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The sunlight hit through the windows of the classroom, the warmth and comfort spreading though the desks and student. This class they had Defense Against the Dark Arts, which Lyra had grown to love.
Students from different houses chattered around her, and she could spot a few people she recognised, unfortunately Fred Weasley were one of them. She was in a good mood, though her morning had started rather tough.
She slipped into an empty seat as the new Professor, Lupin, shuffled through some papers, handing out a 'Defense Against the Dark Arts, year five, part two'Â book to each student.
Fred, as usual, shuffled through the classroom, looking around for an empty seat. To his luck, the only empty seat was beside Lyra. He rolled his eyes as he took his seat beside the Slytherin girl.
"Alright, class," Lupin said with a warm, calm voice. "Today, we'll be focusing on Boggarts."
A murmur of excitement ran through the students. They were actually supposed to have this class in their third year, but due to that troll wandering around at school, the class got cancelled.
A murmur of excitement ran through the students. Lyra leaned back in her seat, 'finally' she though. She had read about Boggarts before, shapeshifters that take the form of a person's worst fear. Fun stuff.
Lupin continued, "For today, we'll start by reading a few chapters from your textbooks about their nature, how they manifest, and the spell to defeat them. Then we'll answer some questions before we get practical. Pair up, please."
Lyra glanced around, and before she could choose someone herself, Lupin spoke again with a smile, "You'll be working with the person you sit next to."
Lyra groaned softly under her breath. Of course she'd get paired with Fred Weasley. She almost considered putting liquid luck in her juice every morning.
She could feel his sly smirk before she even turned to look at him. Without saying a word she shot him a glare. She opened her textbook and began flipping through the pages, avoiding eye contact. She was still unsure about how they felt about each other.
This morning she had felt nothing but annoyance, but at the party it was different. He's tolerable when he's had a few drinks, and gotten beaten up.
Fred slouched beside her, his legs stretched out as he gave her a sideways glance. "We're supposed to work together, you know? I know I make learning motivating." He teased.
"Sure," Lyra muttered, barely looking at him. "Motivation to off myself, maybe."
Fred chuckled, leaning a little closer to peer at her textbook. "You've got such a way with words, Lyra. It's no wonder why everyone's so charmed by you." He said sarcastically.
She ignored him, her eyes glued to the section on Boggarts, but Fred wasn't letting up.
They started reading through the chapter, and naturally it wasn't long before Fred decided to test her patience further. His handwriting, as they both made notes, was an absolute disaster, messy, scrawled, and barely readable.
"You call that handwriting?" Lyra called him out, not even trying to hide her disgust as she glanced at the boy's notes. "Looks like some ancient runes."
Fred raised an eyebrow, not missing a beat. "Not everyone can have perfect handwriting, Lyra. Maybe I'm just too creative for the book to handle."
"Or maybe you're just illiterate." She shot back with a small smirk, flipping her quill through her fingers casually. "I recommend you get someone else to write this years Christmas cards."
"My handwriting may be shit, but you seem to have no problem reading the insulting notes I pass to you in class." Fred retorted, leaning in a little closer. "Funny how that works, isn't it?"
Lyra rolled her eyes, doing her best to refocus on the task at hand, but Fred was like an itch she couldn't ignore. His presence was suffocating.
"Hard not to when you specifically underscore the insults, writing them with the boldest letters. You really take your time with those notes, don't you? Such hard work for me." She teased back, remaining her eyes on the page.
He slightly gaped as he noticed her avoiding eye contact. He huffed.
"Look at me," He whispered sternly, and Lyra tensed up.
But behind them, Adrian was laughing at something Alicia had said, and Lyra found herself being more interested in the Slytherin boy behind her, ignoring the red-headed boy beside her.
She wasn't flirting with the Slytherin, only sparking up a few conversations here and there. Fred, meanwhile, was noticeably rigid beside her.
"See something you like, Lyrie?" Fred's voice teased as he straightened his back, but there was an edge to it.
Lyra nose scrunched up by the nickname. "Jealous, Weasley?"
Fred's jaw clenched, and he tapped his quill against the page a little too hard. "Jealous? Hardly. I just didn't realise you had such low standards."
"Maybe if you could write a coherent sentence," she quipped, glancing at his notes again, "Those standards could be changed."
Fred huffed, but his eyes kept flicking over to Adrian behind them. He looked down at his notebook and wrote steadily, like he actually considered what she had said.
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The pair continued bickering back and forth as they worked their way through the questions. Lyra made sure to pull out a sarcastic comment everytime she could, or chuckle slightly when Fred would misread the question.
There was a few moments though, where they would work together efficiently in silence. Lyra would notice every little detail beside her.
The way his eyes narrowed as he focused. The way he swirled the pen through his fingers. The way he leaned slightly downward as he wrote, pieces of hair falling infront of his face.
The way he would show Lyra his notebook, asking if his answer was right, and the way his eyes lit up if they were.
Lyra enjoyed the silence, but suddenly Lupin chimed.
"Alright, let's wrap it up," Lupin called out. "I'll take a round, looking at your answers. Next, we'll be facing the Boggart in the wardrobe. Pair by pair."
Lupin went around, and soon enough he was done.
Lyra snapped her book shut and looked at Fred with a smirk. "I'm looking forward to seeing what scares you, Weasley."
Fred's lips twitched as he leaned closer. "Why don't you go first, Lyra? Maybe we'll finally see what you're hiding behind that tough act."
Lyra's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly shrugged, narrowing her eyes at him. "Fine with me."
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The class began lining up to face the Boggart one by one, each student stepping forward to confront their deepest fears. Lupin guided them carefully, offering calm instructions.
Lyra watched as Alicia Spinnet was the first to step forward. The Boggart twisted into a giant spider.
She quickly cast 'Riddikulus', and the spider's legs turned into a big hairbrush.
One by one, the students faced their fears. Lee Jordan's Boggart became a swarm of bees, and Zacharias Smith's turned into a terrifying serpent.
Each time, Lupin would guide them through. His voice was calm and reassuring as they successfully cast the spell, turning their nightmares into something laughable.
The air in the classroom was lighter with every success, students cheering each other on.
Lyra stood at the back, arms crossed. She watched her classmates with a cool demeanour, but inside her stomach rotted with dread.
She already knew what her Boggart would turn into, and it wasn't something she had ever discussed with everyone, only Daphne, Theodore and Draco. And the thought of revealing it in front of everyone was making her hands sweat.
Next to her, Fred nudged her with a grin. "Reckon your boggart is going to be a Quidditch game without me. That'd be terrifying, huh?" he joked.
Lyra shot him a glare but didn't respond. Her mind was too preoccupied with the real terror waiting for her. Fred didn't know, and he couldn't know. He didn't need more information about her he could use against her.
As more students stepped forward, it was her turn.
"Lyra, you're up," Professor Lupin called as his kind eyes meeting hers. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, trying to ignore the growing fear in her stomach.
The wardrobe creaked as the door opened, and the Boggart began to shift, twisting into something far more sinister than spiders or snakes.
Her mother.
Her mother stood infront of her. She same woman who really belonged in Azkaban. She stood there tall and elegant, draped in dark black cloth. Her icy glare locked onto Lyra which sent shivers down her spine.
Even the professor's smile faltered.
"He's escaped, he's escaped!" The woman twisting madly, her voice cold and cutting. "Be careful Lyra, he will be coming for you."
Lyra felt her heart slam against her chest as the Boggart continued to warn her, its voice filling the room.
Sirius Black. Lyra thought.
Her throat tightened, and for a moment, she felt as though she couldn't move, couldn't speak. She had never let anyone see this side of her. And now it was out in the open, for everyone to witness.
She gripped her wand tightly, her knuckles turning white, but before she could cast Riddikulus, she heard Fred snicker behind her.
"What, that's it? Your worst fear is your crazy old woman?" Fred said, as if it were the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Come on, Lyra, I'm dissapointed."
Lyra's heart dropped. She knew Fred didn't understand, but his laughter still stung. It felt like a slap to the face.
The class fell into an awkward silence as Fred's laughter faded, realising he'd gone too far.
Adrian Pucey, who was standing just behind them stepped forward, his face hardening as he glared at Fred. "Shut up, Weasley. You have no idea what you're talking about." His voice was low but stern.
Fred gaped, taken aback by Adrian's sudden defense.
"I was just joking," Fred said. Adrian's eyes didn't leave his, and there was something dangerous in the way he stood protectively behind Lyra.
Lyra swallowed hard, her gaze still locked on the figure of her mother in front of her.
"But enough of that, sweet little thing." The boggart spoke lowly, stepping forwards. Even the students behind her seemed to step back.
"One day, my dear. One day you too will earn it, the death-"
Lyra panicked and her face hardened as she raised her wand. Riddikulus, she had to do it before her mother exposed herself, and her for that matter.
With a shaky breath, she pointed her wand at the Boggart, her voice barely above a whisper. "Riddikulus."
The figure of her mother warped in quick speed, and suddenly, there was an almost unfamiliar woman before Lyra. The woman was beautiful, graceful.
She had long, gorgeous, almost white like hair. She was no longer dressed in dramatically black robes, but rather a pretty sundress, smiling brightly. It was like looking in a mirror. This was her mother, before she had become a death eater.
This was her mother, before she had become a mother.
This was her mother when she was Lyra's age, and something about that made professor Lupin shift uncomfortably in his stance.
The boggarts expression twisted into a cartoonish pout, and the perfect smooth skin on her right arm began turning green, before it spread to her face and her whole body. The class erupted into laughter, and the tension broke as the Boggart, quickly retreated back into the wardrobe.
Lyra stepped back, rather quickly. Lupin was frozen in place, before he cleared his throat.
"Brilliant then, you all did brilliant. Class dismissed." He called out, quickly packing his things before leaving in a rather hurry.
Lyra didn't look at Fred as the students began packing, but she could feel his eyes on her.
Fred was silent now, his earlier smugness gone. There was something in his expression. He looked confused, maybe even regretful.
But Lyra didn't care. Not now.
Adrian stepped towards her. She had never been close enough to him to tell him about her parents, but every Slytherin student with death eater parent, or relative, knew. That's how it is.
Adrian leaned in slightly, his voice low and reassuring. "You alright?"
Lyra nodded, though her heart was still pounding. "Yeah. Thanks."
As the class ended, Fred tried to catch her eye, but Lyra ignored him.
Fred watched her. He hadn't meant to hurt her, hadn't realised the depth of her fear.
He huffed in ignorance, before calling out. "Ignore me all you want, Arakan. You know you'll miss me eventually."
Adrian pushed past the boy, their shoulders colliding. "Watch your mouth Weasley, or else." Adrian threatened.
Fred smirked in response, look at the slytherin boy. "She's all yours mate." He chuckled.
Lyra rolled her eyes, before dragging Adrian with her, ignoring the red headed boy.
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