J A M E S P O T T E R

James realized approximately two seconds after the thought entered his mind that he was being an idiot. She just lost one of the people closest to her and of course she would go to someone who actually knew Reggie.

Remus had taken the boy's death pretty hard as well. Not that anyone could blame him. They had become friends of sorts after Sirius and him broke up and the circumstances in which he died made things that much worse.

The entire school's atmosphere had shifted significantly. Everyone had of course known the war was brewing and that something, even if they didn't know what specifically, was happening. But having it happen so close was an entirely different ball game.

"Earth to James," Lily spoke up but he kept his gaze on the floor, not hearing the girl. She huffed, growing irritated with the boy, "James!" He jumped, shaking his head slightly as he looked up at the redhead. "Merlin, you had me worried there for a minute. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered quickly. Because what else would he have been. Nothing had happened to him. All of his best friends were alive and well but a larger part of him felt for the girl he had grown close to.

"You look like you just saw a ghost," she informed him and he frowned looking back at the ground again. "We finished the rounds over an hour ago," she announced and he was surprised at this, "I was hoping you would snap out of whatever this is but you haven't and now I'm a little worried."

He stopped walking and looked around. He pinpointed where they were and started in the direction

"I'm fine," he repeated as he continued through the hall. "Never better."

"But Ophelia isn't," she stated and he stopped walking. She turned to face the boy, "I know you're worried about her-"

"Don't talk to me about Ophelia," he suggested and she frowned before he walked away.

O P H E L I A L O V E G O O D

"Can I go back to my room now?" Ophelia requested with a huff. "I'm fine. Fantastic really. Never better." Her gaze flickered over to the bed that her brother had been occupying up until a few days ago.

Pomfrey had requested that Ophelia sleep in the infirmary to make sure everything was okay. She was allowed out of the room for meals and classes but she was to stay the night until further notice.

The doctor's gaze followed Ophelia's, "Let me check you over one more time. If you're fine, I have no more protests."

Ophelia plastered on the best grateful smile she could muster as the doctor set to work and her own mind wandered.

"So you're taking Xeno home but leaving me here?" Ophelia concluded. She wanted to make sure she had the full story before she reacted in any way.

"We don't have the means to help you like they do here," her mother explained and it took the girl everything in her power not to scoff.

They were made aware of her condition almost immediately after it happened. They came to the school and had been remaining distant from Ophelia since they had arrived.

"But it wouldn't take much for you to get it," she pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't hate the idea of going home and right now, wherever her brother was, was where she wanted to be.

"Your mother already told you no," her father reminded her. "Maybe you should listen."

"This has nothing to do with not being able to care for someone in my condition," she asked, looking between the two people who were supposed to love her no matter what. "It does have to do with my condition as a whole though, doesn't it?" she concluded. "Because of what I am now?"

She was aware of how ridiculous they looked talking almost six feet apart but they wouldn't come any closer to her. Like if they did, they would be infected or something.

"I'm still me," she informed them. "I'm still your little girl."

"No you aren't," her father shook his head. "You're a-" he shivered in disgust, not even able to say the word.

She felt the color drain from her face and she honestly wasn't sure if her hair was blue or red at this point. "Say it," she demanded. "What exactly am I?"

"A monster."

She scoffed, "This is just wonderful." She closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head. "You know what? Fine!" She threw her hands up in the air, "You think I'm such a monster? That I'm not the same person I was before? Then I don't need you."

"What's going on?" Xenophilius asked as he approached the three of them. He looked between his parents and Ophelia.

"You're going home," Ophelia informed him through gritted teeth. "I'm staying here."

"What?" he asked, shaking his head. "Why?"

"Not sure if it has to do more with keeping you safe from death eaters or keeping you safe from me."

"If Ophelia is staying so am I," Xenophilius told his parents.

Their father grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him toward, "No, you're staying away from her."

"I don't-"

"There's no point, Xeno," Ophelia explained as she tried to keep herself calm. She turned to her parents, "I guess I'll be seeing you whenever you manage to pull your head's out of your asses long enough to realize how incredibly ignorant you are."

"Wait-" her mother tried but she was already gone.

The conversation had been playing on a loop on her mind since it happened. If they couldn't see that she was still herself, then she didn't need them. At least that's what she was going to tell herself.

She had been getting more and more irritable and she was becoming far too exhausted to do virtually anything. She had told James that she wouldn't be able to run with him anymore. It was getting harder for her to get out of bed.

Remus had explained that it would be like this. Her emotions would be heightened, her body would be using up all of her energy. Eating would be near impossible because food tasted absolutely disgusting and the smells would become overwhelming.

Three days. She had three days until she would undergo her first change and she wasn't ready at all. She just wanted to fall asleep and not wake up.

Pomfrey had agreed to her departure and Ophelia hopped off the bed with as much energy as she could muster before departing the room.

"Ophelia," Remus spoke up from behind her and she turned to face him in confusion. He approached her and he looked around before he stopped in front of her. "There may be one small thing I left out."

"How small is small?" she inquired warily. She wasn't sure she could handle anything else.

"When I turn...I don't do it alone," he explained warily.

She grew confused at this, her eyebrows pinching together in confusion. "Okay..." she trailed off. "I'm not sure I follow."

"James, Peter and Sirius come with me."

Ophelia shook her head, "How is that possible? Wouldn't you kill them?"

"No," he replied, "Because they aren't human."

This only confused her further, "They aren't?"

"Well, they are," he replied. "Just not when I turn."

"Fine, I'll bite," she huffed and then she realized what she said. She shook her head, brushing it off, "What are they when you turn?"

"Animagus."

Ophelia raised an eyebrow, "They're animagus?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I just figured I should tell you before you show up and there's a stag, a rat and a dog there."

"Did you tell them I'm a werewolf?" she asked quickly.

"No, no I wouldn't do that," he replied. "But they wouldn't care. And having them there makes it easier. Trust me."

"I don't want them to know," she shook her head.

"They won't," he explained. "We can stay on opposite sides of the shack and they'll never know you were there."

"How do you not hurt them?"

"I can't do any damage to them when they're in animagus form," he answered. "It took a few turns but now my werewolf is...well it's sort of friends with their counterparts. If that's what one could call it."

"Friends?"

"It's odd, I know," he replied. "But with them there, I didn't try and hurt myself as much as I used to. It made it slightly more bearable." He frowned slightly as he glanced behind them, "I know you don't want him to know but I promise, it won't change anything."

"It's not just about that," she pointed out. It didn't go past her that he had only said 'him' and not 'them.' "I don't want anyone to know. Coralena can barely look me in the eye anymore and we had just made up. My parents basically disowned me and while Xeno doesn't seem to care, my parents are making him go home and leaving me here. And Reggie-" her voice cracked as she said his name. She shook her head as she looked down at her hands, "I don't want to lose anyone else."

"You won't," he informed her. "But it's your choice. All I'm saying is that they will help you, if that's what you want."

"I don't want that," she responded. "I'll see you later, I'm tired and just want to lay down."

He frowned slightly but nodded, "Chocolate helps."

J A M E S P O T T E R

"She won't even talk to me," he informed the boys as he laid in his bed. "She sent me a note saying she wouldn't be coming on runs with me anymore. She's missed half of her classes."

"She just lost her best friend," Peter pointed out. "It's going to take time to move on from that."

"I know, it's just-" he groaned, cutting himself off. "I just want to be there for her, is all. And I can't do that if she doesn't even want to see me."

"Give her space," Remus suggested. "She'll talk to you when she's ready."

"Easy for you to say, she still talks to you," he replied. Remus looked up at this and James cleared his throat. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. I just-"

"Miss her?" he finished for him. James opened his mouth to protest but stopped himself. That's exactly what it was. He missed her and he hated seeing her in so much pain and not being able to do anything about it.

"It all just sucks on an astronomical level," he huffed as he fell back on his bed. "None of this should have happened. How did it happen?"

It had been something a lot of people had been questioning. It wasn't as though the group had gone out unsupervised, it was a Hogsmeade weekend even if most opted out. So how was it possible for the death eaters to have enough time to kill Reggie and injure Ophelia and her brother, leaving Coralena and Pandora to fight them off the best they could and no one showed up to help? It didn't seem probable and the more he thought about, the more confused he became.

"It was a freak accident," Remus pointed out although accident was a relative term and they all knew it. This was no accident and it surely wouldn't be the last. "Hogsmeade trips have been canceled and the Headmaster has upped the security," he reminded them. "This won't happen again."

"It doesn't matter that it won't happen again," James pointed out with a frown. "It never should have happened to begin with."