Lyra had had the best time in Hogsmede with Jake. She enjoyed wandering around the shops with him, persuading him to just pop into the book shop before she let him drag her out to Honeydukes where he treated her to some chocolates. They ate them as they walked around, Jake with his arm around her shoulders, keeping her tucked into him which had made her smile. She had, admittedly, been a little distracted when they'd come across James and Lily who didn't look like they were necessarily having the best time, but they didn't linger and Jake got her focused back on him so that she pushed it from her mind. She felt like it was the best Hogsmede trip she'd had, the happiness and enjoyment keeping her fuelled for days. Until she got dragged right back to reality.
"Oh my gosh you're never going to guess what I've heard" Alice announced her arrival at the Ravenclaw table that night for dinner loudly. Lyra, Rosie, and Polly all paused, seeing her eyes wide, looking surprised and Lyra was more so when she realised Alice was focused on her.
"You going to tell us or what?" Polly prompted as Alice nodded and sat.
"James and Lily have broken up" Lyra's own eyes widened, immediately seeking out the Gryffindor table where she noted the absence of both the Marauders and Lily and her friends.
"Shit, how do you know?" Polly asked, even as Lyra continued to scan, eyes darting to the door. Shit, James must be gutted, she knew how much he liked Lily.
"It's all over the place. Apparently, they've been rocky since Hogsmede" this drew Lyra's attention, her mind drifting back to the weekend when she had thought they didn't look happy. "But nobody knows quite why they've broken up" oh Merlin, Lyra's heart went out to James, already getting up.
"Where are you going?" Rosie asked as Lyra sighed.
"To write to James. I'll meet you back in the common room" she told them. Rosie gave her an understanding nod as she made her way out, almost out of the Great Hall when she heard Jake call her.
"Ly, where you off to?" he asked, taking her by the hand, pausing her on her travels. "I thought we were supposed to hang out after dinner?" Jake questioned, making her feel bad. But in this moment, James needed her more.
"Sorry I just…I just heard about James and Lily" she told him, seeing the understanding dawn on his face. "I'm just going to check in with him. Can we postpone until tomorrow?" Lyra asked him, the relief surging when he nodded.
"Of course we can" he assured her, pulling her gently to him. This was unusual for him as he knew she wasn't one for PDA and she was already blushing at their new proximity. He smiled down at her before gently pressing his lips to hers, not lingering but still enough to make her heart flutter. "I'll see you tomorrow" he murmured, Lyra just nodding as she stepped back, trying not to look around the hall right now as she made her way out, planning out what she was going to write in the hope that she could see him.
James had to work much harder than he would have cared to admit to not act thrilled to have received Lyra's letter. Reminding himself that she, at least, was still in a relationship did a lot to subdue him and smother that feeling.
"So, you're really okay?" Sirius checked in with him quietly as they got into bed, James temporarily as he said he'd meet Lyra at twelve.
"Honestly, I'm really fine. It just…didn't feel right anymore" James told him honestly, Sirius nodding.
"I'm proud of you, you know?" Sirius replied, surprising him completely. This evidently showed as Sirius chuckled. "I know how much you enjoyed your…physical relationship. So, giving it up because you knew it wasn't right, well, genuinely proud of you" Sirius clapped a hand on his shoulder and something about his words made James smile.
"Thanks Sirius" he told him as Sirius nodded, getting into bed himself. It had been great of the guys to give him the support they had, and it had made it easier to deal with the fallout. Lily had initially taken it…well, she had been upset but she had initially just cried. And then she'd started yelling which was thoroughly unpleasant, but he let her have it, despite having done nothing wrong. Well, apart from tossing himself off to thoughts of his best friend. But she didn't know that. Nor would she ever. James just felt he needed to be honest with her because he couldn't keep going out with her whilst his head was a mess. The guys had swooped in and rescued him, and they had spent the evening talking about everything which had been weirdly nice and he kinda needed it. He hadn't dared utter even a mention of Lyra or his strange feelings, keeping it to himself as he doubted they would understand if James didn't.
As he laid in bed, waiting for the others to drop off, he wondered what Lyra was going to say. How she would react. Whether it would change their dynamic. She had never been in a relationship when he'd been single and so she didn't have any practise of balancing somebody else against him. But how would she cope balancing Jake and himself? The questions kept him occupied until it was time for him to go, James shoving on a sweatshirt before creeping out of the dormitory with his father's cloak, using it to steal out of the common room. Upon arrival in the room, he realised he was the first there, quietly moving in, wondering whether he should sit or stand so as to not scare Lyra. Just as he was thinking this, he heard the door and turning, found her coming in.
"Hi" he found himself slightly breathless, seeing her looking dishevelled in a way that made him smile, her eyes radiating concern.
"Hey" she moved forward, no hesitation in wrapping him in a hug. It made him smile as he put his arms tightly around her, not having realised he was tense until he felt it leave him with the smell of her around him. "How are you doing?" she murmured quietly, making no attempt to move out of his embrace.
"Alright" he told her honestly, only now feeling her move back and gave her the space to do so.
"Really?" she pressed, James nodding at this with a sigh. She considered him before nudging him to their usual seat, James following her as they both sat, right next to each other as per usual. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked, and he knew if he said no she wouldn't press him, would just leave it and instead she would talk about her day, making him feel at ease.
"There's not much to say" he said with a shrug, not looking at her but down at his hands. "I just didn't feel the same way about her as I did before, and I didn't think it was fair on her for us to still be together when I wasn't in the same place as her" James told her. There was a small silence, and he knew she was thinking about what she just said.
"How comes you don't feel the same way about her?" it was the one question the guys hadn't asked and the one question he just knew she would.
"I don't know" he lied, still avoiding looking at her. "I just found that, well, I guess I realised we didn't actually have that much in common. We just used to, you know" he didn't want to go into details and knew Lyra wouldn't want details. "I guess I just realised it wasn't much of an actual relationship if that makes sense?" James said, hearing her sigh.
"It does" the relief he felt was something else. "But James, you didn't say anything. You know you could have talked to me" she said softly and only now did he look up and over at her, seeing her still look concerned.
"I know but I didn't want to drag you down when you seem so happy with Jake. I didn't want to whine about my relationship when you clearly very much like yours" he found himself saying, hearing her sigh as she reached over and took his hand.
"That doesn't matter. I'm your best friend, you can tell me about your relationship problems, irrespective of mine" she squeezed his hand gently, making him smile.
"Sorry Ly, but I'm really okay" he assured her, seeing her frown. "Well, it will be weird to be single after such a stretch but it's better for me right now to not be with anyone" James told her.
"You're sure you're okay?" she asked again, James now squeezing her hand.
"Absolutely positive. Especially now that you're here" he told her honestly, seeing her shake her head at him. "I appreciate you wanting to check in with me though Ly" he continued, wanting her to know. She gave him that beaming smile he so liked, the one which lifted his spirits, regardless of his mood.
"That's what best friends are for" she said, James moving to hug her again.
"And I'm bloody lucky I have you" he told her, doing his best not to think about just how good it felt to hug her, to have her near him, determined to spend some time getting rid of his inappropriate thoughts from now on.
James ended up spending more time in the library in the weeks following his breakup with Lily. It had kicked off when James discovered that Lyra had gone to Slughorn, dragging Snape with her, asking if she could swap partners. That first Potions lesson after his breakup had been the most awkward thing to ever happen to him and he had, admittedly, told Lyra about it. Without him knowing, she had gone to Slughorn, embarrassingly, told him what happened, and, somehow, managed to persuade Slughorn to let them swap partners. As such, he was now with Lyra and Snape was with Lily. It had not gone down well with Lily. Now that they had broken up, Lily had reverted to her dislike of Lyra, fuelling both James and, unfortunately, Jake to lash out at her in the common room. Jake had blamed James for Lily's vocal dislike of Lyra and the two had argued about it, making quidditch practises somewhat awkward. And he knew Lyra was aware of it.
Like now, for instance, when she slammed her bag on the table, making him jump as he'd not been expecting to see her; he thought she was with Jake this evening.
"Um, hi" he hedged, seeing the anger in her eyes. She sat there, not getting anything out and James knew she was absolutely fuming. "Wanna talk about it?" he whispered after a few minutes had passed and she seemed ever so slightly less annoyed. Lyra huffed but nodded, getting up and moving to an emptier part of the library, James stashing his quill and hurriedly following her. He found her in the divination section which was right at the back and currently very empty.
"What's up?" he asked her, seeing her with her arms folded, sitting on the ledge of the bookshelf. James leaned against the opposite one, Lyra scowling. She pondered this, making James realise it was big. Which meant…
"Jake and I argued" yup, he was right on the money with that. And he also had a feeling he knew what it would be about. James waited her out, knowing she was thinking about what to tell him. "He blames you for Lily…well, you know" he did indeed know. "And then doesn't like that I'm sticking up for you. Which is stupid because obviously I'm going to, he knows we're best friends" she snapped, and he knew better than to take it personally. He knew she wasn't like this with anyone else, not sure if even Rosie had seen her like this. She liked to be in control, and only he got to see her when she wasn't. "I'm sorry" she breathed a moment later, shaking her head and tilting it back against the bookcase. James pushed off from his side, stopping in front of her.
"You don't need to be sorry" he told her, gently pulling her hand so she would lean forward. She moved reluctantly, still looking angry. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm causing you and Jake to fall out" he said, Lyra huffing at this.
"No, technically Lily is" she corrected him, making him chuckle.
"Technically, it's me because Lily's only been like this since we broke up" he corrected her, seeing a smile twitch on her face.
"Technically she's never liked me, Jake's just never really seen it before" she said, making him laugh.
"Technically, she's never really liked you because you're my best friend though" he said, Lyra laughing properly now and pushing him away. He grabbed her hand to stop himself going far, laughing as he did so.
"Okay fine, I'll let you win this one" he said, letting her hand go as it was giving him inappropriate thoughts. "But I really don't want to come between you and Jake. And we both know you've spent a lot of time with me lately" he told her, even though he didn't want to. He knew it was the right thing to do. Lyra huffed again, rolling her eyes.
"We're best friends and you just broke up with your girlfriend. I'm hardly guna leave you" she said with a shake of the head, as though he had said the most idiotic thing ever which made him grin.
"You know I don't deserve you, right?" he asked her, Lyra smiling now.
"Obviously" she said, making him laugh.
"You are one cocky Ravenclaw" he told her, now making her laugh and he could see her relax properly which made him happy. She relaxed because of him. She was smiling and laughing and seemingly in a better mood because of him. And didn't that just make him ecstatic.
"Being best friends with a Gryffindor was bound to rub off at some point" she teased him before she nudged him with her foot and, getting the hint, he stepped back so she could get down. She instantly hugged him, making him smile as he hugged her back. "Thanks" he knew what she meant as he squeezed her tightly, making her laugh as he knew it would.
"It's what I'm here for" he replied, giving her space to step back. She was beaming at him, making him smile back and, without thinking, he reached up to move a strand of her hair which looked set to piss her off. He lingered longer than he should, quickly clearing his throat and stepping back. If Lyra noticed he was being/had been weird, she didn't say anything. "Come on, nothing a bit of Charms won't help distract you from" Merlin that smile she gave him made him want to just grab her and kiss her but instead he curled a hand into a fist and instead followed her out. Two weeks and he'd still not sorted himself out. In fact, he was starting to think he might be getting worse.