Mudblood

The Thestrals

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When September first finally arrived Lyssa was unsurprised to find out that once again it would just be her and her father making the trek to platform 9¾. Their goodbye seemed more sombre than the last time Lyssa had left for school. Her dad wore an uneasy smile that gave Lyssa the impression that he wasn't telling her something. She knew something was wrong, she could feel it in the silences around the dinner table and the hugs her dad gave her. Hugs that were just a little too tight and a little too long.

"I'll try to be more cautious in my adventures this year," she promised him, it was meant to be a joke but the weight of her words hung between them in the air like a grenade, fragile and primed to explode any semblance of normalcy they had left.

"Your mum's just scared of losing you too," her dad told her. It wasn't what she had expected him to say. It wasn't even what he should have said. Lyssa wanted to leave her family drama behind when she stepped onto the train, but, how could she when he just punched her in the gut with the truth? There was no more to say, at least, no more Lyssa wanted to hear, so with a tight smile and quick hug she boarded the train.

She didn't let the tears fall until she was alone in a compartment at the back of the train. She wanted to believe it had been years since she thought about Maia, but that would be a lie. No, Maia had crossed her mind at least once a day every day for almost seven years. Most times it would be something small, like when she looked in the mirror Lyssa would wonder if their hair would still look exactly alike or she'd wonder if they'd still be as close at twelve and fifteen as they were at six and nine. On other days it was more than that, Lyssa would question if her mother would still be scared of her if Maia was still there.

Her parents had never brought up Maia in front of Lyssa, not since the funeral anyways. So while the realization of knowing that Maia was the reason her mother was so scared was distressing, it was the shock of hearing her dad acknowledge Maia, even if indirectly, that set Lyssa so off balance.

About a third of the way into the journey the compartment door slid open. In the door frame stood Hermione, flanked by a few Gryffindors whose names Lyssa never cared to remember, and Neville. Lyssa didn't mind Neville as much now, he seemed at least a touch more formidable by the end of the previous school year than he had when they had met, so, Lyssa gave him points for trying.

"You can't have a whole compartment to yourself," Hermione huffed.

"Please leave, Hermione," Lyssa said, she tried so hard to keep her voice from breaking but wasn't entirely successful. Hermione however, either didn't notice or didn't care.

"I know you're a Slytherin but you can't possibly be that entitled," Hermione was not backing down. Neville pulled at Hermione's sleeve as Lyssa stood up, silently begging her to just go, he saw the emotion in her eyes that Hermione didn't.

"I am going to give you one more chance to leave me alone," Lyssa said calmly, "Or I'll show you exactly why I am in Slytherin." She raised her wand in a warning.

"You don't scare me." Hermione sneered. Nevile was not begging her to go silently now, he was pleading with Hermione to just leave it alone, that it wasn't worth it. But Neville didn't know that Hermione was looking to get to Lyssa, he didn't know how mad Hermione had been after the encounter in Flourish and Blotts.

"Well that's Gryffindors for you," Lyssa spat, "All bravery and no brains, no wonder you're not at the top of our year."

There was no witty comeback on the Gryffindor's end this time though. Lyssa flicked her wand once and the Gryffindors were pushed back into the hallway by a small blast, twice and the compartment door had slid closed and locked itself, a third time and the blinds had been drawn over the glass windows that faced the hallway. Lyssa heard them stumble away and settled herself back into her seat to continue wallowing in misery.