𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕔𝕪 ⟡ ᴊᴀᴍᴇs ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ¹

one: the summer ball

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

WHEN SIRIUS BLACK walked out of 12 Grimmauld Place with his bags in hand, Lyra's heart shattered into a million pieces. She understood that things were very tense between him and their parents, that they didn't see eye to eye, but she never thought that he would do this. That he would leave.

Although Lyra was the obedient daughter that both Orion and Walburga wanted her to be, she did secretly wish she was brave enough to stand up to them like Sirius was. But she wasn't a Gryffindor. She wasn't brave. And when he left, it was like the clock had struck midnight and everything changed.

With their parents sole attention now placed on the Black twins, Lyra was even more pressured to stay in her place. She could never step out of line fearing they would react in a much harsher way than what she was used to. With Sirius gone, their parents became colder, meaner, more vile. They thought with their disgrace of a son finally being burned off of the family tree, they had the potential to become the picture perfect pureblood family. To fully embody The House of Black. And that meant more rules, stricter punishments, and less freedom.

Lyra truly did feel like she was living in a prison, and just like any teenage girl, the more rules her parents placed on her, the more she wanted to break them. Regulus would beg her to keep quiet so that she wouldn't get hurt, and most of the time she listened, but she was beginning to grow tired of the relentless games they played.

✰ ✰ ✰

"Why do we need to go to this stupid ball in the first place?" Lyra grumbled, slipping on the midnight blue material in a rushed manner. "Watch your tone, Lyra" Walburga warned, making sure her daughter looked presentable.

Their family had no room for mistakes, especially after both Andromeda and Sirius had been cast off. People were beginning to become concerned of their true intentions. The young Black huffed while smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress. "Everybody there is just a bunch of-"

Her sentence was cut off by a swift slap to the cheek, the girl gasping as she grabbed the right side of her face in shock. "I said watch your tone" her mother scolded. "Now clean up and finish getting ready. You will show everyone at that ball just what it means to be a respectful child from the Black family, understood?" Her tone was sharp, Lyra could tell that there was no room for argument. "I said, understood?" she repeated, her eyes glaring holes right through her daughter's skull. "Yes, mother" she spat, cheek still in hand. Walburga scoffed before walking out of the room to finish getting ready herself.

Lyra released a shaky breath, attempting to slow her heartbeat. It was normal for either of her parents to physically hurt her, but it never got easier. She was still always so surprised when it happened. How could the people who were meant to love you most in this world treat you as if you were nothing. It didn't make any sense to her.

She quickly applied mascara to make her eyelashes look longer, and a light red tinted lip balm with a layer of clear gloss swiped over. Her mother always told her she looked better this way.

She turned to look at herself in the mirror, the bags underneath her eyes beginning to appear more prominent. She forced a smile onto her face, an action she was sure she would have to do multiple times that night.

"My name is Lyra Cassiopeia Black. Daughter of Orion and Walburga Black, and sister to Regulus Arcturus Black. I am a proud Slytherin and am about to enter my fifth year at Hogwarts" she spoke through her teeth. She often found herself saying these words as a mantra of sorts, something she had drilled into her head to make sure she knew who she was, even when she didn't.