Engraved Love | J. POTTER

8 | revelations and human popsicles

J A M E S  P O T T E R

"I have a question," James spoke up. It was around three in the morning but he couldn't sleep.

Sirius groaned, "What is it?"

"So you know how I've been talking to the girl on the table?"

"No, we had no idea," Remus replied sarcastically. "Because you've absolutely never talked about her before."

James huffed, "Do you guys think...I mean I know this may be sort of far fetched but...Do you think it could be Ophelia?"

"As in Lovegood?" Peter asked. If there was anyone more oblivious than James, it was Peter.

"Do you know another Ophelia?" James asked pointedly. Peter clamped his mouth shut and waited for someone else to speak.

"I suppose it's possible," Remus answered his original question. "Why do you ask?"

"Something she said to me is all," he shrugged. "Reminded me of a conversation I had with the girl. And then the more I thought about it, the more I realized they have a lot in common."

"Why wouldn't she just tell you?" Sirius asked. "I mean, you two are friends, aren't you?"

"Yes," he answered as he shifted in his bed. "I don't know why she wouldn't tell me."

"There's an easy way to figure it out," Remus pointed out.

"How's that?"

"Just ask her."

James snorted at this, "No."

"Why don't you just ask the girl on the table if she's going to the ball?" Sirius suggested. "And then ask Ophelia if she's going."

"How would that help me?"

"Assuming they both plan to attend, request a dance with the unnamed girl," he explained. "During that dance, look for Ophelia. If they're the same person, she won't be there."

"And if she says no to the dance?"

"It's a masquerade ball," he reminded the boy. "If she says no, there's obviously some other issue."

"Right..." James trailed off. "And what if they don't plan to attend?"

"Even more reason to believe it's Ophelia," he shrugged, "And if all else fails, ask her.

"Hmm," he replied in thought. Was it possible that this would actually work? "Goodnight."

O P H E L I A  L O V E G O O D

Things appeared to have swiftly returned to how they were prior to James' sudden urge to know who she was. They had returned to their normal conversations and she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

'Are you going to the Yule Ball?' Of course it wasn't going to last long.

She had been contemplating the answer to that question for a few hours. She was going to be attending the Yule Ball because her parents were out of town on business. But was the girl James had been talking to going to the Yule Ball?

This whole charade had become more and more confusing as Ophelia found it difficult to make a distinction between the two even though they were more or less the same person.

It didn't help that her and James had actually been getting to know each other. There were moments where she thought he was bound to figure it out but then she would remember that he was kind of oblivious. Not kind of, extremely.

She met him outside the Gryffindor common room where she had been going every morning since the first time they ran together. He had concluded that it was actually just the distraction he needed. While most of the cravings had subsided by this point, he still liked having something to do. At least that's what he told Ophelia.