Black Hole

"Sunshine of Your Love"

Mid June, 1977

The humid summer air did not agree with Lyra-Jade, nor did the bugs. Nor the water, which her companions seemed to want to spend all day everyday in. Nor the revealing clothing she was forced to endure. Nor the sun, which left her shoulders and cheeks bright red. Nor the sweat. Had she ever sweated before that summer? She didn't think so.

Despite all of the discomfort she felt with the season, one would be correct to imply that she had never been happier.

The train ride back to London from Scotland had been much like the one in December; anxiousness had flooded her mind and fear had clouded her senses completely. She had been terrified of catching a glimpse of her Mother. She knew that she couldn't handle it if she did, that it would destroy all the progress that she had made. But, Walburga had not shown, nor did her Father. Just Kreacher, which had allowed her to see her little brother off properly.

It had felt so strange and so foreign seeing the Potter's waiting on the platform for her. Mia's face had broken out into such a large smile when she spotted the group of them. Sirius had immediately ran to the husband and wife, enveloping Mia into his arms and lifting her off her feet. James had been next, blushing as his mother cooed over him and attempted to flatten his unruly hair. Lyra-Jade had stood back prolonging her goodbyes to Peter. But, soon, Mia's eyes had found her own and brown had met grey and everything was okay and warm as Mia rushed over to the teenager and took her small frame into her arms.

"Oh, my beautiful girl. You don't know how happy I am to see you."

And Lyra-Jade had felt her eyes start to water so she quickly turned to say her goodbyes to Remus as Mia looked on fondly with a knowingly smile.

And then, the Potter's (plus their two new children) had apparated to the manor that Lyra-Jade had spent half of her Winter holiday wallowing in. The boys had immediately raced each other to the pool while stripping off their sweat stained robes, and she had laughed as they pushed each other in. She did not laugh, however, when Sirius had asked her 'to pass him a lemonade' and had instead grabbed her elbow and pulled her in to the pool, fully clothed. Nope, that certainly did not make her laugh.

Her birthday was just a week after the end of their sixth year, and Mia had insisted she throw a party. Lyra-Jade had been extremely hesitant with the idea, but Mia had seemed so thrilled with the idea of hosting a get-together, however small she had promised it would be, that Lyra-Jade couldn't deny the woman who had given her and her brother a home. She had agreed to a small party, including the only people that she genuinely liked: Remus, Peter, the Tonk's, and Marlene. Sirius had been extremely raddled by the idea that Marlene and his sister were now genuine, actual friends. James had begged and begged her to allow Lily had come, his reasoning being that she was Marlene's best friend. Lyra-Jade, growing tired of the constant week-long nagging, had finally given in just to get the boy to shut up.

And so it was the day of her seventeenth birthday. All the guests would be arriving at noon, so the three siblings spent their entire morning helping Mia set up the manor. James and Sirius had been tasked with setting up James' room for the guests that would be sleeping over (Remus and Peter). They were meant to be transfiguring extra mattresses to line the floor, but when Lyra-Jade had finished helping Mia with the food and had went to check on their progress, she was greeted with a mess of pillows and sheets and blankets.

"What the fuck have you two done?"

The two boys had stared over to her looking guilty. They had turned James floor into a springy mattress. The entire floor. Not only that, but they had used all the sheets they could find to build a fort in the center of the room.