{A/N: I would just like to say a big Thanks to my Talia, who collaborated on this chapter with me. She has made Ophelia more of a person.
And of course, I don't own anything here, only what you don't recognize}
CHAPTER NINE Of Grey Mornings and Black Nights
Ophelia cautiously opened one eye and peered around the dormitory. Last night had been the full moon, and for the first time in more than six years, she had slept, content with the knowledge that James, Pete and Sirius were with him.
However, dreams of underground tunnels and a faceless beast had made her toss and turn.
She looked around, as if half expecting the monster to jump from under Mai's bed and maul her.
But all was quiet save the sound of rhythmic breathing coming from the other side of the room.
Ophelia dressed in her house coat and made her way down to the common room, guided by the flickers of forgotten lamps. As her foot hit the cold stone, she noticed the familiar tufts of black hair sticking up from the couch.
"James." she yawned, "What are you do--"
Turning to face him, she saw his normally handsome face beginning to swell.
"Hullo." he grimaced. "Lovely morning, isn't it?"
She reached out to touch the purple flesh, making him flinch violently.
"Remus?" she whispered. "D-Did Re--"
"Remus would never hurt me." said James. "This.. was an accident from last night. We got a little carried away."
Ophelia took out her wand, "Perfalegro." she muttered, pointing it at James' bruises. His cheek felt as though it had been touched by an early winter frost.
"Ah," he sighed. "That's great."
"What about the others?"
"They're fine. Really, Phe, this isn't such a big deal." he replied. "We knew there would be.. accidents along the way."
She nodded. "Yeah, I just wish it wasn't so displayed."
Talia came bounding into the room. "Morning all. James.. you have a little.."
"I think I'm going to go see Madam Pomfrey." he said, getting to his feet. "If she asks, I'll tell her my wand backfired."
"Or you could tell her that you and Pete dueled and he came out the victor." giggled Ophelia, as the portrait swung closed behind him.
Talia shook her head. "That happened last night?"
"Yeah. But it was an accident."
"I didn't think something like that would happen..." she began, dropping her voice. "I didn't think anyone would get hurt."
"Then you didn't really understand what their plan was." replied Ophelia frankly. "He has little control over what he does after he transforms, that includes hurting others."
Talia became silent and stared into the fire.
"What are you thinking? I can see the wheels in your head spinning like mad."
"I want to help Remus."
Ophelia chuckled nervously. "I... thought we were."
"More so." she answered cryptically. "We could make a desensitizing potion."
"Right. Good one, Tal." She remained quiet. "You are kidding, aren't you?"
"No, I'm being completely serious. We've done far more complicated potions and look how they turned out."
"Yes, but the Animagi spells and potions only required patience. That potion, well, it would take a huge amount of willpower. It's incredibly hard to make."
"It was only an idea." huffed Talia, crossing her arms over her chest.
"She doesn't have to know..."
Ophelia squeezed her eyes shut. Talia still didn't know her sister was a Seer. "Er, I know that you're still planning on going through with it. So I'll help, I don't want you to be on my conscience."
Talia dove across the couch and pinned Ophelia in a hug. "Thank you. I promise I'll do most of the work, but I may need you to get a few of the ingredients."
"Yes, I'll do whatever you need. But I need food- I'm starving." she replied quickly, heading to the Great Hall.
It was a full week before Talia mentioned the potion again.
"Alright," she began, as they walked to the common room after a History of Magic lesson. "So I have everything we need, except for the Craeton venom. It's fairly easy to come by, so could you take care of that?"
Lily caught up to them. "David Cohen just asked me to get a bite with him next trip to Hogsmeade!" she squealed excitedly. "Can you believe it? He's so cute!"
"David Cohen? Well, well, Lil, congratulations." giggled Ophelia.
As they walked back to the dorm, conversation between the two girls turned to what Lily would wear on her date with the Gryffindor Beater.
Talia fell behind. "So you can get the Craeton venom?" she whispered to herself. "Thanks Phe, I knew I could count on you."
"You can borrow my black dress." offered Ophelia, as she dropped the heavy books onto her desk. "It would look great on you."
Talia reached the top of the stairs and stowed her bag away in her closet. "I don't mean to interrupt, but will you be able to get that.. thing for me? I'll need it in three days."
Ophelia looked up from her trunk. "What? Oh yes, I will have it to you by Thursday." she replied distractedly. "How about these shoes? If you order pumpkin juice you'll match."
Talia collapsed onto her bed, a smile forming at the corners of her mouth. She was going to help Remus in a way that no Animagi potion could.
Following a few hours of helping Lily pick out an outfit, Ophelia found herself in the common room with Sirius helping him with the weeks homework. Everyone else was asleep, leaving the insomniacs to themselves.
Sirius scratched his head with the purple quill. "So the automobile runs on... oil?"
"Gasoline. It runs on gasoline. Oil is used for maintenance." she replied. "But you were close."
"Alright. So automobiles run on gasoline, and trains run on... or are, rather, steam-powered?"
Ophelia nodded. "You're right."
Sirius leaned his chair back and stretched his arms above his head. "Of course I'm right. It's me."
"Right." She rolled her eyes. "Please forgive my stupidity."
"Ah, not a problem."
"Where are they?"
"Am I boring you, Sirius?" chuckled Ophelia. "Just say the word and I would be more than happy to go find Lily."
"What are you talking about?" he frowned. "Who said I was bored? I mean, yes, I would rather be doing anything other than homework. But you're not so bad, better than alone with Pete."
She grinned. "Aw thanks. That's the probably the closest thing to a compliment you could ever give."
Talia carefully added the sliced caterpillars to the bubbling cauldron, which she had been careful to hide beneath her bed.
"Add caterpillars to the mixture once it has begun to boil." she said aloud, reading from the dog-eared book. "Check. Once it has simmered for five minutes, allow to cool and add approximately twenty-three drops of Craeton venom."
"If she can get us tickets to their next performance," said Mai as she and Ophelia climbed the stairs. "I would be forever thankful."
"Well I don't think it's a problem, seeing as Bec--"
"Phe." Talia interrupted. "Do you have the Craeton venom? I need it within the next six and a half minutes."
Ophelia's heart dropped. She had forgotten to buy the one thing she had been assigned to get.
"Well, you see, the thing about that is.."
Talia's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "You forgot it?!"
She thought quickly. "No. No, it's here somewhere, just let me look for it." Ophelia then pretended to rummage around in her trunk. Her hands hit a cold vial.
She lifted the stopper and sniffed it. Craeton venom had a powerfully strong odor, and she needed something that would pass the test. The scent of skunk, or some other rotting smell filled her nostrils.
While Talia's back was turned, Ophelia poured the liquid into an empty flask. She ignored the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach and gave the vial to Talia.
"This is it?" she asked.
"Mm-hmm, yeah. That's the venom." she replied, the words spilling out of her mouth. "So you have all you need then? Because I have to meet Lily in the library."
Talia nodded. "Yes, thank you. Go. I'm perfectly fine."
Ophelia glided down the stairs as quickly as her feet could carry her. She ran past James and Sirius playing a game of wizard's chess, past Remus shouting after her to come back. She didn't stop until she reached the library.
Ophelia couldn't rightly understand what she had done, or why she didn't just tell Talia that her own life had gotten in the way. Yes, Talia would be upset, but she would have gotten over it.
As she walked towards Lily's table she pushed the fear out of her mind, convincing herself that the first batch would go wrong without her contribution. Talia would assume she had miscalculated one of the steps and would try again. Ophelia would then give her the real Craeton venom.
Talia went over her calculations at least a dozen times before coming to the conclusion that it was perfect.
The next week, on the night of the full moon, she gave a goblet of the potion to Remus, and he quickly downed the steaming drink.
Their plan was for Remus to become a wolf, fully controlling his actions, then he and the other Marauders could have a good night doing whatever it was they did (The girls preferred not to know.).
Ophelia sat on her bed, taking off her leather riding boots. She let them fall to the floor with a dull thud.
"What was that?" asked Talia, looking up from her spot at the desk.
"Sorry, just me."
"No worries." she beamed, "Nothing could damper my mood today."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Why? Are you daft? It's the first full moon in years that Remus won't be turning into a werewolf. Did you forget?"
Ophelia paled. "Y-You gave the potion to Remus? He took it?"
"I wasn't going to go to all that trouble to not give it to him in the end."
"Well c-congratulations."
"To both of us. You were the one who got the venom." said Talia.
"Right, here's to us." Ophelia whispered, raising an invisible glass. "I.. er, forgot something in the common room. I'll be right back."
Lily was mediating an argument between a couple of second years.
Ophelia grabbed her arm and dragged her away. "I need to ask you something."
"What is it? You're as white as a sheet."
"Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if someone added skunk essence in place of Craeton venom in a desensitizing potion?"
"You used skunk essence?" she hissed.
Ophelia clapped a hand over her friend's mouth. "Lil! I got distracted, alright? It was a minor oversight. But what exactly would happen?"
She sat down on the couch, her face scrunched up as it did when she was deep in thought. "Well... nothing, I suppose. Except the potion taking no effect, of course."
"But no bad side effects? He won't.. stay a werewolf, will he?" she cried.
Lily wrapped an arm around her friend. "I don't believe there is anything you could to that would make him a werewolf. Permanently."
"Are you sure?"
"I would stake my life on it." smiled Lily. "It was stupid, yes, but not dangerous."
Ophelia let out a sigh of relief. "That's a load off. Thanks Lil."
Talia awoke the next morning, eager to hear about the night from Remus.
But she couldn't find him, nor could she find Pete, James or Sirius.
Talia checked the boys' dorm, the common room, even the Great Hall to see if they had gone down for an early breakfast.
She returned to the girls' dormitory panting and wasted no time in waking Ophelia and Lily.
"S-Somethings h-happened." she wheezed. "Can't f-find any of th-them."
Ophelia sat up and exchanged a worried look with Lily in the process. "Er.. did you check the Infirmary?"
"Why would they be in the Infirmary?" said Talia frowning. "The potion was perfect."
"Not as perfect as you'd think." replied Ophelia quietly.
"What are you talking about?"
"I didn't give you Craeton venom as much as... essence of skunk."
"What?!" screeched Talia. "Do you have any idea what that may have done to him?"
"I'm quite certain nothing bad would come of it." Lily reassured her.
"I studied the ingredients thoroughly. If one was replaced with another... the consequences would be horrible. How could you have done this, Ophelia? God, sometimes you are get so wrapped up in your own life!"
"Oh, that's rich coming from you, Tal. Do you even know what I went through over break, or were you too busy being hungover?"
"Oh so this entire thing is some sort of sick payback for my absence this summer?"
"You can't blame this entirely on me! How do we know you didn't do something wrong, too?"
"Don't ever insult my potions!" Talia yelled.
"I wouldn't have dared if you had a perfect track record."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Lily planted herself firmly between the two of them. "Let's not fight. Let's--"
"You know exactly what it means." Ophelia continued. "Why did we have to throw out the first batch of the Animagi potion?"
"It all comes out.." Talia gathered her things and hastily pulled a bulky sweater over her pajamas. "I'm going to the Infirmary to see if Remus is there. Please don't come."
Ophelia stood in her way. "He's my brother. Don't ever tell me that I can or can't see him."
"Because he'll be so happy with you at the moment. Do yourself a favor and stay here."
Ophelia fell back onto the bed and buried her head in her hands. Lily sat down next to her, rubbing her back.
"I screwed up."
"Yes you did." said Lily honestly. "But now you can move past it and learn from your mistakes."
"You're so wise, Lil. Like Buddha." she answered. "I still think something could have gone wrong on her end."
"It's a possibility." she shrugged. "What.. were you talking about earlier?"
Ophelia was quiet. "Over the summer, I learned that I'm a Seer. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but I'm still trying to process it myself."
"No, I understand. Don't think on it."
"Right now, only you and Remus know."
Lily nodded. "Thanks for telling me. That must be pretty... cool."
"I don't know about that, really. But anyways, what am I going to do about this?"
"Apologize."
"But it's not even my fault!" cried Ophelia. "Talia probably added some tequila or something."
"Well, I think it would be better if you just apologized, but if I know you at all, you're gonna stick it out."
"You're bloody right I will."
Lily thought for a moment. "It's going to be tough. I'm sure Remus will be pretty upset. And Talia definitely is. Sirius, Pete and James may opt to stay out of it. But it will probably blow over fairly quickly."
But for once Lily had been wrong.
The potion had taken effect, only it had made Remus more violent than his usual, werewolf self. The skunk essence was an inhibitor and it triggered had an outburst.
The werewolf had leashed out and didn't recognize his friends for who they were.
Pete, the smallest of the Marauders, had escaped through a fissure in the wall.
While James, the largest of the group, had managed to block most of Remus's attacks.
Which left Sirius to be the focus of his rage.
When Talia entered the Infirmary, Remus, James and Pete were gathered around the stiff bed. Sirius was dressed in clean, white hospital clothes, his head heavily bandaged.
Madam Pomfrey, a true miracle worker, had gotten the swelling to go down, at least for the time being.
When asked, James quickly explained that Sirius had been dared to touch the Whomping Willow. It was a joke gone wrong.
"What happened?" whispered Remus, after he had taken Talia away from the group. "Was it the potion?"
Talia nervously bit her lip trying to hold back the tears. As much as she hated Ophelia at this moment, it wasn't like her to tattle on someone. "I think I miscalculated the third step. I'm.. incredibly sorry."
"It.. it's alright." he sighed. "Tal, Sirius will be fine. Madam Pomfrey said he should wake up in a bit, and there's no lasting damage."
She nodded distractedly. "Yeah, alright."
Once the Healer kicked them out, Remus, James, Pete and Talia reluctantly returned to the common room.
Lily and Ophelia were already there, deep in discussion.
"Morning Phe." said Remus, sitting down next to his sister.
"Morning... Rem." she frowned, "Wait! So you're... not mad with me?"
"Why would I be?"
"Right. Why would you be?" she repeated. "I'm just being crazy."
Talia steamed. She couldn't believe Ophelia wasn't going to confess her role in the matter. She was going to let Talia take all of the blame.
"I have an idea why you might be mad at her." said Talia, joining the conversation, which had now turned to the Gryffindor match against Ravenclaw.
"Don't you dare." hissed Ophelia.
"It may have something to do with her purposefully giving me the wrong ingredient."
"What?"
"Which turned out to be a werewolf inhibitor. A widely known one at that." she continued.
"It's not like I did it intentionally. I didn't know it would hurt him... hurt anyone."
"You didn't know essence of skunk was a werewolf inhibitor?" said Talia disbelievingly. "I find that very hard to believe."
"I find it just as hard to accept that for once you had absolutely nothing to do with the failure of your own potion." Ophelia retorted. "I'm willing to share the blame, but anything more than that is ridiculous."
"You're the one responsible for Sirius being in the Infirmary!"
Ophelia swallowed the lump in her throat. "S-Sirius is in the Infirmary?"
"And it's your fault."
"Our fault!" she cried. "I wasn't the one who thought I could just invent a potion!"
Talia turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.
"R-Remus?" Ophelia began.
"I don't even want to look at you." said Remus as he stood up and followed Talia.
James opened his mouth to say something then closed it. He shook his head and he and Pete left Lily and Ophelia to themselves.
"Yes, go ahead and leave, because I was the one who made the potion." scoffed Phe. "Wait a minute, that was Talia!"
Ophelia and Lily spent the afternoon outside, soaking up the last of the Autumn heat.
After dinner, which they ate with David Cohen and his friends further down the Gryffindor table, Ophelia snuck off to Infirmary to visit Sirius.
He was laying in the bed, still as a statue, with the starched white linens drawn up to his chin.
"I'm sorry, you're here." whispered Ophelia. "I... It's my fault. Talia didn't do anything wrong."
She waited for him to wake, or even move a bit.
"I just wanted to come and make sure you weren't too disfigured. Your looks will probably be your ticket through life, and I really don't want to have to support you financially."
Ophelia left Sirius a box of his favorite Honeydukes chocolate, and returned to the dormitories.
Mai and Lily were talking excitedly about the approaching concert.
"How is Sirius?" asked Mai.
"Sleeping." she answered, wrapping a thick quilt around herself. "He looks fine though."
Talia sat up in her bed, her face hidden partially hidden in the shadows.
"Does that help you feel better?"
Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Shut up Talia, really."
"I didn't say anything."
"No, but I could tell what you were thinking."
"Right," said Talia sarcastically. "Because you know me so well."
"Why are you still talking?"
She pulled the coverings around her bed and Talia's side of the room was silent.
"Anyways," Mai began. "I told my parents that I was spending Easter holiday studying for my OWLs. Which I probably should be, but seeing the Who live... well, I would never pass that up."
"Pete is so cute." sighed Lily.
"Pettigrew?!" Ophelia squealed, covering her face with her pillow. She laughed maniacally. "Eww!"
"No!" screamed Lily, wiping the tears from her eys. "Townsend, you dunce!"
Mai cracked a smile. "Good, I was just about to make a cutting remark about your taste in wizards. But Peter Townsend is in a category all to himself..."
Ophelia changed into a pair of light pajamas and crawled into bed. "Well, good night." she said, nearly forgetting about the day's incidents.
The next morning, a Monday, Sirius was allowed to leave the Infirmary. He immeadiately went to the Great Hall where he met Talia and the Marauders.
Sirius sat down, grinning. "Pretty fun night, huh?"
"Yeah you're so tough now that you're now in a hospital gown." chuckled James.
A loud laugh echoed throughout the Hall.
Sirius looked down the table to where Lily and Ophelia were giggling at whatever David Cohen and his bunch of sixth year friends were saying.
"Why are Phe and Lily sitting all the way down there?" he frowned.
The group exchanged an awkward look.
Remus cleared his throat noisily. "You know that potion Talia made for me last moon? Well, she put Ophelia in charge of getting the Craeton venom. But instead she gave her skunk essence."
"And you drank that?" Sirius howled. "My regrets, Moony."
"It's a werewolf inhibitor. It's the reason I attacked you."
"That's why I was in the Infirmary? Because Phe slacked off? Sounds like something I would do... And that's why they're hanging out with Ben and his gang?"
"She was totally irresponsible." Remus replied.
"Wait.. she's the reason I missed half my weekend?"
"Er.. that would be the least of what she did, but yeah, I guess." Talia chuckled.
Once breakfast was over, Ophelia made her way to Muggle Studies. She entered the dreary room.
Out if habit, she sat down at the table she and Sirius shared in the back of the class.
Ophelia set down her books. "Hey Padfoot. Glad to see you're in one piece."
Sirius pretended to be interested in the dirt on his shoes, kicking them against the floor.
"Hello? Earth to Sirius..." Ophelia clued in a moment later. "Great, now you're mad at me too?"
Sirius remained quiet.
"Fine. If thats how you want it to be..." She gathered her books and crossed the room.
"Colin?" she asked sweetly, throwing a glance back at Sirius. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Colin Turner quickly cleared off the empty seat. "Y-Yeah, of c-course Ophelia."
"Call me Phe." she smiled.
Ophelia looked wildly around her. She had just been holding Remus's hand, talking to Noah about maybe getting a practice wand.
"Six years old is far too young to have a wand." Noah explained. "Be patient, you'll get one when you head off to school."
She was about to protest when she realised she had lost her father and Remus in the crowd. Ophelia had never been to Diagon Alley, and she had no idea how to find either of them.
"Daddy?" she called.
The passing witches and wizards paid her no attention as they hurried by.
Ophelia began walking, hoping to see the familiar grey hair of Noah.
She took a left
Followed by another left.
And then a sharp right that went up on a sort of hill.
She peered into the dark shop windows in amazement; she had never in her life seen so many angry-looking people.
Ophelia felt a heavy hand come down on her shoulder and spun around with a gasp.
She was standing across from a dark-haired boy in finely stitched robes.
"What are you doing here?" the boy asked her.
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Ophelia whispered.
The boy offered his hand. "Sirius Black."
She thought the name sounded familiar, as if she had heard it mentioned by Noah. "Ophelia Lupin."
"So now we're not strangers." grinned Sirius. He looked at her bright pink robes. "Are you lost?"
She nodded. "I can't find my father. We were going to Flourish and Blotts for some new history books for Remus and I."
"Flourish and Blotts is in Diagon Alley. That's quite a bit away from here."
Ophelia could feel the tears begin to well up. "W-Where are w-we?"
"It's okay, please don't cry." Sirius pleaded, looking around. "I'll help you find your father."
She wipde at her eyes with a handkerchief from her pocket. "Okay," she sniffed. "Thank you."
Ophelia and Sirius walked in silence, until they passed Florean Fortescue's and Sirius bought them both a cone.
"Here we are." he said, as they stood outside the towering building. "Flourish and Blotts. Can you find--"
"You're coming in with me, aren't you?"
Sirius looked at his silver pocketwatch. He knew his parents would be upset when they discovered he was missing, but he was in no real hurry to get back to them.
"Yes, of course I'm coming in with you." he repeated.
Ophelia smiled warmly. "Thank you Sirius."
"You're welcome."
Ophelia woke from her dream with a start, her heart pounding loudly in her chest.
It had been two weeks since the row; the longest weeks of her life.
Everyday was like the last.
During breakfast, lunch and dinner, Ophelia and Lily sat with the sixth years, while throwing nasty looks down to the Marauders end of the table.
After classes, they would spend the night in the common room, going over notes for their OWLs.
Seeing as how Ophelia was the most stubborn of the group, she imagined this fight going on forever because she refused to admit to Talia that it had been her fault.
It had now turned into some kind of sick contest to see who could stick it out the longest.
Lily had asked Ophelia to meet her in the library to go review their Ancient Runes essays.
Ophelia entered the deserted library and looked around for her friend. She noticed Remus sitting at the first table. Their eyes akwardly met.
"I was just leaving." he said quietly, shuffling his papers around.
"Don't bother. There's more than one table here." Ophelia replied, heading towards the back. When she set her books down, she changed her mind and went back to Remus's desk. "How long do you expect this to go on?"
"W-What?" he stuttered, caught off his guard.
"You not talking to me, how long did you think it was going to last?"
"If it had been up to me, it would never have started."
"You mean if I hadn't given Talia the wrong ingredient?"
"No, I meant if you had apologized from the beginning. I don't think you quite understand what happened. I wasn't just a werewolf, Phe, I was an angry werewolf that attacked my best friends. I could have killed them." Remus explained, his voice breaking.
Ophelia had never thought about it like that. He was right; it was a miracle that Sirius and the others weren't badly hurt.
She could feel that familiar lump swell in her throat as she imagined her life without her friends, or how guilty Remus had felt for the past weeks.
"I... I.. I'm sorry Remus." she cried. "I never meant for anyone to get hurt, I just wanted to help Lily with her date."
Remus smiled weakly. "Thank you for finally saying that."
Ophelia nodded and hastily wiped her cheek. "I'm sorry."
"I know."
She spun around and left the library, her shaking feet carrying her back to the dorm.
She found Lily lacing up her shoes. "I was just coming to.. what's wrong?"
"It w-was my f-fault." she whispered.
"What are you talking about?"
"Everything! R-Remus, and Sirius... it was all my fault."
A choking sound echoed around the room.
They turned to see Talia topple out if her bed, her eyes closed.
"Talia?"
She didn't respond.
Lily and Ophelia each put one of her arms around their shoulders and carried her off to the Infirmary.
Madam Pomfery was baffled as to what was wrong with her, but said she was sure she would wake up soon.
An hour later, Talia opened one eye.
"Could you.. give us a bit?" said Ophelia.
Lily nodded. "I'll just be outside in the hall."
"What happened?" she asked.
Talia squinted, as if trying to remember. "I... was in my bed. Then you came in. And you were really upset. I think I absorbed it."
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Talia. You didn't mess up the potion. I did. It was my fault. I'm.. really sorry." Ophelia repeated.
"I know, I could feel it. That's all I really wanted to hear, you know."
"I know."
"So we're done, right? This is over?"
Ophelia sighed. "Oh, thank god. It's so good to hear you say that."
After Talia was released from the Infirmary, everything returned to normal.
The next day, Ophelia slept in. She ran around the dorm trying to find a clean pair of robes and something to eat pn the way to class, as breakfast was now over.
She ran through the halls, knotting her tie and throwing her tangled hair into a messy ponytail.
Ophelia ran into the Muggle Studies classroom and took her usual spot next to Colin. "Hullo." she panted.
"Did you sleep in?"
"Yes, I had the--"
"Sorry to interupt."
Ophelia looked up to see Sirius standing over her.
"But it seems as if I've misplaced my partner, and seeing as how we have OWLs in a few months, I may need her notes. So will you mind terribly if I take her back? No? Thanks mate, you're a decent guy."
Ophelia grinned, unable to hide her excitement. "Sorry Colin. I'm needed."
She quickly got her things and joined Sirius in the back row, leaving Colin to wonder what had just happened.
Ophelia pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh Padfoot, I missed you!"
Sirius pulled at her hands. "Yes, yes. No need to strangle me to death."
"Oh," she giggled. "Sorry."
"Not a problem." he said, eyeing her notes. "And thanks for the chocolates."
{I know, I know, a kind of silly way to end this chapter, but I'm just really anxious to move away from this. }
