It seemed that Lyra wasn't the only one who had taken notice of Pierre. Most of the other houses seemed to watch him with wide and adoring eyes, whispering about his good looks and sensual accent. Whenever she saw him walk by, a small group of younger students followed closely behind, watching his every move.
Lyra didn't know whether to roll her eyes or sympathize with the students. She didn't blame them; he was attractive. It only made sense that he'd be a hit with all of the students.
What Lyra didn't understand was how he was always with her brother and the others as well. Even in class, Pierre would sit with James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius. However, it seemed the fourth person in the group wasn't the biggest fan of that. It was only the first day of classes, and it already looked like he would hurt the new boy. Lyra wondered if perhaps the dark-haired boy was jealous of the splash the new student was making. She wondered if he worried that the french boy would take his spot as lady-killer and man-eater.
Lyra would pay thousands of galleons to see that fight. But with the way Sirius had looked at Pierre, she knew it would come free of charge.
-----
"I get that he's hot," Marlene muttered as she slid into her seat next to Lyra at lunch, "But if I get blocked in the hall one more time by a group of fourth years, I may lose it."
Lyra chuckled softly and took a bite of the potato on her plate, "They're just excited. We don't exactly get a lot of new students around here."
"Lyra's right," Dorcas piped up, "I'm just surprised Snivellus and his rat pack haven't taken him out. I figured he'd be a target for them."
"I think he might just steal James from me," Lily laughed as she nodded at the group of boys that entered the Great Hall, "He seems to have developed a bit of a boy crush."
Lyra chuckled softly before glancing down at the food on her plate. She understood why everyone was talking about him, but she couldn't help but wonder what it was that had brought him to Hogwarts. She had only known him for a day, so she knew it wasn't odd that he hadn't talked about it. But it was strange that a french student transferred to the school; it wasn't exactly a regular thing. It seemed Lyra wasn't the only one slightly concerned with that fact, but she refused to admit her and Sirius agreed on something.
"A little birdy told me he might be trying out for Keeper," Mary grinned, lowering her voice as the group got closer, "Wonder if Sirius knows that yet."
"He's got more of a Beaters build if you ask me," Marlene commented, tilting her head as she glanced at him, "I doubt James would pick Pierre over Sirius. Sirius is the best Keeper Gryffindor has seen."
"I would pay to see Sirius and Pierre fight for the Keeper spot," Lyra grinned to herself as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice, "I feel like most would. We should host a fundraiser!"
The other girls let out a chorus of laughs before small talk resumed once more. None noticed when the boys seemed to take a detour, not going directly to their seats. Lyra focused on her conversation with Lily, pondering what was going to happen at the Quidditch tryouts. She wasn't lying when she said it would be entertaining to see Sirius and Pierre go head to head. Mainly because it seemed Sirius already had a strong distaste towards the french student.
Lyra had considered trying out for Quidditch in their second year but decided she'd instead let James have his time to shine. Plus, it wasn't something that she was overly interested in. Sure it was fun to watch, and she enjoyed playing, but she didn't like the idea of pursuing it. James was more into it than she was, so she wasn't going to step on her toes. When he was on the pitch, James looked effortlessly happy. Lyra wasn't going to be the one to take that away from him.
When the yelling started, the girls clued in. The boys were stirring something up in the Great Hall. All five dropped their forks and turned towards where the loud voices were coming from. Lyra and Lily exchanged a panicked look as Pierre seemed to be getting into it with a few of the Slytherins. Words were shot back and forth as the others teamed up against Lucius's posse. The blonde covered her eyes, not wanting to see what was going on. But when she heard James start yelling, she knew something terrible had happened. He was the one who typically reigned in Sirius and the others. Ironically, it was Remus who had more of a temper.
"Godric..." Lyra muttered as she stood from her seat, sliding off her rob, leaving her in her sweater vest and shirt as she ducked around students towards the fight, "James! James!"
Her voice was drowned out by the shouting and other students gathering around to see the fight. The group seemed to migrate out towards the halls, the two houses moving with it. She watched as Sirius's dark hair duck out of the doors, beckoning the rest of the students to follow. Lyra muttered a few curses and turned towards the girls at the table, who were already jumping up to follow her out.
"James!" Lyra called, pushing through younger students and to the front of the group, where the arguing continued, "Oh no...."
Of course, it was Lucius who was trying to rial up Sirius. That explained the loud shouting and why James had tried to step in and reign his best friend back in. It seemed the tall Gryffindor let all of his morals and sensible thoughts go whenever Lucius Malfoy got involved. She had only seen Sirius get genuinely angry with the greasy-looking Slytherin. And the fire in his obsidian eyes was no different this time.
"Oh Godric," Marlene whispered as she and the others joined Lyra, "Oh, this is not good."
A few of the other Slytherin goons were occupying Remus, Pierre, and Peter. All while James was trying to tug Sirius back from Lucius hurling insults around like they were quaffles. Lyra placed her hands over her face, separating her fingers as she watched through her fingers. When someone tried to get in between a quarrel between a Sirius and any Malfoy before, three people ended up in the healing wing with Madam Pomfrey. Lyra had almost been one of them.
"This gonna get messy quickly," Lily muttered, "Reckon we should do something?"
"Remember how that went last time?" Dorcas sighed, "I thought Pandora was going to end up in a coma."
"Yeah, but Sirius doesn't know when to stop," Lyra replied, dropping her hands and nibbling on her fingernails, "Should we get McGonnagal? She always gets through to him."
"Yeah, and he'll end up in detention for Godric knows how long," Mary whispered, "We can't exactly just stand here."
The hallway went silent when a string of words escaped Lucius's mouth. Even Lyra felt her heart stop as blind rage coursed through her veins. It was a known fact that Lyra had a bit of a temper as well, but she could typically keep it in check. But sometimes, it goes off like a firework. It doesn't always take a lot, and usually, it was the harsh words of a Slytherin that made Lyra go feral. Especially when it came to her family and those she loved. The words seemed to echo off the stone walls, and Lyra was set loose.
"Look, Sirius; your mudblood loving, blood traitor, best friend is trying to stop you."
Lyra charged forward without a second thought and landed a brutal shove into Lucius's shoulder. He went stumbling, and the blonde felt a grin break onto her lips as she tugged her wand from her pocket, twirling it around in her fingers. The entire hall fell into a standstill once again as the younger Potter got involved. It never ended well when she did because that meant that someone had said something seriously wrong. And Lucius had done just that.
"Would you look who it is," Lucius sneered, turning back towards the girl, "The little Potter. Looking lovely as always."
Lyra gave the man a tight grin before raising her other fist and landing a punch that sent a gasp through the group. It was one thing to tease and taunt Lyra, but she drew the line at anyone going after Lily or James, she knew that Sirius could take the hits; she didn't care if he was upset by Lucius's words either. It was when the awful word fell from the Slytherin's lips that Lyra knew this wasn't Sirius's doing. Lucius wanted to get a rise out of them, and he was successful.
"Not so fun to talk with a busted lip, is it, Malfoy?" Lyra sneered, raising her wand again, "Keep talking, and I'll give your eye a matching bruise."
"Lyra..." Sirius warned, hand on her shoulder, "That's enough."
"Let her go," James admonished, "It's about time we finally let Lucius here know just what happens when you don't watch your words around the Potters."
Lyra glanced over her shoulder to see Sirius pull out his wand, too, eyes glued onto the girl. It only spurred her rage on more, as though he wasn't sure she could take Lucius on her own. She was a talented witch and had an arsenal of hexes up her sleeve that would leave the bleach blonde Slytherin quivering at her feet. Lyra rolled her forest green eyes before turning towards Lucius once again. He had a shit-eating grin on his face, and Lyra knew they had played right into his trap. He wanted them all to get angry, just to see the lion in each explode into predator mode, ready to strike.
"What the hell do you think you're smiling at, Malfoy?" Lyra sneered, nostrils flaring as she stared him down, "Enjoying the pain?"
"You're pretty when you're angry."
Lyra felt something inside of her snap, and she went to lunge at the boy. A pair of arms gripped onto her, tugging her back as she kicked and thrashed to get towards the blonde boy. Sirius's obnoxious cologne clouded her senses and she coughed at the strong scent. Why did he always insist on wearing the most potent scents? It was as if he took a bath in musk and thought it was good. It didn't stop her from trying to get out of his arms, though, wanting to wipe the victorious smirk from Lucius Malfoy's face.
"We're not done here, Malfoy," James snapped as the crowd dispersed, "Watch your back."
It was when the Slytherins turned around that Lyra stopped her thrashing. She watched the group walk away, her eyes catching the younger Black brothers. He had an oddly solemn look on his face as the blonde watched him. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, dark hair falling in his face. Lyra tilted her head to the side, not understanding why she had found him looking at her twice in two days.
"Let go of me," Lyra sneered as she pushed Sirius away, straightening her sweater vest, "Who do you think you are? Grabbing me? I'm not a damsel in distress, Black. I could have handled him myself."
Sirius scoffed and dropped his arms, "Sorry for saving you a month of detention with Filch."
"You didn't need to intervene," she snapped, walking a few steps towards the boy, "I would have taken that detention if it meant wiping that smile off his face."
"Haven't you got any brains in that damn head of yours?" Sirius spat, staring down at her, "He wanted that reaction. You were giving in to his exact intentions."
"Oh, and you're so innocent?" Lyra grunted, arms crossed in front of her chest, "You did the same thing. So don't act all high and mighty on me, Black."
"You're insufferable," Sirius scoffed, a dark chuckle vibrating through his voice, "Y'know that, Blondie? You're insufferable and make me want to pull my hair out every day."
"Good, maybe you'll finally get a good haircut."
"Alright," Pierre and James said at the same time.
The former placed his hands on Lyra's shoulders and tugged her a few steps back from the other Gryffindor, James doing the same for Sirius. Lyra didn't let her gaze drop from the eldest Black brother. She sent daggers down her line, and he replicated the same venomous glare. She wanted nothing more than to land a good punch in his jaw and teach him just who was on top. She didn't care what the others thought; she hated Sirius Black with such a burning passion that it felt like it was eating her up inside all the time.
Let them think she was jealous, crushing, insecure; it didn't matter. Lyra knew how she felt about the boy, and it was none of the things her friends said. She would rather kiss a toad than spend more than five minutes alone with the black-haired boy. Everything about him infuriated her to the highest degree. If she could, she would snap her fingers, and Sirius Black would be gone.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" Pierre whispered into Lyra's ear, running his thumb along her shoulder, "We can cool down for a bit. I know that you wanted to teach Lucius a lesson."
Lyra grunted to herself and nodded begrudgingly, sending one final glare and a middle finger towards Sirius. She turned on her heels and bypassed the other girls who watched her storm off. Lily went to say something, but Lyra just shook her head. She was in no mood to talk about what had happened. Especially the fact that what Sirius said was true. She played right into Lucius's trap. Lyra had fallen into the pit of vipers that was laid out, leaving her bit and weak.
"What'd you have for lunch?" Pierre asked as he fell into stride with the shorter girl. Lyra sent him a confused look, earning a weak smile from him, "I figured you didn't want to talk about it. I'm not going to force you. Figured I'd just help distract you."
Lyra chuckled softly to herself, "Alright...I had meat and potatoes. They have a delicious roast here so, that's what I usually eat for lunch."
"If you think this roast is good," Pierre grinned, stepping a bit closer to the blonde, "You should try my mothers."
"I hope I will one day," Lyra sighed, focusing her eyes forward again, "But I'm not sure it will ever beat the heaven that is the roast in the Great Hall."
"Challenge accepted, Potter."