INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lyra hadn't talked to James or Sirius for a week. Not that they hadn't tried to talk to her. James had been his usual annoying self, only he didn't get a single reaction from her. Not a glare or a rejection or an insult. It was like he didn't exist. It was extremely difficult for him to live with. 

Sirius was heartbroken. While he was happy she hadn't gone out with Bertram Aubrey and eventually gotten her heart broken by him, he didn't like knowing he had caused her pain and that she was angry with them. Of course, he was angry with her too for hexing James, but he figured he would manage to make her apologize for it at some point and all would be well. 

Remus was annoyed. Everybody were acting like babies and he had to hear everybody's complaining, and he couldn't even complain about the complaining to Peter, because he was always willing to sit and listen to James and Sirius talk about basically anything. 

So, during his one patrol a week with Lyra, Remus had a few missions to fulfill. He already needed someone to look out for him and the boys the next evening, and he needed her to make up with his friends. He could kill two birds with one stone. 

As they walked through their designated area, having just tried once more for Lyra to produce a Patronus (which didn't work at all), Remus changed the subject suddenly. "So, James told me he showed you the Marauder's Map."

"Yeah, he did," Lyra responded shortly, remembering the brilliance of the map he had shown her, which only made her more impressed with the group of boys. "But do we have to talk about him? I'm still pissed off beyond belief at him. And Sirius."

"Which you have every right to be." Remus tried to smile to calm her down before asking for a favor. "It's just that we all sort of need a favor from you. But mostly me, because you still love me, right?"

The blonde couldn't help but smile a bit at him in return, even if she didn't really want to do any favors for James and Sirius. It always seemed like those two together didn't end well, pissing her off. "Of course I do, you dolt."

"Good. Then I hope you may agree to help us," said the Gryffindor. "So, the thing is... Tomorrow night, the lads and I will have to run an errand in the Forbidden Forest. It's just very important that nobody sees us or are headed in that direction. Could you hold on to the map and make sure for us?"

"Remus, no." Lyra looked shocked at the idea, gaping. "You can't go into the forest. There is nothing that would excuse it, you'll just get hurt. There are horrible creatures there, like vampires or werewolves."

The sandy-haired boy looked down for a moment, swallowing a lump in his throat. She didn't understand why he would react like this, but she didn't ask. "Yeah, but we'll be fine. The other boys are Animagi, remember? And if any particularly dark creatures show up, I can cast a Patronus charm now."

"I suppose that makes it a bit better. But why? Is this for some sort of prank?" she asked, to which he quickly nodded in agreement. "So why now? You've never asked me to do this for any of your other pranks or dumb ideas?"

"First of all, they're not dumb," he defended, which made her giggle slightly. "And it's because this very annoying git has been going around and snooping in our business, which is so dumb but still... Need someone to watch out?"

"Very annoying git?" Lyra repeated, racking her brain for who he could be talking about. Then she realized that it could only be one person, who she also thought was so annoying. "Oh, so Snape then."

"Exactly," Remus grinned widely, happy they were on the same wave-length. "And as much as none of us like him, this prank could go really wrong if disturbed and we don't want anyone getting hurt. So, if you see him headed that way, could you stop him?"