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."

"That's really good. You look incredibly beautiful today, by the way. You look beautiful every day, actually but I've always been to nervous to tell you. I didn't think you'd want to hear it from me," the Ravenclaw prefect rambled.

The fact that he called her beautiful and then started nervously rambling because of her was something that made Lyra's heart melt. "Thank you, Bertram. Really. You're really nice, you know that?"

"Well, I try. And when I have such a pretty girl actually agreeing to go out with me... Well, I can't do anything but be as nice as I can, can I?" he said modestly, running his hand through his perfect hair.

Lyra couldn't help but wonder how she had been so lucky that the perfect guy had asked her out. She could already feel the fact that she wouldn't mind going on several more dates with him, or even start a relationship at some point. 

He hesitated as he saw her smile, because it was a beautiful smile. But in the end, Bertram decided that it was time to be bold, to be the kind of boy he thought she wanted. He leaned closer to her, carefully putting his lips on her cheek softly. 

Lyra's smile definitely wouldn't fade after this. She tried her best to hide her blush, but she had never fancied a boy like this before. If their date was going to be anything like this, she wasn't sure if she would ever truly recover. 

Because Bertram seemed so perfect. He was sweet, smart, handsome. And the best part, he wasn't just out for a one-time snog. If he had been, he would have gone for the lips, not the cheek. Lyra hadn't been more excited for a Hogsmeade weekend in her life. 

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Lyra had spent maybe two hours trying on different outfits to have the perfect look to make Bertram Aubrey fall in love with her once and for all. Her and Lucinda had picked one out several days ago, but she suddenly started wondering if she should wear green, to match her eyes. 

But then she thought that it would show too much Slytherin pride, and make him afraid that she didn't like that he was a Ravenclaw. So she tried blue, but she couldn't find any pants that worked with her blue top, which also made her look a little too pale. 

In the end, her roommates had decided to help her. They thought that red would be the perfect compromise. It wouldn't make her seem prejudiced, and boys always loved when girls would wear red. Therefore, Lyra didn't mind. 

But Bertram had been right. It was freezing out, and she was wondering when he was finally going to show up so they could jump in a carriage. She supposed he wanted to wait a while, so they didn't have to share a carriage with someone else. Leaving at the same time as everyone else would be a disappointing way to start their date. 

Yet, she showed up when the carriages first started leaving. It was only that morning she had realized they hadn't set a specific time for them to leave, so she thought it was better to be safe than sorry. 

So Lyra was shivering, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck as she waited. She couldn't wait to jump in a carriage already, to be in some sort of warmth. But most of all, she wanted a good old Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks. 

She waited. And she waited. And she waited some more. She was starting to lose courage that he was even going to show up. She couldn't help but wonder if this was actually some cruel prank, to make her think somebody could fancy her and not be a git about it. 

Lyra watched people, even some of her friends, rush by her as they laughed in excitement to go off to Hogsmeade. While she was still just waiting. The morning had turned into the afternoon, and she was still all on her own. 

"Miss Black?" a voice asked from behind her. Lyra jumped in surprise until she turned to see Professor McGonagall standing there with a quirked eyerbrow. "If you wish to go to Hogsmeade then you should know the last carriages are about to leave."

"Oh," the Slytherin girl sighed in disappointment. She glanced around, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of him rushing to make their date anyway. "I'm waiting for someone, actually. Would you mind holding the carriages for a moment?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the Transfiguration professor said, although looking sympathetic. She was realized what situation Lyra was going through now. "May I ask who you're waiting for? Maybe I can help you locate them."

Lyra thought it would strange to tell her favorite teacher who she was supposed to go out with, but she digressed. Maybe there was a perfectly reasonable explanation as why he hadn't showed up and McGonagall knew about. "Bertram Aubrey."

The older woman's eyes widened, looking even more apologetic than before. "Oh, my apologies. If only I would have known I would told you much sooner. Mr. Aubrey is unfortunately in the Hospital Wing at the moment."

"What? Why?" the sixteen-year-old girl breathed, frowning. She was slightly happy that it meant she hadn't just been stood up and there was a reason behind it, but that didn't mean she wasn't confused. 

"Madam Pomfrey is helping him recover from nasty Head-Enlargement Hex." The professor smiled gently at her students, gesturing towards the castle. "May I suggest you get inside and warm up? Perhaps Mr. Aubrey would like a visit from you."

"Thank you, Professor." Lyra sent her a short smile before rushing towards the entrance to the castle as quickly as her not-extremely-long legs could take her. 

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Lyra had ran towards the Hospital Wing, but once she found herself outside of its doors, she was terrified to go inside. She didn't want to know what had happened to Bertram, she didn't want to get angry at someone for ruining her day. Perhaps even ruining a potential relationship. 

But she knew that if she didn't open those doors and talk to him, she would forever regret it. Because there was still a possibility for them to work things out, and she hoped that would be the case. 

Lyra carefully gripped the handle and peeked her head in. It didn't take long for her to spot the Ravenclaw boy, even if she had expected his head to be bigger with the Head-Enlargement Hex. She supposed Madam Pomfrey had already done her part. 

Madam Pomfrey was currently tending to a younger Hufflepuff who had twisted his ankle on the way to the carriages. Lyra had seen the whole situation transpire, and she would be lying if she said she didn't laugh a little too much. 

"Lyra?" Bertram asked as he noticed her. The blonde took a deep breath to calm her nerves before smiling softly at the boy, approaching his bed. "I'm sorry I didn't show up. I should have asked someone to tell you."

"It's alright. McGonagall ended up telling me anyway," Lyra waved it off, as if she hadn't spent hours waiting excitedly this morning, and had spent several weeks hardly being able to wait for this day, only for it to be ruined. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright." Bertram's face suddenly got a lot less friendly, which wasn't a very good look for him. He pursed his lips and looked at her with a sort of accusatory look. "My head was twice its normal size just an hour ago."

"That sounds horrible, I'm so sorry." Lyra didn't know why he looked at her with such an unhappy look, but she decided to go for it and reached out to hold his hand in comfort, only for him to quickly pull it away again. 

"Look, Lyra, I'm sorry. You're super pretty and you always seemed much nicer than people gave you credit for..." Bertram trailed off, already seeing the hurt in her eyes. "But I can't go out with you if Black and Potter are going to do stuff like this to me. It's just not worth it."

"Wait, what?" the blonde frowned, the wheels spinning in her head. "James Potter and Sirius Black? They did this to you?"

Bertram rolled his eyes. After this, he just had to forget the fact that he had fancied this girl frmo afar for years, and he had to start as quickly as possible. "Who else?"

"I'm sorry, Aubrey." Lyra was careful to use his last name now that she knew there was no hope for them. "And trust me when I say they're not going to get away with this."

▹▹▹

As carriages started pulling up in front of Hogwarts, Lyra was waiting, but not patiently. She had spent most of her day in the cold waiting for someone to show up and face her. Last time it had been to show her happiness, this time her anger. 

Because the Black girl was fuming. She had her arms crossed as she waited for James and Sirius to return from Hogsmeade. Remus and Peter had already returned, telling her that the two had a few more things to buy at Zonko's before coming back with the last carriages. 

Once the very last carriage showed up, Lyra knew that it was time to show her fury. The two were laughing as they exited, not even noticing her glaring heatedly at them as they clutched the bags of products and candy they had bought. 

But then James turned his head and saw the familiar blonde hair accompanied by the also familiar furious glare. "Uh oh."

"Yeah, uh oh," Lyra mocked angrily, pulling her wand out of her pocket. "I can't believe you two idiots would do something like this to me! I was so excited for today and you twats ruined it for your own selfish reasons!"

"Put that down before you hurt yourself," Sirius said, as if her anger didn't really bother him. He had done his job and he didn't think she would ever hurt him. "You're not going to do anything with it anyway."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that." Lyra raised it so it was right in front of his face, but he still didn't look worried. He only smiled. "I will do it, you know! You ruined this for me! You ruined my first date!"

"You need to calm down, Lyra. I did this for you, not to you." Sirius reached out and forced her to lower her wand gently. "I'm looking out for you, like I've always done. That guy wasn't even close to good enough for you."

"Since when is that up to you? It's my life, it's my choice. Can't people learn to accept that?" the blonde groaned, in a mixture of anger and annoyance. Even though her wand was lowered, she still clutched it tightly. 

The Black boy looked at her pointedly. "I'm sorry but you don't always have the best judgement. You never know what's good for you, so I just needed to give you a little push in the right direction."

"You sound like our parents!" Lyra scoffed. She knew it was a low blow, and that nothing in the world could have hurt Sirius more to hear, but it was true. She was so sick of people thinking they could make choices for her. 

"How can you say that? After everything?" Sirius looked like he had been punched in the gut, because these were the last things he would ever have wanted to hear. "I would never do to you what they have done to me. And you know this. And still you dare compare me to them?"

"Alright, let's calm down here. We don't want to say things we don't mean." James decided to try to be a peace maker, knowing how much Sirius loved his cousin, and he didn't want them to have a stupid fight that would hurt his best friend. 

This was very stupid of him if he had ever hoped to win the Slytherin girl's heart, because she quickly turned to him. Now, her glare was even fiercer than it was before. "Oh, don't even get me started on you. You claim to fancy me, and yet you try to sabotage my happiness!"

James looked flabbergasted, feeling this was unfair. "That's not true and you know it. You wouldn't be happy with that git, he doesn't know a thing about you. He just thought you were pretty."

"So what if he did? That's why you go on dates, isn't it? To get to know someone?" She poked as many holes in his self-serving logic as possible. She smirked bitterly. "But I got to know something. At least I know the incantation to reduce someone's head size."

The Slytherin quickly raised her wand at the bespectacled boy, who didn't have time to get out his own wand to counter it. "Redactum Skullus!"

Sirius rushed towards his best friend as he yelped in surprise. He could feel his head becoming smaller and smaller, jumping around in fear. Sirius tried to calm him down, looking at Lyra in annoyance. 

And just Lyra's luck, a professor had come to check that the last carriages had arrived. McGonagall was greeted with another, much more worrying sight as she hurried towards the three. "Mr. Potter?" 

The Head of Gryffindor house quickly took a look at one of her star pupils, recognizing the hex immediately. She turned to look at Lyra, who still gripped her wand angrily. "Miss Black! Explain yourself!"

Lyra wasn't used to getting in trouble. She had spent her whole life trying desperately to be everybody's golden girl, no matter the consequenses. She had no idea what to do when she wasn't. "Well, uh, Professor... You see... He hexed Bertram Aubrey..."

"I am well aware of this!" McGonagall hissed, looking more angry than Lyra had ever seen, and she had been around for several of the times she had caught James and Sirius in pranks or hexes. "Potter and Black have already receievd detention from me. As will you. I expected better from you, Miss Black."

The older woman then turned to Sirius, who was still trying to calm James down as his head kept shrinking. "Mr. Black. Join me in taking Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing. Now."

Lyra was left fuming, annoyed, sad, a bit heartbroken. She watched the three Gryffindors disappear towards the castle and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed and forget this day had ever happened.