Whether Lyra was excited or scared for her fifth year at Hogwarts, she simply didn't know. There had been stories that fifth year was the year you really start to grow up, both socially and academically. Lyra felt stressed enough about school already, she didn't need to stress any more. Adding the fact that she was a prefect, she was prepared for at least one mental breakdown a week. 

She adjusted her green prefect badge, making sure it was nice and straight before she entered the prefect's carriage for the meeting. As far as she knew, it would mostly be about their scheduels from patrols and information about the duties and powers of a prefect. It was also an opportunity to get to know their Head Boy and Head Girl, as well as their fellow prefects. 

Lyra opened the door and smiled brightly at the ones who had arrived. She was a few minutes early, and the rest of the prefects were right behind her, ready to enter. She greeted the Head Boy, Winkus Oddpick from Ravenclaw, and Head Girl, Mathilda Grindlehawk from Hufflepuff.

The new fifth year prefects were all looking at each other, realizing who else in their year had been made prefects. Lyra was a bit surprised to see that her fellow fifth year prefect was Evan Rosier, not knowing what he could have done for the professors to consider him prefect material. 

She shrugged it off as she noted who were the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff prefects, none of whom she knew particularly well. The selections for Gryffindor weren't very surprising either. Remus Lupin and Lily Evans proudly wore the badge of honor, ready to make Hogwarts a better place. 

Mathilda grinned at the group of fifth, sixth and seventh years in front of her. "Well, I suppose we should welcome you lot to a year of prefects. For most of you, this should be a routine. But we have our little fifth years who still need a bit of obedience training."

The crowd of prefects laughed at the Head Girl's humor. Winkus then decided to take over. "Well, I'm Winkus Oddpick and this iss Mathilda Grindlehawk and we're this year's Head Boy and Head Girl."

The male seventh year Ravenclaw prefect wolf-whistled and then laughed, obviously being friends with the Head Boy. Winkus rolled his eyes but grinned widely. "This year's patrol schedules are going to be handed out shortly. You all will have two patrol partners, one from your own house, and one from a different one."

Mathilda started handing out the parchment, giving a small smile to each of her prefects. Lyra wasn't surprised she was made Head Girl when she was as sweet as she was. She whispered a thanks as she got her own schedule. 

She was on first watch for patrolling the train on the way to Hogwarts, which she luckily wasn't doing with Evan Rosier, hoping to avoid him as much as possible. The patrol partner from another house, though, happened to be Remus Lupin, who she would be patrolling the train with, as well as patrolling together that night. 

The two exchanged quick, uncomfortable glances. Neither of them had really talked much, only a tiny bit during the brief period she was helping his friends with not becoming half-human, half-animal hybrids. 

Evan turned to her, smiling in a creepy way she didn't like. "We're patrolling together once a week. Guess that means we'll be spending a lot of time together this year, and the next two, probably."

Lyra wanted to barf. 

"Yeah, I suppose," she answered, refusing to meet his eyes. She worried that even eye-contact would be enough for him to think she was interested in him. Dealing with his constant staring over the years had been enough, but now she would have to talk to him, too.  

Remus caught Lyra's eye, raising an eyebrow, but she only looked away. She supposed there were just two more things to add to the list of how fifth year would definitely be interesting, if nothing else. 

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Lyra and Remus had started their patrol of the train awkwardly, both of them too afraid to say anything. Either that, or they just didn't know what to say. Neither of them thought they had much in common, except for a devotion to Sirius Black's well being. 

"What's the deal with Rosier?" Remus finally asked, after an uncomfortably long amount of time. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow in silent question. "I mean, he just looked like he was making you uncomfortable back there."

"Oh, yeah that," Lyra was about to answer when she saw two second year Hufflepuffs running around, screaming at each other. "Hey, keep it down, you lot! Or you'll get detention before the school year even starts!"

The twelve-year-old fled into a compartment as Remus chuckled to himself. "Well, I can see you're going to be a good prefect. You're quite authoritative. Maybe you'll even be able to keep Rosier in check."

Lyra laughed. "I sincerely doubt that. He's a total creep. And there are the same rumors with him like with most of my housemates. They say he's gotten a bit too into the Dark Arts. The only thing is, with him I'm inclined to believe it."

"Makes sense. They say that dark magic takes a toll on you physically, and let's just say you can see that a lot of things have taken a toll on him physically," Remus joked lightheartedly, laughing with his patrol partner. He supposed it wouldn't be too bad spending an evening with her a week. 

They walked a bit further, laughing and joking until they came across a trio of boys who had just changed into their robes. And if there was one thing those three didn't expect to see on their way back to their compartment, it was Remus Lupin and Lyra Black engaged in friendly conversation. 

Sirius, James and Peter stopped in their tracks as they caught sight of the duo, neither of whom had seen the three. But they definitely noticed them when Sirius started yelling. "Lyra Cassiopeia Black!"

"Cassiopeia?" James snickered to himself, getting a death glare from Lyra as she recovered from her shock. 

Sirius ignored his best friend and ran towards Lyra, looking straight at her prefect badge. "I can't believe you. I thought there was some sliver of hope for you. I suppose I was wrong. I believed in you!"

Lyra finally noticed what he was so distraught about and rolled her eyes. "Sod off, Sirius." 

"My own flesh and blood, my favorite cousin, the light of my dreary life," the Black boy rambled on, while his boys were snickering to themselves. "A prefect. How awful, this breaks my heart. I expected so much more from you."

Lyra and Remus exchanged looks, agreeing that Sirius was an annoying git, but they still loved him. "Alright, alright. We get it."

"Has Dumbledore finally gone mad?" James asked, eyeing the blonde girl with no trace of affection. "I mean, since he agreed to make you prefect, Black. We all knew old Sluggy lost it years ago, but not Dumbles."

"Why aren't you prefect then, Potter?" she retorted, not going to just take his insults. " Oh, right. I forgot. McGonagall has enough sense not to let you ruin whatever reputation Gryffindor has left."

"Can we go now?" Peter asked, tired of the unnecessary drama. Also, he wouldn't mind getting away from Lyra Black as quickly as possible. He didn't quite trust her.  "All our food's in the compartment and I'm starved."

"We literally just ate," Sirius pointed out, looking at his shorter friend incredulously. Peter only shrugged, not being able to help it. "Fine then. I'll see you around, Lyra. Remus, you coming with us?"

Remus shook his head, smiling affectionately at his boys who watched him expectantly. "No, I've still got some time left on my patrol shift with Lyra. I'll be right over after that, though."

"Alright," James nodded as Sirius and Peter walked off. He still looked over at Lyra distastefully before looking back at Remus. "Good luck, you're going to need it. Remember that no matter how much you'll want to kill her, Azkaban is not worth it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Remus laughed to himself, smiling down at Lyra to make her understand he was joking. He wasn't going to start a discussion now, just wanting this year to start on a good note. 

Lyra watched James walk away, glad she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. She looked up at Remus, who was towering over her. He must have had a growth spurt over the summer. "So, where were we?"

Remus smiled. 

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Once the sorting was over, Lyra had a bunch of new first years to take care of. They were surrounding her at the feast, asking her questions after she revealed she was the prefect who was going to show them to their dorms. They were sweet, and she liked them but they were extremely bloody annoying. 

At least they were better than Evan Rosier who had tried to sit next to her. She told him to give room for the first years so they wouldn't be scared. She still wasn't sure how to tell him to leave her alone. 

Dumbledore announced bedtime, and Lyra smiled brightly at the group of excited first years, all eager for her to show them the way to the dungeon, to their new home. "Alright then, first years. If you would follow me."

"Follow us," Evan corrected, ignoring the annoyed look Lyra gave him. Some of the eleven-year-olds notice though and laugh to themselves, getting a wink from Lyra. 

The first years followed the two prefects towards the dungeons. Lyra suddenly stopped in her tracks and stopped the first years from going any further when she noticed something strange. There were drops of water on  the floor. 

Lyra looked up and sighed in annoyance when she saw who it was. Peeves the Poltergeist grinned, his slanted, orange eyes narrowing as he held a balloon filled with water in each hand, ready to drop. 

"Peeves!" Lyra warned. It was funny how when it was time to actually take some responsibility for his actions, Evan didn't say a word, only backing away and standin behind a couple of little girls.

Peeves only grinned wider, in an unnatural shape. "Well, look who it is! Little, lying Lyra. And she's got some ickle firsties with her. And who's that hiding behind them? It can't be Rowdy Rosier? How the mighty has fallen."

Evan crossed his arms across his chest. "Drop it, Peeves, or we'll get the Bloody Baron."

"No-" Lyra tried to stop him, but before she could finish, Peeves had dropped it. She was hit in the head with one of his water balloons, now soaking her through, as the other hit a small group of first years. "Merlin, Rosier!"

"The Bloody Baron will hear about this," Evan tried to threaten, but Peeves had already disappeared leaving the prefects with a bunch of terrified eleven-year-olds.

Lyra tried to twist the water out of her hair and glared at her fellow prefect. "Let's just get to the bloody common room!"

She stalked forward, leaving the rest to follow her as she was eager to change her clothes. The first years struggled to keep up with their tiny little legs, but she made sure she never lost any of them. She wasn't going to screw up being prefect on her first day. 

Once they finally made it to the stone wall in front of the dungeons, Lyra turned to look at the crowd of children behind her. She took a second to try to find out if Evan would take a bit of responsibility, but he looked to be waiting for her to take charge. 

"Alright, you should all try to remember the password to get into the common room, but I will tell you if you forgot. It changes once in a while, but very rarely, don't worry." Lyra turned to the stone wall. "Maledictus."

The stones seemed to disappear to show a passage way into the Slytherin dorms. The first years gasped and chatted about how cool it was. Lyra smiled to herself, this year's firsties didn't seem as cold and controlled as the other years. She liked it, they seemed more like children than purebloods.

They walked through until they found themselves looking at the surprisingly warm atmosphere in the common room, with cozy green sofas and a lit fireplace where a group of fourth year girls sat, giggling about Rabastan Lestrange, who pretended not to hear them. 

Lyra couldn't help but grin at the sight of the place which had been her home for the past four years. She was always excited to go back to her family for summer holidays, but there was something special about coming back to Hogwarts. 

Shaking out of her trance, she looked at the overexcited kids who were attempting to catch every detail of their new home. "Welcome to Slytherin house! Girls' dormitories are to the left and boys' to the right. Do not enter each other's dormitories or I will be disappointed in all of you. Now hurry and get settled in. Your classes start tomorrow. Don't forget to ask me anything when you have any questions. Good night!"

It only took a second for them to run towards their rooms, chatting eagerly amongst themselves. She suspected they wouldn't be sleeping too much that night, probably staying up to get to know their new roommates.

Lyra was happy to see them settling in, but she wasn't happy to be left with Evan Rosier. 

She was about to say good night, just to avoid him. Also because she had patrol that night with Remus and wanted to change out of her wet robes first, but then he said his first words in a while. And they were obviously the sort of words that would make her incredibly uncomfortable. 

He eyed her strangely, in a way she didn't quite enjoy, as he asked her the last question she ever wanted him to ask. "How are your parents' plans on your marriage going, Black?"

"We're only fifteen, Rosier. None of us need to worry about that yet," Lyra reminded him, trying to answer so he wouldn't have a retort, hoping to end their conversation as quickly as possible. 

Evan turned his nose up at her, as if he was so much better than her that he couldn't help but look down on her. "It's always good to be prepared. If I were you, I'd start scoping out possible... candidates."

"I'll keep that in mind," she answered shortly. "Now, if you don't mind-"

He cut her off before she could make her get away. "The first Hogsmeade weekend is quite early this year. Do you have any plans for it yet."

"Yes, I'm going with Lucinda," Lyra lied. The two had never discussed it, and she wouldn't be surprised if Lucinda had a date. But it was as good a lie as any. 

"I heard she was going with Winkus Headpick, you know, the Head Boy." He explained who Winkus was as if she was an idiot who hadn't paid any attention to their meeting at the train, when he had been the one staring at Mathilda Grindlehawk's chest the entire time. 

"I know who he is. And they decided to go out the second weekend instead," Lyra kept making her lie more elaborate and made a mental note to force Lucinda to tell Evan it was true, and then Lyra would just pretend she was sick or something the morning of the trip. 

Annoyed, Evan sighed in defeat. He had obviously been planning some big proposal to her or something, and she was going to do anything in her power to avoid it. "Well, let me know if anything changes."

Lyra hummed in agreement before hurrying to her dorm before he could say another word. The moment he couldn't see her anymore she gagged to herself.

▹▹▹

Lyra tied her hair back, hoping it would keep her hair out of her face as it dried. She had always been jealous of those girls who's hair would dry within an hour, but hers would take the whole night. She just hoped it would hopefully be dry by the end of patrol. 

Lyra and Remus had agreed to meet by the Great Hall, so it would be right in between their common rooms and it wouldn't be unfair to either of them. She was, as always, a few minutes late, so she was waiting for Remus, who was always annoyingly perfectly on time. 

She sat with her legs crossed on the floor as she waited for him. He ran down to the Hall, probably worried that he was late. "All right, Lupin?" she asked as she got up from her position. 

He grinned at her once he caught her eye, waving. "Oh, hey, there, Lyra. I was starting to worry I'd be late. Sirius was threatening me."

"Why was he threatening you?"

Remus shrugged, running his fingers through his hair. "I don't know, he always finds a reason to. I think there was something about not letting you get hurt if we run into some idiot prankers who think they can get away with their pranks when we're patrolling."

"He's an idiot," she stated.

He chuckled as they started walking, ready to patrol the halls of Hogwarts. "Can't argue with that. He also said to be careful, because apparently, he thinks the two of us have so much in common."

Lyra furrowed her brows, wondering where he could get that from. "I'm sorry, Lupin, but I can't really see that."

Remus raised his eyebrows, wondering how she could have already gotten to that conclusion. "How would you know? You don't know a thing about me. Perhaps we'll realize he's right before we're done patrolling together."

"The patrol's only a few hours long. It's not enough time for us to become best friends," Lyra reminded him, saying the last words mockingly. He couldn't help but laugh at the tone she said it with. "But I guess we'll see, then, Lupin."

"You can call me Remus, you know," he said offhandedly, making her look up at him quizzically. "I already call you Lyra, and you're not stopping me. Although, it's hard confusing me with someone else, considering there's only one Lupin at Hogwarts but three Blacks."

Lyra slapped his arm playfully"Shut up, you're rambling, Remus."

"Thank you," he responded shortly.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a couple of moments. Lyra glanced at him, but quickly glanced away when he looked back at her. "So, how are your blokes doing with the whole Animagi thing?"

"Could go better, I guess," he answered, shrugging as if it didn't really bother him. "James thinks he can do all of it on his own, but your research last year really helped. We're just missing the one piece, and that's how to personalize the potion itself."

Lyra smiled to herself. "Well, Potter always was arrogant."

"You could ease up on him, you know?"

Lyra grinned. "Now, where would be the fun in that?"

For a quick moment, a forbidden thought entered her mind. Remus Lupin might have been a half-blood. But he was an okay bloke, like Ted Tonks had been. Perhaps not all those with muggle connections were as bad she had been taught to believe. 

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A/N: Do I smell a Lyra and Remus friendship?