Heaven ϟ MARAUDER ERA ϟ

ONE

EIGHT YEARS LATER

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black seemed unusually quiet. Without Walburga Black screaming hostilities at her two eldest children, the house was left hovering over an air of pain and silence. Lyra Black was staring up at her ceiling, trying to calm herself. Once again, she had gotten in a fight with her parents. Of course, that resulted with Sirius joining in as well and all went to hell after that. She tried to keep her arms still from the violent tremors that pained her to the core as she remembered the agonizing torture that ran through her body as the Cruciatus curse hit her. 

One more week, Lyra thought, only one more week here until I get back home. 

She couldn't help but think of all the friends she missed when she traded the comfort of Hogwarts for the misery that had been her summer. The only thing that had help her keep the small ounce of sanity she had left was her twin brother. However, even Merlin himself could not have protected her against the vile rage of her lunatic mother. 

The loud sound of clumsy knocks against her bedroom door woke her up from her daydreaming. A bright grin forced itself on her rosy lips as the dorky face of the one and only Sirius Black emerged inside her room.

"Hey." The black haired boy whispered, trying his best to conceal his concern for his sister behind his signature smirk.

"Hey." She murmured in response, shuffling to the side of the bed so that she could make some space for the fifteen years old boy. He quickly joined her, silently laying next to his sister as they both stared up at the ceiling, not daring to utter a word. Although, it did not last long as after several minutes, the quiet seemed to have taken its toll on the impatient boy.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, his eyes fully displaying his worry for the young girl. She tried to talk but the words seemed stuck inside her throat. She nodded, but even a blind man could have known that it was a blatant lie. At that moment, Lyrabelle Black was anything but fine.

Sirius' frown deepened as he took notice of the tears who found themselves over her grey orbs, filled of resentment. He always hated how useless he felt everytime his mother took her anger out on his sister. He was supposed to be her brother, her protector. He was supposed to be the one to keep her safe, but as he looked at the broken girl in front of him, he realised just how much he seemed to have failed her. In the Black household, Sirius was truly powerless.

"Look on the bright side," Sirius nodged his sister's shoulder teasingly as he whispered in her ear. "there's only a week left until you get to see your precious Moony again!"

Lyra gave out a small uncomfortable laugh at the thought. For some reason, Sirius Black thought there had to be something going on between the shy werewolf and his sister. Of course, they had grown extremelly close over the years they spent at hogwarts together, but Lyrabelle knew that there was no way in Hell there was ever going to be something more than simple friendship between her and Remus Lupin. However, no mather how many times she tried to convince her brother, he simply would not hear it. It's not like she could give him a good reason why not. Remus was handsome, smart and unbelievably kind, but there was just something about him that made it so Lyrabelle knew she could never fall in love with him. 

She had still yet to admit it to herself why that might be.

So instead of arguing with her brother she simply laughed and shoved him away.

"Idiot!" She grinned at the boy as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. 

And so the tension between them broke as they just layed there for hours, talking and laughing. Imagining that they weren't prisoners in this world, that they could be apart of a happy family where they could really be themselves. For a moment they forgot about the darkness that was taking over the wizarding world, forgot all about the responsibilities they would have to hold up to the next day. They were simply Sirius and Lyra, normal brother and sister. In that second, nothing could hold them back. Of course, Lyrabelle was not naive enough to let herself believe that this moment would last, but just for tonight, she let herself fall asleep on her brother's shoulder feeling as if she could conquer the world the next day.

-_-_-

Lyrabelle couldn't hold back the sigh of relief the let out as she stepped aboard the Hogwart's express. She looked at her brother, who was looking back at her with the same grin glued to his face. They were both thinking the same thing.

Freedom.

They made their way through the compartment until they found their usual spot, which seemed to be already occupied by a messy-haired boy and another slightly taller boy reading a book by the window.

"Padfoot, my love!" The messy haired boy wailed loudly as soon as his eyes perceived her brother.  She rolled her eyes as they dramatically embraced each other as if they had been long lost lovers. "Oh, how i missed you!"

"Oh Prongs! How we are finally reunited!" Sirius Black and James Potter had always been the biggest drama queen the school had ever seen, so it was no surprise that their little show kept going for another few more minutes.

Ignoring the boys, Lyra slipped into the compartment and took a seat besides Remus, who closed his book slowly as he gave her a smal smile. 

"Hello Remus," she smiled. Out of all of the Marauders, she was certain that Remus was her favourite. "How was your summer?"

"It was quite alright, I didin't do much though. We had to cancel our usual camping trip because mum was too sick though." She smiled sadly at him. Hope Lupin was surely one of the kindest woman she had ever met, and it pained her soul that the poor muggle woman was suffering from such a terrible illness that only seemed to be getting worst. She honestly did not quite know how to respond to what he had admitted to her so she offered him a small comforting hug. 

"Well I for one am excited to be heading back to school!" She announced proudly as a mischevious grin etched his was onto her face. "I believe this year will be the best we've ever had."