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

"The third paragraph, second sentence," she told him and he looked down at his book. "That's the answer."

"Right..." James trailed off. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Ophelia wasn't paying attention to what the boy was doing until a smell invaded her senses.

Her nose wrinkled in distaste, "You smoke?"

James moved the cigarette away from his lips and looked down at it, "Yes...?"

"Do you know how bad that is for you?" she inquired, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I've heard that once or twice, yes," he replied before raising it back to his lips. She narrowed her eyes as the boy let out a puff of smoke.

"Let me take a hit," she requested and his head shot over to the girl. She hadn't been sure what his reaction was going to be but this was definitely better than what she could have imagined.

"What?" he asked in confusion. He looked from the cigarette to the girl. "No."

She raised an eyebrow, "And why not?"

"Well, because..." he began but he shook his head. He pointed at the girl, throwing the cigarette onto the ground and stomping it out. "I see what you did there."

"You're the one that said you wanted to be friends," she reminded him as she sat up and gathered her belongings, stuffing them into her bags. When she found out Reggie smoked, she stopped talking to him for weeks until he decided to quit. "I don't befriend smokers."

"Hold on," he shook his head as she stood up. She slung her bag over her shoulder, "Wait a minute."

She huffed before turning to face him, "Waiting." It wasn't as though she had a problem with smokers, per se. She just wasn't a fan of people who willingly put toxins into their body and were content with slowly killing themselves.

"You're really going to leave because I smoked one cigarette?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"What number are you on for the day?" she asked, a pointed expression on her face. He narrowed his eyes at the girl and she turned to leave. He called for her to wait again and she turned around impatiently.

"Number three," he answered honestly and her eyes widened. It wasn't even lunch time yet. "They help me relax."

"Because everytime you take a hit, it releases dopamine, you nimrod," she pointed out, rolling her eyes at the boy.

His eyebrows pinched together in confusion, "Dopamine?"

"The hormone that triggers positive feelings," she replied with a wave of her hand. "There are healthier ways of doing that, you know."

"This works for me," he pointed out.

"Jack off or something then," she suggested and he was surprised to hear her of all people tell him to do something like that. "But don't fill your lungs with tar."

"Had I known you were so controlling, I never would have tried to be your friend," he informed her and she scoffed.

"Sorry if I like my friends alive and healthy," she shook her head in disbelief. "Have fun slowly killing yourself, Potter."

"Ophelia!" he shouted after the girl but she was already gone.

J A M E S P O T T E R

His leg bounced up and down as he sat at the table, waiting for the girl to arrive and sit in the seat she normally sat at so he could talk to her. He hadn't touched a single cigarette since their fight yesterday. Although he wasn't even sure that's what you could call it.

But she hadn't talked to him since it happened. And on the night they were supposed to patrol, she sent Remus and Lily to do it with him instead. So it had to have been a fight.

They had labeled their relationship as friends for all of two seconds and they had already fought. The door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom opened and his head whipped around to find Ophelia standing there.

Her eyes landed on the boy and her once carefree expression morphed into a scowl. She crossed the room and sat next to Remus instead of the seat she always sat in.

James huffed as the chair next to him moved and Sirius took a seat next to him. "I have a question."

James narrowed his eyes, "Okay..."

"Who do you enjoy talking to more?" he inquired. "The girl on the table or Ophelia."

He faltered at this. He had never considered comparing the two but when he thought about it, the two girls had a lot in common. Would the girl from the table have cared that he smokes? He shook his head. It didn't matter because Ophelia did and that was enough for him. Why though, he had no idea.

"How's the whole withdrawal thing going?" Sirius inquired.

"Awful," James replied simply. His hands tapped against the table as his legs bounced up and down. He watched Ophelia as she talked about something with Remus, "Bloody awful."

Sirius laughed at this before he too looked over at the table where the girl sat and his eyes landed on Remus. His smile dropped as Remus looked up and met his eye. Ophelia appeared to notice this and she looked over to where Remus was looking to find James and Sirius watching them.

She rolled her eyes before facing the boy. She tapped his arm before pointing at something on the table.

"You don't think they have a thing for each other, do you?" Sirius asked and James turned to face him in confusion. "Ophelia and Remus."

"What?" he asked before glancing over at the two who were laughing at something. "No," he shook his head as he turned to face his friend, "They're just friends."

"Right," Sirius nodded with a huff as class began.

"I want a cigarette," James announced as he joined his friends at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall the following morning. He rammed his forehead into his fist, not bothering to put food on his plate. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Then have a cigarette?" Peter suggested although it sounded more like a question then an actual statement.

"He won't do that, Wormtail," Sirius replied, an amused expression on his face. "Loony Lovegood doesn't like smokers."

"Don't call her that," James snapped and Sirius raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"I think it's a great idea to quit smoking," Remus voiced his opinion as he read through the newspaper in his hands, not looking up at his friends. "Anyone who's smokes should consider quitting."

Sirius snorted, "Not happening."

"I didn't expect you to, Padfoot," he replied passively, not bothering to look up. "We all know you'll only do what you want to do. What does it matter how anyone else feels about it?"

James cleared his throat as he exchanged a wary look with Peter. The tension between the couple had been at an all time high and it wasn't of a sexual nature. "It fucking sucks," James informed them, his leg bouncing up and down again as he tried to think about anything except going to smoke a cigarette.

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

"So now you're not even talking to him?" Coralena asked as she placed food on her plate. "In both ways?"

"Well, no," she frowned. If she stopped talking to him through the table because she was upset with him over something that happened when they were talking in person, there was no way he wouldn't figure it out.

"He's been talking to you as you since the first day of school this year," she reminded the girl. "He doesn't have a problem with you. Why don't you just tell him?"

"I told you what happened at the party," she reminded him. "If I tell him it's me, that'll be how it is all the time."

"Isn't that how it is now?" she countered. "Besides, he's friends with you now, nothing will be different if you tell him it's you."

"We haven't even really been talking that much anymore," she shrugged. "Through the table," she added. "Maybe it's time to stop. And then I'll never have to tell him."

Coralena raised an eyebrow but stopped trying to convince her. "Is he okay?" she asked as she looked across the room at the boy. Even form the distance, she could see that he was visibly shaking and appeared as though he was on the verge of losing it.

Ophelia turned around in confusion and saw what she was referring to. He did look bad. She shrugged, turning forward, "Don't know. Haven't talked to him since the day before last."

"He looks like Reggie did when you managed to get him to quit smoking," she observed passively and Ophelia's head shot up at this. She looked back at the boy and couldn't help the smile that made its way onto her face. That's exactly what he looked like.

"Someone's happy," Reggie observed as he joined the two at the table. He gestured to Ophelia's hair, "May want to fix that. Or not."

Her nose wrinkled slightly before her hair color changed back to normal. "He's leaving," Coralena observed. "You should go talk to him."

Ophelia narrowed her eyes but stood up nevertheless, "I'll see you all later."

She made her way out of the Great Hall and spotted him at the other end, "Potter!"

James turned around in surprise and saw who it was calling him. He said something to Sirius quickly before he made his way over to the girl.

"You're trying to quit, aren't you?" she inquired, a faint smile on her face.

"You didn't exactly give me many options," he pointed out as he scratched the inside of his wrist anxiously.

"I didn't give you any options," she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. "I told you my viewpoint on something and you made a decision based on that."

"You've been ignoring me for the past two days," he replied. "It felt more like an ultimatum."

"I was ignoring you because you were being an asshole," she explained. "I am not controlling."

He faltered at this. He had forgotten he had said that. "So then why did you choose to talk to me now?"

"Coralena made an observation," she told him. "I thought I'd give you some advice."

"Advice?" he asked in confusion. "What kind of advice?"

"To help make the detoxing easier," she shrugged. "I helped Reggie."

J A M E S P O T T E R

"Okay..." he trailed off warily.

"You could start running," she recommended and he was immediately regretting agreeing to listen to her advice. "It's supposed to help curb the cravings," she explained with a wave of her hand upon seeing the look on his face. "Just an hour or so everyday. It won't kill you."

"I don't run," he shook his head.

"You play Quidditch," she pointed out, "And it's not as though you aren't in shape. Starting to run won't kill you."

"I fly around on a broomstick," he countered. Never did he think he would have to downplay Quidditch.

"It's still physical exertion," she informed him. "Come with me one time," she tried and he grew wary at this. "We'll run for as long as you can last and we'll keep a slow pace. I usually leave a little before six."

"You want me to wake up at five in the morning?" he gaped. She couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. "I am not a morning person."

"I'm aware," she replied, stifling a laugh. "Just one time. We can go tomorrow morning. If you aren't outside your portrait by five forty five, I'll leave without you."

"Fine," he huffed. "But if I'm in a bad mood, you can't get mad."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she grinned. "Hey, you should talk to Reggie," she suggested. "He quit back in fifth year."

"You want me to talk to your boyfriend about our addiction to a similar substance?" he asked with an incredulous expression.

She made a face at this, "First of all, ew." She shivered slightly, "Reggie is basically my brother. You do realize it's possible for a boy and a girl to be friends without having romantic feelings for each other?"

He was taken aback by this. He could have sworn they were together. "You're not dating him?"

She rolled her eyes at this, ignoring the question, "Second of all, it could help to talk to someone who has done it before. He may have tips that could make it easier."

"Does he have tips to help me not feel like I'm going to throw up all the time?" he asked, grimacing slightly as he grew nauseous, not for the first time since his last cigarette.

"You'd have to ask him," she pointed out. "I have to get to class but you should talk to him. You'd be surprised how much it helps."

James hesitated as he watched Reggie in the library. He was aware that this was a whole other level of creepy but it wasn't like he could just approach the boy at random.

Reggie looked up from whatever he was doing and caught the boy's eye. Reggie raised an eyebrow and James felt the color drain from his face as he stood up and crossed the room to him.

"Do you need something?" Reggie asked and James faltered. What was he supposed to say? He knew he had to say something because otherwise he would seem like a stalker. He wasn't sure that was much of a stretch.

"I'm trying to quit smoking," he announced and Reggie narrowed his eyes slightly. "And Ophelia suggested I talk to you."

"She got you too, huh?" he asked and James nodded. "She has a way with people." He couldn't help but agree with him but he didn't say anything. "What do you want to know?"

"The nausea," he stated. There were many things he wanted to know but for whatever reason the nausea was the worst. "I can barely focus as is and the nausea doesn't help. Is there anything that makes it not so bad?"

"Gum helps," he explained and James opened his mouth. "No, not tobacco gum. Regular mint chewing gum. There's a good one at Honeydukes. I can give you some of mine for now."

He nodded, placing his hands on his hips, "Yes, thank you."

Reggie crossed his arms over his chest as he looked over the boy. James couldn't help but feel intimidated which was odd because he was definitely more fit than the Ravenclaw. "Do you know what you're doing, Potter?"

James grew confused at this, "I'm quitting smoking?"

Reggie rolled his eyes, "What is it with Gryffindor's and being completely oblivious?" He dropped his arms to his sides, "With Ophelia, you dunderhead. Do you know what you're doing with Ophelia? Because as far as I, and everyone else at this school knew, you only had eyes for the Evans chick."

He shook his head, "Ophelia and I are just friends."

"I don't know if this is some twisted attempt to make her the laughing stock of the school or what but if I find out you did anything to hurt her, I will kill you myself," he explained and James's eyes widened slightly. "And I'll get away with it."

"I would never hurt her," James replied.

"I'm holding you to that, Potter."