'And you're sure neither of you can come?' Ron frowned, as he put one of his knitted jumpers on over his white t-shirt.
'It's not safe, Ron. You know that.' Hermione said from behind, as she collected some of her coins and put them into a small pouch.
'Yes, it's not safe for Harry. But Ophelia—it's safe for her, isn't it?'
'I'm spending the day with my Dad.' Ophelia piped up from behind the stack of books in front of her—she was furiously scribbling a few sentences on her essay for transfiguration.
'We'll be fine. Bring us back some sweets and we'll see you at the feast.' Harry smiled, as he dropped a couple galleons into Ron's hands—who gratefully accepted them.
'Alright then. We'll see you later.'
With that, Hermione and Ron left the common room—dressed up for the brisk fall weather, with their coin pouches in hand, and made their way to Hogsmeade.
'You're welcome to come and spend the day with us too, you know.' Ophelia spoke up, to Harry, as she grabbed her homework and some of her books off the round wooden table they were sitting at. The common room was empty. Everybody in third year or above was at Hogsmeade today, except Ophelia and Harry—and the rest of the younger ones were outside enjoying the nice fall weather; like they ought to have been, but weren't allowed.
Harry looked deep in thought, looking out the window; longing to be able to go with them, to not have to be stuck in here for 'safety purposes'. She felt the same way—and not telling him was killing her.
'I'm alright. I might go the library.' Harry said absentmindedly.
Ophelia gave him a skeptical look. 'You're sure?'
'Positive.' Harry nodded, turning to give her a reassuring smile.
Ophelia sighed, 'Harry you can talk to me you know. I meant what I said in first year—we're like siblings, you can tell me anything. I can see you're worried.'
'I'm fine, I promise.' Harry shook his head. 'Have fun with your Dad.'
Ophelia gave him an uneasy look before sighing, 'Alright then. If you need company, and we are more than happy to spend time with you, you know where to find us.' She grabbed her book bag and her wand and she left the common room, waking up the Fat Lady by doing so.
As she walked down the corridor she thought a lot about Harry—she had a feeling him being off today had less to do with not being able to go to Hogsmeade, and more to do with what day it was. Halloween. Twelve years since his parents died, and the day he got that scar. Harry wasn't one to express his feelings often—he didn't like talking about them like some people did, he preferred to be alone. Ophelia respected that, she understood him wanting space—she also just wished there was something she could do to make him feel better, or that instead of suffering alone he might just talk to her.
Her and Remus on the other hand were on good terms again. After her disappearance the week before, things had been tense; but with chocolate, tea and a lot of talking—they were okay again. Remus was never angry, just worried—he was under the impression she had been kidnapped and Ophelia's heart broke seeing him so nervous about her.
When Ophelia entered Remus' office, he already had their tea ready—in two floral teacups sitting on his desk, as well as an array of treats on a platter—but he himself was sleeping in his chair; curled up into it like a small child, his sandy brown hair messy and all over his face, and dark bags under his soft honey eyes—tonight was the full moon, it was expected.
She didn't wake him, today was a tough day and if he could stay in dream land for a little while longer she was happy with that. She sat down in front of his desk, and pulled out her Transfiguration homework—an essay about how to properly transfigure items of large stature. As she wrote on the parchment, she was sure to make sure her quill wasn't too loud; she pressed softly, and tried to avoid scratching noises—and she didn't say a word, or utter any noises for a whole hour before he finally woke.
His eyes fluttered open and his gaze immediately fell upon her. 'Oh. Good morning.'
'Morning.' Ophelia smiled.
'Have you been here long?' He asked, sleepily as he yawned and straightened himself up—running a hand through his curly brown locks.
'A while.' Ophelia nodded, 'thought I'd let you sleep, the full moons tonight.'
Remus nodded, 'I made tea, but I must have fallen asleep again. Sorry, it's probably cold.' He murmured, his exhaustion clearly showing.
'S'alright. It tastes fine.' Ophelia assured him as she took another sip of lukewarm tea, and took a bite of a treacle tart from the platter.
'What are you working on?' He asked.
'Transfiguration essay, Minnie's got a lot of assignments on the go.' She replied, as she finished her sentence before putting her quill down on his desk.
'Enough about me though, how are you feeling?' Ophelia asked kindly.
'A bit tired.' Remus shrugged.
'I mean how are you feeling?' Ophelia repeated.
Remus sucked in a breath, 'Glum. Sad. I miss them.' He said as he looked down at his lap, staring at the teacup in his hands with intensity—as if it would physically hurt him to meet her gaze.
'I know you do.' Ophelia said quietly, as she reached out and squeezed his hand. 'It's not fair, but they're still with you. Just not physically.'
Remus nodded. She knew these words weren't too comforting for him; he didn't care if they were with him spiritually, he just wanted them to be with him here. Right now. In the present. That's all he wanted, but she couldn't give that to him—nobody could. She hoped though that she made the day easier for him, even if just a little bit.
'Thank you for spending this morning with me.' Remus said quietly. 'I know this might not be how you wanted to spend your Saturday.'
'Nonsense.' Ophelia shook her head, 'I'm always happy to spend a day with you, any day of the week really.'
Remus smiled weakly. 'And where are your friends?'
'Ron and Mione are in Hogsmeade, and Harry said he might be going to the library. I think he's a bit sad today, as expected, but he doesn't talk to me about it.' Ophelia explained.
'No, Harry's right outside this room.' Remus shook his head as he stood up, straightened out his robes, fixed his hair and made his way to the door.
Ophelia furrowed her brows, as he opened the door to his office—Harry was walking right by as he did so. She had almost forgot it was the full moon; his heightened senses were at full force right now—he could sense emotions more clearly, distinctly smell people, hear things better and his eyesight was near to perfect. He had been able to sense Harry coming.
'Ah! Harry! Good Morning.' Remus smiled. Harry stopped, confused, and gazed into the office to give Ophelia a perplexed look. 'Ophelia and I were just about to make some more tea, would you like to come in?'
Ophelia smiled at his eagerness. He knew what it was like to be alone—he wanted to do everything to make sure Harry wasn't.
'Erm, sure.' Harry said awkwardly as Remus gestured for him to go inside—he stood stiffly inside the room, unsure of where to go or what to say. 'Thanks.' He said, as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his muggle jeans.
His eyes trailed around the room—until they landed on the tank in the corner of the room; Ophelia knew this would be a shock to him.
'What is that?' He asked, shocked.
'Grindylow.' Ophelia filled in from where she was sitting.
Grindylow's were not attractive creatures. They were sticky, and sage green with sharp horns and long, webbed fingers—this one in particular had it's face pressed against the tank, looking eager to get out of it.
'Grindylows are water demons.' Remus explained as he shut the door behind him. 'For our next lesson.'
He smiled as he used his wand to make start re-heating the kettle. 'The tea will be a minute or so.' He told them, as the kettle let out a blast of hot steam.
'You can sit.' Remus told him, and Harry did as he was told, sitting next to Ophelia. 'I'm afraid I only have tea bags—just ran out of my herbal tea this morning.' He mumbled as he dug through his desk drawer to find a tin.
'I'm sure Harry's tired of tea leaves anyway.' Ophelia reminded him, and Remus chuckled.
'Ah yes, I'm sure.' He eased up a bit. Ophelia could tell he was somewhat nervous; not that he had any reason to be, Harry liked him after all. Remus was still unsure of himself though—he always wanted to say the right thing, do the right thing and sometimes he wasn't sure if he was. Tea was a good start.
Harry was quiet as Remus served the tea, and he was quiet as they all silently drank it—he didn't seem to be too much of a tea drinker, but he took a few polite sips anyway.
'Something troubling you, Harry?' Remus questioned finally, as he placed his tea cup on his desk with a soft clink.
'Oh, no.' Harry shook his head, then paused, and opened his mouth again, 'Well. Sort of. Do you remember that day with the boggart?'
'Yes.' Remus said slowly, cautiously—both of them quite unsure where this was going.
'Why didn't you let me handle the boggart myself?' Harry asked finally, as if he had been holding back for a long time.
'Oh.' Remus said, sounding a bit relieved, 'I thought that was obvious, Harry. I thought it would take the form of Voldemort.' Remus frowned, 'Clearly I was wrong, but I thought it would be better to not have the entire class seeing that.'
'Oh.' Harry said, as if this news was new to him.
Ophelia sat, fidgeting with the ring on her finger, not quite sure whether to weigh into this conversation, or to stay out all together.
'I thought about Voldemort, at first, I mean. But then...I remembered the dementors...' Harry started, turning to look at Ophelia, and sounding quite embarrassed though he had no reason to be.
'Well...I'm impressed.'
Ophelia raised an eyebrow at this, and Harry looked surprised.
'That suggests what what you fear most is—fear. That's very wise, Harry.' Remus smiled.
Harry looked awkward again, he was never good with taking compliments—so he took a long sip of tea instead.
'Dementors are scary, I don't blame you.' Ophelia added from beside him, as she figured she had to say something.
Knock. Knock.
The sound of the door being knocked on brought them out of the rather uncomfortable silence. Harry looked relieved at the interference, and Remus put down his tea cup again and cleared his throat, 'Come in.'
The door opened and Snape strode in, his long black robes trailing behind him, carrying a goblet with a sizzling substance inside it. It was the wolfsbane potion for tonight—Ophelia knew that.
Snape slowed and his eyes narrowed when he saw Ophelia and Harry sitting in front of him. 'How lovely, a little family reunion.' He sneered.
'Ah, Severus, thank you very much for the potion.' Remus smiled, ignoring his remark, 'I was just showing these two the grindylow. Marvellous, isn't it?' He asked pleasantly, gazing over at the tank.
'Fascinating.' Snape replied, without as much of a glance at the tank—before eyeing Remus, 'You should drink the potion directly, Lupin. I made a whole cauldron's worth, should you need...more.'
Harry looked perplexed as Snape placed the smoking goblet down at the desk.
'Yes, yes I will.' Remus nodded, 'Thank you very much Severus.'
'Not at all.' Snape said, gaze going back and forth between the three of them as he backed out of the room, miserable-looking and observant.
Remus used his wand to close the door behind him—and upon Harry's questioning glance, he explained; 'Professor Snape has been very kind to brew a potion for me. It's complex, you see, and I'm no Potions Master.' Remus chuckled as he brought the goblet to his lips and downed it all at once.
Harry's jaw was agape as he watched Remus drink it. After, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and explained,
'I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately, this potion is the only thing that helps.'
'I-' Harry started. 'I mean—Snape's after the Defence Against the Dark Arts post.' Harry blurted.
'Is he?' Remus asked, not phased by this statement.
'Some say he'd do anything to get it.' Harry added, as if this made a difference—Remus had already drank the entirety of the potion.
Ophelia had to stifle a laugh at the prospect that Harry was under the impression he had just been poisoned.
'Well, all the best to Professor Snape in the future then.' Remus said calmly, only mildly interested.
After saying goodbye, Ophelia and Harry left him to 'rest'—though Ophelia knew he was getting ready for tonight's full moon instead. They had a quick visit with Hagrid, who was still just as glum, and they spent some time in the library working on their essays.
They met up with Hermione and Ron again at the Halloween feast that night. Dumbledore gave some remarks, the frog choir sang an eerie song, and Jack-o-lantern's lit up the sky in replace of the usual floating candles. The dinner looked marvellous also—the house-elves always went the extra mile for feasts that fell on special occasions and though Ophelia didn't celebrate Halloween, she certainly enjoyed the perks of it.
'We got as much sweets as we could.' Ron announced when the feast had begun. 'Chocolate frogs, beans, the lot of it!'
'Sounds great, Ron.' Harry smiled.
'Hogsmeade is so much fun, I can't wait until you two can go with us.' Hermione added, as she took a bite of the stuffing on her plate.
'And we went to Zonko's.' Fred announced from across the table.
'Let's just say expect lots of pranks from Freddie and I.' George winked, and the four of them rolled their eyes.
Usually Percy would add in his two cents here; scolding them for suggesting they would be getting into 'that sort of behaviour', as he typically worded it. But Percy arrived to the feast late, for perhaps the first time in all of his years at Hogwarts.
'Hello fellow Gryffindors.' He announced as he sat down and began loading his plate with food. 'I do apologize for my tardiness—head boy duties.'
His hair was not as neat and gelled as it usually was; it was slightly messy; and his lips were puffier and swollen. Ophelia smirked—he had been with his girlfriend.
'Head boy duties that involve perfect Penelope?' Fred teased, raising an eyebrow.
Percy looked appalled at his accusations. 'I...what.. that is...you know nothing about my relationship with Penelope!' He huffed, clearly flustered.
Ginny let out a giggle, and Percy gave her a sharp look.
'That's enough, Ginny. Use your manners. Don't let your other brothers torment you into acting inappropriately.'
'You were the one that was late to the feast because you were with a girl.' Ginny pointed out in a feisty tone, and Percy just looked away with a huff and began scolding some other younger Gryffindors farther down the table.
Hermione turned back to the three of them. 'So, what did you two get up to today?'
'Homework, tea, talking.' Harry responded blandly.
'Erm, how lovely.' Hermione replied awkwardly.
'It was lovely.' Ophelia chimed in, 'Quiet. Serene. I got my essay finished and Harry and I had a quick visit with Hagrid.'
'That sounds great!' Hermione replied over-excitedly, though compared to how their day sounded, it was practically nothing.
'We also had a visit with my Dad, he showed us a grindylow for our next lesson—I think you'll be excited Hermione.' Ophelia added.
Hermione smiled brightly. 'And how is he?' She asked.
It almost sounded as if she was asking about his condition, but she didn't know about it—so that wasn't possible.
'He's great!'
'If you don't count Snape trying to poison him.' Harry murmured.
'What?' Ron and Hermione asked at once.
'Snape didn't poison him, Harry.' Ophelia rolled her eyes—then looked back at the two of their perplexed friends, 'He wasn't feeling well, so Snape made him a potion. He's taken it before—it's not poison.'
'You know Snape wants his job-'
'Yes and I know my own Dad—he wouldn't drink something if he thought it was dangerous, he's the Defence Professor, Harry!' She reminded him, and that was that— the conversation drifted back over to happier subjects and it was forgotten for now at least.
The feast ended later than usual—the sun was just barley setting when they left the Great Hall; after the Hogwarts ghosts gave them a certainly unique performance—Nearly Headless Nick had showed them how he was beheaded, and even the Bloody Baron danced and sung for everybody wickedly—the ghosts thrived on Halloween, after all. It was the one day of the year where their kind was generally accepted.
Everybody was in a much better mood after this feast. Their spirits were certainly lifted from the bad news that seemed to come so often now a days—and everything seemed great.
It seemed great. That was the problem.
The Gryffindors made their way back to Gryffindor Tower at around eight, but when the four of them got to the corridor where their portrait hole was located; it was to find that the mob of Gryffindors had not yet disappeared into the common room.
'Why isn't everybody going inside?' Ron questioned.
'Dunno.' Ophelia replied, as she stood on her tip-toes to see that the portrait hole appeared to be closed.
'They haven't all forgotten the password, have they?' Hermione groaned.
'Out of my way! Head boy here, Percy Weasley, coming through!' Percy called as he pushed his way to the front of the mob.
Ron groaned at his older brother's eagerness to boast about his position of authority.
'The password is Fortuna Major, you haven't all forgotten it have you?' Percy chuckled, but when he reached the portrait hole; he fell silent.
'Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Now.' Was all he said, in a serious tone that very much different from the one he had been using moments before.
Curiously, the four of them made their way to the front—struggling to push past some people, but eventually getting there. When they saw it; Hermione gasped.
'Oh my-' She said out of shock, as she grabbed onto Ron's arm.
Ophelia let out a small gasp too. The Fat Lady was not in the portrait, and her canvas had been viciously ripped and torn apart—as if an animal had attacked it.
Dumbledore was there seconds later, making his way to the front as everybody squeezed together so he could do so; Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin following quickly behind them.
When he saw it, he jumped right into action;
'Minerva, please tell Mr. Filch to search every painting in the castle. We need to find her.' He instructed, and with a curt nod Minnie fled in the other direction.
'What can I do?' Remus asked, as he observed the painting next to Dumbledore—his gaze occasionally making its way back to Ophelia to make sure she was alright.
'Until we find her, there isn't much we can do, I'm afraid Remus.' Dumbledore replied quietly; as he didn't want to alarm the students.
'You'll be lucky to find her!' A high-pitched voice cackled. It was Peeves, floating into view, grinning wickedly.
'Peeves, what do you mean? What happened to the Fat Lady?' Dumbledore asked firmly, but calmly.
Peeves' grin faded. Even he knew better than to mess with Dumbledore.
'She's ashamed, headmaster. She's running through the paintings, muttering horrible things. She's a right mess.' Peeves explained.
'Did she say who did it, Peeves?' Dumbledore questioned urgently.
Harry and Ophelia exchanged a nervous glance; both of them dreading the answer that was sure to follow.
'Oh yes.' Peeves grinned. 'He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. He's got a nasty temper that Sirius Black.'
Ophelia's face was drained of all the colour at those words. With a shaky breath, she looked up to see Remus didn't look much better—his face was as white as Peeves' was. Their eyes met across the mob of nervous students, neither of them saying anything but having a silent conversation; Sirius Black was after them—that much was clear.