Lyrica Arcahnum could not immediately retire to bed. Removing her green robes, she laid them over the chair Severus Snape had so recently vacated, kicked off her shoes, and then curled up in the other chair with her feet tucked underneath her. She had no doubt about helping her guests, but this was not the way to start off her first year as Headmistress of Hogwarts. Her father would be... disappointed. Staring into the fireplace took her back to a memory of a similar fireplace in her family home.

Ebenezer Arcahnum was a tall man whose girth gave a hint to a variety of indulgences over the years. He couldn't, yet, be called fat, but he was headed in that direction. His features were classically aristocratic and sharply carved into a wide face. He'd never been a handsome man, but he was imposing. His most striking feature was his red hair and striking green eyes. The eyes his daughter also possessed.

Lyrica's father had had a good day as he paced in the parlor that had once belonged to her mother. He had "accepted" the position as Headmaster of Hogwarts; a position he'd long been working for. He had plans of a great "reformation" for Hogwarts; a cleansing, as he put it. It wasn't to be overt, but he expected that by the time he was ready to retire as Headmaster he would have expunged all Muggle Born from Hogwarts and had succeeded in changing the school charter that allowed such a "vile practice".

Lyrica was not there to congratulate her father, though. He had brought her home to tell her of the marriage contract he'd signed with Phineas Nigellus Black. Not many pureblood families practiced the art of arranged marriages, but to Ebenezer the only reason he had a daughter was to effect a secure alliance of his family to another; preferably the noble family of Black. As Ebenezer had no male heir, then the only way to carry on the family name would be through marriage. Lyrica had arrived earlier that evening to learn that she had been "sold" to Phineas' namesake, his only unmarried son.

Lyrica rarely spoke against her father. It was unwise to ever cross the Arcahnum patriarch, but she could not abide such a thing as an arranged marriage. Her own mother had been sold by her family, the Karkaroffs of Bulgaria, for a casket of galleons. Alexandria Arcahnum had no choice but to accept her fate, and she had done so with grace. Her only failing had been in producing a son for Ebenezer. Three sons had been stillborn before she could produce no more. Although Ebenezer had several mistresses, none of them bore him either a son or a daughter. Alexandria's daughter was nothing more than a piece of property.

His frustration in this area, though he wished to take it out upon his unwanted child, was instead taken out upon his wife. Alexandria did her best to protect her daughter, even if it meant taking her beatings. Alexandria rarely showed Lyrica affection, as it was discouraged by the tyrant, Ebenezer. However, she made up for it by teaching her child the art of healing herbs, potions making, and the skill of natural magic. Alexandria died when Lyrica took her first apprenticeship. From that point on, Ebenezer was the absolute ruler of his daughter's destiny. His voice cracked like a whip, and those few times when Lyrica made the attempt to disobey her father, his rule was emphasized by a well placed strike. Ebenezer had always been careful not to strike his daughter's face; a scar would easily lessen her value.

At Lyrica's first negative response to the marriage contract, he had slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. The blow had very nearly unseated her. Now sitting quietly, staring into the fire, the bruise began to bloom beneath her eye. She listened with obedience as Ebenezer outlined the marriage contract. In a few weeks, Phineas, her fiance, and she would meet in the Black family home, sign their names to the contract and after a brief hand-fasting ritual, they would live as man and wife.

"Daughter," said Ebenezer who never addressed her by name in private, "you shall remove your application to St. Mungo's. As the wife of Phineas Black it would be unseemly to work in a place that caters to the health of the Mudblood."

"But I would be able to continue my research at St. Mungo's!" she protested and immediately regretted saying anything as Ebenezer's hand connected with the other side of her face. This time a ring had drawn blood from her cheek. She did not give him the satisfaction of crying out.

Fate had other plans, though, for Lyrica. Before the summer was out, Ebenezer had gone on a dragon hunt in Romania where he was killed. She and Phineas Black had yet to complete the marriage contract and regretfully, Phineas Nigellus Black allowed that she was permitted not to fulfill it. When Black was asked to remain a year past his retirement as Head of Hogwarts, he declined and suggested that the daughter of Ebenezer Arcahnum take the post. At least for one year. Black agreed to return to the post if she did not find it to her satisfaction.

The scar upon her cheek was very faint. Faint enough, that only in certain light could the mark be properly seen. Touching her cheek briefly with the back of her hand, Lyrica's memories faded as she slipped into sleep. One word escaped in a gentle breath, "Severus?"