II. roman holiday | blaise zabini

chapter 11

chapter 11

"we burned too bright, now the fire's gone,
watch it all fall down"

-5 Seconds of Summer

In the days between Christmas and the return to Hogwarts, Lyra hadn't spoken more than a few words. She got out of bed, ate, cleaned, but she didn't speak or laugh or react to anything.

Elliot, Zara, and Fay could do nothing but watch as Lyra fell into a downward spiral of isolation and blank stares.

Lyra herself didn't feel anything. She had sat motionless in front of the fire hours after the events of Christmas night. Zara had pulled her into the bathroom, helping her wash off the mud and dirt, a noticeable bruise was beginning to form on her chest, looking very similar to the sole of Bellatrix's boot.

Once she had been washed and changed, they helped pull her to bed. She could hear her dad and best friends whispering worriedly from outside her door, but she hardly cared. Instead laying on the bed, back stiff and straight, head looking up, and her hands intercrossed and placed above her torso.

She didn't know how long she laid there before the tears began pouring down her face, rolling down her temples or pooling above her lashes and tear ducts . Lyra didn't wipe them away or rub at her blurred eyes, she didn't move at all. When she woke up the next morning she found that she had cried to her limit, leaving Zara to gently wipe the dried tear tracks all across Lyra's face.

And it remained that way. Lyra didn't cry, but she also didn't feel anymore, it was as if life had lost its color, everything felt grey and dark and empty.

Zara had gone home a few days later, very much against her will as she was unprepared to leave her best friend in her vulnerable state. But Elliot told her she needed to return home at some point and Fay reassured her that she would take care of Lyra to her best ability. Begrudgingly, she placed a kiss on Lyra's forehead, waving goodbye to Elliot and being pulled into another kiss by Fay before leaving via Floo.

Fay and Elliot did the best they could, and while they were a great support system, neither had the emotion quite down like Zara.

But the last few days of break trickled by and eventually Lyra found herself back at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, frowning up at the train. Zara was by their side in no time, pressing a kiss to Fay's temple and worriedly gesturing at Lyra. Elliot and Fay just shook their heads.

When the whistle sounded, Lyra gave her father a short hug, arms falling limp to her sides as he held her just a little longer and she rested her head against his chest before pulling away. Fay grabbing her hand, gently pulling her along to the train.

And as he climbed onto the Hogwarts Express Lyra froze at the dark eyes of her boyfriend. Distantly she could tell Theo and Malfoy stood by his side, gaping at her appearance. Lyra couldn't blame them, she knew she probably looked like death.

Still their eyes didn't pull from one another and as the seconds drew out, Lyra felt the crushing weight against her chest increase.

Worry, guilt, exhaustion, rage. All of it a storm of emotions in his eyes that made her want to throw up, or collapse against his chest, or run away and cry forever.

Because any other day she would have pulled him away from their friends and into an empty compartment. She would have tried to decipher everything he was feeling and make it all better. Kiss away the rage and worry, hold him until the wrinkle between his eyebrow faded and his shoulders loosened.