It wasn't easy to be the wife of a Death Eater while being a member of the Order of the Phoenix. For the past few weeks, Lyra found herself having to lie to her husband and her son about where she was going almost every day. 

Then again, Narcissa had still been keeping her promise. They had been telling Lucius that they wished to reconnect more after not having had the closest relationship for the past decade. It was believable enough. 

Of course, she realized that she couldn't use her sister as an excuse all the time. There were a lot more Order meetings than she had suspected. Then again, Lyra did have a lot of connections in the Wizarding World, some not even her husband shared. 

She was able to get by quite nicely with asking some friends to lie for her once in a while. She didn't trust all of them, of course. That's when she was thankful that she had spent the past years learning about all the scandals and horrid things people didn't want to get out. She didn't particularily enjoy being cruel, but she wouldn't put it past herself. 

The biggest joy of her life had been reconnecting with Sirius and Remus in a way she hadn't been able to before. They talked about basically anything their hearts desired, which made her spend even more time at Twelve Grimmauld Place than necessary. 

She was afraid these things could only cause trouble, because the less she was away from home the better. But it was Sirius and Remus. She didn't care as long as she could be with them for as much as possible. They were much older than before, but they were still the same people deep down. They loved each other as much as they had always done. 

It was also quite nice to be spending time with her niece, Nymphadora. She had been telling Lyra stories about her parents, Andromeda and Ted. Lyra missed those two dearly, but she hadn't been able to afford to go to visit, even if Nymphadora had offered for them all to have dinner. She didn't like leaving home for more than Order meetings, afraid it would be too suspicious. 

But the Order of the Phoenix wasn't all fun and games. Lyra had definitely realized that once she heard that Harry Potter (and his muggle cousin but she didn't really care about that) had been attacked by a Dementor while he was supposed to be under the watchful eye of Mundungus Fletcher. She hadn't ever seen Dumbledore so angry. 

That's when it had been decided that Harry couldn't stay with his aunt and uncle anymore. They needed to have a closer watch on him, even if it could be potentially problematic. After the Dark Lord had returned, they needed him to be safe and distanced from the Wizarding World for the summer so they could get a bit more control over the situation. 

As always, this led to discussions in the Order. For a select group of witches and wizards chosen to try to fight the darkest wizard the world had ever seen, they didn't do much other than argue and spy on people. 

"Harry ought to get here as soon as possible," said Sirius from his seat, having missed his godson. "Tonight. Get him tonight and we don't have to worry about it anymore and then he's here."

"We can't just storm in and grab him without a plan, Sirius," Remus disagreed. They had been talking about how to get him for days already, but they had no definitive plans. "His family is one thing, but the Ministry and the Death Eaters are another."

"We also need to figure out how to get him here," Bill Weasley, the oldest of the Weasley children spoke up from his corner of the room, running his fingers through his long, red hair. "Can't apparate, can he? Not even fifteen yet."

"We can use the Floo network," Molly Weasley suggested hopefully. She could remember teaching him how to travel using their fireplace and with the powder. It couldn't end as badly as last time. "He's used it once before."

"Didn't end so well, did it?" retorted Lyra, also remembering that. "I found him in a closet in Borgin and Burke's when he was supposed to be with all of you in Diagon Alley. If he's only used it once then I wouldn't trust him to do it again."

"Not surprised you found yourself in Knockturn Alley, Malfoy," Hestia Jones spoke up. She had been the largest adversary against Lyra's membership in the Order of the Phoenix and didn't hesitate to let people know. "Your home turf, isn't it?"

Nymphadora scoffed, rolling her eyes as she looked at the other woman. "Sod off, Hestia. Aunt Lyra's no dark, Death Eater witch. You're just jealous that nobody actually wanted you here, you had to force your way in."

Hestia gasped, offended. The two had gotten along swimmingly before Lyra had shown up and there had been a bit of tension there. She didn't understand why she was always so eager to defend her aunt, who had abandoned her sister and hadn't talked to her in almost twenty years. "That's not true!"

"How about we talk about what we came here to talk about?" Arthur Weasley said carefully, not wanting any infighting.  "The Floot network's being watched, Molly. I don't know how we could get him here."

"He can fly. A broom, that is. He's a great flier. He's got his own broom, too. If some people fly there then it'll be settled," Remus quickly suggested, remembering how he had watched the boy during his Quidditch matches during his time as a professor. 

"Then it's settled. We'll go right away and be back before dinner," Moody stated, leaving no room for argument. "Snape should be here by then and we'll be ready to have the him here for the rest of the meeting."

Lyra and Sirius exchanged annoyed glances at the mention of the man they had both disliked for so long. She had some sort of respect for him as a member of the Order and somebody who could easily snitch on her to Lucius, but Sirius did not feel the same way. 

It seemed like their attitudes towards Snape reflected how he was treating each of them in return as well. He had mostly started ignoring the fact that Lyra was even in the room, which was better than the snide comments he always sent Sirius's way. 

"I'll go," Sirius quickly volunteered. If anybody was going to go bring his godson to his own house for safety, he thought it should be him. He'd like the dream team, otherwise known as him, Remus and Lyra, to be the ones to get him. 

"No. You're staying in this house. Dumbledore's orders," Moody quickly denied him, ignoring the way his jaw clenched and the annoyed look on his face. He was tired of being cooped up. He looked at the rest of the crowd. "Anybody willing to volunteer?"

Nymphadora, Remus, Hestia, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance and Sturgis Podmore (who's presence made Lyra internally cringe in self-disgust) all quickly volunteered to go with Moody, who wondered why one particular person didn't want to go. "Not you, Malfoy?"

"If I can avoid sitting on a broom, I will. I don't think any of you want me to either." Lyra awkwardly turned to look at Sirius and Remus. "Don't you remember that time in first year when I fell of a broom less than a foot off the ground?"

"Best moment of my life," Sirius muttered quietly, his spirits quickly having been raised at the mention of that memory. He loved seeing her embarrass herself, but only in a friendly, wanting-to-make-fun-of-her way. 

"No use in sitting around then," Moody, as de-facto leader when Dumbledore wasn't around, said, his good eye and the other one looking at everyone who was meant to go with him. "Come on, everybody. Grab a broom."

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The Order meeting had carried on when the so-called Advance Guard had left to pick up Harry but without much vigor. It ended up with Sirius and Lyra sitting in a corner and whispering about how they were going to sneak some galleons in Remus's robes without him noticing. Their friend was too against getting help, even when he had next to no money to his name. 

Then Snape showed up, throwing some snide comments Sirius's way. He barely acknowledged Lyra, only greeting her with her maiden name and then refusing to look at her. Part of her wondered if he was scared of her for some reason. She sure hoped so. 

Once the Advance Guard had come back, Lyra and Sirius had both wanted to go say hi to Harry, but Molly had sent him upstairs to reunite with his friends and they still needed to finish that meeting now that everybody expected was there. 

She hadn't been able to contribute much, only a few whispers she had heard around her manor, but she hadn't seen the Dark Lord or many Death Eaters. All she said was backed up by Snape, which was only stranger. It may have been the truth, but it was still strange that he was agreeing with her claims. 

At one point, a group had stepped into the hallway but then they noticed one of the Weasley twins' Extendable Ears falling down the banister and they had all hurried back into the room they'd been having the meeting in. 

Snape left as soon as the meeting was over with, no bothering to stay for dinner as always. Lyra suspected there was a Death Eater meeting at that moment anyway, as Lucius said he wouldn't be home for dinner. She didn't care, she had her own lies and she was going to eat Molly Weasley's wonderful cooking. 

The house had been as silent as possible, trying not to wake up her Aunt Walburga's portrait who kept screaming at everybody about everything that could possibly be wrong with them. The first few times she'd woken up, Lyra had been able to calm her down. 

They weren't sure how much longer that would last until she realized that she had become a blood-traitor supporting the Order of the Phoenix. What a horror that would be. Perfect little Lyra not being perfect anymore. 

Then, as always, her niece had been her clumsy self as she knocked over the same umbrella stand she had knocked over once already. Screams started echoing through the entire house, making Lyra and Sirius exchange annoyed looks. 

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants,freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of myfathers-" Walburga's shrill voice rang was basically hurting their ears, contrasting strangely with Nymphadora's never-ending apologies. 

Sirius rushed into the hallway, Lyra trailing a few feet behind, grabbing the curtain that usually covered the portrait, whenever she was sleeping, at least. "Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut up!"

"You!" the late woman screamed even louder once she caught sight of her long-haired son, someone she hadn't seen in real life since he was sixteen. "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"

Lyra sighed, sending Sirius a warning glance before turning on a charming, fake smile. She was far too good at faking smiles. "Aunt Walburga! Hi, it's me. Lyra. You know, Lyra Malfoy. Your niece who married Lucius Malfoy. I'm here to make sure everything goes swimmingly around here."

"Lyra..." Walburga trailed off, her face going blank. There was still some sort of poison in her voice, as if she was ready to scream again. Her voice was raised in a careful crescendo as she glanced at her son once again. "What are you doing with my awful, horrible shame of a so-"

Lyra nodded at both Sirius and Remus, who held a curtain each, telling them that she was only going to be more angry and harder to control. It was a good a time as any, so they forced the curtain closed and the screeches faded. 

The crowd standing by all then turned to Harry Potter, who was standing there, looking quite shocked. Sirius was panting from struggling to close the curtain and nodded at him. "Hello, Harry. I see you've met my mother."

The bespectacled teenage boy gaped. He was shocked for multiple reasons. One because he had expected a warmer welcome from his godfather, another because Lyra was standing next to him and then because that portrait was somehow the man's mother. "Your-"

"Good old Aunt Walburga," Lyra agreed. She smiled widely at the boy, who beamed up at her acknowledging his presence in a good way. She hurried to wrap her arms around him a quick hug. "Good to see you, Harry."

"Good to see you, too, Lyra," Harry smiled at her, but still glancing Sirius's way. He kept wondering why the older man was looking so extremely grim, not a trace of a playful grin on his face. 

"We've been trying to gether down for a month but we think she put a Permanent StickingCharm on the back of the canvas," Sirius explained, gesturing to the portrait. "Let's get downstairs, quick, beforethey all wake up again."

"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked, following the two cousins through the door that led them down the narrow, stone stairs as everybody else walked behind them. 

"Hasn't anyone told you? This was my parents' house. But I'm the last Black left." Sirius was interrupted by Lyra's fake cough. "Well, the last one who didn't go off and get married and took someone else's last name. So it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledorefor Headquarters... About the only useful thing I've been able todo."

They were silent as they approached the kitchen, where other Order members were hanging around, talking and cleaning up after the meeting. Arthur smiled widely as he saw the teenage boy, hurrying to shake his hand vigorously. "Harry! Good to see you!"

"Journey all right, Harry?" Bill grinned, hastily trying to help his parents clean up. He was carrying all of twelve important pieces of parchment in his hands. "Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland,then?"

"He tried," Nymphadora joked. She hurried over to help Bill gather the pieces of parchment, seeing his struggle. But, she was clumsy as always and quickly toppled a candle, making it fall on one of them. "Oh no, sorry."

"Here, dear," Molly sighed, a bit exasperated at the young woman's clumsiness. She repaired the parchment with a wave of her wand, and Harry quickly caught sight of a plan of a building that he wasn't supposed to see. This didn't make the woman any happier. "This sort of thing ought to be cleared away promptly at the end of meetings."

Lyra exchanged a playful glance with Harry as Molly angrily started setting the table with the fancy dinner plates she remembered eating Christmas dinners from. She waved out her wand to clean the parchments up. "Evanesco."

"Sit down, Harry." Sirius looked to his godson, turning to gesture what could have been mistaken as a pile of fabrics, but was actually just a sleeping Order member. "You've met Mundungus, haven'tyou?"

"Some'n say m'name? I 'greewith Sirius," Mundungus mumbled, barely opening his red eyes to look at the room. He raised his hand as high as he could be bothered to, probably thinking they were voting on something. 

"The meeting's over, Dung," Sirius rolled his eyes, interrupting Ginny Weasley's loud giggles. They all found themselves sitting around the table, most of them being used to having specific seats by now. "Harry's arrived."

"Eh? Blimey, so 'e 'as. Yeah... you all right, 'Arry?" Mundungus muttered, looking at the boy with his eyes barely open. He carefully pulled out a pipe, sticking it in his mouth and lighting it with his wand, a cloud of smoke coming out of it. "Owe you a 'pology."

"For the last time, Mundungus," Molly called out, trying to keep from sounding too angry with a man that wasn't really her responsibility. He was just annoying and careless. "Will youplease not smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not whenwe're about to eat."

"Ah, right. Sorry, Molly," he quickly apologized, though not sounding very sorry at all. He just pouted at how he couldn't smoke his pipe as he threw it back in his pocket, though the putrid smell remained. 

"And if you want dinner before midnight I'll need a hand," Molly said, looking at every single one of them as if to guilt them. Well, other than the Potter boy. "No, you can stay where youare, Harry dear, you've had a long journey."

"A moment, Molly," Lyra smiled kindly at the other woman. She wanted to help, though she had never learned how to cook. But she also wanted a few minutes to say a proper hello to Harry. "I'll come and try to help you soon."

"Thank you, Lyra," the redheaded woman sighed in relief, as if she was glad somebody else hadn't volunteered. She liked the Malfoy woman, though it was a surprise. "No rush, but we don't want it to take too long."

"What can I do, Molly?" Nymphadora quickly jumped up, ready to help. She was a Hufflepuff at heart, after all. She liked making herself useful and working hard, whether it was for herself or for somebody else. 

Molly looked at the young Metamorphagus hesitantly. She tried to look at Lyra for help, but the blonde only grimaced slightly. "Er... no, it's all right, Tonks, you have a rest too, you've doneenough today."

"No, no, I want to help!" the Tonks woman insisted, running off to help Ginny, who was collecting the cutlery. It wasn't a surprise when she knocked over a chair in the process, so nobody bat an eye at it. 

"What are you doing here, Lyra?" Harry then asked, looking at the blonde woman next to him. "Not that I'm not happy to see you here. I just... didn't expect you here. Why aren't you with the Malfoys?"

She was happy to have an opportunity to talk to him a bit as Sirius tried to wake Mundungus up a bit more. "I still live there, of course. Remus managed to convince me to join the Order, believe it or not."

"I can't imagine Malfoy or your husband being very happy about that," Harry muttered, raising his eyebrows dramatically at the mention of his arch nemesis, which only happened to be her son. He kept forgetting that was the case and it was just as strange every time he remembered it.  

"They don't know, obviously," Lyra chuckled, thinking the rivalry between Harry and Draco was slightly amusingly and childish. "It's getting a bit tiring to come up with lies to get out of the house at least every other day, but I'm managing. My sister, Narcissa Flint, covers for me a lot."

"Flint? As in Marcus Flint?" the Potter boy asked, remembering the burly former Slytherin Quidditch Captain that had always prized size and strength over skill on his team. He never liked the older boy.  "You're Marcus Flint's aunt?"

Lyra snickered to herself, thinking his widened eyes and surprised expression was a bit hilarious. She could understand that he was surprised as nobody had ever told him. She wondered if he knew she was Nymphadora's aunt. "Yes, I am."

"I never knew that," Harry breathed, but shook off his surprise. He just wanted to enjoy finally being around witches and wizards again, especially with Sirius and Lyra. "What's your excuse for today then?"

"I'm having a late dinner with the Abbots, as far as anybody at home knows," the blonde woman revealed, shrugging. "They're good people and willing to lie for a friend with no questions asked."

"Lyra, could you please come and help now?" Molly called out, interrupting Harry, who was gaping in surprise at how cool Lyra was with her sneaking around. The blonde winked at the young boy.

Lyra stood up quickly, rushing to help the Weasley woman, who was stirring a cauldron, and seemed to need somebody to take over for her as Nymphadora was grabbing the wrong spices from the cabinet. "I'll be right there, Molly!"

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A/N: Sorry I suck! I should have updated before because I really want to get further in the story, but things are weirdly hectic right now. I'll try to update more.