The Girl That Never Forgot *Harry Potter Fanfiction*

Chapter 15 - Grimmauld Place

Lyra wandered around the huge house glumly, wanting more than anything to pass time.

Conversation drifted up to her from the floor below.

"-course I'm going.. my godson.. can't make me-"

Covering her ears with her hands and clamping her eyes shut, she tried to tune out any and all noise in 12 Grimmauld Place.

Lyra could hear shuffling movement downstairs and with the loud slam of a door sending a jolt down her spine as if the house were shaking, she assumed that they had gone to rescue Harry.

Quick stepping around the corner and attempting to avoid all interaction between herself and anyone else, even if it meant getting unbearably lost in the gigantic place, she failed nearly immediately.

A force crashing into her and sending her sprawling backwards, Lyra whipped her head up to see the Weasley twins standing there in surprise.

She sighed, acknowledging the red headed pair. "Fred, George."

The twins had noticed that she still struggled with straining her voice. "Professor Carrow." They had barely finished pronouncing the final syllable of the name when Lyra laughed dryly.

"No need for that," she picked herself up, "I am no longer your professor. I'm nothing more than a criminal to the wizarding world nowadays," she said, "and I'd fancy it if you'd call me Lyra. I suppose I've lost my care for surnames, I'm afraid."

One of the twins nodded before they scrambled off in the opposite direction.

"Which reminds me," she called after them, "don't go that way, there's quite an awful house elf down that hall and he doesn't exactly think highly of Weasleys at the best of times."

Time lapse

Plugging her nose in order to stop the musky smell from entering it, she thoroughly searched for the way back to the entryway but had gotten lost some time ago.

She guessed that a good hour or two had passed.

Observing the hallway in front of her, Lyra's eyes landed on the door of a room she hadn't yet inspected.

Wrapping her outstretched hand around the cold doorknob, she slowly twisted it, unsure about what lay behind the door.

The door spun open with a rhythmic click and she pushed it open.

Squinting into the darkness and, although to no prevail, willed her vision to adjust. Reaching into the room, she switched the light on.

Confusion took hold of her as her eyes wandered over everything plastered on the walls and propped up on tables.

It was a spacious room with a tall window with velvet curtains and chandelier holding candles. On the left side of the room, a bed with a carved headboard stood. The blankets on the bed were not made as it appeared they had been thrown into a pile at the end of it, not too neatly.

A layer of dust coated everything and it seemed that no one had been there for a very long time. But that wasn't what puzzled her the most.

Red and gold coloured most of the walls and almost none of the wallpaper was visible underneath the countless photographs of motorcycles and muggle girls wearing bikinis.

Spotting a moving photograph resting on the bedside table, she made a move towards it.

Picking it up in her cold hand, she felt a rush of sadness but it quickly evaporated as soon as it had come as she glared at the scene more intently.

The four marauders smiled up at her. Well, more realistically, Sirius was smirking. She hurriedly identified it as fifth year, recognizing the landscape staring up at her from behind the four. Before she could ponder this any longer, a voice broke her from her reverie.

"It's never been polite to snoop," Lyra spun around, loosening her grip and the photograph fell with a smash, "blimey, Davi, thought you would've known that." Sirius watched the glass shatter as Lyra cringed.

Gulping, her face burned. "I didn't mean- didn't think, I didn't know-"

Sirius kicked the door so that it opened the rest of the way, "having trouble reading, Davi? Did the year in Azkaban take that knowledge away? Funny, I didn't lose the ability to perform everyday tasks during the twelve years I was there."

Sure enough, a plaque shone brightly on the door. 'Sirius.'

Lyra flushed with rage. "You dare joke of that? You sicken me, if I hadn't been rescued-"

"No one came to my aid, Lyra!" She fell silent at his use of her name. "Twelve years and no one ever believed I was innocent. It was me that convinced the order to rescue you! It was me that's always believed in your innocence."

The sharpness of his glare caused her to look down. "Sirius.." she whispered, uncertainly abandoning her use of his surname. Lyra went to step towards him but he moved away from her, breaking eye contact but allowed her to grab his wrist, although he visibly stiffened.

Finally, he met her gaze once more. "Maybe you should retrace your steps, rethink of whom possibly knew of you being an illegal animagus beforehand," he glanced at her hand, yanking his arm from her grip after a brief moment, "before you go around, doubting the people who actually care about you."

He turned, exiting his former bedroom and leaving the amber eyed girl stunned.

{01/15/16}

R.I.P Alan Rickman, whom died yesterday morning. We have lost a brilliant actor and wonderful man.