There was always something strange going on at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There was a week when a couple of Hufflepuffs once swore that they would only talk backwards for a week, or when three Gryffindors tried to make their friend float for a full weekend (when Lyra heard about it, it didn't take long for her to figure out who those four were).

Yet it still caused gossip when three of the four boys of the popular Gryffindor gang supposedly were taking a vow of silence for a month. Whispering echoed through the halls, wondering why they were doing such a thing. 

Sitting in the Great Hall, Lyra watched as Sirius, James and Peter kept elbowing Remus to do something but he looked quite reluctant, shutting his eyes and groaning every two seconds. She had to suppress a smile so the Slytherins wouldn't notice. 

In the end, the other boys won. Remus, who looked tired and annoyed, stood up on the Gryffindor table and started yelling. "Could I have everyone's attention please? It's important."

The Hall went silent, everybody staring up at the blushing, sandy-haired boy. He awkwardly scratched the back of head, as James, Peter and Sirius tried to give him clandestine thumbs up, but everybody could see it. 

"So, I'm sure you've all heard that my friends, Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, are taking a vow of silence for a month," said Remus, trying to avoid the burning gazes of the confused teachers, and the sparkling amusement in Dumbledore's eyes. 

"I am here to explain why they would choose to do something like this," Remus sighed before clearing his throat. "As a protest of the treatment of muggleborns and muggles, they have decided to take away their great humor and gifts to the world for a month."

Lyra couldn't hold back her giggles as the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and a few Ravenclaws started applauding. Regulus looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she tried to hold it back, but she couldn't stop laughing. 

Because she knew the truth, and she thought they would come up with a better excuse than that. They were trying to hide the mandrake leaves they had to keep in their mouths for a month to create the potion that would eventually turn them into Animagi. 

"Yeah, so that will be all, we'd appreciate it if you stopped spreading rumors about why they're doing this, because we've heard them all and they're all wrong. Thank you," Remus finished his little speech, hurrying to sit down. The boys patted his shoulders, grinning. 

The Great Hall was abuzz with new whispers, discussing the newfound revelation. Lyra looked over to the Gryffindor table and made eye contact with Sirius. She raised an eyebrow and he winked at her. 

"I understand why you started laughing, Lyra," said Rabastan Lestrange from close-by, looking like he wanted to laugh himself but he was always far too collected to do something like that. He wasn't really her friend, but they knew each other. Their siblings were married, after all. 

Lyra furrowed her eyebrows as she turned to the handsome boy. "You do?"

Rabastan chuckled lowly, making a few of the nearby girls, including Lucinda Talkalot and Emma Vanity, eye him strangely. "I mean, how stupid can they get? Look at Sirius Black. How the mighty has fallen."

Lucinda giggled, twirling her chestnut-colored hair. "I agree, Rab." She ignored the strange look she received for the nickname. "To think he went from a respected member of the House of Black to just another blood-traitor."

"Well, I have to live with him," Regulus muttered, making a few people laugh. "He won't stop talking about muggles and blood-traitors. He's always trying to convince me that we're in the wrong. He does the same with you too, right, Lyra?"

All the eyes of the gang of Slytherins turned to Lyra, who seemed to debate her next words carefully. "I don't know. Once in a while he pulls me away and talks about it."

"Oh, poor Lyra," seventh-year Davey Gugdeon sighed, sending the younger girl a pitying smile. "Don't you patrol with his half-blood friend too? Lupin, right? I can't imagine going through that."

"Well, at least he's half-blood, he has some magical blood," Evan Rosier commented in distaste. "I'm the one you lot should be feeling sorry for. I'm patrolling with Evans. She's a mudblood for Merlin's sake."

"Being a prefect isn't all it's cracked up to be, eh?" Wilkes asked, chuckling to himself. Everyone knew he was only saying it because he was jealous Slughorn didn't make him prefect, when he thought the spot had been guaranteed. 

Evan still grinned, looking at Lyra with an uncomfortable stare. "Well, at least we've got each other, Lyra. Couldn't imagine surviving being a prefect if you weren't my partner."

Slightly disgusted, the blonde girl smiled tightly (and fakely), making eye contact with Emma Vanity. The seventh-year made a grimace as if gagging, turning Lyra's fake smile real. 

The Slytherins soon started focusing on their meals again, chatting among themselves absentmindedly, not discussing anything in particular. After a few minutes, even Evan stopped trying to bother Lyra and turned to talk to Wilkes. 

Regulus was looking at her strangely from her left, and eventually, his older cousin turned to him, raising an eyebrow in question. He didn't look away. "I have a stupid question. But can I ask you anyway?"

"Ask away, Reg."

"I've seen you talking to Sirius a lot, and I don't know..." the fourth-year trailed off, looking down for a couple of second. He then raised his chin proudly. "I just really need to know if it's just him who's pursuing this, or if you're doing the same."

Eyes wide, Lyra gaped. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Lyra..."

The Black girl glanced to the Gryffindor table where Sirius was eating quite carefully, probably to make sure he didn't swallow the mandrake leaf. She saw him grin widely at his friends, suppressing his normally howling laugh. 

She swallowed the lump in her throat and masked her emotions as she looked back at Regulus, awaiting an answer. "No, of course it's just him. I would never willingly associate with him more than I have to."

"Good," Regulus responded, relieved. "I was just thinking... you used to be close and now you have to spend so much time with Lupin, who's his friend. You can't be too careful, you know. I don't really want another family member to go away."

Sad, Lyra smiled at her younger cousin. She ruffled his hair affectionately, although he quickly fought to tidy it up. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

▹▹▹

Lyra had to admit that her patrols with Remus Lupin were her favorite part of the week. The one night a week where she could just chat and laugh with someone without worrying about saying the wrong thing or the entire population of Hogwarts would catch them acting friendly. The only thing that could go wrong was the fact that Evan and Lily were patrolling another part of the castle the same night. 

The two hadn't really talked much since the week before, though, when Lyra jinxed his best friend for insulting her, which she felt he deserved. But it still caused a bit of an awkward energy between the two. 

After a few minutes of silence after them greeting one another, Lyra turned to the much taller boy and smiled apologetically. "How's Potter? I feel a bit bad for jinxing him, I hope he's feeling better."

"You don't really care if he's doing better, do you?" asked Remus, who smiled a bit to show her he was only teasing. He felt like James had gone too far, even if Lyra had as well. They were both to blame. 

Lyra chuckled, running her fingers through her hair nervously. She shrugged. "You caught me, I don't really care much for you mates."

"Except for Sirius, that is," the sandy-haired prefect reminded her, grinning widely. Although him and Lyra hadn't known each other for very long, it felt good to know that not all of his friends disapproved of her, as Sirius pretty much couldn't. 

"Well, obviously," said Lyra. "But still, I do actually feel a bit bad for Potter. I don't usually go around jinxing people, no matter what he says. He thinks I go around hexing and cursing anybody who isn't a pureblood supremacist, but don't listen to him."

Remus glanced away awkwardly, as if a thought struck him. Lyra noticed the sudden change in his demeanor worriedly. "Remus, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, of course not," he assured, but still looking unsure. "It's just the things James said. I know you're not some big-shot pureblood supremacist, because then you wouldn't be talking to me like you are, considering I'm half-blood. But I don't know what you think, or what your values are."

The blonde hadn't prepared herself to have this conversation with Remus, she didn't like having it with anyone. Then again, nobody had ever asked her what she thought, everyone else just told her what she should think. "That makes two of us."

"You don't know what you think?" he asked, confused. 

"It's confusing, but I do want to be honest with you, Remus. I don't want to lie just because I want you to like me, although I sort of want to," she answered honestly. "I have so many conflicting ideas in my head and I have no idea which ones I believe in or not."

"Perhaps I can help you sort out what's going on in that head of yours?" Remus asked, smiling gently. He reached down and ruffled her long hair, the way she had done with Regulus just a few hours earlier. 

She sighed, flattening her hair. "I am so confused. I've grown up hearing horrible stories about muggles and what they've done to witches and wizards in the past, and what they would do if they knew about us now. They're incredibly dangerous, aren't they?"

He didn't say anything, just letting her continue speaking. "And I don't really understand muggleborns and how they get magic, but I don't believe they steal it, like some other purebloods do."

"I could never see myself marrying one of them or anything of the sort, though," she continued, thinking of her estranged older sister and her muggleborn husband. "It's not because I don't like them or anything, it's just that it would probably mean having to interact and socializing with muggles, and I'm a bit too scared to do that."

"They confuse me, but I don't really know how I feel about them. Muggleborns that is." Lyra pulled a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "My sister, Andromeda, left the family to marry a muggleborn."

"Sirius told me about that," Remus finally spoke up, looking at the girl sadly, feeling sorry for her. He didn't know how he would react to losing someone he loved like that. "Did you ever meet him? The muggleborn?"

"I did, actually. I'm the only one in the family who ever met him. Ted Tonks," she revealed his name, which she hadn't said in years. "He was kind, and he was good. Which confuses me even more, because if Andromeda chose him then he must have been even better than he seemed."

"And there are many other capable muggleborns, and half-bloods such as yourself, too," Lyra continued. "I mean, you're obviously a good wizard and you're very nice if I do say so myself. And you know, Lily Evans is a great and bright witch, and she's muggleborn. But none of the experiences I've had match what I've always thought and known."

"My mum's a muggle, you know," Remus informed her, watching her raise her eyebrows in shock. She thought one of his parents was muggleborn or something, but never a muggle. "Her name's Hope."

"It's a nice name," she complimented, trying to be nice now that she had basically been talking about her fear for people like his mother. And she knew if somebody spoke like that about her mother she would be angry. 

"For a very nice woman," he completed her sentence, smiling. "My mum's one of my favorite people in the world. I know it may be surprising, but I wasn't always the easiest kid before I started Hogwarts."

"You? A problem child?" Lyra laughed to herself. Remus Lupin seemed like the perfect student to most of the students at Hogwarts, but she supposed it made sense considering who his friends were. "Now this I've got to hear."

Remus chuckled, but knowing there were some secrets Lyra could never hear about him, because he was terrified of her reaction, especially when he didn't really know her that well yet. But maybe someday she would know, but it was not going to be then. 

"There isn't really much to say about me being a problem child," he said, smiling down at her. "But my mum never complained and she always tried to be good and help me through any pain or misery. She didn't really know how to raise a wizard, but she did the best she could. Without her, I wouldn't be the person that I am today."

"She sounds lovely," Lyra replied honestly. When she imagined Hope Lupin, she didn't imagine the terrifying muggles she had heard about in Bellatrix's bedtime stories, who would burn witches for pure pleasure. 

Remus smiled brightly at the thought of his mother. "She truly is. I think you'd like her. And she never cared that my dad's a wizard either, or everyone who looks down on her for being a muggle with a wizarding family. "

The Lupin house sounded loving and warm, something Lyra couldn't help but seem confused by. His home life sounded nothing like her own. "Your dad's a good man, too, then?"

"The best!" he responded, proudly. It was strange to see someone be so proud of their parents as people and not as the reason they were connected to a particular bloodline. "He's tough but kind, always standing up for others. He's made a few mistakes, like everyone does. But he does his best to atone for them, which is all anyone can do."

"Merlin, you sound like you have a great family," Lyra smiled. She couldn't help but try to imagine herself with a family who tried to atone for their mistakes instead of saying it was someone else's fault, a family where you could make mistakes without losing it all. It sounded too good to be true. 

"What about yours then? All I've heard about the House of Black comes from Sirius, and though he's a good mate he can be a bit dramatic sometimes," said Remus, which was a bit of an understatement.

"They're... not like your family," she responded, looking away uncomfortably. "My dad's strict, and you can't step a toe out of line. My mum's nice enough but she expects perfection, and she's willing to force it upon us. They're not very warm and loving."

Again, Remus stayed silent as he listened. "And you know I've got three sisters, or I did. Andy left us for Ted Tonks, which didn't fit with my parents ideals. Narcissa's nice but she's self-obsessed, never able to see past her own nose or jewelry.  She reminds me of my mum. Everything has to be perfect."

"And Bellatrix, my oldest sister... she's a D-" Lyra was about to reveal some very sensitive information before catching herself, looking at Remus nervously. "She's just insane, going crazy with everything going on."

Remus caught the her slip-up and looked at her in both suspicion and worry. He was about to speak up when they were interrupted by the sound of loud sobs echoing through the hallway in front of the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. 

The two exchanged glances, wondering who would be wandering the castle, crying at night, after curfew. The answer came quickly as they caught a glimpse of fiery red hair and puffy eyes trying to get past the pair. 

"Lily," Remus stopped her, grabbing her arm as she tried to run to Gryffindor Tower. They could see her puffy eyes and running mascara. "Lily, what's going on? Why are you crying?"

"I can't do it anymore," the readhead cried, looking at Remus sadly, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her robes. "I can't keep patrolling with Rosier, he's just plain awful. Can't either of switch with me?"

The offer wasn't very tempting for either Lyra nor Remus. Lyra felt uncomfortable with trying to comfort Lily, who she barely knew except for when they worked together in class. "Evans, what did he do?"

"He keeps calling me a... a mudblood..." Lily sobbed as Remus grip on her arm tightened in anger, his face turning red. "And he threatens me. All the time! If I can't stay completely silent during our patrols he says he will hex me. He's even raised his wand at me a few times."

"That git!" Remus, who was usually kind and mild, hissed with more anger than Lyra had ever seen or expected from him. "I swear, Lily, he won't get away with this. You don't deserve any of this."

Remus looked like he was ready to storm out and curse Evan right at that moment, but Lyra put her hand on his chest, stopping him from going anywhere. "Remus, don't. I'll handle this. I'll talk to him, or I'll talk to Slughorn and this will all get sorted out."

"Lyra..." Remus trailed off, angrily. She could see that he wanted to go after the Slytherin boy himself, but he was resigned to agree as she gave him a pleading look. The last thing they needed was for him to try to punch Evan Rosier in the face. 

"Trust me, Evans," said Lyra assuringly, looking over at Lily who was sniffing, trying to stop crying. "He won't be doing this again if I have anything to say about it. He's a creep and a bastard who thinks he's better than everyone else. He won't get away with it anymore."

"Thanks, Black," Lily smiled weakly through her tears. "I'm not usually like this, you know. I'm a lot more composed, but there's only so much a girl can handle."

Lyra returned her smile, as Remus watched, confused, at the two girls interacting on a friendly basis. "I get it, you don't have to explain yourself to me. It'll work itself out."

Lily bid them goodnight and walked up to Gryffindor Tower, cutting her own patrol short. But Lyra and Remus still had some time left. She looked up to him and smiled slightly, ready to keep going. 

▹▹▹

Lyra couldn't hide her anger the next morning as she grabbed Evan Rosier by the sleeves of his robes, his friends obviously thinking she was grabbing him because she wanted to snog him from their oohs and aahs. 

"Lyra, if you wanted me that badly, you could have just asked," he said as soon as they had reached a more private part of the Slytherin common room. Evan smirked, looking down at the smaller blonde, who glared up at him.

"I heard how you've been treating Lily Evans," she hissed, crossing her arms across her chest fiercely. "Can't you act like a human being for even a night a week? She's your patrol partner, can't you be a bit nicer?"

"Why should I have to?" he asked, looking down at her like she was a small dog that needed obedience training. "She's a mudblood, Lyra. Stop defending her, you're starting to sound like a blood traitor. Nobody wants to hear that."

She closed her eyes in annoyance. "Merlin, just shut up, Rosier!"

"I think you need to change your attitude," he responded coldly. "I think we can do that. You'll be going with me to Hogsmeade next weekend, and then we will discuss your troubling newfound issues."

Lyra scoffed, not believing how he still couldn't take a simple hint. "When will you get it through your brain? No! It'd still be a no if it was a choice between Hogsmeade with you or a snog with Peeves!"

Evan's eyes narrowed into small slits of anger. "Oh, I see what's going on. I thought you were simply a prude, but there's more behind it than that. It's Lupin, isn't it? He's the one filling your head with this poison."

"What? No!" Lyra exclaimed, only seeing Remus as a friend. 

Evan looked away, thinking. "He's the reason you're resisting my advances. You're no prude. You're shagging that half-blood Gryffindor in secret. It makes so much sense. Well, believe me. He's not going to get away with it, and neither are you."

"Evan, stop!" Lyra yelled as he stalked away, leaving her not even knowing what he was about to do. All she knew is that it wouldn't end well for her or Remus.