially if Sirius was over.

After the long car journey home, all three of them took their trunks up to the bedroom. Lyra's parents had put up an air mattress for Sirius, next to James's bed.

It was early evening by the time they had everything unpacked and they were downstairs for dinner. It was a typical winter meal, cottage pie. Lyra, Sirius, James, Mr and Mrs Potter were all sat around the table having a small conversation.

The evening seemed to last forever, her parents wouldn't let them go upstairs before having a conversation. Once the three of them were finally freed from the never ending questions, they raced each other up the stairs.

"Last one up has to sleep in the bathroom!" James yells from the second step, Sirius close behind and Lyra at the back.

"That's not fair! You cheated!" Lyra laughs back, running in front of Sirius.

As they reached the landing, Sirius and Lyra tripped over each other's feet in a battle to not be last. Giving her a hand, Sirius helps Lyra up and they both walk through the doorway to find James sitting on his bed with a smug smile.

"Neither of us are sleeping in the bathroom Prongs, so don't even think about it." Sirius chuckled, dropping onto the air mattress.

"Shhhh! We don't need our parents to hear you mention our animagi names." Lyra whispers in a rush as she quickly closes the door to the bedroom.

Sirius glanced at James with a raised brow. He thought that it wasn't a big deal but James gave him a small nod. Sirius looked between James and Lyra again with wide eyes.

"Okay, I knew you did this illegally but you didn't even tell your parents?!" He gaped. The fact that he thought it was such a big shock raised a bit of confusion with Lyra and James.

"Do you really think our parents would let us continue being friends with Remus if they knew he was a werewolf?" James said slowly, leaning back against the wall where he was sitting on his bed.

Lyra moved across the room to her bed and sat on the end of it with her legs crossed under her.

"Our parents may seem like they are understanding on the outside but...it's very different when you grew up with them judging everyone you made friends with." Lyra explains with a small smile.

She shrugged slightly as James took control of the conversation. Walking out to the bathroom so she could change into her pyjamas, James made sure that she was gone before he said anything about their parents.

"She's experienced our parents judging her friends on countless occasions. They would stop coming over and talking to her at school. It made life difficult for her. Which is why she tries so hard to fit in with the Marauders." He explains, keeping his eyes on the door.

"That's horrible, your parents really did that?" Sirius mumbled with wide eyes.

He could understand the part about trying to fit in...and having parents not like your friends. His own parents did the same thing. Well, that is until he stopped caring about their opinion all together.

Lyra came back in and got under the covers on her bed. Sitting against her pillows, she grabbed the little chain that turns her lamp on and off.

"Mother said that it's time to go to sleep." She says with a smile.

"Can you turn off the main light please James?"

James turns off the main light after Sirius gets under his covers. Both the boys were already in their pyjamas. They had changed when Lyra left.

Turning off her lamp, Lyra led back in her bed, watching the shadows dance across the ceiling. She'd heard James explain everything to Sirius. It was not always her favourite thing to discuss.

That night, she couldn't sleep. Her thoughts were racing around her head and she couldn't clear them. Quietly turning on her lamp, she looks over at the boys. James is snoring and Sirius has his back to her. Taking a quick glance at the clock, the time reads 1:30am.

Tiptoeing downstairs, she enters the garden. It may be freezing but Lyra needed to experiment with a spell she had been working on. Finding an empty space, she wraps one arm around her body to try and keep the warmth in.

Steadying her wand hand, she silently casts the spell. A flash of white light knocks into her and her body falls limply against the frozen grass.

From inside the living room, Sirius had followed her down and kept an eye on her. In a rush of panic, he runs into the garden, the frost biting at his bare feet as he kneels down next to Lyra to check her.

Feeling for a pulse, he finds that she's at least alive but not awake. She was unconscious.

"Damn it Lyra." He whispered as he picked her up and carried her inside.

Making sure she was safely out on the sofa, Sirius goes upstairs to wake up the rest of the Potter household. This Christmas was off to a great start so far.