Engraved Love | J. POTTER

16 | confessions and make-ups

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

When she realized what she had to do, a wave of relief washed over her. She was going to tell him. Because if James Potter could accept her werewolf and all, maybe he could accept the girl from the table as Loony Lovegood.

She approached the table cautiously, she hadn't responded to anything he had said prior to Reggie's death. She half expected nothing to be written there but what she saw was far worse than anything she could imagine.

As she read over the line, her heart dropped in her chest. 'I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore.' She squeezed her eyes shut as she fought back the tears that stung her eyes.

Of all the times for him to decide to stop talking to her, it had to be now? It couldn't have been weeks ago, when she herself was contemplating if this was still a good idea? It had to be when she was finally ready to tell him who she was.

Then again, she couldn't entirely blame him because he didn't know that it was her. Maybe it was her fault that she hadn't told him sooner.

Despite telling herself this, she was still angry at the boy for something he probably didn't even know he did.

J A M E S P O T T E R

James hadn't been entirely sure what he had expected from the 'talk' ghost Reggie had requested but what he had gotten had not been anything he had imagined. In short, Reggie had told him to grow a pair and ask the girl out before it was too late. And yes, he had pulled the 'anything could happen at any moment' - specifically getting attacked by a cannibalistic beast - card.

So that's exactly what James was going to do. He was going to tell Ophelia how he felt about her and hope for the best.

"Ophelia," he greeted upon seeing the girl sitting at the table in the library. She shifted slightly but made no move at acknowledging him. "Lovegood," he tried again as he sat down across the table from her. "Is it the Wrackspurts?" he joked and this seemed to grab her attention.

She slammed her book closed and he grew confused. She shook her head, anger clear in her expression. That and the fact that her hair was a fiery red and her eyes were shining gold told him that she was livid. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" he asked, unsure as to what the sudden issue was.

"Make fun of me," she informed him. His once confused expression morphed into that of alarm. "I've been Loony Lovegood since my first day here. While most people seem to think I'm clueless, I'm actually not. And I'm not going to sit here and take it from you of all people."

"Wait a minute," James shook his head as the girl stood up, shoving her books into her bag angrily. "I was not making fun of you. It was just a joke."

"I know exactly what it was, Potter," she stated, a scowl on her face. He had never seen her this angry before and never did he think she would hold this much disdain toward him. "I'm not an idiot and I have no interest in being made a fool of by the likes of you."

She slung her backpack over her shoulder and James stood up quickly. "Hold on," he requested as he followed her out of the library. "I wasn't making fun of you. It was just supposed to be a joke. Had I known you would have gotten so upset I-"

"I don't want to hear it," she shook her head, not sparing the boy a glance. "Just leave me alone."

James stopped following the girl as she made her way down the hall. He ran a hand through his hair as he raked his mind for what he could have possibly done to make her that upset and came up empty handed.

"What happened?" Sirius asked from behind her, watching the girl's retreating figure in confusion.

"I have no idea," James huffed. "I said the wrong thing?" he assumed, although it certainly felt like it had been a lot more than. He took a step forward, "Maybe I should try and talk to her."