What Do You Require? || Lyra & Liam

[LYRA ALVAH AVERY]

Lyra walked towards the Room of Requirment, unable to stop smiling. Yesterday she and Eadric had sat down to breakfast with Liam and most of his family. It had been interesting, to say the least. His siblings were definitely a hand full. Eadric had been a little bit overwhelmed, but Lyra had liked them all a lot.

She was smiling because she was going to go meet Liam, and she hadn't lied to Eadric about it. He hadn't been completely happy about it, but she had told him to deal with it. Eadric slowly seemed to be accepting the fact that she and Liam were going to be spending time together.

Lyra almost didn't want to admit it, but she knew why Eadric was so down on her and Liam, at least partially. She didn't want to admit it because it was perfectly understandable, and she did understand it. Eadric was afraid of loosing her, and didn't like spending less time with her. Lyra knew that if Eadric started spending lots of time with someone else, she might be a bit jealous too.

Lyra had wanted to find Liam after the breakfast, but she hadn't been able to catch him for more than a minute. They had agreed to meet up the next evening. Lyra had gone back up to the Ravenclaw common room with Eadric after dinner, but she hadn't stayed long before leaving to meet Liam.

They were in different houses, so where to meet posed something of a problem. They couldn't go in each others common rooms, and it was getting too cold out for them to spend the evenings outside. Lyra had suggested to Room of Requirement. It was perfect.

Lyra arrived at the wall where the entrance to the room was concealed. She waited for Liam, rather than walking past it three times, thinking of what she needed. Call it intellectual curiosity, but Lyra wanted to see what kind of room Liam would create if he were to be the one who walked past the wall. She wanted to see what he 'required'.

[LIAM JOSEPH WARD]

The Unity breakfast that the school had held ended up being rather... interesting. But despite all that Liam still felt himself itching to spend time alone with Lyra, away from prying eyes, away from Eadric. H e knew part of him shouldn't feel that way; they were practically inseparable. But the other part of him knew that Lyra deserved a life away from him, a life away from his endless watch. She deserved to be able to make her own decisions without fear of hurting Eadric, and Liam only hoped he would be able to give her that - a sense of freedom she'd not yet known.

After the breakfast Liam had spent a good amount of time hanging around with Sophie, Aeryn and Bran outside, enjoying the fall weather and talking. They asked him all kinds of questions about Lyra, and for the first time he shared what he could. He didn't tell Bran or Sophie about her being a werewolf, but he answered other questions for them, what she was like. Aeryn had asked why Eadric was such a grump, and Liam had laughed and said 'I'm still trying to figure that one out myself.'

Despite both Liam and Lyra's best efforts they couldn't quite seem to catch each other for more than a minute during the day, but a minute was all it took for them to make plans to meet each other later that night. It was getting too cold to get together outside, and being from different houses they weren't allowed to go in each other's common room. But, Lyra had had a brilliant idea - the room of requirement. He made his way through the halls after having said goodbye to a few friends, excited to finally be able to spend sometime with Lyra. He grinned as she came into view as he came down the hall.

"Evening," he said, unable to fight the smile from his face as he brought her into a hug, holding her there for a second before bringing himself to let go. He stared up at the wall, wondering what kind of room they'd need. Surely nothing too extensive. He thought for a moment, curious as to whether or not he or Lyra would be the one to think of the room, but judging from the fact that she waited for him, then she wanted him to pick. He smirked at her before getting an idea. He paced back and forth past the wall and the door appeared.

"Ready?" he asked with a smile before he opened the door and walked in. The room was quite a unique one. There was a couch and a roaring fire, some snack foods, but the most unique thing about the room was the trees. It was a couch and a fire in the middle of what seemed to be a forest, complete with the soothing noises of the forest. The room seemed to be a room no longer. It felt like they were outside, but without the chill or the worry of being out too late. This room was all their own to enjoy. Liam grinned, very satisfied with the room. His favorite part? There was no moon in sight. When you glanced towards the ceiling you saw only stars.

"What do you think?" he asked, wrapping an arm around Lyra's shoulders, glancing down at her with a grin. He hoped she'd like it.

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[LYRA ALVAH AVERY]

Lyra smiled widely as Liam strolled up to her, returning his hug. When he wrapped his arms around her she thought of kissing him, but it seemed as though her boldness had left her ever so slightly since the last time they had spent time alone together. She wasn't quite ready to initiate a kiss, at least not until he had kissed her first.

Liam took the hint, and walked past the entrance to the room of requirement. Lyra wondered what command he was repeating three times in his head, and was impatient to see what kind of room he conjured up for the two of them to spend the evening in.

"Ready?"

"As ever," Lyra replied, and followed him into the room.

It really was unusual, and more perfect than Lyra could ever say, more perfect than if she had created the room herself. There was a roaring fire, a comfortable looking sofa, and trees everywhere. It felt like they were in the forest, surrounded by animals and the feel of being outside. The sky was scattered with stars, and moonless. Lyra stared at the stars, taking it all in. She hadn't noticed how beautiful a star filled sky was in many years. The moon had always commanded her full attention. But tonight there was no moon, whether full or new.

She felt Liam's arm wrapping around her shoulders, but didn't look away from the scene surrounding them.
"It's perfect," she said, hearing the wonder in her own voice. Eadric himself could not have done a better job at picking a room suited to her. She really hoped that this was exactly what Liam wanted, too, because if it was then the pair of them couldn't have been more suited for each other.

"Shall we..." she said, gesturing to the sofa before them, still smiling.

[LIAM JOSEPH WARD]

Liam could hear the wonder in Lyra’s voice as she spoke and he swelled with pride at his accomplishment. And when she said the room was perfect he only felt himself grin all the more, filled with a giddy kind of pride. He liked the room, but he was more happy about the fact that Lyra enjoyed it… The fact that she thought it was perfect was just… well, perfect. She asked if they should head to the couch and Liam grinned.

”Of course,” he asked as he lead them over, unwrapping his arm from around her shoulder before he sat down. He stared at the fire for a minute with a smile on his face. The fire was warm and glowing.

”I’m glad you like it. I was a bit worried, but I figure, we both like the outside, why not bring the outside to us? With added comfort, of course,” he said with a grin as he gestured to the sofa beneath him, patting it lightly. He tore his eyes away from the fire and looked toward Lyra with a smile.

”So what did you think of the breakfast? I thought it went, well, though, Eadric seemed bit… unhappy. I was surprised how much Aeryn seemed to like him. She wouldn’t stop talking about him after we left,” Liam said, laughing. He wasn’t sure that it was the best “date” conversation, but it would get more date-like, of that Liam was sure.

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[LYRA ALVAH AVERY]

Lyra sat down on the sofa next to Liam, and watched as he gazed into the fire. He seemed happy that she liked the room, and she was glad for that. She settled onto the sofa as Liam talked about how they both liked the outdoors, and so he thought he'd bring the outdoors to them. Lyra had to admit that the added comforts were something of an improvement. She did love the outdoors, although part of her worried that that was the wolf in her. But that was stupid, and she knew it. She had loved being outside before she had been bitten.

Lyra had loved animals, and being outside all day, running around, getting dirty, exploring. Even as she started to get older, she didn't changed. Eadric joined her, and enjoyed it all, just not as much as Lyra did, and not in the same way. It was because she had been outside in the woods after dark that it was her who had been bitten. It could have been Eadric, but Lyra made herself an easy target. She was glad it had been her, though. She knew Eadric wished it was him, but she thought differently.

Sometimes she felt like Fenir Greyback had just taken so much from her. Lyra knew that the wolves in his pack ran almost wild, and they liked being outdoors too, hunting, running... those were werewolf traits. Lyra worried that Greyback had taken the enjoyment of being outdoors from her, too, tainted it somehow. But she didn't want to let that happen. And here, in the room of requirement with Liam, she could sit 'outside', with a moonless nights sky above her.

Liam asked what she had thought of the breakfast, and said that Aeryn had liked Eadric a lot.
"Eadric was a bit... overwhelmed," Lyra replied, laughing slightly, "he's not used to being around a lot of people, and your brothers and sisters are certainly a lot to take. But I think he liked Aeryn. Despite himself," she added, grinning. Unfortunately, Eadric hadn't warmed to Liam in quite the same way. "I liked her, too," Lyra said, which was perfectly true.

Lyra remembered that Liam had spoken to her in French right before he had left, and had been curious to know what he had said ever since. Sure, she could have easily looked it up in a book, and she thought Eadric may have done so already, but she would prefer to hear it from Liam.
"What did you say, before you left?" she said, curiously. "You know I don't speak a word of French. Well, 'goodbye', I got," she wasn't totally hopeless.

[LIAM JOSEPH WARD]

As usual the sound of Lyra’s laughter brought a grin to Liam’s face like no other. She’d said that Eadric was a bit overwhelmed and Liam couldn’t help but feel like that was a bit of an understatement. His family could be overwhelming for most people, yes, but for someone like Eadric? Someone who practically hated other people? Liam was sure it had to have been more than a bit overwhelming. She said that his siblings were a lot to take and he couldn’t find it in him to deny it. They were. They were loud and quiet and obnoxious and shy all at the same time, but when the four of them all got together it could be a little hard to figure out what to do with them all. So many different personalities in once place. Still, Lyra said that Eadric had taken a liking to Aeryn despite himself and he felt himself chuckling.

”Aeryn is hard not to like. She can be a bit… loud, and abrasive, but she’s very hard not to like,” Liam said with a grin. He remembered back to after the breakfast how Aeryn wouldn’t stop talking about how odd Eadric was, and how nice Lyra had been. It had been a good day, despite the fact that he felt like he’d made almost no forward progress with Eadric. He was pretty sure Eadric sill probably hated him. But, alas, you couldn’t please everyone.

”I’m glad you liked them, too,” he said with a smile. Truth be told he cared more about the fact that Lyra had liked them than what Eadric had thought. Lyra was the one he cared about, Lyra was the one whose opinion mattered. Eadric’s opinion naturally mattered by circumstance, but, Lyra’s was more important to Liam. And then she asked something that took him quite by surprise, though it really shouldn’t have. She asked him what he’d said before he left. He grinned somewhat sheepishly at her, trying to shrug it off like it was nothing, but it was very much something, and he knew it. But he was clever.

”Oh, nothing, just something I hadn’t been brave enough to say in English,” he said with smile, knowing she’d probably ask what he said again. And as much as he wanted to just leave at that, he knew it wasn’t possible. ”I said goodbye... and I may or may not have called you my girlfriend,” he said with a small laugh, the sheepish, almost embarrassed smile forming on his face.

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[LYRA ALVAH AVERY]

Liam explained what he had said to her in French as he had left the breakfast, and Lyra smiled at the slightly embarrassed smile on his face. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one who got embarrassed, and she could already feel the same type of smile creeping onto her own face.

She knew she was blushing, and so Lyra looked away, into the fire. She hadn't expected that.
"So am I, then?" she asked, glancing back at Liam, still smiling. "Your girlfriend, I mean?"

Hadn't she wondered the same thing herself, only recently? They hadn't talked about it, but Lyra wasn't the type to casually see different boys. Liam was the only boy she was seeing, and the only one she intended to see. Did that make her his girlfriend? The thought of Liam being her boyfriend was even stranger. She would never have expected to have a boyfriend. That was something other girls had, not her. With the way her life had been the idea had been so far-fetched that she ignored it. She hadn't thought about it, because it would have only made her sad, reminded her of how different she was.

Lyra felt happy and giddy but very nervous, all at the same time. Her stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots. This was definitely something to be happy about, but she couldn't help the nerves that crept in as she explored uncharted territory. But she ignored them. She didn't want to back away from this.

She waited for an answer, biting her bottom lip slightly and still smiling. Liam would definitely have to be the one to say it first, Lyra was too shy- and, it had to be said, too world wary- to be the first to make the declaration.