Stunned.

That was the only word to describe the emotions and thoughts that were swirling around my head like a tornado. I'd been asleep for a year? For a whole year I'd been unconscious and unaware while everything changed around me. By saving Katherine's life, I'd sacrificed a year of my own.

But God—where was Katherine? How was she dealing with all of this—and Cassie, and Hermione? Oh God, and what about my sister? I'd left her on the common room floor—how badly was she messed up because of my actions?

Another face flashed to mind as Harry helped Ginny to her feet. God, what about Fred? We were going to meet up tomorrow in my mind, but that had been a whole year for him...

"Lyra!" Harry's words snapped me out of my internal crisis. "We have to get out of here!"

"Yeah, sure..." feeling like a zombie I followed Harry and Ginny past the dead basilisk. Ginny was sobbing next to me. Feeling bad, I asked her, "So, are you okay? I don't exactly know what's been going on..."

Ginny wiped at her face and gave me a weak smile. "It's a long story... but it's nice to finally meet you. Ron, George and Fred were really sad last summer when you were gone. Well, Fred was especially..."

"it's nice to meet you as well," I squeezed the younger girl's shoulder, still in a bit of a daze. "I guess I have a lot of catching up to do..."

Well you've saved two lives... doesn't that make it worth it? Fawkes' voice echoed in my head, as he nudged his scarlet head against my arm.

I shrugged in response. Sure I was beyond relieved that I'd saved both Katherine and Harry, but... what did this mean to me? What world was I returning to?

The three of us and Fawkes hurried along to the corridor, back to where Ron and the strange man had been. Up ahead we could hear rustling of moving rubble.

"Ron!" Harry cried. "We've got Ginny—she's okay! Lyra's here as well!"

We rounded the corner, and Ron's freckled face appeared in the gap I'd squeezed through only fifteen minutes before. Relief blossomed across his face. "Thank God you're all okay."

The three of us squished through into the rubble-infested corridor, and Ron pulled Ginny into a tight hug. She began sobbing even harder.

"So, why was Ginny kidnapped by a teenage-Voldemort?" I asked Harry wearily. I already had a feeling I'd be asking a lot of questions. "I'm so confused."

Harry squeezed my hand lightly. "To sum it up: that diary I stabbed had the memory of sixteen-year-old Voldemort inside. It possessed Ginny and made her open the Chamber of Secrets and set the Basislisk onto muggle-borns."

Suddenly I felt cold all over. "Hermione, Katherine, are they—"

Harry squeezed my hand again. "They both got petrified, but there's a cure. All of the muggle-borns the Basilisk got are going to wake up tonight."

At over-hearing our conversation, Ginny burst into further tears. Ron wrapped his arm around his sister tighter. "So, how are we getting out of here?" Ron demanded. "And Harry, why do you have a sword?"

"Later," Harry brushed off. "Where's Lockhart?"

Ron pointed a finger down to the other end of the corridor. We all hurried down there to find the strange man sat on animal bones, humming to himself.

"Oh, hello everybody!" Lockhart exclaimed, finally noticing us. "Do you all live here?"

"No..." Harry said flatly. I gave him a questioning look. "He was our defence teacher this year, if you could call him that..."

Ron and Harry began examining the inside of the pipe, trying to determine how we could all climb back up there. Ginny and I stood off to the side, and I held onto her as she continued crying.

You know, I could just fly us up there, Fawkes said, lightly nipping at my ear with his beak. I am quite strong you know.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. The boys turned around. "Fawkes can take us back—we just have to grab onto his tail."

Fawkes positioned himself at the base of the pipe. Spreading out his golden tail feathers, I grabbed on first and the others positioned themselves behind me; all linking hands. For a moment we stood there, and then—WHOOSH!

With a rustle of gold, Fawkes soared up inside the pipe. It was fresh and exhilarating and for a few minutes I forgot entirely about worrying what was waiting for me outside of the pipe. But all too quickly it was over, and Fawkes deposited us in the girl's bathroom.

"Now where?" Ron asked, brushing dust off his trousers.

But his question was answered as Fawkes once again took flight, leaving the bathroom for the corridor. We all hurried after him, struggling to catch up. But soon enough it became clear where he was leading us—McGonagall's office.

Harry knocked, and pushed the door open.

For a few moments, our bedraggled crowd stood there, coated in blood, sweat and tears as the occupants of the room stared at us. Then a ginger woman sat on the sofa leapt to her feet, sobbing.

"Ginny!"

A tall ginger man joined her, and I guessed very quickly these were Ron and Ginny's parents. Mrs Weasley sobbed as she held Ginny close to her, and Ron begrudgingly accepted a hug from his father.

McGonagall and Dumbledore stared at Harry and I dumbfounded. Then a smile appeared onto Dumbledore's kind face. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Miss Black."

**

For the next half an hour I sat, exhausted on one of McGonagall's chairs as Harry explained to everybody exactly what had happened to lead to the events of that night. There was so much that I'd missed—Hermione had solved everything herself! Katherine had been arguing with Justin Finch-Fletchey for him bad-mouthing Harry when they had been petrified!—that my mind was spinning, and I was starting to feel ill.

I was hardly aware of Dumbledore placing his hand on my shoulder that I almost jumped a mile. "Miss Black?"

"Y—Yes?" my voice sounded very small, and I worried at my fingernails. How could I have missed so much when my friends had needed me so dearly?

"Why don't you go up to my office while I speak to your friends? I believe there are two people who want to see you." His eyes twinkled. Automatically I sat up. "The password is Lemon Drops."

Scrambling out of my seat I gave Harry, Ron and Ginny one quick smile, before I hurried out of the office. I practically flew to Dumbledore's office, and managed to choke out the password, my mind spitting one thought: my family my family my family my family.

A small flight of stairs appeared behind the Griffin statue, and I took them two at a time, my heart beating painfully in my chest. Flinging the door open, I barely got a glimpse of the room before—

"Lyra!" Mum flung herself around me, so tightly that all I could see was the stripy pattern of her jumper and all I could smell was her Rose perfume I bought her every Christmas. "You—you're actually—"

"Awake, I know," I mumbled into her jumper, feeling tears dribble down my cheeks. "Everything's so confusing..."

Mum finally pulled away from the hug, looking me up and down with tears in her eyes. To my relief she looked mostly the same. The only differences were that her hair was scattered with more grey, and her face was rounder.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You're back with us now. It'll all be okay, I promise." She kissed me on the cheek, and I leaned into the kiss, not realising how much I'd missed physical affection.

Stepping away from Mum I rubbed at my eyes with my jumper sleeve, to finally see my sister shyly appear from behind a cabinet.

In a contrast to Mum, Sasha looked thinner, her cheekbones more angular. Her beautiful long curls were chopped away to a sleek bob, and she wore a long-sleeved shirt which she kept pulling over her hands.

"Hi," she said shyly. Her eyes were full of tears, and Sasha never cried. "You're a complete and utter arse hole."

That was more like Sasha.

I flew at her like I did when I was little and wrapped my arms around her waist. She smelled different, like a boy's cologne, and her hands were shaking. That's what worried me. Sasha never shook. She was always the unswaying oak to my quivering leaf.

"I'm sorry," I was still crying. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be stupid," Sasha mumbled into my hair. "You saved Kat's life. Just—never use that paralyzing spell on me again, or I will actually murder you."

"Fair enough."

Sasha and I detangled, and both sat cross-legged on the floor next to the chair Mum was sat in. Sasha took my hand, and as she did the sleeve of her shirt rose up. For a second, I caught a glimpse of a red line on her wrist before she tugged her grip away from mine.

Rocks lodged themselves in my throat, and Sasha wouldn't meet my eye.

Vowing to speak to her later, I turned to Mum. "So, can we go home soon?"

Mum nodded. "Yes, of course. Dumbledore just wants to speak to you first. Explain things. Then we'll go." She stroked my hair gently. "It's a miracle you're awake, Lyra. A beautiful miracle."

Leaning against her legs, I allowed her to play with my hair as I shut my eyes. There was so many things floating around in my head it felt like an over-stuffed Turkey. I just wanted to shut it out, just for a minute.

I'd almost drifted off to sleep when Sasha poked me in the ribs, jerking me awake. Dumbledore was sat at the edge of his desk with a tired smile on his face.

"Hello, Lyra. I won't keep you from sleep long, I promise." He looked at my mother and Sasha. "Why not you give us both a moment? Maybe set up Lyra's bedroom for her at home? I will only be ten minutes with her."

Mum nodded eagerly, clearly pleased to have a task. Her and Sasha got to their feet and went over to the Floo Network in Dumbledore's office. I stared at Sasha until she disappeared, the red line still heavily weighing on my mind.

"So," Dumbledore said, as I sat down in a chair in front of him. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions about what happened to you."

I nodded.

"In brief summary, Lyra, you used almost all of your power saving Miss Moran," Dumbledore said quietly. "As you were only aware of your power the summer before your first year, you had no way to learn to control your ability or what you should be using it for."

I thought about the times I'd healed minor scrapes, the time I brought the flowers back to life in our dormitory, healing Ron from a mild concussion... all the times I didn't really need to use my powers...

"Oh."

Dumbledore gave me a kind smile. "You weren't to know, Lyra. I have never met another person with abilities like yours. As cruel as the death eaters were who experimented on your mother... they did create something unique."

Nodding, I licked at my dry lips. "Sir... Fawkes, your phoenix told me that they fed his sister's heart and essence to my mother... that I draw off the power..."

Dumbledore didn't look surprised. "Yes, I did have two Phoenix's. Fawkes and Adara. During a battle, Adara was stolen from me. I did always suspect they used her for something... Phoenix's are powerful creatures." He sighed. "Fawkes was correct. Adara's soul is intertwined with yours. As a result, you are linked to Fawkes."

"Sir," I said slowly. "When I healed Harry tonight in the Chamber, it felt... different. Like I was in control. When I was healing Katherine, I felt so powerless... like the power was controlling me than vice-versa."

Dumbledore nodded. "That would make sense. As far as I could tell, when you fell into a coma a year ago—it was Adara and Fawkes trying to protect you. They know how important you will be in the future. So, Fawkes told me he managed to slowly tame Adara's soul as your body and mind healed. Make her understand that you are the Captain, not her. That is why your powers exhausted you so much. You weren't in control as much as you believed. But now you should be able to access abilities that only Phoenix's would have previously."

"Like heal with my tears... "I trailed off. "Wait, did you say that Fawkes told you?"

Dumbledore smiled. "You aren't the only one to communicate with Fawkes."

For a few moments I sat there, trying to take in the information. Then slowly and surely, something Quirrell said came to mind.

"Sir?" I asked quietly. "Quirrell mentioned that there was a... third child. One that didn't have powers. He said the child was killed, but, well... do you think they were killed?"

Dumbledore stroked his beard with a curious look on his face. "How peculiar. When your mother and Katherine's mother were rescued, we never found a third woman. Maybe she managed to escape with the child—or trick a death eater into letting them go. At least, that's what I hope. I cannot bear the thought of them murdering a child."

"Me neither, Sir," I said quietly. "I suppose Kat and I are lucky our mothers escaped. Who knows what they would have done to us?"

Dumbledore nodded, and leaned forward on the desk. His calm ocean blue eyes met mine. "Whatever you do Lyra, stay close to Katherine Moran. Your powers are as different as the sun and the moon. The darkness and the light. You must work together, always. If you were to go on different paths... the balance would be broken."

Katherine's face came to mind as she told me to let her die. Tears sprang to my eyes again, and I kept them bolted shut as I asked, "When can I see her? And my other friends?"

Dumbledore gently patted my arm. "Soon. But for now, I believe you would like to go home. Let everything return to normal."

He was right. As I leaned back in the chair, I could almost feel the weight of the information sat on my chest. It was crushing my ribs, my heart and making it hard to breathe. So much had changed, with my powers and the people around me.

How could anything be normal again?

----

A/N Bit of a filler chapter, but necessary to explain why Lyra went into the coma!

Any thoughts about what's happened?

Next chapter will be a big one! We'll see Kat and Cassie again, and be visiting none other than Sirius Black in Azkaban! :)