INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Twenty-Four

Once the classes for sixth year had started, Lyra already felt like it would much less stressfull than fifth year with its O.W.L.s looming over the students' head. She had already passed a few crying fifth years and it was only second day of classes for them. Regulus always had his head stuck in a book, hoping for an O in every subject.

But Lyra could finally relax. Sixth year was the year between the two worst years at school, and she was going to enjoy it as much as she could. But spending time being chased by James Potter wasn't part of her plan. Even if he was a damn good Chaser. 

So when she caught sight of him trying to run to her side when she was walking towards Charms class on her own, she cursed internally. She tried to walk quickly, not run so it was suspicious. But her legs were quite a bit shorter than James' and he caught up quickly. 

"Hey, Lyra!" he grinned, rushing to keep up with her. She didn't even turn to smile at him, keeping her gaze straight forward so she didn't have to acknowledge. "You never showed up last night."

She sighed, throwing him a quick glance of annoyance. He chose to ignore the annoyance, of course, and mostly focused on the fact that he made eye contact with her, no matter how brief it was. "Didn't Remus say I wouldn't?"

He shrugged, messing up his hair. "I mean, he said so. I had hope that you were a bit embarrassed of your super strong feelings for me and didn't want to admit it. I wouldn't blame you, it's a bit awkward to involve a common mate in this."

"This?" she repeated, scoffing while laughing. "There is no this, Potter. Also, there are no super strong feelings. I wasn't planning on showing up. You didn't stay there long, did you?"

"Only for a few hours..." he trailed off awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. She looked away, not sure what to think about it. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for leaving him there into the late hours of the night, hoping she would come and see him. 

"Look, James..." Lyra trailed for a moment. Internally, he took her using his first name as a win, no matter what would come next. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to date you?"

"Look, Lyra..." James mocked, making her raise an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "I can't just walk away now. I know the reason why you don't want to date me now and it's the most stupid reason I've ever heard."

Something about his words felt like a challenge, and Lyra Black wasn't about to back away from one. Especially from James, who had been her competitor for years in Transfiguration already. "Enlighten me. What is my stupid reason?"

"Remus told me all about why you said you can't even entertain the idea of dating me," he revealed, smirking like he had caught her. Like he was winning. "I think you told him last year, during patrol?"

"Merlin, Remus," Lyra hissed to herself, but he still heard and chuckled. She wasn't sure what exactly she had said, as she had talked to him about a million different things, and James had come up more than once. "What'd he say then?"

"Well, supposedly, you just don't think out lives are compatible as you're a Black and from a completely different world than I am. Stupid," he enunciated the last just to emphasize how stupid her reasons were.

She narrowed her eyes, not enjoying her perfectly reasonable thoughts being insulted, especially by a guy she considered the epitome of stupid. "That's not being stupid. It's called being realistic. You should try it sometime."

"There's a thin line between realistic and cynical, love." It was only then she noticed that they had stopped walking and were looking right into each other's eyes. "In case you forget, Sirius was in the same situation. We have no issues now, do we?"