'But if I let you in,
you would never wanna leave.'
-Hayley Williams, 'Cinnamon'
| MARAUDERS ERA |
* Beautiful cover made by @charcoalate *
*DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Wizarding World of Harry Potter*
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OPHELIA LET OUT A LOUD yawn as she stepped off the stairs and into the Gryffindor common room. The room was almost pitch black; the only thing illuminating it was the half moon in the sky as it shone through one of the large windows, as well as her wand which had a small ball of light on the tip of it.
"Sorry I'm late," The blonde whispered, announcing her presence, "I almost fell asleep," She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand as she stifled an incoming yawn.
James jumped to his feet, his hair looked more dishevelled than it usually did, a pair of circular glasses sat skewed on his face, "I-It's fine. You ready?"
The blonde nodded, "What's with the glasses?" She questioned, gesturing to his face as they exited the common room, ready to begin their midnight prefect duty.
"Oh," James muttered, his hand flying up to push the glasses further up the bridge of his nose, "My vision gets worse at night."
"Same," Ophelia muttered, she sent a tired smile at James as they walked through the abandoned hallways of the wizarding school. There was no other student in sight, merely portraits that told them off for being 'too loud' or their wands being 'too bright'.
"Where are your glasses?"
"Oh, the Avery's don't wear glasses," The blonde shrugged, looking down the hallway tiredly, ignoring the puzzled expression James sent her.
"What do you mean by that?" He questioned, his eyes wide and one of his eyebrows raised.
"Oh, you wouldn't understand," Ophelia shrugged it off, practically kicking herself for not having a filter when she was exhausted. She tried to point something out to James, acting as if maybe it was a pair of students at the end of the hallway, but they both knew that it was simply some pillars.
"Lia..." James muttered after several minutes of complete and utter silence. The softness of his voice caught her attention and she couldn't help but look at him, "Is everything okay...at your home?" He asked cautiously. He could remember the day he found out about Sirius' home life. The black haired boy did everything he could to pretend that everything was okay, until it finally wasn't. James just hoped that if things were like that for Ophelia, he could find out in time.
Ophelia swallowed hard and looked away, refusing to look him in the eyes when she lied to him, "Of course it is," The blonde nodded, keeping her eyes forward as they circled back around, ready to make their way back to their common room.
James frowned. Some people would say he was slightly obsessed with the blonde, his so-called 'schoolboy crush' had caused him to stare at her practically all day, every day. It was something the rest of the Marauders teased him about, but it was also something that helped him learn about her. About how she refused to make eye contact whenever she lied. About how her eyes would widen for a second whenever someone asked about her home life, before she looked away and told them everything was 'fine'.
"A-Are you sure?" He asked cautiously, not wanting to overstep and have her suddenly hate him. He watched as she muttered the Gryffindor common room password, which resulted in the portrait hole opening and letting them inside.
"Of course," She muttered. He couldn't see her face since she walked just ahead of him through the hole, but he could practically hear the fake smile she had on her face, "Are you...Are you off upstairs now?" Ophelia suddenly questioned, turning around she looked up at James through her long eyelashes.
He could practically feel his heart skipping a beat, "I think I'm gonna stay down here for a bit," James confessed, "I'm not that tired anymore."
The blonde nodded understandingly, "Do you--Is it okay if I accompany you down here?"
Discreetly, James pinched the back of his hand, fearing that all of this was some sort of a dream and he would wake back up in the boy's dormitory, but that didn't happen. Even after he pinched himself a couple more times he was still down there, facing Ophelia.
"It's okay if you don't want me t--"
"No!" He suddenly exclaimed, cutting her off, "I mean, I would love for you to stay."
