INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Fifty-Six

When Lyra woke up, she was confused. She never woke up on her own, always needing someone to wake her up for her. Usually, during the school year, that person was Lucinda because she was an early bird. 

It took her a moment to realize that waking up late wasn't only going to make her miss breakfast or ruin her morning routine. No, waking up late meant that she was extremely late for her classes. She was supposed to be in Transfiguration by now. 

She had to run to get to the classroom, even class was halfway over already. She opened the door in the middle of McGonagall's lecture, a bit too loudly. "I'm so sorry that I'm late, Professor. I overslept and nobody woke me up."

"No excuses, Miss Black. Five points from Slytherin," said McGonagall, sternly. "I'm being lenient now because this is your first strike, but this will not be tolerated a second time. I expected better from a prefect."

Part of Lyra really wanted to argue, because she had gone to sleep and expected for the next day to go like any other, even if she knew some people would be very angry with her for her now official relationship with James. 

But she only sighed in defeat, taking the empty seat next to James. He must have waited for her to show up, so he didn't sit next to Sirius, like he usually did. Her boyfriend grabbed her hand, smiling in support. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Lucinda just didn't wake me up this morning," Lyra muttered in response. James didn't let go of her hand for the rest of class, even though most of the Transfiguration class was glaring at them. 

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Lyra yawned as she walked through the hallways of Hogwarts, just having gotten out of the bathroom, on her way to lunch. Luckily, she hadn't run into many angry people yet, so she was starting to wonder if she had been worried for nothing. 

But she should have known her peace wouldn't last for long as her once fellow-prefect. Evan Rosier started calling out to her. "Hey, Black! I always knew you were a slut, but a blood traitor, too? How the mighty has fallen."

"Jealous, Rosier?" the blonde retorted, raising a challenging eyebrow at him. She didn't particularily like talking to him, but she wasn't going to let him get away with talking to her like that. "You've always been a scared little boy who can't get a girlfriend, so you try scaring people into liking you. 

Lyra sighed dramatically, tightening her messy ponytail. "The only issue is that you're about as frightening as a ferret. No wonder you don't have any friends... and that I didn't want to go out with you."

Evan seemed to think her new-found fire was only funny to see. She had once been so much more innocent and soft-spoken to her fellow Slytherins, he almost couldn't recognize her. "You act so high and mighty now. But we both know it's just an act."

"I know you like to think you're so cool and smart and that you're always right. You don't know crap about me, Rosier," she spat, hating the fact that he, along with all the others in her house, thought they had her all figured out, but she had proven there were secret sides to her.

"I know that there is a way to break anyone, even you, Black," Evan smirked widely, his chin raised in pride, though she didn't know if he had anything to be proud of. "I wonder what Bellatrix would say if she found out about your new boyfriend."

The image of what could happen to James if her family found out flashed before her eyes. Either him screaming in pain, hit with the Cruciatus curse or laying on the ground, his face pale and his heart no longer beating. Thoughts that should have saddened her, but it only infuriated her. 

It only took a second for Lyra to reach into the pockets of her robes, pulling out her wand. She could hear him loudly whimper for a second as she dug her wand into the crook of his neck, although he tried to hide it.