Excitement filled Lyra's heart the moment she opened her eyes.

It was the twenty-fourth of July. Her birthday.

Throwing back her pink quilt, she leapt out of her four poster princess bed, her bare feet hitting the exquisitely soft cream coloured velvet pile carpet as skipped across her room.

She hoped everyone was in a better mood now it was her birthday. Ever since Jack's return, when her daddy had driven away and missed the start of the welcome home tea, the atmosphere had been unpleasant.

She cast her mind back to the moment he'd walked into the kitchen, just as she was warily eyeing these odd little yellow nibbles on sticks which contained fruit and cheese. Ew.

"Ah!" Uncle Ron said as he popped one of the stick things in his mouth. "The wanderer returns."

"Sorry," Daddy had muttered without meeting anyone's eye. "Just had to fill the tank."

The whole room fell silent and Lyra found herself quite inexplicably holding her breath whilst the adults exchanged awkward glances.

After that, the atmosphere at the party was horrible. And then Daddy got mad at Scorpy for being caught in the treehouse and Mummy got mad at Daddy for being mad.

"Great party, Mum," Jack had chuckled after the Weasley's had left and Daddy had started on the whisky. "I'm turning in early to give Stormy and the boys a bell."

I watched as Mummy's face instantly brightened at the mention of Jack's friends, her scowl finally vanishing. "Let them know they're welcome over anytime, it'd be nice to see them all again."

"I think Danny boy's counting on it," Jack winked, "he's getting his own set of wheels by all accounts. Told him to swing by the arcade and take you for a ride."

The sound of Daddy's now empty glass slammed down on the kitchen table and Lyra watched fretfully as he glared up at her oldest brother, her heart racing uneasily in her chest.

But he had said nothing, instead reaching for the half empty bottle and topping up his glass, the glug of the whisky the loudest sound in the room.

There was a row that night. Lyra heard it all the way down the hall as she lay in her bed, sobbing ("NO ONE IN THIS FAMILY SHOWS ME ANY RESPECT ANYMORE!" "WELL WHAT DO YOU EXPECT WHEN YOU THROW TANTRUMS LIKE A THREE YEAR OLD?!").

It was supposed to be great having Jack back. But somehow it just made everything worse.

*****

To Lyra's relief, when she entered the kitchen, everyone was smiling, including her daddy.

He was stood by the table where a large pile of presents sat next to a plate stacked with steaming waffles. His grey eyes crinkled at the corners as they fell upon her, folding up the paper that he'd been reading.

"Happy birthday, darling." He murmured brightly, crouching down and holding out his arms to her, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

She didn't hesitate to run across to him, throwing herself into his fierce embrace.

She loved his hugs. They were one of her favourite things in the world, his arms wrapping around her making her feel as though she was in the safest place she could possibly be.

"I can't believe my little princess is a big nine years old," he murmured, voice muffled in her hair as he squeezed her tightly to him.

When she pulled away, she glanced down at his left forearm as she usually did whenever his arms were on display, marvelling at the sight of the faded black skull on his sinewy, pale skin.

She knew what it meant, of course. The Dark Mark. It had made Daddy do bad things and he didn't like to talk about it, but Jack had told her stories. He said he remembered the day he met him, he was wearing black robes and wore a silver mask just like in the pictures of the history books they had in the library. Death Eaters.

"Can I open my presents now?" Lyra asked, her stomach fizzing in excitement at the sight of the towering pile of pink wrapped gifts. All hers.

"Mum's just sorting the coffee first," he chuckled, straightening up and ruffling her hair. "Then you can get stuck right in."

"Just coming!" Mummy called cheerfully from the back of the kitchen where she was stood by the coffee machine.

The smell of bacon wafted up from the frying pan Jack was stood over. Hair tied up in a long ponytail, he was merrily whistling the birthday tune whilst Scorpius stood next to him, noisily collecting cutlery from an open drawer.

This was perfect, Lyra thought as she slid in a chair nearest the presents. Just like her birthday should be.

Ten minutes later, they were all sat around the table as a family, plates full of yummy breakfast as they watched Lyra carefully choose her first present to unwrap.

It was a charm bracelet, her mummy explained as Lyra lifted the lid of the box and stared at the delicate silver chain in wonderment. Just like the one Daddy had bought her for her seventeenth birthday.

"Except you'll have your own charms to fill it with." Daddy murmured softly as he handed her a small package of his own. "And I've picked you the first one."

It was a tiny silver tiara. "For my princess."

"I love it, Daddy," Lyra whispered, delicately touching her fingertip against it.

But when she looked up, it was no longer her who her father had his focus on, but instead his eyes had fallen upon her mother, looking at her with such love.

And even though she was only nine years old and was loved fiercely by her two brothers, as well as her mother, Lyra still felt the stirrings of jealously.

She longed to be the centre of her daddy's universe, of anyone's universe.

But, of course, she never was.

******

Lyra tried to stifle a yawn as she smiled politely at yet another guest who patted her head and cooed at how pretty she looked before they quickly moved on to speak to someone else.

She looked around, wondering where Scorpius and Rose had got to. A spasm of hurt twisted in her tummy upon realising that they had once again skipped off without her.

She'd have to get used to that soon, though. Scorpius was starting Hogwarts, leaving Lyra all on her own.

This was her party, and everyone was supposed to be here for her. Yet, she had never felt more invisible.

Sadly, it was true what Scorpius had said. She didn't have any friends. All her companions at Little Witches had declined her party invitation due to being on their summer holidays.

But Lyra suspected this wasn't entirely true. So, instead she had to make do with family friends. But they were all boring and only here for her parents.

"Hullo."

Lyra started at the deep voice. She glanced up at the large boy stood before her, looking and sounding much older than his age, which was only one year above hers.

He smiled goofily, his beefy looking cheeks glowing cherry red as brown eyes twinkled out through creases in his face below a mop of messy dark curly hair.

"Hey, Gregory," she whispered morosely, accepting the rectangular wrapped gift from his hand.

"Itsa book," he boomed, blushing slightly as he rubbed the back of his thick neck. "Sorry. Mum chose it."

"I like books." Lyra smiled as she tore away the green wrappings to reveal a book entitled 100 Most Inspiring British Witches of the Twentieth Century.

"Mum's number ninety-eight." He beamed proudly as he pointed a stubby finger to a fluorescent yellow sticky tab poking out between the end pages. "She's marked it for you."

"Thanks." Not knowing what else to do, she placed the book down on the table next to the large pink birthday cake resembling a princess castle. "Uh- wanna go play on the Merry Go Round?"

"Sure," Gregory chuckled grabbing a handful of Chocolate Frogs from a nearby bowl, "last one there is a stinky loser."

She won, of course. He always let her win.

*****