O P H E L I A  L O V E G O O D

Ophelia had gone to the library and checked the table over the past week and there was no response. She knew he had been upset to find out that the girl he had been talking knew who he was and he didn't know who she was but she hadn't realized just how upset he was.

Maybe she should tell him the truth.

And she had contemplated this for a while until she showed up at the library again to find him staring at the table. She quickly stepped between two bookshelves and peeked through to see him. She was becoming as bad as he was.

James stood straight up suddenly and turned around, Ophelia was quick to hide. She moved through the aisle and made herself look busy. She saw him pick up his wand and wave it over the table before he looked around and left the library.

She waited a good five minutes before she made her way over to the table, checking to make sure he was actually gone. 'How is that you get to know who I am but I don't get to know who you are?'

She huffed. He was right. Why should she know who he is when he doesn't know who she is? She jotted down a quick response, 'Because you're awful at performing a stakeout and I'm in Ravenclaw. I have the advantage.'

And things seemed to return to normal after this. At least mostly, anyway. The responses continued throughout the week, only they talked about how James thought he should get to know who she was.

'I think it's unfair,' he had written and she couldn't exactly disagree. If the roles were reversed, she would have wanted to know who he was. Then again, maybe if the roles were reversed, he would understand her reluctance.

She had been getting to know James as the version of herself labeled Loony Lovegood only she'd come to realize it was harder to keep up the facade around him then it should have been. There was something about the boy that made her want to be her real self around him. The one he's been talking unknowingly.

'Why the sudden desire to know who I am?' she replied.

'It's not sudden. I've always wanted to know who you are,' he had responded.

It didn't take a genius to see that he was growing agitated with the girl but there wasn't much else for her to do. She couldn't tell him that it was her because it would ruin everything. At least that's what she managed to convince herself.

J A M E S  P O T T E R

'But you didn't start asking questions till recently,' the girl had written into the table and he huffed. It was true that he hadn't actually started asking her directly who she was until recently but he had been trying to figure it out.

'It's my seventh year,' he wrote out. 'After the term is over, I won't be able to talk to you again.'

He ignored the protests of his friends and continued to talk to the girl. He had tried to take some time away and not reply but it was the worst week of his life. He didn't know what he was going to do when the term was over.

'Then maybe we just need to find a new table,' she responded and he rolled his eyes but there was a faint smile on his face. Because that would solve the problem.

'Or you could tell me who you are,' he countered, not bothering to beat around the bush. But of course, that tactic didn't work.

'Maybe not.'

He read over her reply and let out a breath. He just wanted to know who she was. It wouldn't change anything no matter who she was. 'What are you so afraid of?'

James had spent the past two weeks trying to convince the girl to tell him who he was. She had tried to brush around it every time and he wasn't sure he had it in him to wait anymore.

O P H E L I A  L O V E G O O D

What was she so afraid of? The question had been circling her mind as her and her friends made their way to the Quidditch field for the Gryffindor match against Slytherin.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Reggie asked as he slung his arm over Ophelia's shoulder. She leaned into his warmth as they continued their way. The closer it got to the holiday's, the colder it seemed to get and Ophelia despised the cold.

"Who knows?" Ophelia replied as she shivered.

Reggie rolled his eyes at the girl, "It's not even that cold."

"It's freezing," she countered, rubbing her arms up and down through her jacket. "I feel like my arms are going to fall off."

"Sometimes I forget how dramatic you can be," he informed the girl and she smacked him on the arm. He narrowed his eyes at her, "I think it'll be Gryffindor."

"Why?" she asked as they settled down on the bleachers.

"Have you ever seen Potter play?" he inquired. "Dudes a Quidditch god."

"Don't tell him that," Ophelia suggested. "You'll only feed his ego."

"She's definitely seen Potter play," Coralena announced as she slid onto the bench behind the girl. "She was probably too distracted by other things to acknowledge his impeccable technique."

"Shut up," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Reggie gasped dramatically, "Merlin's beard!" Ophelia looked up at the boy with a raised eyebrow, "You like Potter."

Her eyes widened at this and she looked around, hopeful that no one had overhead. "Keep it down."

"But you do, don't you?" he inquired, pulling her closer to him with a grin. He rubbed the top of her head, "My little Ophelia has a crush!"

"Does she now?" someone asked as he and three other people sat down next to them. Ophelia turned to see that it was Sirius Black, James' best friend and did everything not to react. "And who would that be?"

"Would you look at that?" Ophelia interjected, waving to the center of the field where James and the Slytherin captain were. "The game is starting."

J A M E S  P O T T E R

"Congratulations," Ophelia said as she approached him in the Gryffindor common room. As soon as the Quidditch had ended and Gryffindor had won, everyone migrated to the common room to celebrate.

"What can I say?" he replied with a smile. "I've got a talent for catching things that don't want to be caught."

Except for one thing. Or person, he corrected in his head.

"Yes, the all wonderful James Potter," she mused. She bowed dramatically, "Your Highness."

He rolled his eyes at this but made no effort at fighting down the grin that made its way onto his face. Some other seventh years got their hands on firewhiskey and it was clear that Ophelia had had more than she intended to.

Ophelia reached around his neck and loosened his tie before taking it off. He ignored the tingles that were sent down his spine as her fingers grazed her neck. When he was this close to her he could smell the lavender from the shampoo she used.

She took her own tie off and placed his around her neck. He watched her in surprise as she removed the glasses from his face and placed them on her own.

Ophelia stood straight up and hopped up on the table, unbuttoning the top two buttons on her shirt and allowing the tie to rest on her shoulders. "What are you doing?" James asked, amusement clear in his town.

"I'm being you," she informed him with a grin. She rolled up the sleeves of her shirt and spread her arms out wide, her voice dropping a few octaves as she spoke, "I'm James - I refuse to tell people my middle name probably because it's something embarrassing - Potter and I am the King of this place."

"I've never said that," James said pointedly and Ophelia rolled her eyes. She ruffled up her hair when something seemed to catch her eye.

"Padfoot!" the girl exclaimed once she saw Sirius from across the room. She hopped off the table and ran toward the boy, James watching as she did so. "You are not going to believe what happened."

Sirius turned to the girl in confusion before looking over at James who stood back as the girl went on. He merely shook his head and Sirius turned back to Ophelia, "Enlighten me."

"Please don't encourage her," James requested but it was too late.

"Evans said hello to me this morning," Ophelia informed the boy, still speaking in her faux-James voice. "I didn't even call her name! What do you think that means? Do you think she's warming up to me? My Lily Flower."

"I don't sound like that," James protested, crossing his arms over his chest. There was no way that's what he sounded like.

Ophelia and Sirius turned to him and the latter spoke, "You totally do." No wonder Lily seemed to want nothing to do with him. It was rather annoying.

James narrowed his eyes at the pair as Ophelia giggled, finding the situation amusing for whatever reason. He had never seen her this carefree before. She seemed more herself then who everyone expected her to be.

The girl curtseyed before removing the tie from around her neck. She crossed the room to James and placed it back around her shoulders. He reached up and removed the glasses from her face. She smiled up at him, "How did I do?"

"Bloody awful," he replied and she narrowed her eyes causing him to grin.

"I could have cheated," she informed him. "But I didn't. Sirius seemed to think my version of you was good."

"How could you have cheated?" he asked in confusion.

"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she explained and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"You are?" he gaped.

"What, did you think I dye my hair a different color all the time?" she asked and he seemed to register that her hair was a light purple rather than the usual bleach blonde he remembered. "You really aren't observant at all, are you?"

He grimaced slightly, "I'm beginning to realize that, yeah."

O P H E L I A  L O V E G O O D

She wasn't sure if it was the firewhiskey talking or if she just needed a little bit of liquid courage to motivate herself but she couldn't think of a reason as to why she shouldn't tell James that it was her he had been talking.

They had spent the majority of the night discussing random things that they could think of. To onlookers it was stupid conversation but to them it was what felt like a major turning point.

That is until Ophelia overheard a conversation between a group of girls that sat behind them, listening into what James and Ophelia had been discussing.

"Wait a minute," Ophelia shook her head with a laugh, "You and Remus were the ones who flooded the Great Hall in fifth year? And you blamed it on Sirius and Peter and managed to get away with it?"

"That's Loony Lovegood," one of the girls observed and Ophelia did her best to ignore them as she focused on what James had been saying. "What is she doing talking to James Potter?"

"Yeah," he confirmed with a grin. "Remus told the teacher's I was with him and there was no way I could have been involved. He never gets in trouble for anything because the teachers think he's some level headed, normal student."

"And they believed him?" she asked.

"Look at her," another girl commented. "She looks so desperate."

"They always do," he answered. He frowned after a moment, "Are you okay?"

"Of course," she nodded in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He pointed to her head, "Your hair."

She grew confused at this and held her hair up to see that it was a bright red. She took a deep breath and it slowly morphed back into her normal blonde hair.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Merlin," another muttered, "She's a freak."

"Maybe I should go," Ophelia announced as she stood up, confusing James. "It's getting late."

He stood up as well. "Let me walk you back to your common room," he suggested. "You've had a fair amount to drink."

"I'm fine," she shook her head, glancing over at the girls for a brief moment before quickly looking back at him. "I know where it is."

He looked over to where she had been looking to find them watching the two. "Just ignore them," he shook his head. "

"While I wish it were that easy, I'm afraid it's harder for me to hide my emotions than for most people," she informed him with a frown. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He glanced behind himself for a brief moment before looking back at the girl, "What about patrolling tonight?"

"I already asked two Prefects to cover," she explained as she made her way to the portrait. "Goodnight, James."

And that was what she had to be afraid of.