Summer was closing in, and so was the possible execution of Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Lyra felt bad for Hagrid, who had been fighting tooth and nail to get an appeal so that his poor, sweet Hippogriff could live to see another day. 

But it was difficult to fight against Lucius Malfoy. If anybody knew that, it was Lyra. She had spent years too scared to fight, because she knew what would happen if she did. Sirius had felt the consequences of her attempts to fight before. She didn't want anybody else to do so. 

Hagrid didn't have the safety of being Lucius's wife (even if imagining that situation could bring Lyra to tears of laughter). There was no holding back. But she supposed he didn't have to deal with the personal grudges to follow. He was lucky enough for that. 

But seeing as the appeal was happening, Lucius had wanted to go to Hogwarts to oversee it. He didn't want them to forget the influence he held and do something he would make them regret. There was no way he was going to let the Hippogriff get away with the damage it had caused his son. 

It was quite suspicious to him that when he was about to leave, his wife had approached him with the sugary sweet smile that she hadn't given him in years (if ever). "Lucius, my husband. Hello. Good day?"

He barely cast an annoyed glance her way as he was looking for the right cloak to show off his authoritative presence. "The key to the vault at Gringotts is in the parlor. Ask a house-elf if you can't find it."

"What?" Lyra frowned. She supposed it made sense for him to think of she needed the key to the vault. Lately, she had only acted nice to him when she needed money for something. "No, that's not what I'm talking to you for."

"Oh," he responded simply. He looked at her suspiciously, wondering what she wanted then. Usually, they had tried to avoid speaking more than need be because they were both getting tired or repeating the same arguments in their fight over Sirius Black. "What do you want then?"

"I'm just wondering if I could come along when you go to Hogwarts?" Lyra tried to ask with a charming tone of voice. She hadn't tried to charm him in at least a decade (well, she had tried to pretend to be charming towards him in front of others). 

"Why?" Lucius asked, though part of him felt like he knew the answer. It wasn't an answer he would enjoy.

"I'm your wife. I should be there to support you during the appeal." She grimaced as she saw the look on his face, telling her that he wasn't convinced. "And because of Draco. He's my son, too. He got hurt. I want to make sure that that Hippogriff gets what he deserves."

The blond man scoffed. Nothing she was saying was even close to convincing when he knew her better than she thought. "You don't care about the Hippogriff. You don't like it when anyone or anything has to die."

Lyra eyed him strangely. "How do you know that?"

"We've been married for fifteen years," he reminded her. They also had spent most of their time together during these years, even if they didn't always get along during them. "You get to know somebody quite well during that long a time."

"I just want to see Draco, alright?" she whined. "He sent me a letter seeming very upset. He lost the Quidditch Cup to Gryffindor after all. You know how much he loves Quidditch. And Marcus is the captain! He's my nephew, so I'd like to hear how he's doing with it, too."

"It's because of Lupin, isn't?" he asked, smirking smugly as she saw her eyes widen at his mention of the name. There was some malevolence in her eyes at hearing it come from his lips, it almost made him feel more sure he was right. "Remus Lupin, isn't that his full name?"

"What about him? I haven't seen him since I graduated Hogwarts. Which was..." Lyra quickly had to try to pretend  do the math in her head, trying to make him believe she hadn't been thinking about it all the time for years. "Sixteen years ago."

"He's the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor," Lucius said as if it was a revelation, though they both knew it wasn't. "Draco mentioned a Professor Lupin to me. That name did sound quite familiar. An old friend of your old lover, right?"

Lyra tried to stay calm, but part of her wanted to punch him in the teeth, just for mentioning James. He didn't even say his name, and it pained her to hear someone talk about him. The only time she had talked about him for years was that one time with Harry. "What does that matter?"

"If you want to go to see him, then be honest with me," he stated strictly, glaring at her with challenge in his eyes. It was a mean reminder of why she hadn't tried harder to save Sirius all those years ago. If Lucius wanted it, Remus Lupin would be dead. 

"I wouldn't do that," the blonde woman lied through her teeth, though he didn't need to know that. "I know what you're capable of. It wouldn't be first time you've threatened him. I learned my lesson long ago."

"Good," he smirked briefly. But he still wasn't going to let her go with him if he didn't know the motive behind her actions. He had always been controlling like that. "Now give me the real reason you want to go to Hogwarts."

"I miss my son," she repeated one of her first reasons. It was the one she felt he would be most inclined to believe. If there was one thing he couldn't doubt, it was her love for Draco. "Can I not take an opportunity to see him when I can?"

"Alright," he nodded. Because it was true. The one thing they had always been able to agree on, it was that they loved him and wanted him to be as safe and happy as possible. "I hope you're not lying to me."

"When have I ever lied to you?" Lyra asked. She knew she had lied to him more often than he thought. Not that much in the last few years, but she did so quite a few times back in the day when she had done something she shouldn't have. 

"That's the issue. I feel like you may just be a good enough liar for me not to know," Lucius retorted, watching her face to search for any reaction on her face. She wasn't dumb enough to give him one. 

"You'll just have to trust me," she shrugged, even if she wouldn't have if she was in his position. "Don't you think Draco will be happy to see his mother at school? With everything that's going on with him."

"I've already agreed. Let's go." Lucius didn't want to argue anymore, he had to get going. Or, well, they had to get going. He held his arm out to her, and she quickly took it so they could get to Hogwarts. 

▹▹▹

Lucius had told Lyra to go and check on Draco once they arrived at Hogwarts, and only to check on Draco. She had rolled her eyes and told him that she would. Those weren't her plans, but he might as well believe it was. 

She didn't know where she might find her son (again, she wished she had the Marauder's Map in her hands), but she hoped it wouldn't take so long to search for him. He would have to say that she had been talking to him if Lucius asked. Also, she had really missed him. Not seeing one's child for months wasn't easy on a loving mother. 

She found him in the courtyard. He had been hanging around his friends (more like minions in Lyra's opinion), Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Them, like their fathers, were always quite happy to kiss up to the Malfoy's. 

Once Draco had caught sight of his mother, he had chased them off, dismissing them. He walked up to her, glancing around to make sure that nobody would see if she did anything embarrassing. "Mother. What are you doing here?"

Lyra beamed at her son, who was now slowly getting taller than her. It made her feel uncomfortable. "Well, your father is overseeing the appeal against Hagrid's Hippogriff. I just wanted to take an opportunity to check up on you with everything that's going on."

"They're going to kill that bloody chicken, I know it," Draco smirked. "Then I can rub into Potter, Weasley and Granger's smug Gryffindor faces. Will teach the school a thing or two about messing with a Malfoy."

"Don't gloat, Draco," Lyra advised, thinking of how childish his rivalry with Harry sounded. Well, she had been in a childish rivalry with a Potter before, too. But it wasn't over something stupid like Quidditch. It had been for something interesting, like Transfiguration. "Bitterness doesn't look good on thirteen-year-olds. Wait until you're at least eighteen for that."

Draco didn't like to be reminded that he was still technically a child. He liked to act as precocious as possible, hoping to get shown the same respect adults do from his parents. She had been the same way once, she wanted him able to feel like a child for as long as possible. "I'm almost fourteen."

"The keyword being almost. You're still my little boy," the blonde woman gushed, looking at him with loving eyes. She then scrunched his nose up to tease him a little bit. "Even if you're becoming bitter early."

"I'm a teenager, mother. Not a little boy," he muttered, glaring slightly. "And it's not gloating either. That beasts just needs to be put down. I've already lost that bloody Quidditch Cup because the school favors Gryffindors. Can't lose this too."

"You can't go around taking things out on others when you don't get your way," Lyra said wisely. "And Quidditch isn't everything, Draco. There's much more important things to get riled up over."

"Of course you'd say that," the platinum blond boy rolled his eyes. He had tried for years to get his mother involved in discussions about the sport, and she would never say a relevant word. "You've always despised Quidditch."

"Not always." She sighed, trying to keep a fond smile from her face as she found the old Quidditch pitch in the distance. "I've found myself going to a match or two during my years at school. They could be quite exciting with the right players."

"I'm the right player!" he exclaimed confidently. He hoped that one day, maybe in a big final or in some professional Quidditch match, his mother would feel proud and willing to come watch him play. 

"Yes, you are!" she nodded, grinning from ear to ear. She was happy he looked to be gaining back some of the spark he had been missing since losing. She couldn't help but feel like a good mother at that moment. "I'm loving that confidence, Draco. Just don't let it become arrogance. It's a slippery slope."

"How could I ever become arrogant?" Draco scoffed, though looking a lot like his father while doing so. Due to that, Lyra could barely contain her chuckles at the irony. "Only idiots become arrogant and I am surely no idiot."

"Of course not," she agreed. She glanced at the nearby clock, showing the time. She supposed classes were over already, so the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom should be empty, except for one person. "I've got to get going. I'll be picking you up when you get back from school."

Draco nodded, though not seeming pleased about having to see Lyra go. He hesitated before asking a final question. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer, though. "Will father be there?"

"I don't know, Draco. We'll just have to see, won't we?" Lyra tried to keep a strong front for her son, although it broke her heart for him to have to ask these question. She quickly kissed his head, smiling comfortingly. "I'll see you soon. Love you."

She hurried towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, she caught Harry's eye in the distance. She sent him a quick smile to be friendly. He only frowned, glaring heatedly. She supposed it was only teenage hormones, not bothering to think of that. 

▹▹▹

Lyra hesitated as she found herself outside of the classroom. She wondered if Remus would be as hostile as he had been the last few times. She knew she didn't deserve his friendship like it had been, but she felt he deserved the truth after all these years. 

The door was open, and she could barely see Remus in there, a goblet filled with some unknown beverage that he hadn't drank yet. He sat in dim lighting, looking quite concentrated at a piece of parchment. 

She carefully reached out to knock on the wood of the door, though it wasn't actually necessary as it was still open. He frowned and looked at her, sighing as he pursed his lips. "Lyra, what are you doing here?"

"Things didn't end very well the last time we saw each other," she responded quickly, pulling a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I know you don't want to talk to me, but I don't want you to go around hating me."

"I don't know if I ever can," Remus sighed. He looked tired and sickly, not in the mood to argue with her like he had before. "I think I'll always love you, even if I don't always remember why. It's not something you can stop."

Lyra took a few steps further into the classroom, though she hadn't been invited in to do so. She was only glad they seemed to be making a little progress. "I understand what you mean. I can't change any of it either."

"Would you?" he asked. He seemed much older in the dim light of the lamp on his desk. His many scars seemed to become deeper, making him look more like the big bad wolf he hadn't ever wanted to be. 

"It would have been safer," she muttered vaguely. For while she had thought that the path she took would be the safest, she now knew she had been wrong. She couldn't blame herself for thinking what she thought, it had made more sense. How could she have known what would happen? "For all of us."

"But would you?" he repeated once again. His tone of voice was far from warm, but it wasn't as cool as it had been the last two times she had seen him. It seemed like a night of making progress.

"I'd change a few things," she admitted. Though she was glad she had Draco, he was the only joy she'd had. "I'd go back and make sure that none of us ended up where we are now. But I can't go back in time. The choices I've made, no matter how horrible... they're made."

"That's the worst part, isn't it?" he chuckled bitterly. He had wished he'd made different choices, too. Though which ones, he wasn't completely sure. He just knew they'd be different. "There's nothing we can do anymore."

"I want to make amends;" she spoke quietly. "I want to explain a few things."

"You could have done so a decade ago," he pointed out. He wanted to know what had changed, if seeing his face had changed everything for her, if it had been Sirius's escape that changed it all. 

Lyra wished she could have. She wished they would have spent the last years together, as the best friends they had once been. "No, I couldn't have. And I want you to understand why, because I hate the way things are."

"This really isn't the night to do so," Remus glanced at the window outside, where the night seemed to be creeping ever closer, like a ticking time bomb for him. "You know why, I suppose."

"Right. The full moon," the blonde realized. She hadn't even thought to check the moon cycles. She hadn't done that since she was seventeen, always wanting to check in on how he was, making sure he was alright. "This summer then? "

"Sure. If you can manage." He put the parchment he had been holding on his desk, ripping off a piece of another, scribbling something and holding it out to her. "This is my address, probably better to do it at my house than yours."

"You're right," she chuckled softly. She knew that was mostly the end of the conversation for the night, but she needed to say something else. "But... I'm really sorry, you know. For leaving you alone. It's just..."

"You have your family," he nodded, although pained. "I understand that much. I can't blame you for focusing on them. It's just that... I was once your family, too. And if there was ever a moment I needed you it was when I lost everything and everyone. I didn't hear from you until last September."

"You have no idea how sorry I am for that," Lyra said, closing her eyes because she so desperately wanted to cry. It was so strange to speak to Remus like she was, like they were strangers just getting to know each other again. "But you don't know what my husband is capable of, Remus. If he even knew I was here right now..."

"What would he do?" Remus frowned, his face quickly aging even more. If one met him for the first time, they wouldn't have believed anybody saying he was only in his early thirties. "Would he hurt you?"

"He's never done that. He never would. I'm scared that he would hurt you," Lyra revealed sadly, saying what she had waited too many years to say. "He did threaten you once then. He was so angry then. Angry that... even after everything, I was still in love with James and couldn't stop thinking about him."

"And yet you broke his heart," the sandy-haired man muttered, thinking back to how heartbroken his friend had been once she had broken up with him, seemingly out of nowhere. Neither him nor James ever got an explanation for it. James died without knowing, which was sad in itself. 

Lyra winced at this, having blamed herself for many years for that. "To protect him. Lucius isn't the only person who was capable of making threats against those I loved. He's the reason Sirius didn't get a trial, did you know that? I had pissed him off and he took it out on Sirius because I was going to testify for him. I didn't dare contact you after that."

"The reason Sirius wasn't given a trial was because they knew he was guilty," the werewolf hissed, not really wanting to hear of her defending the man that had caused James's death. "I'm glad you didn't get to testify for him. He killed James, Lyra. If you still loved him then you should want Sirius dead for it."

"Do you honestly think he could have done something like that?" the blonde repeated, shocked. If anybody were to believe Sirius had been innocent, she thought it'd be Remus. "He loved James just as much as all of us did. It can't be true."

The cold tone returned to his voice. Not because of his anger with her, but because he refused to even entertain the idea of his innocence when there was no other way. The case was closed and it helped him have some sort of closure. "He was their Secret-Keeper, Lyra. He killed Peter."

Lyra frowned and looked away, noting that he wasn't quite keen on arguing. Neither was she. That's when she glanced at the parchment he had been looking at, realizing it wasn't just any other piece of parchment. "Is that-? Merlin, that's a memento from the past if I've ever seen one. Were you looking at it?"

Remus smiled fondly too as he picked up the Marauder's Map and gladly handed it to her to examine. "Keeping an eye on some of the students. Harry and his friends are over at Hagrid's hut. He thinks the old invisibility cloak can hide him."

Lyra quickly searched for the names of the group, seeing them leaving the hut. Except, they weren't alone. They were accompanied by a man Lyra had long thought dead. "Wait, is that...? Why is Peter Pettigrew on this map? With Harry and his friends?"

Remus frowned, thinking she was playing some sort of sick prank on him, which wasn't funny at all. The fond smile quickly fell from his face, replaced by a cold frown. "Peter's dead, Lyra."

"Look!" she exclaimed, shoving it in his face, pointing to where they were, by the Whomping Willow. "He's right there. You know as well as I do that the map never lies. You made it. You were the brightest students at school. Peter's alive, Remus!"

"Then Sirius didn't kill him..." Remus muttered under his breath, no longer being sure of what had happened to his friends. "Why would he run away and hide for all these years? He could have come to me. Unless..."

A thousand theories were running through Lyra's mind as she stared at the name of their old friend on the map. Her eyes widened, though, once she caught sight of another familiar name, running into the four they had been watching. "Remus, look. Sirius."

"We need to go. Right now!" Remus quickly grabbed the map from her hand, throwing it on the desk. Lyra didn't have time to react before he grabbed her arm with his superior strength, pulling her towards the Whomping Willow, and, more importantly, to the Shrieking Shack. 

▹▹▹

A/N: We're getting progress, we're getting drama. What else can you ask for?