J A M E S P O T T E R

He shook his head slightly as the girl walked past him and toward the library. He was unable to help the smile that made its way onto his face as the door closed behind her off.

James started to walk away but stopped, glancing back at the library door for a moment. Maybe if he went back in, he'd actually figure out who she was.

He huffed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and making his way toward the Gryffindor common room. Maybe his friends were right. Maybe he spent too much time focused on the girl he never met.

He entered his room, running a hand over his face to find that they were already in there. "We know how to cheer you up mate," Sirius announced as soon as the boy had entered the room. James was taken aback. He wasn't aware that he needed cheering up or that he was that transparent.

"How do you propose we do that?" he inquired, not even bothering to tell them they were wrong. He plopped down on his bed with a huff. "I'm not really in the mood to go Stag."

"And you won't have to," Sirius pointed out as he rolled his eyes. "We're going to Hogsmeade."

"It's not a Hogsmeade weekend," he reminded the boy.

"Merlin," Peter muttered. "It's bad."

James sat up, "What's bad?"

"Since when does it have to be a Hogsmeade weekend for us to go to Hogsmeade?" Sirius inquired and James seemed to understand.

"What about Moony?" he asked. "He's in the infirmary still."

"It was his idea."

"Alright..." he trailed off, "Let me tell Ophelia I won't be able to patrol tonight."

"I do believe it's pronounced Loony," Sirius reminded the boy and he rolled his eyes.

"Have you ever actually had a conversation with her?" James asked as he stood up from the bed. "She's a lot different then what everyone seems to think."

"I blame the table chick," Sirius announced and James shut the door, silencing the remainder of the boy's comments.

"Ophelia," James greeted once the girl stepped out of the Ravenclaw common room.

She jumped, placing her hand over her heart to steady her breath. "Merlin, Potter," she huffed and he grinned at the girl, "Are you stalking me now? Should I call an auror and get myself a bodyguard?"

"She makes jokes," he mused as he fell into step with her. "I needed to tell you something."

"Go on," she suggested.

"I won't be able to patrol tonight," he informed her and she nodded.

"Okay."

"That's it?" he asked in confusion. "'Okay'?"

Ophelia stopped walking and he stopped walking as well. "Let's try again, then," she rolled her eyes. "Why can't you patrol tonight, Potter? Are you not taking this job seriously? I'll go tell the Headmaster right now and he'll have the title taken from you like-" she snapped her fingers together, "That." He watched her in amusement, "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"It's what I expected to hear," he countered. "You really don't care?"

"Do you want me to care?"

"Well..." he trailed off in thought. If he said yes, he wouldn't have to go. "No, no I don't," he sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow it is," she agreed.

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

"How does it work?" Lily asked and Ophelia turned to her in confusion. "The hair and the eyes," she explained. "Is it based on emotion or is it whatever you're in the mood for?"

Ophelia had asked Lily to patrol with her seeing as James was otherwise preoccupied. Lily was the most responsible of the Prefects not counting Remus who was also otherwise occupied.

"Oh," Ophelia nodded, realizing she was talking about her being a Metamorphmagus. "It's both. I can change it at will but emotion does play a role. I've gotten better at controlling it though. But if I get distracted, it tends to do it's own thing."

"What does pink mean?" she asked and Ophelia looked down and held her hair in her hands to see that it was pink and no doubt, her eyes were matching. She shook her head slightly, sending her hair back to it's normal blonde and her eyes back to green.

"Nothing," she answered simply. "Just that I'm bored."

"The blush on your face says otherwise," Lily pointed out with a grin.

Ophelia covered her cheeks with her hands, "I blush easily."

"Mmhmm," she replied with an amused expression. "Is it that Reginald kid you're always around?"

"Reggie?" Ophelia snorted, "He's like a brother to me."

"It was just a guess," she pointed out with a wave of her hand. "Who is it then?"

Ophelia opened her mouth to make up some excuse when there was noise down the hall. The two girls quickly pulled out their wands as the voices grew louder.

"Keep it down, Prongs," one of the boys suggested as the footsteps sounded closer. "We'll get caught."

"The only way we'll get caught, Padfoot, is if you don't shut the hell up," he replied and Ophelia rolled her eyes, sticking her wand behind her ear.

"What are you four doing?" she asked and the boys all looked up in alarm.

"Going for a walk," Sirius excused quickly as he stumbled slightly. Peter attempted to hold him up, "Kind of like you."

Lily rolled her eyes, "We're patrolling." She looked around at the group, "Where were you?"

"Out," James waved off as he looked from Lily to Ophelia. "You," he said before pointing at the girl and her eyes widened slightly. "Come with me."

She looked over at Peter, Remus and Sirius for help but they all shrugged in response. She hesitated for a moment, not sure how being around a drunk James alone would end. After a moment, she spoke up, "Where to, exactly?"

"The library," he answered simply before grabbing her hand and dragging her to his desired location.

"You can let go of me, you know," Ophelia informed him but he only moved his hand so that hers rested more comfortably in his as he guided her through the hall. She eyed their joint hands, ignoring the fuzzy feeling in her stomach, "Why the library?"

"Because I need to see her response," he explained simply. "They don't think I should keep talking to her and you're the only one who's made any effort to help me figure out who she is."

Ophelia bit the inside of her cheek and remained silent as he opened the door to the library and dropped her hand. It was suddenly cold from not being in his and she stuffed it into her pocket. All she had done was say that the person he was talking to was a girl, she hadn't realized that was such a big deal or that his friends frowned upon the relationship he had developed.

James was standing over the table, staring at the spot where the line was written. He read over the line again before grabbing Ophelia's arm and pulling her toward him. He held her at his side and pointed at the table with his free hand. "What does that say?"

"So you're drunk and illiterate?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just tell me," he requested.

She huffed before looking down at the table where five words were written, "It says, 'Of course I do, James.'" She turned to look at him, "What does it matter?"

His eyebrows were pinched together in the middle and he shook his head, "It doesn't." She frowned at this and she looked down at the table again. She looked back up at the boy, "What is it?"

"It's nothing," he replied before he started for the exit. She knew it definitely wasn't nothing.

"Wait a minute," Ophelia tried as she followed after the boy. "You dragged me all the way here and now you're just leaving?"

"Sounds about right, yeah," he answered as he continued walking, not sparing her a glance.

She narrowed her eyes at this, following after the boy, "You could at least tell me what's going on."

"I don't have to tell you anything," he responded sharply.

"Are you mad at me?" Ophelia asked, growing agitated with the boy's attitude toward her. "Because last I checked, I haven't done anything wrong." Not that he was aware of, anyway.

He stopped walking and he turned to face the girl. "I'm not mad at you," James shook his head. "I'm mad at..." he trailed with a bitter laugh. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head again, "I don't even know who I'm mad at."

"I take it there's an issue with the girl you've been talking to?" Ophelia inquired, her expression blank as she crossed her arms over her chest.

He huffed, "We should get back to our common rooms."

"Right," she agreed with a nod, eyeing the boy. "Let's do that then."

The pair made their way toward their common rooms, James staying a good distance away from the girl. "You're a girl," he announced suddenly and she rolled her eyes. He turned to face her and they both stopped walking.

"You have a thing for pointing out the obvious, don't you?" Ophelia inquired and he smiled slightly.

"It's just..." he trailed off, running his hand through his hair. "I've been talking to this girl since fourth year," he explained. "I've told her everything about me. More than I've ever told anyone else, even Sirius. And she knows who I am."

"Okay..." Ophelia nodded, not understanding what his issue was.

"She knows who I am and won't tell me who she is," he went on, messing his hair up again. "Does that mean she doesn't like me? I mean, me, me, not the person she's been talking to."

"They aren't the same person?" she asked and he laughed.

"Not completely, no," he answered honestly, shaking his head. "But there has to be a reason she's not telling me, right?"

"I can't answer that," she replied and he frowned. "But I'm sure it has nothing to do with you."

"How would you know that?"

"I don't," she answered simply but she smiled slightly. "But you're James Potter," she reminded him, "Who wouldn't like you?"