LANDSLIDE, james potter [2]

Chapter Forty

Malfoy Manor was quiet. Every breath Lyra took seemed to echo throughout the entirety of the building, and ever step she took would make her heels click so loudly that she was sure the house elves could hear it. Because there was nobody there talking, reading, thinking or even existing other than her. 

She had closed all the blinds and curtains, making it darker than it ever had been. She wished to be alone with her solitude, to greive the loss of everything she had built the last year, and her whole life. It had all fallen apart within a single night at the Ministry. She hadn't even been there and it had destroyed her life. 

Draco wasn't home, as Lyra had given him permission to spend the night with his new girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson. While she wouldn't usually allow this in fear of her little boy growing up, she thought he deserved one night to feel like a proper teenager, not just a Death Eater. She still couldn't believe he was a Death Eater. 

The only natural light that shone through the manor was the one coming from the window in Lucius's study, where their owls left and returned to the manor from. Lyra found herself sitting in his study, allowing her fingers to brush by spines of some dusty, old books. She had read some of them, but not in at least a decade. 

She was surprised that she found herself missing Lucius. Well, she knew that she would miss him being around to protect Draco. But she just missed having someone around. She hadn't ever been on her own. For most of her life, her husband had been there. 

There had always been something to disrupt the quiet and it had usually been Lucius. But now there was nothing. It was suffocating. She sighed and stomped her feet sometimes just to remind herself that she wasn't deaf. To remind herself that she was alive. 

She turned her head, glancing out at the bright light coming from the window, next to their three owls, who seemed bored that they didn't get to go out as much as anymore. There used to be a lot more work for them to do. 

She narrowed her eyes as she thought she could see something approaching from the distance. It looked like a white form, rushing towards the window. It had to be an owl, coming with a letter. Lyra recognized the snowy owl. It was Hedwig, Harry's owl. 

She frowned, having been worried that Harry would attempt to write to her soon. She wanted to talk to him, she really did. She wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be alright, that he would always have her around. But she couldn't.

 It wasn't safe. For him or her. Most of all, it wouldn't be safe for Draco and he was her first priority. He always would be.  At least she knew the letter hadn't been checked by anyone seeing as it was brought directly to her by Harry's owl.

Hedwig landed gracefully by the window's ledge, dropping the letter into Lyra's hand. She quickly reached out to give the snowy owl a treat, which she gobbled up quickly. She would have expected her to stay and wait for a reply, which many owls did. Not Hedwig. She took the treat and promptly turned around and flew away. 

"Well, that was rude," Lyra huffed to herself as she watched the owl fly off into the distance, probably to wherever Harry found himself staying at the moment. She hoped it wasn't at his horrid aunt and uncle's house. 

She glanced at the envelope holding the letter, where Harry had lazily written her name. She smiled slightly. She couldn't help it. She had missed him. The last time she had seen him was when he stuck his head through the fireplace, after all. She hoped he was alright after Sirius. He had loved him like a father after all. 

The blonde hesitantly opened the envelope, pulling out the letter inside of it. She could see that there seemed to be two sheets of parchment or something similar to it. She decided to focus on reading the first one first. She started reading.