Harry Potter had gone to Hogwarts and been spotted by several of the Death Eaters working there. Lyra had been with her sisters when she heard, and, for that brief moment, she knew they had reached the endgame. It was the night that would determine everything. 

Voldemort had seemed ready for this day. He had spent the entire year preparing for it, the night he would finally be able to kill Harry Potter and solidify his hold on the British Wizarding World. He had given them a half hour to give him to him, enough time for the Death Eaters to get to Hogwarts in case there would be a fight. There was no doubt in Lyra's mind that there would be one. 

Lyra gripped Lucius's hand as she watched the Death Eaters attempt to break down the strong protections of the castle. She could feel some watching her, wondering what she was doing there, same as they wondered why Narcissa was there. Lyra honestly wasn't sure if they would have been there if it wasn't for them being with Bellatrix when they found out. 

It did not take them too long to enter the castle, surrounded by students who were of age, of members of the Order of the Phoenix and their allies, including the employees of the Ministry who had once fought against them. Lyra had underestimated their numbers, she realized. She'd thought the Death Eaters significantly outnumbered them, and that only Harry could win them the war. Maybe they could do it anyway. Maybe Lyra could help.

The Death Eaters were running around, trying to find someone of their foes, someone to hurt, torture and kill. The students and the Order were defending themselves, defending their castle, defending their beliefs. 

Lyra stood frozen in place for a moment as people ran around, lights blinding them throughout the night darkness, flashing red and green. She had no longer eyes on Lucius, who had gone off somewhere with Voldemort. But she needed to see Harry, to see Draco. She needed to know the boys were alright. 

Lyra watched as one of the first casualties happened. Fenrir Greyback was digging his teeth into a teenage girl, who was trying to fight her way out of there, to save herself. And Lyra clenched her jaw and lifted her wand. "Stupefy!"

"Protego!" Someone jumped in front of Greyback, making it impossible for the spell to reach him, even if Bellatrix Lestrange hadn't blocked it. Her hair went off in all different directions, her eyes wide and dark while filled with madness. She was breathing heavily, glaring at her younger sister. "Lyra, what are you doing? There are other people to fight, people who aren't our own."

Lyra had long been too scared of her sister to stand up to her, to tell her what she felt and who she truly was. But she knew that if she was ever going to proud of herself, to feel like she's done something worthwhile with her life, she'd need to do so now. 

She had been a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She had been the girlfriend of James Potter, the cousin of Sirius Black and she was still the best friend of Remus Lupin. They'd been brave, and they'd fought for years, until two of them died. Lyra hoped James and Sirius were watching over her in that moment, feeling the pride that she felt for herself. 

"I'm not one of yours, Bella, I have never been one of you!" Lyra hissed, though she wasn't sure how her sister heard her over the loud explosions and screams of the battle. "Screw you, you hateful bitch. This time, you're not going to control me. I'm gonna love watching you die after all you've done to me, to my family. To the Order of the Phoenix, those who I actually consider my people."

"What I've done?" Bellatrix scoffed, raising her wand and pointing it in her sister's face. Lyra kept her chin up high, listenting to what she was saying. "I always knew you were a filthy little blood-traitor, like Andromeda and Sirius before you, though not that you must have been so much like them. I thought there might be hope for you. But I see I was wrong, if these are the people you wish to associate yourself with. I guess I'll have to remove the filth you've brought to our family tree."

"Bring it." Lyra gripped her wand so tightly her knuckles started turning white. She could see Bellatrix about to shoot some hex, curse or jinx her way and quickly raised her wand as a light approached her. "Protego!"

Lyra hadn't dueled in many years, and she was surprised at just how well she was holding up against Bellatrix Lestrange, the Dark Lord's right-hand woman. She couldn't even think of her as her sister at that moment. That wasn't the girl she had grown up with. This was a mad stranger that she wouldn't mind dead.

She threw every dueling spell she could think of at her, trying to remember all those things she'd learned all those years back at Hogwarts. Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Expulso, Petrificus Totalus, Protego, Confringo, even the Cruciatius Curse. But, while Lyra was doing surprisingly well at keeping Bellatrix's spells at bay, the same was true the other way around. She didn't seem to be doing any damage. 

But Lyra didn't have the stamina that the Death Eater had, who had been practicing for this for as long as she could remember. She could feel her defensive spells growing weaker with every passing moment, and her offensive ones had no chance of breaking through her defenses. 

"Expelliarmus!" 

And suddenly, this time Lyra was not fast enough, not strong enough to protect herself from the spell. The force of it didn't only knock her wand out of her hand, but it pushed her on the ground. 

Bellatrix took a step forward as Lyra remained on the ground, staring up at her with a silent fear she was trying not to show, but it was getting increasingly difficult. As she reached for her wand next to her, the dark-haired witch kicked it further away.

With no wand, with no defenses, with a war raging around her, Lyra was sure that this was going to be it. An ironic sense of a full circle, after Bellatrix had tortured her and Andromeda, after she killed Sirius, it only made sense she would be the one to kill her.  

Bellatrix grinned, a cruel and ugly smile. Lyra couldn't believe that would be the last sight she'd ever see. She always imagined it'd be Draco's face, that she'd be old and on her death bed, and he'd be standing over her with a few of her grandchildren at his side. 

No, instead, it would be an ugly and awful end for her. But Lyra did not want to see her face as she killed her. That would give her a cruel satisfaction she didn't want to grant her. She wanted some dignity in her death. 

But it never came. Lyra frowned and opened her eyes, noticing that somebody stood beside her. Bellatrix had obviously been getting ready to kill her until the man walked up, having grabbed her wand. "I'll take it from here, Bella."

"How? You don't have a wand anymore, do you, Lucius?" Bellatrix retorted with a cruel tone of voice. Lyra held her breath for a moment, trying to keep herself from tearing up because of the rubble and bright lights shining around her. 

"I've got hers," Lucius said coolly, not even looking down at her. His jaw was clenched and his blond hair was dirty and dirt was on his face, along with blood she didn't think was his. "Killing her with her own wand sounds rather satisfying. And I'm sure the Dark Lord would like to have your personal help with some particularly rowdy members of the Order."

Bellatrix only distastefully glanced down at Lyra for a moment, no sense of love or family in her eyes. Not that Lyra gave her any of it in return anymore. "Fine, for the Dark Lord. Just make sure she suffers, as all members of the Order of the Phoenix should."

Lyra watched silently as the woman she'd one called her sister rushed away, firing spells at foes as she ran. She couldn't seem to force herself to breathe, knowing how close she'd been to death. She had always known it could be right around the corner, but it was the first time someone had pointed a wand at her and been prepared to say those words as she layed there, defenseless.

And then her scared eyes met Lucius's. She wondered for a moment if he was actually going to do it, if he was going to kill her. He said he'd forgiven her for Rabastan, but finding out that she'd lied to him, that she'd been a member of the Order of the Phoenix... perhaps that would be the final straw that broke their back.

His hand appeared in front of her, his expression pained as he offered it to her. She frowned for a moment, her eyes shining brightly in the darkness. She hesitantly put her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up. 

And she knew she had been foolish in that moment. Lucius wouldn't kill her, he never would. He'd spent so many years trying to protect her, and he'd saved her life one more time. She wished she could smile at him, to tell her that she was grateful. Though she had always believed her life would have been better if she hadn't married him, he could have been worse. He could have let her die. 

"You've kept many secrets," Lucius choked out, his face tense. He thought he had known them all, about her old friends, about the men she'd been with. But he had never put the pieces together and realized that she had fought against him. 

Lyra swallowed a lump her throat as she felt her hands shake. "I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not."

"I know." Strangely, he smiled fondly at her a moment, admiring just how brave and headstrong she could be. She had really come a long way, he realized. She had been right, she was strong on her own, she didn't truly need him anymore. But if there was anything more he could do to protect her, he would. "It's not safe for you here. You need to get out of here."

The cowardly part of her wanted to, so desperately. But this was everything she had wished she was brave enough to fight for. After all these years, hiding behind the men in her life, coming up with excuses on why she could not do the right thing, all she wanted to do was fight, even if it would be the death of her. 

"I can't," she whispered shakily, but he could hear her clear as day, even througout the noise of everyone fighting, crying and dying around them. "You need to go. Take Draco, get him somewhere safe. Please."

He shook his head defiantly, his jaw clenched and his eyes hard. "Not without you."

Lyra closed her eyes for a moment as she realized that this might be the last time she'd ever see him, but if it was, then it would be worth it. Once she opened her eyes again, they were filled with unshed tears. "You have to let me go."

"Lyra..."

"Lucius... Please. Make sure he's safe," she begged him tearily. No matter how much they had grown to care for each other throughout the years, the love they had for Draco would always have to come first. It was a silent agreement they had always had. "Just let me go."

Lucius looked at her for a few moments, obviously reluctant. He grabbed her hand and carefully wrapped her fingers around her wand, wanting to make sure that she had some way to protect herself, that she could come back to their family once this was all over. 

She watched as he ran, and he didn't look back. She was glad he didn't, it would have made everything so much harder. She took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to go now, what she could do to help. 

She wanted to find Draco, but she had already given that task to her husband as he could better protect him at the moment. She wanted to see Harry, but she couldn't interrupt him in whatever he was doing at the moment. 

And then she knew exactly who she wanted to see, who she'd want to spend the rest of her life, no matter how short, fighting besides. She wouldn't only be fighting with him, she'd be fighting for him, as she always had. Lyra Malfoy wanted Remus Lupin. 

She ran throughout the Hogwarts Courtyard, hoping to catch a glimpse of either him or his wife, her niece. She threw spells and curses at Death Eaters as she ran past, so quickly that none of them could hit her as they attempted to fire back. She just needed to find Remus. 

In the end, she found him on the other side of the courtyard, dueling someone she could not recognize from the back. Nymphadora stood beside him, both of them throwing their best hexes and curses at the Death Eater. 

"Stupefy!" Lyra yelled, pointing her wand at the Death Eater, who fell to the ground in front of her. He hadn't been able to see her coming, too focused on trying to fight Remus and Nymphadora, two skilled duelists. 

She was breathing heavily as she met Remus's eyes. He didn't look surprised to see her, but not happy either. She only looked at him for a quick moment before she ran once again, though his time to jump into his arms and hold him as closely as she could. 

He gripped her tightly, allowing himself to rest for that single moment, a little break in fighting, to embrace his best friend, to hold her close before the biggest fight in their lives. "Are you sure about this? You can still go back, you can go home and be safe."

"I don't care about being safe," the blonde said quickly, sounding desperate. She pulled away from the embrace, brave and proud tears in her eyes as she looked at the man who'd been there for her throughout it all. "I'll fight by your side for as long as I can."

Nymphadora smiled, tears in her eyes as she looked at her aunt. "Good."

"For Ted," Lyra said, a sad smile on her lips. He had only been killed a couple of months ago, and they had all known he did not deserve it. He was family to them all, and she felt like they needed to fight for him, as they'd tried to fight for Sirius and James. 

Nymphadora kept her chin held high and grinned widely, something that she was sure would have made Ted proud. "For Dad."

Remus looked down at Lyra, looking so proud of her, of the woman she had become after she had fought against all aspects of her life for so long. This was the strong woman he had always known she could be. "I love you, I love so much, Lyra."

"I love you, too." Lyra held her wand up, a cheeky smile on her face. They  had a chance, and she knew that. They could win the war, for her son, for James's, for Remus's. Their boys would soon be living in a better world than before. "Now let's kick some Death Eater ass."

Nymphadora's eyes widened as she saw someone approach Lyra from behind. Neither her nor Remus seemed to have noticed it, too caught up in their proud moment of friendship. "Lyra, Lyra, no!" 

"Avada Kedavra!"

But the spell never hit Lyra, even though it was her it was pointed at. Nymphadora used her speed, the agility given to her by being a highly-trained Auror, and jumped behind her, so the green light hit her instead. 

And so Nymphadora Tonks fell to the ground, her eyes empty, her chest no longer rising, her heart no longer beating. Remus fell to the ground, his eyes shocked as he gaped. He couldn't accept what had just happened yet, so he didn't cry. His wife was dead, the mother of his newborn son was dead. 

Lyra fell the ground as well, right in front of her now dead niece. For her, it seemed so much more real, tears quickly streaming down her face. She had died for her, she had saved her. "No, no, no! No, Nymphadora."

She looked up, seeing who was standing there, who had killed her niece, who had tried to kill her. She wasn't surprised when she saw Bellatrix standing there with Antonin Dolohov at her side, cackling like she was having the time of her life. 

"Dolohov, I've got an Order member for you to take care of," said Bellatrix coldly, nodding her head to a heartbroken Remus, who quickly grabbed his wand and prepared to fight once again, pushing the thought of his wife's death out of his mind. "I'll do the other one seeing as her husband is too useless to get the job done."

"Not so fast, Bellatrix," a voice spoke up from behind Lyra. She stiffened as she recognized the deep, raspy voice. She had made sure not to hear it for almost a year, but there he was. As cruel and awful as always. "I'd like to take this one."

Bellatrix raised an unimpressed eyebrow as she looked at Rabastan Lestrange. She didn't want another one of her sister's lovers to spare her life in a moment of weakness."Another one of you? I don't want yet another one of you to spare her because you're too weak to finish the job."

"Who do you think you're talking to? Me? Weak?" Rabastan scoffed. Lyra could still not find it within her to move, though she could see Remus barely glancing her way as he dueled Dolohov. "I'll make her suffer, Bella. I've been waiting to do so for a while."

It seemed that the dark-haired witch trusted Rabastan more than she trusted Lucius, because of the cruel things she knew he'd done. She knew very well that he had done some of these things to Lyra herself. "Fine. At least I got one of filthy part of the family tree."

And Bellatrix ran off once again, gleefully throwing curses and hexes as she did so. Lyra forced herself to get off the ground, to no longer kneel in front of Nymphadora's dead body. And she looked at Rabastan. And this time she was truly afraid.

"Please, Rabastan, please end this," she begged him, though she couldn't help but hate herself for how weak she sounded. But when she looked at him, she thought of the last time she saw him, the terror she had felt as he held her against that wall. He was sick, and she knew this. She just hoped he would know it too. "It's not too late. You could have been a good man once, we can get you the help you need. Please, just help me end this."

"You could have been great, Lyra. I always thought you would be," he only responded with. He took a step closer, seeming unbothered as he grabbed her arm, and pulled her close to him. His breath was fanning her face.  "I had hopes for you, I thought you might be able to do this. I had more faith in you than I did Lucinda. And now it seems like I have to do to you what I did to her. What a shame."

Lyra felt the whole world freeze around her. Nymphadora was now dead next to her, and Remus was fighing a fight beside her. But she couldn't help but be focused on Rabastan, on the lies he had told her. He had been more evil than she thought, he had done more damage than she imagined he ever would. "You killed her? You told me that giants did it, you- you-"

"This is all my fault," Rabastan sighed, as if he was disappointed in himself. He raised his hand, the one clutching his wand, and caressed the side of her face. She struggled, trying to force him to let her go but he was muct stronger than her. "I should have stopped you from falling in love with James Potter back in the day. That blood-traitor git ruined everything."

Lyra was trapped in his grip, as he held onto her wandarm, making it impossible for her to shoot any spells that wouldn't only be pointed on the ground. She still struggled tearfully, trying to get to Remus, to help him as she saw one of Dolohov's spells slash his face. "Don't- don't you dare. Not after James, not after Lucinda-"

"You should have stuck with me," he only said, not seeming bothered at all by her anger, the terrified look on her face and the way there was definitely no love behind her eyes. She had disliked him enough for all he'd done, but knowing that he had killed Lucinda Talkalot all those years ago, a girl who'd only loved him, was the final straw that granted him her burning hatred. "I loved you, Lyra."

Lyra scrunched her face up in anger, spitting in his face. "You're incapable of love."

Rabastan closed his eyes as her spit met his face. He glared down at her, looking very similar to the way he had looked that day in Malfoy Manor, the day he'd given her bruises that lasted for weeks. "If that's how you want to do this... Well, then I'll make you see what happens to members of the Order, those who dare stand against us."

She was terrified of whatever that meant, and then he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her struggling body into his chest, forcing her to face Dolohov and Remus as they dueled. And in that moment, Lyra knew that her hope, the way she had believed they could come out of this alive, was unfounded. 

Because the green light flashed across the courtyard as Lyra screamed, trying to force Rabastan into letting her go, but she could not fight him as Remus looked into her eyes a final time before his went empty and his dead body fell onto the ground, so close to his wife's. 

She couldn't stop crying and screaming as she did her best to fight her way to him, but there was no way. Dolohov only ran, getting ready to find some more innocent victims, prepared to take them away from the people who loved them. 

Remus Lupin was dead. Her best friend since she was fifteen had died, he had been killed in front of her. She had watched the light leave his eyes. A man who had been so good, so clever and so damaged by the world around him was gone. A man she had loved so much that it hurt. 

And Lyra found some strength in anger she felt. She was angry at Bellatrix, she was angry at Dolohov, she was angry at Rabastan. She was angry at the world who had dared take away so many people she cared about. She managed to pull herself out of Rabastan grip. 

"Diffindo!" And Lyra slashed Rabastan's face open, a big gash, spouting blood appeared on his face. But he didn't seem to care, only staring at her surprised, as if he didn't expect that she'd fight back. He truly didn't know her at all, then. 

And he brough the fire, he used every spell that he had in his arsenal. He did not have the pure, calculated skill that Bellatrix had, and so Lyra thought she could easily defeat him as she had managed to keep Bellatrix at bay for a while 

But she was tired. She was so tired, and she couldn't stop looking at Remus and Nymphadora's bodies as she threw curses and defensive spells out into the world, trying to do something to win the war. But they were dead, and part of her didn't understand why she bothered anymore. 

"Crucio!"

Rabastan used the moment of distraction to his advantage. Lyra, who had only felt the curse once in her life, screamed so loudly she was sure the whole of Hogwarts could hear it. The pain was strong and it hurt so much that she wouldn't ever be able to describe it. But she'd felt worse. She'd watched Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, and no pain could ever begin to compare to that anymore. 

He didn't keep the curse on her for very long, only long enough to know that she was suffering, as he had promised Bellatrix that she would. He watched as she layed on the ground, bleeding and dirty. Just the way he thought it ought to be after the betrayal she had done. 

Lyra had dropped her wand, and there was no way she could reach it. She had sent Lucius was, Nymphadora and Remus were both dead by now. There was nobody coming to rescue her, and her heartbreak had made her unable to rescue herself.

She knew she'd be dead within the minute. And so she did the only thing she wanted to do before. She crawled, forcing herself to get closer to Remus, wanting him close in her last moments, even if there was no soft smile or comforting look in his eyes. There was nothing. 

She could feel Rabastan pointing his wand at her back, obviously wanting her to look at him, so he could see the fear in her eyes in her final moments. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She wanted to look at Remus. He had earned it. He had earned being the last person she'd ever see. 

And as she looked at him, she imagined the faces of those she loved. She imagined Draco's face most of all, hoping he was alright wherever he was, that he was safe and that he would he understand why she fought, why she ended up where she did.

Lyra took a deep breath for the final time as she heard Rabastan to the same. 

"Avada Kedavra!""

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A/N: The fact that I wrote this entire thing in the morning before school...