Lyra Malis never saw herself becoming anything extraordinary, and she never really wanted to. She was perfectly content with her family on their farm in the Highlands, learning magic at the school just on the other side of the forest. Seeing how fam...
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"WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD CONTACT WITH SIRIUS BLACK?"
Lyra sat very close to her mother, nuzzled between her and her grandmother. She wanted to shout about her confusion to the Aurors that invaded her home, but fear kept her quiet. Her hands were clasped in her mother's, and her grandmother had her arm wrapped around her shoulders. It was as if they were protecting her, but she didn't understand why she needed protection.
Her aunt had Casey on her lap on the other side of her grandmother, the five of them squished on the little couch. Delaney was tapping her foot quickly on the ground, a nervous tick Lyra had never minded before, but as it was now shaking the entire couch, she minded. Only one Auror was left in the sitting room with them - a tall, broad-shouldered black man who had introduced himself as Kingsley Shacklebolt. One had gone with Wyatt to pick up Ari, but the rest were wandering around outside, looking for something.
The door opened quickly, and one of the wizards gave only a brief glance at Shacklebolt before he made his way upstairs. "I don't know how you all do things," squeaked out Anne, "but normally you need a warrant before searching a house!"
Shacklebolt, who had been looking over paperwork, looked up at this. "Sorry about that ma'am," he said, pulling a sheet from his stack and handing it to Anne. Lyra looked over at it, seeing the Ministry's seal at the bottom. "Slipped my mind to give you that."
"What's this all about?" broke in Lyra's mother. Though she hid it well, Lyra could tell that she was on edge.
Shacklebolt's eyes drifted over to her. He walked closer, sitting in what was normally Uncle Wyatt's chair, closest to her mother. "Miss Malis, when was the last time you've had contact with Sirius Black?"
Lyra felt her grandmother's grip tighten around her shoulders, and as it did, she slowly began to understand. The dog. Her father.
Delphi was quiet for a moment, holding the gaze of the Auror apparently interrogating her. Eventually, she scoffed. "Twelve years ago, I'd say. Just before he got locked up in Azkaban."
At her mother's words, Lyra's face paled. She couldn't believe it. All this time, she thought her father was a Muggle, like the rest of them - a bad man, from the way they refused to talk about him, but a Muggle.
"You've had no other contact?"
"No!" cried her mother. "Why?"
Shacklebolt sat back in his chair, looking at the five of them, his eyes settling on Lyra for a moment or so. "His cell was found empty yesterday evening."
Anne said something in Yiddish Lyra didn't understand, wrapping her other arm around her granddaughter, one hand finding her daughter's shoulder. Delphi was speechless, and Lyra was on the verge of tears, but Delaney was not afraid to speak up. "Are you accusing us of helping him escape?" she demanded loudly. Shacklebolt looked at her as if she was a bear he had accidentally awoken. "Of harboring a deranged murderer?"
"Delaney - " Delphi tried to cut in.
"No, this is ridiculous! Have a look around! Search all our grounds if you must! That man mercilessly killed twelve people. Not twelve of your people, twelve of our people, and you have the nerve to ask us if we'd help him?"
"Delaney!"
At her mother's outburst, Delaney finally looked away from the Auror to find Lyra shaking with her cries.
Lyra felt her world crumbling around her. She'd figured her father wasn't a saint, but a mass murderer? Killing twelve Muggles? What were they going to tell her next, he was a Death Eater? And a man like that - with a daughter like her? Half Muggle? Lyra was suddenly terrified.
Shacklebolt was watching what was playing out in front of him carefully. "I don't believe that any of you would help him, but we can't leave any stone unturned."
Another Auror came in at the same time the one that had gone upstairs came back down. "No sign of him, Shacklebolt," said the one who had just come in, "but Holland's found a locked door in the other house. Only looks to be a closet, but she wanted your go-ahead before she got into it."
"I have a key for it," Delphi spoke up. "It's got my safe in it. I'd prefer to be there when it's opened, if that's alright with you."
"Of course," said Shacklebolt, standing. He motioned for Delphi to stand, but as she went to do so, Lyra's grip on her hand tightened.
"Mum, wait - " she cried.
"It's alright, Ly," she leaned down and kissed her forehead, "everything's alright. I'll only be a few minutes."
Reluctantly, Lyra let her mother go, watching as she and the three Aurors left the farmhouse. When they were gone, Lyra fully broke down into sobs.
She brought her knees to her chest and tucked her head into them, her world going black. Her grandmother's frail hand was rubbing circles on her back, and while she was thankful for that, it didn't help much. Eventually, her aunt had Casey take her place on the couch so she could move to Lyra's other side, wrapping her arms around her, and tucking her own head next to her niece's. "I'm so sorry you had to find out that way," Delaney whispered to her. Lyra wanted to say something, but another wave of tears was all she gave as a response. Her aunt continued, "but you're safe with us, Lyra. We're not going to let him get to you."
Lyra pushed her aunt off of her and stood, turning to face her. "Oh I'm safe, am I?" Her face was wet with her tears, but in this newfound anger, she hardly noticed. "How much do you know about Azkaban, Aunt Delaney? That's where they send the worst of the worst. I probably wouldn't be protected from a normal murderer, but he's not that, is he? What was the word you used? Deranged? And he's a wizard. What do you know about magic? How can you say that you can protect me?"
Finished with her diatribe, Lyra looked around at the shocked faces of her family members. Before she or anyone else could say anything more, Lyra ran upstairs and locked herself in her grandmother's room.
