What would happen if there was a slight change in the family tapestry of The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black?
Specifically, four years before the birth of a certain Sirius Orion Black III, a little baby girl was welcomed into the world.
She wa...
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-------------------> THERE WERE SPORADIC THINGS THAT CAUSED LADY MELANIA BLACK to transform into a fit of panic. The sudden presence of her granddaughter early in the morning when she had been due to arrive later in the evening so she could be properly surprised at the party dedicated to her, was one of them.
Melania's wide eyes grew larger than saucer plates as the fire-place abruptly flickered to life and breathed out embers. Initially, she had assumed the person to be Narcissa, something that she was happy about considering they still had a few finishing-touches to polish before Lyra's party began in the evening. So, one could imagine her horror when an ash-coated Lyra had appeared more than twelve hours before she was expected.
Suffice to say, Melania was forced to clutch her heart in an attempt to not allow it to speed up and seemingly burst out of her chest. After futilely calming herself, Melania plastered a smile on her face and welcomed her lovely granddaughter and her granddaughter's fiancé with a warm embrace.
"I thought you both were supposed to come in the evening," Melania commented with a light laugh later on.
Lyra looked amused. "We were," she acknowledged, "but I missed you all too much." She paused, adding, "Us arriving early isn't an inconvenience, is it?"
"Of course not," Melania assured after a moment.
But in her hesitation, Lyra had her answer, and not the one Melania intended for her to possess. In Lyra's mind, that was what she had been reduced to after months of separation from her family. An inconvenience.
The logical part of Lyra, the one that knew about the surprise party occurring down the line, informed her that her grandmother was probably worried that the surprise factor of the party would be ruined. But the larger, more dominating, paranoid part of her that adored coming into soundless conclusions had already succeeded in convincing Lyra that she was not wanted anymore— that was why nobody but a potion-filled Bellatrix had told her anything, that was why none of them had visited her in Argentina or Peru, that was why their words were cautiously screened, that was why she alone was being distanced from the rest of them.
When Melanie excused herself to tell the rest of their family that Lyra and Lucius had returned under the disguise of getting them snacks, Lucius and Lyra explored the hauntingly hollow hallways.
Lyra halted in her steps when she gazed upon a framed portrait. Footsteps shuffling towards her premonition of the arrival of her grandparents and jerked her out of the self-induced daze.
"Lyra! Lucius! How wonderful to—"
"—I don't remember this picture," Lyra cut off her grandfather's greeting, leaving him gobsmacked.
Arcturus' visage fell like autumn leaves, smile slipping into a flabbergasted frown. Melania intertwined her fingers with his and gripped it to provide support. Arcturus kept his eyes on Lyra's form, who stared at the portrait.
