J A M E S P O T T E R

"What are you doing?" Ophelia asked once she had looked over at him. He grew amused at the expression on her face. He had never seen her look more confused and she looked cute. No, he shook his head. Not cute. Despite his internal protest, he knew there was truthfully no use in denying it. She was adorable. That didn't mean anything though.

"I'm sitting next to you," he pointed out. He pulled his potions book from his bag and placed it on the desk.

She narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Why?"

"Because I can," he replied with a shrug. She watched him warily as she set up her station.

"We're sitting here today," Sirius observed as he took a seat next to James. He glanced over at Ophelia before looking back at the boy, "Why is that, exactly?"

James opened his mouth to reply but Ophelia beat him to it, "Apparently it's because you can." She opened her textbook to the page Slughorn had written on the board. Remus entered the room a moment later and took a seat next to Ophelia.

"I thought you were-" Sirius began but he cut himself off with a shake of his head as he looked over at Ophelia for a moment. "I thought you weren't coming to class today."

"I didn't realize I had to tell you everything I do," Remus announced and Ophelia's eyes widened at this. The pair usually seemed like a happy couple, fighting on occasion. She may not have known them but she was certain they had never fought this badly before.

Ophelia turned to James in alarm and was about to ask him what was happening when she realized he appeared just as confused as she did, if not, more so. She was more than grateful when Professor Slughorn stood up and began to explain what they would be doing in class.

Apparently they would be attempting to create Amortentia, a very powerful love potion that releases a different smell for everyone based off of what brings them comfort and what their preferences are.

"Pair off and get to work," Slughorn told them. James perked up at this. He could ask Ophelia and they-

"Moony, can we-" Sirius had tried but Remus cut him off.

"I'm working with Ophelia," he stated simply. He began to sort through the ingredients.

Both James and Ophelia turned to look at him in confusion, replying in unison, "You are?" The pair turned to look at each other and then quickly looked away. Ophelia cleared her throat, "We are working together."

The words had seemed more forced than she intended. She was just surprised he had requested to work with her. She was certain it had more to do with whatever was going on between him and Sirius and less to do with her though.

James turned to face Sirius who had a very prominent frown plastered on his face as he watched Remus work with Ophelia. He glanced back at the pair before facing his friend, "Okay, let's do this."

The pair went to work on setting up their potion. There were a good fifteen minutes left of class when he and Sirius had finished.

The Professor nodded approvingly, "Looking good." James smiled at this. "What is it you smell, Mr. Potter?" Slughorn inquired and the boy wafted the potion.

"Um," he began, sniffing the air. "Lavender, I think? Vanilla maybe?" He shrugged, "I'm really not sure."

Slughorn nodded before moving over to Remus' and Ophelia's potion. James looked up at Sirius who was watching him with a raised eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," the boy shook his head as he put his textbook into his bag. "I just figured you would have smelled lilies or some shit like that."

James grew confused at this as Slughorn asked the pair next to them, "And what do you smell, Ms. Lovegood?"

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

"Oh, I don't know..." Ophelia shook her head. "I'm really not all that good at guessing what a smell is. I'll probably be wrong."

"You should tell us, Ophelia," Sirius suggested with a knowing look. James couldn't help but feel like he had missed something as he looked between the two.

"Sandalwood," she answered quickly. She shook her head slightly as she looked up at the Professor, "Mahogany, I think. And grass."

Slughorn nodded at this before crossing the room to talk to other students. Remus glared at Sirius as Ophelia stared at her book, fighting down the blush she could feel making its way up her neck.

Sirius huffed as he stood up from his seat and started to grab the rest of his things. James looked up at this, "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here," he replied simply, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

"Class isn't over," Remus pointed out but he didn't even bother to look up from his book.

"Thanks for the intel, Lupin," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I would have never been able to figure that out without your help."

Ophelia turned to James in confusion, "What is going on?"

"You, keep your mouth shut," Sirius suggested and Ophelia's eyes widened.

James turned to the boy in surprise, "Sirius-"

"Don't take this out on her just because you're upset," Remus shook his head at the boy in disbelief. "She didn't do anything."

"You know what?" Ophelia spoke up warily. "It's fine, really. I'm sure neither of you want to say something you don't really mean so maybe-"

"Why the sudden desire to defend her?" Sirius asked and Remus scoffed at this.

"We're back on this again," he ran a hand through his hair. "Really?"

"Seems to be a recurring issue," he pointed out. "Maybe it needs to be addressed."

"We've already talked about this," Remus reminded the boy.

"It's not my fault you can't seem to keep it in your pants."

"Guys," James tried, looking between his friends. "Maybe you should-"

"It's not my fault you're such a dick!" Remus shouted back and at this point they had the entire room's attention. He closed his eyes and shook his head, calming himself down as best as he could. "Just go then."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something in response but apparently thought better of it as he clamped his mouth shut and made his way out of the room. James watched as his friend left the room for a moment before facing Remus and Ophelia, "I'm going to..."

Ophelia nodded and Remus merely stared down at his hands. James frowned before following after Sirius, no doubt to figure out what was going on.

She turned to face Remus after a moment. "Are you..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah," he nodded as the bell rang and he began to gather his things. "Some things just aren't meant to work out, I guess."

"Is it..." she paused for a moment, contemplating what to say. "Can I ask what happened?"

"He doesn't trust me," Remus shrugged. "That's not something that can be fixed."

J A M E S P O T T E R

"Would you stop running away from me?" James requested as he followed Sirius through the halls. Sirius entered the library, "And would you stop ignoring me?"

"I'm not in the mood to talk about it," he pointed out as he took a seat at the table.

James placed his bag on top of the table with a huff, "I'm not giving you a choice anymore."

"It's not as though you could force me," he pointed out and James' eyes flickered down to the words scratched onto the table.

He had almost forgotten. Who was he kidding? He had completely forgotten. But it appeared that she had too and it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

"Back over here, James," Sirius rolled his eyes. James shook his head and focused on his friend in front of him, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly, moving his bag so it covered the sentence he had written over a week ago. "Now, are you going to tell me what happened between you two or am I going to have to pry it out of him?"

Sirius faltered at this. "I have a better idea," he announced. "You let it drop and we move on."

"I can't really do that when my two best friends are fighting," he countered. He stood up and gestured at the table, "Come up with a reply to your girlfriend otherwise we'll both have relationship problems."

As Sirius left the library, Ophelia entered. "Ophelia," he greeted with a smile. She waved at him as Reggie followed in behind her and James' smile faltered. Right, he recalled, She has a boyfriend. Why did that bother him so much? He shook his head as Ophelia turned and whispered something to him. Reggie looked over at James and nodded before going to take a seat at an empty table.

Ophelia approached James, her book clutched against her chest, "Is Sirius okay?"

"He will be," James frowned. "Did Remus say anything to you?"

"Not really," she replied. "He mentioned something about trust and how it was unfixable. I don't know what happened but I hope they can work it out."

"Me too," he agreed. He watched the girl for a moment and she glanced back at where Reggie sat. She opened her mouth to say something but he spoke quickly.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" he blurted out and she raised an eyebrow at the boy. He cringed at himself but it wasn't as though he could take it back.

"No," she replied, "Why?"

"It's just..." he trailed off after a moment. The truth was, he wanted to hang out with her. But he wasn't just going to come out and say it. "I've been struggling in Potions," he lied. "And you're top of the class so I was wondering if you could help me out with the homework."

"Yeah, I can," she nodded and he relaxed significantly. "Is around ten okay with you?"

In the morning? he thought to himself. He wasn't going to complain about the time because he was worried about her changing her mind. "That works," he agreed with a nod. "I'll meet you outside the Ravenclaw common room?"

"Yeah, alright," she smiled at him and he felt his breath hitch in his throat. Merlin, her smile was perfect. Beyond perfect, really, it was-No. He shook his head, cutting his thoughts short. "I have to go," she informed him, gesturing back to where Reggie was watching the two with narrowed eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. She turned and walked away. He watched her for a moment before grabbing his bag off the table. He caught sight of the question he had asked the girl and thought about it for a moment. He pulled out his wand and quill, jotting down a new response before erasing the previous one.

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

"I'm just saying, be careful," Reggie informed her as he turned the page of his textbook. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"It's not a date!" she exclaimed for the thousandth time and people turned to look at her. She received a hush from the librarian and she sunk down in her chair. She glanced over at where James was and saw that he had just erased something from the table. The table. She had never responded. "We're just friends."

"Yeah, and I'm a virgin," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "Whatever is going on between you two, it's not just friendly."

"I'm tutoring him," she pointed out, "Not giving him a blowjob." He grimaced at the idea and she rolled her eyes. "Do your homework," she suggested. "You're barely passing your classes."

"I could always just become a wizarding prostitute," he pointed out as he closed the book he had been reading from. "There's a large demand for that. Plus, I'm hot."

She rolled her eyes at this, "Then be a wizarding prostitute with a good education."

He huffed, "Always ruining my fun."

"I have to go," she informed him. "I have to patrol."

"No, you don't," he reminded her, his eyebrows pinched together in the middle. He was right. Dumbledore had suggested arranging groups of Prefects to patrol so they wouldn't have to every night so they had arranged a schedule.

"I know," she grinned. "I just want to get away from you."

"Words hurt, Lovegood," he reminded her and she rolled her eyes once more before she moved to leave the room. He huffed before facing the table again.

She stopped at the table where James had been and read what it said.

'I didn't mean to upset you,' he had written. 'Just forget about it.'

'I've just been busy,' she wrote quickly. 'It's not you.'

Which was mostly true. After what had happened at the party after the Quidditch game, she was reluctant to reply. She was more than surprised when James had still wanted to speak to her.

She erased his line and stuck her wand behind her ear before leaving the library.