Trigger Warning - Blood

"Pete that's my foot."

"Sorry."

James and Peter were hidden beneath an invisibility cloak; James' invisibility cloak. The two had decided they were hungry and deserved a trip to the kitchens. So here they both were, completing their usual ritual of attempting to stay silent and unseen. They always completed this stroll in pure darkness, the only light they ever needed was that coming from a Prefect or Professor's wand to warn them to hide. Otherwise the route was engrained in their mind and they didn't need any support.

They had just entered a heated discussion about what toppings are best on Pancakes when Peter tripped over something; bringing James down with him too.

"What was that?" Peter brushed his knees to rid of the dust.

"I don't know Pete, lumos."

"Be careful James we might get ca-"

"Fi?" James voice changed from confusion to fear. Just beside where the two had fallen was a crumpled figure. "Fi, can you hear me?" James gently prodded the girl in hope for a response, but earned nothing in response. "Pete." Peter stood frozen in a trance at Ophelia. "PETER!"

"Ye-yes."

"You need to run ahead, as fast as you can, to Madam Pomfrey. I'll carry Fi to the hospital wing." James adjusted his glasses before putting an arm steadily beneath Fi's head, only to feel something sticky on his hands. "Shit. Pete, why haven't you gone?"

"S-sorry." Peter scrambled out the words before attempting to move from his spot but seemed glued to looking at Ophelia's frail body.

"PETER GO! THINK OF FI. WHAT WOULD SHE SAY TO YOU."

"That I am my own person and that I can do this."

"Yes! See you can do it."

"I-I can do it!" Peter's mind seemed to click into place, he suddenly turned on his heels and began to jog away from James & Ophelia.

The events of the past few seconds suddenly hit James like a tidal wave; he had so many questions, so many worries and so many concerns it took him a moment to remember what he was doing. A quick shake of his head in an effort to bring him some awareness back seemed to work and with one deep breath he knelt back down to Ophelia. Gently he placed a hand underneath Ophelia's head, once again feeling the blood on his fingers.

"Fi, I don't know if you can hear me but I'm going to pick you up now." James spoke almost in a whisper, fearing that loudness may harm her.

Using his other arm, James pulled Ophelia's knees into a bent position and grasped his arm beneath them. Straightening his back, he used all his strength to pull Ophelia up with him, only to be shocked by how limp she truly was. Thankfully the route to the Hospital Wing wasn't too far, they had to make it down the Grand Staircase and just down one more corridor.

"J-James?" James looked down to see Ophelia's eyes flutter open and close.

"Fi! Ok keep those eyes open."

"It-it hurts though James."

"Just think if you keep them shut you won't be able to see my handsome face." James smiled, deciding humour is always the best option in a difficult situation.

"I might just close them then." A dry chuckle left Ophelia's lips.

"Glad to see you haven't knocked the sense of humour out of you."

"Mr Potter! Quick bring her in now." Madam Pomfrey had appeared at the bottom of the corridor.

"You're going to be ok Fi." James looked back down to the girl, only to notice she had drifted back off into sleep. Picking up his pace, James almost jogged the few metres left to the hospital.

"Lay her down here." Madam Pomfrey was bustling about with potions and more following her around in the air. "Mr Pettigrew said you found her like this?" The matron spoke whilst running a wand up and down Ophelia's body.

"Yeh, I don't know how long she has been like this. She woke up a bit on the way."

"15 minutes by the look of this." Madam Pomfrey lifted Ophelia's and muttered a few spells. James watched in awe as the blood covering Ophelia's hair began to disappear back into the wound until the wound was simply a scar. "Ferula." Bandages shot out from Madam Pomfrey's wand and wrapped themselves around Ophelia's head. "This should keep the wound safe from reopening accidentally."

"Is she going to be ok? Where's Peter? Does someone need to tell Minnie?" James blurted out the questions.

"Mr Potter, I need you to relax. Yes she will be ok and Mr Pettigrew has gone to inform Professor McGonagall."

"Poppy what on earth has happened, Mr Pettigrew continuously hit my door and told me it was an emergency." Professor McGonagall had entered the Hospital Wing with a brisk pace, followed shortly after by an out of breath Peter.

"It's Fi." James spoke rather protectively first, not allowing Madam Pomfrey a chance to speak.

"Mr Potter why are you here and what do you mean it's Ophelia?" Concern seemed to appear for Minerva, hinted by the slight raise in pitch.

"Minerva, Ophelia seems to have been in some sort of accident tonight." Madam Pomfrey spoke softly to her colleague. The matron moved aside to show Ophelia asleep in the hospital bed.

"Oh my sweet merlin." Minerva swiftly approached the bed and began conversing with Madam Pomfrey. Whilst James and Peter both stood further back, unsure what to do with themselves.

"Pete, did you not tell Minnie it was Fi?" James whispered.

"Uh, it must have slipped my mind." Peter answered honestly, slightly worried by James' reaction.

"That's understandable, it was quite scary wasn't it."

"Yeh." Peter let out a sigh of relief, one he hadn't realised he was holding. "She'll be ok won't she?"

"Pomfrey said she would be."

"Mr Potter, Mr Pettigrew can you explain anything." Minnie was sat on the edge of Ophelia's bed, grasping one of the girl's hand.

"Not really no." James answered honestly, only to receive a glaring stare from Minnie that caused him to gulp loudly. "Minnie honestly-" The use of the nickname seemed to frustrate the lady more. "Sorry Professor McGonagall. We just found her like that."

"And where was that place?" Minerva eyed the two boys as they seemed to glance quickly over to each other, almost like agreeing something without words.

"In the common room." James spoke first, knowing Peter would struggle to lie. Or at least he thought.

"Yeh, me and James came downstairs cause Sirius was snoring loudly. Sirius snores so loudly doesn't he James? He sounds like a congested troll. Yeh and anyway we found her splayed out at the bottom of girls stairs. And it was scary and I didn't know what to do. But James was there though he helped. And-"

"That is quite enough Mr Pettigrew." Minerva raised her hand to her head in hope it would stop the rambling from Peter; which it did. "Was she alone when you found her?"

"I think so, no one else was in the common room." James answered, still slightly taken aback by the ease of Peter's lies. Maybe it just goes to show that when you care enough about someone or something, you're willing to do anything.

"Why wasn't she asleep?" Minerva questioned more to herself than the rest of the room. But a little squeak like sound from Peter turned her attention back to the two boys. James stood staring at Peter, whilst Peter kept his eyes glued to the ground whilst scuffing his heel across the floor. "Mr Pettigrew."

"Yes Min- Professor McGonagall." Peter kept his gaze to the floor.

"Is there something you want to share?"

"N-nope." The 'P' elongated with a pop of his mouth. Minerva gave him a watchful glare before turning her attention back to Ophelia.

"Pete what's wrong?" James tried to speak with his mouth still closed.

"Can't say."

"What do you mean?"

"I pinky promised with Fi to keep it a secret." Peter still continued to keep his focus solely on his shoes.

"If it's something that can help Fi, you aren't breaking that promise. You're helping her."

"I-I think this would be helping her. She wouldn't be mad would she?"

"I don't think Fi could ever be mad." James smiled to Peter even though he wasn't looking at him.

"Ok." Peter lifted his head and reached his hand into his pyjama pocket, inside he rubbed a sweet shaped piece of wood, before he cleared his throat. "Minnie? Sorry Professor?" Minnie turned around to Peter and James once more.

"Yes Mr Pettigrew?"

"I-I lied. I did know something but I promised to keep it a secret. James said it's ok to break promises though if it helps someone, and I think it will. But I don't want her to hate me and I did pinky promise and-"

"For heaven's sake Pettigrew, stop waffling and explain." Her mouth was the thinnest of thin lines, impatient for an answer from the timid boy.

"She hasn't been sleeping." Peter let it all out almost as one whole word. "She-she says it has gotten better and sometimes I keep her company but maybe it's taken a toll on her." Peter spoke a little more confidently.

"Thank you Mr Pettigrew, ten points to Gryffindor for your honesty to me and loyalty to your friend."

"R-really?"

"Yes Pettigrew. Now let me walk you back to the Gryffindor tower. I shall discuss this further tomorrow after I've spoke to Ophelia."

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Ophelia awoke as if there was an emergency; her heart pounded and there was a pounding in her head. Even though it was painful, her eyes took in every single ray of light that shone onto to the bed covers. That's when Ophelia realised these weren't her bed covers and this wasn't her dorm, in fact this wasn't even a dorm.

"Oh dear you're awake, quick quick drink this." Madam Pomfrey appeared almost out of thin air with a vial filled with blood red liquid. Ophelia eyed the potion then looked back to the matron with confusion.

"Where am I?"

"The hospital wing, you seemed to have had a nasty fall last night. You have some concussion but you'll be free to go this evening. Now quick drink this." Ophelia groaned as she pushed herself up with her elbows, then taking the vial from Madam Pomfrey. It had a bitter taste as it passed down Ophelia's throat and Ophelia had to try her hardest to keep it down. "I will alert Professor McGonagall that you are awake, I am sure she will want to see you before classes begin."

Before Ophelia even had any chance to object, the matron had turned away and was already striding away. With some movements, a shooting pain would dart across her forehead, accompanied with a nauseous feeling that was hard to battle. But with every passing minute since taking the potion, the pain seemed to ease slightly. Just as she began to close her eyes, Ophelia heard the voice of someone she was not ready to face.

"Ophelia." Ophelia could sense the person stood above her bed and with every bit of confidence she had, she opened her eyes.

"Hi Minnie." Ophelia tried to offer a smile but was only given a tight frown in return.

"I'm throughly disappointed in you, why did you not tell me you were not sleeping." Minnie stood with her arms crossed, disappointment quite literally covered her face.

"Because I thought it was getting better, no it was getting better!" Ophelia didn't want to argue in the slightest but she couldn't help but feel upset with herself for disappointing Minnie. "I promise it was getting better, I was able to sleep more hours easily but I ended up being awake super early. Last night was different though because it-"

"ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY BITCH!" Marlene yelled as the doors of the Hospital Wings opened.

"Miss McKinnon remember this is a hospital wing and please mind your language!" Minnie spoke with that harsh whisper shout that would stop anyone in their tracks.

"Shit sorry Professor." Dorcas stood on one of Marlene's feet. "Ow, why did you - oh I swore again. Sorry Professor."

"Much more polite Miss McKinnon." Minnie raised her voice from the whisper to her usual tone, then turned to face Ophelia. "Ophelia I will come visit you at lunch, I'll let you enjoy your time with the girls. Happy Birthday dear." Minnie lent down and gave her a warm kiss on the cheek before standing to leave.

"Merlin she is one scary lady Fi." Marlene walked over to Ophelia's bed and perched on the end.

"You can say that again." Dorcas followed and swiftly fell into Marlene's lap.

"Agreed." Alice chimed in and walked to the other empty side of the bed, sitting herself down in the gap.

"Girls remember Fi is injured, she doesn't need us being all crazy." Lily spoke gently as usual, before taking a seat beside the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"In pain, wait how did you know I was here? And more importantly how did you know it was my birthday?" Ophelia looked between the four girls, who all looked awfully chirpy for an early Sunday morning.

"To answer your first question James told us the moment we came down the stairs." Dorcas spoke with her head still resting in Marlene's lap.

"He said how he found you passed out last night in the common room, you hit your head or something?" Marlene continued Dorcas' explanation, stroking her hair at the same time.

"The answer to your next question, Lily told us." Alice spoke last to give Ophelia the detail she wanted to hear the most.

"Oh." Ophelia looked to Lily who at that moment looked slightly angry with herself, but Ophelia grabbed onto her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "Thank you Lils." As much as Ophelia wanted to keep her birthday to herself, deep down she was grateful that Lily had taken the time to research her birthday.

"You're welcome lovely." Lily beamed after the covert reassurance from Ophelia, that happiness radiated onto Ophelia and she felt her worries temporarily fade away. "We got you a gift, it was a bit last minute but we hope you love it." Lily leant into her bag and pulled out a rectangular wrapped present.

Gently Ophelia took the gift from Lily and she began to unwrap it to reveal a photo frame. The frame was wooden, coated in a maroon red paint. Floating around the glass was moving names, each of the girls names.

"So obviously it's an empty photo frame right now. But the idea is we can make sure to get an amazing photo for you to put in there." Lily smiled as she explained the reason behind the gift.

"Thank you so much girls, honestly you didn't have to get me anything. But this, this is beautiful."

"Merlin why is there four of you visiting Miss McGonagall. It's only ever been one per person, now out all of you. You will see her this evening now shoo." Madam Pomfrey interrupted the special moment accidentally, but the girls knew better than to argue with the matron. One by one they gave Ophelia a peck on the cheek and a final happy birthday before leaving Ophelia alone with her gift.

As the door closed behind the girls, Ophelia pulled the frame into her chest. From the moment Ophelia met those four girls, she knew a new life was awaiting her. A fresh start. Over the last six months they were a constant for her, they became an important piece of her everyday life. But there was one thing still holding Ophelia back from fully trusting their relationship, that was honesty. Ophelia hadn't been honest with them all and that needed to change. Today, on her seventeenth birthday, she felt ready to tell the girls the truth about who she is. Or rather who she was. Why? Because friendship is everything. Friendship is what keeps you living. Friendship is love. These four girls had given her just that.

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