Frames » Remus Lupin

sixteen

"Can we play quidditch?" James asked, his feet swinging off of his bed like he was a two year old. Ophelia resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"It's minus fifteen," Ophelia pointed off. "There are many things that I will put up with for you, James, but sitting outside and watching you fly about is not one."

"You could join us," James smirked. Ophelia stared at him dumbfounded. She was far too competitive for sports to be a safe thing for her to do. She would get heated when she inevitably lost and explode, and she would rather keep James' parents out of the know when it came to her curse. Or at the very least, she didn't want to spoil the Christmas spirit. 

"James, bring your friends down here for supper!" Euphemia called up, saving Ophelia from having to sit and listen to an argument about Quidditch. Sirius groaned dramatically, making his presence and complaint that there was no quidditch to be had well known. He liked trying to make James lose as they were normally on the same team and had to work together. 

"How are things going with Lily?" Ophelia asked loftily, teasing him without an inkling of it in her voice. She, of course, knew exactly how Lily thought things were going, but it was always a different story when it came to James' perspective. 

"She wrote me back this time!" James said excitedly. Ophelia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. James always looked remarkably like a puppy whenever Lily was the topic of discussion.

"Yeah?" Sirius asked, his eye twitching from holding his laughter. "What'd she say?"

"She said, 'don't ever write me again, Potter, or I'll follow the owl back to your house and curse you myself.'," James said, not seeming at all dissuaded by the contents of the letter. "I guess she's not a Moliere fan."

Sirius broke like a damn and had to hold on to Peter to support himself, he was laughing so hard. Peter had tears coming out of his eyes, though whether it was from laughter or something else, it was hard to tell. Even Ophelia giggled into Remus' shoulder. James grinned like he was Cassanova. 

"You- you sent Evans Moliere?" Sirius guffawed, clapping Peter's shoulder as he laughed. James shrugged, unbothered as they reached the bottom of the stairs. 

"What's so funny?" Fleamont asked, though not in a condescending way. He seemed genuinely interested in the gossip- Ophelia supposed that was where James got it from. Being the only one who could pause in her laughter looked up at Mr. Potter.

"Your son decided he was going to send Lily Evans a bit of Moliere," Ophelia smiled at Fleamont. Even he laughed, despite Molier being a muggle author. 

"Okay, I sent her some Molier. He was a good writer, right?" James asked, still smiling, but not really getting the joke. 

"Moliere wrote comedies and tragedies, James," Ophelia said, biting her lip. "Farces, tragicomedies, that sort of thing. Not exactly romantic to send to someone."

"Oh," James said. His face sort of fell. "I didn't offend her, did I?" Ophelia snorted. 

"She didn't sound all that offended when she wrote me about it," Ophelia replied. James' eyes widened. 

"She wrote you?!" he asked, as though he had just seen a celebrity walking about like a normal person. 

"James, we're friends, of course she wrote me," Ophelia shook her head. They had started to set the table now. "And before you ask, no she didn't spray her perfume on the paper or something like that."

"How's Jack?" Remus asked, interrupting James before he could say anything stupider. 

"He's making me an aunt," Ophelia said, and someone who didn't know her might have thought it was with bitterness.

"He's having a baby?" Sirius asked. Ophelia nodded. 

"He and his girlfriend Maggie are moving back home so they have more room. He's found another job close by," Ophelia replied. 

"Are they going to name the baby James?" James asked eagerly. His mother rolled her eyes. 

"Wish I hadn't named you James," Euphemia said, though it was followed with a fond smile. 

"They don't know the sex of the baby, they've never met you, and Maggie's already said she's not letting anyone name that child but herself," Ophelia.

"Well, James is unisex, they could have met me if you invited me over, and once Maggie gets to know me, she'll change her mind," James said proudly. 

"James, sit and have dinner, not everyone has to be named after you," Fleamont said, grinning. James sat down like a puppy who had been told to leave the room one too many times. Ophelia had to hold back a smile- she could very much imagine Lily saying something of the same effect to James and him complying like a dog in obedience school.

But of course, the dark thoughts still lingered. If Ophelia could not master control over her curse, James and Lily wouldn't have a future. None of them would. And that was a thought that had not left her head since the day it entered it.