𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐘 | James Potter

02 | "dont you worry minnie"

THE TRAIN RIDE HAD been long, but exciting. Lyra enjoyed catching up with her friends, she had missed them. Now it was finally time to get off (the best part), but it was raining heavily, which caused some issues. The rain was harshly hitting the heads of students and collecting as puddles on the floor, creating a perfect place for people to slip while dashing with heavy trunks in their hand.

As much as Lyra loved the rain, it was bitter and windy and she had to be outside, which made her hate rain, on this occasion.

Lyra was sprinting through the Hogsmeade Station, water splashing up against her legs as she did, soaking her new tights. She wasn't going as fast as she wished as she had to lug her heavy trunk behind her. Lyra was also fully aware of Sirius following closely behind her, which meant she tried to go a bit faster than she would have normally. She knew she needed to talk to him, but she just didn't want to.

Lyra therefore just hurried ahead and clambered into the carriage with her friends, allowing it to leave before Sirius could catch up to her.

"What took you so long?" Evan asked, running a hand through his blonde hair, trying to fix the messiness of it, which didn't work.

"I got stuck behind some super slow Second Years."

—

Chatter echoed through the Great Hall as the First Years were being sorted into their houses, no one particularly cared about the sorting, unless you were related to the person being sorted. It was a bit of a boring affair, bit pointless in Lyra's opinion. Regardless, she was only clapping for the Slytherins, ignoring the immature boos coming from her table when someone was sorted into Gryffindor and likewise with the Gryffindors to Slytherins. She didn't get why they felt the need to wind each other up, it was just silly.

"I swear to Merlin I thought I was going to starve," Evan gasped, piling food onto his plate as quick as possible, swatting away a third years hand who went for the chicken drumstick. Lyra laughed, while Evelyn apologised profusely to the little boy.

Sirius was watching from a distance, his sister looked so much more cheerful than she had in the holiday. Sirius had seen Lyra at her worst when she physically and mentally felt she couldn't take anymore. He knew it was always close to this during the holiday, he knew how much relief overcame her every time she stepped onto the train and off the platform. And usually, he'd be there with her, experiencing the same kind of relief. But this year, it was so much different. He was filled with angst for his sister and brother, it was slightly better when he saw them and saw they were alive and — hopefully — okay. But Sirius didn't know how they were coping mentally. He felt he should have stayed to protect them. But at the same time, he didn't think he could take it anymore - it was all too much. He was confused if he did the right thing or not, deep down he knew he did the right thing for him, but maybe not necessarily for his siblings.

"She still not talking to you, Padfoot?" James asked his best friend, a sympathetic look grazing his face.

Sirius shook his head sadly.

"I'm sure she'll come around eventually, she just needs time. She's probably hurt," Remus also comforted his friend.

Sirius shook his head again. "She'll never come around."

"Padfoot, you're just being dramatic," Peter laughed.

"No," he replied, glaring at his friends, "I am not."