Frames » Remus Lupin

eleven

The next night, Ophelia was burning again. She could feel the intense heat around her as she coughed on the smoke. She looked at her hands. They looked older, more mature than Ophelia's hands as a fourteen-year-old. She glanced up, watching a fire roar around her. Embers jumped off of the towering flames. Her body turned around to catch sight of a figure through the hazy smoke.

"Harry, get out of here!" Ophelia's voice cried. She had seen this all before, each time wondering who Harry was.

"I can't leave you, Ophelia," Harry's voice replied, desperation creeping into his tone. His wand slashed through the flames, parting them momentarily. The fire enveloped her again, stinging her eyes with smoke.

"It's Fiendfyre," Ophelia muttered to herself, realizing. She was confused. She had never seen this before. The dream had always ended with the fire closing around her, her eyes shutting and the world burning. Now she saw herself breathing heavily, her eyes squeezed tightly. When she opened her eyes again, Ophelia could tell that her curse had been activated. The uncontrollable, burning rage had taken over her, even from within the dream. She reached her hands out, grasping invisible reigns, molding the fire to her will rather than its own. She squeezed it tightly, compressing it into a ball of flames before she threw the ball at herself.

A wind blew across the smoldering grounds of Hogwarts, putting the rest of the fire out. Embers and ashes danced in the wind and as the smoke cleared, Ophelia stood up again, the curse once again controlled, ashes coloring her skin grey. She turned her gaze to the castle, jets of light from curses ricocheting across towers and halls, illuminating the now-dark grounds with an eerie green color. Ophelia once again let the anger consume her and felt the curse wash into her body again.

"For Remus," Ophelia muttered bitterly, sprinting towards the castle, her wand raised high.

Ophelia shot up in bed. It had been a dream, the same dream she had been having since she set foot in the school. But it had continued longer this time. She had witnessed herself control her curse, harness the abilities that it gave her. The thought plaguing her mind, Ophelia lay back amongst the pillows and fell asleep.

An hour and a half later, Ophelia was sleepily drinking tea at breakfast, her head resting gently on Remus' shoulder. Remus looked much paler than normal, as the full moon would be falling a week later.

"You both look dead," James, energetic as ever, noted. He glanced around. "You all look dead."

"Well, we know why Remus is tired," Peter replied, eating a piece of toast, not as exhausted as the others. "And Sirius just needs his beauty sleep."

"You're right, sister," Sirius mumbled, his head resting on the table.

"Why are you tired, Lia?" James asked. "I know it wasn't because of Remus because he didn't leave the dorm."

"Why are you so certain of that?" Ophelia replied, lifting her head from Remus' shoulder, her voice void of any humor.

"Because I put an alarming spell on the door so that I would know if anyone came in or out during the night," James replied. "I need to make sure my wittle baby is safe." Remus rolled his eyes and turned to Ophelia.

"Was it the..." he trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence. The boys had all heard about the incident in full detail, save for the gnarly details of the vision Ophelia had shared with Remus.

"Yes," Ophelia replied stiffly. "It was different this time. I saw... more."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, his voice now hushed.

"This time I stopped it. With the curse," Ophelia sighed.

"Dumbledore did say that you would be able to control it eventually," Remus inputted. The boys were all listening in closely, as if every word were life or death. In a way, they were.

"I almost did it, Remus," Ophelia whispered, scared. "But I let go because I didn't know how to defend myself." Remus wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. Sirius wrinkled his nose.

"Gross, guys," Sirius replied. Ophelia grabbed Remus' jaw and kissed him on the lips dramatically. Whatever curse, whatever lay ahead, for now, they could just be teenagers, young and enjoying the world before it was all destroyed.