Sky full of stars {Harry Potter Fanfiction}

10. Silent Night

Fred and I had to separate when moments later George and Sasha burst in, announcing it was lunch time. 

"I wish it wasn't lunch time," Fred said grumpily. 

"Oh come on, it's Christmas..." I giggled, giddy with what had just happened. 

Fred gave me a smile that shone like sunlight. "We'll talk about this later, I promise."

With a spring in my step we headed down to the Hall to have some lunch, on what was turning into the best Christmas ever. 

All twelve Christmas trees glittered and bounced with lights and soft Christmas songs played from a gramophone as we helped ourselves to the greatest Turkey dinner I'd ever eaten.

Harry and I pulled some wizard crackers together, and I ended up winning a light green 1940's style hat, while Harry won a Wizard's chess set on another occasion. Drinking buck's fizz and singing muggle Christmas songs with Sasha, I felt particularly merry.

I was almost impatient for lunch to end, so I could talk to Fred. He kept giving me coy smiles across the table and he was driving me nuts. He liked me! He liked me---would this mean we would start dating?

Halfway through Christmas pudding, I noticed Dumbledore get up from the staff table and head towards the main doors. All us remaining students looked up in interest, as a woman entered the hall. The woman was wearing a thick travelling cloak obscuring her face from view.

Uninterested, I carried on eating until I heard Sasha shriek: "Mum?"

I almost choked on my Christmas pudding—Mum was indeed the woman in the cloak--which she unfastened--she wearing a Reindeer jumper underneath and a guilty smile.

Sasha and I jumped to our feet, lunch abandoned. Even though I was still rightfully pissed off at mum, I still flew into her arms with Sasha for a well-needed hug.

"My girls," her voice sounded thick. "I missed you so much."

"We missed you too," Sasha said, though there was an edge to her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Lyra," mum turned to me with a guilty smile. "I understand how hurt you must be, Lyra. But please—can we talk somewhere?"

I hesitated, a million different thoughts whirring through my head but I found myself saying. "Yeah,"

Sasha mumbled she'd find us later, and returned to the Gryffindor table, talking furiously to Fred and George. Mum and I exited the hall, and found a little alcove by a window to sit and talk.

I felt awkward, something that I never felt around my mum. She surprised me as her eyes filled with tears and she said, "I'm so sorry, Lyra. I'm so sorry I kept it a secret from you."

Shifting awkwardly and sitting on my hands I asked, "Why though? I've had people in school saying mean things. I would have liked to be prepared. And you know, not hero-worship a man I thought was good."

Mum's eyes filled with tears. "Your father and I got together when we were fourteen and had Sasha when we were seventeen. He was my everything—he was so loving, and passionate and he didn't hesitate to stick around for Sasha for a moment--even with how young we were. He and I were very involved in an organisation called the Order of the Phoenix, a group against Voldemort."

"You were in freedom fighter group?" My eyes lit up. "That's so cool."

Mum nodded. "We were, and so were Harry's parents, Remus and our friend Peter. Sirius always got so involved—he believed in stopping Voldemort. He was a good man. The opposite of the stories you've been told."