The next morning when I woke, I found Kat sat cross-legged on the floor doing her school tie. She had a thick book opened in front of her which she seemed enthralled in—so much that her tie was becoming a mess.

"Morning," I said, pulling the much-too-cosy covers off.

"Hey," Kat said with a smile. "I left the shower on for you—don't take too long though. Breakfast is soon—and I am not missing out on crumpets because of you."

With a wry smile I headed to the bathroom. I thought of when Kat was blunt and unfriendly our first proper morning at Hogwarts—and while she could still be blunt sometimes, she was friendlier.

Showering and dressing quickly, we hurried up to the hall together, discussing whether we'd get new lessons or not.

As we entered the hall, we witnessed Draco doing a truly terrible impression of a dementor—wiggling his arm around and wailing that he was 'coming to get Potter'. It was too early to have the energy to yell at him, so Kat and I sat at the Hufflepuff table.

Cassie also seemed tired of her brother's antics, sat at our table. She was chatting to Hannah and Susan with a mug of tea in hand. She looked much better than she did last night—her cheeks rosy and hair freshly washed.

"Hello!" she said brightly as we sat either side of her. "How did you both sleep?"

"Fine," Kat said warily, pulling a plate of crumpets towards her. "How are you so chipper? You were really unwell yesterday, Cass."

Cassie shrugged, taking a sip of her tea. "I bounce back fast. Those dementors are horrible, aren't they?"

The thought of the dementor sent ice into my veins, especially when I remembered its chilling voice: You will pay for your crimes. Not to mention it weakened my powers... If I got close to one again, I wasn't sure what I'd do.

"They are," I shuddered, adding way too much butter to my crumpet. "I think your brother had a personality transplant—he was scared as well, he even saw one!"

Cassie shrugged, her good mood dimming. "He just thinks he has to act tough and mean to have friends. One day he'll realise how stupid he's being."

Sasha and Cedric were handing around the timetables, Sasha really taking to her role. She was answering everybody's questions and was being especially kind to the nervy first years. When she reached us, she gave us a bright smile.

"Hello Lyra, Lyra's friends!" she said, passing us each a timetable. "Cassie, I got your timetable from the Slytherin Prefect. You have minimal lessons with your brother today—so that's good!"

"Brilliant," Cassie said in relief. "Thanks, Sasha."

"It's alright, just part of the job." Sasha said, standing up straighter so you could see her badge clearer. She rested a hand on my shoulder and said in a low voice, "I've got Mum for first lesson today—I'm going to tell her off."

We glanced up at the staff table where Professor Rees was eating her breakfast. She looked perfectly happy, which annoyed me. I was more than certain that I was going to have some dirty comments sent my way.

"Good," I said breezily. "I'll see you later."

"You're going to do great, Lyra. I promise." Sasha squeezed my shoulder, and I was once again reminded that I had missed a whole year of Hogwarts.

Looking at my timetable I saw that we had Divination in the North Tower, then History of Magic, Herbology, then Care of Magical Creatures. I was glad it was mostly new lessons—I wouldn't be so far out of my depth.

Finishing our breakfast, the three of us were greeted at the doors by Fred who was waiting for me. He'd actually made an effort with his tie, which made me smile.

"I'll catch up with you," I told Kat and Cassie. "I won't be long."

"Okay!" Cassie said brightly, and Kat rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Kat! We have to find the tower, it's an adventure!"

Kat allowed Cassie to drag her away without any complaint, just a smile that looked normal to anybody else, but for Katherine—that was a massive grin.

"How are you today?" Fred asked, shyly grabbing my hand. "How did my little pumpkin sleep?"

"Pumpkin?" I snorted. "Since when have you called me that?"

Fred couldn't keep a smile on his face, "I'm trying to find a super cute nickname for you.... Um, what about muffin? Crumpet? Cupcake?"

"Those are all foods, Fred."

"I'm making you smile though, aren't I?" Fred pulled me against the entrance hall wall, not to disrupt people with our cuteness. "I know yesterday was tough."

"Yeah," I confessed. Talking to Fred was just so easy—I didn't feel like I had to pretend, or act like things weren't falling apart. "The rest of the year is going to be tough... I have missed a whole year of school. I'm probably going to fail everything."

"You're smart, Lyra, don't worry about it." Fred kissed my forehead lightly. "And anyway, if you fail and end up living under a bridge like a cute troll, I'll still come and visit you."

"Fred!" I exclaimed, though I couldn't keep the smile off my face. "It's really weird. I saw Draco teasing Harry about the dementor, but nobody's teased me for being totally pathetic and fainting."

Fred rolled his eyes so dramatically I thought they'd fall out of his head. "You, Lyra Black, while you are my very smart girlfriend, are also very dense."

"Huh?" I glanced at my watch. "Fred, I'm going to have to go in a sec—I'll be late for my lesson—"

Fred made an irritated noise. "I mean, you weren't pathetic Lyra. Your first reaction when that thing came into the compartment was to stand up and pull your wand on it! I just sat there like a lemon! You—You're so brave."

I could practically feel my cheeks glowing. "I'm not brave."

Fred kissed me quickly on the cheek. "We'll I've been bragging about you to the other Gryffindors—they think it's really cool. I think it's really cool."

Annoyingly, McGonagall appeared out of the hall and told us to both get to class. So Fred gave me a kiss—which while quick, was enough to make my day brighter—and I hurried up the hundreds of stairs to Divination, hoping this day wasn't completely mental.

**

Luckily, I knew the way to the North Tower, as in my first year I'd often met Elijah by the Ravenclaw common room before we revised—and they were both practically on top of each other. As I was passing the Ravenclaw common room, my day soured.

Elijah and a small blonde girl hurried past me like two hurricanes, not noticing my presence in their haste. For some reason the girl wasn't wearing shoes.

"Hey—hey, you shits, come back with those!" Elijah was shouting as they both ran in the opposite direction to me.

Curious, I turned the other direction to see what was going on. What met my sight was horrible. A group of fourth year Ravenclaws—two of which I recognised; Cho Chang who Sasha was friendly with, and Marietta Edgecombe who Sasha loathed.

Marietta and another Ravenclaw girl were each dangling a glittery pink trainer out of a window, laughing hysterically as the bare-footed girl and Elijah approached. None of them noticed me, and I watched warily at a distance, wand raised—just in case.

"I do need my shoes you know," the small girl said in a dream-like voice. "However else will I be able to protect my feet from the toe-nibbling Wrackspurts?"

This made the Ravenclaw girls laugh harder, though Cho didn't laugh, but instead looked uncomfortable. Still, she did nothing.

"She's a kid for God's Sake, give them back." Even though his back was to me, I could tell Elijah was nearing the end of his temper. He'd told me in the few letters we'd shared that he'd been trying to tame his anger over the summer. "Otherwise you'll regret it."

"Ooooh!" Marietta chortled. "Do you like looney, death boy?"

"Yeah, so what?" Elijah said, sounding angrier. "Luna's nicer than you bitches!"

"Looney and Death boy sitting in a tree, K-I-L-L-I-N-G!" one of the girls burst out, and they all began wetting themselves with laughter. "OW!"

Marietta and the other girl squealed in pain and dropped the trainers on the ground. "Something burnt me!" one of them wailed. "What did you do, freak?"

The girl called Luna hurried forward to grab her trainers before they were intercepted again. Elijah's shoulders tensed, as if he was about to fight. But then to my surprise he just said:

"Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. That was from Romans in the Old Testament—learn your verses, you bitches. Come on, Luna—you have a herbology lesson to get to."

I watched as Elijah and Luna headed off down a set of stairs, heads held high. Smiling, I was proud at whatever nifty spell Elijah used. He'd taken the higher road.

But looking at my watch I realised I was about to be late to my first lesson, on my first day back at school. Great.

**

Hurtling up the final stairs to the North tower, I found a tiny trapdoor on the ceiling. A small brass plaque read: Sybil Trelawney, Divination teacher. As I stared at the door, a small folding-ladder fell from it.

Nervously, I climbed up the stairs, hoping I wasn't too late.

As I emerged into the classroom, I realised it was the strangest classroom I'd ever seen. It looked like an antique shop—well a café planted directly in an antique shop.

There were roughly fifteen low tables with doily-covered cloths, and oddly low arm chairs with knitted patterns. Heavy curtains were drawn, and old-fashioned oil lamps were the only source of light—casting a red haze over the room. Junk cluttered behind a winged arm chair and behind the tables at the back.

Luckily the teacher wasn't here yet—but I was the last one here. Quickly, I spotted Harry, who had saved me a seat.

"What took you so long?" he hissed, "Too busy snogging Fred?"

I rolled my eyes, yanking my text book from my bag. Thinking of Luna and Elijah, my heart sank. Why were those girls being so viscous towards them? "I'll explain later."

Looking around, I saw this class wasn't very popular, which was already a bad sign. Ron and Hermione were sat together, while Kat and Cassie were near the back of the room. All of them looked wary.

"Welcome," an ethereal voice came from nowhere. "I'm so glad to see you all in the physical world."

Trelawney looked like an over-sized insect in a large purple shawl with golden swirls, and round glasses that took up most of her face—making her eyes massive in her small face. She wore bangles up each arm and looked spaced out.

"This'll be fun," Harry muttered, and I had to bite on my thumb to not laugh.

"My name is Professor Trelawney," she continued in the same ghostly voice. I wondered if she was putting it on. "You may not have seen me before. I rarely venture into the hustle and bustle... It clouds my inner eye..."

Most of the class were exchanging weary looks. "But I must warn you, children... If you don't have the sight, there is only so much I can teach... Books can only take you so far..."

Automatically, Harry, Ron and I turned to Hermione. She looked disappointed.

Professor Trelawney continued, trying to save the lesson. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading  tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," she stared suddenly at Parvati Patil, "beware a red-haired man."

Parvati had been sat directly behind Ron with Lavender, and she shot him a dirty look, moving her chair as far away as she could. Ron rolled his eyes.

"In the second term," Professor Trelawney went on, "we shall progress to the crystal ball -- if we have finished with fire omens, that is... And in Easter, one of our number will leave us forever..."

She gazed around at us dramatically, and I felt uncomfortable. Was it normal for her to predict one of her students dying? I already didn't like this woman.

Trelawney told us to work with our partner to make a pot of tea, and then work out each other's tea leaves from the text book. The tea was bitter, and the leaves at the bottom were all crunchy and charred.

"Right..." I squinted into Harry's mug as we swapped them. "What can you see in mine?"

"Some realllly old tea leaves," Harry grinned, and the two of us suppressed giggles as Trelawney passed us like a flying insect. She seemed to hear, as she glared in our general direction.

"Maybe we should have a go, predict the future!" I wiggled my fingers at Harry, and he rolled his eyes, concentrating on my mug.

"Okay, so I can see a wiggly sort of cross?" Harry consulted the text book. "That means suffering... But then I can see a flower, I think? That means healing... So you're going to suffer, but heal..."

"Isn't it the other way around?" I said drily. "You get a basilisk fang stuck somewhere and I have to be the superhero?"

"That was one time!"

We both started laughing again, but I hastily looked into the mug as Trelawney began to approach. "Okay... there's a funny blob that could be an acorn..." I consulted the book. "An unexpected windfall of money... Lovely, Harry... you can get us all great Christmas presents."

"I already get you good Christmas presents!"

Trelawney was beginning to hover, so I made more of an effort. There was a large shape, maybe an animal... "Okay, this could be a hippo?" I frowned. "Or a wolf, maybe? I can't tell?"

Trelawney appeared, and snatched the mug from my grasp. "Let me see, child." She peered at it curiously. "I can see a skull, there is danger in your path, my dear!"

Her high-pitched voice carried through the room and all the class was staring, eager for something exciting to happen. But then Trelawney's eyes grew wide, and she shrieked, dropping the cup as if it burnt her.

"What is it, Professor?" Lavender Brown asked, looking alarmed as Trelawney cowered on the floor like a child.

Lifting a shaky finger, she whispered: "It's the Grim! The Grim!"

The part of the class that was muggle-born looked confused: Kat's face screwed up into a frown, and even Hermione looked puzzled. But Cassie's eyes went wide, and Ron looked scared. I knew what a Grim was, but I wasn't superstitious.

Peering over the cup, I saw that Trelawney was right. It looked like a massive black dog... A jolt of shock went through me, as did a sense of deja-vu.

"Big doggy, big doggy!" I was two, and staggering around, trying to grasp at the beautiful dog in front of me. "Pway with me!"

The dog barked happily and rubbed against my soft toddler hair. A snatch of laughter caught the air, Sasha hugging the dog with her plaits stubby and messy dungarees. My mother was smiling more than I'd ever seen her, taking a photo...

"What is a Grim, anyway?" Harry sounded irritated as I was pulled back to Earth. Pretty much the whole class was crowded around our table, eager to look at the cup.

"Well..." Cassie's voice sounded hoarse again, like it did when she first started talking. "It's an omen of death, Harry."

But as the class went into hysteria, I frowned as I thought of the black dog. Was it actually an omen of death, or something closer to home?

**

I could tell Harry was troubled by Trelawney's comment, but Kat, Cassie and I had to separate to go to History of Magic. Before we left I gave Harry an encouraging smile and squeeze of the shoulder, hoping that he didn't think too hard about what one odd teacher said.

Walking into History of Magic was an experience. It looked like a completely different classroom, and if it wasn't for my mother sat at the desk, I would have worried I was in the wrong room.

Kat and I sat at a desk together near the back of the room. Cassie had been waved over by Daphne Greengrass—who she had grown close to in my year away, Kat told me, almost bitterly—leaving us to talk alone.

"Your mum doesn't mess around, does she?" Kat said as she pulled her notebook from her bag.

The classroom was entirely transformed. The dusty curtains had been washed and pushed open, fresh flowers in vases on each window-sill. Mum had hung large portraits of famous Witches and Wizards from history from every wall, and stuck fun facts underneath each one.

I remembered Mum tutoring us and the Malfoy's when we were little, and how good she was at teaching. "No, she doesn't." I said proudly, forgetting that I was angry at her.

Mum waited until all of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins had traipsed in, before she sat on the edge of her desk. She'd pulled out her only pair of high heels—which Sasha used to run about in, twisting her ankle multiple times—and her purple robes were neatly ironed.

"Good morning, class." She said brightly. "As you can tell, I'm not Professor Binns—I only look like a ghost without my make-up on," all the girls laughed in the room, a good sign. "I shall be your new teacher, though you may address me as Professor Rees—and I'm going to be doing things differently."

Pansy Parkinson however had a nasty smile on her face, as she raised her hand. "Professor?" she asked.

"Yes, miss...?"

"Pansy Parkinson, Miss. But aren't you Lyra Black's mother? You look so alike, apart from the, ah, eyes." She had a fake smile on, but her eyes had a nasty glint to it. "Doesn't that mean you're married to Sirius Black?"

Mum was smiling, but a dangerous glint came to her eye—one that I only saw when she was angry. "Well, Miss Parkinson, yes I am Lyra's mother. But I don't wish to focus on the past, or my daughter's father. I'm here to teach you all. Much better than Professor Binns, I might add."

I couldn't help smiling. Pansy crossed her arms. "Prove it, then, Professor."

Another teacher might have taken points from Pansy, but Mum just smiled. "Oh, I will, Miss Parkinson." She turned to the board. "Today, we shall be learning about the Salem Witch trials, please turn to page..."

As to be expected, Mum was one of the best teachers I'd ever had. She made history interesting and captured the interest of even those who usually drifted off during lessons. Mum did doodles on the board and made up funny rhymes to help us remember the names of important figures.

At one point she brought out the dress-up box that Sasha and I shared as children, and pulled out a bunch of costumes. Cassie ended up wearing a terrible Robin Hood hat to pretend to be an angry Muggle, while Daphne wore an old fairy dress to pretend to be using a flame-freeze charm to escape burning.

"Right, so I hope you all had a great lesson, kids." Mum said as the lesson was close to finishing. "By next lesson I'd like you all to write a one-page essay about a historical figure today that interested you." The bell rang, and everybody scrambled for their bags. "Go on, be free! I'll see you on Friday!"

Everybody scrambled for their bags, but Cassie and Daphne ambled over to Kat and me. I only vaguely remembered Daphne Greengrass. She was a soft-looking girl with deep brown skin and enviably straight and glossy black hair.

"Hello!" she beamed at me with a toothy grin. "You must be Lyra, Cassie's best friend! It's so lovely to finally meet you properly—Cassie was soooo worried about you last year, she visited you every week! I thought that was really sweet of her, if I was in her position I'd be too upset to visit! So, then I figured, Lyra must be something special!"

Daphne said this in one big rush. I blinked several times. "Um.... It's nice to meet you as well?"

"Don't worry, she talks like that all the time." Kat said, sounding almost grumpy. "Talking to her and Cassie at the same time is like having a sugar over-dose. But..." Kat sounded like she was talking around an apple. "Daphne is one of the nicest Slytherins I've met."

Daphne's brown eyes went huge in her small face. "Oh, really! That's so sweet, Katherine! I think you're a big sweetheart under your frowns! But I think it's important to be nice to everybody—and some people like Pansy," Daphne said her name like it was a scab, "Weren't very kind to Cassie last year. I used some Gryffindor bravery and decided to make friends!"

Looking around Daphne, I noticed Mum was packing her books into her satchel. I really wanted to speak to her, and I felt like it took a while to get used to Daphne's very positive ramblings.

"I'll um, catch up with you all in a bit," I said swinging my rucksack over my shoulders. Kat tugged at my arm, looking horrified being left with Daphne's rambling. "I need to talk to my Mum."

"Okay!" Cassie said brightly. "Come on girls, it's bright by the courtyard!"

She linked arms with Daphne and Kat, and they left, Kat looked disgruntled to say the very least. Smiling, I walked over to Mum's desk. She smiled as she saw me, perching on the end of the desk. I couldn't remember the last time she'd looked so calm.

"Lyra," she patted the desk next to me. "How did I do for my first lesson?"

"Brilliant," I said honestly. "I think people might actually enjoy History for once.... Professor."

Mum practically glowed. "You know, Dumbledore offered me the position of History of Magic teacher several times over the years. I got an Outstanding in my NEWT. It was the last exam I did here before I had to leave because I was expecting Sasha..."

She seemed very far away, but I couldn't help but ask. "Did we hold you back?"

Mum came back to Earth very quickly. "No! No! Of course not! I wouldn't have been a good teacher back then... It was only when we went to the Malfoy's that I was beginning to get things together... After your father... It took me a while to be good."

All my anger seemed to evaporate. I realised I was having the moment: when you realise your parent is more than your parent, they're a person who makes mistakes and struggles, and makes difficult decisions.

"Mum..." my voice was quiet as I said it. "Why are you using the name Rees instead of Black?"

She snorted and folded her arms. "I've already had Sasha yelling at me this morning, so I was expecting this. But you heard what I told Pansy—I don't want to focus on the past."

"Sasha and I have to carry his name!" I couldn't help bursting out. "I've had some people say nasty things already about him!"

Mum stared off into the distance. "I wanted to be known as Professor Black... But Dumbledore figured it'd be safer for me to use my maiden name. I can deal with a few people like Pansy working it out—but parents tend to go to the governors and get teachers sacked. And I love this job already, Lyra. I want to stay here."

Staring at my feet, I nodded. "I get it. I just... wanted us all to be in this mess together..." sighing, I checked my watch. Break was almost over, and I needed to get to the greenhouses. "I need to go, Mum..."

"Alright," she got to her feet. "I missed out on my cup of tea, but I'm glad we had a chat. I don't want to keep secrets from you, Lyra."

She hugged me, and looking between her arms I noticed a photo on her desk. Again, shock jolted through me. Sasha, jumping around in dungarees and messy plaits and hugging a lean and fluffy black dog. I was toddling towards it, smiling.

"Mum?"

"Hmm?"

"Is Dad an animagus like you?" I asked.

Mum kept on hugging me, as she said quietly, "Yes. We did it to help Remus with his transformations." She pulled me back at arm's length. "You can't tell anyone about this Lyra. Not even your friends. I haven't even told the Ministry—he never got registered."

"I promise." I said, glancing at the photo again. "But... why keep his secret? Why put a photo of him with us on your desk?"

Mum broke the hug and began spreading papers out on her desk, not looking me in the eye. Her eyes were glistening.

"I do still care about him, you know. I was with him for eight years. He was so happy when we had the both of you, he rarely put you to sleep in your cots. He'd place you both between us, and we'd all sleep together..." her voice hitched, lost. "Time can't erase that sort of love."

She picked up the photograph and held it to her chest. Realising this was a private moment, I slipped out of the classroom, just as the bell rang for third lesson. 

-----

A/N Sorry for the long chapter! Writing the last part made me sad :(

We've got an exciting few chapters coming up! We will soon find out the (very sad) reason as to why Cassie stopped talking :/

Also, I have the next chapter written (Buckbeak was going to be in this chapter, but it was much too long!) so that'll be up in a couple of days :)