blood like gasoline | 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐭

𝟎𝟐𝟓 | Abigail

Across the room, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat, conversing deeply about something. They were the only ones in the common room beside her and Colin, save for a seventh year couple that was making out on one of the other couches. 

"Ophelia, I wanted to ask you something," Colin said quietly, clearing his throat as he broke the silence. 

"Hmm?" she looked up from her book. 

"There's this girl," he began. "In my Care of Magical Creatures class," Colin continued awkwardly, his cheeks tinging pink. "I kind of... like her," Colin explained. 

Ophelia could sense the awkwardness reeking off him from a mile away. "Oh?" she questioned, the edges of her lips curving upwards slightly. She felt an odd sort of flutter in her chest, but ignored it, rather amused by the sudden turn of the subject of the conversation. 

Colin and Ophelia had talked of many, many things, each topic stranger than the other, but they had never really talked about matters of the heart.

"I wanted to ask her out to the next Hogsmeade visit," Colin sighed, rubbing his forehead. "But... I don't know how to—"

Ophelia giggled. 

Colin scowled. "Do you have to tease me?"

"Yes," Ophelia interjected, before clearing her throat and looking at him again. "Alright, continue."

"I need your help," Colin stated. "I have no idea how to behave around her. It's like— my brain vanishes, every single time we talk, and I end up saying the weirdest of things."

Ophelia nodded singly. "Sure, I'll help."

"So, what's her name?" asked Ophelia, during breakfast, as she daintily nibbled on a small piece of toast. 

"Abigail," Colin replied, shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

Ophelia had expected Colin to elaborate, and tell her more about Abigail, but he was as silent as a wall, except for the occasional sounds he released when chewing.

"Aren't you going to tell me about her?" Ophelia questioned, sighing. "How am I supposed to help if I know nothing about her?"

Colin's cheeks tinged pink. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, before pointing out at a girl sitting at the Ravenclaw table. "There she is," Colin pointed out. "The girl who's reading the book."

She was quiet, Ophelia could tell from first glance. Her brown hair fell messily around her shoulders, and a pair of pale blue eyes twinkled as they flitted across the pages of her book. Her features were all perfectly proportioned, and freckles were dotted across her cheeks, and small nose. 

"She's in Ravenclaw," Ophelia observed. "And she likes reading. She doesn't use makeup, and she's shy. She also loves sleeping," Ophelia speculated. "And doesn't care about her appearance, and what people think of her."

Colin's jaw dropped, and he stared at her, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "How—how did you know all of that with just one look at her?"

Ophelia gave him a side smile. "Observation. It's obvious she likes reading, since she's reading at breakfast, which is usually the time where mostly everyone rushes to get to class. But she's reading, so that means she can't stand to be away from her book, even for a little while. She's not wearing any eye-liner, or mascara, so she doesn't like makeup. Her hair covers her eyes, and she sometimes uses it to hide behind when she does not want to talk, or has nothing to say," Ophelia explained.