Lyra didn't think it was possible but Malfoy Manor was even larger, emptier, colder and lonelier than Black Manor had ever been. She considered that an impressive feat for a girl who's only joy during her childhood was her sisters, where the memories now were haunted by the knowledge of who they'd all become. 

It had also been a bit difficult to adjust. She was used to being surrounded by people at ever turn, always having something to chitchat about, even if some wouldn't considered it worth discussing. 

But Lyra lived alone with her fiancé, who was always out on some sort of business. With business, she was sure he was at meetings or missions with or for the Dark Lord and his terrifying cause. 

The only company she actually had was Lucius's house-elves, who usually seemed too scared to speak to her if it wasn't about some orders or needs she had. She was getting lonelier for every single day. 

Lyra was sitting alone in her bedroom, which she thankfully didn't share with Lucius. He seemed to have quickly realized that she wasn't ready to act like a couple. She didn't really consider them one, either. 

She had been looking through her vanity, which was filled with unfamiliar jewelry that she was sure had belonged to his late mother, who was supposedly the biggest reason for him even proposing to her. 

She also been thirsty, so she had asked one of the house-elves for pumpkin juice, which she hadn't had since her last breakfast at Hogwarts. The house-elf, Dobby, nervously handed it to her. She smiled kindly. "Thank you, Dobby."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Dobby's eyes filled up with tears, beaming up at her brightly. "Mistress is so kind to Dobby. Dobby hasn't ever been thanked by a witch or wizard before. Mistress is so kind."

"Dobby, please don't cry!" she exclaimed, looking around helplessly. She had always been kind to house-elves, like the family elf, Kreacher. Mostly because Regulus would yell at her if she sounded mean. "I was just saying thank you!"

Somehow, he seemed much more frigid at her words, only crying even more because of them. "Dobby is very sorry for upsetting his mistress. Dobby should not have made his mistress uncomfortable."

As Dobby leaned back to hit his head on her desk, her eyes widened and she grabbed him, pulling him closer and looking deeply into his eyes. "Dobby, please don't hurt yourself. I don't want you to hurt yourself because of me."

It was, of course, at that moment when Lucius had returned to the house and gone to greet her. He seemed to have heard the end of the exchange and eyed the house-elf meanly. "Why do you bother treating filthy servants as you do?"

Lyra wasn't in the mood to argue. She had managed not to fight with him for the weeks she had been living with him, but that was only because she knew to hold her tongue. She wasn't supposed to be kind to house-elves, or anybody who wasn't a pureblood supremacist for that matter. "Sorry."

"It's alright. You didn't know how we discipline our house-elves in this house," he smiled at her before he grabbed Dobby harshly by his neck, opening the door and throwing him out, yelling after him.  "Don't you dare come back unless asked! I'll punish you severely."

She looked away, wishing he didn't have to be so cruel to the poor elf, who looked absolutely terrified every time he was approached by a witch or wizard. Even Lyra, who had only treated him kindly, seemed to scare him. 

"Well, not that's settled," Lucius sighed, wiping his hands on his robes after touching the house-elf. He turned to smile charmingly at her again, turning into a completely different person. "It's good to see you. How has your day been?"

"Fine," she answered simply. She didn't want to bother him with tales of her boredom, when she knew he would only say that it was either boredom or their plans being ruined and her eventually having to take the Dark Mark. 

"Good," he said quietly, as if he didn't know what else to say. He took a step to stand behind where she was sitting, so that when she looked into the mirror he was now visible. He reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a jewelry box. 

Lyra watched as he carefully opened it, revealing a beautiful pearl necklace. It reminded her of the ones her mother always wore, which was a thought causing her to frown. "What's the occasion?"

"I felt like you may need a reminder that you made the right choice by accepting my proposal," he answered. He reached out to pull her hair back before he put the necklace around her neck, clasping it shut. 

It must have been very expensive, she realized. Then again, he was very rich, even richer than her own family. "Well, I'm very grateful. Not only for the gift, but for everything else. For our agreement."

He didn't smile at the reminder of the agreement, only looking into the mirror, meeting her eyes through it. "I could give you the world. I'll give you any thing in compensation of becoming my wife. I'm very grateful, as well, you see." 

Lyra didn't know how to respond to this, only smiling hesitantly in return, fiddling with the pearls. She didn't wear necklaces often. She used to have a reoccurring nightmare of them choking her when she was a kid, so she had an irrational fear of them for a while. She had grown out of it, but she just wasn't used to them because of it. 

Lucius looked at the clock on the wall, looking like he was running out of time until he had something else to do, but this time she wouldn't be left alone at least. "We'll be having guests over for dinner tonight, so you should clean up nicely."

"I will," she answered, though curious about who was coming over. He hadn't mentioned any names, or how many guests would be coming. She didn't care enough to ask anymore, as Lucius had promised to protect her no matter who would come by. 

He reached out and grabbed her hand before carefully raising it to his lips, kissing it like any other gentleman. If it weren't for the fact that she was still insanely in love with someone else and didn't thinks she would ever stop, she would have swooned. 

Lyra sent him a small smile as he walked out of the room before turning back to look at herself in the mirror, sighing deeply as she fiddled with the necklace once again. She hadn't been out of school and in his house for more than a few weeks and she could barely recognize herself.

Back at Hogwarts, she wouldn't be caught dead wearing pearl necklaces or clothes that were extravagant just to be extravagant. Partly because Sirius (and the rest of the boys, though not as much) would make fun of her for it. 

Her frown deepened as their faces flashed before her eyes, even though she knew she would most likely never talk to any of them ever again. Because of this, she shook her head and tried to push all thoughts of them away, remembering where she was and how she got there.

▹▹▹

Lyra should have realized that it would be more like a Death Eater banquet than it would be a normal dinner party, which she had expected. She didn't get this until she saw her sister and her husband walk through the doors as some of the first guests. 

The guests came streaming in after this, many of whom she had recognized from the last Death Eater meeting she had attended. She was quite disappointed to see her other brother-in-law, Hector Flint, appearing. She was able to catch a glimpse of his new Dark Mark. Narcissa hadn't come, though, so she supposed her sister was safe.

Once they had sat down, she sat next to her fiancé, who sat on the right of the head of the table. This small gesture told her that their leader would be making an appearance before the night was over.  

The house-elves had put plates in front of every guests as every seat filled up except for the one at the head of the table. Nobody dared eat yet. Not even in his own house did Lucius have the authority to welcome them or tell them to eat. They were waiting for the Dark Lord.

Lyra looked across from her, where her sister and her husband sat. "Rodolphus, have you heard anything from your brother? Him and Lucinda Talkalot are together now and I haven't heard from either of them."

Rodolphus didn't seem very bothered at the idea of his brother not having contacted a soul since the letter he had sent Lucinda and only shrugged. "Sorry, Lyra, but I haven't heard anything."

Bellatrix scrunched her nose up at the idea of being worried for the young Lestrange boy. "Rabastan's a big boy. He can take care of himself, he has proven so many times. I'm sure he can take care of that little girl as well."

"You're right," Lyra agreed. She tried to smile towards her sister, but found herself unable to as the memory of her Cruciatus curse always seemed to cross her mind when she looked at her. "They'll be fine. I just hope they'll come for the wedding is all."

"I'm sure Rab wouldn't miss your wedding for the world," Rodolphus smiled kindly. Lyra wondered if that was the first time she had ever seen him smile and she had known that man for years. "You're his best friend, after all."

Though it was strange to see him smile, she couldn't help but return it. Rodolphus had never done anything particularly mean to her. She didn't like him when she was younger because he so obviously didn't care much for Bellatrix. It didn't bother Lyra as much now that she felt the same way about her sister. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Rodolphus."

The doors to the dining room then flew open dramatically as a man walked through, his robes floating behind him effortlessly. It didn't take much effort for Lyra to recognize him as the Dark Lord. He was hard to forget. 

Her mind quickly went to the last time she had been at a meeting like this, which was also the last time she had been in the room with the Dark Lord. She didn't think she could ever forget the screams of her old Defence professor as she pointed her wand at him and watched him take his last breath. 

The Dark Lord scoured the room for a moment, smiling coolly. "How nice to see all of you here. It looks like we have a great meal in front of us, which you will soon be allowed to enjoy. But I would first like to thank Lucius for hosting this dinner."

 "I'd also like to congratulate you on your engagement to Lyra Black." Once he turned to the man, he could see the blonde girl at his side and his smile turned into a smirk. "I would ask you to pass the congratulations to your fiancée, but I see she's sitting right here so I'd like to offer them personally."

Lyra felt uncomfortable from the attention in the room turning to her as she felt every single pair of eyes on her. She bowed her head in thanks, trying to seem humble yet proud. "Thank you, my lord."

He didn't say anything else to her this time, thankfully. He only looked at his hungry followers, holding his arms out in a welcoming manner. "Now, you begin to enjoy the meal."

▹▹▹

The dinner was silent and awkward for a while. People didn't dare speak unless the Dark Lord had spoken to them first, so they only responded one at a time to every single one of his questions or comments. It took a while until he turned to speak to Lyra. She had almost started to think she would be safe from him throughout the dinner. 

"So, Lyra. It has been a while since we have last met," he said. "Young Rabastan Lestrange seemed to believe you needed more time and education before officially joining our cause. But you have graduated now, I hear?"

Lyra carefully exchanged glances with her fiancé, nervous as to where the Dark Lord was going with this. She just hoped Lucius would be able to keep his promise and protect her. "Yes. Just a few weeks ago."

"You have had your education then," he said firmly and she was very sure as to where he was going with this. She looked helplessly to Lucius. "Have you considered further the idea of taking the Dark Mark then?

Lucius gave her a reassuring look. He was a man of his word, after all. "Lyra will be a housewife. She had agreed to this when I proposed marriage to her. It seemed like a mutual beneficial arrangement."

The Dark Lord stiffened at his words. "You're saying, Lucius, that you would put your request for a housewife in front of our cause? We could always use more talented witches to help us fulfill our noble goals."

Lucius was about to open his mouth to say something, not sensing the anger building up in his master. Lyra felt an obligation to save him, and herself. He was her fiancé after all. They were going to be some sort of family. 

The young blonde girl faked a girlish giggle and faked a loving expression, reaching out to grab his face and make him look at her so he couldn't make things worse. "Lucius, darling, you're forgetting what we discussed earlier."

"What might that be, Lyra?" the Dark Lord raised his dark eyebrows in challenge, saying that if didn't have a good explanation then things wouldn't turn out well. And, because of this, Lyra had to be the best goddamn self-preserving, cunning and sly Slytherin she had ever been.

She sent a fake smile his way, speaking words she had never wanted to speak. "Well, I believe that the greatest reason for half-breeds, mudbloods and other pieces of filth having become so normalized in the Wizarding World is because nobody respects the old pureblood familes anymore."

"It's ridiculous, my lord," she continued, slowly becoming more confident in her excuse, making things up as she went. "Most children at Hogwarts can't even name all the families of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Only those part of it, and we all know that we respect the old ways. We're not the problem."

The Dark Lord looked intrigued as to where she was going with this. "And what do you propose we do to fix this?"

"We simply need to bring greatness back to our families. This will surely make our entire world adore us, just like they once did. They will want to be like us. They will want to be pure," Lyra stated firmly, feeling proud of herself for her ability to come up with things on the spot. 

He still didn't seem convinced though. He looked quite prepared to embarrass her efforts in front of the whole group of Death Eaters, waiting for her to make the slightest mistake. "Easier said than done. We'd need a plan."

Lyra wasn't planning on making any mistakes. "I have one, my lord. I propose that Lucius and myself conduct a series of interviews with the Daily Prophet. We'll make our wedding into a great spectacle as two great pureblood families unite. We'll become the darlings of our world and the poster children for staying pure."

He cackled slightly at the idea, causing snickers through erupt throughout the room. "How do you think you would make this happen? The Daily Prophet has been sprouting propaganda about the acceptance of muggles, mudbloods and other types of filth."

She racked her brain for a way, but then she remembered one person she knew who worked at the Prophet who would gladly help her not be a Death Eater. "I have a bit of pull at the Daily Prophet. I have faith that I will be able to complete this task but it will be much more difficult with the Dark Mark on my arm."

The Dark Lord showed only a hint of being impressed in his eyes, but it was enough for her to realize he was convinced. "You have planned well, Lyra. It's an understandable and noble cause. I'd like for you to do this. Bring greatness back to us who are pure."

As he turned to start a conversation with someone else, Lyra let out a quiet sigh of relief. She reached out to grip Lucius's wrist, telling him that they would both be okay. He sent her a silent thank you through his eyes. She smiled slightly in return. 

▹▹▹

Lyra hadn't ever been so thankful for a dinner party ending. Well, except for the one that happened around a year before, when she had actually been forced to torture someone in front of friends and family but she didn't like think of that.

Lucius had been incredibly stressed, though. He was usually so calm, collected and gracious. He had apologized for not being able to protect her completely, as he had promised. But he commended her for her ability to protect them both.

She only told him that her excuse couldn't happen unless the both of them worked together, so there was no reason to apologize unless he wouldn't be able to do it and it would all end with the Dark Mark on her arm. 

Lucius didn't know how they would do it, though. He knew a few people at the Daily Prophet, but nobody he could ask any favors of. He had tried to focus his networking on the Ministry, where he had contacts aplenty. She told him to let her worry about it. She would fix it and he would just have to play along. 

Lyra then found herself in her bedroom with quill and parchment, scribbling a quick letter to her contact, asking (or pleading) for their help. She looked to one of Lucius's owls and handed him the letter. "Take this to Ted Tonks."