INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Twenty-Six

While James had been annoying as her Transfiguration partner, Lyra had managed to keep herself from murdering him. It didn't get any easier when he would ask her out or give her some sort of weird compliment or proposition every time he had the opportunity. 

There were some times when she wished murder was legal in the Wizarding World though. Or at least giving him some sort of hex so she didn't have to live through the constant headache of him believing he was head over heels in love with her. 

Luckily, most of the time when they found themselves around each other, the other three marauders were there with him. Peter didn't really do much except silently nod and think that James was incredibly cool for how he acted around Lyra. 

But Sirius and Remus were another story. They both supported James having feelings for Lyra, hoping she would fall in love with him too and get out of that dark hole that both she and her family was pushing her into.

Though, they were still a bit annoyed at having to either watch him try his hand at getting her, or having to listen to him constantly babble about how shiny her hair looked that day or that she called him by his first name with a hidden, sensual tone. 

They often told him to shut up, or smacked him. Sometimes they even grabbed each of his arms and pulled him away, which Lyra couldn't help but laugh at. She couldn't admit it, but the way James was always going after her was a bit funny, especially when the other boys reacted as they did. 

The one thing they couldn't stop, was all the notes Lyra had been getting. Sometimes they were just James telling her she was beautiful or asking if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him. Once in a while, they were actually about their Transfiguration project, which was the only reason she even opened them anymore. 

So when the Slytherin girl had a note appear in her hand during breakfast one day, she was absolutely sure of who had given it to her. She wanted to crumple it up and throw it into Filch's soup or something so it could disappear forever.

She sighed in annoyance before looking up. She wasn't surprised to find James resting his chin in her hand while absentmindedly looking her way. It wasn't the first time she had caught him staring, or just looking blankly off in her general direction.  

Once they made eye contact, he suddenly straightened up and smiled. He started rumpling off his hair, always wanting it to look messy and amazing when she was looking his way. It was one of his brilliant ideas of how to get her to fall in love with him. 

Then James noticed Lyra didn't look very happy with him. She was sending him a blank look, telling him to shove off and stop being annoying. He could easily recognize that look. He got it every day, but he also knew when there was a bit of a smile tugging at her lips. He saw that now.

That's why he was never bothered when she would look angry or like she was going to curse him. Because there was always that hint of a smile on her lips that made him melt, unable to be scared of her. 

So he only smiled, not sure what she was hating on him for now. He raised his hands in surrender, raising an eyebrow to ask what he had supposedly done, and why she was trying to pretend she was angry with him. 

Lyra only rolled her eyes. It had to have been James who sent her a note just to wind her up and get a reaction from her, like usual. Still, she was curious as to what it said. So she unfolded it, quickly noting how much more neatly folded it was than usual.

Lyra,
Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next Hogsmeade weekend?
Love, Bertram Aubrey

For a second, she tried to find out if it was a prank. Bertram Aubrey had never shown a sliver of interest in her before. Then she wondered who would enjoy pranking her like that? Literally nobody, so it had to be real.