It was finally here. The day Lyra had been dreading for a year. February 14th had crept up on her and she wasn't ready. Mostly because she was terrified about what could happen and what kind of embarrassing situations she could end up in. 

Last year, James had made three completely different spectacles for her, each one more embarrassing and attention-seeking than the last. Now that they had gotten even closer lately, she was more afraid than ever. She might even go so far as to call them friends. 

She felt jumpy at breakfast, preparing for anything to jump at her and sing You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me for her. It didn't help that James hadn't even looked at her throughout the meal, and she was getting more and more worried. 

Rabastan was sitting next to her, apologizing for leaving Lyra on her own. "Sorry that we can't have the same arrangement as last year. Platonic Valentines are hard to manage when you've got a non-platonic one. Lucinda is very persistent."

"You're joking!" Lyra giggled, only to see him grimace. He wished he was joking, too. "Lucinda Talkalot and Rabastan Lestrange. I knew she had you on her short-list, but I didn't think you'd ever say yes."

Rabastan groaned, resting his head on the table, right next to his eggs and bacon. It would have been much funnier if he had thrown his face in his food, in her opinion. "That makes two of us."

"I can't wait to see what that wedding will like. I'll be maid of honor, of course. I can imagine Lucinda will be such a... well... not the easiest bride then," the blonde teased, thinking the idea of the two together was hilarious. 

"Don't kid yourself, Lyra." Rabastan lifted his head from the table, staring straight forward. There was a seriousness in his voice, meaning an uncomfortable conversation was coming. "She doesn't have the guys to live through the life I have planned."

At that moment, Lyra felt herself hoping for a James Potter spectacle, just to keep the cruel reminder of the Death Eater life her friend had planned for both himself and her away. Then she mentally slapped herself from wishing that embarrassment on herself.

Suddenly, she realized she had been looking at the Gryffindor table, in James's direction. Before he could notice that, though, she turned away. She looked at Rabastan, trying not to think about the awkward silence between them. 

Because while Rabastan was prepared to do bad things, she didn't believe he was a bad person. She had a feeling that he just wanted to get out of his brother's shadow.  She wondered if he imagined she felt the same way about Bellatrix. 

▹▹▹

Lyra's worry was only getting worse and worse throughout the day. Every time she turned, in every class, she kept stealing glances at James. The strange thing was that he never look back. Not even once. 

James was completely calm and suave, smirking as he got hit on by girls or received a love letter. It happened a few times. Every time, it seemed like he got more smug. Lyra was just wondering why he was acting like she didn't exist throughout all this. 

It seemed like the only boy at Hogwarts who got more attention than James was Sirius, which she found disgusting. Her cousin couldn't be happier as he got several new love letters every class.

Remus got a bit of attention, himself. He couldn't believe that he had been asked out five times before lunch, always having thought girls found him unattractive because of his scars. Lyra knew otherwise, she had heard girls talking about him, finding the scars incredibly hot. 

Not even Peter was safe from the Valentine's craze. She was sure she had seen a girl or two talk to him, flipping their hair and handing him little love notes. Honestly, she was happy he didn't have to feel in the shadow of his friends anymore. 

As she sat down in Transfiguration, a sixth-year Hufflepuff walked up to her. She never remembered his name, because it was something strange. But he wasn't unattractive and it felt good to actually be noticed after James's neglect so far. 

Not that she cared. Lyra was completely sure she didn't want any of James's attention. She just knew something was coming. They had already passed lunch, and by that time last year, he had made two of his romantic gestures. 

But Lyra pushed him away from her mind, especially as he wasn't far away. He was sitting next to Sirius, not even acknowledging that she had entered the classroom. She smiled at the Hufflepuff, instead. "Hi."

The boy opened his mouth, gaping. He didn't say a word as his lips moved. Lyra frowned, wondering why he wasn't saying anything. He grasped his throat and tried to speak again, but nothing came out. 

The boy looked away and blushed, feeling very obviously embarrassed at the situation. Lyra was mostly weirded out, frowning in confusion, having no idea what just happened. Then she heard snickering from behind her.

The Slytherin girl was prepared to see James looking smug, happy he got the competition away. But that's not the sight she found. James had his back to her, deep in conversation with a girl from his own house. 

The ones who looked a bit too casual were (not surprisingly) Sirius and (surprisingly) Remus. The two were chuckling, leaning back in their chairs as if nothing had happened. She found herself glaring heatedly either at them or James. She wasn't even sure why she wanted to glare at James, she just did.  

While she looked angry at those three, Peter was always willing to defuse the tension. From his seat next to Remus, he grinned widely and sent her a friendly thumbs up. At this, her glare faded and she smiled back at the awkward guy.

▹▹▹

It was just getting worse. Lyra had reached her last class of the day and was on her way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, with the most obnoxious Valentines in the world by her side and James still hadn't even tried to make a move. 

Rabastan had his arm around Lucinda's shoulders (only because she had forced it there), but he had refused to carry her books to class, even if she told him that's what Valentines do. He told her she was more than capable of carrying her own books. 

Lyra was getting sick of listening to them talk (whether it was arguing or flirting), and hoped they wouldn't sit together during class, because she was sure they were going to annoy the entire N.E.W.T.-level DADA class.

Then, something suddenly took her attention away from them. Harshly, someone bumped into her from behind. Since the person came from behind, she had no way to prepare and her books spilled out on the ground in front of her. 

Lyra was already annoyed enough and turned around, ready to bring hell upon the person that dared bump into her when she was in a mood. But she quickly stopped as she realized it was James himself who did it. 

If this had happened a year ago, he would have quickly apologized. He would then fall to his knees to help her pick up her books, and then ask her to repay him for it with a date or a snog or something equally sleazy. 

But, for some reason she didn't understand, things were different now. The Gryffindor barely cast a quick glance at Lyra and her friends before smiling innocently, like he hadn't done a thing. "Oops."

She watched incredulously as he kept going with his day, leaving her to her own devices. Lyra almost scoffed and called out to him, asking what was going on with him. Then she remembered they weren't alone and that would be very suspicious.

Instead, she bent over to grab her books. Thankfully, Rabastan helped her gather them, looking more annoyed than she was. "I can't believe him. Potter's always thought he was so great but he's nothing but another blood traitor git." 

Lucinda looked at the two sourly, crossing her arms as Rabastan plopped Lyra's books back into her arms with a small smile, which Lyra returned gratefully. "You've never picked up my books."

"You've never lost them," he retorted, annoyed that she had to make such a big deal of him just helping out their shared friend. Lucinda still wasn't very happy, not saying another word before they got to class, which was very much unlike her. 

▹▹▹

Lyra had finally had enough. The day was almost over as she headed towards dinner. She didn't know what he had planned, but it would be very much unlike James to not do anything and she was sick of trying to anticipate his next move. 

It frustrated her to great lengths. He hadn't even spoken a single word to her (Oops didn't count). Considering it was the most romantic day of the year and he claimed to be mad about her, it just didn't make sense. 

So, once she made it to outside the Great Hall, she saw her opportunity to find out and put her mind to rest. Peter hadn't made it inside yet, and he was walking towards the doors. That meant she had the opportunity to grab him and pull him away. 

He shrieked as she pulled him into a nearby corner where they wouldn't be seen. She rolled her eyes and put her hand over his mouth so he would stop freaking. "Peter, stop it. Shut up, it's just me!"

"Lyra..." he sighed in relief as she pulled her hand away from his face. He was panting as he had just been shrieking for his life. He glared at her, annoyed. "You can't just grab people like that! I was terrified."

"Oh, well. Too late now. Done is done," the blonde responded flippantly, not really caring. She had a mission so she could avoid as much embarrassment as possible when she walked into dinner. "I just have a question to ask."

"Just ask," Peter said quickly, glancing towards the door. "Because I'm really hungry and I heard there's chicken today. You may not know this, but I really do love chicken."

"Alright. Good for you. I'll be quick," Lyra promised, glancing around to make sure nobody could hear the question she was about to ask. "I'm just... I'm so tired of trying to figure out what James's plan for the day is. Can you just tell me?"

Again, the Pettigrew boy kept glancing towards the doors. He hoped Lyra hadn't heard his stomach rumble in yearning for some chicken. "Have you considered that there may just not be a plan?"

Lyra followed his gaze, to find out what he was looking at. She didn't realize he was just looking at the door, especially as James walked by at that very moment. Only, he wasn't alone. He was holding hands with some pretty fifth-year Ravenclaw. She scoffed. "Unbelievable."

The Pettigrew boy frowned as he also caught side of his best friend with that girl, who he didn't think he had ever seen before. "What? Are you jealous?"

He had seen her glare before, but never as angry or annoyed as the one he got when he asked that question. Lyra huffed, tensing significantly as she hissed at him. "No! I'd never be jealous on his behalf."

With that, she glared towards the door one more time before leaving Peter behind to go eat dinner. He didn't mind, that meant that he could finally eat his chicken. 

▹▹▹

She didn't know why she was so angry. Ever since she had seen James with that girl, she had felt like punching something. She supposed it was probably because she had spent a year dreading this day for nothing. 

But Lyra still had to go to the bathroom, even when she had fits of uncalled for rage. She told herself that they were only holding hands, and it's not like she should care. She didn't fancy him or anything. 

Annoyed, she threw the door to the girls' bathroom open so much that it made quite the bang. She heard someone squeal in surprise and she turned her head to find out who was in the bathroom. 

Lyra felt her breath hitch in her throat as she saw James and the Ravenclaw girl, their arms wrapped around each other and their hair disheveled and buttons unbuttoned. She clenched her jaw. 

"Salazar's bloody underpants!" she swore, covering her eyes quickly. She clenched her teeth, turning on her heel to get out of there. She wanted nothing more than to get the image of James snogging that girl out of her head. 

▹▹▹

The Astronomy Tower was beautiful at night. That was probably the reason Lyra felt drawn to go there. To see a pretty sight when she had seen the most disgusting, ugly thing she thought she'd ever see. James Potter snogging a girl.

She hadn't noticed that someone had walked up to join her until he knocked on the wall to get her attention. She turned around abruptly, pulling out her wand to point it at the one who had destroyed her peace. 

And there was James, looking like he had just walked out of a snog session. Which he technically had, she just didn't want to think about it. He raised his hands in surrender. "Are you expecting an attack?"

Reluctantly, Lyra lowered her wand. She would have preferred to keep it pointed at him to give him a quick hex, but she thought it wouldn't be a good idea. "I've just been on edge after reading about the war. It's all over the Daily Prophet."

The bespectacled boy nodded, messing up his hair. She bitterly thought about how someone had already messed it up for him, he didn't have to do any more. "Understandable."

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, annoyed at how he had come to see her. He gave her an amused look, and she realized that there was a way he knew where everybody was at all times. "Right. The map. Of course."

James nodded, trying to suppress a smile at how annoyed at him she seemed. He walked closer and rested his arms on the railing, turning his head to look at her. "D'you have a good Valentine's Day then?"

Again, flashes of James having been tangled up with that stupid fifth-year crossed her mind, and so her response came out with a surprising amount of bitter venom in it. "Not as good as yours, I'd say."

The Potter boy could no longer suppress his grin at the reaction he had gotten from her. She refused to even look at him, keeping her gaze on the horizon over the Black Lake. "You're not jealous, are you?"

Now, she finally turned her head to look at him again. Though, it was the kind of look where it seemed like she was seeing him grow a second head. "Where would you get that stupid idea from?"

He pursed his lips to try to keep from smiling, because he knew she was only getting angrier the more he said. Although it was a bit funny, he didn't want to risk her storming out. "There's no need to be defensive."

Stubbornly, Lyra walked away from the railing, turning her back to James. She crossed her arms across her chest while breathing deeply. "I'm not being defensive because I have nothing to be defensive for."

James smirked to himself as he saw the effect he was having on her. He hadn't ever seen her react like that to him before. "Are you sure?"

"I'm definitely sure. You may think I do, but I don't have feelings for you or anything," said Lyra, turning around again to face him with her chin high. "Frankly, I pity the girl you now have your sights on."

The smirk slowly turned into the famous James Potter troublemaker grin, which was only annoying her even more. She was getting angry and he was just smiling. "Why do you keep smiling when you haven't got a thing to smile about?"

Shaking his head with a bright smile, James took a step closer to her. Part of her wanted to take a step back, but another, larger part didn't. "I can't help that I'm amused, love. You're cute when you're jealous."

"I've already told you I'm not jealous!" she hissed, taking another step closer to him. Her breathing was shaky, because she felt like she was close to wanting to smack him as he kept smiling. "Stop laughing at me!"

"I'm not laughing, love." He was very obviously laughing. He was chuckling deeply, but put a hand on her arm, just to hopefully calm down. Or, well, to get some physical contact with her, which he never did mind.

It was then Lyra realized just how close they had gotten. She could feel his warm breath on her face and the way the electric feeling of his touch on her arm lingered even after he had slipped it away, carefully.

The worst part was when she found herself glancing at his lips. She then mentally cursed herself for doing so. It would only lead to miscommunication, she thought. She didn't have feelings for him, she never had. 

They didn't move. It was a strange mix between tense and strange. Lyra wanted to move, to get away so as to not give him the wrong idea. But her body wouldn't let her. She was frozen, looking at James's lips. 

She expected for him to lean in and kiss her. He always did something stupid to screw things up. Said or did the wrong thing. Even if he very recently had done everything right. But she thought she would have yet another reason to be angry, to walk away.

But, instead, he turned his head away casually, a small smirk on his face. Because he had seen it, too. The way she had been looking at him. "Well, we should probably head back to our common rooms, get to bed."

She was almost angry at him just for not screwing it up for both him and her. He was supposed to, that's what he does. She didn't even realize that it meant she was angry that he hadn't gone ahead and tried to kiss her. 

But James looked so incredibly good in the moonlight, reflecting against his hazel eyes. His hot breath still fanned her face, and part of her could still feel his touch on her arm, even if it had gone away long enough. 

She was intoxicated by this, all these perfect things building up into what could be such a perfect moment. Except for the fact that she refused to believe that she could ever have feelings for him. 

But the anger she had felt quickly turned into passion, and all those perfect factors still remained. It was almost as if she had been forced to do it, to make that one big mistake she knew she would regret. 

But she did it anyway.

Lyra quickly reached out, grabbing the back of his neck without second thought. As she pulled him down, she straightened up, allowing his lips to meet hers in a perfect angle, in the perfect place at the perfect day. 

Lyra didn't think she'd ever kiss James Potter again, not after that one time when they were fifteen. She didn't expect to ever want to, especially not to be the instigator. That was always something reserved for him. 

And she realized what she was truly doing, she pulled away. She didn't say anything for a few seconds, her shocked eyes meeting his. She wasn't sure what to think anymore, or why she had done what she had done. 

"Good night, James," she suddenly said, sending him an awkward, small smile. Carefully, she turned around. Part of her wanted to glance back, to see how he was reacting to what she did. To the kiss. 

But the other part thought it would be very stupid, because she didn't really know herself what had just happened. If she regretted it, if she liked it, if she wanted to do it again. Worst of all, if Lyra might actually like James.