Lyra had avoided Sirius for the rest of their sixth year, which hadn't been much since the summer break had been right around the corner, but still... It had been some horrible months and she still felt as miserable as the day she walked in on Sirius and Remus. If anything the hot ball of pain and anger in her belly had grown, for one because she had to sleep in the Slytherin common room again after sharing a bed with Sirius for quite some time. The worst part was Grayson, the smug grin on his face haunting her everywhere she went. Her mother knew, of course. Her little darling brother hadn't wasted any time in telling her about Lyra's and Sirius' apparent break-up. And Davina had been quite happy to say the least, gushing over finding a new finance for her daughter and how pleased she was that in the end, Lyra hadn't forgotten all about her good upbringing.

On the other hand was James, who had tried to catch her alone multiple times. "Lyra, please! Just talk to me!", were his constant pleas, which led Lyra to believe that Sirius hadn't actually told James why they weren't on speaking terms and why that hadn't changed since the start of their last year at Hogwarts. She couldn't blame him. After all, not even Lyra herself knew what exactly had happened. It was just too much. Sure, one thing was pretty obvious. Sirius had cheated on her, with Remus fucking Lupin. That alone was unbelievable and Lyra found it very difficult to cope with the ensuing situation. Because Remus had trusted her with his big 'I have a crush on Sirius'-secret and then went off to bloody make out with her boyfriend.

When Lyra had left the dorm she was so off track that she almost fell down the stairs. "Lyra!", James' concerned voice had been echoing in her head but she had been too confused to really listen to him. "Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me!" James had gripped her firmly but not with too much force, Peter's worried face hovering above his left shoulder. "I can't, I...I need to leave." She had tried to reach the portrait hole as two pairs of footsteps came tumbling towards them.

"Lyra, please! I'm sorry, let me explain!"

That had been Sirius' voice. Oh, that lovely voice that had whispered sweet things into her ear only half an hour ago. But right then and there they had felt like shallow lies and Lyra had wanted to punch herself for believing them. "Lyra, oh god please listen to me! I didn't mean to...!" Sirius' word had been cut off by a wandless "Silencio!" from Lyra. "I don't want to hear it, Sirius." And for good measure and because Lyra thought she had the fucking right to, she petrified him so that he wouldn't be able to follow her.

"What the fuck did you do Padfoot?!", was the last thing she had heard before she had left the common room. Ever since she had been avoiding Sirius and the other marauders (and Lily because she and James were literally inseparable), even going as far as sitting at her own table during meals. She hated it, but it wasn't like she was eating much anyway...or sleeping. To be honest she felt absolutely dreadful. Sirius' betrayal had knocked her out completely, leaving her with a million sharp shreds inside her chest that cut her up and made her bleed. And what made her situation all the more inferior was the fact that she couldn't bring herself to hate Sirius. She still loved him as much and the pain was almost unbearable. Please, just make it stop, was a constant prayer in Lyra's head.

"Oh come on Pads, this is getting ridiculous. Just talk to her.", James said, as he sliced up his steak. "I tried Prongs. I tried so many times and she hexed me every single time.", Sirius sighed. "And I deserved every single jinx she fired at me." "Well if you would just tell me what happened I could help you.", James offered again, raising his eyebrows but Sirius just shook his head. Getting scolded by James for messing up a perfectly beautiful relationship was one thing, but imagining the disgust on his best friend's face when he found out why he fucked it up...that was scary on a whole other level.

In addition to losing Lyra, his relationship with Moony also wasn't in great condition. Obviously, he hadn't gone snogging Remus after Lyra had stormed out of the dorm. Of course, he felt awful and knew he didn't deserve forgiveness. But ignoring what he had felt as Moony had kissed him was not an option. It had been wrong, he knew that, but in the end, it didn't change the fact that he had a little bit more than friendship going on for Remus. Who acted very weirdly and strange since they had been caught making out.

"Well, if you'd like to know what I think...", Lily suggested, waiting for Sirius' response. He looked up, tired and exhausted. "Sure, go on Evans." Lily nodded. "I think it's rather simple. Do you still love her?" Sirius frowned, that wasn't the question he had expected. "Well yeah, of course, I do. But there's no chance she'll take me back." Lily raised her finger. "Shut it, Black, I wasn't finished.", she said in a rather strict voice. "If you really love her then you shouldn't think about giving up. Think about how you can make up for what you did." "Lily, I...I practically cheated on Lyra. She's never gonna forgive me and honestly, I think that serves me right.", Sirius explained, ashamed of his actions.

"You cheated on her?! With who?!", James barked, ready to lunge at his best friend. "That's not important, what's important is that I hurt her and I lost her trust, and I...ugh, I love her so much and it drives me mad. I know I'm stupid, okay? You don't have to tell me that.", Sirius mumbled helplessly. "Oh yeah, you're stupid indeed Sirius. What did you think you were doing? Cheating on Lyra, seriously? I'm disappointed.", James pressed his lips together and Sirius just wanted to die right there and then. "For Merlin's sake, I know! She's clever and beautiful and funny and way too good for me and I fucked it up! Are you happy now?!", he shouted. James crossed his arms in front of his chest. "No."

"Fine.", Sirius growled, got up, and left the Great Hall as fast as possible. He didn't dare glance at Lyra but he knew that she looked horrible. Thin and pale, her eyes had lost that mischievous twinkle he loved so much. You're a fucking idiot, he scolded himself silently and walked past a few giggling fifth-year girls. Of course, it hadn't been long until everybody knew that something had happened between Lyra and him. Much to Sirius' dismay, this had resulted in countless love letters flooding his plate almost every morning at breakfast. It was annoying as hell.

"Sirius, wait!" A slim hand with long fingers reached out for him, placing itself on his shoulder. It was Remus who had been awfully quiet every time they talked about Lyra. "Not now Moony...", Sirius muttered and wanted to keep walking. "No, wait! I'm...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for kissing you that day. I'm sorry I messed up your relationship and I'm sorry for ghosting you. I shouldn't have done that.", Remus said, his voice full of regret. Sirius cleared his throat. "It's okay Moony, I'm not mad at you. After all...it was my fault too. I kissed you back." Remus blushed, lowering his head in an attempt to hide his flushed cheeks.

"Yeah, that uhm...that's what I wanted to talk about, because...you say you love Lyra but you still kissed me back quite earnestly and...honestly I'm just confused.", Remus confessed. Sirius took Remus' hand that was still laying on his shoulder. "I do love Lyra, I love her very much. But...you're right. I also loved kissing you." Remus looked up, a spark of hope in his brown eyes. "But that doesn't change the fact that I cheated on her.", Sirius added, lightly squeezing Remus' hand who nodded. "I know." There was a long pause until Remus took a deep breath and opened his mouth again. "We should try talking to her, together."

Sirius tilted his head. "Are you that eager to get bitten by your own school books? Because that happened to me last time I tried talking to her." Remus couldn't help but smile. "No, but maybe if we explain...if you explain your feelings she will understand and maybe that will make things right again." Sirius groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't know Remus, I...I don't deserve her." "Of course you don't deserve her. She's too good for all of us but you love her, don't you?" Remus looked at him intensely, not even blinking and Sirius nodded. "Then what are you waiting for?"

And so the two boys spent the next twenty minutes searching for Lyra until it occurred to them that they were idiots and could've used the map all along. "There she is!" Remus pointed at the little scroll of parchment entitled with Lyra's name. "Slytherin common room, perfect.", Sirius snorted in an annoyed tone. Remus slapped his arm. "Pull yourself together, Black. We're on a mission to get your girl back. I expect a bit more commitment." "Oh shut it, Moony.", Sirius spat, as they made their way down the stairs into the dungeons.

Luckily for them, someone left the common room just as they arrived. Unfortunately that someone was no other than Grayson Avery. "Of course it had to be him...", Sirius whined. "Oh come on, it's just her brother. I've seen you face much bigger threats than that.", Remus said, pushing Sirius forward. Grayson's face dropped as soon as he saw the two Gryffindors approaching and he raised his chin. "I know why you're here, you filthy twat. And I'm not letting you speak to her after what you did." "Since when do you care about her, hm?", Sirius hissed, unable to hide his disgust. "Since you decided to break her heart, you prick. Get lost.", Grayson replied and whipped out his wand. "And take that stinking half-blood with you." He nodded towards Remus and Sirius lost it.

"Flipendo!", he yelled and Grayson was knocked back against the stone wall, sliding down onto his rump. Only a split second later, the door to the Slytherin common room was opened from the other side and a familiar face appeared. "Did you just hamstring my brother? What the heck Sirius?!" Lyra gestured at Grayson who wasn't unconscious but also wasn't getting up anytime soon. "Uhm..." Sirius looked at his wand guilty and quickly put it away. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be here, but...Moony and I wanted to talk to you." Lyra laughed dryly. "Do you fancy another stinging jinx?" "No! I mean, I know I deserve it, but please...just listen, okay?" Sirius was ready to go down on his knees and beg, but as it turned out it only needed an earnest plea from Remus to convince Lyra.

Her black curls shining in the warm September sun, Lyra sat between Remus and Sirius in the courtyard, listening to Sirius as he tried to explain. "And I know I've been a dick and I know you have every right to hate me, but you gotta believe me that I still love you. I never stopped.", he babbled, trying to get every thought out of his head. "But the thing is...I think I love Moony too if that makes any sense..." Remus blushed at that, he hadn't been prepared for a confession but it still made him happy.

Lyra, who had listened without interrupting him once, looked at Sirius surprised, then smiled in a very sad way and shook her head. "You know, I couldn't blame Moony when he told me he had a crush on you. And I know I can't be angry with you because of what you feel, but...you really hurt me that day, Sirius." The black-haired boy felt his heart flinch painfully and this time he actually fell down on his knees, grabbing Lyra's hands. "I know and I also know that there's no way I can show you how sorry I am. But dear god, I love you so much that it drives me crazy, and if there's a chance that you could forgive me..." He swallowed, carefully choosing his next words.

"I want you, I love you, I need you and I..." Lyra put a finger over Sirius' lips. "I believe you but I don't think we can take off where we left.", she said calmly and the pause that followed almost killed Sirius. The fear of losing her for real this time, without a chance of getting her back, took over his brain and made him tremble. "I love you and you love me.", Lyra finally said. "But you also love Remus and he loves you. And I think..." She took a deep breath. "I know this might be an unusual solution but we could try it."

"Try what?", Remus asked, leaning a bit forward. "A three-way relationship. If you're up for a challenge like that.", Lyra replied and both Remus and Sirius looked a little bit startled at first, but then nodded. "Yeah...I mean that could work out, right?" Sirius, who was still on his knees, grabbed one of Remus' hands. "If you're okay with that, Moony." The lanky boy glanced down on their entangled hands, then up at Lyra's face. He knew what that would mean, they would share Sirius but to be honest, he wouldn't mind. Lyra was an incredible young woman and even though he would never feel more for her than friendship he could see why Sirius fell for her.

"Okay, I'm in.", he said, cracking a shy smile. "Brilliant!" Sirius leaped up, then remembered and went back to Lyra. "I'm still terribly sorry, I will do everything I can think of to make it up to you. I will..." But he didn't get any further than that as Lyra had cupped his face with both hands, kissing him gently. "Stop babbling, you moron.", she whispered when they parted and Sirius blushed. "Marvelous, now that that's solved, we gotta start thinking about our legacy!", James beamed at his friends, dragging Lily and Peter along. "Christ Potter, how long have you been standing over there?!", Sirius gasped angrily, taking his seat on the stone bench between Lyra and Remus.

"We didn't, we had the map and waited inside but then Lily couldn't wait any longer, and when she saw you two snogging...ouch!" James rubbed his arm and looked at Lily disgruntled, who was smiling innocently. "Okay, whatever.", Sirius said, draping his arms over Remus' and Lyra's shoulders, pulling them close. "You were talking about our legacy, Prongs?" "Oh yeah! You see Padfoot, this is our last year at Hogwarts, and if we want this school to remember us our last prank has to be epic." "I think McGonagall will remember you for sure.", Lily giggled, but James ignored her. "The marauders need to leave with a grand finale. You with me?" James looked at his friends, waiting for an answer.

In the end, it was Lyra who grinned and said: "Well then boys, let's make sure they'll never forget us."