Black Hole

"Ain't No Sunshine"

October, 1979

Things were not going well.

Marlene was dead. She had been dead for almost five months. 

Dead. Gone. Forever taken from this world, along with her entire family. Her mother, father, her brothers. Dorcas. Gone, ripped away.

Mia and Monty were sick. In the hospital, dying sick. Of course, it was not a death eater that made them sick, but a stupid fucking common virus. 

Lily was pregnant. 

Sirius was drinking. A lot. 

When Mia and Monty got sick, the four of them, Remus, Sirius, Forsythia, and herself had all moved into a flat near James and Lily's. Remus and Sirius were barely home. And if they were, Remus was holed up in their room with Forsythia, and Sirius was in the kitchen day drinking. 

Everyone was being so secretive. No one ever told her what was going on, because she was not an "official" member of the bloody Order, not that she wanted to be. 

James and Lily were gone all the time, fighting. So were Ted and Andromeda. They often entrusted Lyra-Jade in watching Nymphadora. So, she guessed she wasn't completely alone. Daily, she found herself in the company of a six year old and a one year old. 

She hadn't heard from her younger brother in months. The last time she saw him in person had been the day after Forsythia was born. Letters came almost daily for awhile. Now, she was lucky if she got one every other month.

One chilly, fall day of 1979, she found herself sitting on the floor drawing with Nymphadora and Forsythia, the former rapidly talking about a frog she saw in great detail while simultaneously changing her hair color to make her little cousin laugh. 

The door opened quietly, and Remus and Sirius both walked in with grim expressions on their faces. She didn't have to test the, as only they could enter the flat through the front door. 

"What's happened?" She immediately said, standing up.

"Hey pups!" Sirius called, his voice coated in fake cheeriness. He picked both giggling girls up and carried them into their small kitchen.

"Wh-What's wrong, Remus?" She asked again, her voice low and shaky.

He sat on the couch and motioned for her to follow. "I've been asked to do something."

"Okay...?"

"I've been asked to follow some packs, I-"

"No! Absolutely not!"

"LJ-"

"Are you kidding me, Remus? I can't believe you would even-"

"We all have to make sacrifices-"

"No! No, we don't!" She yelled, making Remus cast a quick silence charm on the room. She stood, in front of him. "I will not make anymore s-s-sacrifices. You're not going anywhere."

The next day, she was saying goodbye.

She didn't see him for a month and a half.

Forsythia cried for her father each and every night. 

Things were not good.

***

February, 1980

Lyra-Jade didn't like Albus Dumbledore. Yes, he was her headmaster for seven years, but that didn't mean she had to like him. He was manipulative these days. She thought, at least. Everyone else thought he was a god.