The choosing of N.E.W.T.-level subjects were the most important part of a new sixth-year's schedule. Due to them only finding out their O.W.L. results that summer, the newly minted sixth-years had to hand in their decisions on their classes. 

Of course, Slytherin house's Head was a bit more ambitious and desperate to get his hands on his students and their future achievements, so he had called in a meeting with the sixteen-year-olds in their common room when every other year started their classes. 

Professor Horace Slughorn handed out a piece of parchment to each of them, each holding a list of possible subjects for them to take. All they needed was to cross out which ones they were interested in taking. 

Usually, the Head of House takes all of their students out for private conversations to discuss which classes are available for them considering their results on the O.W.L.s. Lyra, however, knew he was desperate to get as many students to take potions as possible that he wanted them to publicly know how important it was. 

"You can all fill out the form shortly. I just wanted to have a conversation with all of you first," Slughorn smiled brightly at the group of disinterested students. "It is at this moment you make the choices that decide your futures."

He clapped his hands together, making Lucinda jump in surprise. "I want nothing more than for all of you to have the marvelous futures I believe you can all have. That's why I want you to take classes you believe you will excel in, and the classes that will put you on the path you want to be on."

"But the one subject you really should all take, because most of you have achieved Exceeds Expectations on your O.W.L.s," he giggled to himself as several people whispered about completely different things. "It would be great if you all take Potions during the next two years."

"It will teach you unimaginable skills now that we move into more advanced territory. Not to mention, a good N.E.W.T.-result in Potions really does spruce up your chances at getting a job, no matter what you apply for." Slughorn still hadn't noticed how nobody paid attention. 

Lyra did, though. It was mostly because she was afraid he would notice if she didn't, and that wouldn't make her Slug Club material. Lucinda was trying to whisper something to her about the new robes she bought a few days ago, but she sent her a stern look, telling her to shut up.

Lucinda crossed her arms, pouting. She glanced towards Rabastan, who didn't even think to look at her. Once she noticed this, Lyra sighed. That meant Rabastan was the big object of Lucinda's affection for the year. 

Not that she minded. Her school-girl crush on Rabastan had ended the moment they went off to summer break, and not a moment too soon. That didn't mean she wanted to hear Lucinda babble on about how attractive he was, which she had heard about basically every other boy in their year already. 

"I will be taking each one of you out to speak about your choices, so you can start to fill out the form now," the Potions Master said and glanced around the room, looking for who he was going to pull out first. "How about we go in alphabetical order? Mr. Avery, if you would?"

As Avery followed Slughorn out to a nearby room, Lyra knew she was next. So she quickly glanced down at the paper holding all the classes she had already taken and a reminder of the results she got on the O.W.L.s. All she needed to do was to put an X by the ones she wanted to continue with.

Lyra Cassiopeia Black - N.E.W.T.-level subjects
Defense Against the Dark Arts (E) X
Potions (O) X
Transfiguration (O) X
History of Magic (E) X
Astronomy (E) X
Herbology (P)
Charms (O) X
Arithmancy (O) X
Ancient Runes (O) X
Care of Magical Creatures (A)

"Eight subjects?" asked Rabastan, looking over her shoulder to see what she had chosen. He probably wanted to know what classes they would have together. "That's a lot. I'm taking half of that!"

"Four?" she asked, incredulously. She knew he was more than capable to take even more. She looked at his and saw he was taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology and Divination. "We're only going to have two classes together this year!"

"Let me see," said Lucinda, closing in on them to see which ones they had decided on. "Rabastan, I'm also doing Herbology and Divination! And we've got Astronomy and Charms, too. We're all in Defense, though."

"How fun," said Rabastan dryly. Lyra couldn't help but snicker at his disinterested response to her friend. "Lyra, why do you bother with all this? Eight subjects is way too much. Remember you have to do N.E.W.T.s with these, too."

"Maybe I'm a bit of an overachiever," the blonde shrugged. She couldn't help but smirk a bit, feeling a bit smug that she felt able to take more subjects than both of them, almost as many as them put together. 

Uncomfortable, Lucinda turned away to try to speak to Wilkes about what subjects he was taking. She wasn't interested in being the third wheel to Lyra and Rabastan's friendship, and she wasn't in the mood to pretend to be. 

Rabastan rolled his eyes. "I don't understand. This will have basically no use for us later. Except for Defense and Potions. We'll be doing much more important things than school work soon anyway."

"What do you mean?" the Black girl asked, even if she was afraid she already knew the answer. She didn't think Rabastan had the same thoughts about her future that everybody else seemed to have. At least, she hoped he didn't.

"Just expect and owl from your sister soon. Bellatrix, I mean. I always forget you have two," laughed Rabastan. Internally, Lyra corrected him. Three. She had three sisters. This would always be true, even if the family tree only showed two.

Slughorn then came back to the room, accompanied by Avery, who didn't seem to be happy with the results of their conversation. He probably didn't pass a subject he wanted to take, and found out there was no way for him fix it.

"Miss Black! Would you come with me, please?" he asked, his eyes scouring the room in search of the bright, blonde locks that made her recognizable. When he saw her, he smiled brightly and gestured for her to follow him.

She smiled politely at Rabastan in goodbye, which he returned. She clutched the piece of parchment tighter in her hand, her knuckles becoming white as she clung onto something so small yet so defining of her future.

Slughorn brought her to the currently empty Potions classroom, gesturing to one of the seats. "Please, Miss Black. Take a seat. May I have a look at your form?"

"Of course, Professor," Lyra smiled charmingly. She took a final glance at the parchment to make sure she hadn't accidentally crossed off Herbology or forgotten to take Transfiguration, or something similar. She then handed it over. "What do you think, sir?"

The Head of Slytherin house looked at all her choices in great detail, making sure he didn't miss a thing. "It seems very promising. I can see Herbology is no longer an option, you'd need an Exceeds Expectations. You can still take Care of Magical Creatures, as Professor Kettleburn accepts Acceptable students."

Lyra already thought eight subjects was enough, she didn't want to imagine taking nine. "I'd prefer to focus more on subjects that are more likely to impact my future. No disrespect to Professor Kettleburn, of course, but I can't see myself as a Magizoologist."

"Perfectly understandable, my dear," Slughorn assured her before looking over the parchment again. "You're taking Potions, very good. Transfiguration. Minerva will be pleased. Defense Against the Dark Arts, yes. I've heard good things about your new professor."

"Really?" she asked, not sure if she believed it. All she had learned about the subject had been through text books or tutoring from family members and friends. All due to the less than stellar teachers they had been given.

"Yes, I taught him myself. Brilliant man, just came back from some adventure in Spain, I think," he disclosed. Lyra couldn't help but be excited for this new teacher. She hoped she would actually learn something so she could get an O on her N.E.W.T.s.

She smiled politely. "Sounds very exciting, sir."

Slughorn then smiled and checked the time, so he had time to talk to every sixth-year before his next class. "Well, everything looks excellent, Miss Black. I believe you will do quite well in these next to years. Your schedule will be given to you before the day is over."

"Thank you, Professor. Have a nice day!" Lyra quickly stood up and waved as she walked away, letting Slughorn walk out into the Slytherin Common Room and call out for the next student in the alphabetic listing.

▹▹▹

Although Lyra and Remus had technically been reunited during the train ride to Hogwarts, Lyra was still very excited for the two of them to have a night by themselves to talk about whatever without having to worry about who saw them being friends. 

They had already been walking around for about ten minutes, discussing their subjects and comparing their schedules. "Looks like we're going to have a lot of subjects together this year, Lyra."

"Thank Merlin," the blonde grinned, punching his arm playfully. "I don't know how I'd be able to survive without you for a whole year. We're still Arithmancy and Ancient Runes partners, right? You didn't drop them, did you?"

"Of course not, you know how much I love sitting around and doing Arithmancy and translating Ancient Runes. The favorite part of my day," said the Gryffindor sarcastically, laughing as she rolled her eyes.

"You're not very funny, you know." She still couldn't help her smile, though, so he knew she was lying. "But you're taking Defense, of course. Slughorn told me about the new teacher, he sound pretty good for once."

The sandy-haired boy nodded, smoothing out his newly showered hair. "Yeah, I know. He came by my conversation with McGonagall. Said he'd heard about me from her, that I'm interested in Defense."

"Well, you are interested in defense, aren't you?" Lyra asked. She was proud of him because he was incredibly skilled in the subject, and for his ambition with it. "I mean, we're all just waiting for you to become Professor Lupin one day."

He blushed slightly, feeling like she had a bit too much faith in him. "Well, I've always wanted to teach. And Defense Against the Dark Arts is sort of my subject, you know. Like you've got Transfiguration."

"I do love Transfiguration," she agreed. "Wow, I just had a brilliant thought! So, you can teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, right? And maybe one day I'll teach Transfiguration, and we'll be coworkers!"

"You want to teach?" Remus asked, as if this surprised him. He knew McGonagall had talked to her about the possibility, but he didn't think she would be interested. "I thought you wanted to do something else, in the Ministry or something."

She shrugged. "Well, I don't want to go straight into teaching. I want to try to make some sort of difference in the Wizarding World first. Maybe I could work for the Minister or something, end up in the Wizengamot if I'm lucky."

"Well I'd like to teach right away," stated Remus. He couldn't imagine doing anything better with his life than to tell another generation of witches and wizards how to be the best they could be, and to throw away all the prejudice they had been taught. "There are usually vacancies anyway."

"There's a reason for that, though," Lyra reminded him, thinking back to how all the teachers they had had ended up becoming ill or unable to teach during their tenure. She was wondering if the position was cursed.

"Yeah, but who knows? Maybe Professor Dowson will last for a while. I actually believe in him, he seems capable," he said. "But if not, I'll have a chance hopefully. And I wouldn't mind working with you either."

"Aw, that's sweet, mate." Lyra smiled brightly and ruffled his hair, making him grimace at her. "Hogwarts has a Transfiguration professor, though. And I don't think McGonagall's going away any time soon. I'll have to wait until she retires or quits when she meets James or Sirius's children."

Remus's ears perked up at her calling James by his first name, which she hadn't done since before summer, but he didn't want to comment on it just so they could argue about the fact that she didn't like James at all. 

He couldn't help but laugh at her joke, though. He could imagine any child raised by James or Sirius to be a bit of a wild card, especially if they had both of the best friends as influences. If he weren't their best friend, he wouldn't have wanted to teach their children either. 

"You know, I'm really proud of you," Remus smiled, leaning his elbow on her shoulder. "I'm just really glad you've discovered this fire inside you. I feel like you haven't ever been more yourself as long as I've known you."

"Thank you for pushing me to discover it. I wouldn't be here, thinking I actually have a future without you, Remus. You're pretty great you know," said Lyra, pushing his arm of her shoulder while giggling.

He gave her a challenging look and raised his arm so it was now leaning on top of her head, reminding her just how much taller than her he truly was. "I do know, but it's always good to have the reminder. And you're pretty nice, too. You'll be a great teacher someday."

"You will, too, don't worry." Lyra slipped away so he couldn't lean on her once again before shoving him away, smiling sarcastically. "And, you know, I feel like I have to set a good example now. I mean, I'm an aunt now."

"Right, I forgot!" exclaimed Remus. He remembered getting a letter after her nephew was born, but it had slipped his mind the moment he saw her again. "It was your sister, the other blonde one?"

"Narcissa, yes," Lyra smiled, chuckling to herself at how he never remembered her sisters' names, except for Andromeda's, but he never mentioned it. "She had him in the start of July. His name's Marcus."

"Flint, right?" he asked, getting a nod in response. "Does it feel weird? You know, actually being an aunt? There's a little kid that came out of your sister..."

"Don't say it like that!" Lyra scrunched her nose up in disgust, punching him lightly. Every punch of hers would be light for him, as he was surprisingly pain-resistant and she was unsurprisingly very weak. 

"Still... you didn't answer my question," he said, fake clutching the spot she punched just so she wouldn't feel bad about being weak. "I'm just curious. I'm an only child and everything but I imagine it's like what it'll be like when the lads start having kids."

Lyra tilted her head. "You won't have to think about that. I don't think it will happen any time soon. And I definitely think you'll be the first dad of you lot. You'd be really good at it, and you're not a git so you could probably snag a girlfriend before they can."

"No way," said Remus, a different tone in his voice. One that made it seem like the idea of having kids made him sad. "I don't think I'll be a good dad. I don't really want kids anyway, I'll teach them. I can be Uncle Remus, though. And I think James will be the first dad. He's just... such a dad."

"Really? I can't really see that," she said, frowning as she tried to imagine it. Then again, she wasn't there when he woke them all up in the morning to make sure they weren't late, who made sure Remus ate at every meal, and that Peter didn't overeat so he would feel sick. That was a side he had only shown to his closest friends.

"He's a really good person, actually. I know you don't see it because he's also an idiot... But he tries, he does." Remus could see she was starting to become uncomfortable with the way he was talking James up, like he had been asked to. 

"Also, if you don't think he'll be a good dad... Well, you know he's looking for candidates for a mum to his kid. If you send in an application, I think your chances are pretty high," the sandy-haired boy teased.

"Oh, shut up!" the blonde exclaimed, unable to keep from giggling. She elbowed him, feeling like she had been a lot more physical with Remus during this patrol than usual. He barely even felt it so he probably didn't mind much. 

She then scrunched up her nose, wondering if James had asked to be a conversation topic. "He didn't ask you to talk him up or something, right? I knew he was kind of an idiot who doesn't know how to talk to girls, but using a shared friend like this... it's a bit pathetic."

"James isn't pathetic!" Remus defended him. The look he gave her made her realize that she probably hit a bit of a nerve. "And, no. He didn't, it was all me. He did, however, ask me to give you this..."

He grabbed a piece of parchment that was poorly ripped out of his pocket. He smoothed it out and handed it to her. Reluctantly, she took it and read what it said. Meet me at the Astronomy Tower at midnight - James.

Lyra couldn't help but sigh and frown, glancing up at Remus. He raised his hands in surrender, as if to say he had nothing to do with this. He was only the messenger. She crumbled it up and handed it back to her fellow prefect. "I'm not going. You can tell him that. We should probably get back anyway."

"Yeah, alright. I will." Remus couldn't help but look disappointed. He had hoped she would just accept so James would finally shut up about her not wanting to talk to him, other than those five minutes on the train that he had been babbling about ever since. "Good night, Lyra."

"Good night, Remus." Lyra sent him a final smile before turning around. She walked towards the Dungeons, towards her own common room as he left for Gryffindor Tower to break the news to his friend. She just hoped he wouldn't waste his night hoping she would come anyway.