Secrets of Slytherin

Chapter 3: Clearing The Air

The morning came very quickly to Lyra as she hadn't slept a wink all night. All night she stared up at the ceiling, thinking of what her vision could possibly mean. She was sure of two things. One, the storm clouds and eclipse were definitely linked somehow. The second, something dark, was headed to Hogwarts. Lyra groaned slightly as she rolled out of bed. She had arisen before the other girls in her dorm. She quickly changed and quietly stepped out and made her way to the heart of the Slytherin common room. Some students were already awake, getting their supplies in order for the start of their first day back. She noticed Imelda with the new first years, and from the looks of it, she was doing what she did best. Which was intimidating others. Lyra couldn't help but giggle when she saw one of the first years accidentally drop one of their books caused by themselves shaking. She made her way over to the lounge area and took a seat on one of the emerald green sofas, facing the three large windows to the black lake. She became lost in thought as a flash of the vision came in her mind again. The crown she had seen. It wasn't any sort of crown that seemed of this time period. This land even.

"Trouble sleeping?"

Lyra's mind came back as she turned and saw Ominus walking towards her. There he went, doing it again. She found an unusual comfort in his gift though.

"You could say that." Lyra said as she yawned and scooted over to make room as he sat down next to her. "Is Sebastian not awake yet?" She asked, puzzled as she did not see her lover with his best friend.

"He's awake. He's writing to Anne. First day and all." He said in a slight sad tone. "He isn't taking well the fact that she might not be here for their final year at Hogwarts. This school was everything to them."

"I know. He puts on quite a convincing act, but deep down he's hurting. I thought about writing to Anne myself a couple times. Try to get a second point of view. But I fear I'd only make things awkward." She said in a defeated tone. "I just want him to be happy."

Ominous grinned a bit. "Well in all things, you trying to make him happy hasn't always helped. I know you mean well, and you do bring out the absolute best in Sebastian, but do not do anything that could bring them even more apart. I myself am still in my thoughts about our fifth year, actually."

Lyra thought back to their time in the Feldcroft Catacomb. She and Sebastian had found the ancient relic, created by Salazar Slytherin, that reverses dark magical curses, which in turn could cure Anne. But when they did find it, Ominus was there to stop them. Before they could duel, Lyra stepped in between and spoke with Ominus. She convinced him that she could cast the Imperius curse on him, safely moving Ominus out of the way, and they could continue with their quest. Lyra has had that guilt with her since they left Ominus in the catacomb that day. "I really am sorry, Ominus." Lyra said, placing her hand on his shoulder. Ominus looked in her direction and smiled softly. "I know."

Before anymore could be said, the two saw their favorite Slytherin walking towards them. Lyra and Ominus scooted opposite ways so Sebastian could be in the middle. He wrapped his arm around Lyra, bringing her in close as he kissed her head.

"Good morning, beautiful." He said, smiling down at her.

Ominous made a semi-disgusted face before laying back a bit and resting his eyes. "You two are just adorable." He said in a sarcastic yet joking tone.

Sebastian ignored his best friend's remark with a smirk and looked back at his girlfriend. "Are you ready for our final first day?"

"I think so. I'm pretty sure I have all the supplies I need. Wish I still had that special treatment though, back in my fifth year, when I got free supplies." She said with a pouty face.

Sebastian snickered. "Well, from time to time we still get free butter beers, so that's something."

The three laughed softly before Sebastian and Lyra saw the other students starting to head out. And with that, the three of them rose and followed their fellow students out of the common room and off to class. On their way, they ran into the other two members of their family, Natty and Poppy. They all joined together and talked as they walked to their first class, which was one of their favorite classes, Defense Against The Dark Arts. The day seemed to go by fairly quickly. In DADA, they practiced their dueling spells, but could not use protego to shield themselves. They had to dodge all together to keep themselves protected, as in many magical fights, sometimes protego won't always protect you. The rest of their classes were a bit more lax than DADA. In their history of magic class they discussed binding rituals and releasing rituals, in astronomy all they discussed was the upcoming eclipse, in transformation class they transformed a rat into a goblet. Garreth ended up halfway transfiguring his goblet, ending up with the goblet being furry, and having a rat tail. Their final class was charms. This was Lyra's favorite class, as charms class is where she met her family. Today they learned the charm, Enervate, the charm that restores consciousness. Leander ended up being the demonstration. It was very funny seeing him get knocked out. After classes were finally done, the gang headed to the Belltower courtyard. They made their way towards the fountain and all took their places, Sebastian and Lyra holding each other on the fountain, Natty took a seat next to the slytherin couple, and Poppy and Ominus sat on the ground in front of the three.

"Did you see Leanders face as he went down?" Poppy asked as they sat. "I wish we could have seen that in a slower motion!"

The group laughed at Poppy's question, as Leander made it far too easy to tease.

"Remember back in our fifth year when he and Sebastian dueled and he almost had that dragon skull crush him?" Ominus said with a slight chuckle. "I wish I could have seen that for myself."

Sebastian snickered. "One of my best duels here." He said, extending his arms out a bit, showing off.

Lyra snickered as she laid her head back against Sebastian's chest and bathed in the sunlight. "I remember when he gave me a tour of the gardens in herbology. That duel had him shaking the whole time. I think you scare him to be honest."

"Oh, he absolutely does. I notice sometimes as we're walking he actually turns around hoping not to be seen!" Natty chimed in, giggling. The group joined in on the giggle fest.

The group hung out for a while until the sky slowly began to darken. Storm clouds began rolling in from the distance, green lightning flashing. Natty and Poppy looked at each other in confusion and then towards the rest. Lyra stared at the storm, that feeling arising in her again.

"That is actually perfect timing. Lyra and I have a little mission we're on and we need your help." Sebastian said, looking around at the group. Natty and Poppy looked at each other again and smiled. "We're in!" Poppy said in an excited tone. They all then looked towards Ominus.
"You're all looking at me aren't you."

"Yep." The four said together.

Ominous chucked quietly and nodded. "I'm in."

"Excellent!" Lyra smiled and sat up straight. "And we have the perfect location to meet. We'll discuss everything there. If you're alright with that Ominus?"

Natty and Poppy looked at each other again in confusion as Ominus stood up and brushed the grass off his robes. " I think that would be a great idea."

Sebastian and Lyra smiled at each other and looked back at the two confused girls. "Meet us in the Defence Against the Dark Arts tower tonight and all will be revealed." Sebastian said as he and the rest stood up. They all looked over at the storm clouds one more time as they have gotten closer now.

"Do you think it will be dangerous?" Poppy asked with a hint of worry.

Lyra thought about the question for a moment. It would absolutely be dangerous, but she knew with all of them combined, they could face anything. "We will try our very hardest to avoid it. And hopefully, we'll get some answers." And with that, they all walked back in and to their houses, awaiting nightfall.