"Come sit with us!" James was waving his hand, a broad smile on his face while Remus was sitting next to him, yawing, slowly munching on his toast. Lyra, standing at the entrance of the Great Hall also smiled, happily ignored the Slytherin table and squeezed between James and Sirius, putting her book bag between her feet. "Morning boys, oh Remus...you look tired. Everything okay?", she asked, frowning with a look of concern. "Nah, I just didn't sleep well.", he sighed and continued to nibble on his toast.

"He was at the Hospital Wing again, he's been gone all night. I think he's sick again.", Sirius whispered, careful not to alert Remus who clearly didn't want to talk about his monthly nights with Madam Pomfrey. Lyra nodded silently and reached across the table where a golden plate with perfectly crispy bacon sat.

Not long after meeting Sirius, he had introduced her to his friends carefully explaining that she disliked Slytherin as much as they did and even though it took the other three boys some time to warm up, Lyra eating breakfast with them every morning since the start of their second year at Hogwarts was now her new normal. She thoroughly enjoyed their company. James' easy manner of just liking everybody who was not a prick, Peter's timid but still welcoming smile, Remus and his ability to make one trust him immediately, and of course Sirius.

Sirius who hadn't wasted a day to tell James about the Slytherin girl he saw when the sorting took place. Sirius who just pulled her along, showing her the Gryffindor common room, not minding that she would know the password and could visit them anytime. Sirius who had just flung himself into her life apparently determined to change it completely. Lyra wasn't mad or thrown off by that. In fact, she was extremely grateful that Sirius basically just snatched her away every time Lyra got too close to the Slytherin common room. As if he had a sixth sense or anything like that.

Of course, she still had to sleep in the dungeons, which Lyra hated with a passion. They were cold, dark, and for some reason always a little bit moist. In summary, the most unpleasant place to be and she really fancied sitting in front of the big fire with the four boys while Remus and Peter played chess and James and Sirius talked about ideas for their next prank. Yes, Lyra got to take part in those pranks. And not only that but only a week after becoming friends with James & Co, she had started having ideas of her own. And the boys were thrilled, to say the least.

"That's brilliant!", Sirius had exclaimed, fizzing with excitement when she had the idea to charm every single snake emblem in the Slytherin common room so that they would hiss and sing muggle songs every time someone walked past them. Remus provided the much-needed musical background for their plan, as none of the other kids actually knew any muggle songs but he was utterly happy to share his favorite songs with his friends which led to Sirius developing an almost unhealthy obsession with David Bowie and Queen.

He and Remus sometimes could be heard humming the catchy refrains of either Queen's "I want to break free" (which was Sirius' favorite) or Bowie's "Starman". Lyra liked listening to them, their voices matching each other perfectly and creating a beautiful harmony. She herself quietly whispered the lyrics from some of her favorite Beatles' songs every now and then when she was lost in thought or deeply into studying. Sirius had tried multiple times to make her sing them out loud but she refused, being too shy and also because she liked to see Sirius try. It was...cute. His blue eyes big, pleading. Almost like a puppy.

"So...", James began, trying to lighten the mood as Sirius and Lyra were busy worrying over Remus who seemed to be grateful that someone tried to change the subject. "What's it gonna be next time? Exploding toilets? Hexing the portraits? Uhhh what if we curse the brooms of the Slytherin quidditch team?" James wiggled his eyebrows. "We're not even through with the detention from the last prank and you're already planning the next one?", Peter asked, having abandoned his porridge in favor of a muffin.

"Of course, we have to. Or else they'll forget who we are.", James explained. Lyra chuckled. "And who are we exactly, Potter?" "We're uhm..." James closed his mouth, suddenly deep in thought. "Easy, we're the prank kings...and queen of Hogwarts." Sirius grinned at Lyra with that unmistakable Sirius Black-grin that she had grown quite fond of over the course of the last year. James shook his head. "Nah, that's not catchy enough."

"Oh well I'm sorry that a royal title is not enough for you, Potter.", Sirius teased, leaning a bit forward, trying to catch James' eye. But the boy with the incredible messy hair and the round glasses didn't look at him, his face as serious as that of McGonagall when she explained that curfew was a rule that applied to all students and that there were no exceptions. "He's right though, royal doesn't suit us.", Remus said, still sounding a bit sleepy but more awake than five minutes ago. "Okay, but what is it that suits us Mr. Lupin?", Lyra wanted to know, intentionally using her posh accent that made her sound like an adult.

The slim boy shrugged going through his curly brown hair that Sirius thought looked very soft and said: "I don't know, in the end, we're just some kids marauding the castle at night, causing trouble." Lyra nodded because Remus was right, they weren't more than that but that didn't mean that they didn't deserve a fancy name, right? "Aha!" James slammed his fist on the table causing his orange juice to spill over which resulted in Lyra almost climbing onto Sirius' lap in an attempt to avoid it dripping onto her skirt.

"Remus is right, we have to stay true to our roots. We're not royal, we're just like everybody else. We're marauders.", James explained solemnly, pushing his glasses up a bit and then leaning back, looking very pleased with himself. "Hm, marauders. I like the sound of that.", Lyra said, still pressed against Sirius who looked a little bit more pink than usual (and only Remus seemed to notice). "Perfect, if it's good enough for our dear Miss Avery it's good enough for the rest of us.", James winked at her and Lyra smiled. It was so so easy to like James and she was more than grateful that the boys had decided so quickly that she was worth their friendship.

"So it's decided then.", Sirius said clearing his throat, the red had almost vanished from his face. "Seems like it.", Remus murmured, but his lips curled with a grin that made his dark eyes twinkle. Lyra sighed, happily and closed her eyes for a second. In the end, Hogwarts wasn't as bad as she had feared. Well, it would be perfect if it weren't for...

"Lyra, how many times did I tell you to sit at your own table?" A sharp voice cut through the light-hearted atmosphere and Lyra pressed her lips together. Sirius turned around, looking for the owner of that voice that was too high to belong to a teacher but also sounded too grown-up for a child and so he was surprised to see a young boy standing in front of him. His cold gaze drilling through the back of Lyra's head reminded him of Regulus and to be honest...he looked a lot like him. Pale skin, dark wavy hair that reached his pointy chin, and eyes that were a mixture of grey, blue and green. Come to think of it he wore a striking resemblance to Lyra.

"Ugh, what do you want Grayson?" Lyra turned around too, clearly annoyed. "You're a Slytherin, you should sit with us. Not with..." The boy glanced at Remus and suddenly looked like he had smelled something rotten. "They are not like us." "They are my friends and you are not mother.", Lyra spat, narrowing her eyes and if Sirius hadn't known her so well he might have been afraid of her. She was pissed, that was obvious. "Yeah, but I'm your brother and..." "Little brother!", Lyra interrupted the boy and rose up in a very elegant but also scarily dominant way.

"I am six minutes older than you so get lost. I'm sitting where I want to sit." "Oh grow up, we're not five anymore. And they are not the company mother would deem worthy.", Grayson said, raising his chin but it didn't make him look sublime like Lyra, but rather arrogant. "I don't care what mother thinks and I don't care what you think. I'm old enough to choose my own friends, thank you very much."

Lyra turned her back on him, her black curls twirling around her face which looked a little bit heated. Grayson inhaled deeply, apparently preparing himself to say something that would have probably ended badly but he just snapped his tongue and marched off. Lyra sat back down, her lips a thin line, her slim fingers battered into a fist. "That was...", James began. "My stupid brother, mommy's favorite child. I bet she still curses the day we were born because I'm the older sibling.", Lyra explained, her voice full of suppressed anger.

"How come we never met him before?", James wanted to know. "Ugh, he's a snobby idiot and tries to avoid you and he wasn't there during the sorting because he had a stomach ache and mum wanted to treat her little prince so she kept him at home for the first week of school. Such a lucky boy." Lyra looked like she suffered from a very bad headache and ran her fingers through her hair. "He thinks that I'm betraying my house by sitting with you and that I'm bringing shame to our family because I'm friends with half-bloods." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Welcome to the club.", Sirius cheered in a dark tone. Lyra looked at him, then Peter and James and lastly Remus. "You gotta believe me that I'm not like my family. I would never say or even think any of that nasty stuff." Remus sighed and then gave her a warm smile. "Don't worry, we know you never would. You're one of us, remember? You're a marauder." And just to make sure she truly believed him Remus put his hand on top of her fist, finally making Lyra relax.

"Thanks, I just...I just want you to know that nothing will ever change that, okay? Nothing."

It was more than a promise. Lyra took a silent vow that day. The vow to always support her friends, to never leave their side. No matter what. And a month later she got to prove that. After another full moon, the marauders decided to finally take the step and confront Remus. Because obviously, they had known for some time that their friend tried to keep a secret from them. But then again, it was pretty suspicious from the very beginning.

"You vanish once a month, it's always a full moon, you have more scars the next day and we're not dumb." Sirius made sure to put extra emphasis on the last part, which caused Lyra to roll her eyes. But in the end, he was right. It had been only a matter of time and poor Remus looked so scared when they finally found out. Scared that they would be afraid, see him as a monster, and leave him. A fear so visible in his pale face which bore a fresh and very prominent scar, stretching from his right ear across his nose all the way down to his left cheek.

"Remus...that doesn't change anything.", Lyra had said, stepping next to Sirius who nodded in silent agreement. "We're your friends and you are Remus. Nothing else matters. We will never leave you and we will tell no one." It took a while for Remus to believe them but after some more encouraging words from James and a very tight hug from Sirius (and some chocolate from Peter), Remus flashed a little smile and you could almost hear the heavy burden falling off of him.

They spent the rest of the day squished onto Remus' bed, eating sweets and fleshing out the idea of a magical map. And as the night drew closer and Lyra had to go back to the dungeons the boys walked with her like true gentlemen, all the way down to the Slytherin common room, enraging Grayson Avery in the process. It was pure delight for all of the marauders and they decided that their next prank would be very special and very exclusive, dedicated to Lyra's younger brother.