Lyra could faintly remember the first time she boarded the Hogwarts Express. She was eleven, though closing in on twelve, and had so many hopes and dreams for her time at school. Why wouldn't she? Everything was left to be experienced and nothing was set in stone. 

She could remember struggling to lift her trunk as her and Sirius finally found a compartment they wanted to sit in. Then her knight in shining armor, a boy, although scrawny, had been strong enough to help. 

That was the first time Lyra Black met James Potter, and she had no idea then how important he would be to her.

 She didn't know that for years, actually. From eleven through fifteen, she thought he was a bit of a prat. From fifteen to seventeen, she thought he was alright but annoying. From seventeen to eighteen, she was so madly in love with him that she couldn't breathe. Now, less than six months from nineteen, it hadn't stopped. Just because it was over didn't mean it stopped. 

It didn't feel real though, boarding the Hogwarts Express for the last time. There were no more hopes and dreams for her life. Why would there be? Everything had already happened and her future was set in stone. 

She just had to remember why she was doing all this. For Sirius, for Remus, even for Peter. For James. It had to be worth it in the end, and it would be if they were safe and survived this bloody war. 

Lyra had been so wrapped up in her own depressing thoughts that she hadn't even thought about the girl she was sharing a compartment with. Lucinda was drying a tear, thinking the blonde didn't notice. "Are you alright?"

"I just can't believe all this is coming to an end," the brunette sniffled. "This has been our home for so long and I have so many good memories from here. It's just so sad that we won't have any more."

Lyra smiled softly at her, reaching out to grab her hand comfortingly. "Just because we can't make memories at school doesn't mean we can't make memories at all. We're not just school friends, Lucinda."

"You're right. I mean, come on. The best memory is yet to come," Lucinda exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together as she quickly cheered up. "Well, if you promise to invite me to your wedding, that is. I can't wait for it!"

"Of course you'll be invited! I promise," she responded sincerely. While part of her still doubted their friendship due to the way Lucinda had abandoned her when she found out about James, she was still her friend. She didn't have many of those left.

Lucinda smiled thankfully, not knowing what else to say. She looked to be debating with herself over something, but she hesitantly spoke up. "You know, Rabastan finally answered one my letters. I got it yesterday."

"That's great. I think," Lyra added the last part after tilting her head. She was surprised, of course. If Rabastan was going to send letters to anyone, she didn't think it would be Lucinda.  "What'd he have to say?"

Uncomfortable as she thought back on it, Lucinda looked away, finding herself staring out the window as the train moved quickly by yet another unknown location. "He mostly just talked about you,"

Lyra frowned, and for two reasons. One, because she still felt bad that Lucinda was always so jealous of her friendship with Rabastan. Second, because she was worried about what he had to say about her. "What about me?"

"About your engagement and things like it. Fine, it wasn't that much," she admitted, only having noticed it more than everything else because of her blind jealousy. "The letter wasn't very long actually. Didn't say much."

Lyra looked at her, not really understanding the situation with her old friend. She hadn't understood anything about him in a while. "If he wanted to talk about me then he could have sent me a letter. There had to have been something else behind it."

"Fine. You're right," Lucinda sighed in defeat. She hadn't ever really liked talking about Rabastan with Lyra, as she always felt like their third wheel. "He said that if I really am serious about him then I could try to help him."

The blonde stiffened at the idea of her helping Rabastan. She had been asked to help him once before, and she still remembered it and was still haunted by her decision. She wasn't sure if Lucinda could handle doing the same. "With what?"

"I don't know. But he sent me a time and a location if I wanted to meet him," the brunette informed her, shrugging helplessly. Her face quickly became determined. "I'm gonna go. I've decided."

Lyra knew that there was no coming between Lucinda and her choices. Her determination was her clearest Slytherin trait. She only smiled sadly, wondering if her and Rabastan would be gone for long. "When will I see you again?"

"I don't know," Lucinda answered. She knew extremely little about what she was getting herself into and it sort of scared her, but she was prepared to do almost anything for him. "But not even Rabastan bloody Lestrange can keep me out of your wedding. I'll fight tooth and nail to come to that."

Lyra smiled, realizing just how much she would miss Lucinda. She had been without Rabastan for a year, and if they were going to disappear until her wedding (which she had no idea when would be) she just hoped they would be safe. 

Wanting to enjoy her last moments with her friend, thinking back on the seven years they had spent together at the school that had been their home, Lyra leaned her head on Lucinda's shoulder, who put her head on hers. 

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Lyra had a habit of nervously munching on sugar quills, something that had caused James to once buy a month's supply of it for her when she couldn't go to Hogsmeade because Slughorn wanted to talk to her.

She was nervous for future, so she was scouring the train for the candy lady and her trolley. It hadn't hit her that in the seven years of buying candy from her, she still had no idea of her name. She felt a bit bad for it, but she didn't think anyone else knew it either. 

As these thoughts plagued her mind, she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings, which wasn't very smart as she was looking for someone. She felt herself bump into the hard chest of a tall boy.

"Oh, sorry!" the boy exclaimed, and she realized that it wasn't just any other Hogwarts student. Officially, they weren't even Hogwarts Students anymore. Still, in front of her stood a surprised Remus Lupin.  

Lyra had missed talking to him dearly. She still knew him like the back of her hand. For example, she knew he was out looking for the candy lady, too. Remus loved his chocolate. "It's fine. It was my fault. Honestly."

"Right, well..." he trailed off awkwardly, not knowing what to say. He had said his piece before, but she didn't seem to want to listen. He took a step to walk past her, but she accidentally took a step in the direction, so they ended up right in front of each other. 

Lyra chuckled quietly, though internally hitting herself for doing so. Months had passed and she still wasn't used to things being so strange with a boy that she had once told everything about her life. Now he knew nothing. "You go first."

"Thanks." He nodded briefly, taking a step to the side to walk past. He did, preparing to walk off. He was still searching for his chocolate. But then he stopped abruptly, turning his head and calling out to her. "Hey, Lyra?"

She turned at the mention of her name, looking at him with wide eyes. He almost winced at the bright, innocent look on her face. He had missed that look. He hadn't seen it in months, since before Christmas. "Yeah, Remus?"

"Are you really doing this?" he asked quietly, but she could still hear every word clearly as they stabbed her in the heart. He looked at her sadly, as if he did know the answer. He didn't really want to ask, but he knew he had to.

Though it broke her heart to do so, she nodded slightly. "Yeah. I am."

He frowned deeply, nodding slightly to himself. It was like he was asking himself what else had had expected. His once best friend had been engaged for two months, and not to the man he thought she'd want to marry. "Do you have to?" 

"Yes." Lyra couldn't see any other way. Everything seemed to be working out perfectly, with the exception of her happiness, but she saw that as a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. 

"But why?" Remus asked desperately, gathering the courage to say what he had planned to say for a long time now.  "And don't try to lie to me. You know that I know you better than most. You've never been able to lie to me, and you're not going to be able to start now."

She knew he was right. She had never been able to lie to him, which had frustrated her to no end. So she didn't, even though she was unsure of what he would do with her answer. "I can't tell you that."

He just wanted her to trust him again, to go back to how things had been. "Yes, you can. I don't know if you've noticed, but I've had a lot of practice keeping secrets. If you can trust anyone then you can trust me."

"I can't trust anyone," the blonde sighed sadly, looking away. If she looked at him, she knew she would feel tempted to tell him everything. "Not with this. Because you could never lie to them, nor keep a secret. I adore that about you, but it doesn't help me now."

"Can anything help you now?" the young werewolf asked, concerned. "I'm seriously asking. Isn't there anything I can do to help you? Because you may say that this is what you want, but I know that's not the case."

There it was again, his ability to look through every single one of her lies like nobody else. It had been a quality she had once admired, but now it was only making things harder. "You're right. This isn't what I want. It's what I need."

"Is it?" he asked suspiciously. Because he had lived a life that led him to the realization that the one thing everybody needs is a support system of people who believed in them and loved them no matter what. She had once had that and he was sure she wouldn't have it wherever she was going. 

"Seems like it," she responded vaguely. Because she didn't need it for herself. She had stopped caring about herself ages ago, at least in comparison to those she loved dearly. That's what was so hard about not loving herself, she started loving others much more and suddenly she was last on her own priority list. 

Remus didn't know what else to say. He had tried everything he could, every argument he had in him. He wanted to fight for her, but he didn't know how to anymore. He could only try to accept it. "This is it, then?"

It sounded so final, and Lyra couldn't keep herself from crying anymore. Her face scrunched up as she tried her hardest to keep the tears in her eyes from falling and letting him realize just how hard this was hitting him. Though, she suspected he already knew. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked curiously. 

"All of it," Lyra shrugged helplessly. "For what I'm doing now and what I've done ages ago. I know I haven't always been the best friend to you, and I'm sorry. Especially after I found out about your secret. You didn't deserve that. You deserve much better friends than me."

"Don't say that. Don't ever say that," he said sternly, walking closer so she knew there was no escape. "I feel blessed to have gotten a taste of the best of you. Because I've seen it, even if you believe it's not there."

She wanted to say that the best of her had only come out because of him and the boys who had changed her life so much. She didn't want to tell him that she was hiding it because of them, either. "It may have been once. But I can't afford for it to show anymore."

He hated the sound of it, because he had loved her so deeply and she didn't want anyone to know she was worth loving. "Then I'm sorry for not helping you show it to the world. The best of you shouldn't be hidden from anyone. It was the best of any of us."

Lyra sniffled loudly, not able to keep her tears back anymore. The reminder of how much Remus had believed in her, enough to push her into producing the Patronus she didn't think was capable of, enough to make her realize when she had fallen in love. "I really love you, you know that?"

"I really love you, too," he said sincerely. At the sight of her tears, his heart broke along with her. When heartbreak comes, all you need is someone to mend it. It much more difficult if the only one who can mend your heart is the one who broke it. 

But he didn't care about how she had hurt him or any of his best friends. Because she was hurt, too. He wanted so desperately to help her, because he knew it would help them all. But he couldn't help someone who didn't want it. 

It didn't stop him from pulling her into his arms though. Because it was a goodbye, even if they didn't want it to be. He thought that such a good friendship, ending long before its time, deserved a proper mourning and proper closure. 

It was even harder for Lyra to keep her tears back once she felt his embrace. She cried silently into his shirt, but she knew he could feel it. She whispered softly, though he could hear it clear as day. "I wish it didn't have to be like this."

"Me too," he muttered quietly, his head perfectly rested on the top of her head. They stayed like that for a little while, but not long enough. "Goodbye then, Lyra. Hopefully... we'll meet again someday."

"Goodbye, Remus," she responded, reaching up to dry her tears once he pulled away from her. He smiled reassuringly for a moment before they both turned around and walked off in different direction, neither of them daring to look back. 

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The train had finally stopped at King Cross Station. The trip had felt much longer than usual, but that was probably only because Lyra had been so deep into her thoughts, which she was sort of thankful for. Her years at Hogwarts had generally been great, and she had no hope that years outside would be better, or even equally good. 

She took a deep breath of the familiar London air, missing Scotland already. It felt much fresher and freer. London was more cramped, making it so much harder to find room to breathe properly. 

She grabbed her trunk, struggling to pull it through the crowds. She had already said goodbye to Lucinda, which had been even more bittersweet, having no idea whether or not their futures would intertwine or when they would see each other again. 

She watched the tiny first years return for their first summer between two years at Hogwarts as sixth years returned for their last. The other seventh years were crying and hugging their friends, swearing they would stay in touch though none ever do. 

She could have been back at Black manor by now, but she lingered and watched, not wanting to go back yet. Nobody had come to the platform for her ever since she passed her Apparation test. She was always tasked with getting home on her own.  

Lyra was about to give up and just apparate, resigning to her new old life. But she frowned as she caught a familiar glimmer of platinum blond hair in the crowd. She wasn't sure if she saw correctly, but she still walked towards in the crowd, dragging her trunk behind her. "Lucius?"

"Lyra, it's lovely to see you," he smiled once he saw her. He leaned in to kiss her cheek briefly. She couldn't help but be a bit uncomfortable at the physical contact, but it was a proper greeting for an engaged couple. One she would have to get used to.

She eyed him strangely. It was still surreal that this man was her fiancé. They had barely even exchanged letters since they got engaged. "What are you doing here? I usually just get back to my parents' house on my own."

"Actually, your parents arranged for me to come collect you," he informed her. "They think it will be right for you to stay at Malfoy Manor as we prepare for the wedding. We should get to know each other, I suppose."

"Oh. Alright. This is the first I've heard of it, but I can't really argue," she supposed, sighing in defeat. Knowing she was getting married, that there would be a wedding, didn't seem real yet. "Speaking of the wedding... Have we set a date yet?"

"We can talk about this when we get home. Shall we?" he asked, offering his arm to her. She could only think about how Malfoy Manor was far from her home. She still took his arm hesitantly. 

Lyra could feel a pair of eyes on her as Lucius started leading her away from the platform. She had a feeling about who it could be, so she tried to stop herself from looking back. She wasn't strong enough to do so. 

And her eyes met James's, who didn't even try to pretend he hadn't been staring. They just kept looking at each other, neither trying to hide their sadness at her walking away with who they both considered the wrong man. 

Too many words had remained unsaid, because she had thought she would have many years to say them. Now she suddenly didn't. It was hard to know that there more things left unsaid than she actually told him. Now they were too far away from each other to even try. 

Lyra turned away, now too far to keep eye contact. She turned back to Lucius, who was talking about whatever, not even having noticed she hadn't been listening as she walked towards her new life at Malfoy Manor. 

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A/N: Thanks for 6k votes, guys! You're great. Also, don't worry. James and Lyra will see each other again.