Summer - end of 2nd year
"James there is absolutely no way I'm doing this" Lyra crossed her arms, frowning at James who was doing his classic puppy dog eyes as he held the letter up in front of her.
"But you're a girl. You know how girls think" he pleaded. It was killing Lyra that he was asking her to help him write a stupid letter to stupid Ellie Johnson in Hufflepuff. "Come on, help your poor, lovesick best friend" eurgh, obviously he liked Ellie Johnson. She had boobs where Lyra was still horribly flat chested, the most intensely shiny, straight black hair and green eyes. She was also incredibly tall whilst Lyra was still short. And Ellie Johnson always had the nicest clothes on at the weekends. "Pleeeeaaasssseee" he was pleading, edging closer to her on the sofa.
"No! If you like her you write to her yourself" she told him, getting up and thinking she needed a break from James and to hang out with Rosie for a bit.
"But I don't know what to say and I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of her at the party" at this she stopped, frowning in confusion and James's eyes widened as though he'd made a mistake.
"What party?" she asked, not having heard of any party. James swore under his breath, a new habit he seemed to have picked up over the course of the year.
"It's just, uh, nothing big or anything, just uh, you know, a party" Lyra did her best to not let the hurt show on her face as she just nodded.
"Right, well, have fun" she started making her way out, not wanting James to know how much it hurt her to be left out.
"Ly come on! I can get you and Rosie an invite!" he was following her, and she hated it as she felt the tears pricking at her eyes.
"No, I don't want to go somewhere I'm not wanted" she told him, hating how her voice shook as she made her way to his front door. "Have fun with Ellie Johnson" she spat at him at the door before storming out, hating how the tears had already started as she nearly ran home, thankful that her parents weren't around as she ran up the stairs, shutting the door and falling onto her bed crying.
Lyra had told Rosie about the party they hadn't been invited to, Rosie seeming totally unbothered by it. Instead, they had had a sleepover at Rosie's, watching films and staying up until 3 in the morning, eating sweets and chocolate and laughing and messing around as they usually did. It had all made Lyra feel so much better, thankful that she had a friend like Rosie who just seemed to get her in a way that James never had.
The next day, Lyra was at home on her own, both her parents working when the front door went and she scowled, not in the mood to deal with James right now. However, he picked up on none of this as he seemed to bounce into the room, throwing himself into his usual armchair.
"Ly you'll never guess what happened at the party" no hi, no 'sorry about not telling you about the party', nothing. Lyra just shrugged, eyes back to her book hoping to deter him but this was James.
"I made out with Ellie Johnson!" he exclaimed. It hurt her but she just looked at him over her book, trying to look unbothered.
"Great" was all she said before returning to it, not reading it as all she could think about was how James made out with another girl. A girl who was definitely not her, and, she realised, would probably never be her.
"It really was Ly. So, I'll tell you all about it" and he was off, in the way that only James could do, telling her all about how he made out with her, what the party was like, everything and never once picking up on how hurt she was to have been left out, and for her best friend to be seemingly okay with it.
"Seriously, you went straight over to Lyra's house and told her about the party she wasn't invited to?" Remus asked him as they sat around in James's living room that evening.
"Well yeah, why?" James asked, ever so confused as Remus looked at him, shaking his head. Remus was the clever one, the nice one of them, as James heard girls calling them which he felt was unfair as James himself was also very nice. And incredibly good looking, obviously. But then again, the girls did call him one of the hot ones, so he was okay with that.
"You are such an idiot" Remus told him, shaking his head.
"How is he an idiot?" Sirius asked, pausing in his wrestling with Pete who looked somewhat relieved that Sirius was distracted.
"Because he went and told Lyra, the Ravenclaw who is like, the quietest person ever, his supposed best friend, that she'd not been invited to a party, went anyway, and then went and told her about it. I guarantee you she was upset she wasn't invited" Remus told him. James just looked at Sirius and Pete who looked just as confused.
"But none of the Ravenclaws were there. They never go" James said, still not getting it.
"Actually, Ben and Jack were there" Sirius told him, surprising him.
"Yeah, and Alice and Polly" Pete chipped in, once more surprising James.
"So, the Ravenclaws do go, but Lyra and Rosie didn't. So, she's going to feel left out you idiot. Then you just went and rubbed it in her face" Remus explained as suddenly, James finally understood.
"Oh, bloody hell" he grumbled, guilt surging through him.
"Bet she said no to hanging out tonight huh?" Remus asked, James nodding reluctantly. Lyra didn't usually mind hanging out with them, especially if Remus was here because both of them got on well and James also had a sneaking suspicion that Remus fancied Lyra. He wasn't sure if Lyra fancied Remus though, hadn't yet asked her. But he needed to. Because actually, the two of them could be a good couple.
"And back to the point of you being an idiot" Remus rounded off.
"Well, I'd best go apologise then" and with that he got up, leaving the guys in his living room as he grabbed his key the Thompson's had given him and headed over. Unsurprisingly, Roger was in the living room, giving James a wave as he came in.
"Evening James. Thought you were with the Marauders tonight?" Roger asked as James dutifully took off his shoes, grinning at Lyra's dad; he was so cool.
"Yeah, but I was kind of a jerk to Lyra so come to apologise" Roger seemed surprised by this, motioning James to go on. Here James hesitated as he knew Lyra was private and didn't necessarily confide in her parents the way he did.
"I bragged about a party I went to that she wasn't invited to" he admitted, feeling very jerk like as Roger nodded in understanding.
"Well, she's up in her room, head on up if you want" Roger told him. "And good luck!" he called which was ominous from Roger. James turned, pausing at the foot of the stairs as he could hear Daisy in the kitchen.
"Hi Daisy" he called, seeing her poke her head out.
"Oh, hello James my love" it made him smile when she said this, feeling very much like a Thompson. "Thought you were with the guys?" James shrugged.
"I was a jerk to Lyra so come to say sorry" Daisy, at least, looked like she understood and so she nodded.
"You're a good one James" was all she said, giving him a smile and motioning him up the stairs. James took them two at a time, about to just walk into Lyra's room but then deciding to knock.
"Dad, I do not want to watch TV with you!" Lyra exclaimed, sounding like Roger had asked her a few times and it made him laugh.
"It's James" he called. It went silent and then a moment later she appeared at the door, frowning.
"Aren't you with the guys?" she asked him straight away; the Thompsons knew his movements too well.
"Yeah, but I realised I've been a jerk. I'm sorry I came over here and talked to you about the party when I shouldn't have because it was mean of me when you weren't invited. And I should have gotten you invited because you're my best friend and it's what best friends do. So, I'm sorry for being insensitive and for being a shit friend" her eyes widened at the last part, and he realised that she didn't want her parents to hear him swear. Such a Lyra thing.
"That's okay" Lyra said after a moment, with a shrug but James realised now that she was just masking it, that she was upset about it. And he knew why; she had told him, confided in him, about being left out at school when she was younger, how James was her first real friend. It had made him so proud to hear that, that he was her first best friend. And now, he'd been a really crap best friend, all because he wanted to make out with Ellie Johnson (who was seriously hot and she was such a good kisser).
"It's not. And just so you know, I refuse to go to any party without you from now on" he declared, and he saw a smile twitch on her face, as though she wanted to smile but was resisting. "Because you're my best friend, and that's what best friends do" he continued, now seeing her properly smile. "So, what do you say, wanna come hang out at mine? Better than antiques road show" he nudged her with his elbow, making her laugh which made him feel relieved.
"Don't you just wanna be with the guys though?" she asked, back to her usual, hesitant self. But he wasn't going to leave her out again. Ever.