{Alright. Thanks to MissMrprk for her review of Book the First. I just want to clarify my reasoning, so that she don't think me a terrible Muggle. Because of the book versus the movie (Chaser versus Seeker), I decided to handle it by making him both. I like to cover my bases.}
CHAPTER TWENTY Engulfing Blackness
Ophelia woke up a few hours later and shuffled down the stairs to get herself a glass of banana juice.
A flicker of light coming from the living room caught her eye.
'Who else could be up at this hour?' she thought to herself. Her stomach leaped in hopes that it could be Sirius.
She held her breath and entered the room, only to find James asleep on the couch.
"James?" she whispered. "Are you awake?"
There was no reply, only the dull hum of the television.
Ophelia went to the hall closet and retrieved a thick quilt. As she was draping it over him, he let out a sigh and rolled onto his stomach.
She looked at his serene face which was eerily aglow from the light cast by the hall lamp.
For some reason, she knelt down and lightly ran her hand over his cold brow.
Ophelia felt as though she were being plunged into a lake of icy water, her pulse slowing down to a soft beat.
"I say we join league with Dumbledore. I would trust him with my life."
"As do we all James, but we have other things to think about. If we agree to do this, we're taking a huge risk."
"Are we willing to?"
"If we do this... we all do this. I won't have one of us join him and leave the rest to fear for their safety."
"Are we agreed then?"
Ophelia gasped as she was pulled back to the Manor. She looked around her; everything was as it should have been.
Only she wasn't.
James turned onto his side and grunted, completely unaware of what had just transpired.
She stepped back warily, knocking over a vase.
Once out of the room, she ran up the stairs two at a time, and dove onto her bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Ophelia yawned and sat up in bed. It was their last morning of holiday, as the Hogwarts Express was due to leave King's Cross in a few hours.
She glanced round the room, which was quickly filling up with thick, white steam.
She thought she heard the faint sound of someone singing in the bathroom, but dismissed it and let her head drop back to the cushions.
A moment later, she distinctly caught Sirius singing some Rolling Stones song.
Ophelia squeezed her eyes shut. "Dear Zeus, please let this be a dream. Please let this only be a dream." she pleaded.
The shower stopped and the singing became louder.
"I know I've dreamed you a sin and a lie, I have my freedom but I don't have much time." he sang, his voice echoing off the bathroom walls.
"Wake up." she instructed herself, as she crawled under the blankets. The door to the bathroom opened with a click. "Oh god." she muttered.
"Well good morning Phe." said Sirius cheerily. "Didn't wake you, did I?"
"No, no, I'm fine. You can leave now."
But instead he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Why are you acting so odd?"
"I am not."
"Think I know when you're being weird."
"Well obviously you don't." she snapped, peering out from beneath the covers. "Why were you in my bathroom? There are five others, you know."
"Yours has the best soaps. You know how I love raspberry." he said simply. He paused. "Does this have something to do with your little boyfriend that didn't show up at the concert?"
"What?" Ophelia threw the blankets off and immediately regretted it. Sirius was in a loosely belted bath robe, his hair dripping onto her bed.
"Becca told me that you dated her friend over holiday."
"Er... what? Oh. Well, I don't even remember his name, doesn't that tell you something?"
"Jamie. His name was Jamie."
Ophelia nodded. "Right, well, it's history. Not like you and Becca."
"There is no me and Becca." he grinned. "I thought I made that clear when I ran away from the tart."
She broke into a slight smile. "She is a bit of a tart, huh?"
Sirius nodded. "I should know, right?"
"That's great, really." said Ophelia, pulling the sheets up to her chin. "You're done showering, you can leave now."
"Aw Phe, I was only joking. Come on."
She nudged him with her foot and he reluctantly stood up.
"We're leaving in an hour, so you should get ready."
"Yes, alright. Good-bye."
Once he shut the door behind himself, Ophelia grabbed a pillow and held it up to her face, letting out a scream.
A while later she dragged her trunk down the stairs and into the sitting room.
James was sitting in the exact same spot where Ophelia had had her vision a few days earlier. She shuddered at the memory and straightened up.
Lily walked forward into the fireplace. "Adolphus Place."
A moment later she had vanished.
Talia followed her, a placid smile on her lips. Ophelia made a mental note to ask her about it later, but she was soon gone.
James went next.
"I wonder what it would be like to die from the Floo."
She blinked and he was gone.
"Where did he go?" she cried, searching round the mantle.
"Who? James?"
"Yes, he was just here. Where did he go?"
Sirius looked at her as though she had gone mad. "He went through the fire. To Dolph's."
Ophelia wasted no time in grabbing a handful of powder.
"Hey! I was going next."
She muttered, "Adolphus Place.", and dropped the dust. She opened her eyes to see James laughing at something Lily had just said.
Ophelia ran over to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
"Er... Phe? You're c-choking me."
She loosened her hold. "Sorry. I.. I thought you were.. never mind."
Sirius' heavy hand fell on her shoulder. "What'd you do that for?"
"No reason." she shrugged.
They hailed a taxicab to King's Cross and had soon boarded the train.
"Black." sneered Snape as they entered the first car. "You can be sure that Dumbledore will hear about that little stunt you pulled."
"It wasn't just Sirius." cried James. "I did it too."
Snape turned on his heel and returned to his compartment.
Sirius leaned forward, following the sound of laughter. "Could Snivelly have friends?"
"Only took him the better part of five years."
Lily squeezed down next to Ophelia, and as usual, Talia slumped against the cool glass of the window.
"What's wrong, Tal?" asked Ophelia.
"Nothing. I don't think I'm going to see Ian anymore." she replied.
"Oh," Lily frowned. "Sorry?"
Talia shrugged. "I'm not upset. Rather.. I feel.. like I'm treading on the first steps to a new beginning..."
"That's great." said Ophelia, raising her eyebrows to Lily.
James and Sirius came into the cabin sitting across from each other.
"So I see that Severus made it off the train alright then?" Lily asked.
"Don't be so happy; we think he's made some new friends."
"Good," she nodded. "Maybe that's all he needs, really."
"I highly doubt that, Evans." James retorted. "But if it makes you feel better about our slimy little Slytherin, then you go ahead and tell yourself that."
"You're such a prat." she replied sadly.
"I shouldn't have done that."
Ophelia closed her eyes. 'I'm not supposed to be hearing this,' she thought to herself. 'They would hate me if they knew I hear their secrets..'
Sirius swatted her arm. "Earth to Ophelia, hello."
"Yes, what?"
"Do you want something off the trolley or not?" he chuckled.
Her stomach grumbled in reply. "Sure. A cauldron cake, please."
Sirius handed the witch some Sickles and passed her the sweets.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome."
They rode the rest of the way to school listening to James talk about next weekend's Quidditch Final against Ravenclaw.
Lily was too bothered re-reading her notes that she didn't once interrupt him to tell him to talk about something they were all interested in.
Once their carriage brought them to the castle, Ophelia made a beeline for the Gryffindor common room.
As she predicted, Remus was sitting in front of the fire with a book in his lap.
"Phe! Why is your hair--"
She took his elbow and led him to the boy's dormitory.
"What's wrong?" he asked, as she shut the door behind them.
"I.. had the strangest visions over break." she admitted. "They just kept coming, and they haven't stopped."
"What about your hair?"
"This happened on Friday, and it's faded a good deal, thank Hermia. I think it will be altogether gone in a few days."
Remus thought for a moment. "Can I do something?"
"I don't think so. Unless you can tell me how to stop it."
"I don't think I can do that."
"Alright, that was it. I just wanted to let you know." said Ophelia.
"I'm glad that you did." he smiled, lifting a strand of her hair. "It's.. different."
"I don't want to keep it, if that's what you're worried about."
A look of relief washed over his face. "Good, I was a bit worried there."
A week before the Final, James had managed to wrangle a practice for every day.
So when it came to the night before the big game, he and Remus were marching around the castle with the other Quidditch players as if they owned the place.
Ophelia sat in the common room, lacing her boots, and waiting for Lily to come, so that the two of them could go down to the Great Hall together.
"Hello hello." cried James, coming into the room. "Isn't it just the most glorious day?"
"You're mistaken, Prongs. Tomorrow after we beat Ravenclaw will be even better." Remus grinned.
Peter rolled his eyes. "More Quidditch talk... this is great."
Ophelia giggled. "Hey Pete, I forgot to mention that I had a dream about you while we were at the Manor."
"You did?"
"Yeah. The Who couldn't play so you volunteered and ended up taking Pete Townsend's place."
He grinned. "That'll be the day, huh?"
"Meet you down there, Phe?" said Remus, as they went to the portrait.
She glanced up from her boots. "Yeah, alright."
A moment later, they were gone, chanting some silly Gryffindor song as they went.
"Did they.. leave?"
Sirius was standing at the window.
"Er, yeah. You could still catch them, I'm sure."
He shook his head. "Nah, I'll just go down with you."
"Sick of Quidditch too, then?"
"Is it that obvious?" he growled.
Ophelia shrugged her shoulders. "No, but I know." She got to her feet. "Ready."
They left through the portrait-hole and walked a for a while in silence.
"Why is this so awkward?"
"I don't know." said Ophelia.
A split-second later she realized her mistake and slapped a hand over her mouth.
"What did you say?"
She quickened her pace. "Nothing, I was just being.."
"What's going on?"
"I wished he liked me."
They were almost at the Great Hall.
Ophelia thought that if she could just get there than maybe Sirius would forget what had just happened.
"Could you hear what I just said?" he asked.
"Of course." she replied nervously. "I'm not deaf."
"Why doesn't anyone like me?"
"Knight to A4."
"Stupid McGonagall doesn't know what she's talking about.."
"That's not what I meant. Are you a .. a.."
"If Ravenclaw wins the Cup, it would make me miserable."
Ophelia clamped her hands down on her ears, trying to block out the noise.
"Where do they keep the OWLs before the tests, I wonder."
"The homework is on page six-hundred and eighty-nine. But the book only goes up to five hundred!"
"Filthy Mudbloods taking up valuable space. If I had my way the whole lot of them would be banned."
They rounded a corner and entered the great Hall.
She was frozen to the spot and felt as if she couldn't breathe.
Then eveything went black.
