The Twins

[LYRA ALVAH AVERY]

Lyra Avery was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room, drying her hair in front of the fire. It was late, and the common room was deserted- which surprised her- and she had just come in from being out in the Care of Magical Creatures paddock. Lyra loved Care of Magical Creatures, and Hagrid, the Game Keeper and CoMC Professor, often let her tend to the animals, and do extra work for the class. Lyra had stayed out far too late, even when it had started to drizzle. She had just made it back to the castle before they locked the doors, and had ten points docked from Ravenclaw for cutting it so fine.

Lyra had been surprised that the common room was deserted, because she had expected to find Eadric there. It was almost unheard of for Eadric not to be waiting up for her, to make sure she was okay. Not that Lyra minded. She didn't begrudge him going to bed, if that was what he wanted. But still, Eadric's absence seemed ominous. Lyra ran her fingers through her golden brown hair, separating it out into wavy, stringy tendrils. When it dried it would be soft and full, and Lyra didn't much care into which style it dried; she never styled her hair, or did anything other than brush it. She knelt in front of the fire, her small form casting a large shadow on the wall behind her.


Eadric stood at the base of the staircase to the boys dormitories, watching Lyra. He was hidden in the shadows, although Lyra would be able to see him if she had turned around. But her eyes were on the flames in front of her. Eadric had been annoyed- and, again, worried- when Lyra, yet again, stayed out way too late. At first he had been going to wait up for her, but then decided not to. Let her come back to the common room and find it empty, for a change. Let her wonder why he wasn't there. She didn't seem to care whether he worried or not, or she would have at least told her where she was going. But Lyra was just like that, she always had been, although Eadric wondered if maybe some of the wildness would have left her as she grew up, if she had never been bitten. Maybe her Lycanthropy simply made her wild, or maybe the lack of control she experienced once a month made her determined to exert control in other areas of her life, and do as she pleased. Eadric didn't think he'd ever know. Maybe Lyra would have been wild anyway.

He had gone to bed, and tossed and turned, unable to sleep for a moment, until finally he had given up, gotten out of bed, and returned to the common room, to find Lyra already there. Eadric debated turning around, and going back up to the dormitory, now that he saw Lyra was safe and sound. But that seemed cruel, somehow. Malicious. He would be acting out of spite, he knew. Eadric wasn't mad at Lyra, but if anything that made his feelings more worrying. He had been mad at her plenty of times, and he always got over it quickly. All would be forgiven and forgotten. But this seemed different, some how. He wasn't mad he was hurt, and disappointed, and it wasn't all because she had stayed out too late again tonight.

Eadric took a step forward, and cleared his throat.

Lyra didn't even look around, not having to to know that it was Eadric. She relaxed slightly, glad that he was there. At least she wouldn't have to wonder why he hadn't been there when she had gotten in. She heard her brother's footsteps as he walked over to the armchair behind her, and sat down, leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees, almost looming over her.
"Where were you?"

He spoke quietly, and although he didn't sound angry, he didn't sound happy, either; there was something in his voice that unsettled Lyra, and she turned around to face him.
"I was in the Care of Magical Creatures paddock," she answered, truthfully. More explanation wasn't needed; Eadric knew her love for magical creatures, and that she often spent a lot of extra time on that class.

Eadric sighed, and bent his head into his hands, letting his fingers run through his hair.
"I'm sorry if you worried," Lyra said, although she felt bad, even as she said it. It was an empty apology, and they both knew it; yes, she was sincerely sorry that Eadric had been worried, and she hated upsetting him in any capacity, but they both knew she'd do it again. Eadric shook his head, as though brushing it aside. It didn't matter, he was used to it. As long as Lyra was okay...

Eadric looked up, and looked into his sister's wide blue eyes. When they were younger their eyes had been identical, but Eadric's had darkened considerably. Now you almost couldn't tell they were blue, until you looked closely. His hair was darker, too. Over the years Eadric seemed to have darkened into the more serious, solemn one of the two, but it had been Lyra who had had darkness thrust into her life. He supposed that was an accurate representation; what happened to Lyra was reflected onto him.

She still seemed so young to him, but they were exactly the same age. She had been though more than he had, and Eadric hated that, but still he saw her as a little girl. He hadn't seen himself as a boy for a very long time. Eadric thought about Liam Ward, the boy that Lyra had become so taken with. He hadn't thought he'd have to deal with that, at least not while they were still at school. Yes, Lyra was beautiful, even Eadric could see that, although she would have been beautiful to him if she'd had buck teeth and a lazy eye. But socially, she had been ostracised. Eadric worried that Lyra was accepting Liam so readily because he was the first person to accept her.

For a moment, Eadric wanted to lay all his worries on her. He wanted to tell her that she shouldn't fall for the first boy not to make fun of her, or be scared of her. He wanted to warn her about all the dangers that came from trusting someone too easily. And he wanted to ask her if she was going to lay him aside, now that she had a romantic interest in her life. Would she spend less and less time with him? Would she stop confiding in him, and confide instead in this boy? Maybe it was him that wasn't ready for all of this, not Lyra.

"What?" Lyra asked softly, seeing the questions in his eyes. But the moment had passed, and Eadric knew he wouldn't lay all that on her. He couldn't talk to her of darkness, when she had all too much of it already.
"Nothing," he said, slightly gruffly. "Come here."

Eadric sat back in his chair, shifting to the side so there would be room for Lyra too. She climbed up next to him, and he put an arm around her as she rested her damp head on his shoulder. He vowed to himself, as he did what felt like a hundred times a day, to keep her safe, no matter what. He would do what their father hadn't been able to. He'd be Lyra's brother, her friend, and her father, if he had to. He knew that she had closed her eyes, without having to look to see it. Eadric himself stared into the fire until his own eyes felt heavy and burned slightly, and he had to look away. He glanced down at Lyra, but he knew before he did that she had fallen asleep. He smiled slightly, and shifted into a more comfortably position, before he too closed his eyes. No matter what, Liam Ward could never take this from him. He could never be to Lyra what Eadric was. That, at least, was something.