368Four Years Later
Headmistress McGonagall stood at the front of the Great Hall.
The sorting hat was in her hand and Lupin, Edward "Teddy" had just been sorted into Hufflepuff.
"Malfoy, Lyra!" she called out from the list in her hand.
Lyra sucked in a breath and made her way to the front of the Hall. She ignored the whispers all around her—her parents had warned her ahead of time of what might happen when she chose to attend Hogwarts.
She didn't care. She was proud of her mother and her father and nothing anyone said would change her mind.
She smiled nervously at the Headmistress before she sat on the stool. She looked around the Great Hall, wondering which table she would soon be seated at.
Would the hat sort her in Gryffindor, like her mother?
Or perhaps Slytherin, like her father?
Or maybe a different house all together, like Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?
Her eyes scanned over to the Hufflepuff table where Teddy was easy to spot with his turquoise hair.
He gave her a smile and a thumbs up.
They had become fast friends after meeting, being the eldest of all the children whenever they got together, followed closely by Victoire Weasley.
The Headmistress placed the sorting hat on top of Lyra's head and she closed her eyes to await the Hat's decision.
"Hm, interesting…." the Sorting Hat said. "I remember your parents. Your mother had many qualities of all the houses—smart, brave, loyal, and ambitious. In the end, her bravery won over my decision. Your father, however, was arrogant, cunning, and a pureblood through and through and the choice for him was an easy one. But, perhaps, he was judged too soon and would have done well elsewhere. You share many qualities that your parents had and that is why, I think you will do well in a house they both would have thrived in…"
"RAVENCLAW!" It shouted at last.
Lyra slipped off the stool, her smile wide, as she sat with her new housemates. When she looked down at her tie, it had transformed to her new school colors of bronze and navy blue. She pulled out the thin chain of her necklace and placed the emerald so that it laid on her chest.
As she waited for the other First Years to get sorted, she thought about her life and how she got to this point.
She loved living in the States, in the small town where everyone knew her. It was where she made her first best friend. It was where she went to primary school. Most importantly, it was where her mother came back after she had been gone her entire life.
At seven years old, Lyra knew magic was the reason why both of her parents forgot about each other, but it was also magic that gave them their memories back. She still hadn't quite understood how it all happened, but at that point, she didn't care—all she knew was that she had both her parents now and nothing was going to separate them again.
When she was older, her parents gave her the choice of which magical school she wanted to attend—Hogwarts, like them, or Ilvermory, since they lived in the States. Ever since she was a little girl, she had always dreamed of going to Hogwarts, just like her parents, so the decision was easily made—even if it did mean moving away from everything, and everyone she knew.
When she was ten years old, her family moved from Bar Harbor to England during the summer. They lived in a wizarding village called Falmouth, which is known for her father's favorite quidditch team—though her dad was adamant that that wasn't the reason, though she and her mother had their doubts.
Their house boasted eight bedrooms, an indoor pool, land for a small quidditch pitch, and a stable for her very own abraxan, who she named Daphne. Lyra was sad that she never got to know her godmother, but her sister, Aunt Astoria, had stepped up and taken on the role.
When they moved back to England, her father explained that there was no reason for him or her mom to work, as they were really well off. The only reason why he worked in the States was because it would have been difficult to explain his lifestyle to Muggles. However, that didn't stop them finding careers in things they both loved doing.
Her father made potions in a dedicated building that he built right outside of their home and distributed them to St. Mungo's and other wizarding hospitals around the world.
Her mother worked at Godric's Book, a bookstore in Godric's Hollow, and in her free time, worked on translating the journal that they found in sixth year into an actual book. Six months later, the book was published.
She also did an interview with the Daily Prophet which talked about why she needed the journal and spell in the first place. Her mom explained that she did this because now that they were back in the Wizarding World, everyone was talking and wondering about them. Her father insisted it was 'none of their damn business', but her mom wanted everyone to know so people would stop staring and asking questions or whispering behind their backs. Once the article was published, the whispering and questioning only seemed to escalate, but it did eventually die down and her father wasn't seen as only an ex-Death Eater, but as a regular wizard, doing good in the world.
In between moving to London and going to Hogwarts, Lyra and her parents spent a lot of time with the Potters and the Weasleys—two families that her father always complained about but she knew, deep down, he was friends with them. They held monthly quidditch matches at either their house or The Burrow and it was there she got to hang out with Teddy. They had become friends when they first met at the age of seven and kept in contact with each other by owl for many years until she moved back to London. She was happy to know that she would have at least one friendly face when she started her schooling at Hogwarts.
Lyra still kept in touch with her childhood friend, Emma, and sent her letters the Muggle way, but was still sad that she couldn't tell her oldest friend her secret. When she was younger, she had hoped and wished that Emma would also be magical so they could go to Hogwarts together. Now, she just hoped their friendship will last the long distance and be able to see each other again one day.
Once the sorting ceremony was done and the feast finished, Lyra made her way to the Ravenclaw Tower. The amount of books in the cozy common room would have had her mother swooning and she could picture her father chuckling at her reaction, while also being impressed.
In her dorm, her black cat, Binx—named after the Hocus Pocus movie, a family favorite—was waiting for her on her bed.
"Hi Binx!" she said as she scooped him up. "Can you believe it? Ravenclaw! Mom and Dad will be ecstatic! Oh! I should probably write them and let them know."
She dug in her trunk, which was actually the old pink, leather suitcase transfigured into something bigger, and found a journal her mom had put in there as well as a supply of fountain pens from her father.
The journal was the same one her Aunt Daphne had used all those years ago. With few tweaks and updated charms placed on it, Lyra was now able to use it to communicate with her parents.
(L) Mom? Dad? Are you there?
(H) We're here sweetie! Are you in your dorm now? How was the feast?
(D) Who cares about the feast, which House did you get into? Slytherin, right?
Lyra giggled at the two different handwritings from her parents. She could imagine them fighting over the journal on their end.
(L) The feast was great! I've never seen so much food in my life! Well, Mrs. Weasley has come close a few times.
Sorry dad, I didn't get into Slytherin. I got into Ravenclaw!
(H) That's wonderful, sweetheart!
(D) Congratulations Princess! I'm very proud of you. Especially since you didn't get into Gryffindor either.
(L) Dad!
(D) I'm just kidding.
(L) Also, Teddy got into Hufflepuff!
(H) I had a feeling he would. That was the house his mother was in. Tell him congratulations from us.
(D) I'm just glad he didn't get into Gryffindor. Now Potter won't be able to brag about his godson being just like him. He's my cousin, if anything he should have gone into Slytherin.
Lyra chuckled and rolled her eyes. She knew her mother was probably elbowing him at that moment.
(H) Are you all settled in? Did Binx arrive alright?
(L) Yes, he's here. He was waiting for me on my bed. I should probably go to sleep soon.
(H) Yes, you need a full night's sleep for your first day tomorrow. Write to us after your classes if you can! I can't wait to hear about your first day. I love you, Sweetie!
(L) I will! Love you, mom!
(D) Love you as well, Princess. Have a great day tomorrow.
(L) Love you too, daddy!
(D) And remember, make some friends, just not any lions—
Your mother just hit me. I might be concussed.
(H) Your father is fine, don't worry. He's just being a big baby. Goodnight, Lyra!
(L) Goodnight! And give Scorp a big hug and kiss from me!
When she was done, she placed the journal back in her trunk and got ready for bed.
Her mother was never able to have any children on her own, however, through magic, healers, and the selflessness of her Aunt Astoria, they were able to have another child through surrogacy. Scorpius Astro Malfoy was born nearly three months ago and now with him, along with all their pets, the Malfoy family finally felt complete.
As she laid in bed that night, she smiled as she knew this was the beginning of many adventures and magical journeys to come.
A/N: It's always such an emotional time when one of my stories comes to end. It had taken years to write this fic, with a lot of breaks due to my muse being non-existent. I'm so thankful to those who encouraged me and cheered for me as I worked on this fic.
A huge shout out to my two alphas - Anne, who was my alpha for the first half of this fic, and to Annka, who took on the other half.
Caitlin was my beta for the whole thing and it was such a treat to know her in person and have her actually read/beta fic whenever we got together. I miss you, my friend!
And, to my HufffleBestie, Staysa, my biggest cheerleader and sounding board.
Lastly, to ALL OF MY READERS! I thank you all so much! The comments and love I got after posting each other meant so much to me and really encouraged me to keep going. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I hope you all loved this story as much as I do. I'm sad it's over, but this now gives me time to work on a few other WIPs I have in my docs. So… this isn't goodbye, but a see you later.
Until next time, readers.
xoxo HufflepuffMommy