INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Sixty-Three

The nightmares seemed to come to life the minute Lyra walked through her bedroom door in the Black manor. She looked at the carpet, wondering how they had gotten the blood out so easily when it had turned the white floor red. 

The blonde threw her trunk on the bed, though struggling to do so as it was always heavier than she anticipated. As she breathed heavily, she closed her eyes for a moment. The memories seemed to stream through her much more vividly than before. 

She just hated being in that house, especially in that room. It had once been her sanctuary from the world around her, but now it had turned into her worst nightmare. It did actually show up in most of her worst nightmares, who were all scarily detailed. 

Her hands started shaking as her breathing got even heavier, she was scared she was starting to hyperventilate, remembering the day her sister had turned her wand on her and uttered the incantation to the torture curse. 

"Lyra, sweetheart," a sweet voice said from behind her, which broke her out of her trance. She steadied her breathing as to not worry her mother, who had no idea what had happened that Christmas. "How are you?"

The younger blonde smiled hesitantly, trying to calm her nerves. Her parents didn't know she had been tortured, nor the reason why. If they found out about James, she didn't know what they'd do. "I'm fine, mum."

"Are you sure? You've gotten so thin," said Druella worriedly, leaning back to study her. She shook her head and spoke bitterly. "I wonder if that old fool Dumbledore is feeding his students enough at the school."

Lyra hadn't noticed herself, but she hadn't been eating properly for the last few months. She knew she should have, but she couldn't focus on her own self-care. "I just haven't had much of an appetite lately."

The mother didn't seem to know what to say, so she only smiled uncomfortably. "Well, let's hope you get it back. We'll have plenty of food for our feast dinner in a few days. We've got to celebrate you being home, which you so rarely are."

"Who's coming to that this year?" she asked, having forgotten about their annual Easter dinner. She wondered if Regulus was going to show up or if he was too busy with Rabastan. "You never mentioned."

"Well, Walburga and Orion are coming. I trust you know Regulus is away for the break," Druella confirmed before continuing. "Narcissa, Hector and Marcus, I think. Bellatrix and Rodolphus too."

"Oh, sounds good," the eighteen-year-old sighed in relief. Part of her had been worried that it would turn into some sort of Death Eater meeting, especially as it was so important for Bellatrix that she would come. "A family affair then."

"Well, Bellatrix is bringing one more guest," Druella revealed, looking somber.  "I don't know if you heard but Lucius Malfoy just lost his mother and the poor young man has no family to spend Easter with."

She hadn't heard about the death. While she had never been too fond of Lucius Malfoy, she still felt bad. But she was sure that wasn't the only reason he would be coming by. "That's horrible. Is that the only reason?"

Druella smiled at her, thinking she was much less naive than before which would she knew would help protect her daughter in the future. "Well, we've heard that he's been gaining some position in the Dark Lord's ranks. Bellatrix is very eager to befriend him because of this."

Lyra had already known that, but it didn't make her feel any better about the dinner. "Oh, alright. Sounds good."

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Seeing her sisters for the first time since they had either tortured her or sat by and watched the torture was not an easy ordeal. Lyra wanted to run and cry, telling them that she was far from ready to talk.