lyra | harry potter

seven | holidays

CHRISTMAS WAS A NICE HOLIDAY, Lyra decided. And it wasn't about gifts, or the food, or any of the material things. What made the holiday nice was the presence of good company. On Christmas morning, the air was full of happiness and laughter; something Lyra wasn't accustomed to, but could appreciate nevertheless. She stood awkwardly in the doorway of the room, watching the people converse with each other contently. Even with Arthur clearly in pain and still recovering, he still had a genuine smile on his face as he sat surrounded by his children. It was nice, Lyra thought, to see a family that truly loved each other. A definite (and welcome) change from what she was used to.

The sound of footsteps from behind her caused Lyra to glance over her shoulder as Sirius and Harry descended the stairs. "Good morning, Lyra," Sirius greeted her kindly. "Merry Christmas." He clasped her on the shoulder on his way past.

"Merry Christmas, Lyra," Harry said with a shy smile.

She returned it. "Same to you."

"Why, uh -- Why are you still standing here?" Harry asked curiously. Everyone else was already sitting at the table and exchanging gifts.

"Oh, um..." Lyra shrugged meekly. "I guess I just didn't want to intrude..."

His eyes softened in understanding. "You're not intruding." Harry placed his hand between her shoulder blades without really thinking about it, leading her into the room. "Come on, let's sit down."

"Oh! Harry! Lyra!" Mrs. Weasley grinned widely when she noticed them. "Merry Christmas!" Lyra was shocked when the woman gave her a gift, along with Harry. She hadn't expected to get a thing. "Well, go on, dearie -- open it!" The brunette nodded, untying the ribbon and pulling the lid off of the box to see what was inside.

It was a handwoven scarf; a soft purple color, with the letter L embroidered into it with a sparkling silver color. Lyra glanced around, seeing that everyone else had gotten something with the first letter of their name on it as well; and it was easy for her to see this was something Molly did every year. She was truly touched. Her throat was thick with emotion as she looked up at the woman who hardly knew her, yet had thought enough of her to make something for her. "I love it," she said sincerely. "Thank you so much."

Molly's eyes teared up. She hadn't gotten such a heartfelt thank-you since she'd first started to give Harry presents for Christmas. "Oh, dear, you are so very welcome."

Lyra smiled at her, then sat down in the empty seat next to Hermione as everyone began to make plates. "A Christmas toast!" Arthur Weasley announced, and everyone held up their glasses. "To Mr. Harry Potter... without who, I would not be here." There was a brief moment of silence as everyone looked up at the Chosen Boy. He seemed uncomfortable with all the attention -- modest, Lyra noted. "To Harry."

"Harry," everyone echoed, before taking a drink from their glass.

Lyra was surprised to find out that Hermione and Ginny had each gotten her gifts: a leather journal from Hermione, which had been previously charmed so only the owner could read it; and a bag of chocolate frogs from Ginny, who had sheepishly admitted she didn't know what to buy but wanted to get something for her anyway. Lyra was grateful, and she told them so, while apologizing for not having gotten them anything. She didn't have the money to, nor had the thought even crossed her mind -- Lyra wasn't exactly used to exchanging presents for the holidays.

After eating some of the food Molly had made, Lyra took her gifts up to her room and then decided to explore the house a little bit. It was a lot larger than it looked, though she supposed that was only to be expected because of who it used to belong to.

Eventually, Lyra found herself in a small room that had the entire Black family painted on the wall. Most of the names were displayed proudly, but some of the faces had been blasted off of the wall; which, she realized, must have meant they were disowned. She noted that Sirius's name was among them, as well as a few others she hadn't heard before. And for a moment, Lyra wondered if her parents had blasted her own face off of their family tree -- although, she knew that they most likely did.