Lyra groaned when Hermione threw her body onto her own "Happy Birthday!" Hermione screeched.
"Thanks Mi" Lyra shimmied to the side letting Hermione fall onto the mattress instead of laying on her, once she was settled in the pair just cuddled.
"Fifteen now...It's strange isn't it?" Hermione whispered.
"What is?"
"That we've only known each other for four years, sometimes i forget that we haven't known each other for that long, it just feels like i have...Lyra you're like my sister"
Lyra chuckled sleepily "Four years is a decent amount of time Mi, and we'll look back in fifty years and it will change, we'll be saying that we only spent 11 years apart"
"That's sweet" Hermione grinned.
"Is this where we kiss?" Lyra joked her eyes still closed as she drifted in and out of light sleep.
"God, you are so...I just said you're like my sister Lyra"
"Well the Black family have been know for their--"
Hermione gasped "Do not even finish that grotesque sentence! Now up you get there's presents for you"
Surprisingly she had received a few gifts from the Grangers, they had sent her a few muggle outfits, Mrs Granger had a wicked sense of fashion and having another girl who was more girly then her own had meant Hermione and Lyra were dragged shopping in the summer holidays. Hermione actually enjoyed it, it showed her what life would have been like if she'd had a sibling.
She paused when she saw a familiar envelop, she didn't think Remus would continue to send them, the photo was of a handful of daffodils which consequently meant rebirth but she was sure he meant it as new beginnings, hope and joy which were also associated with daffodils. The polaroid inside was a recent one, one she hadn't even known he'd taken. It was of her, Harry and her father laughing by the fire, it was sweet and it went hand in hand with new beginning perfectly.
In the great hall she handed Harry a copy of the photo and he grinned at it before carefully tucking it into his pocket "Happy birthday Lyra" he whispered and hugged her.
"Thank you Harry"
With the post came more presents in which she had found a white peacock quill making her beam as she ran her fingers over the feather, she still had the first one Draco had gifted her but this was just as sweet. She looked up and locked eyes with him for a few seconds before they both turned away with matching smiles "Miss Lyra?"
Lyra turned and saw Gabrielle stood shyly behind her joined with Fleur "Oh hello Gabrielle, Est-ce que tu vas bien?" (Are you okay?)
The girl nodded and blushed as she held out a neatly packaged box "Joyeux anniversaire" (Happy Birthday)
Lyra took the box with a large smile "Merci Gabrielle, tu n'étais pas obligé de" (Thank you Gabrielle, you didn't have to)
Fleur waved her off and she lent down kissing Lyra cheek "Joyeux Anniversaire Lyra" Gabrielle waved letting her sister lead her away.
"Did that just happen?" Ron gaped at Lyra and she snickered.
"That did just happen Ronald" she opened the box to see a beautiful copy of Les Miserables, it was white leather bound with blue markings also inside the box was a pale blue silk ribbon, the same blue as the Beauxbatons uniform "This is so sweet, i wonder how they even knew it was my birthday?"
"That's what confuses you?" Ron scoffed "How about the fact that all of a sudden your best mates with another champion?"
"Not on my birthday Ron" she pointing at him warningly and he huffed but didn't say another word on it.
~~~
The next task didn't take place until June, this one had taken a few more months to grow the hedges but Lyra was terrified, she couldn't join in with the lively atmosphere. If she was to be going into the hedges she would have felt much better about it but sat in the stands she held no control over what happened.
That is why she had made a point to wish Cedric good luck, she had caught him at lunch where he was sat with his friends, it was a trick of the hand, easy to do with a distraction such as the twins doing what they did best but she slipped him a potion. When she fell back to her table she watched him consume said potion laced drink, it was practically a sleeping potion but she had played around with it's properties. It would take a while to kick in, an hour or two but that was more then enough to see Cedric into the maze but to kick in before he had a chance to touch the cup.
Krum would be imperio'd and Fleur would be seen to by said imperio'd man but they would be safe, Harry would regrettably be port keyed to the graveyard but hopefully because of her switch Moldy shouldn't be able to take his new form and if the world was smiling down on her he would be weakened.
She stood in the stands with Hermione and Ron, her father had gone down to walk in with Harry as the other families had been offered. Amos Diggory came running out with a wide grin on his face as he held up waving an embarrassed looking Cedric out who joined his father with red cheeks.
Fleur was joined by her sister and Krum walked out with Ivor the head, Dumbledore walked towards the podium while Harry and Sirius walked out side by side, Sirius had a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Sonorus!" Dumbledore amplified his voice and the crowd fell quiet "Earlier today Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze only he knows it's exact position. Now, as Mr Diggory..." the Hogwarts part of the crowd cheered as Amos raised his sons hand but Cedric cringe back at the attention or maybe the embarrassment.
"And Mr Potter..." Dumbledore tried to continue but Gryffindor wasn't going to take the slight so they made a right ruckus, Lyra not being one to be left out stood and whistled loudly, hooting with the others as she grinned at Harry who was red faced "Are tied for first position they will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Mr Krum and Miss Delacour...First person to touch the cup will be the winner"
Dumbledore had a quiet talk with all of the champions before letting them move back "Champions, prepare yourselves!" they each took an opening of the maze, Lyra watched Amos hug his son as they said their farewells, she saw the ever so slight sluggish way he moved and hoped it was enough.
"On the count of three: One..." Dumbledore didn't get to finish counting because Filch sent off the canon but Lyra watched both Harry and Cedric enter the maze and the maze shut behind them.
"Now we wait" Lyra whispered.
~~~
Her father had joined them in the stands as they waited but something was pulling her eyes towards the exit, a man had been standing there for a while now just staring and a small part of her felt like she had to talk to him "Excuse me" she muttered to her family and friends and slunk away. "Hello?" she moved to stand by his side, his face was distorted like she wasn't meant to see it, she couldn't even see what colour his eyes were.
"You have changed a lot over the passed few weeks" a throaty voice growled "The boys soul was meant to be mine"
"Death...You're death" she gasped.
"The boy was mine and you took him from me"
She smirked slightly "Cedric is going to make it?"
"Don't look so pleased with yourself" Death growled as he took a step closer to her "The boy will live but you can only have one big change here"
"But that would mean"
Death hummed "That's right, the bones have been replaced with the original"
"You can't do that! You can not do this!" she yelled but he waved her off.
"For every soul you take from me, i have to find another, a soul for a soul"
"What if i give you the souls...If i take someone's soul from you i'll replace them myself"
Even if she couldn't see it she knew he was smirking at her "You'd kill someone?"
"You have just caused a war by destroying my work" she hissed "You have no idea what you've done!"
"Oh but i do girl, you had to learn...I think you have learned your lesson no?" she didn't answer just glared and he hummed "From now on I will give you twenty-four hours, every time you steal a soul from me you have twenty-four hours to replace it" he studied her, watched her mind work over time "For what it's worth, your plan was a good one, would have worked too but i guess it will have to be plan B no?"
She sneered at him and he chuckled "Twenty-four hours and you do not even think of messing with my plans"
Death chuckled "Alright Lyra Whitlock...I will give you twenty-four hours to replace what has been stolen before i take things into my own hands"
The use of her first name startled her "I can not believe out of all the things you could have done..." she felt tears burning in her eyes "You have singlehandedly helped the war"
"Are you going to cry?" Death tilted his head.
"I just thought..."
He hummed again "That is your problem, you think you can stop every bad thing from happening, some things are just fate. If it wasn't today Tom Riddle would have managed to come back eventually, it's fated" he studied her as tears fell from her face "You saved the boy...I just hope you believe it was worth it" with that he disappeared and Lyra's body slipped to the ground as she cried.
It was all for nothing, a part of her didn't know how to feel, sure she was glad she saved Cedric but what about the people who were going to die in the war because she did so, she couldn't save everyone.
"Lyra?" she looked up with glassy eyes and saw Draco crouched beside her.
"He's back...I couldn't stop it" she cried falling into his comforting hold, she shook her head "I couldn't stop it"
Draco shushed her holding the back of her head as she burrowed into his chest "We knew this was coming Lyra, you warned us years ago now we just have to deal with it and try to survive, you can do this Lyra i know you can"
"What if i can't" she whimpered "I changed something, he wasn't meant to come back but...What if i can't change a single thing?"
"You saw two endings right? One where we win and another where we lose?"
Lyra pulled back to look at him and nodded "Yeah, two endings"
"Then things you do can change things Lyra, maybe not everything but we will win this" Draco wiped her tears away, he looked like he wanted to say more as he cupped her face but seemed to decide not too as he sighed "Now you need to get back with your friends before someone sees us, this is where we can no longer be 'friends' right?"
"It's safer for you and your parents Draco"
"It sucks that's what it is but swear it won't be forever"
Lyra sniffled and smiled holding up her little pinky "Three years, four at most"
Draco frowned but locked his little finger with her own "Three to four years and then it goes back to normal"
"Well as normal as possible after a war" she huffed and they kissed their thumbs to lock the promise in.
"That still boggles the mind" Draco shook his head "Just don't forget your journal"
"I won't, be careful Draco and if you need anything...Anything at all, i can help"
~~~
The sky had darkened, the clearly hadn't thought out the tasks properly because all but one of the task were enjoyable to watch, the lake people were staring at still water for an hour and now today they stared at a hedge.
It was now between Krum and Harry, two red flashes had been casted one for Fleur who looked upset before a certain redhead headed curse breaker had caught her attention and she seemed to get over the fail pretty quickly. The second beam had been for a unconscious Diggory, the boy had been taken to the nurse who gave him a clean bill of health both teens had claimed Krum cursed them that had been the found answer for why Cedric passed out.
The judges were already deliberating what to do with Krum if he were to win but of course that was quickly put to a stop when Harry dropped into the clearing. He was laying on the ground crying, he was clearly bleeding but the crowd seemed to believe that was cause of the maze as they reared up cheering loudly.
They all moved forward to congratulate the boy, Sirius and Lyra were first there but Lyra knew this wasn't going to be a celebration so she wrapped her arms around him, she couldn't let them know she knew this would happen not after what happened with her father thinking she was taking on too much and it wasn't like Draco would sell her out "It's okay, you're out now" she whispered into his ear as he grabbed onto her coat with white knuckles.
"He's back! He's back, Voldemort's back!" Harry yelled at Dumbledore when he approached, the scene wasn't as moving as it had been when Cedric laid dead but Lyra didn't think she's be able to get through any 'That's my boy' moments if she had a say about it.
However it made 'Moody' have a slightly harder time getting Harry alone but he fixed that by grabbing him after he saw the nurse. Fudge was ranting and raving about Harry's announcement and he was not happy at all leaving Dumbledore and Sirius, along with most other adults, occupied with him or retrieving Viktor Krum who would be found under the Imperious curse.
Harry sat in Moody's office while the man stared at Harry's newly healed arm, the red mark from the slice still there along with the dried blood Madame Pomfrey hadn't been able to clean before Moody whisked Harry away.
"The cup was a portkey, it was bewitched" Harry frowned as Moody studied his arm.
"What was it like? What was he like?"
"Who?" Harry's voice trembled slightly.
"The Dark Lord" Moody stood upright and paced away "What was it like to stand in his presence?"
"I don't know, it was like i'd fallen into one of my dreams...Into one of my nightmares" Harry frowned staring into the fireplace at the flames "But i haven't had one in years not after Lyra stared teaching me..." He smartly shut his mouth remembering Lyra told him not to tell a soul about the mind lessons she had given him.
He turned hearing Moody whimper, a sound that was more then slightly odd for the man, the older man all but ran to a corner of his room ripping back a curtain where he started rummaging through a box of glass phials before he stopped with a gasp and shook his head "Were there others? In the graveyard, were there others?"
"Erh..I..." A sickening feeling waved over Harry as the question threw him "I don't think i mentioned anything about a graveyard Professor" Then it clicked, Dumbledore said Moody was the one to charm the portkey, he was the only one who knew where it was placed.
Harry turned and faced where the Professor was stood, the older man just raised his brows "Marvellous creatures, Dragons, aren't they?" the man started to continue looking for something "Did you think that oaf would have lead you into the woods if i hadn't of suggested it? You think Cedric Diggory would've told you to open the egg underwater if i hadn't told him first?"
Harry's breathing started to quicken as the man was ranting and practically shouting as he continued to search for something "Do you think Neville Longbottom, the witless wonder, could've provided you with gillyweed if i hadn't of given him the book that led him straight to it? Huh?" Moody pointed to his head his tongue flicked out wetting the left side of his mouth but instead of looking like a move to fix chapped lips it looked like a tick.
"It was you from the beginning, you put my name into the Goblet of Fire. You bewitched Krum but you--"
"But...But...But" Moody taunted him "You won because i made it so Potter. You ended up in that graveyard tonight because it was meant to be so and now the deed is done" He smirked and the expression looked so wrong on the man's face "The blood that runs through your veins now runs within the dark lord"
Moody turned but when he turned back he's face was wrong, it was distorted, the skin rippling as if something was beneath it "Imagine how he will reward me when he learns that i have once and for all..." Harry moved away from the man who's skin seemed to be melting away from his bone "Silenced the great Harry Potter"
He raised his wand but before another word left his mouth the office door burst open slitting from it's hinges as they tried to stay shut and Moody was sent backwards into a chair by another spell. Dumbledore, Severus Snape, McGonagall, Sirius as well as Lyra burst into the room "Severus!" Dumbledore yelled and Snape poured a potion down the wriggling man's throat "Do you know who i am?"
"Albus Dumbledore" Moody growled.
"Are you Alastor Moody? Are you?" Dumbledore yelled when the man tried to fight off the truth serum in his system.
"No"
"Is he in this room?" the fake Moody tried to keep quiet "Is he in this room?" instead of a verbal answer the man's magical eye flew towards the giant black trunk against the side of the room which Harry had been stood behind "Harry, away from there"
Once Harry was clear Snape spelled the trunk open while the others trained their wands on it just in case, the lid opened and a smaller trunk slid up before that lid opened producing a slightly smaller trunk. It was like a matryoshkas, the dolls with smaller version of themselves inside and after the seventh lid opened the trunk settled signalling it was done and the group slowly approached.
Looking inside, at the bottom, which was extended with what seemed to be a extendable charm sat a dirty Alastor Moody "Are you alright Alastor?" Dumbledore called his voice echoed off the walls of the trunk.
"I'm sorry Albus" a shaky voice called back.
"If that's Moody then who's--" Harry shook his head.
Snape sniffed the Phial he'd taken from the fake Moodys hand "Polyjuice Potion"
"Now we know who's been stealing from your stores Severus...We'll get you up in a minute" Dumbledore yelled down to Alastor who nodded with a saddened groan.
Everyone in the room turned when the fake Moody started to choke and groan, the man's face was disgusting, it looked like the skin was melting from his bones, his eye socket was sagging showcasing the whites of the eyeball. His whole figure seemed to be shrinking leaving behind a more lean figure which belonged to an attractive but clearly disturbed younger man.
"Barty Crouch Junior" Dumbledore spoke with a level of surprise, Lyra studied the man in front of her, he was attractive that much was clear but it was the tick that caught her attention. Every few seconds his tongue would flick out and touch his bottom lip of the left side, he must have been holding it back the whole time he was under Polyjuice potion because the potion doesn't stop things like that.
The effect of holding it back seemed to make it worse because now he didn't have to hold back it was very obvious "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" the man snickered pulling up his right arm sleeve which was now a dark black and was actually moving on the skin.
"Your arm Harry" Dumbledore reached back to grab the boy but Lyra moved in front of him.
"No chance in hell, we don't negotiate with people like you" She sneered.
Barty snickered once more "No need, i know what it means...Do you? He's back, Lord Voldemort has returned"
"Send an owl to Azkaban, i think they are missing a prisoner" Dumbledore ordered and Snape walked off followed by McGonagall.
"I'll be welcomed back like a hero!"
"No, you're not going to make it back to Azkaban i'm afraid" Lyra smirked at the man.
"Is that a threat?" Barty snarled at her but she just shrugged and walked away pulling Harry along with her father.
"He's going to die today, before being able to give a statement and Fudge will try to wave this off as the work of a demented old Death eater instead of what it really is, we will receive backlash"
"When do we not" Harry grumbled.
Sirius sighed "We will just have to deal with it as it comes i'm afraid, You two have about six days left of this year try to enjoy while you can and we will deal with everything else after" he kissed both their heads "Oh and stay away from that boy"
"Which one?" Lyra smirked as she turned and started to walk backwards from her father who looked ready to die.
"What did you just say to me young lady! Which one? That better be a joke so help me god!" Sirius started after her.
"Why don't you ask Harry?" She chuckled and watched Sirius spin to glare at Harry who started spluttering in defence.
"Harry?"
"I--I don't know any other from Beau...Oh but she did mention Draco, Seamus and Justin all asked her to the ball!" Harry answered quickly trying to get the heat off of himself.
"Are we forgetting that for some reason people seem to think i am Harry's treasure...Also Harry asked me to the ball as well daddy" Lyra spoke putting more then a hint of innocence on the parental term as she left the pair listening to her father rant and remind Harry that he was not to look at his daughter in anyway as she was never to marry let alone kiss or god forbid do anything else with another boy.
That would serve Harry right to rat her out to her father about Beau.
~~~
"Today, we acknowledge a terrible fact...Lord Voldemort had returned" Dumbledore stated ever so dramatically, he had set up the hall in rows of benches, had the school all facing him like a British assembly "You see the Ministry do not wish for me to tell you this, not to do so would be an insult to you all. It would endanger you and in this moment i wish to remind you all that while we may come from different places or speak in different tongues...Our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events, the bonds we made this year will be more important then ever...You remember that and we may all just survive"
When they were released Lyra went back to her dorm room to pack, she was followed by Hermione. In the bedroom Lyra noticed a glass jar sat on Hermione's bedside table and with a smirk she picked it up "Well, well, well, i wondered where you'd gotten off too"
"I...I can explain" Hermione stuttered with wide eyes.
"That you did something totally devious without me...That you did something i would have done and didn't tell me...You are guilty Hermione but" she sighed shaking the jar slightly as she watched the bug inside scatter around in fear "We are best friends for a reason"
"I was going to tell you but...I didn't think it had sunk in for her yet and if you'd demanded i released her it would have been all for nothing"
"How long have you had her?"
"Since the last task" Hermione muttered flushing red.
"6 days" Lyra hummed before smirking at the jar "No, i think we can do better than that"
"Lyra!" Hermione scolded her but even she couldn't hide the small smile that wanted to burst free.
Lyra hummed "I say true punishment would be a week for each nasty lie she told...What would that take us up too Mi?"
"God at that rate she's be our life long pet" Hermione shook her head.
"Ahh and the wizarding world would lose a good reporter...No sorry, simply just a reporter, i can live with that" Lyra shrugged staring at the bug inside the jar go wild trying to break out with an insistent buzzing "It's fitting that your form is a cockroach"
Hermione snickered "She's a beetle"
"Nah, i see cockroach i call cockroach" Lyra grinned.
"Yeah well someone that unliked will be noticed if she just disappears" Hermione threw herself down on Lyra's bed and wrapped her arms around a purring Onyx "So how about we give her a week for every article she posted that she knowingly lied in?"
"Again that's all of them" Lyra sighed "What to do, what to do..." she hummed and had taken to throwing the jar up in the air and catching in when it came down while she thought.
"What if we kept her a week for every article she wrote about us and Harry?" Hermione offered not even looking up from where she stroked Onyx who was rarely without Crookshanks, the two Half Kneezles would always be off somewhere in the castle or dark forest.
"Hmm that's more acceptable i guess, that is still what? Six weeks?"
"Five, i've already had her a week" Hermione nodded.
Lyra continued to toss the jar before she gasped "We can share custody! Oh my god, we have our very own tamagotchi!"
"What is a tamagotchi?" Hermione tilted her head in confusion and Lyra froze, had tamagotchi not come out yet? She thought they were ancient and had been out longer then 1994 but she'd fucked up.
"Oh, it was a...I had a dream that in the future we shared a pet, it's something that was going to come out soonish but it's basically where you have to keep this electronic pet alive" she whispered to Hermione keeping her voice down from the bug in the jar and watched Hermione grin.
"Sounds like we have some practicing to do then"
"That we do"
"Nose goes!" Hermione touched her nose quickly "You have her first"
"That's not fair!" Lyra groaned placing the very shaken up bug jar back on the table.
Hermione snickered "I've already had her for a week remember"
"What am i even meant to feed her?" Lyra frowned at the jar "Do you think she'd die if i didn't?"
"Probably" Hermione shrugged.
"Shame..." Lyra smirked and then yelped when Hermione thumped her arm.
"Our tamagotchi is going to die in the future with that mindset"
"Fine! Fine! I will feed the ghastly thing"
~~~
After lunch the other schools were getting ready to leave having to travel different countries before being able to go home meant they had to leave earlier so they were all stood out in the main courtyard saying their goodbyes.
"Hermione" Viktor came towards the two girls "This is for you" he handed her a folded piece of paper "Write to me. Promise"
Lyra nudged Hermione with her elbow when the girl didn't answer, it shocked Hermione and she nodded at Viktor with a light blush "I will"
"Lyra" Viktor bowed politely to her in greeting.
She nodded her head back "Goodbye Viktor"
Viktor blew Hermione a sweet kiss as he walked away and the two squealed quietly together "You two are just...To die for" Lyra breathed watched her friend smile and hold the note to her chest.
"Us? What about you?" Hermione smirked looking at something behind Lyra, that something turned out to be a someone.
"Mademoiselle" She turned to see Beau grinning at her.
"Hello Beau" she chuckled as he asked for her hand but she gently gave it to him, the French man kissed the air above it before slipping it in the crook of his elbow and walked a few paces off.
"I wanted to say my goodbyes...Although i hope it isn't too promiscuous of me to say that i hope it isn't for the last time"
She chuckled "I'm sure we can arrange something after all it is only fair i visit your country as you have mine"
"That sounds lovely" Beau hummed handing her his contact information for the owl before he leant in and kissed her cheek which was unexpected but she just smiled and waved as he left to the carriages.
"To die for" Hermione snickered stumbling slightly when Lyra jabbed her with her elbow "Hey you said it first!" she linked her arm with Lyra's with a wide grin as both Harry and Ron joined the pair of girls.
"Miss Lyra!" a quiet but musical voice called out and the pair turned to see Gabrielle and Fleur approaching, it had been Gabrielle who had called out "Goodbye, thank you again" the young girl hugged her shyly while her sister said her goodbyes.
"Goodbye Gabrielle i hope your journey is alright" Once the two girls had left and everyone was waving their last goodbyes to the ship and carriages Ron jumped up to sit in one of the windowless frames in the stone of the courtyard.
"Are we ever going to have a quiet year at Hogwarts?" their red headed friend asked.
"No" The remaining three friends answered before they all laughed.
Ron scoffed "I didn't think so, oh well...What's life like without a few dragons?"
"I'm sure to your brother it would be a very dull life" Lyra winked at Ron who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, thanks for that now he won't stop talking about it, keeps asking if you wanted a job with dragons...You, not a single word about his own brother" Ron tutted "Apparently they're in need for workers"
Lyra hummed with a smug grin but they all stopped walking when they realised Hermione wasn't following them, they turned back and she studied them all "Everything's going to change now isn't it?"
Harry walked forward putting a hand on her shoulder he shook her gently "Yes" both Lyra and Ron shared an amused look and covered their laughter once the other tried to set each other off but it actually seemed to help Hermione.
"Barmy" Ron whispered to Lyra who nodded.
"The pair of them, bad as each other" as Lyra answered Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry nodded towards the two snickering friends.
"Promise you'll write this summer, all three of you" Hermione demanded.
"Pfft, i won't" Ron scoffed as they all started walking "You know i won't"
"Harry will won't you?" Hermione looked at Harry.
"Yeah, every week" He grinned but the way he spoke seemed like he'd do anything but.
Hermione sighed but didn't say anything else to the two boys "Lyra?"
Lyra grinned wildly "Of course Mi, anything for you"
~~~
"Again!" Lyra pulled from Harrys mind when she started seeing his memories.
Harry panted and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand "Can we please take a break?"
"A break? Harry you haven't been keeping your occlumency walls up, it's like you've forgotten everything! Why haven't you been practicing?"
"I just thought...I thought i'd done it"
She sighed shaking her head "You need to consciously keep your walls up around your thoughts, Harry this is important please"
"Have you seen something?" he took a gulp of water "Sirius said you need to start letting us help you now so you should tell us if you have"
"I know what has been said Harry, now again" she warned him before entering his mind but his walls were feeble, weak and with not much prodding they gave way to her allowing her to enter his memories. He had made it to look like the train but all of his memories were scattered haphazardly, the only issue with that is it made it very easy for someone to do this...
She found her name in a faint whisper and followed the trail towards all the memories involving herself, there were hundreds if not thousands from small glances to big moments but it was very easy to rifle through.
"Stop" Harry followed her in the carriage trying to get her to retreat, to throw her out like she had taught him but she'd sunk her claws in.
"This is serious Harry i need you take this seriously!" she turned and looked at him "Do you understand the position we're in? If i was the enemy, heaven forbid Voldemort, do you know what i could do?"
"I get it, now can we please stop"
She narrowed his eyes "Not until you throw me out or distract me...Why are you so nervous? What is it you don't want me to see?"
"Lyra" Harry's tone was full of warning but she simply smirked and turned back to keep digging through the memories "Lyra, i'm being serious!"
"Funny because so am i"
Harry caught a glimpse of the memory she was about to look through and panicked "Legilimens!" he threw them from his conscious into her own but it was completely different, instead of a place all Harry could see was a brick wall. It stood about 15 feet and was layered with steel plates, barbed wire and if he squinted hard enough he swore he could see gold in the brick "What is this?"
"My mind" Lyra whispered as he took it in, he rested his hand against the brick and felt it vibrate in warning.
He breathed out audibly "How is this possible?"
"Years and years of continuous practice" she watched Harry as he walked running his hand on the brick as if trying to find a weak spot, she pushed down her minds urge to shove him out and watched him explore.
He stopped at a doorway "Is this the entrance?"
"No"
Harry moved his hand to the door knob and was surprised to find it unlocked, he opened the door and looked inside but didn't really see anything of note just hedges and more doorways "What the hell?"
She walked through the doorway and he followed her quickly "If someone was to want to pierce my mind so bad i needed to give them something to follow so they didn't try to destroy my mind forcefully" she lead him through a maze, it reminded him of the third task for the tournament but with the added doorways.
"Harry?" he spun when he heard something whispering for him but it sounded far away.
"Who was that?"
Lyra looked back with a smirk "Tricks, i took inspiration from the tales of the Appalachian mountains" she put a finger to her lips pulling him into the mazes bushes so they were out of sight, Harry almost felt his heart stop when a large shadow passed them.
It looked almost exactly like Ron but something was wrong with it, things were off, his height, the colour of his hair even the way he walked "Harry?" Ron's form whispered again and he swallowed harshly, Ron wasn't merely metres from him but the whisper sounded far like he stood much further away then he was, then Ron's figure growled and rippled before walking off.
"They're called skin walkers, they normally only have the power to turn into animals but i changed them here. They read the top layer of someone's mind when they enter the maze, the layers people leave open to throw people off the good stuff then they change into that to try and catch them. I don't think they could kill anyone here but they will attack and try to chase people away"
"Fucking hell" Harry whispered as he shivered "Why did it sound so far away?"
Lyra smirked again "That's the best bit, when they are close they sound far away but when they are far away they sound like they are right next to you" she whispered into his ear and he shivered again as the hair on the back of his neck stood upright "It's to keep people on edge while also catching them off guard"
She took his hand and lead him through a series of doorways, along the way there were more of the skinwalker things and other horrors that had him clinging to her hand tightly, everything in him wanted to pull out of her mind and he knew that was the whole point but she seemed to want to show him something so he stuck around...That and when he went to leave, her defences had stopped his retreat.
They made it to what looked like a blocked off room and when she opened the door he saw rows and rows of boxes "Bloody hell..."
"This is what i was trying to tell you Harry, the more organised you make it surprisingly the harder you make it for people to dig around. Try it, try to focus in on a specific thing you want to know, try to follow the lead" she had to let him see and hopefully that will help him with where to start.
Harry frowned but did as she said, he focused on something he wanted to know and without meaning to subconsciously his mind sought for a name but his eyes shot open when he felt the trail and he followed the feeling down one of the isles.
"Hmm, must not be an important memory if it was that easy" Lyra chuckled but followed after him, she cocked a brow when he stopped in front of a box, Harry took the top off the cardboard box and looked inside. Inside was a few files and in large print on the tab was the name of who he'd been looking for.
Beau Dupont.
Harry grabbed a file and opened it, a memory popped up and he saw the poncy boy bowing over Lyra's hand, when the memory finished he saw information about the boy from his birthday to his eye colour "Is this what you do?"
"I create files on everything, everyone gets a box, every class gets a box, everything...Try looking for something more serious"
"Like what?" he continued looking through Beau's file frowning when he saw him flirting.
"Look for Draco"
Harrys head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes at her "You cannot be serious right now"
"What do you mean?" she frowned watching as he stuffed Beau's folder back in the box.
"Draco..." Harry growled before huffing "Why would i look for him?"
Lyra glared "Fine look for yourself then"
Harry huffed once more as he felt around for anything to do with himself but he couldn't find anything and he turned back to Lyra "What do i not get my own box?" he knew he was being dramatic, childish even but he couldn't help it. She didn't even respond, simply spun on her heel and walked out of the room "Lyra? Lyra wait!"
As he chased after her he almost failed to notice another room forming within the hedges, it looked like a small closet hardly noticeable and if she wasn't walking directly towards it he wouldn't have looked twice at it. Lyra pressed her hand against the door and it glowed red before it sprung open, she stood to the side and waved him in, once inside he noticed it was mainly empty apart from a long table which held three boxes.
The boxes were evenly spaced and had nothing written on them, they were in every word of the matter inconspicuous but he walked forward and took the lid off of the one on the far left, it was Hermione's folder. Surface level memories greeted him, each as happy as the last, some were of the girls gossiping or even reading but nothing incriminating, however when he went to look at the deeper memories they grew more and more fuzzy the further he went.
"Go to the one on the right" Lyra called from her spot in the doorway when she felt him trying to dig too deep in the memories and he did as she said after he closed Hermione's box. The box on the far left was obviously Ron's, the memories in this box were slightly different from Hermione's but the memories held the same happy feel to them.
Harry only then realised how deep the dynamic of their friendship was, as a quadrant set of friends the workings of each of their relationships was an interesting thing and he hadn't even realised how truly different each was until Lyra's organised folders practically spelled it out for him. He and Ron were best friends just as Lyra and Hermione were but where he and Hermione were like brother and sister that did not relate to Ronald and Hermione, surprisingly it didn't quite work for Lyra and himself either, it never had.
But Ron and Lyra were like brother and sister in their own way, Ron knew how to be a brother he had plenty of practice after all and Lyra called him out like his siblings would. They bickered like siblings, they went out of their way to wind the other up just as siblings would but he also saw that they both seemed so obvious to the others flaws and fears, it seemed like they shared a lot of that actually but when he went to dive deeper once again the memories grew fuzzy.
Taking the hint he packed the box up and moved to what he assumed would be his, he had been correct to assume such because the moment he opened the box he saw faint, blurred memories of himself until they slowly cleared. It was as if Lyra was giving him permission to see them, he was shocked to see memories from their childhood, he saw his father rocking him as he grinning at Lyra. He watched his mother lift Lyra and nuzzle their noses together, he watched as Lyra sat in Moony's lap while his younger self crawled to follow her around.
How she remembered any of this was beyond him but he didn't have time to question it as the memories changed to the pair of them in school, at certain points the memories would skip or quickly become fuzzy before clearing up once more. That happened more as the years went on, this year had been the fuzziest of the bunch but he wasn't sure as to why and when he went to dig deeper he found himself in the living room of Grimmauld Place once more.
"The more organised the memories, the harder is it for them to find accidentally, it will give you time to throw them out of your mind or to enter theirs like you did mine...I have your folder in a different place for that exact reason, to lead them to more innocent memories for them to search for you in the completely wrong place giving me more time" Lyra looked out of the window onto the street.
"I'm sorry" He frowned as he tried to steady himself from the disorientating feeling of being back in the present.
"As you should be" she turned to look at him dead on "I take all of your safety very seriously Harry, it's of my upmost importance to do so and to assume otherwise was callous...Now are you willing to do the same? To keep us safe how far would you go, how many hours would you put aside to keep not only us but yourself safe?"
"I get it" Harry sighed "But i don't know how"
"I will show you, you just have to try" she moved back to the sofa "Let's go again" They jumped back into Harry's mind, in the same carriage as they sat every year so she sat down and looked out of the window.
"So do i make boxes and files now?" he asked as he shifted on his feet uncomfortable knowing what sat just in front of her in memory form and she chuckled.
"It doesn't have to be boxes and files Harry, that would be a bit obvious in a train carriage no?" Harry nodded as he looked around, maybe he shouldn't have picked the train, not many places to hide important memories here "Come here" he glanced up to see Lyra had stood and moved around him to the door.
Lyra pulled it open and walked out of the carriage "Where are you going?"
"Look around Harry what do you see?"
"Carriages, seats...It's a train Lyra there's not much to see" he sighed looking around "Maybe i should change it like yours with the wall you know?"
"You don't need to" she grinned "Harry the Hogwarts Express has how many railroad cars?"
"I don't know...Six?"
"And each railroad car holds eight carriages yes?" he nodded at her statement "Good and each carriage can sit eight passengers, yes?"
"Yes Lyra but what does that have to do with anything?"
"That would mean there are forty-eight carriages on this train and that would entail three hundred and eighty-four passengers not including crew if it is at full capacity, yes?"
Harry frowned "If you want me to work out the math you're going to have to give me a while"
"Six times eight for the total of carriages then times that again by eight for the amount of passengers per carriage...Take my word for it" Lyra snickered when Harrys face scrunched up at the math "But my point is that if each passenger has two trunks on average that would be..."
"Six...Seven hundred and...sixty-eight" Harry worked in his head carrying over the numbers and Lyra chuckled.
"Yes seven hundred and sixty-eight trunks all spaced out between six railway carts..." Harry just stared at her for a moment "It means Harry you have seven hundred and sixty-eight trunks to place memories, you could leave some blank, you could double up and hide memories in side pockets hidden by a trivial memory...And let us not forget the cab at the front for the driver and crew, even the sweet trolley could be used to hide memories"
"Would that be enough?"
"If you're that worried about it..." Lyra grabbed his hand and dragged him to their carriage "This is a false bottom seat" she point to her seat on the train.
"Is it really?"
"No, but you can make it one" she grinned nodding to it and heard a light click before she lifted her seat seeing a empty space "This is your mind Harry, anything is possible, find a date that is important connect it to the carriage numbers...Change the carriage numbers...Make the cab for the driver impenetrable like a vault door if you wanted, the possibilities are endless. You could even make a few carriages fake doors that lead to different sections of the train or you could add hidden monsters"
"You are scary sometimes Lyra, do you know that"
"Better scary then dead" she chuckled "You best get to work, i'll give you half an hour before i start digging through that memory that has you on edge"
"Fuck" he snapped when she slipped from his mind leaving him there, he ran towards the carriage with the cursed memory, it wasn't a true memory more of a daydream really, no it was a dream he had one night that now crept into his daydreams.
A daydream that he had no business creating about her but he was a fifteen year old boy, there was pretty much nothing he could do about it but the thought of her knowing what his mind made up one night was...It wasn't good, not good at all and he had to hide this particular memory now while he still could.