lyra | harry potter

twenty-seven | blood on your hands

THE FIRST THING THEY HEARD AFTER THEY DISAPPARATED was the sound of a horn blaring in their ears as a double-decker bus careened toward the four friends— who stood right in the middle of the street. They moved out of the way just in time to avoid being ran over, hearts thumping wildly in their chests. "Where are we?" Ron asked.

"Shaftesbury Avenue," Hermione answered. "I used to come here to the theater with my mum and dad. Just popped into my head. I don't know why..."

But she did. And Lyra knew why, too. Hermione had confided in her the decision she'd made to obliviate herself from her parents' memories. It was the safest thing she could think to do in order to keep them from being targeted by the Death Eaters. Now, Hermione's parents didn't even know that they had a daughter, that she existed. Of course Hermione thought of them a lot because of that, even subconsciously. It made sense for this location to be one of the few that popped into her mind.

"This way," Hermione told them, leading the way through the bustling sidewalks of the street until she abruptly turned down an empty alleyway. "Lyra, you've still got your bag, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. We need to change." Hermione rifled through her own bag and pulled out articles of clothing for the four of them. She and Lyra had readied their bags for an impromptu trip weeks ago, Hermione's bag consisting of clothings and such while Lyra's had certain potions, books and objects— which now included the gifts from Dumbledore.

Lyra took her pair of jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket from Hermione gratefully and immediately hid behind Harry to change. He kept his back to her as she stood between him and the wall of a building, shielding her from view as best he could while Hermione pulled out clothes for he and Ron. The redhead stared at Hermione in shock. "How the ruddy—?"

"Undetectable Extension Charms," Hermione explained. "Lyra and I cast them on our bags and packed them a while ago."

"You're amazing, you are," Ron told her, eyes wide with awe.

Hermione smirked. "Always the tone of surprise." She shook the bag in search of something more, causing a loud echo of heavy objects to protrude from. "That'll be some of the books," she told the boys who looked at her questioningly, reaching her arm into the bag again. "Here, Lyra." Pulling out the blue-eyed girl's combat boots she tossed them over to her as Lyra ditched her high heels.

"Thanks."

Once they were all dressed, Hermione led the way to a small cafe that was luckily open twenty-four hours a day. It wasn't the most cleanly of places, but they weren't exactly in a position to be picky and to be honest Lyra didn't care where they were as long as it was safe. The four of them quietly sat at a table in the otherwise-empty place. "What about all the people at the wedding?" Harry asked quietly. "Do you think we should go back?"

"They were after you, mate," Ron shook his head in disagreement. "We'd just put everyone in danger going back."

"Ron's right," Hermione agreed. Harry looked crestfallen at the inability to help the others, especially because it was mostly because of him that the wedding had been crashed in the first place. Lyra reached over and took his hand under the table, and they exchanged a brief glance as a waitress approached them and asked what they wanted. "Cappuccino, please," Hermione told her politely.

Ron and Lyra both blinked in confusion. They weren't privy to the majority of muggle drinks and had never been to a muggle cafe before. "What she said," Ron told the waitress awkwardly.

"We'll have the same," Harry added, ordering for he and Lyra both.

Once they received their drinks, Ron tentatively took a sip of his and then frowned in thought. "So where do we go from here? The Leaky Cauldron?"