Through Her Eyes

Chapter 30

Time passed and September shifted into October really quickly. Unfortunately, the first, second and third years couldn't participate in the parties organized for Halloween and they had to stick with the usual feast. It was not as fun as the party that followed and Gryffindors were glaring at McGonagall for the whole next week during Transfiguration.

October quickly passed as well and the students found out that they had only a bit until Christmas break. It wasn't a surprise for some students to suddenly become studious during that certain time but it was suspicious how Ophelia Molley did.

Potter has kept a close eye on her ever since Halloween when he saw her sneak out at night. It wasn't the first time he found her sleeping in the common room and he was sure it became a habit to find her squirm for more space on the arm chair.

"Hey, badge~" He sung softly on that Saturday morning. She didn't even stir, "Badge, seriously, wake up." He ordered, shaking her slightly.

"What do you want?" She asked, opening her eyes enough to see his messy brown hair. "It's too bright," She added, covering her eyes with her arm.

"Because it's morning and you're not in the dormitory." The glasses boy started, crossing his arms in front of his chest and watching her with judging eyes.

"Ah, right," She answered, realizing she didn't make it upstairs once again.

But Potter had already reached his maximum of patience and curiosity was killing him.

"Where do you go every night?"

Ophelia raised an eyebrow before she remembered Potter had seen her sleep in the common room before. It never occurred to her that he'd grow curious about her issues but it seems she underestimated his spirit.

"I'm-um-working on school work. I go to the library and sometimes in the dungeons to work on potions."

"And you can't do that during the day, like a normal person?" He asked, his eyes widening behind his glasses. Seeing her shift in her seat, he added, "What's really going on with you?"

Ophelia bit her lip, her mind working incredibly fast on a lie. She couldn't tell him just how much she's been avoiding walking the halls by day because of a certain blond. Luckily, more students woke up and some walked out of their dormitories, giving her the best oportunity to run and avoid answering.

For the rest of the weekend, Potter's eyes have unconsciously followed the brunette. He saw a pattern now that there were no classes to hide into: she'd act normally up to some point when she would tense up and leave without an explanation or leave dragging Remus with her, mumbling that she needs help studying. Since everyone knew she was being tutored by Lestrange, it wasn't weird to imagine she was studying for that in particular but once Monday came around, she was running around more than a Ravenclaw running to class.

It was so peculiar that even Black noticed. In the end, Potter decided he should get actively implicated in Molley's school life.

"Ahem, we have gathered today because one of us has been acting out of character." The glasses boy started, his face brightening when he saw Lily and her friends take a seat in the common room, "It seems that our no-fun badge has found a new hobby and that is being early for class and studying to the point of exhaustion with and without Remus."

"Isn't that what a student does?" Lily retorted, "I'm sure that years above us study harder than we do."

Potter tried his best not to scoff, scorn, scowl or have any expression that could lessen his chances to ever speak to Evans again. Therefore, he turned to his best friend and continued his speech without taking Lily's interference into account.