The Girl That Never Forgot *Harry Potter Fanfiction*

Chapter 16 - Shrieking Portraits

A/N: Not the greatest chapter, but hey, it's on time!

Lyra Davi had quite a difficult time finding her way back from Sirius' bedroom, as he had stormed out so speedily that Lyra hadn't even a moment to consider following him.

The twisting hallways seemed to trail on for an eternity as she stumbled, blind and lost.

Eventually she had decided to stop and think back to where she came from. It appeared as though she had taken three left turns, walked straight through two hallways, took seven right turns, climbed one staircase and passed nineteen doors.

Seeing as she couldn't change into her animagus form, she found that she was sadly handicapped without her enhanced senses.

"Lumos," she muttered.

After a few painfully slow seconds, a dim light flickered to life at the tip of her new wand.

Brushing a loose strand of coppery hair behind her ear, Lyra scanned the view in front of her. A door stood at the end of the hallway and she made her way toward it cautiously.

Double checking for a plaque on the door, she wrapped her numb fingers around the icy cold doorknob, pushed it open, and, peering into the room behind it, she breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes soaked in the normal enough room. It hadn't been another bedroom and she was thankful for that at least.

A tapestry hung on the walls. It was very large and seemed to be decades old. Studying it, Lyra's gaze lingered on the singed piece of parchment where Sirius' name was still labelled. She felt a tang of guilt run through her and she pitied the boy that grew up the way she did, only longer than she had.

Deciding against remaining there a minute longer, as she didn't much fancy being told off by said boy again in under one hour, Lyra was just about to leave, right foot already having stepped through the doorway, when a dreadful wail sounded behind her.

Lyra whipped her head around and cried out, "Bloody hell!"

A life-sized, very realistic portrait of an old woman wearing a black cap stared back at her. How this woman had originally gone unnoticed by her was a mystery to Lyra, but she only had a short time to contemplate this as the woman started shrieking again.

"Filth! Scum! Insult to the name of my fathers! How dare you!" The woman had a look of pure madness present on her face and complete hatred twisted her features, although from her high cheekbones to the sharpness of her jawline, Lyra could tell she had once possessed the elegant good looks many of the Blacks owned in her youth.

"Excuse-"

"Filthy blood traitors, half breeds and disgusting mudbloods!" The screeching resumed.

"Excuse me-"

"Befouling the house of my fathers!"

"My name is Lyra!"

The woman stopped her shrieking to properly take in her face for a split second before she snarled. "Lyra Carrow."

"I'd prefer Lyra, actually." Lyra shifted uncertainly.

"Filthy half breed! Daughter of a revolting muggle and foul blood traitor!" The portrait raised her voice again. "Bringing shame to Apollo Carrow's name! Excuse of a witch!"

Grimacing, Lyra had just brought her hands up to cover her ears when a rush of air passed her, causing her to glance up.

She hadn't even heard Sirius enter the room behind her, but sure enough, he had materialized and was attempting to yank curtains closed over the woman's portrait.

Stepping up to help him, they managed to finally pull them closed and the horrid shrieking stopped abruptly.

They stood there, breathing heavily for a moment before Sirius turned away, looking away from her. "Sorry about that. Never was very pleasant."

"Who was that git?" Lyra murmured, staring at her feet.

"My delightful mother. Obsessed with her pure blood status, they all genuinely believed that it meant they were practically royalty."

Sirius walked away from her. "Perhaps it would be best if you got back to the dining room."

Before she could stop herself, Lyra had blurted out, "you do know I'm sorry, right?"

Sirius stopped but still didn't turn. "Of course I do, and you know that I forgave you for tampering with my memories just like you forgave me for bullying you ruthlessly all those years, Davi."

"Then why won't you let me fix things? I made a mistake, I know, I've made many decisions that I'm not proud of."

Sirius turned to face her at last and stepped forward. "Sometimes words are more acknowledged than the simplest of actions and even though what is said is almost always empty, we overlook it due to how charming it sounds."

Lyra swallowed the lump growing in her throat. "I'm not trying to make empty promises, I was foolish to doubt you, is that what you wanted to hear? You've forgiven all of my other mistakes, why not this one? Why can't we start over, a clean slate?"

Smiling sadly, Sirius spoke softer than before. "A relationship built off of lies and distrust isn't one that would ever last, Lyra. You know that."

Lyra nodded. "We were always quite a dysfunctional duo," she joked halfheartedly and mimicked McGonagall's voice, "Mr. Black, Miss Davi, if you do not have the ability to behave yourselves, I must ask you to leave my class."

Sirius laughed before adopting Flitwick's voice, "Sirius Black and Lyra Davi are at each other's throats again. If we do not control this, we may have two less students by the end of the week."

He shook his head, smirking at the memory before growing serious again. (:

"Don't you think it's for the best? I've been thinking for the last couple years of all the times I've lost you, Davi, and they made me realize that I never had. It isn't possible to lose something you didn't ever have. If you died, in the war.." he trailed off.

Lyra strode forward, throwing her arms around Sirius' neck, hugging him. She mumbled into his ear, "I just wanted you to know that I don't hate you."

"I know you don't," Sirius hugged her in return, "I could never hate you either, Davi."

A/N:

Guys, that was my first decent attempt at poetry.

"Sometimes words are more acknowledged than the simplest of actions and even though what is said is almost always empty, we overlook it due to how charming it sounds."

Did that sound decent or...?

{01/18/16}