It was strange to be an official sixth year. As Lyra boarded the Hogwarts Express, she now knew this was the second to last September 1st she would spend at King's Cross Station, excited for another year of learning and spending time with her friends. 

She was really excited for some things, though. She was about to choose her N.E.W.T.-level subjects, which would make her closer to her own future. She was getting really excited about Defense Against the Dark Arts now that she knew she was a natural Occlumens. 

Seeing Remus again was also a plus, and she was hoping they had been put on patrol together that year, too. If not, she would go to the Head Boy and Head Girl and demand it, because she had now learned that being a prefect wasn't worth it with Remus Lupin by her side. 

Her Slytherin friends had also been deeply missed. Emma Vanity, who she had lost touch with, had just graduated, so she wouldn't get to reunite with her. She would still be able to spend a lot of time with people like Lucinda Talkalot and Rabastan Lestrange, to live her life to the fullest.

The most important part was Sirius, though. She hadn't seen him or heard from him since he had walked out on their family. She had written a dozen letters, but she had no idea where to send them and he never sent any to her. She wondered if he was mad, or if he was too scared to send a letter and get her in trouble. 

Still, she sat in the prefect's carriage, ready for their first meeting of the year. She found herself sitting next to Rabastan, who was now the new male sixth-year prefect for Slytherin. Emma Vanity's complaints about Evan Rosier had thankfully lost him his position, so Lyra knew she wouldn't have to deal with him. 

She exchanged secret smiles with Remus, who looked just as happy to see her. She was worried, though, that his scars looked more prominent than they had in a while, and he looked quite pale for a boy that had just returned from a holiday sunbathing in the French Riviera. 

Once Rabastan turned to her again, she quickly looked up to him with a bright smile. Remus frowned at the loss of her attention, and quickly started a conversation with Lily Evans, who Lyra hadn't seen since Snape insulted her.

On the other side of her, Regulus sat silently, not sure what to do with himself. He was the new prefect for fifth-year Slytherins, and Lyra couldn't be prouder. She reached out and grabbed his hand, smiling in support. He hesitantly smiled back. 

The new Head Boy, Buckley Cooper from Slytherin, and the Head Girl, Alison Denbright from Ravenclaw, suddenly stood up and demanded the attention of their prefects. Buckley stood straight and looked down on them. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Welcome back to returning prefects, and welcome to those of you who are new."

Alison had a stern look on her face. "Many of you know who we are as we have worked together before. But introductions are still in order. My name is Alison Denbright and I am the Head Girl for the next year."

"And I am Buckley Cooper, the Head Boy." The two seemed more uptight than last year's selection. Winkus Oddpick and Mathilda Grindlehawk were nothing if not fun and cheerful, but Dumbledore must have decided on a different approach this year. 

Alison looked away awkwardly, as if she was embarrassed. "Unfortunately, we were not given the task of putting up patrol schedules before this morning. We will therefore for the most part use the same ones as last year."

As she started handing out the schedules, Buckley turned to Lyra. "Lyra, would you and Lupin take the first patrol of the train again this year? If you wouldn't mind."

Lyra could see Rabastan tense up at the idea of her patrolling with Remus again this year. The blonde looked over at Remus and raised an eyebrow, getting a smile as answer. "Sure, Buckley. We can do that."

"Thank you," said Alison as she put Lyra's schedule in her hand. She quickly looked over it, seeing it was the same as last year, as they had said. The only difference was that where Evan Rosier's name had once been, it now said Rabastan Lestrange. 

Rabastan looked at his own, his nose scrunched up in disgust. Not only did Lyra have to patrol with Remus Lupin, but Rabastan would have to patrol with Lily Evans. "I'll talk to them. Surely there's got to be a way we can patrol together and not with those Gryffindor twats."

"Eh, yeah, sure..." the Black girl trailed off. She didn't want to tell him not to, because it would only cause suspicion. But she sent Remus a secret smile, as if promising him they would have another year of good patrols.

"Well, off you go. There's nothing more to say, really. Fifth years, remember to take the first years to your dormitories. You know what to do, you've experienced it before. Good luck!" Alison finally forced a fake smile on her face, one that looked like it hurt to smile. 

Lyra suspected it was still a better idea to talk to her than Buckley, who was a Slytherin and would gladly tell Rabastan what she was planning to say. "Hey, Denbright! Could I talk to you for a moment?"

The Ravenclaw raised her eyebrow, showing she didn't have time for chitchat. She was already unhappy with her Head Boy being a Slytherin, and she didn't want to talk to them more than needed. "Sure. Make it quick, Black."

Nervously, she smiled. "So, Rabastan Lestrange, my fellow sixth-year Slytherin prefect, is going to ask either you or Buckley, probably Buckley, if we can avoid patrolling with Gryffindors. If you want to make sure he doesn't patrol with Lily Evans, that's fine. But I'd really like to keep patrolling with Remus Lupin."

"Ah, I see what's going on. A secret romance." Alison quickly smirked, seeming more interested than before. "A Gryffindor and a Slytherin. How very Romeo and Juliet of you. I'll see what I can do."

Before Lyra could stop her and tell her that her and Remus were far from romantically involved, Alison had walked off. Remus was standing close by, obviously having heard the whole conversation. They both burst out laughing.

▹▹▹

Lyra had missed Remus more than she thought. His letters were always nice and fun to read, but it was nothing compared to having the boy standing by her side, making her smile even through her saddest days. 

"So what's been going on with you?" Remus asked, feeling like he had been talking about himself too much. "You've barely said anything about what you've been doing in your letters. I know my summer was interesting, but it wasn't that interesting."

Lyra snickered and looked up at him, debating whether or not she should tell him about her new discovery, but she knew he could be trusted. "Well, I found out I'm a natural Occlumens, so that was pretty new."

"A natural Occlumens?" the Gryffindor repeated, flabbergasted at the reveal. "That's so cool. I've always wanted to learn Occlumency. And you know it already? It's cool but it's also really unfair, Lyra."

"Not my fault you weren't born with my amazing genes. Cissy is one, too. Bella is seething," the blonde revealed, laughing to herself as she remembered her oldest sister's reaction to being the only non-disowned sister not to have that gift. 

"I can imagine," he laughed before his smile faded, more serious things coming to his mind. "Did anything else happen? I've heard some things from Sirius, but how are you feeling about everything?"

"You've had contact with Sirius?" Lyra quickly asked, stopping her tracks. The concern on her face threw Remus off, as he thought she had at least as much contact with her cousin as he had had. 

"Yeah, of course. Haven't you?" the sandy-haired boy asked, instantly regretting it as her face fell. Concerned, he put his hand on her shoulder and forced her to turn around to face him. "Lyra, are you alright?"

She sniffed as tears came to her eyes, but she wiped them away with the sleeve of her robes. "I've just been so worried about him all summer. I didn't know where to send any letters, and he never sent any to me. I'm just glad he's okay. I just don't know why he hasn't reached out."

Remus wrapped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her, as she seemed very distraught when it came to the subject. "Maybe he was scared. I didn't ask what happened. Do you want to tell me?"

"Well, he did the dumbest thing. He brought up Andromeda, and he thought he wouldn't get any consequences for it. But then our parents started fighting and my Aunt Walburga, she..." Lyra closed her eyes as a tear fell. She hated even thinking about it.

Seeing her tear, Remus frowned. He hated to see her upset, and when she was this upset, he didn't want to imagine how Sirius felt. He pulled her into his chest, letting her lean into his chest. "It's okay."

"She used the Cruciatus Curse on him!" she finally exclaimed, taking a deep breath as she felt Remus tense. "And it was awful. It was just like when Andy left. Except he walked out in front of everyone."

He was about to curse, to yell that her aunt needed to go to Azkaban for performing an Unforgivable Curse on her son. But he could that wasn't what she needed. She needed to see Sirius to see that he was alright, that he didn't hate her. 

Remus pulled her away from him, putting his hands on her shoulders. He leaned down so he was eye-level with her, smiling comfortingly. "Look, Sirius is in our compartment. We can go see him now. Come on."

Lyra's eyes widened, not sure if it was a good idea. "We're not done with patrol, though."

"This is more important, let's go." He grabbed her hand and pulled her past many compartment's, not caring who saw. He led her through, and he only then realized how far back their compartment was.

Once they reached the outside of the four marauders' compartment, Lyra looked through the window. In there, she could see Sirius laugh with James and Peter. He looked so different from the last time she had seen him. There was no blood, no tears. Only pure joy. 

The blonde felt like she couldn't move. Her eyes were stuck upon her cousin, noting how he had grown his hair longer than she had ever seen. She also saw a scar on his hand, from where his dinner knife had fallen on his hand as he fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

Remus squeezed her hand, sensing her hesitation. James was the first to see her from inside the compartment. His eyes widened and he suddenly straightened up, running his hands through his hair to make himself more desirable for her. 

The action made Sirius frown and turn to see what had caught his best friend's attention. Once he noticed her, she finally found it within her to open the compartment door. She could barely take a step before he sprung to his feet. 

"Sirius-" Lyra started saying, but she couldn't finish her sentence as Sirius had quickly stuffed her deep into his arms. He was sighing, as if he was relieved and happy to finally get to hold her in his arms, to know she was alright. "You're okay. Sirius, you're okay."

"'Course I am," he said, releasing her and grinning brightly as hope shone through his eyes. "You didn't doubt me, did you? If you think those wankers can get me down, then you don't really know me at all."

"I was just worried, I hadn't heard from you all summer. I thought you might have died or lost your mind after..." the Black girl trailed off. She remembered how Remus hadn't known what happened and she didn't want to reveal it to James and Peter if he wasn't comfortable.

"Yeah, I know." His face darkened as he remembered what happened. He then put his hand on the side of Lyra's face, forcing a smile back on his face. "I just didn't want you to get in trouble if they found a letter from me."

She shook her head, throwing her arms around his neck once more. She breathed in the reminder that he was alright, that he didn't hate her, that he hadn't disowned her just because their family disowned him. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Of course I'll worry about you." Sirius rolled his eyes, as if the idea of him not worrying about her was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "You're a bit of clutz. You're also not always the brightest-"

"Alright, shut up!" She pulled away and slapped his arm playfully, laughing. It felt good to laugh with him again. "Well, I'm guessing you didn't sleep underneath a bridge somewhere for the rest of summer. Where did you go?"

"Eh, he went to my place," James suddenly spoke up, scratching the back of his neck nervously. He hadn't spoken to Lyra since before summer, and he found that all the practice in front of the mirror hadn't prepared him for this. "My mum and dad were happy to take him in."

James had expected her to scream at him, to hex him even. He had only helped, but he thought she still hated him from last year. Instead, she looked at him with a glassy-eyed look, and smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

This, of course, sparked a confidence boost the Potter boy usually didn't need. He smirked and shrugged. "No problem. If need be, you're always welcome at my place, too. I've got a double bed, but I'm only one person and I feel so selfish every time-"

"Don't push it, Potter." The blonde raised a hand, telling him to stop it. He raised his hands in surrender, but smiled nonetheless. "I appreciate it. It was good of you. And, Sirius... I missed you so much. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. Now, your friends have got to be missing you. We'll catch up soon, alright? Alone." Sirius grinned. "You know, as I am too embarrassed to be seen with you. You're such a loser."

"I take it back, I haven't missed you at all. And you're the loser." Lyra knew it was a horrible retort, so she added on a little mocking grimace, making Sirius laugh loudly. She opened the door to leave the compartment and composed herself again. 

The minute she walked out and was going to find her own friends, an annoyingly familiar voice called out for her. She could basically smell the grease from his hair. "Black! What were you doing in there with them?"

The blonde couldn't help but roll her eyes at the pure disgust in his voice as he said them. She turned around gave him a sarcastic smile. "I honestly don't think that's any of your business, is it, Snape?"

"I always knew you were worse than you were letting on," Snape crossed his arms over his chest. Like always, he seemed to have it out for her, even when she defended him before summer. "I'm going straight to Rabastan and Regulus. Wonder what they'll think about all this."

Lyra couldn't hide the way her eyes widened for a second in fear. Because if they knew she still talked to Sirius, then her parents would soon know too. Even worse, Bellatrix would find out. "No, you won't."

"You know what? I think I will," the Slytherin boy glowered at her, for no apparent reason other than that he hated James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. He didn't even have any evidence of her being friends with any of them. 

"You have nothing to tell them. I was asked to tell Sirius that he wouldn't be welcome to family dinner on Christmas Eve. Don't presume to know anything about my family, Snape. Then we'll have an issue," the blonde smirked bitterly. 

Snape sighed bitterly, glancing towards the compartment the four boys were in. Their laughter was so loud they could hear it outside the door. "Look, Black, I don't like you. Btu I'm going to give you a bit of a warning."

"A warning? What kind of warning?" she scoffed. Snape had always been annoying, but he had never been a threat to her. The worst he did was read up on dark hexes, he had never even raised a wand at her. 

"You should really be careful, Black," he smirked, raising his eyebrows in challenge. "Especially you. You really shouldn't mess around with people who have powerful friends. People like me."

Lyra took a deep breath from her nose, trying to stop shaking. She didn't do well with being threatened, even by someone who had never scared her before. "You don't scare me, Snape. Stop trying to."

"Then why are you shaking?" he asked, narrowing his eyes on her hand. She mentally cursed herself out. "I've heard the whispers about what your sister wants from you. Would be a shame if you weren't up for the task. Many people would be quite angry."

The blonde raised her chin, vowing not to show any weakness in front of an enemy. Being raised a Black wasn't always perfect, but one was always taught how to win a conflict. "You'd be pleased, I suspect."

The black-haired boy took a deep breath, using his scarily skinny fingers to fiddle with his wand. "I care more about a good cause having supporters than my petty disliking of you. Especially if you support the cause well."

"A good cause?" the prefect repeated, confused. "You mean the Death Eaters? You consider them your great cause? Is that where you have your powerful friends from? Are you telling me you're still Lucius Malfoy's lapdog when he graduated five years ago? It would be funny if it wasn't so sad."

"I'm no one's lapdog, Black!" Snape hissed, as she had obviously struck a nerve. She raised her eyebrows, smiling in amusement. "My only advice is to make sure you know what you're doing before you ruin something for those who actually have made a choice about who they support."

"You don't know what choices I've made or haven't made," said Lyra flippantly, she was trying very hard for it to not seem like he had gotten through her skin. "I suggest you leave. I am still prefect and you are not. You don't want detention, do you? I hear Filch just polished his chains."

"Fine." Snape huffed dramatically, his hair flipping as he turned around. Lyra closed her eyes and took a breath, trying to remain calm. She didn't want to think about that possible future for herself. She had decided what she wanted to do. 

Lyra wanted to work as hard as she could and hopefully talk to Slughorn and get a job straight out of Hogwarts so nobody could say a thing about her having to take on the Dark Mark. She only hoped it would work. She needed it to work. Snape couldn't be right.