“Nice”, she nodded appreciatively as she saw him approaching her secluded spot overseeing the lake. “I’m glad you wore them”.

“It would be impolite to refuse the gift from my princess”, Harry smiled back. “But why?”

“Those rags on your sublime majesty were an eyesore, my lord prince”, she seamlessly switched into the princess thing. “My honour demanded that something be done about it, and now seemed preferable to later”.

He accepted the hand she offered, and they sat down together. “Hermione made me a list of literature I will need in order to hope to keep up with you”, he grinned. “It’s a big list”.

“Excellent”, she smiled like a sun. “In the mean time, I will teach you self-respect by respecting you as you deserve”.

“You are scary, you know that?”, he nodded in dismay. “But there’s something I would like to talk to you about. You see, it appears that Sirius Black is out of Azkaban and seems to be after me. Can you tell me the history behind all that, because I’m completely clueless and you mentioned that your mother was a Black?”

“I do know a thing or two about that”, she nodded, serious now. “However, none of it makes any sense. You see, the story that goes around now was that Sirius was somehow a secret follower of the Dark Lord, who betrayed your parents, killed Peter Pettigrew and destroyed half a street, and was locked up in Azkaban as a murderer and a Death Eater”.

“That’s the story I heard”, he nodded.

“Well, here’s the thing. It’s good that you’re sitting because this is going to be hard to hear. The actual Death Eater in the house of Black was his brother, Regulus. He disappeared after being disillusioned about the Dark Lord, which means he was probably killed for treason. Sirius, on the other hand, was known as the family traitor of the house of Black. He didn’t want to have anything to do with them and their obsession with the Dark Lord, pure blood and dark magic. I’ve frequently visited their town house with my mom and I can understand why. The place was grim and dark, full of dark artefacts, and even their house elf was mostly insane and weird, regardless of how politely he treated me and called me ‘the young mistress’. My mom saw it all as background and seemed not to perceive it, but I found it creepy. Apparently, Sirius would agree. He mostly hung out with your father as a kid, and they were inseparable. Snape hates both of them, because there seems to be some bad blood between them, and Peter Pettigrew was some kid who followed them like a pathetic creature. Sirius Black was your godfather, Harry. He was the best friend of James Potter and Lily Evans. The Death Eaters continue to see him as a staunch enemy. There is absolutely no reason for me to believe that he ever switched sides, or felt anything but hatred and contempt for the Dark Lord. There’s something seriously wrong with that story. I think you should be very careful, just in case I’m wrong, but you should ask questions first, and reserve curses until you know what’s going on and who the actual enemy is”, she finished.

Harry was stunned. “He’s my godfather?”

“Yes”, Lyra nodded. “I am not certain enough to actually bet my life that he was framed by the death eaters, but close enough”.

“Is there anything you don’t know, princess?”, Harry managed a smile.

“I don’t know who actually betrayed your parents and framed Sirius, my lord prince”, she grinned. “However, I think asking Sirius himself might be the best way to find out”. She thought for a second. “Anyway, how did you find me here?”

“Wizard, remember?”, he grinned. Also, he thought, in possession of the Marauder’s map, that showed a solitary dot labelled “Lyra Malfoy” by the lake. But why did it also show the name Peter Pettigrew near Ron? Also, why are we still holding hands?