CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MONSTERS LIVED AMONG THE PEOPLE. They had adapted over millennia to camouflage themselves, hiding as integrated parts of society to avoid capture. You may ask who the monster is in this situation—it's Lyra herself. A girl who wore her lineage like armor, cloaked in the sinister reputation of her family name. Slytherin, through and through.
"Happy Birthday!" the common room erupted around her, the voices of her housemates bouncing off the stone walls like a horde of banshees. Lyra blinked, pulled back from her brooding thoughts, and found herself in the center of a celebration.
"You're finally fourteen, which means I can sleep with you," Nott quipped, rubbing his hands together with a leer that suggested he was only half-joking. He waited for Lyra to accept his crude request, but she only rolled her eyes in annoyance. Was that all boys ever thought about? Getting their dicks wet? She grew tired of the chatter, wanting nothing more than to open her damn presents and head to Honeydukes with her friends. Every month, they pulled the same trick—claiming they were candy tasting for some summer wedding and showing the owner, Mr. Flume, a forged wedding note . Different signatures each time, so he wouldn't get suspicious. Somehow, the old man always fell for it. She felt no sympathy for tricking him; after all, it was free candy.
"You will do no such thing," Draco's voice cut through the noise like a blade, his cold grey eyes locking onto Nott. "Not when I'm around."
Ever since that night—one no one talked about—Draco had become almost insufferably protective. Every two hours, he'd check up on Lyra, ensuring she was alright. Every night, he'd hand her a sleeping draught prescribed by Madam Pomfrey, hovering just outside her dormitory door until she drifted off.
"Wow, Draco, never knew you wanted me," Nott shot back with a smirk, his voice dripping with mock sympathy. "There's enough of me to go around, people, but sorry, I'm only into girls, mate." He patted Draco's shoulder, and a few of their housemates laughed at his sarcastic jab.
"Get your filthy hands off me," Draco sneered, shrugging off Nott's hand with a look that promised violence. Even though Nott was his friend, Draco would think twice about beating the living daylights out of him if he crossed that line.
"All of you twats, shut up!" Lyra snapped, exasperation dripping from her voice. "I want to open my presents!"
Gifts were handed over—a variety of sweets like sugar quills, jelly slugs, and squeaking sugar mice, which started to squeak loudly when she tried to eat them. There were also practical gifts like parchment paper, quills, and a Slytherin mug. From Zonko's Joke Shop, there were a few gags, and from Tracey, a copy of "Little Women," as she adored Muggle literature. There was even an album from her favorite wizarding rock band, Celestina Warbeck.
"I didn't know you liked them?" asked Charlotte, watching Lyra unwrap the gift. She moved closer, enveloping Lyra in a hesitant hug that was, at first, awkward but soon tightened into something more genuine.
"I do. You were just too busy reading books with dust on them to notice," Lyra retorted. "Last summer, Aunt Narcissa got us tickets to their show. We had to go all the way to Denmark for it."
"So that's where you two went," Draco interjected, recalling the time his mother and cousin had disappeared early one morning without explanation. "Still mad that you couldn't bring me along."
"Auntie bought you a bloody Sneakoscope the day after. Stop being a brat, Draco," Lyra exasperatedly shot back. A Sneakoscope was an enchanted device that lights up, spins, and emits a whistling tone when sensing an untrustworthy person within range. Lyra had tried using it on Snape once, and it nearly made her ears bleed.
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FLUORESCENT ADOLESCENT ► harry potter ¹
RomanceFLUORESCENT ADOLESCENT | "Everything's in order in a black hole. Nothing seems as pretty as the past though" ━━he stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even with...
