INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Twenty-Eight

After weeks of waiting, Hogsmeade weekend had finally come. Lyra was extremely excited about going on her first date ever, and with a guy like Bertram Aubrey, the perfect boy. Still, it was only Friday, and it the next afternoon they would be able to go on their date. 

She sat by the Slytherin table during dinner, resting her chin in her hand. Her gaze always seemed to end up around Bertram, who was glancing her way every so often. She blushed every single time. 

Rabastan knew their date was tomorrow, and while they still hadn't spoken about their previous argument on the subject, he was still worried without every saying anything about it. He had considered writing his brother, who was her sister's husband, but decided against it. 

"So, Lyra..." the Lestrange boy started, and she forced her attention away from the Ravenclaw table, though not looking happy to do so. "I don't want to argue. But have you asked your parents about Aubrey?"

"Do you seriously want to discuss this again?" Lyra asked, raising an annoyed eyebrow, warning him that she would hit him if he said anything bad. "You need to relax, Rabastan. We haven't even had our date yet, it's tomorrow. If it goes horribly, there's nothing to even say."

Rabastan didn't care about her potential anger, just wanting to look out for her. "Look all I'm saying is that you should be careful. You don't know him, none of us really do. You don't know if he's a blood traitor. Or worse, maybe he's a secret half-blood or something."

A part of her felt like screaming in his face, telling him that this was her decision and it felt really good to make a decision of her own. But then she looked over at Bertram again, and knew that this wasn't a time to get angry. 

She had something to look forward to, and she didn't want to spend her day worrying about the fight she had had with one of her best mates. It was supposed to be a good day, one of the best of her life. 

So Lyra held her tongue, not wanting any trouble before the day she had waited for for weeks already. Nothing was going to ruin it. "You don't have to worry about me, Rabastan. I'll be fine. And I'll be careful."

"Good" Rabastan smiled, trying to seem friendly so she wouldn't get more annoyed at him. "I just want you to be happy. I just don't want you to get into any trouble, because that wouldn't make you happy."

"I appreciate that. You're a good mate, even if you can be super annoying sometimes," the blonde teased, bumping their shoulders together playfully, which made him do something he rarely did. He laughed. 

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After dinner, Lyra thought she would go back to the Slytherin common room to talk to Lucinda about her upcoming date and finally deciding on her outfit, to then go take an early night so she would be well-rested the next day.

But as she was about to walk in the direction of the dungeons, she heard someone call out her name. She was quite pleased when she saw Bertram and his perfect hair approaching her while smiling brightly.

"Lyra, hey!" he greeted, jogging up to her effortlessly. She swooned internally. "I just wanted to talk to you about tomorrow. I just can't wait for us to go out tomorrow. I've wanted this for a long time."

He then realized that to someone who didn't fancy him, that would sound very creepy so he decided to change the subject. "Also, it's supposed to be really cold tomorrow so you should probably wear a scarf or something."

"Really? I didn't know. Thanks for the warning, Bertram. And for the concern, of course," Lyra responded, smiling slightly at him. "I can't wait either, if that helps. I think we'll have a great time tomorrow."